One Piece: I am Imu

The Third Raikage stood alone by the window, the warm sunlight spilling over him.

After Marco left, he had stood by the window alone for quite a while. From this high floor, he could see the bustling crowd outside.

Among them were many fantastical-looking figures.

They came in all kinds of strange forms, but most were clearly humanoid sea creatures—presumably the so-called Fish-Men.

They wore mostly the same style of black military uniforms. Some had a black coat draped over their shoulders, with the word Justice written in white letters on the back.

Exactly like that Crocodile guy earlier.

Beyond that—

He also spotted figures with unusually long arms, or long legs, or those who looked like upright-walking land beasts—likely members of the Mink Tribe mentioned in the footage.

He even saw two giants, easily twenty to thirty meters tall!

The Third Raikage watched them, deep in thought.

His mind was struggling to repair and reconstruct his worldview. That introduction video had caught him off guard and completely shattered everything he thought he knew.

So this is what the world was really like? There's more than one world? And I… I was so ignorant, so limited in what I thought I knew?

He finally understood the vastness of the universe—and the boundlessness of time and space.

What did the Shinobi World even matter?

The Five Great Nations, the Five Great Villages… What were he and the other Kage compared to that?

Now that he thought about it, they were just ants. Dust.

The First Shinobi World War? The Second?

Just childish squabbles within a tiny corner of the world. How laughable. And he had actually prided himself on being the strongest in the Shinobi World?

Strongest, my ass.

Even Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama—in the face of the World Government's cosmic scale—seemed utterly insignificant.

He could already see the future awaiting the Shinobi World, now that the World Government had set its eyes on it. As Raikage, he knew the Shinobi World's overall strength better than anyone.

He knew the number of ninja, their general strength, the variety of ninjutsu, and the capabilities of the other Kage-level figures.

No matter how he looked at it, it would be a complete and utter defeat.

It wasn't that he was underestimating the other villages' Kage and jōnin. But if even he had been captured so easily, the others would fare even worse. Of that, the Third Raikage was absolutely certain.

He firmly believed he was one of the top-tier powerhouses of the current Shinobi World.

"…But maybe that's not such a bad thing."

The Third Raikage slowly began to think things through—

If you can't beat them, then join them.

The World Government wasn't aiming to destroy the world—it just wanted to conquer the Shinobi World.

That might be hard for the daimyō and high-ranking nobles of those countries to accept.

But for shinobi like them, it was merely a change of ruler. Of course, there would be some discomfort and resistance at first.

Still, when he thought about the possibility of joining the World Government to fight in other worlds…

Maybe, with a bit of effort, he could get used to it.

The main issue was—

He just couldn't see any hope for the Shinobi World to resist the World Government.

Not unless the mythical Sage of Six Paths descended from the heavens.

The Third Raikage gradually began to relax.

[Knock, knock, knock.]

Just then, someone lightly knocked on the door of his hospital room.

The Third Raikage raised an eyebrow and turned slowly.

"Hello, Third Raikage of Kumogakure. We're agents from the Other Worlds Strategic Committee. We'd like to invite you to our branch office here for a detailed discussion."

Three men in black suits with stern expressions entered.

"Alright. Lead the way."

The Third Raikage nodded. Marco had already told him that some officials would be coming soon to escort him out.

From his perspective, these black-clad men were probably similar to the Anbu from the major ninja villages.

"This way, please."

Accompanied by the three agents, the Third Raikage passed through the corridors of the World Hospital and took the elevator down to the first floor.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a wave of noise surged toward them.

"It's… this huge?"

The Third Raikage stepped out, stunned as he gazed at the grand lobby—so spacious that even the Giant Tribe could move freely within it.

The ceiling was impossibly high, the space unimaginably vast!

From above, he hadn't realized just how absurdly enormous the World Hospital was. It could easily cover half of Kumogakure.

And among the crowd were Fish-Men, and Merfolk floating through the air using bubble rings tied around their waists—

Winged people with feathers sprouting from their backs…

Even individuals with glowing red or blue cores in their chests.

