The feeling of being invincible—only loneliness remained.
Returning to the past and watching everything play out again, Orochimaru felt nothing.
The so-called Great Ninja War was nothing more than background noise to him. He stood at too great a height. Because of Shanks, his vision had always been set on the entire ninja world from the start.
When he looked back at the old era, he didn't even feel the slightest urge to challenge its strongest warriors.
Too weak—far too weak!!
It wasn't just about physical strength. More importantly, their minds, beliefs, and vision were all too narrow. These people weren't even on the same level as him.
Orochimaru couldn't find a single reason to be among them.
What did strength bring? Fame, honor, power, wealth?
Sorry, but with Orochimaru's vision, what he saw was far beyond what ordinary people could comprehend.
Because honor, power… all of that wasn't something determined by weaklings he had no respect for.
At this moment, Orochimaru's mind underwent its final transformation. And in that instant, he touched upon the same "pride" that Madara had once seen in Shanks.
Shanks' "pride" was true arrogance—the arrogance of a real powerhouse.
And in truth, it made perfect sense. If you think about it rationally, why would someone who is truly invincible feel the need to show off in front of the weak?
In some ways, Shanks was the embodiment of absolute rationality and restraint.
For example, in some fanfiction stories, the main character starts training at three years old, awakens the Sharingan at five, reaches Three Tomoe at eight, and becomes the strongest in the ninja world by fifteen.
Then, they go around fighting wherever there's a battle, somehow managing to fall into illogical romances and even build a harem along the way.
But the path Shanks took was completely different.
From the moment he caught the attention of the world's will, he understood just how important his existence was.
And more than that, he was without a doubt the strongest in the ninja world.
But Shanks didn't do any of the typical things that fanfiction "main characters" usually do.
Instead, he carved out a new path in the ninja world, creating an era of lasting peace through his own strength.
"A world where I'm the only strong one… that would be way too boring."
Back in the Land of Roran, Shanks, guided by the queen, arrived at the heart of the Dragon Vein.
Watching the turbulent energy of the Dragon Vein, Shanks couldn't help but reflect on it.
He and Izuna felt an instant connection, as if they had known each other for a long time.
Izuna had been willing to risk his own life to end the Sengoku era and bring forth a new age.
Shanks was no different—he was creating a new era in the ninja world and nurturing powerful warriors.
And in the end, these warriors would all stand against him.
Because he was Shanks—the strongest of the Four Emperors, the one who had ushered in this new era, and the ultimate challenge for any true warrior.
Shanks had placed himself as the ultimate gamble.
"So, Orochimaru has finally taken this step too.
With absolute pride, he is forging his own strength beyond the will of the world itself."
"I never thought that the power I spent nearly a year training to obtain… someone else could touch in just two or three months."
Shanks could only sense Orochimaru's state through the fluctuations in the Dragon Vein.
But even with just that little bit of information, he was already shocked.
A genius of the ninja world—there was no doubt about it.
This era didn't belong to Shanks alone.
A world with only one strong person would be lonely in the end.
A true powerhouse never fears the rise of another.
Conqueror's Haki wasn't just a form of power—it represented a person's spirit and vision.
And Shanks, as the greatest wielder of Conqueror's Haki, had a spirit just like that.
No matter how many strong warriors and great leaders emerged in the ninja world, wasn't this exactly the kind of thriving era he had hoped for?
"Looks like it's about time."
In the next moment, the Dragon Vein's energy erupted again, completely enveloping Shanks.
But he wasn't worried at all.
Before touching the Dragon Vein, he didn't fully understand how it worked.
But once he actually connected with it, everything became clear.
The Dragon Vein wasn't just a tool for time travel—it was one of the world's chakras, a force that recorded the history of the ninja world.
In a way, the Dragon Vein was like the world's memory drive, storing everything that had ever happened.
And what people called "time travel" was really just using the Dragon Vein to access the ninja world's historical records.
