Uchiha's personal opinion

After a loud bang, there was no more "after" in the world of the barbarian soldiers.

After another loud bang, nearly half of the wall on the basement floor was shattered by the Tailed Beast Ball that exploded from the inside. Instantly, as seawater poured in, the marines and soldiers originally deployed on that floor, even if they were not killed by the explosion, were disoriented by the surging seawater.

"Retreat to the second basement level!"

Hannibal was furious but helpless, so he had no choice but to make a tactical retreat with the remaining navy and soldiers.

But during the transfer, Hannibal saw countless prisoner corpses piled up in the passageway between the first and second basement levels.

"This is……"

Even the ruthless Hannibal was terrified.

Although the prisoners in the underground 'Crimson Lotus Hell' did not commit particularly serious crimes and were generally not very strong, it was precisely because of this that this floor held the largest number of prisoners.

Moreover, in Hannibal's view, these prisoners had no doubt died from the poison gas administered by Warden Magellan!

"It seems the World Government has tacitly accepted the destruction of Impel Down..."

In that instant, Hannibal also immediately understood.

Why was General Kuzan, who was stationed there, withdrawn? Why did Impel Down not receive reinforcements again? Why did Magellan collect all the Den Den Mushi? Why did the warden, as the warden, never show his face during the ground battles?

"Let's go..."

After taking a deep breath, Hannibal felt a little dizzy from the residual poison in the air, but he still endured the discomfort and was the first to step over the mountain of corpses and head towards the second basement level.

……

"The Water Ghost Squad reports: The ground floor and the first basement level are completely under control!"

Not long after, Hanzo the Salamander received a battle report from his strategist ninja: "A waterproof metal wall has been discovered on the second basement level. Request permission to continue the breaching operation!"

"Permission granted for demolition!"

Hanzo the Salamander nodded steadily, while adjusting the sickle beside him.

It's time for the siege of Impel Down to end...

Chapter 545 The Eve of the Decisive Battle

One advantage of systematically dismantling and eliminating enemies from top to bottom within the city is that it allows for the annihilation of as many enemies as possible, preventing their escape.

After all, among the Navy and its soldiers, there are many strong individuals with strong Armament Haki who have never eaten a Devil Fruit.

Therefore, although Hanzo's gradual demolition and annihilation plan was very complicated, the overall effect was still very good.

Moreover, the ninja army suffered relatively few casualties.

Apart from a small number of Navy remnants who were determined to fight to the death or who failed to evacuate to the lower floors in time, the ninja forces that landed on the ground in Impel Down encountered no other obstacles, and everything proceeded unexpectedly smoothly.

"Yakura-kun, I'll have to trouble you again from now on."

After Hanzo of the Salamander led his troops to the land of Impel Down, he said this to Yagura, who had a gloomy face.

"Okay, let me catch my breath first..."

Although Yagura Karatachi found the demolition work boring and tiring, he still agreed to it.

For some reason, Yagura Karatachi felt that the Three-Tails Isobu sealed inside him had become much more obedient lately. No matter how much tailed beast chakra was extracted, it was somewhat indifferent and no longer struggled symbolically as before.

……

"Your Majesty, the Fourth and Fifth Legions are fully in place. Please give your instructions!"

In the ninja world, inside the Konoha Imperial Palace, Uchiha Tokumitsu also received a report about the formation of the ninja army.

After the widespread adoption of semi-mechanized prosthetic limb technology, the 'ninja shortage' problem of the Ninja World Government was significantly alleviated.

Especially in the regular ninja army, a large number of ninjas were recruited for the second time. Although these ninjas who had retired due to injuries had some deficiencies in strength, they undoubtedly had an advantage in combat experience compared to the reserve ninjas. Therefore, Uchiha Tokumitsu also made a distinction based on the retirement time of the ninjas recruited for the second time. As long as the ninjas who retired after the establishment of the shogunate were willing to join the regular ninja army when they were recruited for the second time, they were included in the expeditionary force.

Therefore, the Fourth and Fifth Legions, each with a size of 5,000 men, were formed, with more than half of them being ninjas recruited twice—the so-called Star Guardians.

Although the physical limitations of ninjas prevent these Star Guardians who have undergone prosthetic modifications from being as agile as normal ninjas, their prosthetic limbs provide a vehicle for equipping new ninja tools.

For example, they could directly modify semi-mechanical prosthetics into machine guns that could continuously fire explosive tag kunai, or directly inscribe sealing runes on the prosthetics. Although the Star Guardians were relatively less flexible, after actual combat exercises, the high-ranking officials of the Shinobi World Government were surprised to find that these modified Star Guardians could actually exert a stronger fighting force than ordinary Shinobi troops when they were in formation!

This isn't a difference in chakra or ninjutsu, but simply a difference in 'technological content'!

After witnessing the advantages of the 'Star Realm Army', some veteran Chunin who had been unable to improve their strength through their own efforts began to have their minds set on undergoing semi-mechanical modifications in order to gain greater combat power.

However, this demand from the ninja group, which was so radical that even the martial arts faction found it difficult to understand, was ultimately brushed off by Uchiha Tokumitsu on the grounds of 'insufficient production of prosthetics'.

"Let Uchiha Hata handle the Fourth Army. As for the Fifth Army..."

After a moment of contemplation, Uchiha Tokumitsu slowly said, "Then Sakumo, the chairman of the House of Representatives, will concurrently serve as chairman."

After the Fourth and Fifth Legions were deployed, the ninja forces deployed by the ninja world to the pirate world reached more than 20,000. In addition, the reserve corps was mobilized for use as a logistics force. More than 20,000 combat ninjas were enough to support Uchiha Tokumitsu's grand strategic plan.

