Naruto: The Legend of Red Haired Shanks

The voice roared like thunder, shaking the sky. Sparks of static electricity crackled across the desert floor. 

Some of the iron-rich sand and stones even started floating into the air. 

"Boom!!" 

Another colossal lightning bolt tore through the clouds. Blue electric light flashed as a massive, terrifying shadow appeared above. 

A pair of enormous claws emerged from the stormy clouds, radiating an icy aura as they tore through the lightning itself. 

The creature's massive body was still hidden in the storm, but parts of it were visible—a belly covered in metallic, shimmering scales, an upper body densely packed with dragon-like scales, and a huge, bluish-gray form that seemed to press against the sky itself, almost crushing the clouds. 

Its terrifying size was visible even to those at the farthest edges of the battlefield. 

"What the hell is that thing?!" 

Ross Jess stared at the giant beast in the sky. Its sheer size had to be at least 300 meters long—maybe even twice that! 

"How could a monster like that appear in the Land of Wind?! Don't tell me that's really a Devil Fruit user!" 

Ross Jess's mouth trembled as he spoke, nearly dropping his cigar in shock. 

As for the pirates and ninjas around him, they were beyond words. 

Gaara looked up at the massive creature in the sky, completely stunned. He could even feel the One-Tail inside him trembling. 

Of course, the One-Tail was shaking in fear. If you lived long enough, you'd see all kinds of crazy things, huh? 

"Impossible!!!" 

"How could a creature like a dragon exist in this world? Aren't they just legends?" 

Shukaku stared at the sky in fear. At this moment, it truly felt like the entire ninja world had changed. 

It was a good thing it hadn't seen Shanks back then, or it wouldn't have spent so much time trying to take over Gaara's body. 

In that instant, Gaara felt something strange. For a brief moment, he seemed to hear the voice of the "monster" inside him. 

"A creature so terrifying that even Shukaku fears it… A dragon!!" 

"RUMBLE!!!" 

Lightning exploded across the sky as the dark clouds in the distance turned into a massive blue glow. 

Everyone watched in shock as a giant figure twisted and moved within the storm. 

And as its enormous head emerged from the clouds, they finally saw it for what it was. 

A dragon!!! 

Its wild, commanding eyes carried an air of absolute dominance. Beneath its head, thick white whiskers swayed, giving off a sacred and untouchable presence. But the most striking feature was its horns—so unmistakable, even among the swirling clouds. 

"No… way!!" 

"Is… is this really a Devil Fruit user?" 

"You've got to be kidding. No matter how powerful someone is, there's no way something like this could exist." 

"…" 

At that moment, everyone was frozen in shock. 

Dragons were creatures they had all heard of before. 

But the more familiar they were with the idea of dragons, the more terrifying the reality became. 

Because dragons weren't supposed to be real. 

They belonged to legends—beings said to control the weather itself. 

How should one put it? 

The Nine-Tailed Fox was also a legendary creature, but compared to a dragon, it was like comparing the Sage of Six Paths to Hashirama. 

They weren't even on the same level. 

A dragon wasn't just a creature. It was a symbol. A symbol of overwhelming power. 

Take the Second Kazekage, for example—he had a dragon tattoo on his body. Many ninjutsu techniques also took the shape of dragons. 

So what exactly is a "legendary creature"? This is what it means. 

Everyone knows what a dragon is, but they also know that dragons don't actually exist. 

And yet, here it was. A real dragon had appeared, descending straight out of myth. 

In that instant, countless people felt their entire understanding of the world shatter. 

Their minds were completely shaken. 

If seeing Shanks before had already shattered their beliefs, then this was like breaking them all over again. 

Shanks, no matter how strong, was still human. 

But now, they were looking at a massive dragon over 300 meters long. 

"Captain… is that really a Devil Fruit user?" 

"I don't know. But I sure hope not, or I'm going to feel seriously ripped off." 

The one-eyed ghost dragon stared at the energy surging beneath the massive dragon in the distance. Something about this felt… off. 

In that instant, he suddenly sensed a new force emerging within his own body. 

It was as if his body had become stronger. 

"My body… it's getting stronger." 