The diverse and densely packed crowd, each with unique features, left him dazzled.

But what came next rendered even the Third Raikage—who thought he had already grown numb—completely frozen.

"Th-This is…"

He was now aboard a small transport craft sent to pick him up. It had risen to an altitude of about 500 meters, with the three black-clad agents silently standing behind him.

From his vantage point, the Third Raikage had a panoramic view of the world below.

A vast sea of black military encampments stretched to the horizon, crisscrossed with trenches and tracks.

Countless fortress-like strongholds stood densely packed together. Rows upon rows of gun barrels pierced the sky like a forest of steel.

Helicopters, fighter jets, and a wide variety of airborne military vessels flew past at different altitudes.

All of it emanated an overwhelming aura—

A formless yet majestic pressure that slammed into him like a violent gust of wind, making it hard to breathe.

Perhaps this was what they called the killing aura of war.

The sheer scale of the military base was too massive. Far too massive.

Slowly, the Third Raikage's hardened muscles began to tremble. His face twisted into a grimace, teeth clenched tight.

"What a terrifying World Government…"

"But why… why have you only come now?"

His chest heaved with heavy breaths, filled with a deep unwillingness.

He was too old now.

Every day, he could feel his body growing weaker.

...

The Shinobi World.

Within the borders of the Land of Wind, the vast sea of sand rolled on endlessly, its undulating dunes scorched by the relentless sun day after day.

This place—

was located less than 2 kilometers from the Kingdom of Rōran. Just a little further ahead, by climbing one of the taller dunes, one could catch a glimpse of that ancient millennial city bristling with spires.

Compared to the previous emptiness, now that the World Government had 'secretly' taken over Rōran, the surrounding area had sprouted numerous makeshift watchtowers, seemingly built from compacted yellow earth.

Atop each watchtower stood two black-clad soldiers clad in full army combat gear, armed with heavy automatic rifles and wearing sand-proof masks. They constantly scanned the sector under their watch.

Their appearance was jarringly out of place in this world.

"How's it look, Hizashi?"

Roughly 500 meters away, behind one of the dunes, four shinobi wearing Konoha vests and uniforms sat together with a large brown-yellow ninken.

The speaker was Namikaze Minato, the squad leader for this mission.

And this mission had been classified by Konoha as Super-S-rank.

The mission objective: infiltrate the Kingdom of Rōran, gather any and all valuable intel, and return it to Konoha.

From the perspective of Konoha's leadership, it was now confirmed that Crocodile had taken up permanent residence in the capital of the Land of Wind.

Which meant that Rōran could be a viable infiltration point.

After analyzing the failure of Danzō's previous operation, Hiruzen not only passed on key intelligence obtained through the sacrifices of Root operatives—

He also assigned Minato a team with complementary sensory abilities.

This was, effectively, one of the most elite four-man formations Konoha could field.

"Besides the two armed guards on top of the tower, there are another two soldiers on the first floor inside, also armed," Hizashi reported in a low voice, describing everything his Byakugan could see.

"There's also a man in a suit with no visible weapons, but he has two pistols at his waist, a short blade strapped to his back, and a bunch of small items in his pockets—things that look like pills and snails. Based on intel, he's likely one of those close-combat specialists mentioned in the reports—the ones in black."

"Then to the south of the watchtower, about 100 meters out, there's a figure hidden in the sand. He's carrying a long spear, a pistol at his waist, a short blade, and wearing very thin clothing—probably an undercover sentry."

"Also, we need to be careful—there are similar watchtowers, each with the same setup, positioned 500 meters to the north, south, and west. And at the western perimeter, one kilometer out, there's a much taller tower."

"That one has four soldiers, each holding longer, thicker rifles. They're also periodically scanning the surroundings with something like a monocular attached to their weapons."

Minato and the others listened silently, taking careful notes and beginning to formulate their next moves.

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