Chapter 126: Trouble’s Brewing, But It Wasn’t Me Who Started It

By now, Orochimaru's body had reached an unbelievably powerful state. If one had to compare, his vitality was as vast as the sky itself. 

But it wasn't just about sheer strength—his body was directly linked to a portion of the world's natural chakra, the power of the Dragon Vein. 

This meant he now had the world's power as his backing. If Shanks wanted to kill Orochimaru, he would first have to cut off that connection. 

And right now... Shanks couldn't do it. 

 The Dragon Vein was tied to the true consciousness of the world—not just some vague, passive force with no will of its own. 

"Clang!!" 

A flash of Shanks' blade sent Orochimaru's massive body flying. A deep wound appeared on Orochimaru, but in the next moment, it completely vanished. 

Not healed—just gone. 

"As expected... I can't fully nullify Shanks' attacks, but I can cancel out at least 90% of the damage. My body is strong enough to handle the rest." 

Orochimaru lifted his head and looked at Shanks in the distance. This was his final chance. 

I may not be able to defeat you, but you won't be able to kill me either. As long as you can't kill me, then before that happens, I still have a chance to turn things around. 

"Shanks, let's go!!" 

Orochimaru charged at Shanks. Using this "cheat-like" method, he could finally face Shanks head-on. 

And Shanks? He didn't back down one bit. 

A battle of endurance, huh? Fine. Shanks could play that game too. 

"Now I can finally go all out. In that case, let's keep going!!" 

Shanks charged toward Orochimaru again. 

Meanwhile, the eyes of everyone on the battlefield remained locked on their fight. 

No one had noticed yet that the once barren desert... had begun to sprout water sources. 

Rainwater and a natural water source were completely different things. But because of the rain, no one had realized what was truly happening. 

At the edge of the battlefield, a middle-aged man was using various instruments to scan the entire area. 

This was Amado. After Orochimaru and Shanks arrived in the Land of the Sea, he also joined the research on the "Dragon Vein." 

Although he hadn't been studying it for long, he had still gathered some valuable information. 

As a scientist from the Land of the Sea, Amado naturally received some intel from Shanks. In return, he agreed to share his own research findings with him. 

It was an equal exchange—just like the deal Amado once made with Orochimaru. 

Researching the "Dragon Vein" had now become Amado's most urgent project. 

"The geothermal systems in the Land of Snow were built over ten years ago. A lot of things were left behind there, and there's no way to recover them now." 

Amado adjusted his glasses, speaking to himself as he worked. 

He was a true scientist. Compared to Shanks and Orochimaru, the only thing he lacked was vision. 

But once he gained that vision, his talent was undeniable. He was another scientist who had truly broken past the limits of his time. 

However, Shanks' "vision" went far beyond anyone else in this era. 

In Amado's view, Shanks' Observation Haki allowed him to see glimpses of the future. That meant as long as he knew how things would develop, he could bring future technology into the present. 

This was the biggest reason Amado agreed to work with Shanks. 

But the more he interacted with Shanks, the more he realized something was off. Observation Haki could predict the future, but Shanks' visions felt different—almost as if he had personally experienced them before. It was terrifying. 

Because of that, as he watched the battle in the distance, Amado felt no concern at all. 

"Orochimaru really thinks he can surpass Shanks?" 

"Even if he did, it would probably be because Shanks allowed it to happen." 

Amado sighed. Beside him, there was a small potted plant. Surprisingly, a dead tree in the pot had started to bloom, with fresh green sprouts emerging. 

"The Dragon Vein's power has been completely disrupted. With this, the world's will should start rebuilding itself, releasing the Dragon Vein's energy." 

"This will break down natural chakra into spiritual energy and life energy once again." 

Amado pulled out a small knife and made a tiny cut on his finger. Almost instantly, the wound healed. 

Seeing this, he quickly took notes. 

With the Dragon Vein destroyed, chakra would start to dissipate. Amado had no idea how long this state would last. 

So he had to record everything he observed as quickly as possible—this was precious experimental data. 

"If Shanks' theory is correct, once natural chakra is split into life energy and spiritual energy, it will nourish the world again." 

"This is similar to how some people who originally had chakra are now switching to pirate-style Taijutsu. It's like a second stage of body development." 

"And this phenomenon will most likely appear within the world's consciousness." 

Amado kept taking notes while watching carefully. 

In fact, they already had a clear experiment in mind. Shanks had been fully prepared to destroy the Dragon Vein from the start. 

As for Amado, since he had studied the world's consciousness and life energy, this kind of work was easy for him to handle. 

If it weren't for Amado, Shanks might have had to figure it out all on his own. 

After coming into contact with the world's consciousness, Shanks finally understood the general state of the shinobi world. 

If there was a world consciousness and a world life force, then the shinobi world should have been evolving and growing stronger over time. 

But in reality, history showed the opposite—it was getting weaker and weaker. 

That was why the question of how "natural chakra" originally came to exist had become so interesting. 

One thing is certain—this thing doesn't exist for no reason. It's actually a kind of protection, an instinct of the world itself. 

