[The Mother Flame], also known as the 'undying flame', is a research achievement of Dr. Vegapunk in recent years.
The existence of the Mother Flame is not the Celestial Dragons' 'trump card'… it is Vegapunk's replication of the Celestial Dragons' legendary [National Treasure].
As a method theoretically capable of completely destroying an island or a country, the Mother Flame, after being developed, has always been held in the hands of that 'Imu-sama' sitting upon the Empty Throne.
Within the Room of Flowers, Imu's eyes pierced through space, using Gunko's body to clearly see everything happening in Impel Down at this moment.
"Defeated, huh... Well, it was within my expectations."
Imu's finger gently slid across the unfolded map, then stopped over the Calm Belt region representing Impel Down.
'Hmm, right here.'
Imu didn't particularly care about sacrificing an entire prison in exchange for the life of one Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto is not from the D Clan, the one who can truly pose a threat to Imu could never be him.
However, letting this criminal live so brazenly was indeed a slap in the face of the World Government, especially after the Mary Geoise incident.
It just so happened that Shamrock, the new commander of the God's Knights, took the initiative to request the task, and Imu agreed to his request.
Using Impel Down as bait, to utterly annihilate that great criminal.
Back at Impel Down, the light within the clouds in the sky had begun to become dazzling, as if a miniature sun was hidden within.
And whether it was Shamrock, held tightly by Naruto, or the other God's Knights below who had disengaged from the battlefield, their bodies began to radiate a faint blue energy glow.
At the same time, at the pre-set spatial coordinate points, a hexagonal teleportation magic circle also appeared.
This was also the 'privilege' Imu bestowed upon the God's Knights.
They could use these hexagonal magic circles for teleportation, just like the Five Elders.
Naruto was first drawn by the radiance in the sky, but then he quickly noticed the unusual state of the God's Knights.
The events that would occur in the next dozen seconds quickly flashed in Naruto's mind.
In terms of using Observation Haki to 'see the future', Naruto, having absorbed the Otsutsuki bloodline, had already surpassed Shanks.
A powerful Conqueror's Haki quickly 'erupted' from Naruto's palm, once again tearing open Shamrock's wounds.
And that intense Conqueror's Haki caused the glow of the teleportation magic on his body to flicker like a candle flame.
"What is that?"
Seeing that Conqueror's Haki could actually alter the 'future' where Shamrock would be teleported away in over ten seconds, Naruto simply grabbed the other by the head, continuously releasing Haki as he descended onto the ship.
The other God's Knights, however, were not interfered with, and they smoothly teleported away from here as planned.
- Except for the few killed earlier.
The surviving God's Blades didn't need Sasuke, Bullet, or the others to take action, as they were already paralyzed and unable to move under the pressure of Naruto's wantonly released Conqueror's Haki.
Naruto paid them no mind, instead fixing his burning gaze on Shamrock, while not reducing his Haki output in the slightest.
In his foresight, if he didn't maintain this high-intensity release of Conqueror's Haki, the faint blue magical glow on Shamrock's body would rekindle and instantly teleport him away.
Even for someone like Naruto, whose 'MP' was nearly infinite, such a frantic release of Conqueror's Haki still placed a tremendous strain on his mental energy.
Yet Naruto acted as if he didn't feel it, still quietly staring back at Shamrock.
"What is that?"
He repeated the question, while MuSōKō mercilessly severed Shamrock's arm, thwarting his attempt to continue resisting.
"Heh..."
Shamrock lifted his eyelids, his blood-stained red hair falling down. The face of this always aloof God's Knights Commander now displayed a madness unbefitting of his status.
"Haven't you... already seen it?"
"Don't think about escaping."
"The Mother Flame will completely destroy this place."
"You, and these other sinners beside you, will all be purified by the Mother Flame!"
Shamrock's tone was hysterical yet carried a ferocity, surprisingly similar to Shanks in Naruto's memory when he was seriously fighting.
