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OPI Chapter 468: Into the Maw of the Underworld
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 03:20:53 +0000 UTCWithout hesitation, Nahamah took command. At his side, Gin stood poised and silent, her serpent-staff in hand, as fifty front-line soldiers assembled behind them. Moments later, a convoy of armored vehicles rumbled to life, engines growling beneath the overcast sky. With orders in hand and urgency mounting, they set off toward the Fifth Division’s forward position—where blood still stained the earth and the cries of the wounded had yet to fall silent.
Natala, meanwhile, was guided to an open area located just behind the three artillery regiments.
Once he arrived at the location to establish the teleportation point, Natala casually pulled a palm-sized object from his pocket—something that resembled a metallic badge.
Its black surface bore three tomoe linked in a circle, drawn in violet. They looked nearly identical to the Sharingan.
“Dimensional Formation: Shambhala!”
“Activate!”
Natala shouted the command.
At once, the Teigu in his hand burst into radiant violet light, drawing the attention of many nearby army officers who turned to watch with curiosity.
Before him, a formation emerged on the ground, outlined entirely in glowing violet sigils.
At that very moment, far away outside Rōran, near the southern coastal edge of the Land of Wind—
Another identical formation, blazing with violet light, materialized on the scorched earth near the medium-sized Dimensional Gate.
All around it—
Heavy trucks loaded with supplies and ammunition were already lined up in an unbroken convoy stretching beyond sight, fully prepared to begin transfer.
…
—Meanwhile—
High above, hidden from view, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo floated silently in the sky.
He frowned as he gazed at the “Gate of the Underworld” below, still under relentless bombardment, lost in thought.
He had realized something troubling: he lacked the power to make it disappear entirely.
As his mind raced, Hagoromo suddenly turned his gaze toward the distant sand-colored pyramid.
That was the Burial Shrine, left behind by Crocodile to seal away Shinnō.
“Maybe I could use that ‘Satori’ to close the Gate of the Underworld.”
From his perspective, if that “Satori” knew how to open it, then he must also know how to close it.
Ripples of violet light shimmered across the Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths.
...
"Um... are we really going near a place that dangerous?"
Having recovered from his injuries with Gin’s help and taken half a day’s rest to restore his strength and spirit to peak condition, Jiraiya now stared in shock toward the distant Gate of the Underworld, which was still being bombarded by a relentless, saturation artillery assault.
He had no idea where the World Government had gotten so many cannons and shells. It was terrifying.
But what was even more terrifying was that they had actually been assigned the mission of setting up a barrier there.
"Didn’t that Lieutenant General Onigumo already explain? Once we arrive, the bombardment will stop. We just need to focus on setting up the barrier. As for the devils that keep pouring out during that time—they’ll handle intercepting and eliminating them."
Ōnoki hovered mid-air, speaking in a low, steady voice.
Around them stood Rasa, Kitsuchi, Uchiha Fugaku, and eight more shinobi of the Uchiha clan.
Jiraiya, Ōnoki, Kitsuchi, and Rasa were responsible for deploying the Four Red Yang Formation.
"That's what they say..." Jiraiya muttered under his breath.
Between the shells flying overhead and the possibility of powerful, bizarre devils appearing at any moment, the uncertainty was overwhelming.
Still, he knew he had to complete this mission.
Not for himself, but to prevent the shinobi world—and Konoha—from continuing to suffer under the threat of devils.
"Alright then. If everyone’s ready, let’s move out."
"You young folks, remember—this time, we fight to protect our world!"
As the oldest and most experienced present, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki naturally assumed the role of team leader and delivered a pre-battle declaration.
"Yeah!!!"
Jiraiya, Rasa, and the others responded in unison, voices full of resolve.
“Move out!”
Ōnoki smiled, clearly pleased.
The next instant—
[Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—]
The air was torn by a chorus of slicing sounds.
One by one, the shinobi blurred into indistinct shadows, darting at high speed toward the roaring Gate of the Underworld.
There, they encountered several other figures who had hurried over from the eastern coast: the Third Raikage, the Third Mizukage, the head of the Terumī clan, the head of the Hōzuki clan, and the head of the Kaguya clan.
"What are you doing here?"
The moment Ōnoki saw old man A, he didn’t bother with pleasantries and demanded bluntly, "I don't recall Kumogakure having any decent barrier techniques!"
Jiraiya, Rasa, and the others all twitched at the corner of their mouths.
