Chapter 98

The Shifting Battlefield

The aftermath of Orochi's final act sent a wave of destruction through the battlefield, leaving a void that echoed with the impact of his sacrifice. The cataclysmic wave of his Return to Nothingness had not only consumed his existence but had erased everything. The Green King and Red King had expended vast amounts of energy in their relentless efforts, further exacerbating the waste of power, and the damage was catastrophic. The entire battlefield had shifted into a state of chaos, as both allies and enemies struggled to make sense of the sudden turn of events.

Reisi and his follower were among the survivors, though it came at a grave cost. The devastating blow dealt by Orochi had left them in a weakened state, with Reisi now fully depowered and reduced to mere mortality. His lifelong work had been erased in the blink of an eye, and now, the path to regaining his former power would be a tedious, slow crawl that would take years—if not decades—to complete. The loss of the Blue King had severely weakened the structure of Reisi's army, leaving it vulnerable and disorganized. It was this moment of instability that Luffy and his allies seized upon.

In the midst of the turmoil, the Gold King Daikaku remained a formidable force. Mastering both gravity and earth, Daikaku was second only to the Silver King in strength, a position that made him a key player in the ongoing battle. His control over gravity allowed him to reshape the battlefield itself, manipulating it with such force that he could crush the very moon beneath his feet. His ability to transmute the earth into stone or stone-like barriers provided him with a defensive edge, and his earth-based petrification powers rendered even the most durable of foes helpless in the face of his onslaught.

But the battle had shifted. Despite his overwhelming power, Daikaku found himself at a severe disadvantage as Luffy's power increased exponentially with each passing second. His transformation into a more divine-like form, merged with the chaotic energy around him, allowed him to slowly weaken Daikaku's gravity control. The power of reality warping proved to be a game-changer, disrupting the certainty Daikaku relied on and leaving him in a state of constant unpredictability.

The most remarkable change, however, came with the arrival of the new forms of Akuma, Zoro, and Inari.

Akuma, now an embodiment of evil itself, had become a terrifying presence on the battlefield. His hair, now a brilliant shining white, contrasted sharply with his bluish skin, pulsating with a dark power that seemed to come from the deepest depths of the universe. Akuma had achieved enlightenment through the Otsutsuki transformation, unlocking a deeper connection to darkness and evil energy. Every step he took, every breath he drew, made him stronger, feeding off the malevolent forces swirling around him. His attacks, devastating in their intensity, shattered the land beneath him, leaving nothing but destruction in his wake.

Zoro, now in his Asura form, had reached an unimaginable height of power. His six arms and three heads made him a terrifying sight, each sword in his possession embodying the power of all swords in the universe. Zoro had become the concept of the sword itself, and each strike of his blades carried the weight of universal destruction. With his new abilities of Immortal Killer and the Sword World, his attacks were irreversible, cutting through both space and time, and rendering any attempts at healing impossible.

Inari, although the weakest of the three, had undergone a transformation of his own. Drawing inspiration from his master, Naruto, Inari had become a being of ice and light, gaining new abilities that allowed him to mirror some of Naruto's signature moves. Though not as powerful as Akuma or Zoro, Inari's strength was not to be underestimated. His abilities had evolved, and now he stood as a force that could alter the battlefield with a single attack.

However, none of them could compare to the overwhelming might of Luffy, who had transcended into a being with mastery over reality itself.

Despite the efforts of the Gold King Daikaku and his considerable strength, the arrival of Luffy in his new form turned the tide of the battle.

Luffy's reality-warping abilities allowed him to counteract Daikaku's gravity manipulation, breaking through his earth-based defenses and overpowering his stone transformation techniques. Luffy, with his near-perfect mastery over reality, began to unravel the very laws that had once made Daikaku unstoppable. While Daikaku had hoped that his vast power would be enough to keep the battlefield in his favor, it became clear that Luffy's newfound abilities were more than a match for his control over gravity and earth.

The battle had become a clash of ideologies, with Daikaku representing order and control, and Luffy embodying the chaos and possibility that came with the ability to reshape the world around him.

But it wasn't just Daikaku who stood in Luffy's way.

Though the Eight-Tails—not the fused version with Bee and Gyuki—was far from the threat it once had been, it still served as a massive energy source, acting as a cannon to fire blasts of energy at Luffy and his comrades. The creature, mindless and wild, was little more than an energy reservoir, but its mere presence continued to fuel the conflict, adding pressure to the situation.

Luffy's reality warping continued to distort the very fabric of the battlefield, rendering Daikaku's gravity control unstable. What was once an absolute force, capable of crushing entire moons, was now erratic and unreliable. No matter how much Daikaku tried to reassert his dominance over gravity, Luffy's ever-growing mastery over reality itself interfered, turning what should have been a straightforward battle into an unpredictable nightmare.

As the battle raged on, the assault from Luffy's team became relentless, their combined strength forcing Daikaku into a defensive position he had never imagined himself in.

Akuma's transformation into evil incarnate had made him an unstoppable force. Each attack of his not only struck the physical body but also tore at the very soul of his opponent. With every blow, Daikaku felt his essence being drained, as if his very existence was being siphoned away. A maddening force clawed at his mind, a sensation of eternal darkness consuming him, drowning him in chaos.

