Chapter 126: Dojutsu: Kamui

"The Ghost Hunter knows there is no escaping this. Has he finally given up and surrendered?"

All eyes were fixed on Shu Mingyuan, who stood with his arms spread wide. His posture was bizarre, leaving his entire body exposed and vulnerable, as if he had completely abandoned all resistance. After all, no matter how one looked at it, there was no way to dodge that sword strike of the Ghost God.

The crimson beam of light pierced through space in an instant. A phantom of the Ghost God swept past, effortlessly slicing Shu Mingyuan in two. The crowd erupted in joy—with such a lethal blow, he was surely finished!

However, the scene that followed defied everyone's expectations. After the strike, not a single drop of blood flowed from where Shu Mingyuan had been severed. A faint smile remained on his face; there was not even a flicker of terror.

Shu Mingyuan stood tall above the sea, his increasingly eerie eyes fixed on Shiryu of the Rain, stirring a sense of foreboding in the latter's heart.

"Playing tricks!"

Shiryu sneered and unleashed his fourth strike. Shu Mingyuan remained motionless, letting the blade slice him at the waist once more.

"Sorry to play a joke on everyone, but I never said I would die here."

The familiar, light chuckle echoed, showing such arrogance and disdain that he didn't even put Shiryu in his eyes. His body, now severed into four pieces, knitted itself back together as if nothing had happened. There wasn't even a scratch, let alone a scar.

"Ah... what am I seeing? The Ghost Hunter was slashed horizontally and vertically into four pieces, yet he’s still alive? Is he a Logia-type Devil Fruit user?" Everyone who witnessed this was filled with confusion.

This was Kamui. It granted him the ability to shift freely between reality and intangibility. While it resembled the elementalization of a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, it was fundamentally different.

A Logia user transforms their body into a specific element while remaining within the physical space, rendering them immune to ordinary physical attacks, though Haki users can bypass this. However, the intangibility brought by Kamui, while appearing like an elemental state, actually transfers that part of the body into a separate space-time, completely avoiding damage—whether physical or Haki-based. Without understanding the nature of Kamui, it was impossible to harm him.

True to its name, Kamui was indeed like the power of a god. In this regard, it was undoubtedly superior to the elementalization of a Logia-type Devil Fruit.

"What a bug-like ninjutsu," Shu Mingyuan couldn't help but sigh to himself. The sheer absurdity of the ability was a massive advantage for him.

"How is this possible!"

Seeing the Ghost Hunter instantly restore himself to perfection, Shiryu’s eyes were filled with disbelief. If anyone knew the truth, it was him—Shu Mingyuan’s body was definitely not made of elemental matter!

The moment the sword energy had approached, he had clearly perceived a distortion in space. It was less like he had been cut in two, and more like he had autonomously split his body just before the blade arrived, letting the energy pass through. Furthermore, if it were true elementalization, his slashes would not be ineffective. At the level of a Great Swordsman, even a Logia user could not ignore his strikes; otherwise, they would be truly cut down.

"Nothing is impossible. Your slashes are useless against me now," Shu Mingyuan said calmly.

Shiryu narrowed his eyes. He had never heard of such a strange phenomenon. One moment, he had caused damage; the next, all attacks had become futile. Such a bizarre occurrence could only mean that something had truly happened within Shu Mingyuan’s body in that split second. But what?

He stared at Shu Mingyuan’s eerie eyes. This man’s eyes seemed to have changed once again.

"Could it be... that this ability comes from those eyes? How devilish!"

If Shu Mingyuan had known that Shiryu had nearly guessed the truth within a few seconds, he would have been truly shocked.

"Kid, let me see if it’s really useless."

Shiryu raised his sword high above his head. The ten-meter-high aura of blood suddenly transformed into an endless sea of carnage, surging behind him with crashing waves that rose dozens of meters into the air.

"Fifth Sword: One-Sword Style — Blood Burial!"

As Shiryu swung his blade, the endless sea of blood descended like a deluge from the heavens, roaring toward Shu Mingyuan, intending to bury him in a tomb of gore. A torrent of crimson flooded the area, accompanied by a pungent stench of blood. One could only imagine how much slaughter Shiryu—or rather, the cursed blade Kitetsu—had committed to master such a terrifying technique. The boundless sea of blood dyed the ocean red, each wave saturated with lethal, biting sword energy.

Facing this nearly inescapable strike, Shu Mingyuan’s expression grew grave. He was still far from the realm of a Great Swordsman. While Kamui was overpowered, it was merely an auxiliary ability and provided no boost to his offensive power.

*Hum!!*

Kamui was activated once again. The space around him suddenly twisted like a vortex. With his left eye as the core, his body began to distort, drawn into the vortex centered on his eye.

Though it felt slow, it happened in a flash. A second before the sea of blood arrived, he vanished entirely; there was no sign of him left in the sea.

"Dis... disappeared? What just happened? Did the Ghost Hunter vanish into thin air, or was he completely annihilated by the Blood Burial of Impel Down’s Chief Warden, Shiryu?"

No one knew.

Shiryu’s face was unreadable. According to his senses, the Ghost Hunter’s presence was gone. Could it be that the Ghost Hunter, Monkey D. Shu Mingyuan, had truly disappeared right under his nose?

No! He refused to believe it. He could not accept something that defied all reason.

Inside the dimension.

Shu Mingyuan looked around the strange, enclosed space. It was not particularly large—about the size of a house—and aside from the dimness of the space itself, the rest was shrouded in darkness.

"So, this is the space-time of Kamui?"

Shu Mingyuan touched his chin as he looked around. It was a good place to dodge attacks. This dimension was entirely separate from the world of the seas, and as long as he could enter successfully, he would be safe.

The only drawback was that the process of absorbing himself was relatively slow, and his body had to remain rigid, leaving him vulnerable to being struck by an enemy. But as long as he controlled the timing, it would be no problem at all.