Chapter 108: The Battle-Changed Landscape, Return

The two fought back and forth, the battle growing ever fiercer, each collision triggering terrifying energy explosions that raised towering waves. The seawater was shaken into flying spray, revealing a bottomless ocean trench.

Suddenly, a muffled roar came from the seabed.

"Boom—!"

Only to see the sea surface suddenly boil, countless bubbles surging up from the depths.

The next moment, a surge of scalding magma gushed from the seabed, instantly evaporating the surrounding seawater.

A strong sulfur smell spread, the entire sea area shrouded in white mist.

In the white mist, a huge island slowly rose from the seabed. White smoke still rose from the island, clearly a volcanic island just formed.

Whitebeard and the Wood Human controlled by Madara almost simultaneously noticed this new battlefield, both rushing toward the island in tacit understanding, clearly wanting to occupy favorable terrain.

The Wood Human landed first, its huge foot stepping on rocks not yet fully cooled, making a "hissing" sound. Whitebeard followed closely behind, the naginata in his hand slashing out fiercely.

"Hah!"

The naginata split the sky, carrying terrifying vibrational force. The Wood Human raised its giant arm to block, and the two forces collided again.

"Bang!"

The entire island trembled violently under this terrifying impact, large areas of rock cracking open. A huge crack spread from beneath their feet, quickly piercing through the entire island.

Whitebeard and Madara both realized the situation was bad, almost simultaneously rising into the air.

The next moment, the entire island collapsed with a crash, sinking back into the seabed.

Their gazes almost simultaneously fell on another newly formed island in the distance.

Without prior agreement, they rushed there, the battle continuing as they moved.

"Come fight!" Whitebeard grinned, battle intent blazing in his eyes, the two almost simultaneously stepping onto this new battlefield.

"Boom—!"

Whitebeard unleashed a Tremor Wave, the entire island instantly splitting in half. The Wood Human swept its sword horizontally, turning the shattered rocks into powder.

Their figures moved quickly between the islands; wherever they passed, mountains collapsed and the earth split, tsunamis raged.

From afar, it seemed as if two ancient giants were wantonly destroying this sea area.

The aftermath of the battle swept across hundreds of kilometers, countless sea creatures thrown into the air, then heavily crashing back into the sea.

Distant reefs kept collapsing under this terrifying impact, turning into rubble sinking to the seabed. This earth-shaking battle was extending toward the distance at an unimaginable speed.

………………

At this time, on a quiet island not far from Marine Headquarters, the square, usually sparsely populated, was now crowded with anxious residents.

Everyone's gaze focused on the huge screen in the center of the square; the screen now only showed snow, and discussion voices continued:

"How is the battle going?"

"Did the Marines win after all?"

"Was that terrifying man defeated……"

A young man beside them paced back and forth anxiously, unable to help shouting loudly: "Why hasn't the live broadcast resumed!"

At this moment, the sky suddenly turned dark, clouds covering it. A strong wind suddenly struck, blowing the trees into wild shaking, leaves flying everywhere.

"What's happening?" Panicked voices came from the crowd.

Suddenly, a deafening sound came from the distance, as if the sky were being torn apart. The sound was so great that the entire small island trembled, the ground shook violently, houses swayed, windows rattled.

"Boom—!"

This huge sound almost deafened everyone's ears. People subconsciously covered their ears, their faces full of terror.

"Is it an earthquake?" someone asked trembling, their voice full of unease.

Amidst terrified discussions, a sharp cry suddenly cut through the noise: "Look quickly!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a young man pointing at the distant sea horizon, his face full of disbelief.

The crowd instantly fell silent, all gazes focused on that distant line where sea met sky.

The originally calm sea surface had completely changed.

Towering waves stood like mountains, seawater stirred by an invisible force, forming a huge whirlpool.

Even more shocking was that above the surging waves, two huge figures were fighting fiercely.

One was a blue giant, his whole body covered in sparkling energy armor, holding a giant sword tens of meters long. The other was an old Whitebeard; though his figure was relatively smaller, the aura emanating from him was in no way weaker.

"That's Whitebeard!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.

"Who is the other one? Is that blue giant the man who attacked Marineford?"

As the two collided again, a powerful shockwave swept over. Even though they were so far apart, the people on the small island could still feel that heart-pounding oppressive feeling.

"Oh my god! An undersea volcano erupted!"

Under the terrified gazes of everyone, a huge island slowly rose from the seabed. "Is this still something humans can do?" someone muttered, their voice full of awe.

