Chapter 297
Ding!
[Major Story Event resolved: Fish-Man Island Coup.]
[Hody Jones and Vander Decken IX eliminated. Noah's impact was averted, and the Ryugu royal family survived the uprising.]
[Achievement reward: 4,000 points.]
[Current total points: 5,130.]
Zaraki blinked.
Four thousand points?
He had expected something for resolving the mess on Fish-Man Island, but not enough to solve the problem that had been irritating him since the limited shop appeared.
A grin tugged at his mouth.
'Good timing.'
He did not hesitate.
The translucent system interface appeared before his eyes, visible to no one else, and he immediately selected the golden icon that had been taunting him since the voyage here.
[5,000 points consumed...]
[Exchange successful.]
[Opening Limited-Time Themed Mystery Box...]
A brief pause followed.
Then—
[Congratulations. Host has obtained: Ninja Art — Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred Technique (Modified Version).]
[Modification: The lifespan loss normally caused by accelerated cellular division has been removed.]
[An initial chakra reserve has been supplied. Regeneration consumes stored chakra, and depleted reserves must be replenished over time.]
[This technique cannot restore lifespan already consumed and cannot negate the lethal price of the Eighth Gate — the Gate of Death.]
[Remaining points: 130.]
A current of warmth immediately spread through Zaraki's body.
It felt completely different from the savage spiritual pressure that came from the Zaraki Kenpachi template or the violent physical force released through the Eight Gates.
The energy was dense but controlled, gathering beneath the skin at the center of his forehead until a small diamond-shaped mark formed there.
Zaraki raised a hand and touched it.
At the same time, the accumulated damage left by the battle around Fish-Man Island began to respond.
Strained muscles eased, damaged tissue slowly knitted itself together, and the lingering backlash from forcing out such a massive slash against Noah began to recede.
The improvement was immediate, but it was not free.
Zaraki could feel the newly supplied reserve inside the seal dropping as it repaired him.
'So that's how it works.'
That was better.
An ability with no cost at all would have been suspicious even by the system's standards.
Creation Rebirth could repair the body as long as he had enough stored chakra to feed it, while the modified version removed the technique's usual lifespan penalty.
It was an excellent safeguard against the kind of damage Zaraki regularly inflicted upon himself.
But it was not immortality.
If the reserve ran dry, the regeneration stopped. It could not restore consumed lifespan, and even this would not save him from fully opening the Gate of Death.
Still, the combination was absurdly useful.
The Eight Gates could push his body beyond its normal limits, while Creation Rebirth could repair some of the physical damage afterward.
Used intelligently, it gave him far more room to gamble with his own body without turning every experiment into a potential funeral.
Zaraki's grin widened.
If the Five Elders really intended to drag him into another killing ground, they had just made the timing of this reward extremely convenient.
Then his Future Sight flashed.
A dagger.
A blackened blade driving toward the left side of his chest.
Zaraki's eyes shifted.
Several paces away, Vergo had been left kneeling under guard with his wrists locked in heavy iron restraints.
Gion and Yamakaji had been watching him ever since the fighting ended, but the moment everyone's attention shifted toward Zaraki's strange new forehead mark, Vergo acted.
Armament Haki spread across his forearms.
Crack!
The restraints snapped.
"VERGO!"
Gion's hand shot toward Konpira.
Too late.
"Soru."
Vergo vanished.
He appeared directly in front of Zaraki with a jet-black dagger already thrusting forward.
Zaraki had seen it coming.
He could have moved completely out of the way.
Instead, curiosity won.
'Might as well see what this thing can actually do.'
At the final instant, he shifted his torso just enough to alter the angle.
Schlk!
Steel punched deep into the left side of his chest, narrowly missing the heart.
Blood sprayed along the blade and splashed across Vergo's face.
The entire plaza froze.
Neptune's unfinished words of gratitude died in his throat.
Fukaboshi stared in disbelief, while Yamakaji's cigar slipped from his mouth and landed against his coat without him noticing.
Only Vergo laughed.
"Ha..."
His shoulders shook.
Then the laugh became wild.
"Hahahaha!"
"I WON!"
He tightened his grip on the dagger.
"So what if you can split the sea?! So what if you're some kind of monster?!"
His eyes bulged with manic triumph.
"You're still carrying that damned Sea-Prism Stone restraint, and now I've put a Haki-coated blade straight through your chest!"
