Naruto: Copy System#685+686: Zephyr's Purpose, The World Destroyer's Challenge

"It's been a long time, Zephyr-sensei." Hina didn't try to hide, her gaze complicated as she met his.

"Hina, you've disappointed me," Zephyr said, his expression hardening at the sight of her.

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Shin said coolly. "After all, Zephyr, you're in a similar boat. You're hardly in a position to be lecturing her."

Hina was one of his own now, and he wasn't about to let Zephyr berate her. Besides, Zephyr had no right.

"I'm different," Zephyr roared, his voice thick with anger. He had left the Marines, but he was no pirate. He had founded the NEO Marines.

It was Sengoku who had disappointed him, inviting the man who had wronged him—Whitebeard Jr—to become one of the Seven Warlords, a government-sanctioned pirate.

So, Zephyr had left in disgust, taking a large number of cadets with him. Perhaps out of guilt, or for other reasons, Sengoku had never moved against him. But things were different now. The current Fleet Admiral was Akainu.

And now, Zephyr planned to destroy the End Points that led to Raftel. The chain reaction would annihilate the entire New World.

He believed this was the only way to rid the seas of pirates and bring peace to the world.

But Zephyr's thinking was far too naive. Neither the Marines nor the Five Elders would stand by and watch the New World be destroyed.

Besides, the sheer number of pirates wasn't just because of Raftel's allure. Not every pirate set sail in search of treasure.

Under the oppression of the Celestial Dragons, many people had been pushed to their limits, forced to become pirates just to survive. That was the root of the problem.

If Zephyr truly wanted to solve it, he should have joined Dragon and the Revolutionary Army. With his teaching ability, he would have been invaluable. Dragon would have welcomed him with open arms.

Even in his old age, Zephyr's ability to train the next generation was unparalleled in the world of One Piece.

"You know they'll be coming for you, Zephyr," Shin said.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be wandering the seas. I'd find a nice, quiet place to retire."

It was a piece of well-intentioned advice. Shin bore Zephyr no ill will.

Though he disagreed with Zephyr's philosophy, the man was worthy of respect.

And Zephyr's end was a tragic one—killed by his own students, much like Hiruzen Sarutobi in the world of Naruto.

Perhaps it was a fitting end. For a man who had fought his entire life, dying in battle was better than fading away in old age.

For those who had spent their lives at war, a peaceful death might have been an unwelcome one.

"What do you mean?"

Zephyr asked Shin.

"I know your purpose. But do you think the Marines, who are watching your every move, don't?" Shin's gaze seemed to pierce right through Zephyr.

Zephyr's heart skipped a beat. Could Shin Uzumaki really know his plan?

And if he did, would he try to stop him?

Zephyr watched Shin intently, but to his disappointment, Shin's expression was completely natural, revealing nothing.

Zephyr hadn't even stolen the Dyna Stones yet. How could this man know his plan?

Or was he just bluffing?

"We're leaving," Zephyr said in a low voice.

He had no intention of engaging with Shin. He knew Shin's strength—even Garp and Sengoku together were no match for him, nor was Whitebeard.

Zephyr would be no different. He hated pirates, but his hatred for Shin wasn't as intense.

He knew that the territories under Shin's control were relatively peaceful, and since they had no personal grudge against each other, Zephyr saw no reason to start a conflict.

"Should we stop them?" Hancock asked Shin.

"And do what? Have tea? Let them go," Shin said with a smile, gently stroking Hancock's cheek.

Hearing Shin's words, Zephyr relaxed.

His ship sailed away, and Shin's crew continued on their course.

Though Zephyr's goal was to destroy the entire New World, to leave no place for pirates to stand, he would never succeed.

A man who had refused to kill for his entire life had turned to extremism in his old age.

Regardless of the tragedies that had shaped Zephyr, his chosen path would lead to his death.

Unless he could let go of his past. But could he? From the moment Zephyr left, Shin could see that he hadn't abandoned his plan.

Shin was tempted to get involved, but not now.

He would wait until Zephyr had the Dyna Stones.

He was also curious about their power. They were rumored to rival the Ancient Weapons, exploding on contact with air.

A single one could easily destroy an island. Zephyr's plan was to use the Dyna Stones to destroy the three End Points of the New World.

If all three were destroyed, the land would erupt in magma, leaving no place for pirates.

But that was too extreme. It would mean the destruction of all land in the New World, and countless innocent people would die along with the pirates.

This wasn't just about dealing with pirates; it was about waging war against the entire New World, against everyone in it.

Shin didn't mention this. Hancock and the others didn't know.

If they had known, they might have killed Zephyr on the spot.

After returning to his territory, Shin stayed put, becoming a homebody.

His quiet presence, however, was a relief to the pirates of the New World.

Rumors had been spreading that Shin was planning to clean up the other pirates in the New World. Some had even fled in fear.

"I didn't realize I had such a fearsome reputation on the seas."

Shin looked at the newspaper and couldn't help but say, 'I just killed Kaido. What's the big deal?'

If the now-deceased Kaido knew what Shin thought of him, who knew how he would react.

But Shin did look down on Kaido. After all, he had been easily defeated. Shin had every right to.

"By the way, are there any other major events on the seas?" Shin tossed the newspaper aside.

Not all major events made it into the papers. Some news was spread through special channels.

"There is one piece of news, and it's related to us," Olvia said with a nod.

"Oh? What is it? Something related to us?"

