The call danced round the world in minutes as the survivors of the attack on Mariejois triggered long-unused emergency notification systems. It bounded from repeater to repeater, stopping at only the most secure Den-Den Mushi receivers located at Marine Fortresses scattered worldwide. After all, even in the most dire of emergencies it simply wouldn't do to alert the various insurgent forces that would love nothing more than the chance to take advantage of an assault upon the World Government's Capital.
And yet the city of Mariejois burned. More than half of it had been torn from existence in an instant by the unstoppable golden beams of light. It wouldn't be long before word spread anyway.
Elsewhere, halfway around the world, Admiral Kizaru was awoken by the buzzing call, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in bed.
"...Hmmm?"
-Straw-Hats-
The air burned like a sauna even in the formerly thin, cold atmosphere, cooling condensation dripping from the leaves of the great tree. The assembled warriors lowered their hastily-erected defenses, peering into the clearing steam for signs of danger. After the destructive bombardment of Mariejois, the great rumbling aftermath settled into wary silence as everyone on the battlefield waited to see what came next.
It was perhaps a minute before the snoring began.
SNNNRRRRKKK… HHHHGGGRRRNNKK…
"Uhh…" said Naruto.
"Is he... asleep?" asked Sakura, who had never quite left combat readiness.
"Seems that way," said Sanji, frowning in the direction of the tree's distant trunk. "You know, even by the standards of the people we're used to running into, this Tobi wacko is seriously messed up. Guess you ninjas aren't quite as straight-laced as I had thought."
"Hey, I'm not certain what his deal is either," she argued. "He's gotta be some special brand of screwed in the head, cause our team back home - we didn't normally deal with weirdos like this."
"Er, ours did," said Hinata. "But you're right. It does seem an awfully odd time to fall asleep."
Franky shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, sometimes after firing a shot a guy's gotta take a few minutes to rest, you get me? 'course, not after upgrading to a foundry-forged Battle-Franky model hydraulic-"
"Is nobody going to talk about the fact that Tobi probably just blew up the World Government capital?!" interrupted Nami.
"All those people…" murmured Chopper.
"I'm curious about the state of the capital myself," mused Brook, who was wringing the steam out of his coat. "Unfortunately it's rather far away and my eyes aren't what they used to be. Quite literally, actually."
"Well," began Usopp, adjusting his goggles with a clicking sound, "-by now normally some of the ninjas would be doing weird eyeball stuff and making a big deal of it, but since none of them are stepping up to the plate… Wow. Yeah, okay, there's definitely something big burning over there. Can we run away now? Is it too late for that?"
As the others talked, Sasuke scanned the area. The Straw-Hats were now located on an inner branch of the Divine Tree where the leaves were less thick, about halfway in towards the trunk. He could see Roger a mile or so out, still perched on the rocks of the Red Line, though Silvers Rayleigh remained with the Straw-Hats, staring pensively off into the distance. There was no sign of the remaining two Akatsuki members.
"Hinata, do you see-"
She shook her head. "I've been watching for Danzou and Orochimaru. I caught a couple glimpses of them at the beginning of the fight but nothing new for a while. The Divine Tree blocks my sight and I think they're taking advantage of that to use it as cover." She glanced upwards. "Somewhere up in the crown of the tree, I'd guess. Ace is still working on hunting them down."
Sasuke sighed. Even as injured as those two evil murderers had been, Orochimaru was a very skilled medic. It was practically assured they'd have to face the elite shinobi again.
"Hey," said Naruto, stepping up to put a hand on both of their shoulders. "Come on, the important thing is that we survived the blast. It could have gone a lot worse, right?"
"Oh," said Hinata, turning her head to the side. "Um."
"I shouldn't have jinxed it, should I?"
"Um, maybe?" asked Hinata, pointing a pale finger down in Roger's direction. "I guess that depends on if any of you know who that person with Mr. Roger is."
They turned to look, though Sasuke was sure he was the only one besides Hinata who could make out the details at this distance.
"Oh hell," muttered Sasuke. "We do know him… and things either just got a whole lot better or a whole lot worse for us. That's-"
-Aokiji-
The very first thing that Aokiji did, before fighting the giant laser-tree, before hunting down the leader of Akatsuki, and even before going off to yell at Straw-Hat Luffy, who was presumably at least partially responsible for this catastrophe, was to confront whoever it was that was dressing up like Gold Roger and goading the tree.
The landscape atop the Red Line was jagged, snowy and inhospitable, but at his level of power there were very few physical obstacles that could even slow him down anymore. He slammed into the ground with a crackle of shattering ice before standing tall to tower over the somewhat smaller man in the great red coat. The Roger impersonator was grinning unconcernedly in his direction, but Aokiji's face didn't leave its frosty mien.
"Right," he began, "I desperately need to understand what's going on here, which is the only reason I'm not killing you right now. I'm assuming you're one of the ninjas… but I must admit you've chosen a very tasteless disguise. I'm not in the mood for games."
Roger chuckled, loud and hearty. "Oh-hoh, and you're one of the new Admirals, aren't you?! Bah-hahaha! Well, sure, you've got questions, go ahead and ask away!" He stuck a thumb over his shoulder to point towards the tree. "The big baby's asleep for now."
Aokiji's eyes narrowed. The man didn't even look concerned by his threats, but then again most of these ninjas seemed to be exceptional actors.
"Alright, then I'll make it quick... Why are all of you riding an enormous tree that's shooting laser beams at the capital, and what do I need to do to stop it?" As the fake Roger opened his mouth, the Admiral sharply raised a hand. "No comedy. Twenty words or less."
Roger shrugged. "Tobi hijacked the Nobles' secret treasure. Pulling your head out of your ass would be a good start," he said, before pausing to count down on his fingers.
A dart of smooth ice flickered through the air towards Roger's chest, only to be caught effortlessly mid-countdown between his final two grey digits.
"Also, hello," added Roger, bringing the count to twenty as he negligently flicked the dart over his shoulder.
Faster than most could think, the Admiral brought a ten foot long sword of ice crashing down upon his foe, using his freakish height to his advantage. The blade rang and chipped as it collided with Roger's raised cutlass.
Roger kept laughing. "What's with the icy reception, eh friend?"
"There are very few ninjas out here on the ocean, and Naruto or Sasuke aren't nearly good enough to block that attack. That leaves Akatsuki. Tell me what you've done here and I'll only disable you for later incarceration."
Roger smirked, repelling the ever-increasing pressure with apparent ease. "Geez, those two little ninja fuckers really got their name around if even you've heard of 'em. Either that or you Admirals have a lot more free time on your hands than I was used to, huh?"
Aokiji stared more carefully at the opponent in front of him, taking in the cracked, bloodless skin and the strange, dark eyes. "You… you look like how Moria was back at the archipelago… What's wrong with you?"
Roger's grin deepened for one horrible second... before he abruptly dropped his guard. The frozen sword plummeted catastrophically from shoulder to waist and cleaved its victim in two. The red-coated man crumpled into two halves divided diagonally.
Aokiji stood stunned for barely a moment before whirling in place, scanning for more threats...
...only for him to be shocked again when the corpse on the ground resumed laughing. He spun back around to see the two halves rejoining as if they were being glued back together from errant scraps of dirt and dust.
"Heheheh… what?" asked the revenant, his grin nearly splitting his face in half as he rose slowly to his feet. "You think I'm some clone? An illusion? Expecting some ninja to stab you from behind? Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm more of the front-stabbing type myself."
Memories of Moria's flesh reforming from nothing surfaced in his thoughts, and Aokiji's eyes narrowed.
Roger spoke before he could formulate the question. "Did you know those assholes in Akatsuki can raise the dead?"
There was a silence filled only by the mountain winds and the distant snoring of the great tree. Overwhelmed with a sudden dread, Aokiji reached out with his Haki to scan his opponent. Roger's aura crashed outwards to meet his own, a towering presence that he'd only ever felt before from fighters on the level of the Yonkou.
Without further hesitation the Admiral leapt backwards, creating a dozen more feet of distance between them.
Roger just chuckled. "Relax. I mean, I'm glad to see my reputation's still worth something, but I'm not sticking around and you don't want to waste your energy fighting me. You've got way bigger fish to fry. Like the tree."
