The sea was dark. From the clouded sky, slivers of moonlight cut their way through the surface of the water, illuminating thin tendrils of fine roots that waved lazily beneath. The horizon glowed a dull red, though night had long since fallen, and the dreams of those still brave enough to sleep were filled with thoughts of a warm and caring mother.
Hagoromo shivered. They were getting close to the island indeed.
"What has Mother done to our home…?" thought Hagoromo, staring out into the darkness from the bow of the mighty ship. "This looks nothing at all like the shores of our birth."
The response came back immediately, the words nestling themselves in his heart like a handwritten letter.
"It's worse than even you can see, brother," thought Hamura. "There's more over the horizon. Something has taken over the land, and Mother has let it happen."
"I can feel it too… The roots that wave beneath the water seem almost curious, and I can tell they're trying to report our presence. Keeping them pacified isn't too strenuous, but I can't understand why they're here at all."
There was a flash of concern across their link. "They are much thicker on the shore," thought Hamura. "They're everywhere."
Neither brother said outright what they both knew. The mysterious roots were tinted with their mother's chakra.
"I find it hard to imagine any good person living like this," thought Hamura, "-and I begin to doubt that there is anything we could do for her."
"I wish you wouldn't say it like that… There must be hope for these people, even Mother. They were good folk before, better than most. And now… to think that we will be spilling so much of their blood…"
Hagoromo sighed, inside and out, gazing up at the clouded moon. "Surely it pains your heart as much as mine."
"You know that it does," thought Hamura. "Our hearts are linked. I shouldn't have to remind you of that, given that using chakra this way was your invention."
"Yes," agreed Hagoromo, focusing his thoughts until he could feel his brother's chakra several miles away. It was true. His brother felt the pain just as surely as he did. There was a warm pulse of energy, the spiritual equivalent of a firm squeeze on the shoulder, and he returned his brother's gesture with barely a thought.
This was what chakra should truly be used for, thought Hagoromo. No matter where he was or what he was doing he would never be without his greatest friend and ally.
"Poseidon says 'Hello,' by the way," added Hamura.
"...Somehow I doubt she was so reserved as that…"
There was a pulse of glee across the link.
"You're right about that."
There was a dizzying thought, and then Hagoromo could see the beautiful young mermaid as if she had intruded in his daydreams.
"Can he hear me if I talk to him?" asked the girl. "He can?! Joy Boy! Hello, Joy Boy! I know you're probably down in the dumps right now like always, but don't worry! We'll get through this, okay?! I'll make sure of it! Keep your chin up and I swear we'll throw a wonderful party for you at the palace when this is done! That's a promise!"
The image cut out, leaving only his brother's smug satisfaction behind.
"I do wish she'd stop calling me that," grumbled Hagoromo, startling a few of the soldiers out on deck. He waved them down and mentally chastened himself as Hamura chuckled inside his heart.
"Well, then maybe you should make it less fun for her to poke at you. Poseidon only does it because she thinks you deserve the treatment."
"You should stop calling her Poseidon," chastised Hagoromo. "That's the name that Mother gave her as a weapon. It's not right to lump her in with the other creations, especially not now."
"Hmm, well it's a hard habit to undo," admitted Hamura. "Besides, you know as well as I do that she doesn't mind. She takes pride in her power, just as we do. You're just changing the subject because you can't stand the fact that someone might want to throw you a party and cheer you up for once, 'Joy Boy.'"
"Oh, not you too. That's the last thing I need. Besides, I can't say I feel at all comfortable with her making promises to me when I failed her. Raising Noah from the sea-bed and successfully activating it would have ensured we kept at least some of-"
"Stop whining, brother. You know she doesn't blame you for that. If anything, I blame myself for not being there. I always do better with the heavy lifting, after all."
"Hush. Your ego is showing."
Hamura laughed, and it felt like effervescent water in his soul. "You're too easy. Besides, why stay so distant from her? She's as much Mother's child as either of us, and I think it would be nice to welcome a sister into our ranks, even if not through the bonds of blood or rearing."
"A sister...? Hmm… I'd rather not."
"Oh? Why wouldn't you… Ohhhhhh…"
Hagoromo shut his eyes, trying to keep as much of himself out of the link as possible. It didn't work.
"Well, well, well, brother finally admitted to having a crush."
"I admit to nothing."
"Of course not. Well, either way I can take a hint. The only relation she bears to us is sharing in Mother's phenomenal chakra, and as a life form who was created by Mother's will she is sister to no one. I gladly give my blessings. In fact, I'll even help set you up on a date."
"I need nothing you have to give me."
"Don't tell falsehoods, brother. They don't become you."
Hagoromo sighed at his brother's temerity, and then he felt a flicker of some familiar affection through the link. Suddenly, things made a bit more sense.
"You're just trying to keep my mind off of things, aren't you?"
"I admit to nothing," copied his brother.
"You, Hamura, should have far more important things to worry about. Did Great King Donquixote come around in the end?"
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"Yes. Lamancha agreed to commit every one of his ships, but… he is relying upon us to follow through. I'd rather not relay his words as spoken, as they were insulting at best, but suffice it to say that his doubts yet remain."
"Such a detestable man," thought Hagoromo. "And what a dreadful day this must be that our Alliance of Twenty Kingdoms must include a rapacious ass such as him."
"You need seek no stronger agreement than with me, brother…"
"What do you see out there in the darkness, Child of the Sun?" asked a solid voice from behind him, interrupting his internal conversation.
"Seems like you get the more pleasant task of the two of us," thought Hamura. "I'll leave you to it."
Hagoromo turned to regard the man standing behind him, one he knew as a friend so true that he was almost family. Tall and darkly-tanned, the man already wore his gold-inlaid armor that evoked images of a shining star. The man was old enough to be his father, and though Hagoromo possessed power enough to smite armies, the sight of Nefertari Djoser's hawkish gaze and stern black beard still made him feel as though he were being judged.
Across his heart link he could feel Hamura chuckling, but he resolved to ignore it.
"Great King Nefertari, I see the ruins of my childhood," said Hagoromo, extending a hand to the ocean and the dull red glow in the distance. "When I was a young boy my world was full of love, but this foreboding I feel now is like a tarnish on silver or gold. I revisit a comforting dream and find a nightmare instead."
The king seemed to consider this.
"Truly a boy's journey to manhood requires that he cast away the thoughts and comforts of childhood," he mused, "-but still I wish that you might have been spared such a brutal awakening. And please… enough with the 'Great King' talk. Surely such things can be dispensed with among equals?"
Hagoromo shifted uncomfortably. "Abandoning the respect due a king in his regalia… Such things are not done."
"What, this old thing?" asked Djoser, thumping a hand on his inlaid plate mail as his mouth turned up at the corners. "If you must show respect to what I'm wearing, then wait at least until I don my helm. My armor has already been blessed by my greatest priestesses, and heaping more respect upon it will not help stop an arrow sent to kill me. What use have I of flattery from my friend?"
Hagoromo smiled.
"Friend, hmm…? In all honesty it seems odd to look at things that way. I think my brother and I came to see you as family in the years we spent in the palace. You're the closest thing I've had to a father."
Djoser's gaze gained a peculiar curiosity to it. "...Well, your version of 'in all honesty' is rather more honest than I'd expect from such a young man... Either way, I am honored to be considered father to someone like you."
The King looked away. "Just don't ask me to show deference to your mother."
"...I understand."
"What word from the others?" asked Djoser, changing the subject.
"Great King Donquixote has agreed to commit his full forces to the final assault. Every other fleet is fully prepared for what may come."
Djoser snorted. "It took that ass long enough to make up his mind. As if holding back strength would save his rule if we fail here. What a laugh."
"My brother and I had similar thoughts… You are determined, then?"
"How could I be anything less and still call myself King of Alabasta?" He turned to face the ocean spray, face lit by the moon as he carefully laid out his words. "We gathered Twenty Fleets from Twenty Kings of Twenty Kingdoms. We sailed together through the Grand Line. We fought and destroyed the Great Weapon, Neptune, burying many brave souls to do so. We rescued the Mermaid Princess from her bonds, thus denying Kaguya her precious Poseidon and bringing King Ryuuguu over to our cause. Your brother banished Uranus to the sky where her followers could never again find it. Now we sail, thirty thousand ships strong, to topple the Demon Queen of the Greatest Kingdom from her throne."
