One Piece: Silent-Silent Fruit

The next day, Rosinante said goodbye to Shaxia and the others.

With a single step, he shot straight into the sky.

Impel Down, the Great Undersea Prison, was the Marines' most formidable prison.

It was also known as the Great Prison of the Deep Sea.

Countless infamous pirates, whose names once shook the seas, were locked away inside its iron walls.

And this was no exaggeration—

If every pirate imprisoned in Impel Down were suddenly released, the entire world would erupt into chaos.

That was exactly why the World Government had stationed overwhelming military force there, along with layers upon layers of airtight defenses.

On top of that, terrifying figures like Magellan and Shiryu of the Rain had been assigned to guard it.

Since the prison's establishment hundreds of years ago, its defenses had been so absolute that only one man had ever successfully escaped from it—

The Golden Lion, Shiki.

(Though rumor had it Kaido had been captured by the Marines many times, every single time he managed to escape before he was ever brought into Impel Down.)

And on this particular day, for the guards of Impel Down...

It had originally seemed like just another ordinary day.

Impel Down sat in one of the most dangerous zones in the world.

The only route in was through the whirlpool currents reserved exclusively for the Marines and the World Government.

And before those whirlpool currents stood the massive Gates of Justice.

To make matters worse, Marine Headquarters and the World Government were both nearby.

Since the day Impel Down had been built, no one had ever managed to invade it.

But today—

The soldiers stationed aboard the Marine warships guarding the waters before Impel Down stared in stunned disbelief.

A lone figure was descending slowly from the sky toward the sea in front of the prison.

Because he had come from above, the gigantic sea gate was completely useless against him.

He had simply bypassed it... and entered the waters inside the defensive perimeter with ease.

"Who is that?!"

"He landed on the sea! Did someone get stranded out there?"

"Idiot! Didn't you see him fall from the sky?! If he were stranded, how could he have fallen from the sky?! And do you even know where this is? This is Impel Down! How could anyone just 'get stranded' here?!"

"Then... that means he's an intruder?!"

"Someone actually dares to invade Impel Down?!"

"Is he a Devil Fruit user? But if a Devil Fruit user falls into the sea, shouldn't he be finished?!"

The Marines cried out in shock.

"Look! No way... I'm not seeing things, am I?! H-He's walking on the sea?!"

"He's actually walking on the water?! Who the hell is that?!"

"Stay alert! Anyone who appears here is definitely no harmless person!"

"Hurry and report to the Rear Admiral! And notify Impel Down immediately!"

The soldiers shouted frantically.

Rosinante, however, calmly stepped across the surface of the sea as though it were solid ground.

A faint smile curved across his lips.

"Just as I thought... once a Devil Fruit power fuses with the soul, seawater and Seastone suppress it far less."

His gaze remained calm as he walked.

"Just like I guessed before... after a Devil Fruit is eaten, it grants power to the body, but the fruit itself doesn't truly merge completely with the body. Even awakening is probably only a shallow fusion at best."

"Once Seastone energy interferes, it severs the connection between the body and the fruit, which is why the ability can no longer be used."

"And when that power is stripped away, it also takes most of the user's physical strength with it... which is why Devil Fruit users become so weak."

Over the years, Rosinante had continuously drawn on the power of his Devil Fruit through the connection of his soul.

Because of that, the Silent-Silent Fruit had already deeply fused with both his body and even his soul.

So even contact with the sea no longer affected him much.

And besides...

Walking on water with chakra wasn't truly the same as sinking into the sea in the first place.

At that moment, a Marine officer aboard one of the warships shouted out.

"Identify yourself! This is the Marine Great Prison, Impel Down! Unauthorized personnel are forbidden from entering! If you've wandered here by mistake, submit yourself for Marine questioning immediately!"

Rosinante didn't even stop walking.

"I know exactly what this place is," he said lightly.

"And today... I came here precisely for it."

"Stop immediately, or we will open fire!" the Marine officer roared.

Rosinante ignored him completely and continued walking toward Impel Down.

"Fire!" the Marine major shouted.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A storm of gunfire erupted instantly as Marine rifles opened up on Rosinante.

Rosinante sighed.

"Too noisy."

The next moment, he smiled faintly.

A tyrannical, invisible wave of pressure exploded outward from him in all directions.

It was Conqueror's Haki—

But not just Conqueror's Haki.

Within that invisible aura was a terrifying, tangible force.

Every bullet fired at him was instantly swept aside and sent flying.

The Marines themselves were blasted backward by the overwhelming pressure.

And it didn't end there.

As that domineering aura struck them, it not only flung them away...

It also overwhelmed their minds.

One by one, the Marines lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.

A powerful ninja could use chakra to force back everyone around them.

During his decades in the world of Naruto, Rosinante had already fused chakra together with Conqueror's Haki, allowing Conqueror's to gain actual physical impact.

In the Naruto world, however, his Conqueror's Haki had lacked the proper "kingly" quality, so it had been unable to knock people unconscious.

But after returning to this world—

Once he combined chakra with true Conqueror's Haki, which could overwhelm and knock out enemies—

The result was terrifying.

Now, his aura could not only crush minds and render opponents unconscious...

The chakra infused within that aura also gave it genuine destructive power.

"Much quieter now," Rosinante said with a smile.

And with that—

He continued walking toward Impel Down.

At that exact moment, alarms began blaring wildly throughout the prison.

"Alert! Alert! An invasion has occurred in the waters before Impel Down! All Marine soldiers stationed at the main gate... have collapsed unconscious!"

The warning rang out from the prison's surveillance room.

Then, in the very next instant—

The surveillance screens dissolved into static.

Even the Den Den Mushi connected to the system had been overwhelmed and fainted from the shock.

"It's Conqueror's Haki!"

A prison guard screamed in terror.

"Terrifying Conqueror's Haki... Conqueror's Haki powerful enough to sweep away bullets!"