Naruto: Copy System#681+682: As Long as he Doesn't Run, The Death of Blackbeard

"They look like they're in a brutal fight. Is Blackbeard really that strong now?"

Momousagi watched in surprise. She’d never thought much of Blackbeard before.

But now, it seemed he was more formidable than she’d imagined. Although the Blackbeard Pirates were on the verge of being wiped out, the Whitebeard Pirates had also suffered heavy losses. In his fight against Whitebeard, Blackbeard was taking a beating, but he was somehow holding on.

"The Dark-Dark Fruit is nothing to scoff at. It's known as the most malevolent Devil Fruit on the seas."

Shin remarked. He was probably the only person who would look down on the Dark-Dark Fruit—anyone else would consider it a priceless treasure.

Shin, of course, wasn't impressed by the Dark-Dark Fruit. His own Nine-Tomoe Rinne-Tenseigan granted him similar powers of attraction, rendering Blackbeard’s abilities redundant in his eyes.

Blackbeard was only able to contend with Whitebeard because he was using its power to nullify Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit. He was then using its other abilities to defend against Whitebeard's attacks. Otherwise, Blackbeard would have been defeated long ago.

——————

"Why is Shin Uzumaki here?" Blackbeard’s face turned grim. He had spotted Shin’s ship.

Shin's appearance here could only mean one of two things.

The first was that Kaido had been defeated by Shin Uzumaki, and now Shin was here to deal with him.

The second possibility was that Kaido had been outmatched and fled, and now Shin was here to deal with him.

Either way, neither outcome was good for Blackbeard.

Dealing with Whitebeard alone was already a massive struggle—in fact, he couldn't handle him at all.

Now Shin Uzumaki had shown up. What was he supposed to do? Blackbeard didn't have the strength to fight two opponents at once.

He couldn't even handle one of them, let alone two.

"What happened to Kaido?" Whitebeard temporarily let Blackbeard catch his breath and asked Shin.

Right now, Whitebeard was desperate to know Kaido's situation.

"Kaido is dead," Shin said to Whitebeard. That single sentence plunged Blackbeard into despair.

Even if Kaido had just escaped, it would have been better than being dead. It would have meant he had a chance to escape too. But Kaido had been killed.

Could he escape from Shin Uzumaki's grasp? Blackbeard knew Kaido's strength was no less than his own, perhaps even greater.

"You killed Kaido that quickly?" Whitebeard's pupils contracted. As his rival, Whitebeard knew Kaido's strength all too well.

Even he wasn't confident he could kill Kaido—at best, he could defeat him.

But then Whitebeard remembered who he was talking to. It was Shin. When it came to him, nothing was surprising.

"In that case, please stay out of this. I'll deal with Blackbeard myself," Whitebeard said, his heart set on not letting Shin interfere.

That's right, Whitebeard wanted to finish Blackbeard with his own hands, to settle the score between them.

"Fine. I have no interest in getting involved. I prefer watching the show," Shin nodded and said calmly.

Whitebeard not wanting him to interfere was understandable. He surely wanted to kill Blackbeard himself.

Shin had no intention of stepping in. After all, Blackbeard was no stronger than Kaido. Let Whitebeard handle it.

——————

"Whitebeard is still strong. Dealing with Blackbeard shouldn't be a problem," Olvia commented.

"That's right, but that's assuming Blackbeard doesn't just cut and run. If he tries to escape, Whitebeard won't be able to stop him."

Shin's gaze was fixed on Blackbeard. The current Blackbeard was much stronger than he had been during the Summit War two years prior.

"Knowing what a cunning and treacherous bastard he is, he might actually try to run," Robin nodded.

As Shin and his crew talked, Whitebeard and Blackbeard had clashed once again.

Though Blackbeard was still being suppressed, he felt a wave of relief. He hadn't expected Whitebeard to refuse Shin Uzumaki's help.