Shin's face showed a hint of curiosity. What could it be?

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Olvia's expression grew uncharacteristically serious. "The news concerns us directly," she said. "The Five Elders are planning to make a move against us."

"Oh? Is the information reliable?"

Shin wasn't particularly shocked. It was only natural for the Five Elders to want to deal with him. From their perspective, it was the logical move.

"We don't know for sure yet. It's just a rumor for now, we don't know if it's true."

Olvia couldn't confirm the accuracy of the information. It was just a rumor circulating in the underworld, and those were a mixed bag of truth and lies.

"Should we look into it?" Olvia asked Shin.

"Of course. If it's true, then things will get interesting." A cold glint flashed in Shin's eyes.

He had never gone out of his way to antagonize the Five Elders or the Celestial Dragons. But if they were foolish enough to provoke him...

Shin wouldn't mind baring his fangs and devouring them both. He was confident he could handle it.

"I'll investigate right away."

Olvia couldn't relax either. The Five Elders were a behemoth, capable of mobilizing the Marines and the Cipher Pol organizations.

And behind them were the Celestial Dragons. Everyone knew the Celestial Dragons were pathetic, the dregs of society. But without real power to back them up, how could they hold a position above everyone else?

The Celestial Dragons were not to be underestimated. After all, it was their ancestors who created the current world order.

"By the way, there's one more thing. A man calling himself the 'World Destroyer' has issued a challenge to you."

"His name is Byrnndi World. He's an escapee from Impel Down, and he's quite strong."

"Oh, so it's that guy. I almost forgot about him. His Devil Fruit ability is quite impressive."

Shin immediately remembered who he was. The man possessed the More-More Fruit. In the original story, he had sought revenge, planning to use a cannon and the power of his fruit to blow Marineford away.

He truly had the ability to do so; otherwise, he wouldn't be known as the World Destroyer.

The More-More Fruit was definitely one of the most powerful Devil Fruits on the seas. It could increase the size and speed of any object it touched by up to a hundred times.

It could even be used to increase one's own speed, boosting it by ten, or even a hundred times.

Who knew if it could be developed even further.

"If I had the More-More Fruit's ability and could increase my own speed by a hundred times... I wonder how fast I'd be."

Shin felt it was necessary to test this. The multiplicative enhancement was simply too overpowered.

"Right. He wants to challenge me? Even if he didn't, I'd be looking for him."

But something felt off to Shin. Byrnndi World had no reason to have beef with him. His grudge was with the Marines, not Shin. So why the challenge?

Shin glanced through the intel Olvia had compiled on Byrnndi World.

Apparently, Marineford had already been blown to hell by World and was now completely abandoned. Even though they'd known World was targeting the place, Akainu hadn't bothered doing much about it.

Besides, Akainu's focus was on the New World.

As for why Byrnndi World was challenging Shin, he had no idea. Who knew what went through that guy's head? The man just wanted to fight, apparently.

Shin had just killed Kaido, and now someone else was stepping up. Whether it was intentional or just stupidity remained to be seen.

"If you really want to challenge me, I'll play along. And I'll copy the More-More Fruit while I'm at it."

Shin had plenty of Replication Cards. It was time to use them. But copying the More-More Fruit would probably require a Divine Replication Card.

This fruit was quite overpowered. Shin felt its threat was no less than the Tremor-Tremor Fruit; it was just that its user wasn't as strong as Whitebeard.

"Since you're going to deal with Byrnndi World, let's set sail," Hancock said immediately.

"No, Hancock, we don't need to. Since he's challenging me, he'll come to us. We just have to wait for him."

Shin wasn't in a hurry. He'd just wait. Byrnndi World would come to him, so there was no need for him to move, and he didn't want to.

"Fine. Chasing him down would be beneath us anyway. Let him come to us." Hancock polished the blade in her hands.

If she was being honest, killing Byrnndi World wouldn't be difficult—probably just a few quick strikes. The man was old, and he'd been frozen for over thirty years. All that time on ice meant his strength had stagnated completely.

In terms of strength, he couldn't compare to the current Hancock. If she was willing to act, Shin wouldn't mind letting her handle it.

"Actually, after Byrnndi World accelerates, he's quite impressive."

Shin reminded Hancock. With his already fast speed, accelerating it by ten, fifty, or even a hundred times was truly overpowered.

In terms of speed, if he accelerated to his maximum, even Kizaru might not be faster.

But he probably wouldn't want to increase his own speed that much, as his body would have to bear a great burden. And using a Devil Fruit ability already consumed a lot of stamina.

The more powerful the ability, the greater the stamina required to use it.

"I believe I can handle him," Hancock said confidently. Her Observation Haki had even reached a level where she could predict a part of the future.

In battle, that gave her a huge advantage.

"Can I have a go? I'd like to test my strength against him." Nami suddenly asked Shin.

Hearing Nami's question, Shin gave her a strange look. You want to fight? With your strength, you'd be throwing your life away.

"Do not even think about it. With your meager abilities, you would simply be serving yourself on a platter," Shin said, dismissing her proposal.

Nami's strength had grown quickly, but she needed to keep her feet on the ground. Challenging a veteran powerhouse like Byrnndi World would be suicide.

You don't get locked up on Impel Down's sixth level for being weak—everyone down there was a genuine monster. At Nami's current strength, World would kill her in a single strike. She wouldn't even get a chance to react.