One Piece: Hashirama Template

While Link's crew departed from Impel Down, the Summit War at Marineford had reached its boiling point.

Just as in the original tale, the simple-minded Squard was deceived by Akainu, plunging his sword into Whitebeard in an act of shocking betrayal.

But Whitebeard didn't blame his foolish son. After explaining the deception, he leaped from the prow of the Moby Dick and entered the fray himself, his very presence reigniting the morale of his forces.

The moment the World's Strongest Man joined the battle, the preliminary skirmishes were over. The clash of titans had begun.

Aokiji and Kizaru took turns attacking Whitebeard, only to be intercepted and held back by Marco and Jozu.

This left Akainu, having returned from the rear of the battlefield, to confront Whitebeard directly.

The clash of their powers—the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Magma-Magma Fruit, both capable of annihilating lesser foes with a single blow—was cataclysmic. Their fists shattered the frozen sea, shockwaves tore through the air, and searing magma vaporized everything in its path.

For a time, not even a Vice-Admiral dared to approach the maelstrom of their battle.

"————"

At that moment, a certain wood clone, which had been laying low in a corner of the battlefield, suddenly received new information. Its eyes flashed with purpose.

The hunt had begun.

The clone vanished in a flicker of movement. When it reappeared, it was standing before a hulking man nearly three meters tall, dressed in royal attire with a small lion perched on his head. He was a member of the variant human race, wielding two sickle-shaped swords.

This was Squall B. Brody, captain of the Brody Pirates, one of the forty-three crews allied with Whitebeard.

"Illusionary Arts: Bringer of Darkness!"

The instant the clone appeared, it plunged Brody's world into absolute blackness. Then, channeling both Wood Style chakra and Haki into its palm, it struck.

Thump—! Squelch!

Brody's massive frame was sent flying. As his body sailed through the air, a series of sickening, tearing sounds echoed from within him. Countless forked wooden spikes erupted from his flesh, turning him into a human pincushion.

Brody, a renowned powerhouse in the New World, was dead. Just like that.

Much like how Hashirama Senju could dispatch a veteran Kage-level shinobi like Kakuzu with a single wood clone, Link's were no different. Possessing a massive amount of chakra, a wood clone's only true limitation was its stamina compared to the original; its combat power was nearly identical.

Against a combination like the Bringer of Darkness and the Impalement Jutsu, anyone who wasn't constantly maintaining Observation Haki or cloaked in full-body Armament Haki was doomed. A single touch from the clone, empowered by the instant-kill potential of the jutsu, meant death.

It was just like facing Boa Hancock. It had nothing to do with raw strength; if you didn't have a direct counter, a single touch was fatal.

[Ding! You have killed an enemy. Experience gained: 0.13%]

As Brody fell, a notification chimed in Link's mind. The amount of experience was well within his expectations.

Inside a pocket dimension—a perfect replica of the real world, but painted in shades of vibrant green—a colossal fox strode through the air. Its body was pure gold, save for the silvery-white fur on its head, and nine magnificent golden tails swayed behind it.

With every step the nine-tailed fox took, a small flame cloud bloomed beneath its paw, allowing it to walk on the very air as if treading on clouds.

This giant nine-tailed fox was Karina.

Like the Azure Dragon, the Nine-Tailed Fox possessed control over four elements: wind, fire, lightning, and clouds.

In Link's original world, myths and legends of the nine-tailed fox existed in both his home country and Japan. In Japan, it stood alongside Shuten-doji and Ootengu as one of the Three Great Yokai, and was often considered the most famous of them all. In modern pop culture, it appeared in countless works, each with similar or different abilities.

Given that the world of One Piece already had Mythical Zoans like the Yamata no Orochi and the Okuchi no Makami, it was logical that this Nine-Tailed Fox fruit would lean towards its Japanese mythological roots.

As a legendary Yokai, its abilities were vast.

First, Charm. Much like Hancock's Love-Love Fruit, it not only amplified Karina's natural charisma but also ensured her Human-Beast form was not grotesque like other Zoans. In fact, she was even more beautiful in this state. This charm was more than just an aura; it also granted her a transformation ability similar to the Clone-Clone Fruit, allowing her to take on the appearance of others.

Second, beyond her charm, the Nine-Tailed Fox of legend could command the four elements, unleash sonic waves that could shatter anything, cause earthquakes and summon meteors, and even conjure floods or spread poison and plague. Its power was said to be both overwhelming and all-encompassing.

Link wasn't sure if Karina had access to all of those latter abilities yet. But right after eating the fruit, she had already mastered Charm and basic Elemental Control.

Furthermore, Karina now had a unique passive ability—and a critical weakness.

She had nine lives.

Each of her tails represented one life. If she were to die, she would be resurrected, but at the cost of one tail and one of her abilities—a permanent weakening.

At this moment, Nami and the other girls were seated comfortably on Karina's massive back.

Link alone sat cross-legged on her head, deep in meditation. He was fusing the staggering physical and spiritual energies within him, forging them into his own chakra. The process was taking an incredibly long time due to the sheer volume of energy; he wasn't even halfway done.

If he were to summon his virtual panel, he would see the progress of his Hashirama Senju template: [80%] Unlocked.

The experience required to progress had steepened dramatically after the seventh stage. However, by annihilating nearly every prisoner on Levels 5 and 6 of Impel Down, Link had gathered enough experience to break through to the eighth stage. While the difficulty of gaining experience now was immense, it wasn't as impossible as he had feared.

Link felt no frustration, only a sense of calm accomplishment. According to his original plan, just reaching 70% in Impel Down would have been a massive victory. After all, the prisoners there were in a severely weakened state; who knew if the system would judge their value based on their current condition?

Thankfully, the system had counted them at their full worth.

Now, in the eighth stage, the forty-three allied captains of the Whitebeard Pirates were still providing him with experience. This meant that any pirate captain of a major crew in the New World was a viable target.

The New World was teeming with crews like that.

The greatest pool of experience was never Marine HQ or Impel Down, nor was it the Yonko crews themselves.

It was the entirety of the New World!

Powerhouses on the level of Yonko Commanders and top officers were numerous there. There were countless hidden masters with strength rivaling the Admirals.

Once Link entered that sea of the strongest, he was confident he could quickly unlock the Hashirama template to 100% and achieve a combat power at the absolute pinnacle of a Yonko.

Even now, he possessed the strength to dominate the seas.

His single trip into and out of Impel Down had doubled his chakra reserves. At this point, even half of the Nine-Tails' chakra probably couldn't compare to his. The forty feedback loops from his template had unlocked a vast arsenal of jutsu and powerful new ultimate techniques.

Among them were two abilities he had dreamed of obtaining.

The first was a healing technique that required no hand seals. As long as his head wasn't severed, he was effectively immortal: Seal-less Healing! It was the passive ability of the Sage Body in its later stages of growth. Madara Uchiha himself once claimed that on the battlefield, no one could kill Hashirama.

The second was a state-based technique that amplified all of his abilities across the board: Sage Mode!

(End of Chapter)

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