Haido was a true-born schemer—an ambitious man who had returned from overseas.
Unlike ordinary merchants—actually, unlike any merchant in the ninja world—Haido had never even known that ninjas existed.
Even when he dealt with ninja world merchants and noticed that some of their bodyguards were strong, he had only thought of them as people with unique skills, just like Temujin.
But after arriving in the Land of Wind—especially during this recent period—he realized how wrong he had been.
Completely wrong. The merchants he had met before were nothing more than the lowest tier of this world, mere prey for the pirates.
And what was he? He was still just a merchant.
With his current "Greyl Stone" technology, Haido could use human life energy to create armored soldiers with decent combat abilities.
But those "soldiers" were utterly useless against these pirates.
And now, Haido wasn't just up against pirates—he also had to deal with the ninjas of the Land of Wind.
"We have no choice but to take the risk."
As night fell, Haido and Temujin left the mobile fortress. Meanwhile, the armored soldiers inside continued following Haido's last order—roaming across the Land of Wind.
"Haido-sama, are we heading straight for the Greyl Stone now?"
Temujin asked. Seeing the chaos in the Land of Wind only made him more determined to build the "ideal nation" he dreamed of.
If food and water were endless, then maybe this country could finally escape the chaos of war.
Seeing Temujin's eagerness, Haido smiled.
"Justice… it really is the easiest thing to blind people with in this world."
The "ideal nation" Temujin spoke of was nothing more than a part of history from a country Haido once knew—one without disease, without war, a place where people didn't have to fight over resources.
For the sake of this so-called justice, Haido knew that Temujin and the others would even go as far as killing the innocent. After all, in their eyes, it was just a small price to pay for their utopia.
"That's right. If we want to create the ideal nation, we have no choice but to take risks.
It's been almost a month now. Kamira and Kazemoto… they're probably not coming back."
Haido let out a long sigh, his eyes landing on the little weasel beside him.
With Gekkou leading the way, Haido and Temujin headed toward the location of the Gelel Stone.
Meanwhile, outside the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Roran, Kimimaro, Kidomaru, and the others found themselves unable to take even a single step forward—stopped by the forces of the Dark Pirates.
They had fought Itachi and Kisame once before, and unsurprisingly, they lost.
"We can't get any messages through, and Kabuto has no way of helping us. But he did manage to send some information back.
There's a ninja by Itachi's side who's even stronger than him. If we get too close, we might not even have a chance to escape."
Kidomaru glanced at Kimimaro. If Kimimaro hadn't been there, they would have all been wiped out by Itachi and Kisame.
To some extent, they really were just dead weight at this point.
"If we're not in a hurry, we could try finding our captain. Maybe he can figure something out."
Hamura Ryu, the vice-captain of the Dark Pirates, spoke up. Kidomaru also looked at Kimimaro.
Over the past twenty days, they had gathered a lot of intel on the Divine Tree Organization. The Dark Pirates now had three Devil Fruit users, while Kimimaro's group had five.
Kimimaro, Kidomaru, Jirobo, Sakon-Ukon, and Tayuya—all of them had gained Devil Fruit abilities.
And not weak ones, either.
But… strength alone wasn't enough.
Against Itachi, they still had no chance.
"Kimimaro, should we go find Dark?"
Kidomaru suggested.
Their relationship with the Dark Pirates was more of a personal alliance, but the fact that the Dark Pirates had sent people to support them wasn't just out of friendship—it was for Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru-sama left me with something. If necessary, we can use it to negotiate with the Five Great Nations."
Kimimaro finally spoke. Since Kidomaru and the others had already come this far, he had no choice but to reveal what Orochimaru had entrusted to him.
Kimimaro was undoubtedly strong, but he was also someone who followed rules to the letter.
For example, if an opponent asked for a break in the middle of a fight to drink some water, Kimimaro would actually stop.
So he never really knew when something counted as "necessary."
But seeing everyone preparing to go find Dark, he figured that now must be the right time.
