Uchiha's personal opinion

Like a volcanic eruption, a lava fist slammed towards Ace, who was staggering and landing!

"Mirror Flame!"

Ace unleashed a wall of flames in an attempt to block it.

"boom!"

But the wall of flames was easily shattered, and the Lava Fist continued its relentless attack on Ace!

"Yan Shangzhang!"

Left with no other choice, Ace unleashed another fire barrier and then leaped into the air.

There was no other way; if he continued to back away, he would fall into the sea.

But Sakazuki had been waiting for this moment!

As Ace leaped to dodge, Sakazuki immediately muttered, "Explode!"

The lava fist immediately exploded, turning into countless volcanic bombs.

Then, Sakazuki turned his arm into lava and swung it towards Ace, who was frantically defending against volcanic bombs in mid-air—

"A dog gnaws at a red lotus!"

The lava-like arm transformed into the shape of a dog's head and lunged at Ace, biting him squarely in the waist!

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Even his elemental body could not withstand such a fierce attack, and Ace screamed in agony after being bitten.

Immediately afterwards, he was pulled down by the lava dog head, and Sakazuki struck his head hard with his other hand, while simultaneously enveloping his body completely in lava!

Then, Sakazuki leaped up and casually launched a small lava projectile at the pirate ship beneath him, shattering the entire ship!

"Use seastone to lock this guy up!"

After returning to his flagship, Sakazuki put away the lava that had enveloped Ace and gave the order.

"As ordered!"

The naval officers, as fierce as wolves, immediately pounced on him, grabbing Ace, who was already half-cooked, in no time.

"Blackie, you've disappointed me!"

Unsurprisingly, the first person to be reprimanded was Marshall D. Teach.

But at that very moment, sails began to appear on the sea, and judging from the markings on them, they were ships belonging to the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Looks like the fish has taken the bait..."

Sakassky immediately beamed with joy.

Meanwhile, Kizaru's fleet, which was playing a chase game with Marco and Vista, began to retreat. At the same time, Sakazuki's fleet increased its bombardment, making it impossible for the two to continue engaging Kizaru's fleet.

This is not the right place for the final battle, and the timing is not right.

"You! Hang this guy on the mast!"

Sakazuki pointed at Marshall D. Teach and said, "Then you stand on the mast and don't come down! Got it!"

"...Yes, sir!"

Marshall D. Teach quickly bowed and scraped, then scooped up the unconscious Ace and swiftly climbed up the mast.

"White beard!"

After his naval officers brought the megaphone to Sakazuki, he began shouting towards the distant Whitebeard Pirates' ship: "Your men are in my hands!"

"His fate will be the same as his Devil Fruit power: to be reduced to ashes in the flames!"

"This is a small punishment for you!"

"Don't think that mere pirates can threaten the righteous Navy!"

"Your fate is certain destruction!"

After finishing reading the manuscript, Sakazuki turned off the loudspeaker with satisfaction. Without even checking if Whitebeard had heard him, he ordered, "All troops, retreat!"

Now that the "adding fuel to the fire" action has been completed, the next step is to return to the pre-set position and wait for the big fish to take the bait!

……

"Dad..."

On the Whitebeard Pirates' ship that had rushed over, Edward Newgate, leaning on his great sword 'Murakumogiri', stood at the bow, Sakazuki's arrogant shouts echoing in his mind.

His subordinates were all filled with unease.

"Can the ship go any faster?"

Whitebeard's tone was surprisingly calm.

"...We've already started blowing the wind at full speed."

This unusual calm made his subordinates even more uneasy.

"It seems we'll have to buy ships from the remnants of the Great Kingdom again in the future; their iron-hulled ships are really fast and sturdy..."

Whitebeard said very coldly.

The men were drenched in sweat and dared not even breathe.

Chapter 552 Domination and War

"This is……"

Upon arriving in Loguetown, Yi Sheng, who had fought alongside Hatake Sakumo, discovered that the town was already under the control of the Dynasty Ninja Army. Moreover, Hatake Sakumo even handed him a uniform and documents with a smile.

"About seven days ago, the corrupt navy abandoned Loguetown, and now our fleet is besieging the Sabaody Archipelago..."

Sakumo Hatake explained.

"But that's not what my lord meant..."

He said somewhat hesitantly.

He neither knew nor should he have accepted the uniform and appointment letter handed to him by Sakumo Hatake.

Uchiha Tokumitsu's orders were to have him participate in the Battle of Loguetown as a "pledge of allegiance" to demonstrate his loyalty to the dynasty. However, since Loguetown has already been captured, is simply following the fleet here considered a "test"?

Isn't this a bit hasty?

My life feels somewhat unreal.

Furthermore, the uniform that Sakumo Hatake handed over looked quite luxurious, so it was probably not just a simple officer's position...

But on the other hand, I was still quite moved by this.

"Our principle has always been to judge by intention, not by deeds. So, Mr. Yisheng, are you willing to accept the position of Chief Sergeant of the East China Sea Army and do something for His Majesty's dynasty and the people of the East China Sea Republic Alliance?"

