Chapter 293: Immortal Bodies

"Dragon..." Sabo raised his head toward the heavens, his expression darkening into a grave, intense mask. He already harbored a strong suspicion regarding the entity currently engaging Dragon in the clouds.

The Revolutionary Army had previously caught faint whispers of intelligence regarding Im. Though the exact details of that individual remained veiled in secrecy, one absolute variable had been confirmed: a supreme master was operating from behind the World Government's curtain!

And that master was hardly an ordinary figure!

While this war appeared on the surface to be a confrontation against the frontline military assets of the Navy and World Government, their absolute objective from the very beginning had been singular: neutralize the true ruler hiding in the shadows.

Drag the Celestial Dragons off their divine pedestal permanently!

I have to pick up the pace.

Fanning his blazing fiery wings, Sabo launched himself into high-altitude flight, charging straight toward the Five Elders standing atop the high platform.

As long as he removed the five public figureheads representing the World Government, the morale of the entire enemy assembly would collapse in an instant.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Fleet Admiral Akainu roared, surging forward to intercept him.

Before he could reach Sabo, a dark blur cut across his path. "Sabo has priority business to handle—he doesn't have time to play games with you. Allow me to be your opponent instead!"

Before Akainu could process the interruption, Ace—wielding a spear forged of pure, roaring flames—drove the weapon straight toward Akainu's chest.

"WHAT?!" Akainu's eyelids twitched violently as he crossed both arms before his chest to absorb the impact.

KABOOM!

The microsecond the fiery spear made contact, a gargantuan pillar of superheated fire erupted from the tip. The concentrated beam of fire shot across the plaza like a radiant comet, blasting Akainu backward with staggering kinetic force.

The fiery beam slammed into the ground, shattering stone paving tiles into powder as a massive cloud of dust billowed into the air.

"FLEET ADMIRAL!!" The Marine soldiers gasped in absolute horror.

By this time, Sabo had already landed smoothly atop the elevated platform. Facing the solitary leading Elder standing before him, Sabo spoke in a cool, detached tone: "Apologies, but I'm on a tight schedule."

Coating his hand in shimmering Armament Haki, he shaped his fingers into a sharp, claw-like grip. A localized burst of fire ignited over his palm, though instead of expanding outward, the flame rapidly condensed, compressing directly into his skin.

Within a fraction of a second, his fair hand transformed into a deep, radiant crimson, as if the fire had been permanently absorbed into his flesh.

"Dragon Claw Style!"

He thrust his hand forward, driving the claw straight toward the Elder.

"You think a single brat like you possesses the leverage to bring me down?!" The Elder's eyes glinted with sharp malice as he threw a fist heavily coated in Armament Haki forward to meet the strike head-on.

BANG!

As the two attacks collided, a subtle wave of surprise flickered through Sabo's eyes—the Elder's baseline strength was undeniably formidable!

In the very next microsecond, Sabo deftly rotated his Dragon Claw, clamping his crimson fingers firmly around the Elder's wrist.

"The moment my claw locks onto you, your outcome is mathematically sealed!" Sabo stated flatly. Reinforced by his raw physical output and the special power compression, his grip force was capable of shattering even a Yonko's absolute defense.

Exerting maximum pressure through his five fingers, the Haki-coated wrist within his grip groaned. The bones inside the Elder's hand were pulverized into fine powder under the crushing weight.

"It's over!"

Suddenly, a razor-sharp whistling cut through the air behind his ear. Sabo's pupils contracted violently—the Elder, completely ignoring his ruined wrist, had executed an impossible 360-degree rotational spin on his compromised arm, driving a high-velocity kick straight toward Sabo's temple!

"WHAT?!"

With zero time to maneuver, Sabo snapped his left forearm up to absorb the blow.

BANG!

Taking the heavy strike head-on, Sabo was deeply shocked internally—how could this pampered old relic display such ruthless, self-sacrificing viciousness in direct combat?!

He had sacrificed his own arm without a second's hesitation just to score a counter-strike!

"Bringing me down will not be so simple!" the Elder growled, his eyes wide and bloodshot as a relentless flurry of fists and kicks rained down upon Sabo.

"Dragon's Claw!" Sabo swept one arm wide to parry the incoming strike, while driving his right Dragon Claw straight forward, sinking his crimson fingers deep into the Elder's left shoulder.

CRACK!

The sickening sound of shattering bone echoed through the air.

As the shoulder joint collapsed, three deep, gory puncture holes left by the Dragon Claw began gushing fresh blood. Yet right at the microsecond Sabo allowed his defensive vigilance to ease slightly, the Elder launched another suicidal offensive, acting as though the horrific trauma to his shoulder meant absolute zero!

