*Chapter 172: Is This a Tailed Beast?*

From Charlotte Linlin’s perspective, this world hardly had any force that could rival her power. Aside from Uchiha Reijin, it was difficult to find anyone who could pose a challenge.

But now, the strength displayed by the opponent in front of her truly shocked Charlotte Linlin.

What kind of ability was this?

She hadn't even caught a clear glimpse of the opponent's movements.

In just a split second, Zeus was defeated.

A portion of Zeus’s body was reduced to ashes and vanished completely.

If that move had fully enveloped Zeus, then...

Charlotte Linlin frowned; she wasn’t eager to use her own lifespan to create another cloud.

Lifespans weren’t something you could pick up off the street. She had already consumed a year of her life after meeting Uchiha Reijin.

If she had to create another Zeus, it would cost another year of her life.

And stealing others’ lifespans wouldn’t add to her own!

“What is that ability of yours?”

Charlotte Linlin licked her lips as Napoleon landed in her hand.

This ability seemed incredibly useful. If it were used against someone like Whitebeard, it could catch him off guard and deal a severe blow.

So...

Charlotte Linlin was determined to recruit this guy in front of her into the Big Mom Pirates.

“You dare to cause trouble in Iwagakure without even knowing about my Dust Release?”

Onoki's lips curled into a mocking smile.

These people in front of him seemed like they came from some backwater village.

They hadn’t even heard of his Dust Release.

Could it be that they had no ninja presence where they came from?

“Dust Release?”

Charlotte Linlin showed some curiosity. This seemed on par with the ninja techniques.

When Uchiha Reijin introduced the Five Nature Releases of ninjas, this ability hadn’t been mentioned.

And since Smoothie was a diligent note-taker during Reijin’s explanations about the ninja world, she had recorded everything.

Dust Release wasn’t something Uchiha Reijin had mentioned, but he did say that some ninjas could fuse two types of chakra.

This subset of ninjas was known as possessing Kekkei Genkai. Kekkei Genkai abilities were powerful beyond words.

They were essentially equivalent to having a Devil Fruit ability.

It was said that there was a child in Dressrosa with a Kekkei Genkai similar to Admiral Kuzan’s ability to create ice.

The Uchiha and Hyuga clans were also Kekkei Genkai users, though they focused more on their eyes than on ninjutsu.

“Mom, I remember Uchiha Reijin mentioning that this should be a Kekkei Genkai. A Kekkei Genkai is formed by combining two different chakra natures,” Smoothie said as she approached Charlotte Linlin.

“So each Kekkei Genkai is extremely rare, just like Devil Fruit users.”

“These Kekkei Genkai have great value!”

“Kekkei Genkai?”

Charlotte Linlin immediately started to drool, realizing she had struck gold just after arriving.

She had encountered a Kekkei Genkai user right away. This ninja might be old, but Charlotte Linlin didn’t care. As long as he could add strength to the Big Mom Pirates or improve her Totto Land, she was determined to have him.

“Hmph! It seems you have some knowledge, but this is not merely a Kekkei Genkai,” Onoki sneered.

“This is Dust Release, a power even more powerful and rare than Kekkei Genkai. There are only a handful of users in the entire ninja world.”

“And since you mentioned Uchiha, I happen to be interested in the Uchiha clan. After I defeat you, I’ll learn more about them.”

Onoki's eyes were filled with determination. This creature in front of him seemed to know nothing.

But to prevent further destruction in Iwagakure, this creature had to die today.

As for the smaller creature beside it, that one didn't matter as much. Despite its strength, Onoki was confident he could find a way to deal with it.

“Mamama! Looks like I'm really lucky today!”

“Old man, I’ll allow Iwagakure to surrender to the Big Mom Pirates! All you have to do is offer me your Dust Release.”

Charlotte Linlin burst out laughing. This was better than she had expected.

Something even more powerful than Kekkei Genkai, which could make her stronger than Uchiha Reijin.

If that were true, then even sacrificing something would be worth it.

As long as she could claim this small man, her Totto Land would gain another powerful addition.

“Hahaha, today I’ve heard the biggest joke of my life! You two creatures still dare to act so arrogant?”

Onoki's face darkened. No matter how he tried to reason with them, they seemed to recognize his worth.

This was something Onoki couldn’t accept.

“A joke?”

Charlotte Linlin's face also darkened, her eyes flashing with red light.

She reached out for Prometheus, who immediately appeared as a small, intensely hot sun.

“Heavenly Fire!”

The next moment, Charlotte Linlin hurled Prometheus at Onoki.

A massive stone giant, anticipating Charlotte Linlin's move, stepped in front of Onoki.

“Boom!”

The stone giant was instantly shattered into pieces.

It couldn’t even put up a fight in front of Charlotte Linlin.

It could only slightly delay her movements.

But that little delay was more than enough.

“Roar!”

“Roar!”

Two angry roars echoed through the air.

In an instant, Roshi transformed into his Tailed Beast form, charging toward Charlotte Linlin with flames erupting from his massive body.

Meanwhile, Han also transformed into the Four-Tails, charging at Charlotte Linlin with his enormous horns.

“Mamama, what a bunch of monsters!”

Charlotte Linlin’s face lit up with excitement as she glanced at the Tailed Beasts on either side of her.

She hadn't collected monsters like these yet.

And they didn’t seem weak either.

Once she captured them, she could show them off proudly in her empire.

“Roar!”

Old Purple, in his Tailed Beast form, let out a furious roar in midair! His massive arms came crashing down from the sky.

The sound of the air being torn apart was faintly audible.

This strike could indeed cause some trouble for Charlotte Linlin.

But with her advanced Observation Haki, she had already predicted Old Purple and Han's movements.

Boom!

The ground trembled slightly!