The one-eyed dragon ogre immediately sensed something was wrong. This feeling—it was real. 

At the same time, Itachi, who was closer to the ruins of ancient Roran, snapped out of his shock and turned his gaze in that direction. 

"My eyes…" 

"They're recovering!!" 

Itachi stared in disbelief. He had no idea what was happening, but it felt like some kind of force was spreading from that direction, washing over everything around it. 

Itachi could clearly feel his body healing rapidly—something that even the strongest medical ninja in the world couldn't do. And yet… 

"This power is terrifying. Itachi-san, should we fall back for now?" 

Kisame raised his arm to shield Itachi from the impact above. It wasn't just an energy shockwave—there was also a crushing pressure. 

"Conqueror's Haki!!" 

"Let's get out of here. We shouldn't get too close. This fight is no longer ours." 

Itachi made his decision immediately. Right now, they weren't a match for Orochimaru—not yet. 

That terrifying creature in the sky… perhaps only a fully-formed Susano'o could stand a chance against it. 

Now wasn't the time. 

Meanwhile, on the other side, Kimimaro, Kidomaru, and the others were already making a run for it. Among them was another figure—Kabuto. 

However, Kabuto was missing an arm. He clutched his severed limb with his remaining hand as he sprinted. 

"Run! Don't look back!" 

Kabuto's face was pale, his teeth clenched. 

He had planned to ambush Shisui, but Shisui was faster—one slash nearly ended his life. 

If he hadn't learned all those survival techniques from Orochimaru, he'd already be dead. 

He was just a simple spy—he had no interest in going up against monsters like that ever again. 

"What about Orochimaru-sama?" 

"Now's not the time to worry about Orochimaru-sama." 

"Yeah, yeah! We need to regroup with Captain Dark, fast!" 

Hamura, the vice-captain of the Dark Pirates, urged everyone forward. None of them had noticed yet that their bodies were slowly growing stronger under the life force of the dragon vein. 

Even Kabuto was affected. His bleeding had already stopped—but he had lost an entire arm. 

No matter how fast the bleeding stopped, a wound like that shouldn't just heal completely. 

Yet apart from the pain and his pale face, Kabuto was running just as fast as everyone else, as if nothing had happened. 

Meanwhile, beneath the ruins of Roran… 

Shisui looked up at the sky, then back at the dragon vein, which was still spewing out chakra uncontrollably. It was completely destroyed—there was no stopping it now. 

"As expected, I'm the one stuck cleaning up this mess. Seriously, Shanks, even if you trust me, don't trust me this much." 

The wild wind blew Shisui's hair into a mess. Amid the rumbling thunder and pouring rain, a crow pierced through the downpour and landed beside him. 

"Shanks… Without you, this era really is… so dull." 

"So this is the Conqueror's Haki born from defying the will of the world itself? Hahaha!!" 

"If I really want to become the strongest creature of legend, I need to be ready to go against the world itself. But for now…" 

High above in the sky, Orochimaru gazed down at the dragon vein. 

Shanks still hadn't come out of the Dragon Vein. 

That place was now empty, except for Shisui. 

Shisui raised the blade in his hand and sliced across his left eye. Blood seeped from the wound as the raven perched on his left shoulder tilted its head. 

"Kaaw!!" 

The raven let out a confused cry, its crimson eye aligning perfectly with Shisui's injured left eye. 

In the next moment, the raven turned into a swirl of black feathers. As the wind blew, the dark feathers scattered across the ground. 

Shisui's left eye now had an eyeball again—both of his eyes had returned to him. 

"So, what are you going to do now, Orochimaru?" 

His scarlet eyes locked onto Orochimaru in the sky. The three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly, fading away as a blade-like pattern resembling a shuriken took shape—the Mangekyou Sharingan had awakened. 

"Hahaha!! Shisui, you don't actually think Uchiha Genjutsu still works on me, do you?" 

"I… possess the power to defy the will of the world—Conqueror's Haki!!" 

Orochimaru unleashed his full Conqueror's Haki. At that moment, the sky churned violently, and the lightning grew even more intense. 