He sighed.
"I am determined. Determined enough to know that only an eternity of servitude or worse awaits my people if we fail here. I am determined enough to die, if that is what fate desires."
"And that may be what fate wishes from us," thought Hamura. "I truly admire this man."
"If our efforts have been sufficient," said Hagoromo, responding to both of them. "Then that may not be necessary. Still, my brother and I are equally determined."
"I have no doubt of that," said Djoser, a steely hardness returning to his eyes as he turned to regard Hagoromo. "But that is not enough from you two."
Both said nothing for a moment, eyes locking together.
"No… you two sons of Kaguya need even greater determination than I. For though I tell you what you already know, it is no less true that you must hear it. All of our efforts will be for naught if you cannot kill your mother."
"I know," said Hagoromo.
"We mere mortals cannot hope to challenge her. We are here for one reason and one reason only. To conquer the Greatest Kingdom and defeat her zealots on the field of battle through force of arms."
"I know," said Hagoromo.
"I have my doubts that we can even manage that. The Demon Queen gathered fanatical followers by the millions, all eager to serve her. And though our great Kings may be prideful, none here would challenge her country's claim to be the greatest in the world. If our armies fall before hers then you two will be overwhelmed by her followers, but if you two cannot kill Kaguya then she will slaughter all of us unchallenged. Or worse, we may become her willing slaves."
"I KNOW," growled Hagoromo, and Hamura's thoughts echoed his own, filling his heart with grief and frustration.
"NO!" shouted Djoser. He smashed his fist into the ship's railing, breaking the wood into splinters with a crash that caused both brothers to startle in surprise, even though Hamura was several miles away. When he spoke again he was calmer. "No, you don't. I do not blame you for it, but it is clear that you do not understand. You still struggle with the pain of grief at the thought of harming your mother and I tell you that your determination is too weak.
The younger man averted his eyes. "Too weak? But…"
"Those of us with true determination know that we are already dead," insisted Djoser. "We will never see the people and places that we love ever again. That is as it should be. Here, at the end of the world, hope can become a disease that will fester into cowardice."
Hagoromo winced, struggling with the words he was hearing. "Surely it's not so bad as that," he said. "Hope has always been a strength in my life."
Djoser's voice softened further. "It is indeed that bad. And as much as I wish I could tell you otherwise, every one of us here has sacrificed one hope in order to preserve another. We sacrifice the hope that we will live through this night in order to preserve the hope that our families will continue on. That hope is the hope that you two can become the saviors of this world. You, and your brother who I know is listening, must sacrifice your hope that your mother can be saved in order to preserve the hope that humanity will live to see freedom."
The two brothers said nothing at all, emotions clouded as Hagoromo avoided the man's eyes. Eventually, Djoser continued.
"And so I tell you… you two young men must reach into your own hearts and kill Kaguya before we even arrive at the island. You must sacrifice that hope if we are to preserve the hopes of a future…. Everyone in Alabasta… everyone in the world… and all those who come after us… are counting on that sacrifice."
It was just one of many times that the brothers were glad for the link that they shared. Each one drew strength from the other to avoid the disgrace of crying before the man who had been like a father to them.
"We understand," said both in unison as Hagoromo looked back up into his eyes. To the shock of both, tears were streaming down his face instead of theirs.
"Good," he said. "I think that you do, now. I'm so very, very proud of you both. I would have loved to call you sons of my own. And... again, for what little it's worth... I am truly sorry. No one should have to carry such a burden, especially at such a young age... and if I could shoulder that weight then I would gladly take it from you. I-"
He paused as a sense of foreboding cut through them, and all three men turned to face the dark continent in the distance. The dull red glow pulsed like fanning embers, and both of the brothers felt the power in the air.
"Brother!" thought Hamura. "I think she finally knows we're here!"
The clouds parted unnaturally, revealing the moon as if a hand had pushed aside a curtain. Then the moon itself began to glow a deep red, and as it deepened the pattern of the Demon Queen's Third Eye faded into existence on its surface. Just as horror began to take root among the fleet, a brilliant light filled the air, so bright and pervasive that it seemed to claw its way into cracks in the deckboards, filling every ship in its entirety.
Hagoromo wasted no words, reaching out with the power of his Rinnegan. He pushed, fought, beckoned, and abjured, bending every power his eyes had to the task of dispelling the light that he felt groping against his mind, but to little effect. Finally, as the soldiers on deck stopped struggling and began staring up into the air, he felt a strange resistance as his power grasped something.
'Soul magic?' he thought, pushing out harder with the part of the Rinnegan he rarely used. It felt like his soul was a leaf being blown about in a hurricane, but he held on to that power with every fiber of his being as he struggled to avoid being subsumed.
There was no impact to the attack. All notions of force or swirling vertigo were entirely in his head, and he fought desperately to ground the rampant chakra back to the earth. What seemed like minutes later the light had dimmed, leaving him standing somewhat unsteadily on his feet and looking around in confusion as the moon faded slowly back into normalcy. He was the only one doing so.
All around him people stood transfixed, eyes blank and unblinking as they stared into the sky, muttering to themselves. Beside him, King Nefertari was in the same state.
"...My beloved… You've returned to me… I always knew you were still out there somewhere, my beautiful queen…" mumbled the King, before falling completely silent.
"What in the world?" asked Hagoromo, looking around in confusion. A voice entered his heart a moment later.
"Brother…" thought Hamura.
"Thank goodness you're still there," thought Hagoromo. "What happened?"
"I see Mother... she… says she's sorry for what she did to us. To the world. Brother… all of this was needless... All this time and all we had to do was come home…"
Hagoromo cursed- a very rare occurrence- and dove deep into the link of chakra that bound him to his brother. Grasping the bonds in his heart he reached out to Hamura and probed cautiously at the foreign presence. The illusion he felt was of unprecedented strength, and part of him recoiled in horror to see it claiming his brother's soul, but now was hardly the time for squeamishness.
Strengthening the link between them, Hagoromo pulled and tore at the strands of soul magic, using his Rinnegan as a ground every time the unnatural energy tried to fight back. Confusing images and flashes of peace and contentment surged through their link as he fought, but it was the work of only a couple minutes before he had his brother free.
"T-thank you, brother," thought Hamura, steadying his heart once more.
"Don't mention it," thought Hagoromo, gazing out at the fleets of ships that were already beginning to drift listless in the waves. "But I fear I'm at a loss. I've never seen anything like this before. Whatever Mother has done has affected everyone here."
"No, it's much, much worse than that," thought Hamura. "She fed her Divine Power into the illusion somehow, and I don't believe that light stopped at just the fleet."
"You don't mean…"
"I do. She has the strength to affect the entire world, and I fear that's just what she is doing. I think our invasion proved to be the final indignity she would tolerate, and now she has given up on humanity."
Hagoromo took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began pacing across the deck. There weren't a lot of options, especially with only the two of them conscious.
"What do you think the High Priestess is doing right now?" he asked. "She and the others shouldn't have been affected by this."
A mental equivalent of a snort came over the link. "What do you think she's doing? She's waiting for us to fix this mess before coming out, then she'll blame us for being too slow when we finally manage it. I can't see her at all ever since she figured out a way to evade the Byakugan, so for all I know she's glaring at us right now. You're with the King. She's probably lurking right behind you."
Hagoromo's skin crawled as he could almost feel the old woman's judging eyes on his back.
"She's… well…"
"Can't argue with that, can you?"
"She may not want to come out until she's sure she won't be taken like the others."
Another snort. "Well I can't even blame her. I don't think we can fix this."
Hagoromo looked around them, glancing up into the sky to see the pale moon once more. "Hmmm… Maybe…"
"You have an idea?"
