"Gone?"
"Where did the Marshal go?"
"His aura has vanished, what's going on?"
"It must be that the Marshal used some kind of technique."
"Not necessarily, Im's strength has clearly changed. Who knows, he might be plotting to get rid of the Marshal."
"The Tree Spirit hasn't appeared, everyone be extremely cautious."
...
Silently, without any discernible movement.
Benedict and Im, right before their eyes, suddenly vanished.
This struck Jiancirou, Da Tian Gu Qingfeng, Bai Qi, and a host of other powerful individuals with shock.
At the same time, it also filled them with a sense of unease.
Was this, in fact, a scheme concocted by Im and the Tree Spirit?
...
Within the Galaxy Barrier.
Im's expression turned grim when he discovered that the spatial barrier could not be opened, preventing him from leaving this world.
However, this also made Im realize that to depart from here, Benedict had to be eliminated.
"I never expected you to possess such abilities."
"But it's for the best, this time we'll settle this once and for all."
Im gazed at Benedict and said solemnly.
Having merged with the Tree Spirit, his strength had reached an unprecedented peak.
Hunting Devil Fruit users was merely to acquire more abilities, to undergo a metamorphosis of his power.
It was just that Benedict's appearance had caused his plans to change.
Yet, even so, Im remained brimming with confidence in himself.
Benedict chuckled upon hearing this and replied, "Indeed, let's settle this once and for all."
"But before that, I'm rather curious about your abilities."
"Did you steal the Tree Spirit's powers, or has the Tree Spirit taken control of your body?"
Benedict was aware of Im's capabilities.
However, Im's current abilities were those of the Tree Spirit.
Im smiled at Benedict's words and said, "You don't need to know."
"Once you know, you'll die."
Before his words even fell, Im appeared behind Benedict, extending his hand and throwing a punch, aiming to destroy Benedict's heart.
*Bang!*
The punch landed, but Benedict remained unharmed.
Im's expression changed drastically, and he instantly retreated, appearing hundreds of meters away.
"Are you quite surprised?"
Benedict turned back, smiling at Im, and said.
Im remained silent.
"Since you're not up to it, allow me."
Benedict unleashed his power and vanished in an instant.
*Bang!*
A punch was thrown.
Before Im could even react, his cheek was directly struck by Benedict, sending him flying backward.
*Slam!*
Due to the limited range of the Galaxy Barrier, Im slammed against the spatial wall a thousand meters away.
Im was horrified, ignoring the pain, and his gaze fixed on the charging Benedict, he too became enraged.
In a burst of power, Im and Benedict began exchanging blows, each fist meeting the other.
The more Im fought, the more alarmed he became.
For even with his full strength, he couldn't suppress Benedict.
"How is this possible?"
"Why do you possess such immense power?"
"It's absolutely impossible!"
Im's mental state was on the verge of collapse.
To defeat Benedict, he had merged with the Tree Spirit and attained peak power.
Yet, Benedict, who had barely held his ground against their combined forces previously, had, in just over half a month, become so terrifying that he could no longer suppress him.
He even had the feeling that defeating Benedict now seemed like a mere fantasy.
"Impossible?"
"It becomes possible when you are dead."
Benedict opened the Seventh Gate of the Eight Inner Gates.
"Morning Peacock!"
Each punch was so powerful that it could instantly kill a super expert.
With hundreds upon thousands of fists unleashed in Benedict's furious barrage, Im could only passively defend.
However, Im, utilizing the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, the Diamond-Diamond Fruit, and several other abilities, along with his own physical body, managed to block most of Benedict's attacks.
"Initially, it was indeed surprising."
"But you've only managed to break through my defenses."
With numerous abilities and having blocked all of Benedict's attacks, this had given Im a resurgence of confidence, dispelling his initial shock.
As long as Benedict couldn't inflict fatal damage upon him, he was confident he could wear Benedict down and kill him within this space.
"You're getting confident already?"
"Isn't that a bit too early?"
Benedict hadn't expected Im to become so self-assured just by blocking his attacks.
He wondered what Im would think if he were to unleash the power of his God-tier set.
Upon hearing Benedict's words, Im, who had been feeling somewhat smug, instantly turned pale.
What did that mean?
Who was he looking down on?
Im let out a cold laugh.
He then launched another offensive against Benedict.
However, as soon as he moved, two clones appeared behind him, attacking from either side.
As Benedict and Im began their engagement, the two figures also attacked simultaneously.
One clone possessed the powers of the Water-Water Fruit and the Diamond-Diamond Fruit.
The other clone wielded the powers of the Soul-Soul Fruit and the Fish-Fish Fruit.
Although both clones possessed two abilities, their switching between them was exceptionally seamless.
Seeing this, Benedict chuckled.
He had unleashed his God-tier set, gaining immense power, and with a single punch each, he severely wounded Im's two clones.
This sight left Im dumbfounded.
What made Im's expression change even more drastically was that after blocking one of Benedict's punches, the immense power caused his already surprisingly resilient left hand to fracture.
Im waved his hand, and forty-eight clones appeared, each possessing different supernatural abilities.
Including the previous two, the total reached fifty clones.
"I don't know how you managed it, but here I have my fifty clones, with one hundred Devil Fruit abilities."
"Each ability is at its absolute peak, I refuse to believe I can't kill you."
Realizing he had underestimated Benedict once again, Im decided to stop holding back and unleashed the power of the Clone-Clone Fruit.
Each of these clones was not a simple manifestation of the Clone-Clone Fruit; they also possessed abilities from the Forest-Forest Fruit, the Water-Water Fruit, the Soul-Soul Fruit, and several others. The bodies created by the combined efforts of these fruits were what allowed the clones to possess SSS-class strength.
Creating shadow clones and instantly healing his injured arm, Im regained his confidence.
"Clones?"
"I have those too."
"And more than you."
Benedict unleashed the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and immediately five hundred Benedict clones appeared.
The power of the clones was determined by Benedict's personal strength, his chakra reserves, and finally, the summoning techniques dictating the number of summons.
These five hundred figures, with no chakra limitations for Benedict, were essentially five hundred SSS-class powerhouses, each capable of opening the Eight Inner Gates.
"Attack together, and destroy them."
Benedict waved his hand and said calmly.
Im's face, which had been smug moments before, instantly turned ashen as he watched the five hundred Benedict shadow clones charging at him.