Sakumo Hatake asked seriously.

"I will swear allegiance to Your Majesty!"

Without further hesitation, he solemnly accepted the uniform and letter of appointment.

In his view, although he still has not figured out the details of this mysterious force that he has voluntarily joined, judging from their interactions and observations over the past few days, there is no doubt that this group of self-proclaimed 'ninjas' has a rather effective and unique set of methods for governing the country.

All slogans must be tested by bread—even the lowest quality black bread is a precious life-saving commodity for the truly impoverished.

Although the Celestial Dragons' World Government controls the entire world and maintains a semblance of order, this order is maintained at the cost of oppression and injustice.

In the eyes of ninjas, the oppression suffered by the common people in the pirate world is even greater than that in the ninja world. In particular, the Goa Kingdom, which was once regarded as the pinnacle, has such abundant resources that there are still 'lowly people' living in the garbage dump and struggling to survive by scavenging scraps. This kind of thing has never happened even in the Land of Lightning, which is the most brutally ruled among the five great ninja countries.

Therefore, by simply 'equalizing wealth and distributing land,' Uchiha Tokumitsu distributed the royal family's and nobles' land, fishponds, and other assets that were worthless in the eyes of ninjas to all citizens of the republic. In a very short time, the dual political system of dynasty and republic established by Uchiha Tokumitsu was able to be established and won the hearts of the people.

Although to the ninjas these were just common practices, since back in the Shogunate era, Uchiha Tokumitsu's forces had already developed a systematic approach to eliminating nobles and developing productivity, they were simply adapting the customs and culture of the One Piece world to their advantage and using it, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

But in the eyes of a strongman who rose from humble beginnings, witnessed the hardships of life, and possessed great power yet remained discreet, the ninjas, though they didn't interact much with ordinary people, saw the lives of ordinary people visibly improving day by day. In their daily lives, the ninjas' 'dynasty' and the ordinary people's 'republic' were clearly distinct and did not interfere with each other. Apart from fishing and mining, the ninjas seemed to have no interest in ordinary people at all.

It was precisely this almost completely laissez-faire approach to governance that allowed the East Sea to flourish with extraordinary vitality—which was the fundamental reason why Yi Sheng took the initiative to apply for the position.

After all, based on his understanding, he simply couldn't comprehend how a ruler with a powerful armed force and a mature political system could be uninterested in the common people from whom he could extract countless resources! He even tolerated their autonomy and allowed them to set their own tax rates—the Uchiha Dynasty merely took a quarter of the total taxes collected by the various republics, and apart from the anti-corruption department directly overseen by the 'Father of the Republic' Ashura, all other affairs were left to the individual republics to manage!

This is absolutely incredible!

This is hardly a ruler; this is practically a benevolent god who saves people from suffering!

"What is the chief sergeant responsible for?"

He didn't rush to change into his uniform. After carefully putting away the letter of appointment, he asked Sakumo Hatake.

"His Majesty intends to establish a training force in the East China Sea, serving as the main training base for the Dynasty's army and navy stationed there, as well as the National Guard and Garrison Forces of the Republic Alliance. The Chief Sergeant will be the Director of Training Affairs for the main training base..."

Sakumo Hatake explained.

There is another important reason for creating such a special unit: thanks to the joint efforts of Vegapunk, Orochimaru, and Ashina Uzumaki, the research on artificial Devil Fruits and lineage factors has made significant breakthroughs.

For the Uchiha Dynasty, artificial Devil Fruits, with their mediocre abilities and significant negative impacts, were not particularly important. However, the bloodline factors that accompanied them were a different story.

Although in the eyes of the great scientist Vegapunk, the recent progress in 'lineage factor' research is still far from reaching the god-like realm of 'editing life' that he envisioned; the current technology is just a preliminary study that was carried out incidentally when conducting artificial Devil Fruits and human giantification, but for ninjas, the more important use of this special technology, also known as 'life blueprint', is to make up for the fact that ninjas cannot learn Haki!

If ninjas could possess Haki comparable to that of the natives of the pirate world—even the most common Armament Haki—then the Navy would be no match for them!

The training unit was established under such a breakthrough premise in order to train future practitioners of Haki in the Ninja Army. As for the National Guard and the Security Force of the Republic Alliance, they were merely an add-on to provide a basis for legitimacy.

"So, where is the training base planned to be located?"

He asked the question again throughout his life.

"Right here..."

Sakumo Hatake pointed to the ground beneath his feet.

……

"Roggetown!"

Sengoku and Kuzan, members of the New World Navy's G1 branch, are having a video conference with the Five Elders of Mary Geoise.

On the other side of the screen, Jaigolusia Satan, the God of Scientific Defense, declared: "Roggetown must be recaptured within five days!"

"The World Conference is about to convene. If this continues, what will become of the World Government's reputation!"

"Scientific defense, the God of War, Jaigolusia Satan Saint," then said.