Looking at the history of the ninja world, the only event that could have triggered this "instinct" was when the Divine Tree descended upon it. 

The Chakra Divine Tree absorbs life from the ninja world, and in response, the world developed a defense mechanism—even producing things like Seastone. This is a manifestation of the world's consciousness. 

But that alone isn't enough!! 

Simply resisting the Divine Tree's absorption isn't enough. 

The other way is to store energy. This is a fundamental survival instinct of living beings. Once the Divine Tree is dealt with, the world will release the stored energy back into circulation. 

This is the true nature of the ninja world. 

"The surface is starting to come back to life." 

At that moment, Amado suddenly detected life energy appearing on the surface—it was coming from the land itself in the Land of Wind. 

This meant that this land had already entered the next era of the ninja world ahead of time. 

The energy reserves from the old era had all been broken down and reintegrated into the world's natural cycle. 

Seeing the fluctuations on his detector, Amado quickly pulled out another device. 

Unlike the first, which was as big as a box, the second one was small, about the size of a wristwatch, and could be worn on the hand. 

It had a needle that pointed in the direction of the nearest "Dragon Vein." 

"Two?" 

Amado looked toward the other side. 

The way the world stores life energy varies, but once these energy reserves are activated, they will reenter the current ninja world. 

So Amado wasn't particularly concerned about the state of the Dragon Vein on the other side. 

"The needle pointing in two directions means the device is working." 

"The Land of Wind was where the Divine Tree descended, so having two storage points makes sense. 

But since the ocean is the birthplace of life in the ninja world, the number of storage points there is probably much higher." 

Amado lowered his head and continued adjusting the needle. Its purpose was to locate energy storage points. 

This was just a small part of his research—there were much bigger questions he needed to answer. 

Looking at the projects on his hands, Amado felt like his head was about to explode. He even considered making a few more clones to help with the workload. 

Meanwhile, as Amado was studying the Dragon Veins, in the Greyral Stone mines… 

After a tough battle, Haido and Temujin had finally defeated "Dark." 

Dark lay in the corner, covered in blood, barely clinging to life as he looked at Haido and Temujin. 

"That thing… once it's activated, the consequences will be terrifying, Temujin!!" 

"That kind of power… you have no way of controlling it." 

Dark spoke weakly. 

Hearing this, Haido's face showed a hint of mockery. 

"Can't control it? Hahaha! And what gives a pirate like you the right to say that?" 

"You short-sighted fools… Fine then. Let me show you the true power of the Greyral Stone, the foundation of our utopia!" 

"Temujin, for the sake of our dream, activate the Greyral Stone mines!" 

A genuine smile appeared on Haido's face. The moment had finally arrived. 

Once he obtained the Greyral Stone, what in this world could possibly stand in his way? 

Likewise, Temujin didn't hesitate for a second and immediately began lifting the seal. 

At that moment, as the seal on the Gelel Stone's mine gradually weakened, the pointer in Amado's hand began spinning faster and faster. 

After dozens of minutes, as dark clouds once again gathered over the battlefield, the Gelel Stone's mine was fully opened. 

A surge of powerful energy erupted from deep within the mine. The moment Haido sensed this energy, he excitedly stepped inside. 

The next second, a tall figure stood up from the shadows. Dark looked at the now fully opened Gelel Stone's mine. The weakness and disguise on his face faded away completely. 

"I told you before, you can't handle this kind of power. Just leave it to me." 

A terrifying aura burst from Dark's body. Now, his real fight was about to begin. 

Meanwhile, on the battlefield's edge, Amado saw that the pointer had finally stopped spinning. He slowly wrote a few words in his journal. 

"Reserve points: 375." 

This number far exceeded Amado's expectations. The entire Land of Wind only had two known "Dragon Veins," yet his readings showed that the world had over 370 reserve points in total. 

This was already beyond his calculations. 

"If the power of the Dragon Veins grants living beings great strength and releases life energy into the world, then what would happen if all these reserve points unleashed their energy at once?" 

Amado looked into the distance. In the center of the battlefield, Orochimaru and Shanks had been fighting for an entire day, yet the battle was still far from over. 

Just one Dragon Vein had already caused such a massive impact. And what Shanks wanted… was to awaken all the Dragon Veins across the entire ninja world. 

"So that's it… This is Shanks' plan?" 

"This… is the true New World. The real New World." 

The path Orochimaru had taken was merely one of the many paths Shanks had paved for everyone. Orochimaru's success in walking this path only proved that it was possible. 

In that moment, Amado had almost entirely figured out Shanks' plan. 

It was a grand vision, a plan that would change the entire ninja world—a plan to use the Dragon Veins to create a new world. 

"No wonder Shanks told me to make these navigation pointers. Their purpose was to guide the pirates toward the locations of the Dragon Veins. 

No matter what form the Dragon Veins took, the presence of pirates seeking them would cause the world's consciousness to shift, reshaping the very nature of this world." 

"That guy… he's terrifying. No wonder he's one of the Four Emperors." 

