In the eerie, dimly lit corner of the castle, Orochimaru's eyes were wide, burning with a rage like a volcano about to erupt.
Orochimaru raised his tail, swung it out fiercely, and slammed it heavily onto Oars's body, each strike accompanied by Oars's heart-wrenching screams.
Oars's massive body trembled uncontrollably under Orochimaru's violent assault, while Orochimaru's face was contorted in a sinister grin, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned in a cruel smile, clearly immensely satisfied with his actions. After all, he had wanted to do this for a long time. If he couldn't beat Luffy, couldn't he beat Luffy's zombie?
Just then, the Shadow Clone next to Moriah suddenly dispelled its Ninjutsu. Instantly, memories surged like a tide, and the merged Orochimaru paused slightly, slowly turning his head to look at the mangled, unrecognizable Oars.
A hint of guilt appeared on Orochimaru's face. After a moment of hesitation, he cautiously nudged the heap that was Oars with his tail towards Zoro and the others.
After doing all this, Orochimaru took a deep breath and transformed back into his human form. He stood quietly to the side, an innocent expression on his face, blinking his eyes, looking as if to say, 'It wasn't me, I didn't do anything.'
Zoro and the others stood there, their mouths twitching, their gaze fixed on Orochimaru, not understanding what whim this snake was on now.
As Moriah arrived, Zoro frowned slightly, a wary look in his eyes, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, as if ready to respond to any unexpected situation.
Sanji, meanwhile, held a cigarette in his mouth, his expression complex, his gaze shifting back and forth between Orochimaru and Moriah.
A moment later, they turned their attention to the resentful-looking Moriah.
Moriah's face was filled with anger and helplessness, his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know where to start. Seeing Moriah in this state, everyone was even more confused, their doubts growing stronger.
However, at this moment, they couldn't worry about that much; the opportunity was rare! A flicker of determination flashed in Zoro's eyes. Looking at Oars, who was still stubbornly trying to get up, he raised his sword and brought it down without hesitation.
Sanji also followed closely, leaping up and delivering a fierce kick to Oars's jaw.
Nami also appeared from who knows where, unleashing a barrage of electricity on Oars.
Everyone now had only one thought: nothing else mattered! First, beat up this Oars.
Moriah, full of pent-up frustration, glared at the others who were completely ignoring him, and shouted loudly,
"Hey!!! Straw Hat Pirates!!! Where is your Captain? Bring him out quickly! I want to fight him one-on-one!! It's infuriating, every single one of you looks down on me like this!"
"Looking for me?"
A hoarse voice suddenly emerged. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a three-meter-tall Luffy slowly approaching. His muscles were highly bulging, full of explosive power. His skin had also turned blue. On Luffy's back, he carried a sharp sword, and his entire demeanor was vastly different from before, his eyes revealing a sense of composure and wisdom, looking much smarter.
Nightmare Luffy walked with steady steps to Orochimaru's side, his gaze like a torch, fixed on Moriah. He frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "A one-on-one fight, huh... This must be another one of Orochimaru's good deeds."
Saying that, Nightmare Luffy grabbed Orochimaru, and a powerful oppressive aura instantly spread. His right fist clenched tightly, then slowly opened, as if he was hesitating about something. After a long moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'll settle the score with you after this is over."
Orochimaru's face was filled with astonishment at this moment. He never expected that Luffy would actually grow a brain one day... Nightmare Luffy expressionlessly tossed Orochimaru towards the Straw Hat Crew, who were staring at him in surprise.
Seeing this, Zoro quickly ran a few steps and steadily caught Orochimaru. He was equally puzzled, his gaze fixed on this different, intimidating Luffy, a little surprised in his heart, wondering what had happened to Luffy.
Just then, a group of pirates suddenly appeared, quickly surrounding Orochimaru and his group. At the head was a pirate who seemed to be a woman, and she looked at everyone before her with delight, shouting excitedly, "Found them! The Companions of the Star of Hope! They're all alive! And they defeated Oars!"
The straw hat Crew became even more bewildered, their faces filled with confusion and incomprehension. With the detailed explanation from the female leader, Lola, they gradually understood the whole story.
It turned out that they had stuffed the shadows of a hundred sacrifices into Luffy's body, and Luffy had thus gained their strength and wisdom, giving birth to Nightmare Luffy. They had not expected Luffy to be able to contain the shadows of a hundred people, but this power could only last for two or three minutes, after which the inserted shadows would immediately leave his body.
The group of pirates, full of apology, said to Orochimaru and the others, "Although we are very sorry for taking such liberties with your Captain, we truly long to walk in the sunlight, to be human again. He is our hope; only he can make this wish come true."
After speaking, everyone's gaze converged on Luffy and Moriah, as if waiting for a fated showdown.
But the result was somewhat unexpected; Nightmare Luffy knocked Moriah unconscious with a single punch. Everyone was a bit stunned, and Nightmare Luffy was also a bit bewildered, 'Is he that weak????' He then turned to look at Orochimaru.
(っ - ‸ - ς) Orochimaru covered his face with one hand, his expression extremely complex, making it difficult to describe. After all, in the original plot, Nightmare Luffy was incredibly powerful, knocking Moriah, who was inside Oars, unconscious with just one punch. This scene was still deeply etched in the mind of the Blue Star person that Orochimaru had merged with.
Now, Luffy in this world was inherently stronger than his counterpart in the original plot. Coupled with the power bestowed by the numerous shadows, it was like adding wings to a tiger. Conversely, Moriah had lost the powerful assistance of Oars. This was by no means a simple matter of addition and subtraction.
Orochimaru looked at Moriah's somewhat pathetic situation, and a touch of sympathy welled up in his heart. He silently muttered to himself, "Forgive me! My friend!"
There was truly no other way, Orochimaru could only discreetly use his abilities to treat Moriah. His clone evaded everyone's sight, cautiously performing medical Ninjutsu, trying to make Moriah regain consciousness as quickly as possible.
Because Orochimaru was still waiting for Moriah to teach the others a lesson. As expected, after some time, Moriah slowly woke up. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Luffy, who had already returned to his normal state.
A strange smile appeared on Moriah's face, and his "Kekeke" laughter echoed in the air, sending chills down one's spine. His eyes flickered with complex emotions, including anger and unwillingness.
"I can't believe you used the power of my shadow, how despicable!"
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