"...Perhaps. I felt what she did when that spell washed over us. If you join your Byakugan to our heart-link then I should be able to accurately link to the chakra systems of everyone in the fleet. With your help we may be able to dispel this illusion in everyone we can see."
"Not the whole world though?" asked Hamura.
"...No, not the whole world. I'm not Mother. I have my limits."
A comforting pulse of energy came across the link. "We must try it anyway. We should be near each other for this. I'm coming to you."
Hamura was true to his word. The forest of entranced sailors, including the beloved King Djoser, proved to be too much of a distraction for the two to work properly, so soon brother stood beside brother atop the highest point of the ship. There was no need for the shared words of a reunion. The two of them had never been apart in the first place.
Focusing their will, the two linked their hearts and minds together, joining hands to share energy freely. Hagoromo felt the lights of hundreds of thousands of people enter his awareness, each one locked in a trance that they could never escape. Scattered here and there were individuals who were still active and moving about, likely a quirk of some strange Devil-Fruit that allowed them to repel or otherwise avoid the unnatural light, but they were of no concern at the moment. The brothers focused on every one of the captured souls and began their task.
Working together, each heart came into crystal focus, and it wasn't long before he was able to attune the Rinnegan to the particular energy signal that was present in each of the entranced people. Just as before, he began grasping and pulling, destroying the illusion and grounding its energy away from its helpless victims. With Hamura's practiced eye aiding him, he soon identified the weak points in the technique, and with growing confidence he began linking to tens and then hundreds at a time. He staggered in place, feeling the Preta Path become overwhelmed by the chakra it was absorbing for the first time ever, but Hamura was there beside him, lending his energy and bolstering his will. Twenty minutes later he had reached a rhythm, and many of the ships were slowly regaining enough sailors to avoid crashing into each other.
This success couldn't last forever though.
"Something's happening," noted Hamura, trying to pin down some odd movement in the water without disturbing his brother's focus.
"Rather… busy right now…"
Off in the distance, one of their allied ships exploded. Hamura redirected his sight to focus on the disturbance, seeing a number of crazed humanoids with pure-white skin riding the hulk down into the waves. More of them darted through the water, ripping, tearing, and even biting at the hulls of nearby ships. A quick glance elsewhere saw hundreds of these creatures incoming from the shore.
"Well, that's not good," remarked Hamura.
"They'll have to deal with it on their own," grunted Hagoromo, returning his focus to the task of dispelling the illusion. "Every second we spend breaking this illusion is another hundred or more fighters returned to the field. We must continue."
Hamura frowned, upset that he agreed with his brother. Then an idea struck him and the image of a certain person flashed through their link. Hagoromo blinked in surprise.
"Excellent idea, brother!"
Redirecting his focus, Hagoromo grabbed the chains of illusion that bound the Mermaid Princess and tore them from her soul. It was barely half a minute later when the call went out.
Twenty human kingdoms had set sail to fight the Demon Queen, but with Poseidon's aid the brothers had found a twenty-first. Storming up from the black depths that even the cursed moonlight hadn't been able to reach through came the army of the merfolk along with a thousand sea beasts that answered to Poseidon's will. The ocean roared, and soon the white humanoids were being overwhelmed by the aquatic superiority of the merfolk.
Twenty minutes later, the fleet had been returned to consciousness, the white fiends had been driven back, and a much-exhausted Hagoromo began to rest his eyes. They shot back open again when he saw what was on the horizon.
The island was now in full view and the red glow had become brighter than ever, as if a crimson sun was even now lurking beyond sight. But that wasn't all.
"What is that thing?" asked Hagoromo.
Hamura sighed. "That, brother, is the source of this mess."
Climbing its way up the horizon was the trunk of an immense, twisted tree. Branchless, leafless, and covered in strange growths that looked almost like eyeballs, it was an offense to any living creature, and their stomachs turned from looking at it.
"That's…"
"The source of her power," agreed Hamura. "Or, at least, I think so. She's taken the Fruit's chakra… and planted it in the earth somehow."
"But… we've seen the Divine Tree!" exclaimed Hagoromo, already somehow sure of the reason why this was happening. "It looks nothing like that horrible thing!"
"That's what her power became after spending twenty years inside of her."
"Then those white creatures…"
Neither of them wanted to say what their eyes were clearly telling them. The white creatures had been human once, but were now just as altered as the tree had been. Even now the monsters amassed themselves at the shoreline, abandoning the attack at sea in order to prepare for the beach landing.
There was a noise like a muffled explosion, and both brothers looked ahead. A tremendous flare had been launched from the deck to soar up into the sky and detonate in a fireworks display that rivaled the dormant sun. The message to the fleet was clear. The King was alive and well. Across the massive armada, other fleets gathered themselves similarly, messages passing between them all as they prepared for the final assault on an island that was still barely visible on the horizon.
The minutes piled on as the brothers returned to the deck, conferring with each other as they worked out a plan. A quick message to one of the flanking Fish-Men in the water and they had what they needed. By the time the lookouts had spotted the defending army, the shore had been covered by a wall of identical white-skinned monsters standing shoulder to shoulder. They numbered in the tens of thousands, eagerly awaiting their chance to eviscerate the invaders as they were at their most vulnerable. King Djoser turned to the two of them.
"You two must have already seen those things in the distance, but we can't possibly go to land against that kind of army. We'll die by the thousands with no safe area to form a beachhead. But you two don't seem worried. Why?"
Hagoromo nodded. "In this case, Mother has given us all the aid we need. Circumstances should be shifting in our favor shortly."
Sure enough, it was barely thirty seconds before a song swept across the fleet, sweet, clear, and pure, as if the woman who was singing it was standing right next to all of them. The Mermaid Princess' chakra imbued her song, extending it outward for hundreds of miles, and its range underwater was far greater even than that.
The King's eyes went wide as Hagoromo smiled, letting the melody wash over him. She really did have a beautiful voice.
"Now… we wait. The final assault should begin after she has done her work."
Muttering prayers of protection, Djoser turned and hurried away, gathering his messengers to relay commands throughout his fleet and others.
Five minutes later, the sea rumbled. The white monsters on the shore looked about uncertainly as the water before them began to swell upwards. The swell grew taller and taller until it completely obscured the horizon, still growing until it had become a literal mountain of ocean water that made the Twenty Kingdoms Armada look like toy boats floating on a bathtub.
Then, and only then, did a titanic eye break the surface of the water, looking about itself with glacial sluggishness.
All across the fleet, every living soul could only watch in terror as a sailor's worst nightmare passed its anemic gaze over them. Then, the noise of the creature's passage finally crossed the many miles between it and the fleet, roaring like an unending thunderstorm. Sailors and warriors alike cringed and covered their ears. Even the brothers watched in awe. They had never imagined something so mind-numbingly gargantuan had waited in the dark depths of the oceans, ready to answer Poseidon's call.
Shaking his head to clear it, Hagoromo clasped both hands together. "Hamura! We must suppress the waves! I need everything you've got!"
"Right!"
They channeled their powers into the ocean, barely stopping the series of tsunamis before they broke the fleets into splinters, and that was when the sweet song changed its tune. Slowly, painstakingly, the island-dwarfing behemoth turned its mighty head towards Kaguya's dark kingdom and creaked open its jaw.
Teeth like icebergs bit silently into the distant shore as tens of thousands of the white monsters disappeared into the titan's maw. It carved out a bite of rock and earth nearly five miles wide and a mile deep. Then, several seconds later, the noise of an island being ripped apart exploded over them. The brothers winced and covered their ears as the tremendous Sea-King pulled itself away and began the slow process of sinking leisurely back into the ocean.
Minutes later, after the brothers had finally finished quelling the waves, Hamura snickered in relief.
"So," he said. "Still feeling good about that date?"
"I… just… oh, be quiet, you."
"Everyone!" shouted the King, projecting his voice to be heard all across the ship full of slightly-deafened soldiers. "Though we sail against the Greatest Kingdom, the mightiest beasts of hell itself are at our side! Never before in the history of the world has so great an army been gathered together, and we are here for one purpose! To free the world from the clutches of a demon! Now is the time! Make ready for landfall, and by tomorrow the fate of the world will be decided by our strength and bravery! Show these fiends the blazing light of Alabasta!"
