"What? Was Gecko Moria a friend of yours too?"
"My, my, Imu is so sorry about that."
Hearing Naruto's question, Blackbeard's large face twisted into a mocking sneer devoid of any apology, trying to provoke Naruto.
But Naruto did not respond to these words.
Naruto and Moria's first encounter had been in Wano.
Back then, Naruto was running around causing trouble for Kaido, and Moria was doing much the sa.
Gecko Moria, or rather Kozuki Moria, was originally an orphan who had drifted to Wano. Taken in by the locals, he was well cared for and nurtured, even earning the 'Kozuki' surna.
At that ti, Moria was still a passionate young man. To repay that kindness, Moria resolutely led his comrades to rebel against Kaido.
He and Naruto should have beco friends.
Unfortunately, Moria lost too quickly and too completely. By the ti Naruto received information and tried to rush to support those rebels, he only learned that they had been completely annihilated.
Back then, Naruto also believed that Kozuki Moria had died there. It wasn't until he later set sail again that he heard rumors of another Gecko Moria.
But by then, Moria had already been crushed by the death of his comrades, losing his original resolve. He blindly sought to use the Kage Kage no Mi to create companions who would never die.
His thods and will had strayed far from his original path. So, when Naruto passed by Thriller Bark at that ti, he didn't bother to visit.
The next ti they t was at Marineford.
By then, Naruto was entirely focused on taking down the World Governnt, while Moria had quietly set his sights on Naruto's body.
After the war ended, Naruto never heard news of Moria again. He only learned from Luffy that this guy had even been defeated by the just-set-sail Straw Hat Pirates.
And now, looking at the Kage Kage no Mi abilities displayed by Blackbeard... or rather, Imu, and rembering Blackbeard's rumored ability to steal Devil Fruits, it wasn't hard to guess Moria's current fate.
Objectively speaking, Moria's path would never have aligned with Naruto's, but he was soone who could have been a friend.
And now he had died so quietly at Blackbeard's hands.
Imu, on the other side, silently watched Naruto.
Allowing Naruto to take the giants away one by one was actually a ploy to buy ti.
Imu had anticipated Naruto coming to Elbaf, but not so quickly.
'That teleportation ability... even when the Wapu Wapu no Mi belonged to one of this body's crew, it couldn't do that?'
Unable to comprehend, Imu ultimately attributed it to so unique ability inherent to Naruto, that accursed variable.
And Imu had detected Naruto far earlier than Naruto had detected him.
Every God's Knight served as his eyes. When Gunko activated the pentagram magic circle, he was already observing events in the Underworld.
Unfortunately, Loki's will was still clinging to life. Every minute gained allowed Imu to further control the power of the mythical beast [Nidhoggr].
Thus, Blackbeard, who wielded the powers of the Yami Yami no Mi, Kage Kage no Mi, and Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, was deployed as a stalling tactic.
"So, Blackbeard is your trump card? Or is that Prince Loki the real one?"
Naruto suddenly looked up, his azure eyes seemingly piercing Imu's attempt to hide the truth.
"..."
Imu's response was countless tentacles ford from shadow.
An ability that Moria could only use to create zombies was transford into terrifying abyssal power by Imu.
The Yami Yami no Mi and Kage Kage no Mi were inherently connected in so ways. When wielded by the sa individual, the synergy far exceeded the sum of their parts.
Without any specific technique, the re spread of dark shadow was enough to instantly destroy this prison.
—Along with the entire castle, the demon giants within, and even the rock upon which the castle stood, everything was reduced to an indescribable black shadow in an instant.
Of course, Naruto was certainly not included.
After all, by now, there were hardly any ans left that could restrict Naruto's movent.
However, Imu's intention with this move wasn't to attack Naruto. He knew it would be ineffective.
The true purpose of this technique was... to devour enough matter.
"Gyaaah!!"
A colossal head ford from pure shadow erged from the shadow. Its outline resembled Loki's draconic head, but the sound it made was a terrifying zombie-like howl.
After the howl, this dragon, composed of shadow and various bizarre substances, slowly pulled its entire body from that indescribable abyss, revealing itself before Naruto's eyes.
In terms of appearance, Imu's creation was likely influenced by the image of Nidhoggr.
But this creature couldn't be examined closely. Upon close inspection, what seed like scales on its surface were actually layers upon layers of wailing human faces.