"What about the tree?" he asked, ignoring the mixed-up expression. "How can Akatsuki transform into something of this size, and what is their objective?"
"Transform?" asked Roger. "Oh no. Tobi didn't transform into this thing. He just possessed what was already here." He paused, cocking his head slightly to one side. "Or what, don't tell me you didn't know this thing was up here? Divine Tree, thousand-year fruit, godhood, ring any bells?"
A moment passed as memories of conversations with Sengoku ran through his head. Flimsy evasions and non-answers that had been suspicious even at the time. His superior had definitely known something was up here. Something not even his own Admirals were allowed to know about.
Aokiji shook his head. "Godhood. Explain."
"It's what it sounds like, you lickspittle of a Navy dog! The last time this happened was the Void Century, and I'll give you one fucking guess as to what caused that particular fiasco."
Aokiji felt his stomach drop out from under him. There was too much to ask about, but he settled for, "You know the true history of the Void Century."
"What the hell do you think I was doing with my time? Of course I figured that out." When Aokiji failed to respond, Roger continued. "I kept the truth of everything hidden away and laid the seeds for a powerful revolution. The growth of a piratical horde great enough to threaten the world! In a few decades the truth of this place would've been released across every ocean and the legions of free men and women would've gathered together for just a fucking sliver of a chance to stop this atrocity of an ascension ritual before it even started, but never in a million years did I think a random gang of ninja murder enthusiasts would make it out here early and take the tree by stealth!"
"I… what…? Hold on, the Nobility would become gods?"
"Keep up, man! Why do you think they tried so hard to keep this thing a secret?!" He abruptly burst into laughter. "Bah-hahahah! You know what? Screw it! I don't have anything better to do, so I'm just gonna tell you! Hell, I can't even wait! When I was alive I couldn't let the Nobility know what I knew or else they'd jack up the security on this thing, but now the cat's outta the bag and I can just drop all the secrets I want without a care in the world! I hope you're ready for a good old-fashioned monologue, because I haven't had the chance to do a proper one since I died!"
Aokiji cast a glance up at the tree. It quivered occasionally from something that clearly wasn't the wind, but the snores were persisting. The… tree… was still asleep. He turned back to Roger. "I suppose you'd better tell me."
"Heh, that's the spirit." He paused before he began slowly and deliberately pacing back and forth, tugging at one end of his luxurious mustache as he talked. "So… a thousand years ago the great kings and queens of the world defeated the greatest empire on Earth - and that part you must know - but they were left with two problems. The first was the Divine Tree right behind you there, which could grant godhood once a millennium, and the second was that the entire world except for their fleet had been hit with some unbelievably powerful illusion that caused them to doubt the existence of reality itself."
"What-"
"No interrupting!" snapped Roger, before waving his hand dismissively. "And it's ninja stuff, don't worry about it. They're crazy. Anyway, the point is they decided, in their wisdom, to make one problem solve the other. The victorious rulers and their armies used the chaotic times and dazed populace to hunt down and obliterate all records of what had happened, all to make absolutely sure that no one even thought to look for the thing. Because something as dangerous as this you have to either kill it or hide it, and you sure as hell can't kill it!"
Aokiji glanced overhead. The tree was larger than any living creature he'd seen in his life, and his initial attempts to damage it had been… less than promising. He turned back as Roger continued.
"But in the end all that was just politics. The kids who won the day, Hamura and Hagoromo, they were the real heroes. They used the last bits of power they stole from their mother, Kaguya, to separate the tree from her Great Kingdom of Raftel, placing the ruins of her island at one end of the Grand Line and the Divine Tree at the exact opposite side of the world. Then to obfuscate things even further they grabbed up all the shards of her power and dumped them on a no-name island along with everyone who knew a damn thing about any ninja magic, then they trapped it all behind an impenetrable barrier. Last, but certainly not least, they cast a spell on the sun itself so that nobody inside the maze they created could navigate it by star, chart, or compass. That maze was the Grand Line - the greatest puzzle in existence!"
"Wait," interrupted Aokiji, raising a massive hand. "That is… very different from the story I know."
"Bah-hahahah! I'm certain it is! The Nobility wouldn't have said anything about ninjas, or Tailed-Beasts, or any big world-tree. They kept their story straight! You see, the descendants of those kings and queens have been planning this for centuries, my frozen friend! This tree is their key to literal godhood, and we were just a few decades away from an eternity of iron-fisted rule. All until some crazy ninja thugs came by, kick-started the tree, and screwed everything up, that is."
Despite himself, Aokiji wasn't sure what to say. What to think. This was… bad. "Oh, my… but… but, if the Void Century is something that could be repeated… and all that power would have gone to... the Nobility… then..."
There was a great rumbling as the mountain shook. The branches of the tree shivered one by one as it began to wake up. The everpresent sound of distant snoring quickly resolved into muddled murmuring.
Roger, however, didn't even look in its direction. He kept staring straight at Aokiji, his gaze sharpening. His grin dropped, one bushy eyebrow raising with incredulity. "Wait... don't tell me you actually care?" There was a pause as Roger scanned his face. "You do, don't you? No… no! You're a top Navy official and you have the audacity to care about the excesses of those Noble shitholes? I'm… I'm... disappointed! What kind of nonsense is this?!" His voice had gradually risen to a roar. "Hell, if you had at least committed to licking their balls and serving as their fucking executioner then I could respect you as an opponent, but you wanna tell me you think you've still got a conscience after all you've done to help them?! What a fucking joke! As if you hadn't already helped cement their hold over anyone who wants to be free in this world! You're one of the perpetrators of all this! Every order you took from those loathsome sacks of slime led them further on their murderous stroll through the hallowed halls of hedonism and oppression and you have the gall to be shocked when they reached for even more power!? You wishy-washy, useless bucket of piss-slush!"
Aokiji was silent for another moment, and Roger simply snorted. "Whatever. I don't want to talk to you any longer. Besides, it looks like one of your friends is arriving right about now."
"My… friends?"
-Straw-Hats-
-Sasuke-
"Someone's here!" shouted Hinata.
It was quicker than a thunderbolt. A golden flash the same color as Tobi's light blinded the eyes of many of those present, but Sasuke weathered the attack, gasping in shock and whirling to face the new arrival. Even the Sharingan could do no more than let him barely catch the moment when a man in gaudy gold-striped clothing brought his foot in a roundhouse kick aimed at Luffy's throat. His entire leg was wreathed in a chakra that had transformed its appearance into that of steel.
Even after training under Gold Roger he didn't nearly have time to react, but luckily he didn't need to. Silvers Rayleigh slid across the ground like a phantom, intercepting the attack with his own pseudo-metallic kick so swiftly it was as if time had been frozen for the two of them alone. The noise of the limbs connecting rang out more like crossing swords. Luffy staggered backwards an instant later, even his inhuman reflexes not quick enough to deal with the unexpected assassination attempt.
"Luffy!" shouted Sasuke. "Get back!"
Uncharacteristically, Luffy listened right away, scrambling away from the shining but mostly humanoid attacker.
Rayleigh smiled pleasantly at the new arrival. "Oh, don't you dare try that scry-and-die shit when I'm here, you horrible monkey. If you want to kill someone you'd best stop and introduce yourself first."
The assailant finally fully materialized from his shining avatar. The tremendous man wore an immaculately-pressed golden suit and jacket that contrasted with his short, curly, black hair and scraggly stubble. Adorning his back, even now blowing in the wind, was the decorated white jacket of a Marine Admiral.
The man hummed, his voice sounding almost lazily musical. "Hmmm, I just thought I'd get a head-start taking out the trash, that's all… If I had known someone as illustrious as you was going to be here I would have shown a bit more respect…" He dropped his leg, pivoting slightly before lifting a finger to point at Luffy, who barely had time to start dodging before a knife of golden light scythed towards him. He would have died in that instant had it not been for another kick from Rayleigh that deflected the man's arm. The attack went wide.
"Respect?" smirked Rayleigh, his features shaded by the brilliant beam. "Really, now…"
"Hmmm, it was worth a shot, no?" The golden man turned his focus upon Rayleigh, and the two of them began the dance of combat, each blow ringing out like steel. "Dark King Rayleigh, what are you doing sheltering rats all the way up here?"