Old Purple's figure crashed down.

A cloud of dust rose around them.

The ninjas couldn't see the battle at the center of the battlefield at all.

After waiting a few seconds, when the smoke cleared, they saw that Old Purple's enormous arms had been blocked by the monster in front of them.

People call the Tailed Beasts monsters and demons, but compared to Charlotte Linlin, they seemed to be in a different league.

“What?”

“Lord Old Purple’s attack was blocked? How is that even possible?”

“Is this guy also a Tailed Beast? How could a human possess such strength?”

“This guy… I didn’t expect him to be so powerful. If I’d known, we should have let Lord Tsuchikage take him out.”

“Wait, Lord Han hasn’t made a move yet. It’s not over.”

The ninjas from Iwagakure watched in shock at the scene before them. They couldn't believe how strong Charlotte Linlin was.

To think that a mere human could stand up to the power of a Tailed Beast, such strength was something only the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, had once possessed.

Since Hashirama, they hadn't heard of anyone who could challenge a Tailed Beast with just a human body.

Even the Third Raikage of Kumogakure, who fought the Eight-Tails to a draw, was just a shadow of one village and was known for having the strongest physical body.

But this guy, who had no fame at all, had managed to do it too.

What was his background? They hadn't even heard of him before.

“This guy!”

Even Ōnoki couldn’t help but be moved at this moment.

He hadn’t expected the Four-Tails' attack to be intercepted so easily.

The strength of this guy before them seemed to be beyond their expectations.

But it didn't matter because no matter how strong someone was, in front of Dust Release, they were still like thin paper.

All he needed was an instant, and he could turn this guy to dust.

“Kid, your strength is far from enough to match mine!”

Charlotte Linlin's mouth curved into a smile as she felt the force from Old Purple's arms, which was much weaker than she had anticipated.

It was far less than what she had expected, and still much weaker compared to the Susanoo of that Uchiha kid, Raijin.

Charlotte Linlin's eyes glowed red as she twisted her arm and grabbed hold of Old Purple’s arm.

Boom!

With a sudden tug, she smashed Old Purple’s Tailed Beast form into the ground.

Old Purple winced in pain. He hadn't expected this guy to be so terrifying.

“Where did you find this guy? He’s got an incredibly strong body.”

“Even if I unleashed all my power, I might not be able to beat him.”

“You’d better think about how to run!”

A monkey appeared in Old Purple’s mental space.

Looking at the red-haired old man before him, the Four-Tails was speechless.

Normally, he had nothing better to do, but now he was in deep trouble.

The guy in front of him was at least as strong as Hashirama Senju.

The Four-Tails felt there was no way he could win; it would take all eight Tailed Beasts together to stand a chance.

What? Why eight Tailed Beasts?

Let’s be honest!

Whether or not the One-Tail joins doesn’t really make a difference.

“We still have to stop this guy. You saw the damage he did to Iwagakure earlier.”

“If we let this guy continue rampaging, Iwagakure might disappear from the Shinobi world map.”

Old Purple fell silent for a moment before finally speaking.

The Four-Tails nodded in agreement, completely surrendering control to Old Purple.

If Old Purple decided to fight, the Four-Tails had no reason to stop him.

This was Old Purple’s home, not his.

As for his home, it had long since been destroyed by those ninjas.

Outside!

“Shh!”

As Charlotte Linlin grabbed Old Purple, she suddenly felt a burning sensation in her hand.

Frowning, she quickly released her grip and saw magma on her hand.

“Magma? Just like that little brat Sakazuki, can you use magma too?”

“But this heat isn’t enough to take me down!”

Charlotte Linlin reached out again, but before she could grab Old Purple, a massive beast rammed into her back.

The force was so powerful that it knocked Charlotte Linlin back a few steps, nearly causing her to lose her balance.

Shh!

The air boiled, like a steam engine.

The power behind her intensified, suddenly increasing by several tons.

This sudden surge in power caught Charlotte Linlin off guard, despite her preparations.

Boom!

Her massive body was sent flying into the air.

Charlotte Linlin hadn’t expected such strength.

It seemed that these beasts contained some special power, like a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit!

Charlotte Linlin admitted she had underestimated these creatures.

She had gotten careless and paid the price for it.

“Tailed Beast Bomb!”

“Tailed Beast Bomb!”

Han and Old Purple exchanged a glance, knowing that this monster couldn’t be dealt with by ordinary means.

Even if they wanted to fight it, their power and bodies were far too weak.

This guy seemed to have endless strength.

Now their only option was to use the Tailed Beast Bomb.

“Buzz!”

Two enormous spheres began to form in their mouths.

In that instant, the entire world seemed to change color.

Smoothie, watching from the sidelines, turned pale.

What was that? It seemed to be brewing an unimaginable power.

If Mama got hit by that, who knows what might happen.

“Mama!”

Smoothie’s large sword stabbed into several ninjas' bodies as she continuously drained the water from them to grow stronger.

In the short time available, she needed as much strength as possible.

After draining a few more people, Smoothie still felt it wasn’t enough.

But there was no time to waste.

Boom!

Boom!

Two enormous Tailed Beast Bombs were formed in a matter of seconds.

The next moment!

They were unleashed from their mouths with a deafening explosion.

The shockwave was so powerful that their movements were nearly impossible to follow.

“Ah! Smoothie!”

Charlotte Linlin’s face turned pale. But at that moment, neither Zeus nor Prometheus was by her side.

Even if she wanted to brace herself and counter the Tailed Beast Bomb, there was no way she could.

All she could do was shout her daughter’s name!

“Juice Giant!”

A long leg stepped into the air, blocking Charlotte Linlin from the front.

The sword in her hand, enlarged by the power of the Devil Fruit, stood ready.

(Chapter ends)