For Blackbeard, this was a golden opportunity. If Shin Uzumaki had joined the fight, Blackbeard genuinely believed he wouldn't have survived.

But facing Whitebeard alone, Blackbeard was confident.

Not confident that he could defeat Whitebeard—the old man, though aged, was as powerful as ever.

No, Blackbeard was confident he could escape. That's why he felt relieved.

"<Dark Water!>"

A black-hole-like gravitational force erupted from Blackbeard's hand, similar to Universal Pull, pulling Whitebeard towards him.

Whitebeard stood his ground, completely unmoved.

"Fall, Teach," Whitebeard roared, then swung his naginata at Teach.

A single slash was all it took to send Teach crashing to the ground, blood pouring from his wound as he cried out in pain.

"POPS, SPARE ME!" Blackbeard couldn't help but shout.

Hearing this, Whitebeard hesitated for a moment, and the speed of his descending naginata slowed slightly.

That slight hesitation was all Blackbeard needed. He immediately rolled, dodging out of Whitebeard's attack range.

"Whitebeard, you really are a fool," Blackbeard taunted, looking at him.

"Teach..." Whitebeard's heart was filled with an icy rage. He had indeed hesitated, remembering the past.

Teach had been well-behaved and humble on his ship. He never thought he would turn out like this.

He never thought Teach harbored such great ambition. Whitebeard was furious.

"Teach, I won't let you get away this time," Whitebeard said to Teach with an incredibly firm tone.

From now on, Whitebeard would not spare Teach. He had cut away the last shred of mercy in his heart.

Whitebeard had finally seen Blackbeard for what he was—a backstabbing wolf. He no longer held any hope of him changing his ways.

"Old man, you think you can kill me?" Blackbeard grinned. He might not be able to beat Whitebeard, but couldn't he just run? Could the old man really stop him from escaping?

If Shin had been involved, Blackbeard wouldn't have been so confident. But now, it was just him and Whitebeard. How could he not escape?

"Goodbye, Whitebeard. The next time we meet, I'll be sure to give you the grandest funeral." Blackbeard stared at Whitebeard with hatred.

His crew was dead. Blackbeard held a deep grudge against Whitebeard and would surely seek revenge in the future.

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After spitting out his threat, Blackbeard had no intention of sticking around. He immediately turned to flee.

His speed was incredible. As for his remaining crew members, Blackbeard couldn't be bothered with them now. He was a heartless man.

Risking his life for his crew? Not a chance. If his own life wasn't on the line, he might have considered saving them.

But now, his own neck was at stake. How could he possibly save his crew? It was understandable.

"Teach, you think you can run?"

Seeing this, Whitebeard immediately slashed at him. Blackbeard made no attempt to dodge the attack.

He actually used the force of Whitebeard's slash to propel himself even farther away, turning the attack into a tool for his own escape.

Blackbeard was ruthless. Taking a slash from Whitebeard head-on had severely wounded him. The gash was so deep you could see bone, and several of his bones had been shattered.

"Whitebeard, looks like you're still not up to the task."

Shin glanced at Whitebeard and said calmly.

Whitebeard felt a bit embarrassed. Teach's strength had indeed grown.

"<Universal Pull!>"

Of course, Shin wasn't going to let Blackbeard escape. A black-hole-like gravitational force erupted from his hand, pulling Blackbeard straight back.

Having already fled a great distance, Blackbeard was dragged back by Shin, his eyes filled with despair.

Why did Shin Uzumaki also have the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit?

That's right, Blackbeard had mistaken Shin's ability for that of the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"Shin Uzumaki, I thought you said you'd stay out of this!" Blackbeard roared at Shin, stopping just short of calling him a liar.

"Oh? Did I say that to you?" Shin asked Blackbeard calmly.

Blackbeard was stunned. It was true that Shin had said he wouldn't interfere, but he had said it to Whitebeard.

He had never told Blackbeard he wouldn't act. So what if he did now?

