"Phew... We finally escaped, Captain. That was terrifying just now. Is that the strongest pirate in history, with a bounty of ten billion? What Pirate King? Compared to him, Whitebeard is practically a baby!"
On the Grand Line, a pirate ship sped away from Marineford.
The speaker was a man in a tall top hat who looked like a mime performer. Besides him, there were many others aboard, most still visibly shaken.
This group was none other than the Blackbeard Pirates, who had rushed over from Impel Down.
After recruiting men in Impel Down, their strength had expanded rapidly. They had planned to head to Marineford and make a grand entrance, officially take Whitebeard's head, claim the seat of one of the Four Emperors, and then use the devouring power of the Dark-Dark Fruit to seize the power of the Quake-Quake Fruit in one fell swoop.
That would bring him one step closer to becoming Pirate King.
Everything had originally been proceeding according to his plan. Whitebeard had already begun to show signs of defeat under the Marine's overwhelming assault. All they needed to do was jump out at the right moment and reap the rewards.
But then Uchiha Shin suddenly appeared. That alone had not concerned Blackbeard much. The Marines still had plenty of fighting power, and with his own group hidden in the shadows, he should have been able to control the situation no matter what.
Yet Shin's subsequent display of strength scared Blackbeard and his crew shitless.
Especially the prisoners who had just been freed from Impel Down. They had been brimming with hostility and eager to vent it, but Shin's performance was like a bucket of cold water dumped over their heads. They fled in disgrace without even daring to make a sound.
"Alright, we're far