Gecko Moria knew very well that with such an overwhelming burst of Haki, there was a good chance he wasn't a match for whoever had unleashed it.
If he ran now, he'd probably escape.
But if he did, his men would be as good as dead.
After thinking it over, Moria gritted his teeth and came anyway. He had already lost his companions once. He couldn't lose them a second time.
Besides, he didn't think he'd ever offended Red-Hair. Maybe there was still room to negotiate.
But when Moria finally arrived, he discovered that the people who had invaded Thriller Bark weren't members of the Red-Haired Pirates at all, but a group of complete strangers.
Well, not entirely strangers. One of them was familiar.
Dracule Mihawk.
Could it be that Mihawk had brought a group here to cause trouble for him? But that didn't seem right either.
He had no grudge with Red-Hair, and even less with Mihawk.
And the leader of this group didn't seem to be Mihawk.
It was…
Moria looked at Rowan with caution. That monstrously powerful Conqueror's Haki had come from this young man.
"Who are you?"
Moria stared at Rowan and asked.
Rowan withdrew his Conqueror's Haki and looked back at Moria. The instant their eyes met—
Mind-control magic.
Moria's gaze immediately went dull.
The hostility, caution, suspicion, and wariness on his face vanished in an instant. He just stood there like a puppet whose strings had been seized.
Mihawk: "???"
Seeing Moria suddenly drop all his guard, the corner of Mihawk's eye twitched hard. What the hell happened to him? How had he suddenly become an idiot?
"What did you do?" Mihawk turned to Rowan and asked.
"Nothing much. I just controlled his mind."
Rowan said it lightly, while inwardly marveling at how useful mind-control magic really was. Even a powerhouse like Gecko Moria couldn't resist it.
Then again, thinking about it, Moria was fundamentally just a fighter. Sure, he had the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, but that didn't change the fact that he was still a pure combat type.
He had no resistance to magic at all.
And after getting his spirit broken by Kaido, he had placed all his hopes in zombies—basically oversized action figures.
His mind was fragile as hell.
So it was only natural that he could be controlled by magic.
"Return all the shadows you stole," Rowan ordered.
Moria nodded blankly and activated the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, sending every stolen shadow back where it belonged.
A great mass of shadows rose up from all over Thriller Bark, flew off in every direction, and returned to their owners.
Rowan nodded in satisfaction and gave another order.
"Now bring me Shimotsuki Ryuma's corpse."
Moria turned and left at once to retrieve Ryuma's body.
Meanwhile, Rowan made a trip back to the Naruto world and brought Tobirama back.
He intended to have Tobirama use Edo Tensei and use Moria as the sacrifice to summon Shimotsuki Ryuma back to the world.
People liked to call Gecko Moria the shame of the Seven Warlords, but his combat ability could still crush the overwhelming majority of people in this world.
If they used him as the sacrifice, the Ryuma they summoned back shouldn't be weak at all.
And once Rowan revived him fully with the power of Yomi, Ryuma should be able to return to his peak.
One thing worth mentioning was that when Serie heard Rowan was going to have Tobirama perform Edo Tensei, she followed along too. She wanted to witness the full process of the technique with her own eyes.
Naturally, Rowan had no reason to refuse. The three of them returned to the One Piece world together.
By then, Moria had already brought Ryuma's body back to Thriller Bark.
"Go ahead."
Rowan pointed at Moria and said, "He's the sacrifice."
"No problem."
Tobirama took a sample of cells from Ryuma's corpse and placed it on Moria, then rapidly formed hand seals and activated Edo Tensei.
Chakra surged, and a force that bridged Yin and Yang dragged Shimotsuki Ryuma's soul back from the beyond.
Rowan could clearly see Ryuma's soul appear inside Moria's body.
Then dust covered Moria's body, reshaping it into Ryuma's appearance.
As for Moria's own soul, it vanished.
Or rather, it wasn't that it vanished—it was replaced.
At its core, Edo Tensei was really one soul for another, using the soul of the living in exchange for the soul of the dead.
"Interesting."
Not just Rowan—even Serie had seen through the true nature of the technique.
A few seconds later, Shimotsuki Ryuma opened his eyes.
The moment Mihawk saw Ryuma's gaze, his spirit sharpened at once. There was no question about it—that was the gaze of a swordsman.
Strong. Sharp. Full of naked edge.
As the current world's greatest swordsman, Mihawk could never mistake it. Those were the eyes of a top-tier great swordsman.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Shimotsuki Ryuma. I am Dracule Mihawk."
"Those are good eyes," Ryuma said. "You're a top-tier great swordsman too, aren't you?"
Just as Mihawk could read the eyes of Ryuma, Ryuma could read Mihawk's as well.
Mihawk gave no verbal reply, but his eyes were full of confidence.
Ryuma swept his gaze around and asked curiously, "What era is this now?"
"Sea Circle Calendar. It's been several hundred years since your death."
"I see. So I've been dead that long."
Ryuma nodded in understanding, one hand stroking his chin.
"So then—why exactly did you people drag a dead man like me back from Yomi?"
Mihawk drew the black blade at his side.
"To ask for your swordsmanship. I want to know just how great the blade of the dragon-slaying swordsman who once shook even the World Government truly was."
Ryuma laughed loudly.
"To pull a man who's been dead for centuries back from Yomi just for a sword duel—you people really don't do things halfway."
"Please instruct me."
Mihawk gave the formal salute of a swordsman.
Ryuma could tell there was no avoiding this fight now.
"Fine. I'd like to see for myself what kind of swordsmanship the generations hundreds of years after me have produced."
The moment he finished speaking, both men drew their weapons and slashed at each other without hesitation.
Supreme Grade Blade Yoru versus Supreme Grade Blade Shusui.
Flying slash versus flying slash.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!