Why?!

Straining to parry the continuous blows, Sabo's mind raced.

Can this old man not feel physical pain?!

Fine! If that's how you want to play, I'll dismantle your body until you physically CAN'T move!

Sabo initiated an all-out counter-offensive. The strikes delivered by his Dragon Claw proved fundamentally unblockable; even when the Elder coated his body in dense Armament Haki, it offered zero structural protection.

Where the Dragon Claw struck, the Elder's flesh and bone gave way like soft tofu, crushed into fragments under Sabo's relentless assault.

Shoulder joints, elbows, knees, ribs, spine—within a matter of seconds, Sabo systematically pulverized every major structural bone in the Elder's body.

The brutal scene left every onlooker on the plaza paralyzed in speechless terror—the sheer ruthlessness of the execution was terrifying beyond measure!

What shocked them even more was the Elder's unnatural endurance. For an ordinary human, having one or two major bones shattered would guarantee total physical incapacitation.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The other two Elders rushed forward from the distance.

Yet they were a microsecond too late. Sabo swung his steel pipe twice in rapid succession, shattering both of the leading Elder's kneecaps into splinters, forcing the old man to collapse toward the stone floor.

"THIS IS CATASTROPHIC!" The World Government personnel watched in absolute horror.

If one of the Five Elders were forced onto his knees in public like a common criminal, the World Government's global prestige would be trampled directly into the dirt before the eyes of all humanity!

Akainu—who had just picked himself up from the rubble—desperately tried to surge toward the high platform, but the distance was far too vast to bridge in time.

Yet just as the World Government's forces fell into utter despair, an event unfolded that stunned every soul watching the battlefield.

The leading Elder, despite his shattered skeletal structure, actually wobbled and forced his broken frame to lock upright, holding his stance against all physical logic!

Sabo's eyes snapped wide in total disbelief. He couldn't comprehend how a human body with pulverized bones could physically sustain an upright posture.

"Sabo of the Revolutionary Army! You wretched brat!" A furious roar suddenly echoed from the distance. "YOU FOUR, STRIKE NOW!"

In the next heartbeat, a sudden, bone-chilling cold washed over Sabo's spine. Four masked silhouettes flashed through the open air at mind-boggling speed, encircling Sabo's coordinates within a fraction of a second.

"Sabo! WATCH OUT!" Luffy yelled in alarm from below.

Having maintained peak battle readiness throughout the sequence, Sabo avoided all panic, rapidly evaluating the movement vectors around him.

BANG!

Twin shockwaves cut through the air from his left and right flanks simultaneously. Sabo raised both forearms to parry the strikes.

The crowd stared with wide, horrified eyes—two individuals had materialized atop Sabo's forearms, both holding sharp, high-velocity side-kicks pressed flush against his defense.

"Their movement speed is absurd!"

Zoro's expression hardened into a grave mask. Speed of this tier confirmed beyond doubt that the newcomers were terrifyingly elite!

Before anyone could catch their breath, two additional figures materialized directly in front of and behind Sabo. Both wielded long, razor-sharp blades, the cold steel gleaming with lethal intent as they thrust toward his heart and spine.

Just as the onlookers assumed Sabo was guaranteed to take critical damage, four massive claws forged of pure, roaring fire suddenly erupted from his back.

The twin pairs of flaming claws lunged out in front and behind with lethal precision.

One pair parried the incoming long blades, while the other pair targeted the skulls of the two assassins.

Forced to abandon their offensive, the two blade-wielders executed swift mid-air parries, vaulting backward to clear the danger zone.

Sabo flexed his arms with explosive force, repelling the two kickers on his flanks. Before he could draw a single breath to reset his stance, all four masked figures surged back in for another coordinated assault.

"That's it! Eliminate him at maximum speed!" the Fifth Elder shouted from the rear.

During that brief window, the remaining three Elders had successfully regrouped around their broken leader.

Sabo caught his first clear look at the four attackers—every single one wore an identical, pristine golden mask, treading on compressed air as they charged forward.

"Dance of the Wild Dragons!" Sabo unleashed dozens of fiery dragon claws from his frame, spinning his body at high velocity to throw a dense storm of strikes in every direction.

Yet the microsecond the sea of fire receded, Sabo was blasted clear out of the sky, crashing heavily onto the stone plaza below. Wiping a trail of crimson from the corner of his lips, a look of profound shock washed over his features.

His maximum-output attack had yielded absolute zero effect!

Even though his dragon claws had indisputably struck their targets and inflicted visible physical trauma, the damage had failed to restrict their mobility or combat output by even a fraction!

An absurd, unscientific realization sprouted in Sabo's mind—could these four masked monsters... actually possess immortal bodies?!