Chapter 128: The Second Pupillary Art

P.S. [Thanks to Reader Seeing Through the Mortal World for the generous alliance-leader donation! He is the first alliance leader this book has had, so I’m going to send him straight to heaven! The next few chapters will be bonus updates.]

Horror flashed through Shu Mingyuan’s eyes. From such a great distance, the chill of Aokiji’s Ice-Ice Fruit could actually affect space itself. If the two of them were any closer, would that mean he could not even use Kamui?

He drew a deep breath. In the end, he had still underestimated the top-tier powerhouses of the world of pirates. He had originally thought that the power system of the world of ninjas would surpass that of the pirates, but now it seemed that reality might not be quite what he had imagined.

The powerhouses here had developed their Devil Fruit abilities to an astonishing extreme. In another sense, that meant his ninjutsu was far from invincible.

The distortion of space continued. Although its speed had slowed considerably under the influence of the cold, as long as the ocular technique known as Kamui could be completed, he could retreat into the space-time dimension, and Aokiji would likewise have no way to deal with him.

Shiryu of the Rain had recognized the newcomer long ago. Tightening his grip on the demonic sword Kiten, he watched the strange vortex appear once more. Remembering Shu Mingyuan’s two mysterious disappearances, he instinctively swung his sword.

Reason told him that he could not allow Shu Mingyuan to disappear again.

“I just don’t know… whether this will work.”

His gaze burned fiercely. After all, the several swords he had unleashed with all his strength had previously been evaded by that bizarre ability. This time…

Wait…

Shiryu’s expression changed, and a trace of delight appeared in his eyes. He saw the Ghost Hunter, Shu Mingyuan, forcibly emerge from that state. The distorted space returned to normal.

Had he abandoned the technique merely to evade this single slash?

“Could it be… that while he is using that ability, his body cannot shift between solidity and intangibility?”

Shu Mingyuan’s expression darkened. He had been on the verge of success, only to be interrupted outright. Yet if he had refused to give up and continued evading, he would certainly have had to endure a sword strike from Shiryu, a great swordsman. In that case, even without Aokiji, he might have died prematurely.

He looked toward Shiryu, who was watching him intently. Shu Mingyuan knew that escaping into the space-time dimension with Kamui would probably be impossible now.

Under Shiryu’s relentless entanglement, thick layers of ice surged forward. This sea of crimson was frozen solid in an instant, its temperature far lower than the frigid hell on Impel Down’s fifth underground level, where it fell to seventy or eighty degrees below zero.

Heavy snow began to fall from the sky. Before long, the blood-red sheet of ice was covered in white. Its surface was smooth, and even the seawater hundreds of meters below had frozen into solid ice.

Shu Mingyuan stood suspended in midair for a brief moment with Moonwalk. Had he not moved a step faster just now, he might have been frozen along with the seawater.

The frozen sea stretched across a full ten thousand meters, and Shu Mingyuan knew that this was still far from Aokiji’s limit. In his battle with Akainu, Aokiji had transformed half an island entirely into eternal ice.

Because of Aokiji’s arrival, the temperature here had plummeted. This was the power of the absolute strongest in the pirate world: they could influence, or even alter, the climate with ease. At least as far as Shu Mingyuan himself was concerned, he was still nowhere near capable of such a feat.

With this enormous temporary sheet of ice beneath their feet, Magellan leapt down from Impel Down and began walking toward Shu Mingyuan one step at a time.

He was massive, dressed in the black uniform reserved for the warden of Impel Down. A pair of small demon wings, far larger than those of ordinary men, beat behind him. Two horns rose from his head, and his expression was grim. With every step, his imposing aura climbed steadily until it reached its peak, losing nothing to Shiryu’s.

Blue-violet venom began to surge from his body. The air around him corroded with a sizzling sound. Droplets of poison fell onto the ice with every step, and wherever they landed, the solid ice melted away in an instant.

“Shiryu, take a short rest. Leave this brat… to me.”

Magellan turned to Shiryu, then shifted his gaze back to Shu Mingyuan. His voice grew colder.

“Brat, you have broken into my Impel Down twice and slaughtered Marines. Today, I will kill you to atone for your crimes.”

“Tch. So you intend to kill me, but you won’t even allow me to fight back?”

Shu Mingyuan gave a derisive laugh, his face filled with contempt for Magellan’s words.

“Life and death are governed by fate, and wealth and honor by heaven. If you want my life, then come and take it. There’s no need to dress it up in such lofty rhetoric.”

With three fighters of admiral-level strength arrayed against him, Shu Mingyuan had virtually no chance of escape. This sheet of ice had also completely erased his advantage of being able to stand above the sea. Even so, he had never considered surrender.

“You truly have no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is. It was my fault that you escaped by luck last time, but your arrogance is utterly insignificant in my eyes.”

“Venom Cloud!”

Pale-blue gas spread from Magellan’s body. Even Shiryu retreated far away at once. The poisonous gas blanketed everything around them, and within moments, Shu Mingyuan was swallowed up by it.

He immediately felt an astonishing corrosive force coming from every direction. Without hesitation, he hardened his entire body with Armament Haki. Only then did the discomfort fade.

Yet with every breath, the poisonous gas was drawn into his body. After several minutes, his mind began to grow hazy. Even his senses of touch, smell, hearing, and taste were directly affected.

Magellan’s poison could actually strip a person of all five senses!

Without the five senses, a person could no longer perceive anything in the world. It was like being trapped in a hidden darkness where one was utterly alone. No matter what others did to him, he would remain completely unaware—unable even to feel it.

Shu Mingyuan’s expression changed drastically. Losing all sensation was far more terrifying than death. He knew that the toxins in the poisonous gas had begun to take effect, temporarily paralyzing all his nerves. If this continued, they would directly kill every nerve cell in his body, reducing him to a helpless cripple.

Realizing this, he immediately held his breath. Brilliant lightning erupted from him, and under the dual protection of Haki and Chidori Current, the suffocating pressure of the Venom Cloud gradually dispersed.

The tremendous heat produced by extreme lightning could annihilate all poison. Inside his body, chakra surged violently through his meridians. Lightning- and fire-natured energy washed over him again and again. At last, from his limbs, bones, and the deeper layers of his flesh, he forced out a mass of pitch-black gas. Opening his mouth, he spat it from his body.

Magellan brought down a punch.

He had already seen that Shu Mingyuan had been affected by the Venom Cloud and could barely remain standing. His five senses were steadily being stripped away by the poison. Under such circumstances, killing him would be effortless.

Shu Mingyuan stood motionless with his eyes closed. As the force of the punch reached him, he opened his eyes in an instant.

His eerie Mangekyo Sharingan burned like a black sun, and his gaze focused completely on Magellan’s fist.

He shifted soundlessly to the side, dodging the punch. Yet wherever his eyes fell, Magellan’s fist remained within his sight.

A sudden realization came to him.

No attack could be faster than the gaze.

Wherever his eyes rested, everything would be burned to nothing.

And so, a mass of pitch-black flame, as though it had emerged from the deepest hell, blossomed upon Magellan’s fist.