Chapter 99

The result—

"Boom!"

Relying on his Sharingan, Uchiha Madara caught his figure and dodged his attack.

Senju Hashirama was a fraction slower, and with Gan Fall blocking his path of retreat, he was struck directly by a bolt of lightning from Enel, which shattered half of his arm.

This scene left both Aokiji and Gan Fall shocked.

"This Enel is actually this formidable!" Aokiji's expression turned grave.

In fact, the reason he intervened this time was largely because, before their decisive battle with the four priests and on the way here, he had heard Gan Fall recount many of the things Enel had done, which is why he was willing to help.

Yet, neither he nor Gan Fall had expected that they would suffer such a massive, heavy blow the moment they met this Enel!

Having landed a hit, Enel sneered disdainfully, saying, "I thought you were all that, but it turns out you're nothing more than this!"

Facing such mockery, Uchiha Madara—who, in the eyes of Aokiji and the others, had a very close relationship with Senju Hashirama—merely glanced at Senju Hashirama with complete indifference and said, "Hashirama, you were careless."

Looking at Senju Hashirama, despite having had an arm blown off, his expression remained calm as he simply replied, "Indeed! This fellow who calls himself a god is truly not to be underestimated!"

Whether it was Aokiji, Gan Fall, or Enel, all were completely baffled by their reaction.

And just as they were filled with confusion, something even more astonishing happened.

A vast amount of dust suddenly drifted between heaven and earth, all converging upon Senju Hashirama's severed arm.

The next moment, they watched in horror as Senju Hashirama's arm was restored to its original state!

Senju Hashirama even shook it, as if testing its flexibility, and then said, "Now then, it's time to get serious!"

"What is going on here?!"

Enel and Gan Fall stared at Senju Hashirama, who looked completely uninjured, both of them utterly bewildered.

Aokiji, meanwhile, wore an extremely grave expression.

At this moment, he suddenly recalled a report his subordinates had sent to headquarters when Akainu had personally led a team to the Devil's Triangle to hunt down Lin Xuan and his group, only for them to escape:

"Among the enemies, Uchiha Madara seemingly sacrificed himself to cover Lin Xuan's retreat, but strangely, he inexplicably turned into dust, and from within the dust, a withered corpse fell out. Upon investigation, the corpse was identified as a prison guard from the human auction house on the Sabaody Archipelago!"

Later, when he led men to surround Lin Xuan and the others near Jaya, he had been very surprised that Uchiha Madara had reappeared, and that there was now a Senju Hashirama as well.

Previously, Aokiji had speculated that the Uchiha Madara the navy had seen turn into dust might have been some kind of Devil Fruit ability, which he used to escape.

However, now that he saw Senju Hashirama regrow a severed arm, he realized he had been completely wrong!

Whether it was Uchiha Madara disappearing and reappearing, or Senju Hashirama's arm suddenly recovering, neither was as simple as he had imagined!

After all, there cannot exist two identical Devil Fruit users in this world, let alone the fact that Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama possessed numerous other abilities!

Yet, he still had no clue what this specifically was.

Aokiji couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that they aren't using Devil Fruit abilities at all, but some kind of miraculous Ninjutsu?!

And just as these various speculations surfaced in Aokiji's mind, Senju Hashirama's body underwent another change.

Sage Mode, activate!

"Boom!"

A tyrannical aura suddenly swept in all directions!

A peculiar facial marking appeared on Senju Hashirama's face, and his entire presence surged several times over, instantly leaving Enel somewhat stunned.

How did this guy suddenly become so much stronger? And he gave off a feeling of being full of threats!

All along, due to the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and having no opponents on this Sky Island, Enel had confidently believed himself to be invincible.

But now, he suddenly realized that his previous understanding might be wrong!

Because his Mantra felt a genuine threat from the current Senju Hashirama, and even from Uchiha Madara and Aokiji nearby!

The strength of these people might not be much inferior to his own!

After reaching this conclusion, he found it hard to remain calm internally, though he didn't show it on his face. He squinted at Senju Hashirama and said, "Blue Sea dweller, you do have some strength; it would be a pity to kill you! I'll give you a chance: if you pledge your loyalty to me now, I can make you the top priest under my command, granting you supreme glory. How about it?"

Senju Hashirama laughed heartily and asked, "And what if I don't want to pledge my loyalty to you?"