It was a strange state of existence—no matter what Shanks did in this timeline, it wouldn't change the future, because these records weren't the real ninja world.
That's why he couldn't unleash his full strength here—this "memory drive" couldn't handle his true power.
But in the real world, Shanks' strength had already broken past the limits of the ninja world.
If he surpassed the limit, then so be it—it didn't matter.
So if Orochimaru wanted to succeed, there was only one path left for him…
He had to break through the limits of the Dragon Vein.
Break through the limits of the world itself.
"Probably."
Shanks thought to himself. Thinking about Orochimaru, then comparing him to himself, Orochimaru's talent really was insane. He had managed to achieve so much in such a short time.
"Though, Orochimaru and Kaido actually seem pretty similar."
Shanks recalled Kaido's story. Despite being one of the Four Emperors, he somehow ended up becoming the strongest teacher in the pirate world, even putting his own life on the line to train Luffy.
And it wasn't just him—his crew also went all out to "help" Luffy's crew, pushing them to become stronger.
Looking at Orochimaru, wasn't he doing the same thing?
He talked about taking over Sasuke's body, yet he kept making Sasuke stronger, and in the end, even lost his life in the process.
The only ones willing to risk their lives just to train their disciples… were Orochimaru and Kaido.
Of course, Orochimaru had no way of hearing Shanks' thoughts.
And outside, neither Kabuto nor Shisui had any idea what was happening inside.
By now, more than twenty days had passed in the outside world.
Normally, the flow of time inside the Dragon Vein and outside wouldn't be too different.
But this wasn't a normal situation. The Roran Dragon Vein wasn't just holding Shanks, someone who took up a massive amount of "memory," but also Orochimaru, a "virus" causing chaos.
A little delay or lag was to be expected.
"Shisui-sama, would you like something to eat?"
Kabuto took out some food and offered it.
"No need, I have my own."
Shisui replied with a polite smile, but he remained on guard against Kabuto.
"Relying on Kabuto alone definitely wouldn't be enough to accomplish anything. Orochimaru must have made other arrangements.
The captain is really too relaxed about this. I can't handle so many people on my own."
Shisui knew that Orochimaru wasn't someone to be trusted. If Orochimaru succeeded, there was no doubt that a fight would break out between them.
And Orochimaru's side seemed to have a lot more people than theirs.
"Shisui-sama is really amazing. In all these twenty days, not a single person has gotten close to this place."
Kabuto commented while eating, feeling the pressure of being around someone like Shisui.
It had been over twenty days, yet there was no word from Kimimaro and the others. Without a doubt, this was Shisui's doing.
"At this point, all we can do is put our hopes in Orochimaru-sama."
Kabuto thought to himself. There was nothing he could do now, so he could only leave it up to fate.
"Maybe it's just luck that no one has come. After all, the Land of Wind isn't exactly peaceful these days."
Shisui replied casually.
In reality, he had been staying in contact with Itachi the entire time. Right now, Itachi was the only reliable ally he could count on.
Through Itachi's intel, Shisui had also learned about the situation in the Land of Wind.
Over the past twenty days, more than 30,000 pirates had shown up in the Land of Wind.
That number alone was shocking, but that was just the confirmed count.
In reality, the true number might be… over 100,000.
If the other ninja villages hadn't sent people over, there's no way the Land of Wind could have stayed peaceful and relatively stable for this long.
But as time goes on, more and more pirates will start showing up, and when that happens, they'll have no choice but to use more forceful methods to deal with them.
Right now, about 50 kilometers from the ruins of Roran…
Itachi had just received new intel from Sunagakure.
"More new pirates?"
Kisame, standing nearby, asked curiously.
"This time, thirty powerful pirates have appeared, all at the jōnin level. One of them is called Sig…"
Itachi handed the intel report to Kisame, who picked it up and glanced through it with interest.
Most of the pirates that appeared were usually Devil Fruit users, but there was one unusual name on this list.
