Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

It wasn't blown up by the wind, but rather vibrated by the sound waves.

The thick layer of fallen leaves, accumulated over many years, simultaneously left the ground, hovered in mid-air for less than half a second, and then fell back down, making a continuous, soft rustling sound.

“That person, those who harmed my father, and those guys from the World Government.”

Loki's voice dropped from its explosive peak to a low, almost whispered tone.

"I can't stand it anymore."

Loki shifted his gaze from Jabba to the distant horizon, to the direction of the Elbaf Palace—a direction hidden by giant trees, yet one he knew existed.

Shanks remained silent for a long time before speaking.

"No matter what, I will stop you from self-destruction."

Loki looked down at him.

"You think you can stop me?"

"It's not what I thought."

Shanks said.

He pulled Griffin out.

"I know."

Loki's gaze lingered on the sword for a second.

Then his gaze shifted to Mihawk.

Those eyes lingered on Mihawk for about a second.

"who are you?"

Mihawk did not answer.

He just stood there, like a knife stuck in the ground.

Loki's gaze then shifted to Bai Yu.

It paused for half a second.

And who are you?

I came to see you.

Loki's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What are you looking at?"

"Let's see if you're strong enough."

Loki stared at Bai Yu for about two seconds.

Then the corners of his mouth curved up.

This time, he genuinely laughed.

It's not the joyful laugh of seeing an old friend, nor the mocking laugh of facing an enemy, but a purer, simpler laugh, purely because something is interesting.

"interesting."

Loki said.

"Redhead brought helpers to capture me, and one of them was an arrogant brat who didn't know his place."

His gaze shifted from Bai Yu back to Shanks.

"Is he yours?"

Shanks glanced at Bai Yu.

"No."

"Then why did you bring it?"

"Bai Yu, I didn't expect you to have other plans."

Loki glanced at Bai Yu again.

"It's very simple. It's only right to avenge my father. I also have my own things to do. If he's strong enough, it's not a bad idea to take him along."

"Is your goal also the world government?"

Shanks sensed that things were getting complicated. Shiraha must not be aware of how terrifying the World Government was. Was this era about to erupt into chaos?

Chapter 232 War Begins

Shanks moved.

There was no warning whatsoever.

To everyone else, Shanks' hand remained still as if he had just drawn his sword, but Griffin's blade was no longer in its original position.

The angle at which the knife tip pointed to the ground shifted by less than three degrees, the heel of the right foot lifted slightly by half a centimeter, and the angle of the knee bend increased by about two degrees.

These tiny changes, when added together, amount to one thing.

Red Hair made his move.

Bai Yu's pupils contracted for a split second.

It's because he barely saw Shanks exert any effort.

It's a realm that completely transcends muscle memory; there's no acceleration process between the body's rest and its maximum speed, like those few frames that are deliberately deleted in a video editing.

"So fast!"

Then a black shadow flashed past in his peripheral vision; it was Jabba.

The old man was incredibly fast. The moment he pushed off the ground with his left foot, a large number of fallen leaves were blown away by the gust of air, revealing the black, wet soil underneath.

Jabba's movement speed is on a completely different level from when he was walking; the old guy had been hiding the whole time.

"Mihawk."

Bai Yu's gaze swept to the other side.

Hawkeye didn't move.

He was still standing there, in the exact same posture as before, arms crossed, the black knife on his back still unsheathed.

But Bai Yu noticed a small detail: Mihawk's breathing rate had changed.

The breathing changed from even, slow, almost imperceptible to a deeper, slower rhythm, with each inhale feeling like a downward sinking motion.

That's a kind of waiting.

They weren't waiting for the signal to start the battle, but rather for the right moment to strike.

What level of existence does Loki actually possess?

Mihawk wanted to know the answer to this question.

Because Shanks described this guy's strength as earth-shattering, someone that even if he, Jabba, and Shanks joined forces, they might not be able to defeat.

"Oh?"

Loki's voice came from above, the "oh" trailing off for a long time.

His eyes lingered on Shanks for a fraction of a second before quickly scanning over Jabba, Mihawk, and Shiraha.

The playfulness and teasing from before were gone from those eyes; in their place was a pure, almost ruthless seriousness born of a fighting instinct.

"Then let's go."

Loki said.

Then he made his move.

He didn't use the magical iron thunderbolt that was placed at his feet, but rather he used his bare hands.

He raised his right hand from the pile of fallen leaves, his five fingers spread out, each one like a large tree.

The hand paused in mid-air for less than a second, a fleeting window of time that almost no onlookers could perceive, before suddenly slapping forward.

Bai Yu saw the trajectory of the hand moving downwards from above his head.

He saw it very clearly.

It wasn't because he was faster than Loki, but because Loki never intended for this move to be difficult to catch.

The giant's attack style is completely opposite to that of the great swordsman; it does not pursue speed that makes it impossible to react, but rather seeks to cover a wide area and absolutely overwhelm the opponent with destructive power.

The sound of that slap was very strange.

"boom!"

A muffled thud.

It was as if someone had smashed a thick, thousand-page dictionary onto a neatly folded quilt.

Where Loki's palm struck, where Shanks stood, everything within a twenty-meter radius was suppressed in the same instant.

The fallen leaves were compressed into paper-thin sheets, and the humus layer beneath them was squeezed out of all moisture and air by an unstoppable force, turning into a black, hard, rock-like substance.

Then the "rock" broke.

The cracks radiated outwards from the point of impact, each as wide as an arm and bottomless, with black soil swirling up from the edges of the cracks, like wounds torn open in the earth.

Shanks isn't under that palm strike.

There was now a deep, huge handprint where he had just stood, but Shanks himself had appeared at the edge of the handprint, less than a meter from the edge of Loki's palm.

A meter away, everything on the ground was normal.

This means that Shanks precisely, perfectly, and without the slightest error left the attack range just before Loki's slap landed, and then precisely and perfectly stopped at the closest point outside the range.

It's not some kind of teleportation.

The judgment of Observation Color is accurate to the millimeter level.

Bai Yu looked at the distance and silently calculated it in his mind.

If Loki's slap had been any bigger, or if Shanks' judgment had been any worse, the captain of the Red-Haired Pirates would already be slammed into that compacted and shattered ground.