Nagato in One Piece - Chapter 41
The sudden appearance of Nagato saved Lucci in the nick of time. As he arrived, carrying Doflamingo’s lifeless body in his right hand, Lucci and the others were left in shock. Trebol and Pica were equally stunned and enraged.
“Do… Doflamingo!” Trebol, with mucus dripping from his nose, launched himself towards Nagato, shouting, “What did you do to the Young Master, you bastard?!”
Pica, equally enraged, hurled the captured Law, Jabra, and Blueno to the ground, causing them to suffer severe injuries. His massive stone form charged at Nagato with thunderous steps.
Nagato was in bad shape himself. Fighting Doflamingo had pushed him to his limits. From the start, his plan was to use the Human Path’s soul-ripping ability to ensure victory, knowing that no matter how strong Doflamingo’s body was, an attack on the soul was indefensible. Thus, even after Doflamingo returned post Shira Tensei, Nagato wasn’t surprised. He had expected the battle to be tough, and he had prepared his ultimate move accordingly.
However, due to incomplete information and underestimating the Tontatta Princess’s healing ability, Doflamingo had recovered to some extent, prolonging the fight. Nagato’s subsequent battle was intense and taxing, draining his chakra reserves twice in one day, causing him excruciating pain as he drew chakra from his cells.
Nagato’s strategy to provoke Trebol and Pica by displaying Doflamingo’s corpse had worked. Their reckless attacks made them easy targets. Between the two, Pica was the more problematic opponent. Nagato dodged Trebol’s staff, quickly moving to Pica’s side. With a swift move, he slammed his hand into the ground.
“Sand Waterfall Flow!”
With the activation of Nagato’s jutsu, the surrounding rocky terrain began to crumble, transforming into a vast sea of sand. Pica’s giant stone form started sinking like a giant trapped in quicksand, unable to escape the ever-deepening sand.
As the sand spread, Trebol leaped away in fear, using his mucus to propel himself. Nagato, controlling the sand, lifted himself, Lucci, Kaku, Jabra, Blueno, Law, and Cyrus, along with Doflamingo’s corpse.
Standing atop the sand, Nagato raised his hands, causing the sand to surge and envelop Pica’s giant stone body. “Desert Layer Grand Burial!”
The massive sand wave folded in, forming a colossal pyramid that trapped Pica inside. As Nagato infused chakra into it, enormous inscriptions resembling seals appeared on the pyramid’s surface.
“This is…” Law was speechless, staring in awe at the grand display of Nagato’s jutsu.
“Thank you for saving us, Lord Nagato!” Freed from Trebol’s mucus, Cyrus expressed his gratitude, “I owe you my life. I will do anything to repay this debt!”
Nagato nodded at Cyrus, while Jabra couldn’t resist asking, “Are you some sort of monster? Did you eat two Devil Fruits?”
“No, this is ninjutsu,” Nagato replied calmly.
This was the result of his unique training. Ever since he started learning the Five Elements Ninjutsu from Jiraiya, he deviated from the original Nagato’s path. Abandoning the Hell and Asura Paths, he focused on fusing chakra. He infiltrated Suna and attacked Iwa to obtain knowledge of Magnet and Dust Release.
Years ago, Nagato had mastered the Wind-Earth Kekkei Genkai—Magnet Release. Before he fought Tobi and Zetsu, he was just a step away from mastering the Kekkei Tota Dust Release.
For Nagato, his future power lay in the path to Kekkei Tota, not just the Rinnegan.
“Hey, Nagato,” Law said. Your left shoulder—did Doflamingo do that? If you don’t treat it soon, it’ll be troublesome.”
Law prepared to use his ROOM ability, but Nagato stopped him, “It’s not urgent. Let’s deal with the last one first.”
Ignoring the pain in his body, Nagato raised his right hand towards the distant Trebol, “Bansho Ten’in!”
Trebol, typically unreliable and sluggish, didn’t run away this time. He had witnessed Nagato’s return and his sealing of Pica. Now, he launched his mucus chains at Nagato while being pulled by Nagato’s gravitational pull.
“Doffy, Doffy! What’s wrong? You can’t fall, you’re our king! Get up, Doffy!” Trebol’s frantic cries showed he couldn’t accept Doflamingo’s death, clinging to a vain hope.
With no will to fight and vastly outmatched, Trebol’s mucus chains were easily dodged by Nagato. Nagato grabbed Trebol, rendering him unconscious.
The Donquixote family members were all heavily sinful and deserving of their fate. Without hesitation, Nagato pulled Trebol’s soul out.
As Trebol died, his mucus attire fell away, revealing his frail, hunched body, and causing disgust among the group. His body wasn’t even worth modifying, so Nagato tossed it into the sea with a blast of force.
“ROOM!” With Trebol dead, Law opened his ROOM, ready to treat Nagato.
Inside the operation space, Nagato allowed Law to inspect his left shoulder, which had been cleanly sliced into six pieces by Doflamingo’s attack. Law’s expression grew grim.
“I can set the bones and help it heal, but even after recovery, your left arm won’t regain full strength. It will be as strong as an average person’s,” Law explained.
Nagato, unfazed, responded, “That’s fine, do it.”
Law couldn’t help but admire Nagato’s resolve. Losing an arm would halve most fighters’ strength, but Nagato seemed undeterred.
As Nagato controlled the sand mass to fly them back, Law kept his ROOM open, treating Nagato.
Unbeknownst to Law, losing an arm didn’t significantly affect Nagato’s fighting capability. If Nagato achieved Kekkei Tota and created Truth-Seeking Balls, becoming akin to the Sage of Six Paths, his enhanced body would naturally heal such injuries.
The intense battle with Doflamingo had been a wake-up call. If Nagato truly wanted to achieve his vision of peace, his current power was far from enough.
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