"Sig, self-proclaimed King of the Mountain Bandits. Born a commoner in the Land, skilled in swordsmanship and taijutsu."
"The Sig Mountain Bandit Crew has a total of one hundred members. Sig himself has the strength to fight jōnin and Devil Fruit users head-on."
"Relying only on swordsmanship and taijutsu… and he's already as strong as a jōnin?"
Seeing this, Kisame couldn't help but sigh. The times were changing.
Commoners in this new era… were unbelievably strong.
"This brings the number of powerful pirates in the Land of Wind to over two hundred. If this were the past, the Fourth Great Ninja War would've already broken out."
Kisame sighed again. Just imagining two hundred jōnin-level fighters running around the Land of Wind—it would be a complete nightmare.
"Sunagakure alone has over seventy strong fighters. Add in reinforcements from Konohagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure…
That brings the total number of jōnin-level fighters to over three hundred, and even then, it's barely enough to keep the Land of Wind stable."
Three hundred jōnin. To think that when the ninja villages first sent reinforcements, there weren't even that many jōnin among them.
Konohagakure, for example, only sent five jōnin, including Kakashi.
The other villages sent even fewer.
And yet, in just over twenty days, the number of jōnin-level fighters had skyrocketed.
"The Land of Wind's daimyo has already started recruiting soldiers. The Land of Fire is also rushing to do the same. All five great nations are making moves.
Some pirates seem to have escaped from the Land of Wind, and now even the outside world is becoming unstable."
Kisame frowned. Once people gained power, their ambitions would naturally start growing too.
That was just human nature. Not every pirate was going to stay in the Land of Wind forever. Some of them, after receiving Devil Fruits cultivated by the Divine Tree Organization, had taken off the moment they got their powers.
"It's expected. And in times like these, it's the perfect chance for our organization to step in and act."
Itachi wasn't too concerned about what was happening outside.
He pulled out a wanted poster. A new pirate had appeared with a bounty exceeding 100 million.
A guy named Ross Jess.
In just over twenty days, this pirate had made a name for himself. He was powerful… and mysterious.
But more importantly, the total bounty on Ross Jess and his crew had already reached 500 million!
Ross Jess himself had a bounty of 110 million.
Meanwhile, one of his crew members, "Uzumaki Karin," had a bounty as high as 200 million.
To think that this pirate crew had only been around for a little over twenty days, and they were already drawing so much attention.
"Our organization's mission… it's not in the Land of Wind too, is it?"
"No, but if we run into any of our own people here…"
Itachi didn't finish his sentence.
This was part of the Akatsuki's internal purge plan. If they encountered other members of the organization in the Land of Wind, it meant those people weren't true members—they were undercover operatives who had been hiding within the group all along.
Kisame, standing beside him, nodded knowingly.
With everything in chaos, anything could happen. It was best to stay cautious.
Meanwhile, on the other side, "Haido" had something to say.
Anything could happen? Yeah, right.
Haido had come fully prepared, but he never expected the Land of Wind to be this insane.
Right now, the Land of Wind was either filled with pirates or squads led by ninjas.
The real problem was that Haido barely had any forces left.
"Haido-sama, we have fewer than fifty soldiers left. I suggest we avoid showing ourselves for now and stay hidden," Temujin advised.
By this point, Temujin had lost all the arrogance he had at the beginning. After surviving several dangerous battles, he, an outsider from overseas, had finally realized just how ruthless the mainland could be.
"I understand. We'll keep a low profile for now. Once we regain enough strength, we'll continue moving forward," Haido said.
He had no choice but to accept it—he had created a full army of a thousand armored soldiers, and now…
Only fifty remained. But at least, he had gained some valuable experience.
"Fine, if it's risky, then so be it. It's time to go straight for the Greyl Stone mines."
At that moment, Haido made up his mind. Without the Greyl Stone, he had no way to fight against those Devil Fruit users.
Even if it was dangerous, it was worth a shot!