Chapter 146 (Patreon)

“Mihawk... Hinata.”

While the two rested, Ōnoki flew over from the direction of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

He landed upon the rock formation and studied them for a moment.

Mihawk appeared calm, but the strain from the fight had not completely faded. Hinata sat beside him, quietly watching over him.

Ōnoki hesitated, uncertain how to begin.

After witnessing Mihawk’s battle against Madara, he could no longer regard him as an ordinary young shinobi.

Mihawk had surpassed the level of the Five Kage.

Ōnoki had also witnessed enough of Hinata’s power during the war to understand that she was no ordinary Hyūga.

Even though both of them were Konoha shinobi and members of the Alliance, directly questioning them about their abilities would be inappropriate.

Mihawk seemed to understand what he wanted to ask.

“If you’re wondering why Madara escaped, I misjudged how quickly he could sever Kabuto’s control over the Edo Tensei.”

Ōnoki remained silent and listened.

“Once he released himself from the summoning contract, he used Wood Clones and the forest to scatter his presence across the battlefield.”

Mihawk looked toward the distant forest.

“I considered pursuing him, but there was no guarantee I could finish him before the chase carried us away from the Allied Forces.”

“Madara understood that continuing the battle would only cost him more. That is why he chose to retreat.”

Mihawk’s voice remained calm.

“If he had stayed, I would have continued fighting.”

Ōnoki slowly nodded.

He had seen Madara lose his arm and openly acknowledge the outcome. Whatever his reason for escaping, the legendary Uchiha had unquestionably been forced to withdraw.

“Then leave the rest to us Five Kage.”

Ōnoki’s expression became firm.

“Madara’s return has changed the nature of this war. This is no longer only a battle to protect the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.”

“It is a war that concerns every shinobi alive.”

He turned toward the Allied Forces.

“Rest while you can. I will return to the others.”

With those words, Ōnoki rose into the air and flew away.

Mihawk watched him leave but made no attempt to stop him.

He had his own plans for what was coming.

After finishing the dry food and drinking half a bottle of water, Mihawk lay down and rested his head upon Hinata’s lap.

Hinata adjusted her position without saying anything.

Mihawk closed his eyes.

His breathing soon became slow and even.

The battle against Madara had been the most demanding fight Mihawk had experienced so far.

The battle had not only pushed his body to its limits but also completely drained his chakra reserves and forced him to expend a tremendous amount of Haki.

The greatest strain came from fighting more than a dozen Perfect Susanoo while holding nothing back. Maintaining the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and several advanced applications of Haki only increased that burden.

Mihawk had also unleashed two of his strongest attacks during the battle.

The first had destroyed Madara’s original Perfect Susanoo with Advanced Armament Haki and Advanced Conqueror’s Haki.

The second had severed the shared technique connecting Madara’s Wood Clones and destroyed their Perfect Susanoo formation.

Either attack would have decided an ordinary battle.

Against an immortal opponent with endlessly replenishing chakra, however, Mihawk had been forced to continue fighting afterward.

Without the Mystic Eyes revealing the death of Madara’s techniques, Mihawk would have needed far more time and many more attacks to destroy the Perfect Susanoo formation.

He still might have won, but the battle would have lasted considerably longer and left him in a far worse condition.

There was another important difference Mihawk could no longer ignore.

Nerona Mihawk possessed Dracule Mihawk’s template, swordsmanship, and Haki, but their physical bodies were not equal.

If the two were compared directly, Dracule Mihawk’s physique would completely outclass his own.

Dracule Mihawk’s body had been forged within the monstrous environment of the One Piece world.

His raw strength, endurance, durability, and recovery existed on a level Nerona Mihawk had not yet reached.

Nerona Mihawk had trained his body relentlessly, but it remained the body of a shinobi born in this world.

He could not recover all his stamina and Haki simply by eating a meal and resting for a few minutes.

Food could restore some energy, but it could not return him to full strength immediately.

Nevertheless, the battle gave him a much clearer understanding of his present strength.

He had unquestionably surpassed ordinary Kage level.

Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were the closest standards by which his power could be measured.

In a direct confrontation, Mihawk had already proven capable of defeating Madara’s current reanimated form.

The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception also gave him an overwhelming advantage against ninjutsu.

As long as something existed as a technique, Mihawk could perceive its death.

The Edo Tensei.