"Oh, like I had anything better to do. It's just a sightseeing tour." He deflected a strike that could have smashed through steel with one hand and stepped back with a breezy demeanor. "Not that a man at the Navy's beck and call would know anything about vacations!"
The Admiral shrugged in between attacks that made the air quiver. "What can I say? I got the call that the capital was under attack just a few minutes ago. The occupational hazards for the omnipresent man, you know. Command always knows you can make it home in time to help out."
"I wouldn't know," said Rayleigh, light glinting off his glasses. "One of the perks of retirement."
Sasuke watched this fight carefully, directing everyone to back away, all the while knowing that if Rayleigh failed they'd die regardless of their distance from the man. That first kick the Admiral had used… it had been something similar to the techniques he had learned from the agents of CP9, Tekkai and Shigan, only merged together and then vastly evolved until it looked like his limb itself was armoured in steel. It was something he had heard described by Roger as 'Armament Haki.'
"Everyone…" he muttered to his friends. "In case it wasn't clear… we might not want to get involved in this fight…"
"I think that was pretty clear," squeaked Nami.
"No kidding…" said Sanji. "Come on, what the hell are we even doing up here, anyway?"
"Well, we were saving the world," remarked Naruto. "-but now…? I feel kinda useless. I'm beat, and there isn't anyone here we wanna take on in a fight."
Sakura shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "But we're invested now. There's no way down to the ocean that I can see, and if we settle for anything less than total victory then we'll eventually end up dead at the hands of either the government or a giant laser-tree."
Tobi's voice resounded once more in the distance.
"RRAAAAHH! PUTTING ME TO SLEEP, HUH? YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME JUST 'CAUSE I GOT A LITTLE TIRED?! ONE MORE SHOT AND THERE WON'T EVEN BE RUBBLE LEFT!"
A wild, random fragment of a shotgun blast of light energy hit the tree branch twenty feet away and exploded, sending Usopp and Brook flying through the air. The Admiral and the living legend didn't even acknowledge the explosion as they continued their argument.
"You fool!" snarled Rayleigh. "We're not even the ones that did this! The leader of Akatsuki broke into a secret government facility, stole the National Treasure of Mariejois, and transformed into a giant tree that shoots energy beams." Blocking another strike, Rayleigh inclined his head towards the distant figure of Aokiji. "Ask your ice-themed friend over there if you don't believe me."
Kizaru scoffed. "If there were a government facility this close to Mariejois I'd have been informed about it. And I suppose you just came all this way up here to-" He stopped mid-sentence. "Wait, is that Gold Roger over there?" he asked, staring wide-eyed from behind his tinted glasses at the distant figure of the long-dead Pirate King, who was currently dodging flurries of tree branches that smashed one after the other into the jagged rocks of the Red Line.
"Hey!" shouted Rayleigh. "Focus! We're not the ones you need to worry about! Tobi's gonna fire again unless you stop him!"
Abruptly, the Admiral disappeared in a flash of light and noise. An instant later he had reappeared in the distance, reinforcing Admiral Aokiji.
Rayleigh turned to the group and walked back towards them as if nothing had happened. "Sheesh, can you believe it? The nerve of some people. Sorry about the interruption."
"Oh, not at all," said Nami, peeking out from behind the knothole she'd taken cover behind, "You do you."
"Okay, hold on," said Franky, fixing the old man with an irascible glare. "I thought we all wanted Tobi to destroy the capital? That was the plan, right? I was super on board with that."
"I'm in agreement with Franky," said Sasuke. "How does telling the Admiral what Tobi's planning to do help with what Roger's doing to destroy the capital?"
Rayleigh raised his hand and shoulder in a sort of half shrug. "Well, those two things aren't necessarily at odds here. Sasuke, Roger took a shine to you, so I'll tell you that if you're going to learn to deal with people on the world stage then you have to learn exactly how and where to move the important pieces on the battlefield. That Admiral is someone I had to move into the right position for a later moment. You'll see what I mean soon enough."
"Why don't you stop playing around and just tell us right now?"
The half-shrug turned into a full shrug. "Because I'm not certain it will work, and I don't want to look like an idiot if things go wrong."
"That's…" Sasuke sighed. "Okay, fine, whatever." He turned to the others. "What have we got?"
"Nothing," said Zoro, tapping a sword idly against the wood of the Divine Tree. "No one to cut and no way down."
"I'm still not seeing any sign of the Akatsuki remnants," said Hinata.
"So, what?" asked Franky. "We gotta blow up a tree? Is that it? Normally I'd say it sounds like a super good time, but I'm not fancying my odds this time around. This wood is unbreakable."
Robin chuckled to herself. "And yet we have no choice. Like Miss Haruno said, there's no turning back, which means we must break the unbreakable or suffer the ultimate consequences."
"Well, at least we've got one thing going for us," mused Sakura. "Between the two Admirals and Gold Roger fighting Tobi, maybe the three of them together can actually stop this freak for good."
"Yeah, I kinda doubt that," stated Roger, appearing right behind them with a speed that shocked most of those present into squawks of surprise. "Seeing as I'm not staying out there with 'em."
"Gah!" shouted Usopp. "What the hell, man?!
Sakura stepped forward. She seemed to be getting more and more annoyed. "You're not staying out there? Wait, weren't you just fighting Tobi out there a minute ago?!"
Roger scoffed. "Yeah, so? Look at those guys. Devil Fruits like that? They got this."
"They 'got this?' Isn't Tobi trying to kill you in particular?!" shouted Sakura, and others started edging nervously away from the Pirate King. "Should we be running away from you right now?"
"Naw, come on, he's not gonna find me right now. He can barely tell where we are at the best of times, and now he's way too busy getting whaled on by those two stooges out there to try hunting me down."
Sure enough, although Tobi was screaming bloody murder at Roger's disappearance, the distant fight was already refocusing around the two Admirals. Spears of ice and lances of light crashed into Tobi's trunk as he drunkenly flailed branches in the Admirals' direction. Rayleigh simply stood by and smiled as though none of this nonsense was a surprise.
Law frowned and cross his arms. "Respectfully, wouldn't this be the best time to attack as a team and take him out? Some of us have to keep living on this planet when this is done, you know. We can't afford to risk letting the Nobility get that fruit."
"Why would we go and kill this tree now?" asked Roger, though he peered curiously at Captain Law as if noticing him for the first time. "I want him to fire a second shot. He might not have completely leveled the damn capital the first time around, and if those Government dogs want to stop him then, well, they're free to try on their own. I'm sure not gonna help."
"Yeah?" asked Law. "There's all sorts of weapons and Devil Fruits in the world. How confident are you that the Nobility doesn't have something on its way right now that they can use to take the fruit from this guy?"
"Young man," grinned Roger, "-'confident' is my middle name!"
"No," stated Rayleigh, with authority. "No, it is not."
"Alright, let me rephrase that..." began Law, well-versed in ignoring piratical comedy routines. Unfortunately, that was as far as he got before something seemed to freeze the area. Sasuke spun in place as a horrible feeling crawled down his spine, already knowing what he was going to see. Luffy had stepped forward, eyes focused on Roger. Though several other Straw-Hats had noticed the impending confrontation at about the same time, he and Nami were the first to move.
"Luffy-!" shouted Nami, but she was too late.
"Hey, you," said Luffy, in exactly the same tone one might use to start a bar-fight.
Gold Roger's grin crystallized, though he didn't turn to acknowledge the Straw-Hat Captain. "Heheheh… Well, well, well… sounds like someone's got interesting plans for the evening…"
Luffy cocked his head to the side, expression flat. "Gold Roger… I know you're Ace's real dad," he said, startling several others who hadn't been made aware of this fact. "What the hell did you say to him to hurt him like you did?"
There was a moment that in any other environment might have been stunned silence, but here was filled with the distant cracks of burning light and shattering ice slamming into Tobi and punctuated by Usopp's high-pitched gibbering as he ran in circles screaming nonsense about Ace's heritage. Roger ignored all of this and turned to look at Luffy. His gaze settled on the battered straw-hat upon Luffy's brow for just a moment before returning the young man's glare with one of his own.