Shin had never intended to let Blackbeard go.

He had thought Whitebeard could handle him, but who would have guessed that Blackbeard would not only survive, but that the embarrassing old man would actually let him escape.

From Shin’s perspective, Whitebeard's performance was frankly embarrassing. Blackbeard had almost gotten away.

“I don’t recall ever crossing you!” Blackbeard said, swallowing his pride.

His life was now in Shin's hands, so of course, he had to be humble.

"Indeed... But that doesn't really matter. Whether you've crossed me or not, right now, I want you dead."

Shin said calmly. Did he need a reason to kill someone? It was the same with Kaido. Honestly, Kaido had never wronged him either. They'd barely crossed paths except for that one time in Wano years ago. But when Shin killed Kaido, he hadn't hesitated for a second.

"Can you at least tell me why? I don't want to die without knowing the reason," Blackbeard said as he tended to his wounds.

At this moment, Blackbeard was very calm. He knew that only by staying calm did he have a chance to survive. If he panicked, he would surely die.

"Heh, you really think I'll believe you're just going to lie down and die?"

Shin scoffed. Blackbeard was putting on an act, but Shin wasn't buying it.

Even Kaido had tried one last desperate attack before he died. Blackbeard wasn't at death's door yet—there was no way he’d just lie down and accept his fate.

"<Dark Water!>"

Realizing he'd been seen through, Blackbeard immediately attacked, his hands filled with dark power. He wanted to seal Shin's Devil Fruit abilities.

However, Shin had never eaten a Devil Fruit. His abilities were all copied, so he was completely unaffected by the Dark-Dark Fruit's sealing properties.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Shin kicked Blackbeard in the head, driving him into the ground. A pained scream escaped his lips as his head was deformed by the impact.

"Compared to Kaido, you really can't take a punch," Shin said to Blackbeard, quite disappointed.

It seemed that compared to Kaido, Blackbeard wasn't even a decent punching bag. How disappointing.

"Dammit, I'll kill you!"

Since they had already reached this point, and he was clearly going to kill him, Blackbeard didn't hold back his words, shouting at him.

"Don't yell at me. It only shows your weakness."

Shin's expression was calm as he looked at Blackbeard, but a murderous glint appeared in his calm eyes.

Whitebeard watched from the side, opening his mouth to speak, but ultimately saying nothing.

Though he had wanted to deal with Blackbeard himself, he had let him escape. At this point, Whitebeard couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Now, Whitebeard had come to terms with it. As long as Blackbeard was dead, it didn't matter who killed him.

"Alright, I'm done wasting my breath on you. Time to end this."

Black matter gathered in Shin's hand, forming a blade. Shin then stabbed it into Blackbeard.

There was no dodging. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but Blackbeard simply couldn't evade Shin's attack. He was stabbed and lost his life.

This was a blade formed from Truth-Seeking Orbs. A single strike, and not even a corpse would remain. In the end, Blackbeard met the same fate as Kaido.

"Blackbeard is dead." Shin turned to look at Whitebeard.

"Thank you," Whitebeard said to Shin.

With Whitebeard's personality, he rarely thanked anyone. But this time, he truly had to thank Shin.

Though he hadn't killed Teach himself, seeing him dead was a relief.

In fact, if Whitebeard had been the one to act, he might not have been able to go through with it.

He still had a soft spot for his former son. This was probably a weakness Whitebeard would never be able to overcome.

"This was our deal. No need to thank me," Shin said, shaking his head calmly.

Afterward, the Whitebeard Pirates were going to hold a celebratory banquet. They had invited Shin, but he refused. He had no interest in attending.

Besides, who wanted to party with Whitebeard's crew? It was a sausage fest—not a single woman in sight. Shin had zero interest in that kind of celebration. Moreover, Shin didn't think there was anything to celebrate, nothing worth celebrating.

Killing Blackbeard and Kaido was a simple matter. Did that really call for a celebration?