The doubts of the Five Elders all stemmed from Li Yuan. He had thought of attempting to hunt the Five Elders long ago, wanting to verify whether their immortality was truly "immortal"! Ever since Li Yuan's Seven Star Sword consumed the Blood-Blood Fruit, the originally laid plans were put into action, and Li Yuan fully unfolded his plan to hunt the Five Elders.
This involved Akame, who had been traveling for years, laying the groundwork. Akame deliberately showcased Li Yuan's swordsmanship for CP to see.
Then, Akame was brought into the plan to eliminate the CP Organization's training base, and by coincidence, Den Den Mushi, who remained within the CP Organization, captured footage of Akame's appearance and her swordsmanship.
These coincidences, when pieced together, would inevitably lead the Five Elders to deduce that Akame was Li Yuan's daughter.
Moreover, Akame had been wandering the Four Seas for years, which, in the eyes of the World Government, was their backyard.
With the Infinite Pirates causing such significant losses to the World Government, they had lost face on the world stage.
This made the Five Elders eager to restore the prestige of the World Government and eliminate the culprits, the Infinite Pirates.
Akame's appearance undoubtedly brought the Five Elders hope for the destruction of the Infinite Pirates.
As long as they could capture Akame and use her identity to lure the Infinite Pirates out of the New World, they could set up ambushes and traps, waiting for the Infinite Pirates to fall into them. They were confident they could eliminate the Infinite Pirates, and even if they couldn't, they could significantly weaken their power! However, they never expected that the information they gathered was all intentionally revealed to them by Li Yuan.
If the Five Elders wanted to eliminate Li Yuan, then Li Yuan also wanted to eliminate the Five Elders.
By exploiting the Five Elders' desire to eliminate him, Li Yuan successfully led Akame to draw the Five Elders out of hiding, away from Holy Land Mariejois, to the Four Seas, giving Li Yuan the opportunity to hunt the Five Elders.
If the Five Elders had remained hidden in Holy Land Mariejois, Li Yuan would have had no chance to hunt them.
After all, Li Yuan had no idea how many top-tier fighters were in Holy Land Mariejois, not to mention the unfathomable Imu!
Just as Saint Mars was about to descend to help and capture Akame, he suddenly felt an incredibly strong killing intent locking onto him.
Saint Mars sensed that the intense killing intent was coming from the sky. He quickly looked up and saw a figure engulfed in flames descending rapidly, even igniting due to the speed of the fall, turning that person into a fiery being!
"Not good, that's Li Yuan! He actually showed up!"
As Li Yuan approached, Saint Mars's Observation Haki clearly sensed that familiar yet deeply feared aura—it was indeed Li Yuan! He had previously thought that Li Yuan would not personally appear, believing Barrett and the others were arranged to protect Akame.
But he never expected that it wasn't that Li Yuan didn't show up; rather, Li Yuan had set his sights on him!
At this moment, he felt confused and angry. Why him? He clearly had the ability to fly and was the most troublesome among the three Five Elders, yet Li Yuan chose to target him instead of the other two!
If Li Yuan knew what Saint Mars was thinking, he would have clearly told him:
"Who told you that you are the easiest to kill among the three Five Elders!"
"Saint Nasujuro is a great swordsman with the First Generation Ghost Cutter, and he is fast. To some extent, the First Generation Ghost Cutter can help him withstand a significant amount of damage, and a great swordsman's reflexes are quick, making him hard to kill!"
"Saint Saturn has the ability to teleport. Who knows if, at a critical moment, he might activate his teleportation ability to escape?"
"Only you, Saint Mars, have no supreme weapon to defend yourself and no teleportation ability to save your life. Besides your flying ability, you have no other advantages. It's just flying ability! Li Xing isn't without it, and he can fly faster than you. If not you, then who else would I target?"
Li Yuan was unaware of Saint Mars's thoughts at this moment. He held his sword, summoning the air currents of heaven and earth.
The massive whirlpool of air intensified as he fell faster, gathering momentum.
"Life Return: Limb Limit Enhancement!"
"Blood Boil!"
"Human-Beast Form!"
Li Yuan immediately adjusted his state to its peak, showing no intention of holding back, even revealing the powers of the vampire Devil Fruit, all to swiftly kill the Five Elders' Saint Mars before him.
"Damn it, he actually consumed a Devil Fruit, and it's one that grants flying abilities!"
Seeing Li Yuan's Human-Beast Form and the wings on his back, even Saint Mars, no matter how foolish, realized that Li Yuan had indeed consumed a Devil Fruit.
Given Li Yuan's current status and strength, the Devil Fruit he consumed was most likely a Mythical Zoan, one that could fly.
In that case, his advantage of flight was completely negated!
"Flame Ray!!"
Saint Mars opened his mouth wide, his entire body engulfed in intense flames, gathering all the flames into his mouth. As he charged up to the peak, a compressed, powerful Flame Ray shot toward the sky.
Since Li Yuan had already targeted him, as a Five Elder, he naturally couldn't just run away. He needed to test how strong Li Yuan was now and what kind of Devil Fruit he had consumed.
"Trinity Unification Secret: Haki Infusion - Conqueror of Arms!"
The three types of sword intent, top-tier Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki, along with air currents, ultrasonic waves, and blood power—all of Li Yuan's powers perfectly converged onto the Seven Star Sword.
As this immense power gathered, an overwhelming pressure enveloped the world. With the slash of the Seven Star Sword, all that power transformed into an unparalleled impact, crashing down like a former king!
Before this force, Saint Mars's Flame Ray was extinguished upon contact, unable to withstand this power! "Damn it, how can he be this strong!"
Compared to the power he had seen two years ago, this force was at least twice as strong! Covered in Armament Haki, Saint Mars was still battered by this force, causing his feathers to fall out and his bones to feel as if they were shattering.