In the crowd, a reporter suddenly came back to his senses, fumbling to take out a camera from his bag.

His hands trembled slightly from excitement; he aimed the lens at that world-shocking battle in the distance, the shutter sound ringing continuously.

"Click! Click!"

The reporter muttered: "This might be the most important news of this century."

On the battlefield at this moment.

Whitebeard stood on a huge floating rock, his chest heaving violently, bloodstains on his face, sweat rolling down his cheeks.

His signature white beard had been soaked by seawater, sticking tightly to his chest. Even so, his gaze remained sharp, and the naginata in his hand stood motionless.

"Gurararara." Whitebeard's laughter carried a hint of panting. "Madara Uchiha, you're stronger than I imagined. I truly don't know where you came from……"

The Wood Human facing him had multiple cracks all over its body, and its blue energy armor was somewhat dim, but its overall structure remained stable.

Madara Uchiha stood atop the Wood Human's head, his black hair blown messy by the sea wind, his chest also slightly heaving. He had clearly expended a great deal, but his expression seemed at ease.

"Come! Continue dancing!" Madara's fervent voice echoed across the battlefield. "Whitebeard, besides Hashirama, you are the first opponent to make me this excited!"

"This strike will be the last!" Whitebeard gripped the naginata with both hands.

The two moved almost simultaneously; the naginata in Whitebeard's hand flashed with dazzling light, and the Wood Human controlled by Madara also swung a massive longsword.

"Boom!"

An earth-shaking collision resounded across the entire sea; terrifying shockwaves spread outward with the two at the center, dark clouds filled the sky, and lightning darted like snakes.

Half of the Wood Human's body instantly shattered under this violent impact, blue energy fragments scattering in all directions.

Whitebeard fared no better; he violently spat a mouthful of blood and half-kneeled on the ground.

Madara stood atop the ruined Wood Human's head, silently watching Whitebeard; he did not press the advantage, as if waiting for something.

However, just when everyone thought Whitebeard would fall, he gritted his teeth and slowly stood up; his tall figure remained straight and unyielding.

"Gurorororo." Whitebeard let out a deep laugh; though weak, it was still filled with a heroic spirit.

At this moment, Whitebeard's gaze was suddenly drawn to a reporter in the distance who kept pressing the shutter; even at such a distance, the flashing lens reflection was still caught by him.

A sharp glint flashed through Whitebeard's eyes; he took a deep breath and used the Gura Gura no Mi's ability to amplify his voice to the utmost.

"Listen well, everyone in the world!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire battlefield.

"The One Piece truly exists! It lies at the end of the Great Route!"

Whitebeard took a deep breath, his voice growing even louder: "There lies not only treasure, but also the truth that can change this world!"

These words were like a heavy bomb detonating across the entire battlefield; everyone froze.

The crowd on the island instantly boiled.

"What? The One Piece really exists?"

"Whitebeard admitted it himself!"

"My god, this is earth-shattering news!"

Whitebeard's voice gradually quieted, and the battlefield fell into silence. He slowly turned, his gaze landing on Madara Uchiha.

"Thank you." Whitebeard's deep voice broke the silence; these two simple words contained too many indescribable emotions.

As soon as the words fell, his once vibrant eyes slowly lost their luster, but his body remained standing tall, like an unfalling mountain peak, dead-still in place.

Madara silently watched all this, a complex look flashing in his eyes; just then a voice rang out in his mind: 【Stay time ended, returning soon, 10, 9, 8】

As the countdown sounded, Uchiha watched Whitebeard's corpse and suddenly formed hand seals.

In an instant, countless branches burst from the sea surface, entangling Whitebeard's body like spirit snakes.

These branches rapidly grew and intertwined, soon forming a massive wooden coffin that completely enveloped Whitebeard's body.

Madara frowned slightly, muttering low: "Although I don't know if this world has something like Edo Tensei, a powerhouse's corpse still shouldn't be desecrated."

He then waved his hand lightly, and the wooden coffin slowly sank, passing through layers of sea water until it touched the seabed.

But this was not yet over. Madara formed hand seals again, and a huge fissure suddenly split open on the seabed. The wooden coffin continued sinking, entering deep into the earth's crust.

Rocks parted like flowing water under the power of Wood Release, making way for Whitebeard's final resting place; the entire process was like a silent funeral, putting a final period on this legendary pirate.

【3, 2, 1】

At the very moment Madara completed his final movement, the countdown in his mind hit zero.

The next moment, Madara Uchiha's figure instantly vanished, as if he had never appeared at all.

(Chapter End)