Naturally, Lin had no idea that because of their actions, the Straw Hat Pirates—who hadn't even entered the Grand Line yet—were almost wiped out by Mihawk.
At the moment, they were still on Skypeia, watching Uchiha Madara's livestream.
Of course, aside from watching the broadcast, Lin could also enjoy some of Skypeia's delicacies. He even had Conis brought over by Gan Fall to join him for the meal. Meanwhile, Hashirama and the Toad Sage could only watch.
Fortunately, one of them was preoccupied with observing the developments in their own world, while the other was trying to learn something new from another world. For the time being, neither of them bothered Lin.
Back in the ninja world, Uchiha Madara continued his one-sided beatdown of the Five Kage.
"Too weak! Too pathetic!"
"You're all so disappointing!"
"You don't deserve the title of 'Kage' at all!"
"Has the world really fallen so far that people like you are leading the five great villages?"
While effortlessly overpowering them, Madara also relentlessly mocked and taunted them, as if he had suddenly become a master of verbal abuse. His words left Tsunade and the others fuming.
Tsunade and the others repeatedly tried to coordinate attacks, proving they weren't as useless as Madara claimed. But just when they thought they might have a chance, Madara would abruptly crush their hopes with a devastating counterattack, leaving them utterly helpless.
Kabuto Yakushi had been closely monitoring the battlefield. Seeing Uchiha Madara's overwhelming power, his eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
In his eyes, this version of Uchiha Madara was his finest masterpiece, surpassing even his wildest expectations.
He even felt a slight regret—if only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze hadn't used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to trap themselves in the Shinigami's stomach, preventing their reanimation. He would have loved to see them join the fight.
Still, he was more than pleased with the current situation. After all, in this reanimated body, Madara was displaying the "power of the gods"—a force akin to the legendary Sage of the Six Paths!
What Kabuto didn't know, however, was that Madara himself was growing increasingly bored.
He realized that acting wasn't his thing—it was just too dull.
Especially since his opponents were so weak. He had to carefully control his strength to avoid ending the fight too quickly or dealing fatal blows, which would disrupt the script's progression.
But for the sake of the grand plan, he had no choice but to keep up the charade.
Resigned, he continued his "playfight" with the Five Kage while using the interdimensional communication to chat with Lin, Hashirama, and the others in the One Piece world. At the same time, he pondered how he would deal with Kabuto later.
Just as Madara was lost in thought, he momentarily let his guard down.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World!"
A beam of white light shot toward him. Madara barely managed to dodge, but half of his body was instantly obliterated.
"Did we hit him?!"
"Great job, Ōnoki!"
Tsunade, Gaara, Mei Terumī, and A all looked thrilled.
Meanwhile—
"Well done!"
Inside the Void Temple, Hashirama clapped excitedly, as if seeing Madara get hit was the most entertaining thing in the world. He then teased Madara through the interdimensional comms:
"I told you not to get too cocky!"
Madara replied calmly, "Hashirama, you really have gone senile. Haven't you seen the future in those 'recordings'? I deliberately let him hit me to mess with them."
Hashirama paused, then suddenly remembered. In the "future footage" Lin had shown them, there was indeed a scene where Madara pretended to be hit by Ōnoki's attack, revealing the First Hokage's face on his chest to intimidate them.
But something felt off this time. He suspected Madara had actually been caught off guard and was just saving face by claiming it was intentional.
Still, he had no proof, so he let Madara have his way.
Back in the ninja world, Madara glanced at his rapidly regenerating body and coldly remarked to Ōnoki:
"Not bad. But still far from enough!"
Just as he was about to continue his act, Lin suddenly chimed in through the comms:
"Hey, Madara, I just realized something…"
"Realized what?" Hashirama turned to Lin, confused.
The Toad Sage also looked curiously at Lin. Even Madara felt a twinge of unease.
Then, Lin said slowly, "This guy never married, never had a woman in his life, yet he carved your face onto his chest. Don't you think that's… kinda sus?"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Hashirama and the Toad Sage both gasped as if they'd just uncovered a shocking secret!
"SHUT UP! THAT'S NOT—!" Madara roared before Lin could even finish.
Hashirama, in particular, looked horrified. "Madara… you… you're not actually—?!"
In his agitation, Hashirama didn't just think it—he shouted it out loud.
The Five Kage, who were mid-battle, froze in confusion.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Why did he suddenly yell like that?"
"'Shut up, I'm not'? What does that even mean?"
Seeing their bewildered expressions, Madara felt his embarrassment reach unbearable levels.
"Damn you, Lin!"
The cool, imposing image he'd carefully crafted had just been ruined in an instant.
Furious, he immediately cut off the livestream feed, preventing Lin and the others from watching any further.
He thought that would give him some peace—but no. Even though the livestream was over, the group chat Lin had created was still active.
PS: Some readers suggested that if Uchiha Madara returned to the ninja world and showed off his Conqueror's Haki, it would make things more exciting. After some consideration, the author decided to incorporate a scene where he uses it to knock out low-level ninjas and intimidate everyone.
That said, he won't be using other abilities just yet. Those will be saved as trump cards for later, after Hashirama is successfully reanimated!
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T/N:
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