During all this, Sasuke realized he'd stopped breathing, and he had to force himself to continue. He rummaged through his memory of the conversation Ace had had with Luffy but didn't recall anything that would have set this confrontation off. And now…?
He'd always thought of himself as someone who was pretty good at reading and predicting people, but here were two beings that were, quite frankly, capable of absolutely anything. There was simply no telling what would happen next. He had to be ready for anything, whatever it was. Slowly, his hand inched towards his sword.
"You're that 'Luffy,' huh?" asked Roger, his mustache twitching slightly upwards as he tilted his head in Sasuke's direction. "Heard a fair bit about you from your friend there, but I gotta ask… where'd you get that awesome hat?"
Luffy's face didn't so much as flicker. "Shanks gave it to me a long time ago. Answer the damn question."
And though it didn't seem likely Roger would even know who Luffy was talking about, the cold grin went wider. "Shanks, huh? Well, what a surprise… Can't help but feel a bit confused that he'd give a gift like that to a no-name… Wonder what he saw in you…"
"We're not talking about Shanks right now," growled Luffy. "You have to answer for whatever you did to Ace."
"Hmph. Ace... You know, if that boy saw you talking to me on his behalf I bet he'd tell you to mind your own damn business. Only he wouldn't be so polite about it."
"Just because he's my brother doesn't mean he can order me around. He couldn't stop me from coming to save his life today, and he can't stop me from saying what I need to say, either." Luffy's brow furrowed, and his glare deepened. "What the hell's so funny?"
Roger was laughing quietly to himself. Compared to anything he'd done previously this was positively restrained. "Oh, nothing much. It's just... ironic. You reach that age when you have to start thinking hard about the legacies you're going to leave behind for the next generation, but you can't stop to look too hard at who's following behind you because every single one of 'em looks like a snot-nosed brat." He stopped chuckling, returning to stare down at Luffy. "But… the world keeps on turning anyway, and it always needs new legends. So... how do you decide who's worth a damn and who's just playing pirate?"
"Decide? You don't get to decide who becomes a legend. That's something we have to do for ourselves."
"Hmph. Big words from a little guy."
"I don't need words for this," said Luffy, cracking his knuckles with one hand as he raised his fist. "I'll fight for Ace, no matter who my opponent is. A king, an emperor, or even a god."
That, it seemed, was that. Several of the Straw-Hats gripped their weapons in a daze, ingrained reflexes trumping their shocked confusion as they prepared for the inevitable. Cursing mingled with frightened shouting as the slower-to-react realized Luffy was about to fight the King. Roger scanned the area, looking almost bored.
"Well, isn't that something…" His gaze returned to Luffy, a smile on his face. "...Let's see just what you're made of, oh boy who would be king."
Luffy moved without a shred of hesitation, but barely an instant passed before he staggered to a halt. There was a moment of confusion from those watching as Luffy grunted and gasped for breath, his muscles standing out against his skin, but he seemed no more able to move than a butterfly pinned in place.
Re-engaging the Sharingan, Sasuke saw… well, he wasn't entirely sure what he was seeing. Chakra surged and flowed through the air, and Luffy was caught inside some sort of localized distortion of it, flooding his system and overwhelming any chance he had of controlling his own body. There didn't appear to be any chakra link between Luffy and Roger, nor had Roger moved at all to make an attack.
They were just... standing there.
"Luffy!" shouted Zoro, though he didn't step forward. "What's wrong! I know you're not scared right now!"
Luffy struggled to turn his head, his eyes rolling to face Zoro. His voice was strained when he ground it out. "I'm… not afraid! C-can't… move!"
Roger remained a grinning statue. "Hey, I agree with your green-haired friend with the impressive swords there. Weren't you about to fight me? You're not doing much walking to match that shit-talking from earlier."
Luffy grunted out something unintelligible in response, and the chakra battering his body increased in intensity. To the others it would probably have been completely invisible.
"He's doing something to Luffy," said Sasuke, stepping forward. "I think this is more of his weird mind powers, but I'm not sure."
"Son of a bitch," cursed Zoro, interrupting something Hinata was trying to say as he grabbed a sword from his scabbard. Sanji assumed a fighting stance a moment later. Then everything shifted again. The chakra surges multiplied, crashing down around every one of them that had stepped forward to fight, Sasuke included. He only recognized what this was once it wrapped around him, making his thoughts slow and his heart pound like thunder in his chest. He'd felt it before, from Roger, from Rayleigh, and even a little bit from Luffy.
Only then did Roger speak, eyes still locked on Luffy.
"Nope, none of you lot will be interfering in this. I'd advise against struggling either. Trying too hard could be bad for your health." The energy shifted again, driving them all to their knees as Roger watched impassively. "They call this 'Conqueror's Haki'. It's a neat enough trick. It serves as an extension of my will, the mantle of my position, and the hammer of my soul."
He chuckled. "It's also awesome for being served first at the bars."
Luffy's struggles finally bore some fruit as he staggered forward with a roar of exertion, forcing his muscles to work as he willed them. One step, then two, and then the pressure beating down on Luffy skyrocketed, dropping their captain to his knees again with a scream of pain.
If the previous blasts of power Sasuke had felt from Rayleigh and Roger had been explosions, this was more like a velvet-clad gauntlet reaching across the distance and clasping Luffy's heart. Sasuke could easily see the twisted currents of chakra grasping and clawing through Luffy's body even now, and the strength of it was significantly more intense than any of the rest of them were being subjected to.
From behind them all, Sasuke heard Rayleigh speak up. "Roger… you know what you're doing?"
Sasuke swiveled his eyes to face Rayleigh, hoping for some backup from a man capable of challenging the King, but it was useless. The old man was focused on Roger, and there was no disloyalty in his expression. Roger's grin got a little wider, and he said nothing.
"Old dude…" grit out Naruto, who was struggling back to his feet. "You're not… gonna help us, are you…?"
Rayleigh shook his head. "Don't misunderstand me, young man. As much as I like you all, Roger is still my Captain even after all these years. If he really asked me to kill you then I'd do it." He paused, turning to face Roger. "It's not going to come to that though, is it?"
"Doubt it," said Roger. "If I need it done I'll do it myself. Doesn't matter. They can't break out of this anyway."
"Roger, I know this isn't the best time, but I know you have a plan to deal with Tobi, and I also know that if I don't know what it is then I'm going to end up face-first in the dirt as usual. Lay it out for me now or let's wrap this up quickly."
"Of course I have a plan! One that I have full faith will bring this big tree toppling down to the ground. But I'm not going to tell you what it is until I'm done here, so you stick around."
"...Grand.…"
Everyone from the Straw-Hats and Konoha had no choice but to stand and wait for the conversation to finish. They were all completely locked in place, with some already driven to unconsciousness. The only one who seemed unaffected was Trafalgar Law, who hadn't even stepped up to defend Luffy. He watched with dispassionate interest from quite some distance away.
Luffy growled, but failed to speak. Roger simply nodded and regarded them once more. "Don't worry, we're almost done. So, you see, here's the deal. Once you reach the New World everyone worth a damn starts working hard to develop… something unique. A specialty, if you will. You know, something that sets them apart from the rest of the scum out there. This... was mine. In all my travels, I encountered plenty of people stronger than me, tougher than me, or with Devil Fruits that could shake the world to its foundation, but not once did I meet anyone capable of matching me in this arena. Right now, this entire area is my soul, and you're all standing inside of it."
Then it finally made sense. The reason Sasuke hadn't noticed a chakra connection between Roger and the rest of them was because they were already inside the faint dome of power that defined the man's reach. Sasuke struggled to turn his head to look at Hinata. She was visibly sweating, teeth clenched, but she nodded once at him in return. Roger was telling the truth, it seemed, which meant they were all in deep trouble. Even the Sharingan was unhelpful here. He seemed to have as much chance of duplicating this Conqueror's Haki as he had of copying another bloodline's specialties... which was to say none at all.
What the hell was this power that it could be used like this? Sure, maybe the Straw-Hats weren't ready for the world stage, but they were being treated like ants right now! And the oppressive presence was still growing deeper and deeper as the Pirate King spoke.
"To answer your question from earlier, rubber-boy, I told Ace the truth. The truth is that I'm a piece of shit who doesn't deserve to hold him back. To be honest, I think he knew that already, but it never hurts to hear it from the horse's mouth. I mean, really, the kid needs to grow up and get the hell over his daddy issues already or he'll stay a low-class loser forever."