A roaring cheer exploded from the ship, and though the other ships could never have heard his words, they too spread that roar as it bolstered their spirits. Soon it had reached the entire fleet.
It was time to be ready, and all across the armada preparations were being made. Armor was donned. Weapons were readied. Here and there, Devil Fruit users of various types began their assault, though the brothers couldn't say whether they were following the orders of their Kings or whether they had simply grown impatient. One man in particular stood out, though he was several miles away, as he transformed into a bolt of lightning and crashed into the distant shore like a hammer. The more invincible warriors of various kingdoms flew, shot, bounced, ran, and teleported across the distance, beginning combat on land as soon as possible.
Alabasta did not participate. They had a different strategy to enact.
Just then, a cloud of white dots rose in the sky, eclipsing the unnatural red light from the island's center. Hagoromo saw them the instant they passed the horizon. A swarm of deadly bone spears, each one infused with Kaguya's chakra, soared directly towards the Alabasta fleet.
"Here it comes!" shouted Hagoromo. Together, the two brothers reached out to push the spears away, but the powerful chakra resisted them, making it a difficult task to repel even one at a time. They grunted in frustration just as a young woman in vestments of white and gold cloth appeared from empty air and dropped onto the deck beside them, eyes flicking left and right as she absorbed the situation.
It seemed that the High Priestess had decided to deploy one of her reserves.
"Lords Hagoromo and Hamura! Protect the lead ships!" exclaimed the young priestess, crossing her arms and fingers out in front of her. "I'll protect the rest of the fleet!"
[BARI-BARI NO MI: BARRIER]
The brothers gratefully did as they were asked. As they refocused on the dense storm that was aimed at the head of the fleet, an array of bright green barriers sprang up around the edges.
A flicker of an idea passed between the two brothers and they put their new plan into action immediately. Hagoromo clapped both hands together, manifesting hundreds of floating rocks as if out of the ether itself. Hamura took in the location of each of the incoming spears and pushed. The rocks flew outward like a swarm of arrows and impaled themselves on the spears, incidentally allowing the brothers something natural to push upon. Soon the bone spears were falling out of the air and into the ocean, leaving the remainder to strike the priestess' barriers.
The spears crashed into the flanking shields like a devastating hailstorm, each hit causing the young woman to wince and cry out until she had fallen to her knees. Many of the bones, upon striking the defenses, hovered in place as if refusing to be denied, but the power of the Barrier Fruit held. Finally, the attack stopped, and though a few ships here and there had been struck by stray shots, the wide barrier-walls had held. The priestess collapsed to the deck, uncrossing her fingers as the shields dropped, and Hagoromo was at her side moments later.
"Are you alright?" asked Hagoromo, lending her a fraction of his chakra with barely a thought.
"Incredible…" groaned the young woman. "That was just part of her power? I've never felt anything that even strained the barriers before and already I feel like I've been beaten half to death…"
"You did well. Because you helped, few of us were hurt. We…"
Prompted by a pulse of his brother's confusion, Hagoromo looked up to see the ships that had been struck by the bone cloud begin to disintegrate, turning to ash before their eyes. The panicked sailors and soldiers who had had no choice but to don their armor looked to their neighbors for aid, but there was little to be done for them. Then a series of golden doors began appearing on each one of the ships, each door opening into blackness as a frail arm beckoned people inside. The men and women looked on with a desperate fear, as if uncertainly weighing the golden portals against certain death, but they all rushed inside just before the decks collapsed beneath their feet.
Minutes later, the harrowed evacuees emerged from another array of golden doors on other ships throughout the fleet, muttering nervous prayers as they did so.
Once the flow of rescued soldiers began to stop, another door appeared in front of the two brothers.
[DOOR-DOOR: GATES OF THE DEAD]
Plated with gold and inlaid with lapis lazuli, the double doors swung slowly open and a withered old face peered through the opening. The young barrier priestess startled and leapt away from Hagoromo's concerned care as if bitten, and he straightened up quickly as well. The old crone in the golden doorway saw both brothers and glared, her sour expression making her displeasure perfectly clear.
"High Priestess," said Hagoromo, bowing in greeting. Hamura said nothing, attempting to stare the old woman down.
"You two. Get inside," she ordered, her voice strong despite her ancient years. "That demon is targeting the both of you and I can't be having with her killing Great King Nefertari before we even reach the shore. We're going to land directly and you're coming with me."
"But-"
"Hurry now! There's no time for your usual insolence."
Then she disappeared back inside. The two brothers shared an exasperated look and then turned to the King. Djoser was smiling as he watched them stand at the threshold.
"Hagoromo. Hamura. I believe in the two of you, Children of the Sun. Make me proud. You are the light of our hope."
He turned away, placing his helm atop his head and beginning the process of transforming into his Zoan form, a Scarab Beetle. Well aware that this could be the last time they saw him, the two brothers forced themselves to turn away and stepped through the door into deep blackness.
Inside, cool wisps of mist seemed to leech from the walls of the dark, torch-lit catacombs, coiling around their skin as they trudged down hallway after hallway. The old crone moved with surprising speed, and the two brothers chased after her hunched form as her staff of office clacked noisily against the ground. Once again Hagoromo was astounded by the changes one's personality could have on a Devil Fruit. He didn't think there was any aspect of the Door-Door Fruit that desired to look this way, but the High Priestess was so strongly insistent that the alternate dimension she accessed with the Door-Door Fruit's power was a gateway to the Spirit World that it came out looking like an infinite labyrinth of crypts.
Hagoromo, of course, knew this spirit world nonsense was ludicrous, given that he literally had dominion over the souls of the living and dead, but he'd had enough shouting matches with her over the years. It just wasn't worth it.
"You certainly didn't stand up for yourself when you saw her," thought Hamura. "Oh, Great Priestess!"
"Oh, be quiet. Now is the last time for arguments. If she wants to believe in this then I'll let her. Speaking of…"
"High Priestess," said Hagoromo. "I thought you said that only the priestly class were ever to be allowed inside these gates. That was an ironclad rule. Why change that now?"
"You do not feel it, Child of the Sun?" asked the woman, sounding quite vindicated. "How surprising for one who claims to speak for the dead."
Hagoromo frowned. He felt anxious, but that was it. The woman continued.
"No matter. I do feel it. The spirits are restless today. They cry out for vengeance… and for victory. Consider yourselves blessed, for they will allow any transgression tonight as long as it aids in the Demon Queen's defeat. Our ancestors watch over us, and I believe that our hopes will rise with the dawn."
"Well, at least the spirits are being useful for a change," thought Hamura.
Despite the fact that there was no way that the old hag could have heard their thoughts, she shot a steel-melting glare back over her shoulder. They met her eyes with a difficulty that she answered with a small nod.
"You're determined, then. Good. I realize it will be difficult to go against your blood, but that blasphemous witch must die tonight. The spirits bless you in your efforts, though I doubt that you care."
"She's right about that…"
"Quiet."
Her eyes narrowed, but she turned back and continued to walk for another minute.
"We're here," said the woman as they turned a corner and entered a large room. Inside, about three dozen people of various ages and genders stood at the ready. The two brothers recognized them instantly. These were the majority of the Devil-Fruit users of Alabasta.
"Yo," called a slim man who was already in the form of a were-jackal. "Nice of you to finally make it, huh?"
"Hey, we were busy doing your job for you, 'Royal Guardian,'" joked Hamura, approaching his friend with a smile.
"Really? Seems kind of boring so far. Things must be going pretty well out there."
Hamura gave him a weird look.
"You didn't notice the giant fish, the white monsters, or the illusion that Kaguya cast over everyone?"
This seemed to get the attention of everyone in the room, especially the Royal Guardians.
"Uhh… We kind of heard about the big stuff, but not anything about any magic spell. Don't keep me in suspense, man. The King is safe, right?"
The two brothers filed this information away for later.
"She didn't tell them?" asked Hamura, noting the old woman's stoic gaze. "Should we fill them in?"