This bad blood between Iwagakure and Kumogakure really was troublesome.
"Tch. I guess age doesn’t always bring wisdom. Someday, I’ll give you a taste of our 'Lightning Binding Formation' and 'Thunder Dream, Thunder Men'!"
Old man A shot back with biting sarcasm, provoking a visible flash of anger on Ōnoki’s face.
"Big talk from a punk. You got the guts to take a hit from my Dust Release?"
"Uh—"
A was momentarily speechless.
Around them, Rasa and the others all fought to suppress their smiles at A’s embarrassment. The Kaguya clan head burst into hearty laughter, completely unfazed by the scowl darkening Old Man A’s face.
It was clear: this Third Raikage didn’t have a great reputation in the shinobi world.
Just then, a stern voice suddenly rang out.
"Looks like everyone’s here. No more chatter. Head to the Gate of the Underworld immediately. Stop 500 meters from it and wait for two minutes. Once the shelling stops, it’ll be up to us, along with the forces from Kirigakure and Kumogakure, to intercept the devils!"
Dalmatian, towering at nearly 2.5 meters tall, strode forward in a brownish-yellow suit, his jet-black coat of justice fluttering with his movements.
Behind him marched ten Conquerors, their heavy footsteps shaking the ground.
But the eyes of Ōnoki, Jiraiya, and the others instinctively shifted to someone else entirely.
Because this man stood nearly 5 meters tall.
That was nearly the height of a two-story building—and with a body that burly and muscular, just standing there exuded crushing pressure.
His orange-red hair was styled in the shape of a cloverleaf.
Wearing a crimson suit beneath a black coat of justice, he radiated an intense heat that seemed to sear the very air.
It was none other than Charlotte Oven.
...
Just as planned.
When Dalmatian and Oven led Ōnoki, Jiraiya, the old man A, and Rasa to a position less than 500 meters from the “Gate of the Underworld,” and everyone took their designated places at the four cardinal directions, they soon noticed that the artillery barrage from the three regiments behind them had quickly died down.
Upon seeing this, Dalmatian and Oven, along with old man A, the Third Mizukage, the Terumi clan leader, and the Kaguya clan leader—four individuals—plus ten Conquerorists, swiftly moved forward to a spot roughly 200 meters from the “Gate of the Underworld” and stood ready in a tight formation.
“They’re coming!”
Dalmatian let out a shout as he saw hordes of devils squeezing out from the pitch-black spatial rift.
At that same moment, his body began to undergo a violent transformation.
His muscles swelled, his skeleton expanded, his ten fingers grew longer and sharper, and his skin sprouted white fur covered in black spots. Then, a tail of the same color began swaying back and forth under his Justice coat.
This was the hybrid form of the Zoan-type Dog-Dog Fruit: Dalmatian Model!
But that wasn’t all.
Around Dalmatian’s body, wisps of cloud-like mist appeared—white tinged with black specks—and at the end of his dog tail, a blazing flame of matching color flared up.
It was the Awakened Form of a Zoan-type user!
Clearly, these years of conquest across myriad worlds had not been spent in vain—his strength had already far surpassed that of his counterpart from twenty-one years later in the “original story.”
The current Dalmatian was entirely qualified for promotion to general.
In fact, it wasn’t just Dalmatian. Others like Charlotte Oven had experienced the same growth.
“It really is extraordinary… So this is the power of a Devil Fruit,”
A stood to the side, observing Dalmatian’s transformed state with a hint of envy in his heart.
Back when he was in the world of the Titans, he had heard members of the Other Worlds Strategic Committee explain the nature of Devil Fruits.
And among them, the Zoan-type Devil Fruits—which could greatly enhance physical capabilities and, once awakened, grant terrifying vitality and regenerative power—had caught his eye the most.
But the moment he inquired and learned how many battle points or merit points even a basic Zoan-type Devil Fruit required for exchange, he was left helpless.
After all, the perfect Type-1 Cellular Enhancement Serum, the Armament Haki training method, and the Six Powers training method—
All of it had already been exchanged using the merit points he’d earned as the Third Raikage, in exchange for aligning Kumogakure with the World Government.
So by now, he had nearly used them all up.
From here on out, his only option would be to rack up enough battle achievements in future conquests and exchange them for a carefully chosen Devil Fruit of his own.
Hmm. Ideally a Mythical Zoan—he’d heard they were the most badass of all Zoan-types.