For the first time, Amado had to admit he was in awe of Shanks' plan. From the very beginning, it was clear—Shanks' vision was on a completely different level from ordinary people. 

Now, he finally understood… 

From the start, Shanks' goal was the entire world. 

"Turning Orochimaru into a dragon was never the true objective. Shanks' real goal… is to make it so that everyone in the ninja world has the potential to become a dragon." 

A sharp light flashed in Amado's eyes. Orochimaru had already lost from the very beginning. 

Shanks' true strength wasn't just in his power—it was in his presence, his vision, and his strategy as a Four Emperor. 

At this moment, in the center of the battlefield, Shanks' stamina was finally running low. Orochimaru wasn't in great shape either—despite only taking 10% of the total damage, his body was already covered in wounds. 

"Shanks! Just give up. There's no way you can outlast me." 

"Your swordsmanship is strong, but you don't have the strength left to keep fighting me." 

Orochimaru swung his claw and slammed Shanks into the ground. Even then, the sheer toughness of Shanks' body was beyond anything Orochimaru had imagined. 

With such an unbelievably strong body… this was exactly what you'd expect from Shanks. 

"Give up? That's impossible… Hahaha! I've already won, Orochimaru!!" 

Shanks' wild laughter echoed from beneath Orochimaru's claws. There was no hint of mockery in it—only pure, unrestrained joy. 

A laughter full of absolute freedom.

"Hahaha! I won!!" 

"New World... This is the real New World." 

Boom! Boom! 

As Shanks' voice echoed, everyone's heartbeat on the battlefield suddenly synchronized, pounding in unison. 

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! 

The rapid heartbeats... Orochimaru could even feel Shanks' own heartbeat. 

This wasn't from the others on the battlefield—this was Shanks' heartbeat. 

"What... What is this?" 

Orochimaru's expression shifted once more. 

At this point in the battle, both he and Shanks were completely drained. 

He had relied on his superior physical endurance to push Shanks to his limit. 

But now, Shanks seemed to have another trick up his sleeve. 

"This... This is the bell toll of the New World. Can you hear it?" 

"Everyone, the joyful sound of a beating heart." 

Shanks' voice was weak, yet it carried across the entire battlefield. 

Even the sky seemed to fall silent, listening. 

"Damn you, Shanks!!" 

Furious, Orochimaru used the last bit of his strength to lift his claw and smash it down. 

The ground shattered. 

But within the cracked earth, a lone figure stood there, completely still. 

"What... What kind of power is this!?" 

The energy of the Dragon Vein was slowly leaving Orochimaru's body. 

Unwilling to accept defeat, he stared at Shanks. 

If he was going to lose, he at least wanted to understand why. 

"This isn't my heartbeat," Shanks said. "This is the heartbeat of the world itself. Listen to the rhythm of the New World, Orochimaru." 

"If you can use it, why wouldn't I be able to?" 

Orochimaru froze at Shanks' words. 

The Dragon Vein... From the very beginning, it was Shanks who had revealed it to him. 

"New World..." 

As the power of the Dragon Vein faded, Orochimaru could no longer maintain his dragon form. 

His body returned to human form. 

And as he stood there, he finally noticed the changes on the battlefield. 

What was once a barren desert had turned into rich, fertile land. 

Plants were starting to grow. 

The chakra that once fueled the ruins of Roran had completely dissolved. 

The Dragon Vein of Roran was no more. 

Orochimaru knelt down, grabbing a handful of fresh soil. 

But as the dirt shifted in his hands, a strange stone slowly rose from the ground. 

Then a second stone. 

Then a third. 

A fourth... 

It was as if an entire mineral vein was emerging from beneath the earth. 

"What... is this?" 

Orochimaru murmured to himself. 

Not far away, Shanks did the same. 

"Wait... this wasn't part of my plan." 

At that moment, Shanks was completely stunned. And these floating rocks... they seemed... 

"Boom!!" 

The next second, the rocks floating in midair exploded, releasing an overwhelming surge of life energy. 

But this wasn't the time to analyze that energy. A single rock exploding wasn't too dangerous, but looking at the battlefield filled with countless floating rocks, everyone had the same thought the moment the first one went off—run!! Run as fast as possible!! 

At the edge of the battlefield, Dark looked at Haido, who had just detonated the Gelel Stone mines, with a face full of disdain. 

"Haido, do you really think that threatening me by destroying the world will help you survive?" 

Dark glanced at the collapsing Gelel Stone mines, then casually tossed Haido's lifeless body to the side. 

"It's over." 

He had personally killed his old enemy. Everything was finally over. 

As the sun rose the next morning, Dark walked out of the Gelel Stone mine. 

The golden light of dawn stretched his tall shadow long across the ground. Standing at the edge of the mine, he looked into the distance at the terrifying scene before him. 

The land within sight was completely devastated. Huge craters had formed patterns that looked like mountain ranges. The entire landscape seemed bizarre, as if a giant chunk of the earth had been forcibly ripped away. 

"Clack!" 

A small rock fell from the sky, landing at Dark's feet. He looked up, but aside from the clouds, there was nothing.