"Hmmm… No, we don't really know whether it's true that her illusion affected the whole world or not, and these people are already more determined than most. If she decided they didn't need to hear it then I wouldn't argue."
Hamura nodded.
"Yes, everyone's pretty much alright. The King was safe when we left him."
"Well good," said the Jackal, grinning wildly. "If you'd screwed this up I'd have to kill you, and lemme tell you that I don't fancy my odds. It really sucks being cooped up in here, man."
"Be thankful for the shelter of your ancestors," admonished the High Priestess. "The last thing we need is most of our Devil-Fruit users being sunk from an errant strike."
One of the other men nearby punched the Jackal in the shoulder.
"Ow. Yeah, fair enough. But I take it now that our star attractions are here we're just about ready to go?"
"We are, indeed," said the crone, as everyone in the room perked up. "Follow me. It is time."
Then she stepped out a different door and shuffled away. Soon, everyone was standing and following after her down a long hallway dotted with sputtering torches.
"Creepy digs," whispered the Jackal, who sidled up beside them. "If the spirits live somewhere like this it really motivates you to stay alive, huh?"
"Still your tongue, dog," snapped the High Priestess, from far ahead.
"Sheesh, well at least her hearing isn't going… know what I mean?"
Hamura grinned silently to his friend, and Hagoromo could empathize with them both. Both brothers hadn't exactly had good experiences with the old crone over the years.
They proceeded onward through tunnels for what seemed like ages, talking about all sorts of things with the people around them. For a little while the mood seemed to lighten, until the Jackal dropped a bomb.
"So you guys think you can kill that bitch, or what?" he asked.
Three separate people punched him in different places on his body.
"Ow-ow-Ow! Come on, we're all thinking it! I mean, it's do or die time either way, but we have to know, right?"
"We are determined," said Hagoromo, eyes hard.
"We will do what is necessary," agreed Hamura. "Whatever that may be."
There was a palpable sense of relief around the traveling party.
"See?" said the Jackal. "I never doubted them, but don't tell me we didn't need to hear that. And, look, guys? I'm sorry about this. This is just way too shitty for words, but don't let it get you too down."
"We've reached the landing area," interrupted the High Priestess as they reached a section of the long hallway that was seemingly identical to every other part. "For those in the beachhead team this is the end of the line. You'll be fighting white humanoids of Kaguya's creation, so don't be surprised. Clear out a landing area for the fleet, and may the spirits' blessings be upon you. Everyone who is going in deeper should stay with me."
"Well, that's my cue," grinned the Jackal. With that, he slapped one clawed hand on Hamura's shoulder before slipping past them both. "Hey, we all believe in you. Pour out a drink for me when I'm gone, yeah?"
With those parting words, he disappeared, slinking away through the crowd to the front of the line and slipping out into a side door that creaked open to let in air that already smelled like fire and gunpowder. Howling and cackling, he leapt into combat and was gone.
Soon there were far fewer warriors with them. The crone continued onward unfazed, shuffling through the halls of the seemingly infinite crypt with complete confidence in her location. The journey was much more quiet now. Even Hamura and Hagoromo didn't share much in each other's thoughts. Behind them walked an armored woman they recognized from the Royal Guard, and in front of them walked a shadowy figure that they didn't recognize at all, wrapped in a tattered grey cowl that cloaked his or her face in a darkness that even the Rinnegan seemed reluctant to dig into.
They had walked for another five minutes when the worst happened. A buzzing noise heralded the appearance of a small iridescent hole that opened in the wall. The High Priestess spun in place with fiendish reflexes and slammed her staff into the stones by the opening, drawing a circle around it to seal the hole shut with a sturdy-looking steel door. Moments later, more holes began to appear in the hallway around them. The crone glared hatefully at these intruding presences.
"So the Demon Queen can reach even here, hmm? Of course she can. How else could her sacrilege be made complete…"
With a gesture from the old woman, portals opened all around the room. The priestess raised her voice. "All of you! Out! I can carry you no further. You're about a mile behind enemy lines. Go with the spirits' blessing!"
With deep bows of respect, the assembled Devil Fruit users departed. When Hagoromo and Hamura turned to leave, she shook her head and the door they were moving towards disappeared. Moments later, all the others slammed shut as well. "No, not you two simpletons. You stay here with me."
Hamura scowled. "Alright, old lady, we've had enough-"
"Silence!"
The High Priestess turned to the two of them, her expression unreadable as the halls continued to dissolve. With one hand she removed two golden beads from her staff and held them out before her. "Take these and then charge them with your chakra before returning them to me. I need everything you can give me. Listen to this if you hear nothing else from me."
Bemused, the brothers followed her orders, though they weren't pleased by it.
"High Priestess," began Hagoromo as he charged his bead with energy. "I know that you've never liked us, and I can only guess that it is because of our Mother. Right now there's no time left for these petty feuds. Our Mother is a master of dimensional manipulation, and we cannot be trapped inside here when she finishes dismantling this place. Don't endanger the mission because of your hatred of our parent."
"Parent, hmm…?" mused the old woman, looking thoughtful as they handed back the beads. She grasped them in her dark, withered hand. "She wants you two, you know. She has lost all faith in humanity, but you two are the only ones left that she cares about... though she should know better. In my long life I've seen any number of spoiled little princes with more power than was good for them, and let me tell you that I've never been more frightened than I was when you two arrived at the palace."
Hamura furrowed his brow. "Old lady-"
"But you've changed from the two terrifying creatures you were when she cast you out into the ocean. You've taken to our ideals like a swan to water, and I doubt she'd see eye-to-eye with you ever again. The Great King never told you why you are called the Children of the Sun, did he?"
"...No… why would that-"
"The Sun has always been the arbiter of life and death. It gives and it takes. But when the Demon Queen moved the earth, skies, and oceans, she bound our kingdom even more firmly to its fate. Now it beats down upon us without remorse, and these days it seems to take more than it gives…"
The brothers frowned at the implication, and were all the more surprised when the old hag smiled at them. "But the Sun is still our symbol. Still our protector. And when you were declared Children of the Sun you ceased to be the children of anyone else in the world. To our people you are now simply children of Alabasta. Pay no attention to me and my treatment of you. I lost five children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to Kaguya's whims, and I've been unfair to you both as a result. I've always known it, but in the end I'm merely human."
Just as the stunned young men were processing this revelation, a door opened beneath their feet, dropping them onto the cold ground of the real world. The grass was withered beneath them, and the sound of battle was audible in the distance. Inside, the pocket dimension continued to deteriorate as the crone gazed down at them.
"If the spirits' blessings are sufficient, then the chakra in these beads will make her think you are with me for just a little while longer. Use that opportunity to get closer to her and use it well, for you won't be getting help from anyone else thus far in. You won't be seeing me ever again, either."
"Wha- old Granny?!" exclaimed Hamura. "You're just gonna let her kill you in there?!"
"Hmph, hardly," snorted the ancient woman. "I'm more than a hundred years old and I've been working with this Fruit of mine for twice as long as she's been alive. I'll give her a piece of my mind and make her choke on it. You two. Listen to me. The people of Alabasta, the spirits of those who came before, and myself. We all believe in the both of you. Show her the blazing light that shines in the heart of all true Children of Alabasta, and push back this darkness once and for all."
Then the door in the air swung shut, fuzzing around the edges and then disintegrating into mist just a second later.
The two young men sat there for a moment, hearing the sounds of battle in the far-off distance as their emotions frayed around the edges. Eventually, Hamura stood up, looking ahead to the twisted monstrosity that towered over the land. The bastard child of the Divine Tree loomed in the distance with all the natural warmth of a gallows.
"Come on," said Hamura. "You heard the old hag. We must go. We both know what we need to do now."
It was a good thing, thought Hagoromo, that their hearts were bound together close enough that they could share their feelings. Words, at this point, would have been insufficient to describe their pain. Slowly, he stood back up.
"Are you ready?" asked Hamura.
"No."
"Yeah... neither am I."
They left anyway.