Something in Luffy snapped, and he began screaming, bloodshot eyes wide as he did so. The noise was violent and raw.
"Stop screaming," ordered Roger. "It's giving me a headache."
Luffy's teeth immediately slammed together, bringing his screams to an abrupt halt, though it didn't seem like he was enjoying the pain any more than he had before.
"This is what it means to stand at the top, young pirates," Roger said, glancing at each of them in turn. "You've got a lot of ground to cover if you want to reach these heights. I mean, sure, you'll never meet anyone as skilled with this power as I am, but it doesn't really matter right now, does it? I'm not even using everything I have, after all."
He took a step forward. Such was his presence that it seemed the entire world shifted beneath their feet.
"Tell me… Captain Luffy of the Straw-Hat Pirates… what would you do if I simply walked forward and cut your friends down where they stand… each and every one of you? Could you stop me? Or would you simply watch, powerless to help them?"
Sasuke tried to respond, but his mouth seemed useless for speech. It just hung there, mute. Surely Roger wouldn't take any action to endanger him, would he? The last action of Itachi's shade had been to use the Kotoamatsukami and order Roger to protect him.
But…
Looking at this monster right now, and at how easily he'd thrown off every other attempt to bind him, it was hard to believe that Gol D. Roger still cared about that order. If he ever truly had in the first place.
Sasuke tried to fight back, and by pushing with everything he had he found he was just about able to move his hands. Did he have anything that could help them? It might be possible to summon the last of Itachi's gifts, Amaterasu, from inside of him. Even considering all the time they'd spent together Roger had no reason to know of its existence. But still… even if the attack connected, Roger could just kill all of them before he burned.
The pressure had increased over the last minute, destroying any semblance of resistance from their best fighters. Even Zoro and Sanji were on all fours, gasping for breath and barely able to focus on the battle. Sakura and Hinata were in similar straits. Everyone else seemed completely unconscious. Curiously enough, Naruto was the only one still standing strong. It seemed the only reason that Sasuke was still thinking straight was because Naruto was draining away some of the impact of the Pirate King's mental assault through the heart-link that bound them. But how the hell was Naruto so good at dealing with this?
As he was thinking this, Naruto seemed to finally grab hold of himself, summoning a shadow clone and swiftly forming a Rasengan ball as he advanced towards Roger.
"Oh?" asked Roger, gazing curiously in the blond boy's direction. "You're still moving? Well, isn't this a surprise. Do I have to hit you as hard as Luffy here?"
Naruto snarled. "You're gonna have to try, you son of a bitch."
"N-Naruto…" croaked Luffy, blood trickling from his lips. "Don't… don't get in the way…! Please… This is… my..."
"And you can still talk, huh?" asked Roger. "Guess that really means I'm not working hard enough."
The pressure beating down on Luffy increased once more, toppling him to the ground as he tried and failed to catch himself. Naruto watched unsteadily, gritting his teeth as he held the sputtering, flickering Rasengan in one palm.
This was it.
Luffy's heart beat faster and faster, his body held motionless by the oppressive might of Roger's will. He didn't seem to be breathing anymore. The Sharingan helpfully identified chest muscles spasming as he tried to take in breath with a body that was shutting down beneath him. His heart stopped, only for his heartbeat to be taken up once more by his rubber leg muscles. They pumped wildly for a few moments. Then, seconds later, those stopped as well.
Sasuke watched in mute, frozen horror as Luffy died right in front of him.
One second stretched into five which then stretched into ten.
Chakra swirled inside Luffy's body. Roger and Rayleigh's eyes went wide at the same time. Luffy's staggering corpse roared in fury, the noise ripping its way out of his lungs as the same chakra erupted in a spherical wave so clear Sasuke felt like it should have been visible even without a magic eye. The power washed over Sasuke's body, shaking him to his core until he realized he was free to move once more.
Luffy exploded into motion, dashing low and running with bestial movements towards Roger. His fist followed an instant later, shooting at his opponent, who dodged to the right, avoiding the long-range strike as if it was the slowest thing in the world.
Sasuke felt a pulse of communication from Naruto over his link, and then Naruto descended upon Roger from behind, his eyes fixed upon the Pirate King as his hand held the Rasengan aloft. Roger dodged this attack without even looking, leaping sideways as the Rasengan exploded into a blast of tearing air and chakra.
Sasuke saw it all happening in slow motion. More importantly, he saw everything with the red eyes of a man who had spent three full days inside the Tsukuyomi copying every motion that Roger had been willing to teach him, and when his teacher landed once more Sasuke was already there waiting for him. His sword lashed out. Roger spun back through the air with an acrobatic twirl that was probably impossible, dodging the strike from Sasuke's cutlass before drop-kicking him into a rolling heap on the ground.
But he'd been the distraction they needed.
Luffy appeared in the blink of an eye, flesh burning red and skin steaming. Knuckles smashed into Roger's jaw, slamming his head to the side, and the Pirate King slid several feet across the ground...
...before stopping dead.
Luffy landed, gasping for breath as he prepared to continue the fight. Naruto moved back into place. Sasuke leapt back to his feet. Zoro, Sanji, Sakura, and Hinata slowly got back up again. Roger cracked his neck and looked back at them.
There was a long pause.
"Right," said the Pirate King. "Cool. I think we're done here."
Then he was gone. There weren't any more warnings, gestures, or significant looks; he simply turned and left, leaping off to another branch at a speed the thoroughly-shaken Straw-Hats couldn't hope to match. Rayleigh spared one last look back at Luffy before following after his captain.
Those who were still conscious looked around in confusion.
Huh?
It didn't take long for Rayleigh to catch back up with his captain, but then again, Roger seemed to be taking his time, dashing leisurely along the branches of the Divine Tree on his long path far away from the much more fragile Straw-Hats. He was already grinning wickedly when Rayleigh arrived.
"Come on, ask the question," chuckled Roger.
"I don't recall needing your permission to talk, Captain."
"Oh-hoh! Little cranky, are we?"
"What the hell was that back there? Using that much of your aura… You are aware that was a potentially fatal level of exposure, right? For people without prior training that was more than enough to stop some of their hearts, and that's not even counting what you did to Luffy!"
"Bah. Like you've never seen me do it before. That's not the important part! Didn't you feel it, old man? He fought back at the end! Sitting on the edge of oblivion, that boy summoned the soul of kings to protect himself." He barked out a sharp laugh. "Now THAT'S what I call real character!"
"Yes, but… Roger, it happens sometimes before someone's trained in it. You lash out with your spirit when things are at their most dire. You know that. That's how it works. You can't rely on it - actually controlling Conqueror's Haki consciously takes… years of hellish practice."
"Practice? Oh, come on. You'd put a wild beast like that through training to teach him to control it? Why not sit him down at a desk in a classroom, you nerd."
"I'm not a…" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Roger, we both know there's no substitute for practice here. None. You can't simply crush a man to death and expect him to stand up stronger afterwards!"
"Not a man, no. But a king?"
"He's not a king! He's just a - a kid! A strange… rubber… kid!"
Roger laughed again, short and loud. "And there you've put your finger on it, old man! That's what you can't let yourself forget. You can't break rubber. Crush it as hard as you like and it'll just bounce back stronger than ever."
Rayleigh shook his head in exasperation. "That's not how rubber works, and even ignoring that it's still the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It doesn't work that way. I don't know if you were paying attention, but you did kill that boy back there. His heart stopped. Are you actually saying you were trying to teach him how to control that power by beating him to death with it?"
Roger just chuckled. "Sure. Worked, didn't it? You can't argue with that, so don't even start."
"...You know, you were a lot easier to deal with when you were dead."
"I am dead! I…" Roger sighed. "Yeah... I am dead. I've got maybe another half hour before I start having trouble hanging on. The reaper's coming for my head again, and this time he's brought his sharpest blade."
There was a moment of silence. Roger shook his head. "But enough of that. Luffy. What's that man's bounty? What does the world think of him?"
Rayleigh's eyes narrowed. "Three hundred and thirty million for sinking Enies Lobby into the ocean."
