Tobirama stood at the edge of the crater, his gaze sweeping indifferently across the ruined battlefield.
The aftermath had already been cleaned up. If that brat Luffy were to see this scene, he would probably cry while shouting about becoming the Pirate King to take revenge.
Hah.
If they really dare to come, I'll just crush them as well.
"Next," Tobirama said calmly, "it's time to announce the start of the show—for the audience."
He slowly closed his eyes.
Vast mental energy spread outward like an invisible radar, instantly covering the entire world.
"Found you."
A cold smile curled at the corner of Tobirama's lips.
Somewhere in the New World, inside a moving airship headquarters, there was a certain someone happily counting money.
"Come here."
Tobirama raised his right hand and grasped toward the void.
Spatial authority—activate.
---
New World.
The airship headquarters of the World Economic News Agency.
The president's office was piled high with freshly printed banknotes.
Morgans, the albatross in a suit and top hat, sipped red wine while flipping through recent financial reports, his beak twitching with an exaggerated grin.
"Gah gah gah! I'm rich! I'm rich!"
"That Uchiha Tobirama is my lucky charm! Every time he makes headlines, newspaper sales double!"
"What should I make up next? Say he's some old lady's illegitimate son? Or Kaido's biological father?"
Just as Morgans was cooking up an even more outrageous headline—
Buzz!
The surrounding space suddenly distorted without warning.
An irresistible suction force enveloped his entire body.
"Huh?! What's happening?!"
"Enemy attack? Guards—!"
Before he could shout again, the wine glass slipped from his hand.
Flash!
The scenery before his eyes changed instantly.
The luxurious office vanished, replaced by scorched ground, broken rock, and the salty sea breeze.
"W-Where… is this?"
Morgans collapsed onto a pile of rubble, utterly bewildered, his feathers standing on end.
One second he had been counting money in the New World—
the next, he was dumped onto a deserted island.
What kind of divine power was this?!
"This is the East Blue."
A cold, magnetic voice sounded from above.
Morgans froze, stiffly raising his head.
What he saw made his heart nearly stop—
That familiar divine robe.
That silver hair.
Those terrifying eyes that haunted his nightmares.
"U-U-Uchiha Tobirama-sama?!"
Morgans dropped to his knees instantly, covering his head with his wings, his voice shrill with panic.
"My lord! Please don't kill me! I'm a law-abiding citizen! A reporter who exists solely to praise you!"
"Have you read today's paper? I praised you—no, I portrayed your heroic figure as unmatched in the world!"
His reaction was lightning-fast.
Forget dignity—survival came first.
After all, this was someone who dared to crush even the Celestial Dragons. Killing a reporter would be nothing.
Tobirama looked down at the trembling birdman, a hint of mockery flickering in his eyes.
"Stand up and speak."
"I didn't summon you here to kill you."
"R-Really?" Morgans cautiously lifted his head. His legs were still shaking, but his professional instincts were already screaming—this was world-shaking news.
Tobirama didn't waste words.
He turned slightly and pointed toward the massive crater behind him.
"I have some news here that you'll be very interested in."
Morgans followed his finger.
At first, he saw only a deep pit.
Then, squinting carefully, he caught sight of an old man at the bottom—bloodied, broken, and unmoving.
Morgans' eyes widened instantly.
"That… that is…"
"A dog-head hat… a white suit…"
"Vice Admiral… Garp?!"
"Holy—Marine hero Garp?! He… he's been defeated?!"
"It's more than that," Tobirama said calmly, folding his arms.
"I crushed him—unilaterally."
"He's my prisoner now."
Thud.
Morgans dropped flat onto the ground in worshipful awe.
"Dad! You're my real dad!"
"If this gets out, the World Government will go insane! Marine Headquarters will have collective brain hemorrhages!"
Tobirama looked at the trembling, ecstatic birdman and spoke evenly.
"Listen carefully."
"I want a newspaper published immediately."
"I've already prepared the headline."
He pointed down at Garp in the crater, his voice carrying absolute authority.
"Tell Sengoku. Tell the Five Elders."
"Their hero is in my hands."
"You want him back?"
"Fine."
"Bring enough sincerity—top-grade Devil Fruits, ancient weapons, anything of value."
"Or," Tobirama continued, his smile turning cruel, "send people to take him by force."
"The three admirals.
The commander-in-chief.
Even the Five Elders themselves."
"I'll be waiting."
"There is a deadline."
"After that, there will be no more waiting."
"Do you understand?"
Morgans nodded furiously, snapping photos nonstop—especially of Garp lying at the bottom of the pit.
"I understand! Completely!"
"Kidnapping! Extortion! A declaration of war!"
"This is a slap straight to the World Government's face! Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
As a professional instigator, Morgans felt he had reached the peak of his career.
What Yonko wars? What Pirate King?
Compared to this man, all of that was child's play.
This—this was real news.
"Good," Tobirama said.
He waved his hand.
"Go back to work."
"I want the whole world to know by tomorrow morning."
Buzz!
Space twisted once more.
Morgans vanished instantly, camera and all, sent back to his airship headquarters.
---
Tobirama stood alone at the cliff's edge, sea wind brushing against him, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
"Oh…"
A soft chuckle faded into the wind.
This move wasn't just about humiliating the Navy.
It was the most efficient form of forced entrapment.
Tobirama understood this world very clearly.
Devil Fruit users were scattered across the globe.
Searching for them one by one?
Too troublesome.
Whether it was the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the Glint-Glint Fruit, or rare Mythical Zoans, hunting them down would require endless effort.
He was an emperor.
An emperor does not run errands.
So—
He would make them come to him.
Garp was the perfect bait.
Capturing a naval hero was even more intolerable to the Navy than killing Celestial Dragons.
This was the collapse of belief itself.
The World Government would never sit idle.
They would rage.
They would panic.
They would throw every hidden card onto the table.
Admirals.
CP0 elites.
Even the so-called Holy Knights lurking in the shadows.
Come.
Come all of you.
"This is my fully automated Devil Fruit harvesting plan."
Tobirama took out an apple from his system space. It looked vaguely similar to a Devil Fruit now.
He took a large bite, juice spilling down his fingers.
"Instead of searching the world for treasure chests…"
"Why not let the treasure chests grow legs and run to me?"
"Sengoku… Five Elders…"
"You'd better not disappoint me."
"My empire is still lacking quite a few powerful Devil Fruit users as cannon fodder."
---
The next morning.
Before the sun had fully risen, white news birds filled the skies across the entire world.
This newspaper would rewrite the tide of the era.
The headline, printed in bold blood-red letters, dominated the front page—every word seeming to drip with blood.
THE END OF AN ERA! THE COLLAPSE OF NAVAL FAITH!
The subheadlines were even more shocking:
The strongest iron fist falls in the East Blue! Marine hero Garp captured alive!
Emperor Uchiha's ultimatum: Want him back? Pay with your lives!
One man declares war on the world—divine arrogance, or demonic revelry?
The accompanying image was a high-resolution, unedited photograph:
At the bottom of a bottomless crater of ruins, Garp—the Iron Fist who had driven the Pirate King to the brink countless times—lay there covered in blood, his fate unknown, discarded like trash.
Boom.
At that moment, the world didn't just boil.
It exploded.
Whether commoners, pirates, marines, or high-ranking nobles—
The instant they saw the newspaper—
Their minds went blank.
Garp… lost?
The invincible Vice Admiral Garp… captured alive?
Fear.
Unprecedented fear spread to every corner of the world through those pages.
The sky had truly fallen.