"Ugh... that is one ugly thing."
Never had Naruto regretted his excellent eyesight as much as now. He could even clearly count the teeth in those wailing human faces' mouths.
"Are you trying to kill by making look at this—"
Boom!!
Before Naruto's words ended, the shadow dragon attacked with speed far exceeding its size.
With the power of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, the monster could fly effortlessly. Its black, miasma-wreathed claws rapidly extended, grasping toward Naruto in the air.
...If they could be called claws. They were more like the tentacles of so sea monster.
Wherever the claws passed, rock, earth, even the trunks of the massive Adamwood trees, everything was instantly devoured, leaving only empty trenches behind.
If this monster were allowed to run amok, it could likely destroy an entire large nation in the ti it took to eat a al.
However, such terrifying destructive power was clearly inefficient against a small target like Naruto. Imu realized this after his first strike missed.
"Roar!"
The back of the shadow dragon's head split open, revealing a massive maw. A breath of darkness, composed of Dark Water and shadows, fired instantly toward Naruto's position.
The breath seed to fill every visible space.
Imu intended to restrict Naruto's movent and vision with this wide-area attack.
But unfortunately, Naruto's Anotorifune was not the Wapu Wapu no Mi eaten by Van Augur. Even with his vision blocked, he could still instantly teleport to a location he had previously marked.
Thus, this breath attack missed completely, only turning a large patch of land into a muddy swamp of ominous black miasma, achieving nothing.
Seeing the swamp, Naruto frowned.
"If you keep this up, those giants will probably have to move."
With that, he teleported away again, dodging dozens of slender shadow tentacles that attacked from behind.
When Naruto reappeared, he hadn't retreated. Instead, he advanced to within ten ters of the dragon.
At this distance, every wrinkle on those wailing faces was crystal clear.
"Ti to take your final bow."
As he spoke, Naruto's form rapidly shifted from human into his [Complete Otsutsuki Form], all three eyes fully open.
Under the dual observation of his Jogan and Rinnegan, two tiny, barely perceptible humanoid silhouettes appeared within the indescribable shadow dragon.
One was Blackbeard's physical body, but also the souls of both Blackbeard and Moria.
—As for why Moria's soul was also trapped here, Naruto could only speculate that Blackbeard's thod of stealing Devil Fruits inherently involved so form of soul imprisonnt.
"Well, looks like you owe one, Moria."
In the next instant, Yin-Yang Release Chakra rapidly condensed and expanded, mimicking the [Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion] Toneri had used earlier. It ford an infinitely extending beam of energy that pierced straight through the shadow dragon's body.
After piercing the dragon, the beam continued upward, punching through the Adamwood tree's canopy, which towered above the sky. Sunlight stread down through the hole, illuminating the scarred land of Elbaf.
The two souls hidden within the dragon, invisible to ordinary eyes, were rapidly eroded by the attack infused with Yin-Natured Chakra.
Under Naruto's Rinnegan gaze, the souls of Marshall D. Teach and Kozuki Moria were worn down to their last vestiges before finally breaking free from Blackbeard's control and the restrictions imposed by Imu.
Compared to Moria, who remained sowhat dazed, Teach 'awakened' quickly.
He looked down at Naruto. A flash of shock, anger, confusion, disbelief, and then understanding crossed his nearly transparent face.
This man opened his mouth, shouting sothing at Naruto.
Unfortunately, perhaps because of the boundary between life and death, Naruto had a Rinnegan but no 'Rinne-ears'. He couldn't hear Teach's 'dying words'.
Teach shouted for a while, then seed to realize the futility.
He looked at his own fading form, then at Moria's already half-dissipated soul, and finally seed to accept his fate.
This man, who could endure for decades for power, who would stop at nothing for his so-called dreams and ambitions, appeared serene in the final mont of his life.
By now, Teach's form had mostly vanished, leaving only his ugly face.
In his last mont, he used his mouth to convey a final ssage to Naruto.
'Kill him.'
But Naruto simply looked past him, following the gradually dissipating 'black magical aura' in the air, and headed without looking back toward the hole he had created above.
"Hah. You didn't have to tell that."
Whether he heard Naruto's response or not, Teach's soul finally dissipated.
Along with it, the massive form of the shadow dragon crumbled away.
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