The Sea-Prism Stone cuff still locked around Zaraki's wrist was heavy and inconvenient, but Vergo was apparently still clinging to the assumption that it weakened him like a Devil Fruit user.
It did not.
Vergo leaned closer.
"How does it feel, Zaraki?"
He twisted the dagger.
"How does it feel to finally—"
Zaraki looked down at the blade buried in his chest.
Then he looked back at Vergo.
His expression was more puzzled than hurt.
Vergo's smile faltered.
One second passed.
Then another.
Zaraki neither collapsed nor screamed.
Instead, he frowned and backhanded Vergo across the face.
Slap!
He barely put any effort into it, but Vergo still spun sideways and crashed onto his backside several meters away.
Zaraki glanced at the dagger protruding from his chest, then at the sake gourd lying nearby where he had discarded it earlier.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue.
"I'm thirsty."
Ignoring everyone staring at him, Zaraki walked over, picked up the gourd, pulled out the stopper, and took a long drink.
The liquor burned pleasantly down his throat while a completely different sensation spread through his chest.
Itching.
The diamond-shaped mark on his forehead grew warm as stored chakra flowed into the wound.
Torn muscle began knitting itself back together around the blade, damaged blood vessels sealing as the technique steadily repaired the injury.
The reserve inside the seal noticeably decreased.
Good.
At least the damned thing obeyed some kind of conservation law.
"Hey."
Zaraki wiped the corner of his mouth and looked toward Vergo.
"The guy in the checkered coat."
Vergo was still sitting on the ground, staring at him as though a corpse had just stood up and asked for another bottle.
Zaraki pointed lazily at the dagger.
"This is your killing blow?"
He tapped its hilt.
"Not bad."
Then his grin turned insulting.
"Your aim's a little off, though."
Vergo's lips trembled.
"You..."
He knew where he had aimed.
He had been certain the blade would pierce the heart.
Only now, replaying that final instant in his mind, did he realize Zaraki's body had shifted by barely an inch before the strike landed.
The bastard had seen it coming.
Worse, he had apparently allowed the attack to hit him anyway.
Vergo's face went pale.
Zaraki wrapped his fingers around the dagger and slowly pulled it free.
Schlk.
Fresh blood spilled down his uniform, but the wound immediately began closing.
Muscle drew together beneath the skin until, several seconds later, only blood remained to show that anything had happened at all.
The seal at Zaraki's forehead had dimmed slightly.
His injuries were healing, but the exhaustion from the earlier battle had not vanished with them.
The technique repaired damage; it did not magically refill everything he had spent.
That distinction suited him just fine.
"M-Monster..."
Something finally broke inside Vergo.
He scrambled upright.
He had to leave.
Now.
Vergo turned toward Ryugu Palace.
Gion drew Konpira immediately.
"Stop!"
Yamakaji moved at the same time.
Vergo vanished with Soru before either could close the distance, chaining the technique repeatedly through the battered royal formation.
Zaraki watched his route and narrowed his eyes.
That direction was not an exit.
It led toward Shirahoshi.
A cornered rat did not choose a dead end unless there was something inside it worth taking hostage.
"This bastard's brain still works, at least."
The amusement disappeared from Zaraki's face.
Gion and Yamakaji were already chasing, but Vergo had gained several precious seconds through surprise.
Ahead of them, Fukaboshi threw himself into Vergo's path.
His trident had barely begun moving when Vergo's Demon Bamboo turned completely black beneath Armament Haki.
BOOM!
The weapon struck Fukaboshi across the waist and sent him crashing into the wall behind him, stone cracking around his body.
"FUKABOSHI!"
Neptune's eyes went bloodshot.
He swept his enormous trident forward, using Merman Combat to drive a violent surge of water toward Vergo.
Vergo slipped aside.
"Soru."
The attack struck empty ground.
He reappeared beside Neptune and drove his hardened fingers forward.
"Finger Pistol!"
A barrage of strikes punched into Neptune's massive body before the king could fully turn.
Blood sprayed across the plaza.
Neptune staggered and collapsed with a tremendous crash.
"Your Majesty!"
Yamakaji was closing fast now.
Gion was only a few steps behind.
Vergo ignored both.
Shirahoshi was close.
If he reached her, he still had a bargaining chip.
He took one more step... and the air in front of him changed.
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