-The Present-
Sasuke, Robin, and Law listened to his story with wide eyes, completely silent until Rayleigh's descriptions seemed to flag.
"Then… what happened?" asked Robin, voice taut.
Rayleigh simply shrugged breezily, piloting the rundown and slightly smelly vehicle across the gap to an adjacent grove. "Well, what do you think happened? They won."
"Wha- But- But you… No, you can't just…"
"They beat up Kaguya, and all the Kings became heroes and living deities that formed the World Government that we know and love today."
Robin's mouth opened and closed without a sound.
"Congratulations," said Law. "You've rendered her speechless, which is a feat that I certainly didn't manage."
"How much of that is true?" asked Sasuke. "Those are some suspiciously specific details."
Rayleigh shrugged again. "Hell if I know. Most? Some? It might all be a load of horse crap, to tell the truth."
"Old man," growled Law, "-I swear to god-"
"Oh, don't look at me like that," insisted Rayleigh. "This, young Robin, is why I said it was important to look at the matter for yourself. A real historian has a logical mind that can hold facts without distorting them. What you all must realize is that I never read the Poneglyphs that told this story myself, I simply heard them secondhand from Roger. And Roger… well, he was a real storyteller. So much so that it was sometimes tough to tell when a story of his moved from 'tales' to 'tall tales,' if you get my drift. Apparently the voices he heard filled in the details somewhat, but… people don't generally consider voices in your head to be trustworthy historical sources."
"No, they don't!" exclaimed Robin.
"I was wondering about that," agreed Sasuke. "A worldwide Genjutsu cast on the moon? From either the Byakugan or some kind of super-Sharingan? Some of it made some sense, but frankly all that stuff about chakra seemed a bit fishy."
Law growled, his frustration mounting. "Alright, screw all that and your ninja mumbo-jumbo! What does any of this have to do with the National Treasure of Mariejois?!"
Rayleigh nodded. "Oh, right. You would be especially interested in that, wouldn't you…"
Sasuke and Robin glanced at Law. The man looked like he was ready to explode at any second.
"Well-"
"You realize-" interrupted Law. "-that telling us this could be fatal, right? People die because they know this. People can blackmail the world because they know this. Islands could get slagged because they think you know this. Are we going to get an Admiral sent after us because you're blabbing your mouth here?!"
"Well, I certainly don't think so," said Rayleigh. "I've known the truth for almost twenty years now and I'm still fine."
Law's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"
"Relax," chided Rayleigh, redirecting the flying van around a low tree branch. "Truth be told, it's not going to matter for very long. One way or another, in a day's time I expect the truth about the National Treasure to become much less valuable."
"What," said Law. "Are you talking about."
"Yes, I thought that would get your attention," grinned Rayleigh.
"What are both of you talking about?" asked Sasuke. "We're clearly missing some information here."
Law looked like he was struggling to breathe, much less speak, but Rayleigh said nothing. Eventually, Law explained the situation.
"There's a man. A Shichibukai and former Noble. Donquixote Doflamingo. He's one hell of a bastard, and the reason he's gained so much power in the New World is that he has one hell of a piece of blackmail material over the World Government. That information is the identity of something called the 'National Treasure of Mariejois,' and just knowing what it is is enough to make the Government play ball with him, no matter how far he goes."
"And you want him… gone?" asked Robin.
"Sure, you could put it like that."
"Well I can assure you," began Rayleigh, "-that if we succeed in beating Akatsuki at their own game then not only will we save the world, but we'll also take the wind right out of Mister Flamingo's wings. Play our cards right and we could come out even better than that."
"Then I'm in," stated Law, folding his arms. "So let's get talking. What does that story have to do with the National Treasure? Is it those crazy weapons of war, something that belonged to that demon lady, or what?"
"Please," insisted Robin. "The facts. What are the facts."
"Alright, alright. So… here's what we know for sure. As in, anything confirmed by the Poneglyphs in multiple places, or by other sources along our path. Now keep in mind, if Akatsuki only found the one stone on your island then they won't know more than a fifth of this."
He took a breath and then began.
"From ancient history, a great tree has always grown on our world. Every thousand years the tree grows a single fruit that is somehow the source of all Devil Fruits. Our best guess was that it drops from the Tree, hits the ocean, and dissolves into a bunch of different blobs of energy that fight for supremacy, splitting and merging and consuming each other until a couple hundred victorious spirits emerge from the process and enter the world's life force to grow and evolve alongside humanity. Some of them become more or less powerful than others. During the process each one tries to find a niche to work with by looking at the world around it, and in doing so it becomes a unique Devil Fruit."
"Honestly, that fits with what I saw," noted Sasuke. "I've connected with a Devil Fruit and it was definitely an intelligent entity. Though that may be because the one I looked at was the Human-Human Fruit…"
Rayleigh nodded. "It's not common knowledge, but every thousand years in history new Devil Fruits would appear that had never been seen before. The ones created more recently tend to be a good bit… weirder than the more ancient ones, probably because humans invented so many weird ideas for the demons to capitalize on. Anyway, that happened every thousand years without fail, except for one thousand years ago. That was when a woman named Kaguya appeared."
Rayleigh glanced out the window as a squadron of flying fish zipped past them. "Oh, that appears to be young Luffy and some others who just passed by us."
"Yes," said Robin, unusually tense. "I just let them know we would meet them back at the ship."
"...You're not going to invite them inside? There's plenty of room in the van."
Robin's mouth ticked upward slightly. "I deeply admire the man, but if I had to listen to Luffy asking questions while you're telling us this, I might do something vicious that I later come to regret. Kaguya, from the story. Continue, please."
"Fair enough… Anyway, Kaguya. Roger said she came from another world, but I couldn't tell you the truth there. She possessed great power and knowledge, and used that power to find and take the Divine Fruit when it ripened. When she ate it she gained an absolutely absurd amount of strength. Every scrap of power that would have made a new set of Devil Fruits went to her for her to use as she saw fit."
"And... she saw fit to rule the world?" asked Sasuke.
Rayleigh shrugged.
"Well, according to the stones she tried to make the world a place where everyone could live in peaceful harmony. When that didn't work, she raised mountains and reshaped oceans, dividing the world into five seas so that war would be too difficult to wage. When that didn't work, she tried to make a glorious eternal kingdom that would spread an example of a good and righteous way of life all across the world."
"And when that didn't work-" interrupted Law, chuckling cynically to himself.
"Well… then she got a bit testy," admitted Rayleigh. "She built great weapons of war. Things that could destroy entire islands. Robin, you know what I'm talking about here."
"The Three Ancient Weapons," said Robin. "So that was the Greatest Kingdom? Kaguya's kingdom? I've heard about it from the Poneglyphs, but..."
"Yep. One and the same. Though her plan for world peace didn't work out, her kingdom was still the most powerful entity in history. She was beloved by her subjects, and any who basked in her light, it was said, were moved to tears."
"So what did she do to piss everyone else off?" asked Law. "All of a sudden they stop fighting each other and start fighting her, so something must have spooked them."
"I don't know. I do know that she was acting very strangely at the end of her reign and none of the records had any good explanations as to why. Nor the reasons why she went around leaving cryptic messages written in stone."
"Wait," interrupted Robin, before pausing and taking stock for a moment. "All my life I've understood the reasons that the Great Kingdom might have had for leaving messages to preserve their wisdom, but it was all under the assumption that this kingdom was afraid their history would be lost if the world turned its tyranny against them. I don't understand how this makes sense in the light of Kaguya's kingdom being the one in power…"
"Yes, well… That's one of the more insidious aspects of the World Government's information control. Any who dug deeper would find misinformation planted in certain areas. I do know that many of the Poneglyphs weren't written by her at all, but by her children after the fact, but as to why she'd concern herself with preserving information about ancient weapons, I have no idea."
"Maybe she was afraid of something?" asked Sasuke.
"I'm not really sure what cause she'd have had to be afraid of anything at all, but it's as good a reason as any," said Rayleigh. "Anyway, her kingdom was the greatest on the earth, but it wasn't the only one out there."