Roger burst into open guffaws. "Friggin' awesome! They're gonna have to sew my lips up or my corpse will keep on laughing for another year at least! Still, he only earned that much, huh? Oh boy…"
"Putting all that aside…" Rayleigh pinched his brow. "You promised me you'd tell me what your plan for dealing with Tobi was once you were done back there. So spill. We've only got so much time left. What should I be ready for?"
"Bah-hahahahah! The plan, right, right, the plan… Well… first of all, we're gonna go out there and back up those pansies from the Navy. Maybe we laze about a little 'til Tobi decides to finish the job on Mariejois, but then WHAM, we hit him hard. Maybe we can't chop that tree down, but I bet the two of us will make for some damned annoying woodpeckers!"
Rayleigh snorted, a small grin flickering across his face. "Alright, I can do that. Then what?"
"That's when we get Tobi focused on us, alright? We get him angry enough that he won't fire on any cities down there on the ocean…"
"Fair enough. And then?"
"Then we let Luffy and them handle it!"
Rayleigh's face dropped. "What."
Roger broke out into cacophonous laughter, the noise almost deafening even over the sounds of battle.
"No, seriously, Roger, what are you talking about?"
"Bah-hahahahah! Are your hairy ears stuffed full of wax, old man?! Exactly what I said!"
"That cannot really be your plan."
"Oh, but it is! Because this world is his now! His and the rest of the real pirates who've come with him! Oh, don't get me wrong, some of those ninjas were very impressive, I'll give them that, but most of them have homes to go back to. Luffy's the one who's gonna be mucking around on the ocean, and that means it's time for the heroes-to-be of this new age to wipe their noses, get off their butts and take their turns saving the world! How else will they get the practice they need?" His grin nearly split his dead, gray face in half. "Monkey D. Luffy, huh…? The world doesn't know what's coming for it!"
-Divine Tree-
Despite his best efforts, it seemed as though Tobi was eternally destined to flail fruitlessly in the Admirals' direction. He was becoming better and better at controlling the titanic tree branches and roots he had grown, but ultimately it was like trying to swat flies with a baseball bat. He'd been having better luck with his roots; when he focused everything on the supple tendrils he was able to target his opponents fairly well, except that they had discovered quite early that they could deflect the grasping things with strikes clad with their Haki.
It didn't really matter though. He was through fighting them on their level. The leaves of the Divine Tree had finally been replenished from its reserves of stored energy.
"THAT'S ENOUGH! YOU'RE NOT THE ONES GETTING THIS FRUIT! NO ONE IS! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU TWO SHOOTING ME WHILE I'M TRYING TO GET MY BEARINGS, SO BOTH OF YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HECK!"
Tobi's resting period was over. Once more, golden energy flowed and crackled across the tree, seeming to pool at the leaves before coalescing into orbs of light that gathered in front of Tobi's face. It formed into a brilliant second sun that was rapidly out-shining the one slowly setting in the West.
Admiral Kizaru watched this happen with a sly smirk. He'd been waiting for just this moment. "Oh…. sunshine, how cute..."
Aokiji shouted at him in the distance, jumping lightly upon the air itself to maintain his altitude. "He's going to fire again!"
"Oh, I can believe it," responded Kizaru. "Not a problem. I've got it handled."
"You… No, you're planning on-?!"
Gold filled the world as the second sun detonated, and Kizaru's perception of time sped up to match as he transitioned into his form of light. Idly, he noticed that Tobi had once again taken aim upon Mariejois, but his target wouldn't matter. One microsecond Kizaru was standing upon the rocky spires of the mountaintop, the next he was suspended in space, directly in the beam's path.
Nothing else could move fast enough to intercept. The beam was all-encompassing, and it swiftly eclipsed everything else in his enhanced sight. But, of course, he didn't need to worry. His power was his shield.
[PIKA PIKA NO MI]
[TENSHO DAIJIN]
He took the beam unflinchingly, drawing the concentrated light of the sun into his body at full illumination. He became a great golden battery shining brighter and brighter in the sky as he grabbed expansively for more and more light. His was one of the most powerful Devil Fruits in existence, and every other light-based attack out there was merely a pale imitation of his strength.
A distinct shock ran through his form; a startling jolt that made him question whether, for the first time in his life, he had bitten off more than he could chew. But, no. Gritting his metaphysical teeth, he ordered his fruit to absorb everything that Tobi threw at him. His stores of power rose explosively as the beam attack went on and on, and he fought against the faint crackling warnings in his soul with the dogged perseverance of an eating-contest world-champion. His limits expanded, absorbing more and more power until his photonic form grew to nearly one hundred feet in height, fuzzing and snarling around the edges. Finally, a minute later, the beam of infinite brilliance faded to nothing. Now it was Borsalino who outshone the sun.
He sneezed, and a blast of sunlight charred and cracked boulders far below him upon the mountain's peak. Then, he smiled. "Well, I won't say that wasn't a little bit scary," admitted the Admiral, as he flexed his shimmering form experimentally. "But in the end you've got nothing left... Normally I'd have to go through a lot more effort to gather this much power, but I guess you did all my work for me, hmm? So, let's see... You shut down for a few minutes whenever you fire that thing, right? Let's find out if you can take the hits as well as you dish them out."
With lazy ease, he raised both hands, palms out.
[PIKA PIKA NO MI]
[AMATERASU NO OMIKAMI]
Every bit of the energy fired by the Divine Tree was absorbed and then added to Kizaru's own city-shattering power, forming a single ball of blessed energy. With a final shout of exertion, the orb was launched treewards.
Aokiji cursed, diving to the ground and changing form to a reflective sheet of ice that filled the crevices below him. Far above amidst the branches, the Straw-Hats and their friends shielded their eyes and ducked behind what cover they could, though it was clearly inadequate. Gold Roger stared wide-eyed at the incoming apocalypse, laughing into the cataclysm as his retinas were disintegrated and regrown again and again.
But Silvers Rayleigh just smirked and averted his gaze. "Like I said… it's all about putting the right pieces… in the right places..."
The tree quivered. Lacking any commands from the now-slumbering Tobi, the Divine Tree acted according to its natural inclinations. Its limbs shook harder and then swiftly changed their orientation, each leaf along its front face turning to face the incoming sun. A divine barricade of deep green formed into a shield bare moments before the destroying light struck it, and the sunstrike broke against the invincible bulwark, splashing like waves against the coast. But the coast, it should be noted, does not normally reach out and steal back the water that strikes it, and that was exactly what happened here. The fire of Kizaru's attack was pinned in place against the divine leaves, and they drunk greedily and deep of that light until it was all gone.
Kizaru's eyes bugged out, his tinted sunglasses shattering as his eyeballs broke the lenses. His jaw shot open, hanging awkwardly to one side as he gawped in utter shock at the display before him.
"Buh-wah?!"
Then Tobi woke up.
"SNGRK?! HM-HMM? OH, WAIT, DIDN'T I ALREADY…? OH, SCREW IT, ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP!"
It was like watching time rewind except now, if anything, the beam of light from Tobi's leaves shone even brighter than before. Stunned silly, Kizaru didn't even react until the redoubled luminous hammer struck him dead on, catching him with his figurative pants down as he struggled to absorb the light striking him.
"Sooo... " he grunted out, his form fuzzing around the edges again. "You think… you can play with sunlight, do you…?! Well I've… got news for you… You're just a-"
His words ended then and there when he felt the sudden and immediate refusal from his Devil Fruit. Between microseconds his form dispersed into scattered motes of light as for the first time in its history the Pika-Pika Fruit disobeyed orders and refused to take in more energy. The hammer of enriched light shot past the cloud on course for Mariejois, and there was nothing left to stop it. Far off in the distance, catastrophe struck once again, and what remained of the city and those who had not yet fled were obliterated in a shining nova of destruction.
The fragments of light that had once been Kizaru hovered in place for another ten seconds before they began to slowly reform, pulling themselves together with great effort. Unfortunately for him, this time Tobi seemed far less sluggish to respond after firing.
"Y-YOU AGAIN?! I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO THIS TIME!"