An invisible force crashed down from above, locking onto Shisui. 

Orochimaru had never felt such overwhelming power before. The sensation of absolute dominance—it was simply exhilarating. 

"That's it?" 

Shisui's expression remained calm, showing no sign of shock. 

The next moment, a green chakra cloak emerged around him, wrapping his entire body. 

"The Uchiha… still as arrogant as ever." 

Orochimaru sneered. 

"You people have no idea what kind of power I wield—Sage Mode fused with the might of the legendary strongest creature… the dragon!" 

"The strongest force in the New World—the fusion of Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki." 

"Even Shanks can only be my equal." 

"As for you mere mortals… let me show you the power of a divine dragon!" 

Orochimaru's massive body descended from the sky, shattering the swirling storm clouds with sheer force. A powerful shockwave erupted in the air. 

Countless streaks of lightning exploded across the ground, and flames even flickered across the sandy terrain. 

With a body that immense, every movement was enough to shake mountains. 

And yet, Orochimaru was incredibly fast. As he moved at high speed, the entire cloud layer was dragged downward by several hundred meters. 

"Divine Dragon Thunder Flash!!" 

Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a massive sphere of lightning formed within it. 

It didn't look particularly huge, but that was only because of Orochimaru's colossal size. The moment the lightning ball appeared, countless bolts of lightning from the sky were drawn toward it. 

Thousands of lightning bolts followed Orochimaru's lead, crashing down from the sky as if he were pulling the entire heavens down with him. 

At that moment, the air within a ten-kilometer radius began to tear apart. The sky was filled with white shockwaves and bursts of fire, as if the heavens themselves were warning the world of the dragon's power. 

Just like the legends said… destruction on an unimaginable scale!! 

"So strong…!!" 

Shisui gritted his teeth, feeling his usually steady heart tremble for the first time.

"So this is the New World? The scenery here is something the old era could never witness." 

"But compared to the captain, you're still too weak, Orochimaru!!!" 

In the next moment, a layer of chakra spread from Shisui's body, forming a massive green aura around him. 

At the same time, Orochimaru's attack struck. 

A giant ball of lightning, along with a lightning net covering more than twenty kilometers, crashed down onto the ground. 

"Crack!!" 

The desert instantly split apart. Under the force of the lightning, the sand turned red-hot, with some of it even melting. 

Fragments of land and sand shot upward, scattering into the sky. 

Such a terrifying attack left many of the "new recruits" in the ninja army completely stunned. 

An attack covering over twenty kilometers—its true impact spread far beyond that range. 

If this kind of attack hit the capital of one of the Five Great Nations, there would only be one outcome—the entire city would be wiped out! 

Forget about those who had just recently become soldiers from being ordinary civilians; even experienced ninjas felt fear. 

"Look!!!" 

"This is the power of the Divine Dragon!!" 

"The old era is over, Shisui. How can mere ninja techniques stand against the power of legends?" 

Orochimaru's commanding voice echoed through the battlefield. Under the flashing lightning, his figure looked as if he had stepped straight out of an ancient myth. 

But in the next instant—!! 

"Buzz!!" 

The surrounding lightning was suddenly cut apart as a spinning drill shattered Orochimaru's attack. 

"The power of the old era, no matter how strong, will never surpass those of us who create the new one!" 

"As Captain Shanks' weakness, even if I'm 'weak,' I'm still at a level most in this world could never reach, Orochimaru!" 

Shisui's voice rang out from behind the lightning. As the electric currents scattered, a towering green-armored giant emerged. 

"Susano'o—Perfect Form." 

With a single motion, Shisui swatted away the surrounding lightning. His Susano'o, standing over two hundred meters tall, stood firmly on the ground. 

He locked eyes with Orochimaru—without a trace of fear. 

"The so-called strongest creature in the world is supposed to be a dragon. 

But that's not you, Orochimaru!!" 

Shisui raised his gaze toward Orochimaru, pointing his drill toward the sky. 

As the sand and debris lifted by Orochimaru's attack began to settle, everyone could finally see—Shisui's Susano'o standing face-to-face with Orochimaru's dragon form. 

"What… is that…?"