"A sneak attack, huh?"
Yuno pushed aside the rubble, emerging from the shattered ruins. Though his face was hidden behind the mask, the oppressive aura radiating from him told everyone watching—
He was angry.
A low growl rumbled in his throat.
"Think I'm easy to bully...? I'll show you otherwise."
As he stepped forward, his presence expanded like a swelling tide. Lightning crackled—sharp, white, and alive—as it danced around his body.
"Shunko."
With a sharp boom of thunder, a strange and domineering energy burst from him. The very air distorted as lightning molecules surged unnaturally, reacting to his power.
Gasps echoed from every direction. The atmosphere was heavy, electric.
Bolts of white lightning arced violently from Yuno's shoulders. The shock ripped apart his tattered clothes, revealing a lean, defined torso pulsing with power.
"Tch... it stings a little," he muttered. Not pain from damage—something more elemental. His blood boiled, his cells screamed, as if his entire body had been reforged in a crucible of thunder.
His fists clenched.
He could feel it—his strength had multiplied.
"So then... you ready, Vinsmoke Judge?"
"The real terror starts now."
Yuno disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared to Judge's left.
Too fast.
Judge barely turned his head before Yuno's sword carved through the air. A flash—then a shockwave. The proud war scientist was sent flying, blood trailing behind him, the metallic sound of his battle suit fracturing loud and clear.
"Boom!"
Judge crashed into the earth like a meteorite, carving out a massive crater.
Yuno didn't stop. With a single sweep of his hand, a white-hot thunder flame shot forth and exploded into the crater.
Another boom.
Flames surged. Black smoke spiraled upward.
"Father!!"
The four siblings shouted in unison. Reiju was first to move, launching toward the smoldering pit.
"Father! Are you okay!?"
The other three—Iji, Niji, and Yonji—stood on high alert. Their eyes stayed fixed on Yuno.
He didn't attack again.
Instead, he rolled his neck. Crack... crack... Bones popped. Muscles adjusted. He was syncing with the changes.
His inner thoughts were cold and clinical.
Still not fully in sync... My control can't keep up with the power of Shunko. Just like Thunder Roar Cannon... side effects are likely. This form won't last.
But it doesn't have to.
As long as I end this quickly.
Behind the mask, his gaze zeroed in on Judge.
"Aghh... I'm... fine..."
Judge's voice rasped as Reiju helped him up. He was lying, and everyone knew it. Blood poured from a wide gash in his chest. The light in his eyes had dulled. His armor had failed.
"You're surprisingly tough."
Yuno's steps rang heavy on the battlefield. With each stride, pressure mounted.
Doom. Doom. Doom.
Iji, Niji, and Yonji moved.
They leapt between Yuno and their father, stances raised, faces grim.
"This is where you stop!"
Iji shouted, his voice quivering between duty and fear.
Yuno didn't halt.
"Move aside."
The words were ice-cold.
Behind him, thunder crackled again. His presence darkened, and from the mask, a faint red glow flared. It wasn't just power now—it was predatory intent.
Seeing it, the three brothers felt something alien grip their hearts.
Their bodies froze.
Their hands trembled.
Their breath quickened.
What was this?
They didn't know.
They didn't understand.
They'd been trained to feel nothing. Modified to feel nothing.
But this...
This was fear.
And it was real.
Still, they stood.
Yuno's gaze softened slightly behind the mask.
Is this it...? The return of emotion?
Even if Judge had erased their emotions through science, emotion was never truly gone.
Emotion was engraved into the soul.
And no machine, no scientist—not even a user of the Soul-Soul Fruit or the Yomi Yomi no Mi—could ever rewrite that completely.
"Won't move? Then pay the price."
Yuno whispered, taking a single step forward.
Behind him, white thunder rumbled—his body vanished, propelled forward at a speed that defied sight!
"One!"
Yuno blinked into view above Iji and swung his sword down. The blade, wrapped in crackling thunder, slashed from above like divine retribution!
"Two!"
Without pause, he vanished again—his next strike cutting straight across Niji's flank.
"Three!"
The final flash—Yuno swept past all three brothers in a single streak of white lightning, leaving them behind as he continued marching forward.
One step… two steps… three steps…
A crackling sound echoed from behind. With a simultaneous burst, the combat uniforms of the three Vinsmoke brothers shattered—deep, electrified gashes ripped across their chests. Their eyes rolled back as they collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, the clone army surged forward in a desperate wave, trying to halt Yuno's advance.
But against him, every strike was fatal.
There was no way to stop him.
"Give up," Yuno said coldly, slicing through another clone with ease. "These knockoffs alone can't stop me."
He broke through the encirclement effortlessly, cutting down soldiers at every step.
To the soldiers on the field, he was like a great demon—no one survived an encounter with his blade.
Red threads flickered in the pupils of his mask, lending him a sinister, inhuman air. In that moment, calling him a villain was no exaggeration.
At least, in Reiju's eyes—Yuno was the embodiment of evil.
A villain with blood on his hands beyond counting.
"Cough… cough…"
Judge spat blood again, clutching the wound in his chest. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he shoved Reiju aside and barked:
"Reiju… take everyone and retreat. I'll hold him off!"
Despite his cruelty… despite his failure as a father…
At this final moment, Judge made a choice no one expected.
Reiju froze, stunned by his words. Tears welled in her eyes, but she said nothing—only bit her lip, her heart trembling.
Then—
"Hey, hey… don't act out some life-or-death family drama in front of me," Yuno sneered, eyes gleaming coldly beneath his mask. "People might actually think I'm the villain here."
Reiju stepped forward, shielding Judge. Her butterfly-winged cape fluttered in the wind as a dark purple mist spilled from her body, engulfing Yuno.
"Poison?" Yuno scoffed. "That won't work on me."
With a single swing of his sword, he summoned a violent storm. The air howled as the poisonous mist was completely scattered—unable to even touch him.
Then came another blow.
A flash of light.
Reiju cried out as the force struck her squarely—sending her flying like a rag doll.
Now, nothing stood between Yuno and Judge.
"Is this all you've got, Vinsmoke Judge?" Yuno said as he slowly walked forward, his voice dripping with scorn.
"Without your high-tech toys, is this what you've been reduced to? Hiding behind your children?"