First Stage: Susanoo!

And in that instant when Kid lost his focus...

In the arena, the last member of the Kid Pirates was completely engulfed by Ivan's Fire Style amidst his desperate cries.

Thus, the entire Kid Pirates was wiped out.

The coastline was deathly silent.

The sea breeze howled, carrying a heavy stench of blood, as it swept across Ivan's robes.

He slowly turned around, and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan beneath the mask locked onto the bewildered and dazed Kid not far away.

The game is only just beginning.

On the desolate coastline, the sea breeze, carrying a heavy stench of blood, slapped hard against Kid's face.

He stood frozen in place, his blank gaze slowly sweeping over the corpses and bloodstains scattered on the ground.

Just seconds before, he was chatting with Killer in the streets, plotting how to find the people of Shadow Garden and prove his strength.

But in just a short while, the Kid Pirates, which he had painstakingly built, were completely wiped out.

His gaze locked onto the figure wearing the Spiral Mask, the confusion in his eyes completely vanished, and a surge of rage erupted within him.

"You—what have you done?!"

Kid was never a kind person; his hands were stained with blood, and he had taken countless lives.

But that was killing other people; he had never experienced such a crushing defeat.

It wasn't that he lost to an opponent of equal caliber, nor that he fled in a sorry state; rather, he was wiped out in one fell swoop, not even a single one of his crew members was spared, while he himself strolled leisurely elsewhere like a fool.

"My crew—my pirate crew—"

Kid's roar grew louder and louder, and the metal shards around him began to stir wildly.

Drawn by an invisible force, these metals rapidly converged upon him. "I will kill you! I will tear you to pieces and grind your bones to ashes!"

Before he could finish speaking, Kid suddenly raised his hand, and the power of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit was fully activated.

The massive amount of metal instantly coalesced into countless sharp iron spikes, which shot towards Ivan with a whistling sound as they pierced the air.

Despite the overwhelming barrage of metal attacks, Ivan stood rooted to the spot, completely unmoved.

Just as the metal attack was about to hit him, he slowly opened his eyes, and a deep blue skeleton formed beside him.

Ding ding ding!

A series of loud crashing sounds rang out. The violent metal pieces froze in mid-air the moment they touched the skeleton, then fell to the ground and scattered into a pile of scrap metal.

Susanoo!

Seeing this, Kid's furious expression froze slightly. What kind of ability was this?

Then, he stared intently at Ivan and demanded, "Who are you, daring to attack my Kid's pirate crew?!"

Ivan slowly turned around, his tone slightly mocking. "Weren't you looking for me? What, now that you've seen me, you don't recognize me?"

Kid paused, his eyes filled with confusion.

Looking for him?

When did I ever hire a guy wearing a mask like that?

His only recent desire is to find the people of Shadow Garden to prove his strength.

But aren't all the people in the Shadow Garden wearing animal masks?

His blank stare lasted only a few seconds before his gaze fell once more on the Spiral Mask on Ivan's face, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

They're both masks, could it be—

He immediately demanded, "Are you from Shadow Garden?!"

He was confident that, apart from the Shadow Garden and a very small number of powerful individuals, no one on the high seas could so easily stop his full-force attack.

Ivan chuckled softly, "You do have some brains. I am Madara Uchiha, a high-ranking officer of the Shadow Garden. This time, I've come to see you at your request."

I'm quite curious about the true strength of this so-called leader of the Supernova, who dares to be so arrogant and openly provoke the Shadow Garden.

But now it seems they're nothing special. The Kid Pirates, and you so-called crew members, are nothing but a bunch of pathetic ants.

"Ants?!"

These words completely ignited Kid's anger.

What he hated most in his life was being looked down upon.

He can accept failure, but he absolutely cannot accept being looked down upon like this.

Overwhelming rage completely shattered his reason; Kid's eyes turned bloodshot, and the magnetic force around him became increasingly violent.

Without any further hesitation, he unleashed his full power, manipulating all the metal at his disposal, and launched an even more frenzied attack on Ivan.

Killer, standing to the side, had long lost his usual composure.

He was wearing a Shizune mask, but his tense body clearly revealed his anger.

Unlike Kid treats his crew as tools for conquering the sea, he has deep feelings for these comrades who have shared life and death with him.

Seeing the corpses of his comrades scattered all over the ground, Killer felt as if his heart was being torn apart.

He stopped advising Kid to stay calm, because he himself was already blinded by anger.

My comrade's revenge must be taken!

Killer flashed forward, gripping the twin blades at his waist, and charged towards Ivan.

His Taijutsu were superb, his speed was extremely fast, and every move he made with his twin blades was deadly, each strike aimed at Ivan's vital points.

Kid's ranged metal attacks, combined with Killer's melee assaults, created a seamless teamwork between the two, one at long range and the other at close range.

They didn't believe that the Masked Man in front of them could really easily withstand their combined attack.

However, despite the two men's attacks, Ivan remained standing still, showing no intention of dodging.

Seeing this, Kid sneered, "What, were you so scared by our attack that you can't even move because you're too terrified?!"

Go to hell!

With a roar, he wielded the enormous metal axe and brought it down fiercely on Ivan's head.

Taking advantage of this opening, Killer flashed forward, his twin blades aimed directly at Ivan's chest, attempting to deliver a fatal blow.

But just as their attack was still several meters away from Ivan, a sudden change occurred.

Several seemingly thin blue skeletons reappeared around Ivan, and it was these skeletons that easily blocked the attacks from Kid and Killer.

The giant metal axe struck the skeleton with a loud bang, but the skeleton remained completely still, without even a scratch.

Killer's twin blades struck the skeleton but were instantly deflected, failing to cause any damage.

All attacks came to a halt in front of Ivan's skeleton, unable to advance even an inch further.

Ivan slowly raised his head and said coldly, "What a cowardly attack. With such little strength, you dare to provoke the Shadow Garden?"

Before the words were even finished, a massive bony arm suddenly extended from the skeleton and slammed down towards Kid and Killer.

Kid and Killer's expressions changed drastically; they tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

The bone arm was too fast; they barely had time to react before it struck them hard in the chest.

The next moment, both of them were sent flying.

However, Susanoo's one arm was ultimately not enough to completely defeat Kid and Killer.

They struggled to their feet, wiping the blood from their mouths; their strength hadn't diminished much.