This power even penetrated his body, causing his internal organs to bleed.
His body plummeted like a falling meteor toward the island below, shaking the entire island upon impact.
Saint Mars, who created a massive pit over a thousand meters deep upon hitting the ground, was drenched in blood, having been severely injured by just one move!!
However, this severe injury was quickly healing due to the awakening power of his Devil Fruit and a special force.
"Flames Boil!!"
Countless flames beneath Saint Mars formed a fiery vortex, which then transformed into a volcano, propelling Saint Mars's body into the air as he soared back into the sky.
As a Yokai Itsunade, he could only display his strongest power in the sky; he absolutely would not allow himself to fight Li Yuan on the ground! However, just as Saint Mars wanted to ascend, Li Yuan would not give him that opportunity!
With a flap of his wings, Li Yuan dove down rapidly, unleashing a destructive force.
"Trinity Unification Secret: Haki Infusion - Heaven and Earth Shattering Slash!"
As Saint Mars's massive body just took flight, Li Yuan immediately charged above him, the overwhelming power contained in the Seven Star Sword slashing down like a tidal wave.
"Not good!!"
Li Yuan's speed was too fast, so fast that even Saint Mars, who had the ability to fly, could not evade the Seven Star Sword.
Seeing the sword about to land on his head, Saint Mars covered his hard mouth with Armament Haki, the hardest part of his body aside from his claws.
Saint Mars braced himself and clashed directly with Li Yuan's Seven Star Sword.
"Boom!!!"
However, the moment his mouth made contact with the Seven Star Sword, it felt as if it was about to shatter.
Most importantly, the power from the Seven Star Sword penetrated through his Armament Haki-covered mouth and struck his head.
Even with the awakened power of a Mythical Zoan and strong recovery abilities, the brain remained an absolute weakness. Once the brain was dead, he would die!
The intense pain in his brain caused Saint Mars's power to dissipate, and the Seven Star Sword forcefully slammed him back to the ground.
While Saint Saturn was engaged in a fierce battle with Barrett, he sensed the enormous, abyss-like aura of Li Yuan above. Even from a distance, he could clearly perceive the terror of that aura.
"Old man, how dare you lose focus! Die!"
Taking advantage of Saint Saturn's distraction, Barrett delivered a powerful punch to Saint Saturn's head, instantly smashing it into the ground.
Just as Barrett was about to continue his attack, Saint Saturn's spider leg lunged toward Barrett's thigh. Barrett instinctively dodged, allowing Saint Saturn to lift his head and move closer to Saint Mars!
"Old man, how dare you disturb our Captain's battle in front of me! You really have some nerve!"
Seeing Saint Saturn's actions, Barrett charged forward, grabbing one of Saint Saturn's spider legs and flinging his massive body away!
"Not good, I'm preparing to teleport away, and you all should come with me!"
After being blocked by Barrett, Saint Saturn's original goal was the same as Saint Mars's: to see how strong Li Yuan truly was and to find out what kind of Devil Fruit he had consumed.
But he realized that the power Li Yuan was displaying was terrifyingly strong, and with Li Yuan having consumed a Devil Fruit, Saint Mars's advantage of flight was completely suppressed.
Now, Saint Mars was utterly powerless before Li Yuan. If this continued, he might end up like the former Cipher Pol Aigis 0 Vice Chief, killed by Li Yuan.
So Saint Saturn couldn't care less; he planned to forcibly activate his teleportation ability to bring the three of them back to Holy Land Mariejois.
Each of the five Five Elders had a hidden teleportation ability within them. Once activated, whether actively or passively, they could be instantly transported back to Holy Land Mariejois, serving as their life-saving ability.
"Buzz!!!!"
After activating the teleportation ability, black light enveloped Saint Saturn, Saint Mars, and Saint Nasujuro, shrouding their bodies.
Barrett and Ashura Doji were unaware of what was happening with Saint Saturn and Saint Nasujuro, so they dared not act recklessly.
But Li Yuan's Observation Haki clearly understood what the black light surrounding Saint Mars represented—it was the rhythm of teleportation to escape!
"Leave them to me!!"
Seeing this scene, the terrifying Conqueror's Haki erupted from Li Yuan, instantly darkening the world, filling the earth with countless blood-red lightning bolts.
Countless bolts of lightning surged toward Saint Mars, even suppressing the black light, causing the teleportation ability to momentarily stall.
"How is this possible? His Conqueror's Haki is so powerful that it can interfere with teleportation from a distance!"
Even though Saint Mars was enveloped in black light, he could still clearly sense how terrifying this Conqueror's Haki was. To put it bluntly, he felt as if he was carrying a mountain on his back, even in his Tsujin Ten form! "Trinity Unification Secret: Haki Infusion - Streaking Starfall Thrust!!"
In that instant, the Seven Star Sword transformed into blood and re-entered Li Yuan's body, and a brilliant blue longsword instantly unsheathed from his waist.
This sword was crafted from the highest purity Sea Stone available, with the hilt wrapped in a special alloy to isolate the Sea Stone's effects on Li Yuan.
Li Yuan hurled this sword with immense power, transforming it into a blue meteor that shot toward the black-light-enveloped Saint Mars.
Saint Mars sensed Li Yuan's attack. Although he didn't know why Li Yuan threw a sword at him, the terrifying power made him hesitate to take it head-on.
He attempted to block the blue meteor with his claws, but countless blood-red lightning bolts formed chains that suppressed his claws, causing him to be a moment too late. The blue light pierced through the edge of his claws and forcefully entered his body.
The hilt of this Sea Stone sword was shaped like a sword handle, with almost no ring between the hilt and blade, allowing for a perfect connection between the blade and hilt.
This design was intended for it to be used as a throwing weapon!
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