The tree lurched forward, still filled with energy from the remnants of the earlier bombardment, and one great branch swung down from overhead. The barely-coalesced figure of Admiral Kizaru was struck by the mighty arc, and his light dimmed as the tree's leaves stole it from him. He abruptly transitioned back to his physical form and plummeted like a shooting star straight into the Red Line. A blast of dust, scattered boulders, and an impact crater marked Kizaru's collision with the mountainside, and then there was no more movement.
One Admiral was out of action, and Mariejois had been destroyed.
-Straw-Hats-
Later, after everyone had picked themselves up from their hiding places, the Straw-Hats found themselves once more recovering from their near-death experiences as they heard Tobi's reverberating proclamations. He stomped his way back to the edge of the Red Line, peering over into the clouds covering the ocean far below. The mountain itself was so shockingly tall that you could see far out beyond the normal horizon, and distant lights sparkled here and there, signs of civilisation.
"EVERYONE'S TRYING TO TAKE IT FROM ME…! YOU PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE IT! I DON'T WANNA KILL EVERYONE, BUT I'LL DO IT! I'LL DO IT EVEN IF I HAVE TO BLOW UP EVERYTHING I CAN SEE!"
The tree seemed to sway briefly in the wind. An undulating shudder cascaded through its branches.
"UGH… GUYS? GUYS, I DON'T FEEL TOO GOOD RIGHT NOW."
Sakura frowned at the sudden non-sequitur. "What's up with Tobi?"
"You don't think all that light made him sick, do you?" asked Brook.
"Something's changing," murmured Law. "I can feel it."
At Chopper's side, Luffy kept staring off into the distance. Though he still wore a haunted expression, his eyes were focused as the crew's doctor checked on his health. "Tobi's not as crazy as he was before. Yeah, something is changing."
Whatever was changing, it didn't stop Tobi from renewing his enraged attack upon Admiral Aokiji, and once Roger and Rayleigh rejoined the fight he seemed motivated once more.
Sasuke turned at a cough from behind him. Robin was there, a question written upon her lips.
"...Yeah? What's wrong?"
Robin paused for just a moment. "I've been meaning to ask you this for some time now, but what, exactly, did you do to Tobi?"
"Tobi?" Sasuke sighed, then thought for a moment. "Honestly, I'm not absolutely sure... but here's what I think happened. Right at the end, Danzou was using a certain Sharingan technique called the Kotoamatsukami to make sure the Divine Fruit went to him and only him. It forces an unbreakable command upon its victim, and that should have been the end of it."
"But it wasn't."
Sasuke sighed. "Right, because I have the other paired eye. My brother already used it once on Roger, so I didn't have the power to cancel the order, or even change it at all. All I could do was interfere and confuse the order when it was given. So the command broke, but I don't know what it broke into."
"It seems to me as though he could be feeling torn between the contradicting compulsions to give the fruit to someone and at the same time make sure no one gets it," said Robin.
"I guess that could be right," shrugged Sasuke. "I don't really have any way of knowing."
"Can you analyze the spell itself? See if it's still intact?"
Something about her tone made him furrow his brow. "It's a jutsu, not a spell, but… you think it might be decaying? It's supposed to last forever."
She shrugged, an elegant motion. "Nothing lasts forever, you know. Not even death, apparently. Besides, I gather he had ways of breaking jutsu or other such abilities."
He paused to give it some thought, and Naruto's thoughts trickled into his through the heart link they shared.
'Listen to your girlfriend and give it a shot, man. Not like we've got a lot of better ideas right now.'
'I don't need your commentary, Naruto.'
'Well that's too bad, man. I'm giving it out for free.'
Sasuke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Robin raised a wordless brow.
"Sorry Robin, I've got… Well, suffice it to say that some bullshit happened and now I've got a direct link to Naruto in my head. It's getting annoying."
"Oh dear, that sounds rough. And yet…"
"...and yet?"
She smiled. "And yet quite useful. I think I shall file that knowledge away for now."
A pulse of information came through the link with Naruto, and he turned his head. Luffy had pulled Naruto aside, and they were discussing something. Sasuke focused on Naruto's thoughts but couldn't quite make out what the topic of the conversation was.
"What's especially frustrating about this is that he's apparently better at it than I am. Already I can barely get a read on him and meanwhile it feels like he's reading my mind."
"That's cause I can, man. Listen, Luffy's trying to come up with a plan and he's coming to me for some reason."
"Luffy and plan in the same sentence? Good luck with that. I've got to see a bird about a tree."
He turned towards the distant trunk. Closing both eyes, he reached inwards with his meager remaining chakra. Once again pain shot through his body as black feathers coalesced in front of his vision, taking the shape of a dark crow upon the branch before him. It flexed its wings before turning to gaze his way. With a wordless command he redirected it to face Tobi, which it did, sluggish from over exertion, and the subtle energies that had once been invisible to him revealed themselves.
"It's no good," he said, after a minute spent examining the tree. "I can see the enchantment is still in place, but everything's so fuzzy I'm not getting any details. Whoa, wait."
A volley of icicles crashed into the tree's trunk sent at massive speeds from a mile away. Several hit and shredded pieces of bark, but the last ones to strike were absorbed into the same invisible field that had protected Tobi when he was a human. The Rinnegan, it seemed, was still sporadically active.
The crow croaked, and Sasuke focused harder. The jutsu-binding that was centered upon Tobi's distant face flickered and dimmed ever so slightly.
"Wait, it is getting weaker! It's getting weaker whenever he uses that jutsu-cancelling ability!"
Robin smiled. "And that's why he's becoming more sane as time goes on. Perfect… then it seems we have a critical point to target, wouldn't you say?"
Sasuke nodded to the crow. Its job done, the dark bird spread its wings in flight, quickly ascending and then diving towards him. It took a concerted effort not to flinch as the creature shot straight for his eye, twisting and warping until it vanished in a haze of chakra less than an inch from its surface. He turned to look at Robin, but if she was concerned by this then she hid it well.
"Yeah, we have to convince Tobi to give us the Divine Fruit soon, before the compulsion becomes weak enough that he decides to go with the original plan and summon Madara."
"Sounds like the kind of thing to tell Naruto, wouldn't you say?"
"Yeah it is. Except he -"
"Yep, already got it, man."
"He heard me, I guess. So… how can we use this?"
"I don't know," admitted Robin. "However, answering this problem may not be a task for us. We're not exactly the… heart-to-heart types, you and I."
"...Yeah, it's just tough taking a back-seat on this one."
"Well, then I believe we should turn our thoughts to what comes afterwards."
"Afterwards meaning…?"
She turned to look towards Luffy and Naruto, who were still gesticulating at each other as if engaged in an incomprehensible game of charades. "I mean that once those two have come up with whatever wild and unruly plan they have, then will come the inevitable need to implement it. I believe we should take stock of what we have and prepare for the worst."
There didn't seem to be any other path forward. The tree lurched and shuddered as Tobi continued his wild assault on the living legends, but this far in the Straw-Hats were largely isolated from its motions. The allied fighters gathered to discuss their options, which admittedly seemed very limited. Still, word of Luffy landing a punch on Gold Roger had already spread to those who had been unconscious at the time, and even those who had become used to the absurdity of Luffy's actions were stunned by what they heard.
Law excused himself to join in on whatever Naruto and Luffy were arguing about, but he didn't even get close before the two broke off and returned to the group, walking back through the cloud of expectant gazes. They both looked confident, which was reassuring, although Luffy could have been in better shape. His hair was matted with sweat, his clothes torn and bloody, and although every one of them had seen him with greater injuries in the past it was difficult to shake the impression that he was worn down by the assault.
But the look in his eyes showed the same steel as it ever had.
He was passing by Zoro when the swordsman stood up from his wooden knot of a seat. The two looked each other in the eye for a few seconds before he said, "Luffy. Is this guy gonna be a problem for you?"
"Problem?" asked Luffy. "Who, Tobi?"
"No, dumbass. Gold Roger." Zoro frowned as the other Straw-Hats continued watching their captain. "We all saw what happened back there. Is that son of a bitch gonna be a problem for you? We all know there isn't any room for two kings in this world."
"Nothing to worry about," grinned Luffy. "It's fine. If he sticks around and tries to stay the Pirate King then all that means is that one day I'm gonna get the chance to take his crown from him myself. That's all there is to it."
"...Well said." Zoro smiled, and it was perhaps the most honest smile Sasuke had ever seen on him. "I'd have been disappointed by anything less."