"What is this?"
Kidomaru took the scroll from him.
"…"
The next moment, the five of them exchanged awkward glances.
Standing nearby, Hamura Ryu watched their reaction in confusion.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"The scroll is sealed with chakra.
But we're all Devil Fruit users now.
We can't use jutsu anymore.
In fact, our chakra is fading away, being absorbed into our bodies instead.
So… we can't open it."
Kidomaru looked awkwardly at Hamura Ryu, who then turned to his other companions.
"First mate, you know me! I'm just a guy who sells fish!"
"First mate, you know me too! I'm just a street punk. How would I know any Ninjutsu?"
"..."
At that moment, everyone fell silent.
When Kidomaru and his team arrived in the Land of Wind, they weren't Devil Fruit users yet. They had only become users recently.
After all, many people had Devil Fruit powers now. With more and more of these fruits appearing, they feared their abilities would be taken away.
Since each Devil Fruit is unique and others might not know their Ninjutsu, Kidomaru and his team decided to convert their Ninjutsu into Devil Fruit abilities.
Some even ended up with weaker versions of certain fruits.
For example, Jirobo originally converted his abilities into the "Paramecia-type Buddha Fruit."
This kind of transformation was possible because Jirobo had trained in a special type of Taijutsu that combined the techniques of monks and arhats.
Technically, this style of Taijutsu could also be considered a form of Ninjutsu. However, in the end, Jirobo's Devil Fruit ability turned out to be the "Paramecia-type Arhat Fruit."
"Looks like we really need to go find Captain Dark."
"But Dark doesn't know Ninjutsu either."
"Still, with Captain Dark around, we should be able to find other ninjas, right?"
"We can't just hold onto this scroll forever..."
Hamura Ryu's meaning was clear. The only ninjas in this area were Uchiha Itachi and Kisame. Even an idiot wouldn't take this thing straight to their enemies.
Meanwhile, at the Gelel Stone mine where Dark was staying, he and the old merchant leader had been there for over twenty days. However, Dark didn't feel bored at all.
Even though the old man couldn't directly open the Gelel Stone mine, he had other ways of extracting some of the stones from it.
"This really is amazing. It feels like these stones contain a powerful life force... but not just life energy. There seems to be something else in them too."
"Dark, you should be careful. This stuff is deadly for ordinary people."
The old man warned him again.
"Relax, I've still got two lives left!"
Dark didn't care at all. Why did he have two lives? Because ten days ago, he used ten Gelel Stones on his body, which ended up costing him one of his lives in an explosion.
But it wasn't without benefits. The good part was that his life force seemed to have grown even stronger.
"Besides, honestly speaking, even if all of these exploded at once, it wouldn't destroy the world. At most, it would just blow up everything within a one-kilometer radius around the mine."
Dark spoke casually. Losing one life didn't matter to him.
Once he got a year older, he would gain another life anyway.
"How do you know that?"
Seeing how confident Dark was, the old man asked curiously.
"Think about it—so many Gelel Stones exploded inside my body, and it still only cost me one life.
But Shanks, with just a single slash, could take more than ten of my lives. So even if this mine really did explode, it wouldn't be a big deal."
Dark explained, and the old man was stunned.
Was the Gelel Stone really that weak? How could it be so weak?
No... that wasn't it. The Gelel Stone itself wasn't weak—the mine might extend for dozens of kilometers. If it exploded, the destruction would be massive, enough to wipe out an entire historical kingdom.
It's not that the power of the Gelel Stone mine was lacking—it's that a man like Shanks was just too terrifyingly strong.
"Looking at it this way, maybe we can try letting the other side activate the Gelel Stone mine."
The old man nodded seriously.
"Even though it's not that useful, the way it speeds up plant growth could come in handy on a pirate ship. We could use it to help grow supplies faster.
That would make us a fortune."
The old man nodded again. He and Dark weren't fools—they could both see the value of this thing.
