Return to the Soul Society

A dilapidated warship sailed across the sea.

Blackbeard stood on the deck, a wild grin on his face as boundless fighting spirit rose within him.

In this world-shaking Summit War, if one were to name the ultimate winner, it had to be Marshall D. Teach.

Not only had he found powerful companions as he wished, he had also obtained Old Man's mightiest power of destruction. Through the live broadcast of that Public Execution, he had even spread his name across every corner of the sea, making it known to all.

He would make those weak, boring commoners tremble in terror whenever they heard his name.

Everything was moving in the right direction.

From this day onward, this sea would be his era!

Just as Blackbeard was planning the next stage of development for his crew, his heart suddenly lurched.

In his perception, an inexplicable Aura had fallen upon him. It seemed to have slashed him once, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.

"What's going on? What was that?"

Blackbeard was startled, his expression changing drastically as he looked around.

His reaction immediately put the crew around him on guard.

Lafitte, the navigator beside him, promptly asked with concern, "Captain, what happened?"

Blackbeard's expression turned extremely grim.

His constitution was unusual, and combined with the Dark-Dark Fruit ability, he had a crystal-clear grasp of the Fruits within his body.

But just now, after being struck by that slash, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability... had actually vanished!

Seeing Blackbeard's current state, Avalo Pizarro, the Villain King, wore an ambitious grin. "Did you get seriously hurt in that fight with Sengoku just now, nya? Then why not let me be captain instead, nya?"

Upon hearing that, killing intent appeared on Lafitte's deathly pale face. He gave a sinister laugh. "Hehehe, our captain is Captain Teach alone. Say that again, and watch out—I might just kill you."

As his companions began arguing, Blackbeard stepped in to mediate. "You two, enough. Everyone here is my companion."

That ambitious, arrogant smile once again spread across Blackbeard's face.

But his heart was filled with killing intent.

There was no doubt about it. His feeling just now could not have been wrong. Someone had slashed him and stolen his Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

Damn it, my new crew has only just come together. I absolutely cannot let this get out...

You bastard, who was it? What ability was that? Just let me find you!

Meanwhile, Kenma, the target of Blackbeard's grudge, was searching for Lost Souls who had eaten Devil Fruits while alive.

Since his new idea was feasible, he might as well use this chance to expand the gains.

Whether Pirates or Marines, so long as they had possessed a Devil Fruit ability in life, Kenma immediately signed a contract with them and helped them recover their abilities.

Yet after searching for a while, among so many Lost Souls, there were only a handful of ability users. Their abilities were not particularly powerful either, with mostly Zoan and Paramecia types.

No matter how small a mosquito's leg was, it was still meat. Kenma was not about to be picky.

Seeing this, Fugaku and Shisui behind Kenma exchanged glances, silently using genjutsu to convey their thoughts to one another.

[Shisui, I have a suspicion. Do you think the reason our Uchiha Clan can still possess the Sharingan has something to do with my lord's ability?]

[Indeed, Clan Head. I have had the same thought.]

[Though I cannot be certain, we cannot dismiss it lightly... It is probably not merely because our Uchiha Clan wields Yin Release...]

[Perhaps only my lord himself knows... No, forgive my presumption, but perhaps even my lord cannot fully understand it for the time being.]

[Mind your words, Shisui.]

After helping those Lost Souls recover their abilities one after another, obvious fatigue appeared on Kenma's face.

Shisui hurried forward to support him, concern written across his face. "My lord, are you all right?"

Kenma gently pushed Shisui away, rubbing his temples as he forcibly suppressed his mental exhaustion.

"It's nothing. A short rest will do."

At those words, Fugaku and Shisui tensed up, guarding him on either side while their gazes intentionally or otherwise settled on the Lost Souls.

Their lord was weakened. There was nothing wrong with being cautious.

"Woohoo~"

A fiery figure landed on Whitebeard and transformed into Ace.

An excited smile appeared on his face.

"Old Man, Big Boss, my abilities are no different from when I was alive. I can burn and create fire, and I can even use Elementalization."

The Big Boss Ace referred to was naturally Kenma.

He was one of Whitebeard's crew, so Whitebeard was his leader.

And now Whitebeard followed Kenma, so Kenma was his boss's boss.

After obtaining Kenma's approval, Ace had begun addressing him that way.

At Kenma's suggestion, Ace tested his ability to see how it differed from when he was alive.

After fooling around for only a short while, Ace felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, draining more than half of his abundant energy.

"How could merely using my ability like this make me so tired? I didn't even exert myself."

When he had been alive, he could have kept burning for seven days and seven nights without a problem. Yet now, the slightest movement left him exhausted.

Could it be because he was dead?

After Ace voiced the question in his heart, Kenma recovered his own mental strength and said with certainty, "Naturally. After all, you're already dead."

Wasn't the Uchiha Clan the same?

After death, using the Sharingan no longer consumed Chakra, but Spiritual Pressure.

Ace and Whitebeard were likely the same.

As for why such a change had occurred, Kenma was still researching it.

However, he suspected there was a strong possibility it was connected to Kiritsugu's linking ability.

After signing the contract, the abilities these people had originally possessed underwent some sort of change, becoming more suited to the Reishi environment of the Soul Society.

Of course, that was only his speculation.

Seeing some of the fatigue fade from Ace's face and feeling his own mental strength recover considerably, Kenma decided not to linger any longer.

"It's about time. We should return to the Soul Society."

Naturally, Whitebeard and the others had no objections to Kenma's words.

But Shisui and the others nearby all revealed troubled expressions.

"My lord, the Lost Souls here are enormous. I'm afraid they will have difficulty entering the Senkaimon, especially..."

Shisui looked to one side. Following his gaze, Kenma saw the mountain-like Giant, Little Oars.

The Senkaimon was only a little over two and a half meters tall. Though Whitebeard was huge, he could still squeeze through if he endured a little discomfort.

But Little Oars was at least nearly forty meters tall. How was he supposed to get through?

Kenma had long considered this issue, so he was naturally prepared.

"Although Little Oars is enormous, his soul mass is very small. We can completely seal him with Kido."

He took out a thumb-sized glass sphere from the pouch in his robes and handed it to Shisui.

"This sphere contains a special type of Sealing Kido. I had Kyouka make it. It can be used to contain Giants like Little Oars."

"Shisui, just pour Spiritual Pressure into it, then throw it at him to complete the seal."

Shisui took the little sphere and vanished from the area with a whoosh.

Kenma had the Lost Souls around them clear an open space. Then he drew the Zanpakuto at his waist once more and swung it at the air.

"Sever it, Kiritsugu!"