Black Blade Shinsō

"Fast speed, long range."

Borsalino watched as Shinsō cleaved the Wind God Pterosaur from the sky with lightning speed, then reverted to its original form in an instant, becoming a harmless short blade once more in Rosen's hand. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before he immediately recalled something.

That was, yesterday, he and Zefa had each given Rosen a proposal.

Zefa had told Rosen to train in the swordsmanship of a Great Swordsman.

Meanwhile, he had told Rosen to develop his Devil Fruit.

The ultimate purpose of both proposals was to let Rosen master abilities that were fast and possessed long striking range.

Looking again at Shinsō just now.

When moving, it was like a meteor streaking across the sky, rushing across a thousand meters. When still, it was like a venomous snake feigning sleep, utterly motionless.

It perfectly met both requirements: speed and range.

"Is this the ability you developed yesterday afternoon?"

The moment Zefa saw Rosen use Shinsō, he arrived at the same conclusion as Borsalino.

"Not bad."

Facing his teacher and senior's questions, Rosen nodded.

"So that's how it was."

"Wait. Back in the Fourth Layer, Burning Hell, and the Fifth Layer, Extreme Cold Hell, he paused for a while each time. He also said he had developed a Devil Fruit ability move."

"In that case, abilities like Thousand Cherry Blossoms and Shinsō... Junior Brother has at least two more, if not even more than that."

Borsalino was startled as he recalled that, when they had passed through Burning Hell yesterday, Rosen had told him he had developed a Devil Fruit ability move.

"Thousand Cherry Blossoms, which turns one sword into countless blades."

"Shinsō, which crosses a thousand meters in an instant."

"And two unknown weapons. Any one of them is practically equivalent to a Paramecia Ability."

"Junior Brother, just what height have you brought the Weapon Fruit to?"

The more Borsalino thought about it, the more shocked he became.

There were indeed some ability users on this sea who had eaten only one Devil Fruit yet developed multiple abilities.

For example, Kaido.

For example, Big Mom.

One had eaten a Zoan, the other a Paramecia, yet both wielded fire and lightning.

But those Devil Fruits were either top-tier Paramecia Abilities or top-tier Mythical Zoans.

Unlike Rosen, who had solely relied on Heaven-Defying Comprehension to forcefully elevate the Weapon Fruit to an inconceivable height.

More importantly, as an ability user himself, Borsalino knew full well that Devil Fruit abilities, like Haki, could be developed through training and continuously grow stronger.

In other words, Shinsō and Thousand Cherry Blossoms—the two blades in Rosen's hands—would only become increasingly powerful in the future.

"That blade..."

Just as Borsalino and Zefa were moved, Gebol, whom Rosen had slashed from the sky with Shinsō, suddenly twitched on the ground.

Clearly.

As a Zoan ability user—and an Ancient Zoan at that—his physique, vitality, and recovery ability far surpassed those of the World Destroyer Rosen had killed yesterday.

Even after being cut down by Shinsō and disemboweled, he had not died on the spot. Instead, he was still full of life.

"You can try taking another step forward."

"I guarantee it."

"This one-meter distance is the distance between you and death."

Gebol had just wanted to spread his wings and take off again. After all, the exit of Infinite Hell was already within reach, merely six meters away. Yet before he could make any move, Rosen's voice sounded beside his ears.

The voice was clearly not loud, but to his ears, it was no less than a thunderclap on level ground.

It made his scalp tingle and his movements stiffen.

Even with the exit right before his eyes, Gebol still did not dare cross that half-step.

It was as though what lay ahead was not the exit of Infinite Hell, but the entrance to the abyss of hell.

"Stand up and walk back."

Rosen watched Gebol from afar. Rather than pursue him, he spoke in a tone of Orders.

"Kid."

"What's your name?"

Gebol rose from the ground. Instead of taking another step forward, he turned around, his expression savage and venomous.

As Zefa's student, Rosen had already drawn his hatred by association. Now, just when he was about to escape, Rosen had blocked him and cut him down. His hatred for Rosen had only deepened.

"Dead men don't need to know that much."

Rosen stared coldly at Gebol.

"Looks like I have no choice but to twist your head off."

Gebol glanced at the short blade in Rosen's hand, his expression darkening further.

It was not that he did not want to leave; he knew he could not.

Having faced Shinsō once, he had already learned firsthand just how dangerous that short blade was.

If he turned his back on Shinsō again, it would be no different from suicide.

"Don't talk big. It only makes you look weak."

Hearing this, Rosen's lips curled slightly, his face bearing a disdainful smile.

"Is that so?"

Gebol grinned fiercely, reaching up to wipe the wound Shinsō had cut into his body. Once his palm had wiped away the blood, the crimson slash was no longer bleeding.

The powerful vitality and recovery ability of an Ancient Zoan were displayed in full.

With a casual flick, he flung the blood from his hand. Then he stomped down hard, spread his dragon wings, and vanished from where he stood amid hurried footsteps and a sharp whistle through the air.

The moment Gebol left, Shinsō, like a silver dragon, tore through the air. It pierced the faint, blurry afterimage he had left behind and blasted a hole into the ground beneath it.

Shinsō's attack.

He had dodged it.

At the same time.

Gebol shot through the air to Rosen's back. His black dragon wings spread wide, and a shadow carrying the aura of death completely shrouded Rosen.

"Your blade will not get a second chance to touch me."

He bent slightly and whispered into Rosen's ears, like the murmur of a death god.

What followed was a black dragon wing hardened with Armament Haki. It sliced through the air like a blade, carrying an edge capable of cutting steel, and slashed down at Rosen's neck.

"Dragon Blade!"

Faced with Gebol's swift, wind-like assault, Rosen seemed completely unable to react. He could only stand there blankly as the Haki-coated dragon wing rapidly closed in on his vulnerable neck.

"It's over!"

"You no-name Marine brat."

Gebol's eyes gleamed with ferocity. As he looked at Rosen's back, his gaze was as though he were looking at a corpse.

At the critical moment.

The clothes beneath Rosen's ribs suddenly tore open, and a chilling black light shot out from the opening like a black laser. Before Gebol's dragon wing could fall, it stabbed into his chest with lightning speed.

A loud boom rang out, and surging shockwaves exploded in every direction.

Gebol's wing-slashing motion was forcibly interrupted. Then, under the thrust of the black beam, he was sent flying like a cannonball before finally smashing into the ceiling of the Sixth Layer prison.

Only then did everyone clearly see what the black beam that had sent Gebol flying was.

Shinsō.

Shinsō coated and hardened with Armament Haki, turned into a Black Blade.

"My blade will not get a second chance to touch you."

"Is that really so?"

Rosen gripped his blade in reverse, pointing Shinsō's edge straight behind him.

"You."

Gebol's expression turned ugly. Just as he was about to say something, he felt Shinsō, which had pierced his chest and pinned him to the prison ceiling, suddenly erupt with terrifying sharpness and power.

Amid flying sparks and bursts of ear-piercing metal-rending screeches, Shinsō's tip forcibly tore through the skin on his chest, which had likewise been hardened with Armament Haki, bit by bit.

"No!"

Gebol's whole body tensed as terror appeared on his face. His arm stretched out, as though he wanted to seize Rosen from afar and stop him from continuing the attack.

But Rosen answered him only with a cold shout.

"Shoot him dead, Shinsō."