"Hm?"
Suddenly, Senga stopped the Preta Path's absorption as he activated his ability, because he realized that its effect had not matched his expectations.
Yes, Senga had expected the Rinnegan's Preta Path, which could absorb Chakra in Naruto, to absorb energy here as well. And Chakra, put simply, was energy—in the Pirate World, that meant Haki and the energy within the body.
But Senga was not satisfied with that. He believed Devil Fruit abilities also required stamina to sustain them, so why had he not sensed that special power when absorbing Brand just now?
Could it be that the source of Devil Fruit abilities was not actually within the body?
But aside from the body, where else could it be?
"I've got it!" A flash of inspiration struck Senga.
"Could it be the soul? That's right, aside from the flesh, doesn't a person only have a soul left?"
With that thought, he acted. To target a soul, he naturally needed the Rinnegan's Human Path ability. Senga lifted Brand, who had already lost the ability to resist, and slapped his other hand onto Brand's head, then pulled upward as though gripping something.
With only his eyes still able to move, Brand watched in terror as a humanoid purple Spirit Body was dragged out of his head by Senga. His body trembled instinctively.
Sure enough, through the Rinnegan, Senga saw a writhing mass of black energy around the heart of Brand's soul.
He immediately activated the Preta Path. The black mass struggled as if trying to flee, but it was clearly helpless before the Preta Path's immense suction and was sucked directly into Senga's body.
As the ability entered his body, Senga immediately sensed a strange new energy within him. After entering his body, it rapidly surged toward his eyes, eventually forming a black magatama within the pattern of his right eye.
Senga sensed the abnormality in his eye and used Water Style to create a small curtain of water in the air. Through it, he saw the extra magatama in his right eye.
"Isn't this Sasuke's Magatama Rinnegan? Though it only has one magatama." Senga was overjoyed. He had never expected his Rinnegan to evolve again by absorbing Devil Fruit power—and so easily at that!
"Using Sasuke's eye as a reference, one Rinnegan can hold six magatama. Since I have two Rinnegan, that means I can hold twelve magatama—or absorb twelve Devil Fruits!" Senga was truly delighted this time. Finding a method to evolve his Rinnegan meant he had taken another step closer to the level of the Sage of Six Paths.
With a casual swipe through the space before him, a door appeared in front of Senga.
Senga looked at the spatial door before him with satisfaction and thought, I never expected things to go this smoothly. If that's the case, I can do what Blackbeard does—and do it even better!
This battle had brought him considerable gains, so Senga stopped dwelling on it and looked at Brand in his hand.
With his soul extracted, Brand's eyes had rolled back, and he had lost his life. He could not have been any deader.
Senga casually flung Brand's corpse away as though tossing out trash. Brand met the same fate as the small fry before him.
Smack! Another fresh, human-shaped meat pancake appeared on the ground. As for why he had not become a pile of minced meat—come on, he was a pirate captain who had returned from the Grand Line. Was it strange for his body to be a little tougher?
Less than five minutes had passed from the moment Brand attacked to the moment he became a human-shaped meat pancake. The pirates on the ground had not even recovered their senses before their captain had become what stood before them.
Slowly, someone among the pirates began to cry out in a trembling voice.
"Run... run!"
"Devil! He's a devil!"
"Why can he use the captain's ability too?!"
"Why do you care about that? If you want to avenge him, go ahead. I'm getting out of here first!"
The pirates completely collapsed and scattered in every direction like a flock of headless flies.
"Tsk, tsk. How ugly." Looking at the rabble below, Senga felt they were truly ruining his mood. He wondered what ability he should use to clean them up.
"Well, I'll use this one."
Senga's eyes lit up as he thought of a technique.
He pressed his palms together, raised his index fingers, and took a light breath before slowly exhaling.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A stream of flames burst from Senga's lips, instantly transforming into a sea of fire that engulfed the entire pirate group and rushed toward the fleeing pirates, swallowing them all in an instant.
"Fire! It's fire!"
"Save me! It's so hot, so hot!"
"Am I dreaming? Can someone wake me up already?!"
"Please, sir, spare my life! From now on, I'll be your most loyal subordinate—no! Your most loyal dog! Please spare me!!"
"It's over, it's over. I never thought the Brand Pirate Group would escape the Grand Line only to be destroyed in the weakest East Blue! Hahahahaha!"
Desperate pleas, agonized screams, and insane laughter drifted intermittently from the sea of flames.
Senga frowned, feeling that he had gone too easy on them just now. He increased the power, and then the air fell silent.
When the flames dispersed, only piles of human-shaped charcoal remained on the ground.
"I should take these with me. They're all merits." Senga felt it was time to deal with the scene.
He lightly clenched one hand, gathering the charred corpses on the ground together and continuously compressing them into a black sphere. Considerately, Senga separated Brand's corpse, which was still somewhat recognizable, from the rest.
After admiring his handiwork with satisfaction, Senga opened his Door-Door Space and tossed these "spoils" inside.
He casually tore down the Brand Pirate Group's pirate flag, then set the pirate ship ablaze with another burst of fire.
"Now everything is ready. I wonder whether these will be enough to draw the headquarters' attention." Senga thought.
"Whatever. I'll go first and see." Having made up his mind, Senga left the small island where he had rested for less than a day.
Before you continue