For long months, peaceful days continued for Ashveil, until one day, his Conqueror's Haki perception detected a strange, unfamiliar force.
This power… it manipulated space and time itself. The sensation was vaguely familiar, yet growing increasingly pronounced.
Wait… let me think…
Before he could fully recall, a massive pendulum appeared in the sky.
A space-time pendulum.
That's impossible. He was certain the space-time pendulum had been destroyed by Broly back then. How could it be here again?
Ashveil's brow furrowed in disbelief.
"The space-time pendulum is among the most powerful existences in this World. What Broly destroyed before was merely one of my clones," a deep voice resonated.
The pendulum spoke without moving, as if it could read Ashveil's thoughts with ease.
"Why have you come now?" Ashveil demanded, narrowing his eyes. The malicious intent radiating from the pendulum left no doubt—its purpose was far from benevolent.
Sure enough, a lightning strike shot down from the cloud-covered sky toward Ashveil. Instinctively, he activated his Conqueror's Haki perception and utilized his Overlord Color Domain. Even so, the strike barely missed him.
Then elemental forces began to assault him—fire, water, ice, and even tremor powers surged toward him. The sky darkened within his forbidden zone, massive cracks tore through the land, and the air compressed under the combined forces, threatening to explode.
Without hesitation, Ashveil used his powers to dodge continuously, moving through his Overlord Color Domain. Even these deadly forces could barely touch him.
Above, the lights on the space-time pendulum flickered as it gathered more energy. Strange, unfamiliar powers surged, resonating through Ashveil's Conqueror's Haki.
This energy… he had never felt its kind before.
Even stranger, despite the chaos, none of his allies had appeared. Tsunade and Mei Terumi, who should have been nearby for a foot massage, were missing. Something was clearly amiss.
"All of your companions have been sent into void space. To save them, you must defeat me—but you cannot defeat me!" the pendulum boomed.
It slammed bizarre forces directly at Ashveil. The pressure was overwhelming; if these energies touched the ground, they could have obliterated the entire planet.
"Heavenly Law Manifestation, Overlord Mode!" Ashveil roared.
In Overlord Mode, he drew all the bizarre energies within him, merging them like the pendulum, and unleashed them skyward.
Boom!
The collision shook the heavens. The pendulum's previous attack was effortlessly blocked.
"You've grown strong, indeed. I shall first throw you into time-space chaos, defeat you, and absorb your energy," the pendulum's ancient voice declared.
"No matter what you try, you cannot defeat me, Ashveil!"
Suddenly, a beam of light targeted him, spinning his mind. Only the pendulum remained in the Pirate World, muttering its intentions.
"This time-space chaos cannot be dodged. You will not be harmed, but you will be sent to a random world, any time in the past. I cannot kill your present self, but I can easily eliminate your past self. I will then continue searching for you across worlds and time. When I find you, that will be when I end you and absorb your Conqueror's Haki system!"
With that, the space-time pendulum vanished.
On the other side, Ashveil slowly opened his eyes.
Strange… he had been struck, yet he felt no damage. Checking himself, he confirmed his body remained intact.
"This must be a spatial attack… but where did it send me?" he muttered.
Footsteps approached.
"Who's there?" he called out.
Two figures emerged: one with yellow hair and mouths on his hands, the other with black hair and a masked eye. Both wore black robes.
Could it be… Deidara and Tobi? Members 12 and 15 of his security team?
"Hey, you two, the space-time pendulum appeared. It even said you were hidden. Are you alright?" Ashveil asked.
Both looked bewildered.
"Could he not be a spy from the Hidden Leaf Village, but just a lunatic? How did this lunatic get here?" Tobi said playfully.
Ashveil paused. Lunatic?
"Hey, Tobi, don't speak nonsense. Ordinary people cannot reach our base. This person must be a master," Deidara said, picking up a clay bomb and throwing it.
Boom! Dust and rubble exploded, covering the area in a thick haze.
"That's great! One bomb and the spy is knocked out!" Tobi exclaimed.
Deidara maintained a composed expression.
"It won't kill him, Tobi, just knock him out temporarily. We still need to interrogate him," he said.
As the smoke cleared, Ashveil emerged unharmed, his Conqueror's Haki Passive Defense Shield effortlessly repelling the explosion. The bomb caused no harm, only shattered surrounding rocks.
Clearly, the timeline placed him in the past; these two didn't recognize him.
Tobi laughed mockingly. "Deidara-senpai, you didn't even touch him!"
"Quickly, set up the minefield! He's dangerous; we can't let him report our hideout. Arrest him!" Deidara barked.
Tobi disappeared with an invisibility technique, preparing traps.
Ashveil smiled slightly. Others might not understand Tobi's abilities, but he did. Ten thousand ways to defeat him existed, yet he chose the most spectacular.
"You have spatial powers, Tobi? Mine surpasses yours," he murmured, activating his Conqueror's Haki perception.
Yet even within his Overlord Color Domain, Ashveil found his Haki insufficient.
Strange…
My Conqueror's Haki is insufficient?
He opened his system panel:
[Host: Ashveil]
[Conqueror's Haki Points: 5000]
[Devil Fruit Abilities: Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Max), Magma (Max), Search (Max), Glint-Glint (Max), Ice-Ice (Max), Appearance (Max), Phoenix (Max), Rumble-Rumble (Max), Ope-Ope (Max)]
[Other Devil Fruits: Tanuki, Three Artificial Devil Fruits, African Hyena Fruit]
[Skills: Flash (100m), Conqueror's Haki Passive Defense Shield, Shinra Tensei, Haki of the Supreme King Fusion, Golden Conqueror's Haki, Overlord Color Domain]
[Items: Healing Potion, Ham, Burger, Cola, Red Wine, Turkey Meat, Salad]
Most of his abilities were locked, leaving only the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Flash, and Passive Defense Shield available.
The intelligent Ashveil understood immediately: he had returned to the pre-liberation era. Fortunately, 5000 points of Conqueror's Haki remained, enough to survive Deidara's simple bomb.
The space-time pendulum's attack, while harmless, restored his power to its past state.
Ashveil sighed.
The Pendulum… it has to be some kind of super boss.
Just who does it think it is? An author pulling strings from behind the scenes?
As if this were some goddamn novel where the protagonist's abilities conveniently get sealed off just to force the plot to move forward.
---
Tobi finished setting the bombs. Ashveil reviewed his panel: even in this limited state, he could easily dominate the Shinobi World. No Kaguya or Six Paths master had yet appeared.
During this time, he was the de facto boss of the Shinobi World.
Tobi signaled Deidara. The clay he produced coalesced into a giant flying dragon.
"Hahaha, my masterpiece, the C2 Dragon!" Deidara declared manically.
"Hahaha, Deidara-senpai, just knock him out and we can interrogate him properly!" Tobi cheered.
Ashveil's lips curved into a faint smirk.
"Hmph, you two really think you can defeat me?" he said disdainfully.