……

When Uchiha Tokumitsu led his troops through the Gate of the World and arrived at the Island of the Divine Tree, they discovered that the content of special natural energy in the pirate world had increased significantly.

The existence of the divine tree could no longer be concealed, as its height reached straight into the clouds, and its branches and leaves could be seen waving freely in the clouds even beyond the sea level.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't know what the Divine Tree of the Ninja World looked like or how fast it was growing, but judging from its current growth, it should be growing much faster than the one in the Ninja World.

"His Majesty……"

Kakuzu, the commander-in-chief of the Third Legion responsible for the defense of the Demon Triangle and the Island of the Divine Tree, stepped forward and saluted.

"Thanks a lot……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu nodded in return.

"It's just my duty, Your Majesty, you're too kind!"

Kakuzu immediately bowed respectfully, showing no trace of the idol image he should have as a 'senior' and 'Hashirama's assassin'.

After all, the Shinobi World Government gave them just too much!

"Has your Earthly Grudge been changed again?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu's nose twitched slightly as he detected a different smell.

"...To be honest, Your Majesty, we did indeed replace the Fire Release and Earth Release techniques with Earth Grudge Fear."

Kakuzu explained, "However, it's not a ninja's heart, but rather a Devil Fruit user provided by Dean Orochimaru..."

"Of course, it refers only to those prisoners who succumbed to their wounds."

"How are you feeling? Are you afraid of water?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu was somewhat surprised.

"I felt some resistance, but no negative reaction..."

Kakuzu immediately replied, "Moreover, according to the research of the great scientist Vegapunk at the research institute, if it is modified by combining chakra, artificial Devil Fruits may be able to remove these negative influences."

"Then we should go and see their research findings."

Uchiha Tokumitsu seemed to be deep in thought.

After more than a month away, Uchiha Tokumitsu returned to the world of One Piece not simply for Impel Down or the upcoming epic battle between the Navy and the Four Emperors, but more importantly, to check on the progress of the Todoroki Laboratory.

In particular, the progress made in artificial Devil Fruits and Seastone weapons.

If these two studies are successful, they will be able to compensate for the innate deficiency that ninjas cannot learn 'Haki' to a certain extent, which will greatly enhance the strength of the ninja army and even the entire ninja world.

Although this improvement might take a long time, Uchiha Tokumitsu can wait.

Moreover, he also had high expectations for the new world war that was about to break out.

After all, in his memories of his previous life, when the Marineford War took place, the Navy deployed all its elite forces and even recruited the Seven Warlords of the Sea to participate in the war. It was only in this way that they defeated the Whitebeard Pirates and their 43 affiliated pirate crews. Now, under the operation of Minato Namikaze, the Four Emperors of the New World have united. Although the four of them may not be of one mind or go all out, the pressure they bring will definitely be greater than that of the Marineford War!

But Uchiha Tokumitsu still felt it wasn't enough. After leading the Fourth and Fifth Legions to Todoroki, the first thing he did wasn't to check on the research progress in the laboratory, but to personally send a telegram to Namikaze Minato—

"The Shinobi World Government's support for the Four Emperors is unlimited, and there is no cap on the amount of military trade!"

Of course, this only completely frees Minato Namikaze; the ninja world's true trump card will not actually be revealed to those pirates.

……

Higher animals are often easier to tame than primitive animals because all it takes is a seemingly reasonable logic to convince them that what they know is true, thus leading them to do things that are actually contrary to their own interests under the covert instructions of others.

For example, when Minato Namikaze conveyed the message of 'unlimited support' from Tokumitsu Uchiha to Kaido, who had just arrived at the G1 branch's outer sea to meet Charlotte Linlin, a slight doubt surfaced in his mind. However, this doubt was immediately shattered by another message—

"Imperial City has entered the clearing phase. Our Marines have captured the surface and the second underground level of Imperial City."

Minato Namikaze said.

"So fast!"

Kaido was taken aback.

Even Charlotte Linlin, who was in the middle of a hearty meal, couldn't help but stop eating.

Regardless of the size or strength of Impel Down's garrison, it represents the face of the World Government and is one of the three major power institutions of the World Government in name only, symbolizing the punishment of all those who defy the World Government.

The fall of Impel Down... at least the current military operation that directly breached it is already a blatant slap in the face!

"Our troops deployed in Impel Down have also paid a heavy price as a result."

Minato Namikaze said frankly.

Of course, if we include all the times the shadow clones and water clones were destroyed, then the First Legion's losses would exceed the total number of soldiers, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were 'severe'—after all, the destruction of shadow clones also has a significant negative impact on the caster.

"What about the East China Sea..."

Shanks suddenly asked.

Although Shanks was unable to provide timely reinforcements during the ambush due to various uncontrollable factors, this is understandable. After all, as one of the Four Emperors, he cannot stay in one place and wait for others to summon him, especially since Shanks is known for his 'free will'.

Therefore, Shanks was still able to retain his place in front of Kaido and Charlotte Linlin.

"Probing battles are underway in the East China Sea, but results are not expected anytime soon..."

Minato Namikaze gave a vague reply.

"We must try our best to contain the naval forces in the East China Sea..."

Charlotte Linlin understood Shanks' meaning, so she put down her dessert and said gently, "After conquering Mary Geoise and destroying Marineford, I will fully support the Great Kingdom's rule over Paradise!"

'This attitude changed way too quickly!'

Upon hearing this, Minato Namikaze immediately began to curse inwardly!