Zoro's sword strikes came at speeds beyond comprehension—millions of cuts within seconds—forcing Daikaku to use space manipulation in a desperate attempt to mitigate the damage. But space itself was not safe; Luffy's reality warping prevented him from fully escaping, and Zoro's blades cut through even the very fabric of existence. His six arms and three heads wielded his swords with absolute precision, and with every movement, the barriers protecting Daikaku weakened further.

Inari, the wolf of ice and light, had detached his heavy weaponry, allowing himself to move at speeds that transcended subluminal into superluminal levels. His very form became a streak of light and cold, cutting through everything in his path. The bands of light flowing around his body erased anything they touched, leaving void-like scars in the air. The power of absolute zero beams struck Daikaku's defenses over and over, further destabilizing his barrier.

Daikaku, the mighty Gold King, was being pushed back. The seemingly invincible fortress of power was crumbling, and his legendary dominion over gravity and earth was failing before the onslaught of the new immortals standing before him.

Sensing the moment of weakness, the team synchronized their final assault.

Starlight Hunter – Inari's Ultimate Attack

With a final burst of acceleration, Inari reached beyond superluminal speeds, detaching all remaining limitations on his form. He became a living comet of destruction, his light flowing in radiant bands around him. Every band of energy that came into contact with Daikaku's remaining defenses erased them from existence, removing them not just from space, but from history itself.

Wrath of the Raging Demon – Akuma's Ultimate Attack

Akuma vanished, moving too fast for the eye to see. Flashes of darkness erupted around the battlefield, as he struck from every possible direction in an endless blur. Each impact pushed Daikaku's soul deeper into the Dark Dimension, a realm of pure despair that was consuming him from the inside out.

At the same time, Akuma activated Dark World, overlapping it with Inari's World of Light and Zoro's World of Swords. Normally, the conflict of these domains would cause uncontrollable destruction, but Luffy's reality warping held them in perfect balance, allowing them to exist simultaneously.

Zoro's Sword World – The Ultimate Slash

Zoro's golden domain of swords expanded into a world where every blade in existence resonated with his will. Infinite swords filled the void, all ready to cut through destiny itself.

Zoro raised his blades, and with a single movement, the flaws in Daikaku's defense were laid bare. His swords, now carrying the knowledge of his enemy's weakness, moved without resistance, passing through every barrier and striking directly at Daikaku.

"I am the dragon of injustice, the strongest and most wicked of butchers! The sword that protects the men and women of righteousness, obey me!"

With those words, Zoro's blades cut away the last vestiges of Daikaku's defenses.

Daikaku, now fully exposed, had one final hope—Toshiro, the last remaining pillar of the old power, could still intervene. But before he could act, Luffy moved.

Reality twisted.

Luffy, now in his gigantic form, lifted his hand and flipped a page—a cosmic page, a page of fate itself.

The words materialized over the battlefield:

The End.

And just like that, the Gold Army vanished.

Their stories erased.

Their existence nullified.

Their power—nothing more than forgotten echoes.

With one flip of a page, Luffy ended their story, ensuring that Daikaku, the mighty Gold King, and his forces would never rise again.

The battle was over, and the era of the old Kings had crumbled into dust.

With the Gold King fallen, the battlefield should have felt lighter, but instead, it was as if an even greater weight had settled over them. There was no time to celebrate, no moment of relief—because the true final battle had only just begun.

From the skies, a storm of destruction rained down upon them. Toshiro, now dead serious, unleashed wave after wave of attacks. His every move was precise, unrelenting, and lethal, forcing Luffy's team into immediate defensive action.

But despite the chaos, they succeeded in one crucial mission—saving the warriors battling the berserk Red King from certain death.

However, their brief success came with an even greater horror—for now, they were completely surrounded.

Standing before them, their final enemies emerged.

The Three Supreme Kings

All of them had entered their strongest forms, their bodies teeming with power, their very presence twisting reality itself. Though the loss of two Kings had weakened their grand structure, what remained was still an unstoppable force, and one among them was even beyond that—

The Silver King – Master of Space and Time

The true apex of the battlefield, the overlord of existence itself. His presence alone was enough to distort the very laws of the universe.

He was a man with a charming smile, a seemingly effortless elegance that only made his power more terrifying. His eyes, ancient and unreadable, betrayed a wisdom far beyond his youthful appearance. He had seen ages rise and fall, and he had killed legends without hesitation.

To him, his opponents were nothing but pieces of flesh waiting to be turned into dust.

With a single gesture, he could erase time, freeze space, or rewrite causality itself.

And now, he stood before them, with a cruel smile that seemed to mock their very existence.

The Green King, once a carefree fighter, had now become rage incarnate. His eyes burned with fury, his mind clouded with grief and vengeance. He had lost his closest allies and with that loss, all sense of restraint had shattered.

The earth trembled beneath him, as his power surged, an overwhelming force of nature itself, consuming everything in his path.

If the Green King was rage, then the Red King was chaos.

Her body pulsed with pure destruction, flames so hot they warped reality itself, cascading around her like a living inferno. The berserk madness that had once been unchecked had now refined itself, turning into a controlled annihilation.

And together, the three last Kings stood before Luffy and his allies, forming an inescapable wall of power.

This was it.

The final battle had begun.