Sasuke frowned. "So that's what I don't get. Why did she need super-weapons at all? Wasn't she some sort of omnipotent god who could sink islands on her own?"
"Well… essentially, yes. But the thing is… the world is a very, very large place." Rayleigh paused as the others gave him an odd look. "I realize that may sound a bit childish, but it's no less true. It's something you only begin to grasp when you've been all across the oceans, I suppose… You can reduce it to names and shapes on a map all you want, but the reality is that the world is just too damn big for us to comprehend. One person, no matter how powerful, couldn't possibly rule over it all. While it's true that no army could stand against her, in the end you have to rely on other people and systems to extend your reach."
"You need to delegate," said Law.
"And for that you need trust. I think she had some problems giving access to the Ancient Weapons to her followers, which may have been what lost her the war in the end. Eventually she even tried making living weapons that would obey only her, but that didn't work out either."
"And her family…" said Sasuke. "From the story it sounds like she didn't trust them either."
"They were the first to go," nodded Rayleigh. "It was implied that Kaguya was jealous and distrustful of her sons for inheriting some of her immense power. She cast them out, and they spent years of their youth living abroad where they gained the ideals of the rest of humanity."
"This is going back somewhat," said Robin, "-but why twenty-one kingdoms? Everything I have ever heard suggested there were only twenty."
"Oh, that's simple. Let's just say that several of the kings cemented their power by killing and enslaving non-humans on their islands. Ignoring the merfolk was all too easy for such people."
No one could argue with that.
"Anyway, so one day she kicks her kids out and they grow up with normal humans. Then the alliance brings a big armada down to kick her ass, and they win. Kaguya… dies, I guess, and the kids take her power for themselves. One of them, Hagoromo, becomes known as the Sage of Six Paths and goes on to colonize the home island of the ninjas. He brought all of Kaguya's power with him to seal it away behind a barrier and cast an illusion on the sun itself that made navigation in the Grand Line bloody impossible, all to make sure no one would ever find your kingdom or the ruins of Kaguya's kingdom ever again."
"Wait," said Sasuke. "Okay, I have a number of questions. Uh… first, we were taught that it was the Sage of Six Paths who brought chakra to human beings. Before him, nobody in the world had it."
Rayleigh raised an eyebrow. "Chakra's that weird energy you ninjas use, right?"
"W-well, actually it's what every human uses to surpass their limits. It's what lets people break boulders with their fists or jump fifty feet into the air, or-"
Rayleigh snorted. "Well I can tell you right now that that's a load of horse crap. People were just as strong two thousand years ago as they were today. There's lots of historical evidence that people performed similar feats throughout the millennia."
"I could have told you the same thing if you had asked," murmured Robin.
Not to be deterred, Sasuke pushed onward. "I can say for certain that it's chakra that lets you do all of that. I can see it happening with my own two eyes."
Rayleigh shrugged. "Well maybe it's true that he gave people all that ninja stuff, then. Your people do have a very odd set of powers, after all."
Sasuke looked unconvinced, but moved on. "Second, you said he put Kaguya's power on our island, but what happened to it?"
"He split it into nine pieces," answered Rayleigh.
All of a sudden, Sasuke looked ill.
"The Tailed Beasts? Those things were supposed to become Devil Fruits?!"
"Oh, hell if I know! But I will say that each Divine Fruit didn't generate just nine demons. Try hundreds instead. There isn't a single Devil Fruit out there that was made with that much concentrated energy."
Robin turned to the young ninja. "Sasuke, didn't you tell me once that your special demons were very similar to the Devil Fruits?"
"Yes, but they weren't…" Sasuke paused. If the story had been true and not just a fanciful reimagining of historical events, then the power that had spawned the Devil Fruits had first been corrupted by Kaguya's influence, then split by the Sage rather than sinking into the ocean, and last but not least bound forcibly into a human's chakra system using arts of sealing rather than the symbiosis he had seen with Chopper. Small wonder they acted differently, and far more human-like, than the Devil Fruits.
He nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that could make sense."
Law, meanwhile had been growing increasingly impatient. "Alright, I've had enough of the runaround. What does this have to do with the National Treasure?"
"Oh?" asked Rayleigh. "I should have thought it was obvious by now. The Divine Tree is still on the planet and still bearing fruit."
There was a small moment of silence.
"And wouldn't you know it, but it's been just about a thousand years since the events in that story."
The silence grew a bit more worried.
"And the Tree sits even now directly above us, halfway up the Red Line and guarded by the forces of Mariejois, who seek to take the Fruit for themselves and rule the world as living gods."
Despite themselves, a shiver ran down their spines. Rayleigh had an aura about him, and none of them were immune to the way his fierce intensity drew them in.
"The Tree itself is the treasure…" breathed Robin.
"Yeah. Or the Fruit, I guess. It doesn't really matter, though."
"So Akatsuki," began Sasuke, "-is trying to steal the Fruit?"
"Basically, yes. That's the gist of it."
"Could we just tell the government what's going on?"
Of all the things they had talked about, this was the first thing that seemed to unnerve the old pirate.
"Tell the government?! Are you crazy?! I'm still not certain it wouldn't be better to let Akatsuki take it for themselves! They could hardly do a worse job than the Nobility!"
"But Akatsuki is composed entirely of psychopathic murderers," noted Sasuke.
Everyone else in the van gave Sasuke a pitying look, like one might use on a child that had asked a question they were too young to understand.
"The Nobility is that bad? Really?!"
"Yes, really," said Rayleigh, returning his attention to the drive. "But I suppose that answers my other question, which was how worried we should be about Akatsuki succeeding here. Really, we'll just have to take it for ourselves."
"So how did Akatsuki even know how to get all this done in the first place?" asked Sasuke.
"The Poneglyph on your island happened to include instructions for removing the seal that isolated you, information on when the Tree would bloom, as well as instructions on how to interface with the Tree if needed."
"Why?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Why was that written there?"
Rayleigh shrugged again. "Beats me. It wasn't written for Akatsuki, though, that's for sure."
"Wait, what?" asked Sasuke, thoroughly confused.
"Oh, ignore that. I'm really just guessing here. Anyway, here's the part of this story that I'm a little bit more certain about, because it's the part I was actually there for. Our role in the story began when Roger and I arrived on your island, and talking to your father down in Konoha led us on a ghost hunt. A ghost hunt for a man named Uchiha Madara."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes somewhat, but there wasn't much to say. When Rayleigh looked at him expectantly, Sasuke said, "I don't know who that is. One of my ancestors, I presume?"
"Really? You don't know him? He was apparently one of the founders of Konoha, and I sort of assumed… well, whatever. It doesn't really matter. The point is, Roger listened to the Voice of the Earth and it led him to an old hermit in an old cave. Uchiha Madara, alive in the flesh. Well, for a given definition of alive."
"But the founding of Konoha…? That would make him… beyond ancient."
Rayleigh nodded.
"That he was. He was being kept alive by some sort of horrifying statue, plotting in secret to overturn the world." He chuckled. "Roger… got a bit personally offended by that. He seemed to think that Madara had lost his chance to change the world, and that hanging on like that was somehow 'cheating.' Unfortunately for Madara, Roger was inclined to do more than just complain about it. When Roger left that cave, Madara was dead."
"He just murdered a defenseless old guy on life support?" asked Law. "That's a side of Gold Roger I don't think I've ever heard before."
"Well, 'defenseless' is… a bit of a stretch. Madara also possessed a pair of eyes with incredible powers. I believe this is the same pair that the 'Good Boy,' Tobi, is using now."
"The Rinnegan…" mused Sasuke. "I wish we knew more about it, but if Madara possessed a copy of the Rinnegan then… what, that means it's related to the Sharingan somehow? If Tobi was born with a set of his own then does that mean Tobi's an Uchiha as well?"
"No, I mean I think Tobi literally took Madara's eyeballs out of his skull after he was dead," said Rayleigh. "See, here's the thing. In life, Madara had with him three attendants, and though we only realized it much later once we had uncovered more of the True History, those attendants were actually some of the same monsters that Kaguya had created by transforming her own followers. They appeared to be fanatically devoted to their new master, but the circumstances surrounding Uchiha Madara's death and Kaguya's divine power are not so unrelated as it might have seemed at the time."