If he had access to the ancient kingdom's technology, the Gelel Stone would be worth far more. But as a descendant of the resistance, there was no way he could have that kind of knowledge.
So, in the end, this thing could only be discarded as scrap.
"No rush. We'll wait."
"Once Haido realizes the gap between him and the pirates and ninjas of the Land of Wind, he'll come to us on his own."
Dark wasn't in any hurry. The two of them left the depths of the mine.
But as they surfaced, Dark looked up at the sky with curiosity.
Something seemed to be blocking the sunlight. He raised his head and stared upward.
A gust of wind blew in, carrying bits of sand. The hot sand, which was supposed to scorch, now had a surprising chill to it.
The old man also looked up.
"That's strange."
"It really is. There are clouds."
Dark frowned. Those thin clouds didn't look normal at all.
"Does the Land of Wind even get clouds like this?"
"Never seen anything like it. Judging by how far it spreads, it's covering at least 200 kilometers. This kind of weather only happens over the ocean."
The old man and Dark exchanged glances. They both knew a lot about ocean weather, and no matter how they looked at it, this felt like a hurricane was on its way.
"What's going on?"
"This feeling… it's strange. It's like…"
"Like what?"
The old man looked at Dark, unsure what he was trying to say. Right now, Dark seemed deep in thought, almost like he was weighed down by something. It was as if some terrifying force was approaching.
"Like Shanks' Conqueror's Haki!"
"It's not as strong as his, but the feeling is very similar."
Dark explained. He was all too familiar with this kind of oppressive presence.
And the fact that it was affecting the sky? That was something Conqueror's Haki could do—changing the environment itself.
No, to be exact, only the most powerful Conqueror's Haki could achieve that.
As far as the world knew, Shanks was the only one with Conqueror's Haki—but his was at the absolute peak.
Normal Conqueror's Haki was just about overpowering other living beings.
"Are you sure?"
"Not completely. But if this really is Conqueror's Haki, then the Land of Wind is in for some chaos. Because this… isn't Shanks' Haki.
That means a new Four Emperors might be rising."
Dark replied.
At the same time, on the other side of the Land of Wind...
Ross Jess, who was digging in the sand, listened to his crew's report.
"Boss, we found a mine, but we don't know what kind of ore this is. There's some kind of power in it that weakens my Devil Fruit abilities."
One of the crew members held up a piece of ore.
"It can weaken Devil Fruit abilities?"
Ross Jess took the ore. The moment he held it, he didn't feel his powers disappear.
That was because his abilities were usually passive.
However, as soon as he got a firm grip on the ore, he suddenly felt weak, and his body went limp.
"Karin, you hold it."
After handing the ore to Karin, Ross Jess immediately felt his strength return.
"So it weakens Devil Fruit powers… does it work like seawater?"
"Wait, what happened to your sword?"
That's when Ross Jess noticed that his crew member's sword was broken.
"This ore is extremely hard. Even when I used all my strength, I could barely chip off this tiny piece."
"And then… my sword snapped."
The crew member explained.
"Good to know. Seems like mining this stuff won't be easy."
"Bal, Karin, you two stay here and gather as much of this ore as possible."
"Yes, Captain!"
Bal, the vice-captain, responded.
They all looked toward the dark clouds in the distance. Then, Ross Jess started walking in that direction alone.
"Come pick me up in three days. Just follow this path straight ahead.
Before you leave, make sure to cover up this mine."
That was his final order to his crew. He had a feeling something big was happening over there, and he wasn't going to miss out.
"Captain Ross, if you don't have an umbrella, please take this hat!"
Karin ran up to him, taking off the straw hat on her head. She could also feel the overwhelming pressure coming from afar.
"Please… please take care of yourself. Don't catch a cold."
Ross Jess looked down at Karin. His cold eyes softened slightly.
He crouched down and gave her a gentle smile.
"I'll take care of myself. Just remember—three days from now, make sure to pick me up. If you don't, I might really catch a cold."
With that, he put on the straw hat.
"Y-yes, Captain!!"