As the others resumed chattering, Sasuke's jaw slowly fell open. He was stunned speechless. It was one thing to hear their captain say the words over and over again during their journey, but it was another thing entirely to hear him say it after witnessing the all-encompassing power of Gol D. Roger in person.
Did Naruto feel the same way about becoming Hokage after seeing what those dead ninja legends had been capable of?
"Duh," thought Naruto, who had migrated over near Hinata. "You even need to ask? After what I've seen today I think I'm closer than I've ever been."
"I… yeah…"
"So you wanna break the news to him or should I?"
"...News? Sorry, still a little tired after all of that nonsense."
"About Roger not hanging around forever? You told me he said he didn't want to spoil the legend by coming back to life for real, right?"
Sasuke blinked. "...Right. I don't think Roger can stay among the living even if he wanted to. Now that Orochimaru ended the Edo Tensei I don't know what's keeping Roger going, but whatever it is it can't last forever. He's probably losing power as we speak."
"So you're gonna tell Luffy he doesn't have to worry about this guy?"
Sasuke paused, looking at Luffy still advancing into the center of the group. A number of conflicting thoughts ran through his head before he felt himself make his decision.
"...No. Don't tell him. I… I want to see what happens. I want to see what the thought of living up to that man does to him, even if it's just for a while. I think we owe it to Luffy not to take that chance away from him... Does that make sense?"
Naruto chuckled aloud, prompting odd looks from some of those near him. "Nope. Pretty dumb idea, man. But let me tell you, sometimes dumb ideas are the best ideas. I'll keep it a secret."
"Speaking of secrets, what about this plan of yours?"
"Eh-heh, well about that…"
The thought was silenced as Luffy stopped and turned to face the crew. He didn't need to shout for attention; everyone else stopped what they were doing to listen. When he spoke, he was quiet, just loud enough to be heard over the cutting wind.
"Everybody, it's time we end this. Those guys out there? They're not gonna fix this problem by beating up Tobi, so this is something we've gotta do ourselves. Naruto had a plan, and I think it'll work."
The crew was silent. Naruto was nodding along with some of the others. Even Usopp looked resolute, though the quaking of his knees betrayed his nervousness. A shiver ran down Sasuke's spine to see the normally fractious Straw-Hats suddenly fall into line.
"Naruto, do you wanna tell everyone what you're thinking?"
"Er, huh?" asked Naruto, caught as Hinata was mumbling something to him. "Oh, no way, man. This is your crew, your show. But, just so everyone knows? Hinata says that there's a bunch of those giant mechanical men that look like bears coming into range up the mountain. They'll probably have better things to do than come after us, but either way it's gonna get crazy, so let's make it quick, you know?"
Sasuke spared a moment to scan the area below them. Sure enough, a small armada of flying copies of Bartholomew Kuma were rocketing towards the tree in near-perfect formation, already just a couple miles out. Akatsuki's plan to redirect defenders from the capital had apparently worked perfectly if this was how long it was taking the Pacifistas to return from the Sabaody Archipelago.
A tinge of regret slithered over his thoughts as he realized just how much more blurry his brother's eye had become when used at long-distance. He'd only used the Tsukuyomi four times since it had been given to him, but the difference was already very noticeable.
While he was reminiscing, Luffy had resumed talking. "Alright. Here's the deal. Naruto and I are going to go after Tobi. But we can't do this alone. I'm going to bring Naruto all the way to the trunk and Tobi's big dumb tree face, and I need all of you to help get us there."
"Whatever you say, boss," said Franky.
"I'll stay here and provide fire-support," said Usopp. "I volunteer for that."
Sakura raised a gloved hand. "I'm sure we can work out the details in a moment, but I have to ask. What exactly are you planning to do once you get there?"
Sasuke turned to look at the tree. A spike of ice slammed into the thick bark right above Tobi's gigantic wooden face, causing his features to twist into a pained grimace.
"We have to get him to trust us so he'll give us the fruit, right?" said Luffy.
Robin nodded silently beside him, but said nothing.
"So the plan is," he continued, "-we're gonna get right up there and then we're gonna punch him in the face so he'll turn into our friend!"
The crews' faces dropped. Sasuke blinked. He must have misheard that part. "Naruto, that can't seriously be the plan, can it?"
He turned to look at Naruto, who was grimacing in discomfort.
"Naruto, that's not the plan, right?"
It was a moment before his friend responded. "Weeeelllll, uhh, I mean, technically, yeah that is an important part of the plan, but-"
"Naruto!" he shouted, before realizing he was no longer just thinking the message.
Suddenly the center of attention again, Naruto winced and spoke aloud to match. "Uh, yeah, okay, so that is step two or three. But that's only part of it. The important thing is what happens after that."
"And what does happen after that?" asked Sanji. "When it comes to punching things I'm not really sure what we're gonna do that those shitty Admirals aren't already doing harder. No offense to our beautiful punch-ladies here."
Naruto cleared his throat as Sakura narrowed her eyes. "So, uh, Luffy's right. Our number one problem is we need to get Tobi to trust us. He doesn't wanna be dealing with this fruit anymore, and honestly I think he's sick of it, but if we let this whole thing go on too long he'll get over his issues and kill himself to bring back his dad, Madara. The way I see it, the easiest way to fix this problem is to get Tobi to let us make sure the fruit goes back to the ocean, you know? No more fruit, no more problem, right? He gives the thing away and there's no reason to bring his dad back, so nobody gets it. But Tobi's so screwed up right now that he can't believe I'd give the thing up for good in the first place. When I tell him we want to save the world he doesn't believe me, when I tell him we don't want the fruit for ourselves he can't believe me, and when I tell him that Madara is just a shitty jerk who doesn't care about him he doesn't want to believe me."
"That's rough," mused Nami. "I mean, I know I wouldn't believe just anyone if they said they'd give up that kind of power."
"Yeah, you'd have to be a real idiot," said Usopp. "Not to mention the dad stuff…"
Naruto nodded, grinning nervously. "Well, I mean, nobody ever accused me of being a genius. But there is a way to get him to trust me, and Sasuke, you're not gonna like it."
He frowned. "...Why not?"
"It's about what the Sage of Six Paths taught us, so…"
"Naruto, the Sage taught us exactly jack-shit. He basically interrupted everything we were doing, sputtered around wasting both of our time like a senile centenarian, then said he couldn't fix any of our problems before leaving in a huff. The only thing he did do was screw with our heads against our will and…" He paused as a sick feeling came over him and his eyes went wide. "No, wait, Naruto you can't possibly mean you're going to-"
"I want you both to start making sense," said Law. "I can tell by the looks on everyone's faces that nobody else knows what you're talking about either, so get started with the explanations. We're in a hurry."
"Yeah, yeah," said Naruto, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "I'm getting there. So the plan is simple. Long story short, I was taught a technique to link my… you know, my heart, to someone else's, right? The area between here and Tobi's face is gonna be an aerial battleground full of branches, roots, crazy old men using superpowers, and probably flying robots soon, but I need to get there anyway. Luffy is gonna bring me there with your help, and then I'm gonna link my heart with Tobi's for as long as I can manage. If I do that, I think I can convince him to trust me." There was a slight pause filled with silence; Naruto still wasn't very good with public speaking. "That's it. Then we win."
Sasuke's mind whirled when faced with the prospect of being psychically linked to both Naruto and Tobi at the same time, and it was apparently noticeable enough that Robin began laughing faintly beside him.
Luffy by this point was bouncing in place impatiently, filled with an energy that plainly said he was barely restraining himself from attacking immediately, plan or no plan. "So are we done talking yet?" he asked. "Like I said, we're gonna punch Tobi in the face and make him our friend! What's the big deal? We make friends this way, like, all the time! So let's get going already! Team A, follow me!"
With that, Luffy shot forward like a loaded slingshot, colliding with Naruto, arms already snapping out to distant tree branches while the rest of him wrapped around the ninja's body and then swinging into the abyss carrying his screaming passenger along with him. There was a second's stunned silence, and then the rest of the shouting began.
"WHO'S ON TEAM A?!" shrieked Chopper. "AND IF IT'S ME THEN I NEED SOMEONE TO SWAP WITH ME!"