Robin raised a delicate eyebrow. "Are these monsters still alive?"
"Well, yes and no. Roger killed two of them in that cave. The third... For the rest of our journey, we were stalked by a young boy. Maybe thirteen years old. He watched us from the darkness and fled from us during the day. Whenever we'd get a good look at him he'd disappear into the ground, or into the trunk of a tree, but the one thing all of our men and women agreed on was his eyes. Light grey with concentric circles."
"The Rinnegan," said Sasuke.
Rayleigh nodded. "One day we finally caught him. It was easy, actually. Even though we were trekking through the wilderness at the time, our chef took the opportunity to roast an entire boar on the spit, doling out our spices and seasonings until its smell was irresistible. The boy walked straight into the camp as if he hadn't even noticed we were there."
He chuckled again, lost in memory. "I've never seen anyone eat like that before. We might have taken the kid on as a crew member if he hadn't loathed us with every fiber of his being for killing his master. Anyway, our doctor examined the boy and discovered that his nervous system had been taken over by the third monster. Uchiha Madara's final caretaker was riding around in the brain-dead boy like a puppeteer. When we asked him his name, he said-"
"Tobi," breathed Robin, listening enraptured.
Rayleigh nodded to her. "Just so."
"So clearly you didn't kill Tobi," said Sasuke. "Not that I can't empathize with his situation, but it sounds like he wasn't really a child at all, was he? He was a monster running around in a child's stolen body. If he was all alone in the world and dedicated to hunting you down and killing you, some might have considered it a mercy to end his life."
"Oh no," said Rayleigh. "You see, it was mercy that stayed Roger's hand. And that mercy may yet come back to reward us. Besides, I think it was more appropriate than not to call Tobi a child."
"I almost hate to ask this, but if you thought Tobi might be able to fix the problem with the Tree, then why didn't you keep him with you?"
"We're not slavers, you know. He didn't want to come with us, and he was just a kid all on his own. Besides, we didn't even know that was the Rinnegan until long after we had left your island, and it'd be pretty damn tough to imprison a guy who can just melt into the earth anyway."
"I have to say," said Law. "-this is not the kind of sentiment I expected to hear from the 'Dark King' himself. This talk about mercy and kids really goes against the image I had of you."
"Well I should think it would," said Rayleigh. "I was fully in favor of killing the little bastard and being done with it. It was Roger who insisted we let him go."
The assembled passengers blinked, somewhat taken aback by that statement.
"Oh, Captain Law, take the wheel for a second, will you?" asked Rayleigh, glancing to the man in the passenger's seat and motioning to the steering wheel.
"Uh," began Law. "Why? I haven't ever flown a-"
"Don't worry," interrupted Rayleigh, reaching to the side and unlocking the driver's side door. "Just don't crash it and you'll do fine."
Then, with a blast of air, he opened the door and dropped out the side, disappearing from sight as he fell towards the island far, far below.
There was a moment of terribly-stunned silence before the shouting began, and Law quickly lunged forward, grappling with the steering wheel as Robin sprouted legs to manage the pedals. The van careened wildly in all directions, until finally the two of them pulled the vehicle away from being smashed into the trunk of one of the mangroves. Circling with dizzying speed, Law grabbed his hat and furiously replaced it on his head.
"That shitty old geezer! What the hell was that about?!"
-At That Very Moment-
Naruto, Hinata, and Zoro had run like the wind itself, abandoning the Human Auction House once it became clear that they had been tricked. All the organized crime in the area was pouring in to fight them, but with Hinata's sight it wasn't that hard to evade the thugs. They weren't the problem.
The problem was the horrifically huge creature that had seen them leave the Auction House. The Pacifista had followed them doggedly as they fled back to the ship, and though it never seemed to be moving very fast, it always seemed to start catching up to them the moment they started relaxing. Finally, Naruto and Zoro had decided enough was enough, and that they couldn't lead the armoured monstrosity back to the ship. The fact that Zoro was frustrated after his recent fight and Naruto wanted to show off in front of his girlfriend had nothing to do with it, of course.
Beeping and chittering, the android had begun the fight with an apocalyptic laser beam, and the Straw-Hats quickly began to reassess their odds.
Naruto distracted it with clones while striking with just about every jutsu he knew, Zoro bit deep into the thing's armor with successive strikes, and Hinata used the Byakugan to target vulnerable systems, letting loose against an opponent that wasn't actually alive in the first place. Every time they thought the android was about to go down it found a new set of redundancies and continued the fight. It was exhausting work.
Finally, Naruto had had enough.
"Alright, asshole. I haven't had a chance to use this in a real fight yet, so I guess you get to be the lucky guinea pig.
"Naruto," breathed Hinata, carefully watching the flow of his Sage chakra to ensure he didn't hurt himself. The Pacifista slowly stood up, reorienting on the target standing still in front of it. It beeped quizzically.
"Yeah that's right," said Naruto, beginning the transformation into his Sage Mode. "You'd better be afraid. When I'm like this, my power and speed shoot through the roof, so just sit back and watch as I blow a hole in that thick skull of yours."
"You really think you got this guy?" asked Zoro, panting as he gripped his swords.
"Oh yeah. I know it!"
"N-Naruto!" exclaimed Hinata, looking upwards in shock.
"Time to take you down to size, you creepy bear- wait, what?"
All four of them looked up to the sky just in time to see a shooting star strike from the heavens, landing fist-first upon the Pacifista's armoured skull. The monster's head exploded in a shower of fire, and the falling object continued downward, not stopping until it had embedded itself firmly in the twisted wreckage of the android's formerly mighty body. Then, an old man in cheap, oil-stained clothing stepped out from the broken heap of slag and waved to them.
"Hey," said the man.
The Pacifista chose that very moment to explode in an actinic blast of light and fire that made them cover their eyes. When the smoke cleared, the man remained, utterly invincible. Naruto, Hinata, and Zoro's jaws dropped.
"Hey," said the man again, ignoring the fact that he had just crushed a super weapon without seeming to break a sweat. "You're Roronoa Zoro, right?"
A small, guarded nod.
"Then I guess that makes you Naruto, doesn't it?" asked the man.
Another dumb nod.
"Wonderful! Listen, I've been talking with your friends, Robin and Sasuke, up in the van, but when I saw you I knew I had to drop in. We're heading back to your ship to meet up with the others."
Blank stares were the order of the day.
"Right. So I'll have them bring the van around and we'll get everyone together, alright with you?"
Nothing changed. Eventually, Rayleigh nodded and leapt back into the air as if he'd been shot out of a cannon. They followed his ascent to the lower branches of the mangrove hundreds of feet in the air with bamboozled expressions as he began flagging down a flying bubble-van.
Naruto, still stuck in Sage Mode, turned to the others.
"Who the crap was that guy?!"
It wasn't long before the five Straw-Hats plus Trafalgar Law were seated inside Silvers Rayleigh's spacious, suspiciously-scented van. Pretty much all of them exchanged uncomfortable glances with everyone else, though all of them seemed equally stunned by the situation.
"Now, where was I…?" asked Rayleigh, mumbling thoughtfully to himself as he put the van back into gear. "Oh, right, of course. So anyway, that's why Tobi is trying to steal the Divine Fruit right out from under the noses of the World Government and set up Akatsuki as a cabal of living gods that will rule over the world with an iron fist."
There was more silence.
"What the fuck is going on here?!" shouted Naruto.
A/N:
One day I'll sit on my creaky rocking chair and tell my grandchildren in an equally creaky voice, "Kids, did I ever tell you about the time I crudely duct-taped the lore of Naruto and One Piece together and lived to tell the tale?"
And they'll be like, "Naruto? Wasn't that that show in the nineties about Uzumaki Dorito's great-grandfather?" and "I thought Eiichiro Oda forbade all mention of the lore after he became an immortal god-king and shifted One Piece to a monthly update schedule five years ago?"