Handcrafting Sode no Shirayuki

"I understand."

"This Marine called Rosen."

"Beyond Coating, Hardening, Emission, and Internal Destruction, he created a fifth Armament Haki technique."

Remembering how Rosen had used Still Blood Armor in Extreme Cold Hell, Shiryu felt as though a stone had shattered the heavens within his heart.

The mystery had been solved.

No wonder the former Navy Admiral Zefa and Admiral Candidate Borsalino had accompanied him.

It was because Rosen, a man who had not even graduated from the Military Academy and could not yet be called a recruit, had shattered the established belief that Armament Haki possessed only four techniques and created a fifth.

Only a monster with such heaven-defying comprehension could warrant the company of Black Arm and Kizaru.

"So this is the Still Blood Armor you created, junior?"

"It resembles Flowing Emission somewhat, but it is far more powerful."

"A three-hundred-and-sixty-degree defense without blind spots that can also be continuously maintained—this is not something Flowing Emission alone can achieve."

Unable to resist, Borsalino stepped into the semicircular barrier and examined it closely.

"This is another application of Still Blood Armor."

"Just as you said, senior."

"I combined Still Blood Armor with the Flowing Emission technique of Armament Haki. In the end, it became the Outer Shell Still Blood Armor you see now."

Seeing that Borsalino had discerned most of the Outer Shell Still Blood Armor's capabilities after only one glance, Rosen secretly praised him.

As expected of Kizaru. What made him formidable was not only the Glint-Glint Fruit, but also his eye for detail and breadth of knowledge.

"I see."

"No wonder I could see traces of Flowing Emission within your Still Blood Armor."

Borsalino looked at Rosen as though he were a monster.

He had created Still Blood Armor on the first day.

By the second day, he had already combined it with existing Armament Haki techniques to evolve an even stronger ability.

No wonder Mr. Sengoku had said Rosen was a monster with the potential to surpass a Fleet Admiral.

Zefa, on the other hand, was not particularly surprised.

During Rosen's clash with Tokikake and Gion, he had already seen Rosen combine Still Blood Armor with Coating Hardening, evolving it into an extreme defense.

Since Still Blood Armor could be used alongside Coating Hardening, it could naturally also be used alongside Flowing Emission.

"So that was it."

Shiryu took in the conversation between Rosen and Borsalino and completely confirmed his suspicions.

The man called Rosen before him was simply a monster wearing the shell of a freshman.

Thinking of this, he grew even more curious about the purpose of this group.

"He... is that incredible?"

Domino had also heard their conversation, and the way she looked at Rosen immediately changed.

Alongside gratitude, there was now another unusual emotion.

It was not love.

It was admiration.

As Chief Guard of Impel Down, Domino witnessed the ugliness and evil of pirates every day. This had given her an almost innate reverence for power and the strong.

In Domino's eyes, only the strong could capture and imprison the pirates of Impel Down.

"Let's go."

Zefa had seen Rosen help Domino, and he nodded to himself in approval.

Whether as a teacher or a former Navy Admiral, he did not want his student to be like Shiryu, someone with no compassion whatsoever for his comrades.

Someone unwilling to lend even the simplest helping hand.

In his view, if Rosen could turn a blind eye to Domino today, then tomorrow he could turn a blind eye to Marines calling for aid and civilians in danger.

"This prison truly lives up to its name."

"Extreme Cold Hell."

"It is practically a completely different world from the Fourth Layer."

As Rosen walked through Extreme Cold Hell, all he could see was wind, snow, and solid ice.

There were no Den Den Mushi here.

Nor were prison personnel seen very often.

Only a pack of red-eyed beasts called "War Wolves" roamed the forests along the outskirts, while pirates who had once carried bounties exceeding one hundred million performed hard labor amid the ice and snow.

With the next layer being the Sixth Layer of Impel Down—

Infinite Hell—

—and with him about to fight a group of monsters whose bounties began at three to five hundred million, Rosen slowed his pace out of caution and considered what kind of Zanpakuto he should handcraft next.

"I already have Thousand Cherry Blossoms for direct attacks."

"I have Enzetsu for fire."

"Then this time, I'll make an ice-type Zanpakuto!"

Very quickly.

Rosen made up his mind and began thinking about an ice-type Zanpakuto.

A few seconds later, the scene before his eyes suddenly blurred, then changed drastically.

The icy world vanished.

In its place was a dim sky and a ruined land filled with countless broken buildings.

Among them—

At the top floor of a dilapidated building—

A female Death God clad in a white coat and holding a Zanpakuto stared coldly, like solid ice, at a strange-looking woman in the distance wearing a black spiked mask over her face.

"Sode no Shirayuki is not a blade that emits cold from its tip."

"Sode no Shirayuki is—"

"A Zanpakuto that lowers its wielder's body temperature below freezing."

Kuchiki Rukia murmured softly. From hilt to blade, the Zanpakuto in her hand was rapidly covered in a layer of white light, becoming snow-white like ice and snow.

Starting from the blade tip, then spreading across the blade and finally the hilt, it released visibly frigid air.

Amid the swirling freezing air, the Zanpakuto's blade began to frost over, becoming an ice blade that radiated Extreme Cold Freezing Air.

"Anything I touch will freeze."

"The blade is merely an arm used to expand the range of freezing."

"So, guess how low I can lower my body temperature."

As soon as Rukia finished speaking, the Zanpakuto in her hand had completely transformed into an ice blade amid the freezing air. Even the goggles on her face could not withstand the terrifying low temperature, freezing over and shattering on their own.

The instant the frozen goggles fell to the ground and broke into icy fragments, she rushed forward. Carrying terrifying cold that could freeze everything, she flashed before the masked woman and lightly swept her Zanpakuto across her.

The blade did not cut down. It merely grazed her body.

"Absolute Zero."

Kuchiki Rukia turned her head and glanced at the woman behind her, whom Sode no Shirayuki had touched.

Wisps of white mist rose.

The masked woman's entire body froze into ice.

At the same time.

The scene before Rosen's eyes suddenly shattered.

The dim sky.

The ruined buildings.

Kuchiki Rukia, as well as the Zanpakuto in her hand that combined beauty and danger.

Sode no Shirayuki.

All of it vanished.

In its place was the familiar world of ice and snow, along with the occasional roar of beasts echoing in his ears.

The Fourth Layer of Impel Down.

Extreme Cold Hell.

Just as Rosen's consciousness broke free from the image of visualizing Kuchiki Rukia using her Zanpakuto and returned to Impel Down, a message surfaced in his mind.

Your comprehension is heaven-defying. Through visualizing your own insights and combining them with the Paramecia Weapon Fruit, you have comprehended the Exclusive Skill: Sode no Shirayuki.