"...Truly brothers."
Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information out of him, Naruto also knew there was no time to keep dealing with this guy.
Thud!
Mushoukou pierced through Shamrock's skull, nailing him firmly to the deck.
He didn't have time to worry about whether this guy would find a chance to escape now, as the more important matter at hand was dealing with the impending 'heavenly punishment'.
Scanning through the 'future' covered in white light as perceived by his Observation Haki, a grave expression appeared on Naruto's face.
Placing his hand on the Gale Breaker, Naruto enveloped the ship in another layer of bubbles under the confused gazes of everyone.
"Sasuke, take them deeper, the deeper the better."
After speaking, Naruto ignored the others' looks of confusion or unease, and his body levitated once again.
"What about you? What are you planning to do?"
Sasuke promptly transformed into his awakened state, also floating up.
Nearby, Karin, though unaware of what was about to happen, understood that Naruto was about to do something dangerous.
"I'll go with you…"
However, Naruto did not respond to either Sasuke's question or Karin's request.
He only shook his head slightly, then quickly ascended, flying high into the sky.
At this moment, there were 15 seconds left until the descent of the Mother Flame.
To be honest, with Naruto's current speed and ability to fly freely, he was fully capable of escaping the range before the Mother Flame fell.
But the others couldn't.
And based on his understanding of the World Government, if Impel Down were truly destroyed, they would not hesitate to pin the blame on him.
How else do you think he got all those shocking epithets?
By then, he would have to shoulder another blame for the World Government.
'A great criminal who destroys islands... sounds pretty good, actually...'
Although his thoughts were straying, Naruto's actions showed no hesitation. In just about ten seconds, he had almost reached the height of the clouds.
By now, the light within the clouds had almost accumulated to its limit.
In his Observation Haki's perception, the light would fall like raindrops, then cause violent explosions upon contact with the ground, ultimately completely destroying Impel Down and the surrounding sea area, leaving only a huge crater that seawater would take a long time to fill.
How to resist?
Naruto didn't have much time to think, as the Mother Flame was already descending.
Initially, it was four 'laser beams' with a radius of over ten meters.
Naruto recalled the powers he currently possessed and finally, among all his abilities, chose the one with the largest range.
Truth-Seeking Balls.
Yes, still the Truth-Seeking Balls.
But not in a spherical form, rather, like Obito or Madara, stretching them infinitely to form a huge disc-shaped dome.
The beams soon landed on the surface of the Truth-Seeking Balls.
The essence of the Truth-Seeking Balls is a special energy composed of Chakra of all seven Nature Transformations. It can almost ignore all Ninjutsu, while itself possessing overwhelming penetrative power.
But facing the Mother Flame, whose principles are far removed from Chakra, the Truth-Seeking Balls could now only exhibit their inherent sturdy properties.
"Hn!"
Naruto's arms supported the Truth-Seeking Ball dome, feeling the continuous impact force transmitted from above.
The initial four laser beams seemed more like just for 'targeting'.
Now, the Mother Flame had officially entered its firing state, with dozens of laser beams pouring down, furiously bombarding the disc formed by the Truth-Seeking Balls.
The facts proved that Shamrock's praise for it was not an exaggeration.
Naruto could clearly feel that the energy structure on the surface of the Truth-Seeking Balls had become unstable under the excessive impact.
He had to release several more Truth-Seeking Balls, transforming them into a dome again to reinforce it.
The people below were already shocked speechless by this scene.
Whether it was everyone on the Gale Breaker, or the prisoners like Blackbeard, or even Warden Magellan and the guards who had come up from the lower levels of the prison upon hearing the noise.
And Imu, far away, his gaze as if looking down from the heavens, saw Naruto's resistance.
"Mortal... daring to oppose a god..."
The black figure's finger reached out again, pressing heavily on the map.
On Naruto's side, the clouds in the sky suddenly parted, and another huge energy ball quietly appeared, beginning to gather power.