Susanoo.

Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.

Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu.

All of them possessed lines that could be severed.

Even Hashirama’s Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands would likely be no exception.

In certain battles, that ability gave Mihawk an advantage even against opponents whose chakra vastly exceeded his own.

By the shinobi world’s standards, his current strength had reached the threshold beneath the Six Paths level.

A level beyond the Five Kage and comparable to legendary figures such as Hashirama and Madara.

However, Mihawk was not prepared to call himself a true Six Paths-level fighter yet.

He had never faced the Truth-Seeking Balls.

Nor had he tested whether the Mystic Eyes could permanently sever the body of a Ten-Tails jinchūriki.

The Truth-Seeking Balls were formed from all five basic chakra natures and Yin–Yang Release.

The regeneration of the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki also existed on an entirely different level from ordinary healing or the Edo Tensei.

Mihawk did not know whether they would possess lines of death that he could reach.

His Haki was not ninjutsu, which might allow it to affect a Six Paths-level opponent without senjutsu.

But until he tested that possibility himself, it remained only a theory.

There was one technique Mihawk could use to force an answer.

However, the cost of using it would remove him from the battlefield afterward.

If the attack failed to kill its target, he would be left in an extremely dangerous position.

It could only be used as a final resort.

Mihawk would not know precisely where he stood until he confronted Madara after the latter became the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki.

Compared with Mihawk, Hinata remained in excellent condition.

She had respected his decision and stayed out of the battle against Madara, preserving her chakra for whatever came next.

Her Tenseigan had already elevated her gravity and repulsion far beyond what an ordinary Kage could withstand.

However, she still lacked Mihawk’s combat experience and the number of decisive abilities he possessed.

Mihawk’s strength relied primarily upon his body, swordsmanship, and Haki.

Even if his chakra were drained, he would still retain most of his combat power.

Hinata’s abilities depended much more heavily upon chakra. In a prolonged battle, exhaustion would affect her far more severely.

For now, she had not yet reached Mihawk’s level.

But as she sat beneath the fading daylight with her eyes closed, the power within her Tenseigan began changing once again.

————

Night eventually covered the battlefield.

The full moon had lost its usual silver-white color and now carried an unsettling blood-red hue.

Countless stars dotted the dark sky.

The desert along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had fallen silent.

Moonlight shone upon a solitary rock formation.

Two figures rested at its summit.

Hinata sat upright with her eyes closed, appearing to be deep in meditation.

Mihawk slept with his head resting upon her lap.

Boom... Boom...

Distant explosions occasionally crossed the night.

A fierce battle was still unfolding somewhere far beyond the desert.

Neither Mihawk nor Hinata was disturbed by the sound.

“Mm...”

After an unknown amount of time, Mihawk slowly opened his eyes.

His quiet movement pulled Hinata from her meditation.

She opened her pale eyes and looked down at him.

“Mihawk-kun, you’re awake.”

“Mm.”

The last traces of sleep quickly disappeared from Mihawk’s expression.

He sat up.

“How long was I asleep?”

Hinata shook her head.

“I’m not certain, but the fighting still hasn’t ended.”

“I see.”

Mihawk looked toward the distant flashes illuminating the horizon.

“Then we should eat before returning.”

He unsealed the remaining food and water from the storage scroll.

After washing his face and eating, Mihawk felt considerably better. Several hours of sleep had restored part of his chakra and Haki, though he was still far from his full strength.

Hinata ate beside him.

Once they finished, the two rose to their feet.

Under the blood-red moonlight, Mihawk looked toward Hinata and suddenly paused.

“Hinata... Your eyes...”

Hinata placed both hands behind her back and leaned slightly toward him.

“What about them?”

Mihawk studied her Tenseigan.

For an instant, he thought he had seen a deeper radiance moving within those pale eyes.

The pressure surrounding them also felt different from before.

However, the sensation disappeared almost immediately.

Mihawk shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

He turned toward the edge of the rock formation.

“Let’s go.”

Mihawk jumped from the summit and descended toward the battlefield.

Behind him, Hinata looked down at her hand.

Her fingers trembled slightly before becoming still.

A confident smile appeared on her face.

Her whisper was carried away by the cold desert wind.

“Mihawk-kun... This time, let me protect you.”

Hinata leaped from the rock formation and followed Mihawk toward the distant battlefield.