Shinigami—Originally a Spirit!
Although Yuno's abilities had been altered by the system to be fueled by physical strength, certain traits of a Shinigami still lingered.
For instance, his spiritual pressure had been transformed into Conqueror's Haki.
Thus, the sobbing sound that had just echoed from him was actually a soul fluctuation—something ordinary people could never perceive.
"Soul fluctuation… inheritance… reincarnation?"
Yuno, filled with curiosity, turned his gaze toward the chaotic scene—toward the mermaids clustered around Shirahoshi, teasing her in an attempt to calm her down.
As Shirahoshi's sobs gradually subsided, the fluctuation, too, began to fade.
But this was not what Yuno wished for. Though he felt pity for the young Shirahoshi, he couldn't stop now.
Thinking this, Yuno stepped forward.
"Stop!"
Jinbei, standing firm, glared at Yuno. Taking in the masked figure before him, he shouted with gritted teeth.
He recognized him instantly—the Quincy who had slain the Celestial Dragons!
Though he didn't understand why Yuno had appeared here of all places, Jinbei would not allow such a dangerous man near the princess. In fact, he even suspected Yuno of being behind the attack on Princess Otohime.
Yuno, however, also recognized the fat blue figure before him—the Sea Knight Jinbei, one of the Shichibukai.
But he had no interest in him now. Yuno said calmly, "If you don't want Princess Otohime to die, get out of my way."
"A dangerous man like you… what business do you have here?" Jinbei snarled, preparing to strike.
He would not move aside merely because of Yuno's words.
Shirahoshi's sobbing was beginning to calm, despite her brothers' failed attempts at distraction. Yuno's eyes hardened, and a wave of Conqueror's Haki swept across the area, stunning the mermaids nearby.
"Mother… Brother… waaah…"
On the ground, the grievously wounded Otohime weakly turned her pale face toward Yuno.
Hearing Shirahoshi's cries, the eldest prince, Fukaboshi, suddenly paled, realizing the danger.
The sobbing intensified the strange wave of energy, spreading across Fish-Man Island and even the surrounding seas.
Suddenly, in the abyssal depths, it felt as if an ancient monster had awoken. Enormous eyes opened in the darkness, fixing their gaze on the island.
Currents shifted violently. The seabed trembled.
"Heralding Haki? No—damn it! What have you done?!" Jinbei's expression darkened. He knew Shirahoshi's crying could summon Sea Kings. To him, Yuno was clearly orchestrating this disaster:
—shoot Otohime,
—kill the princess,
—make Shirahoshi cry,
—summon Sea Kings,
—destroy Fish-Man Island.
That would leave every mermaid and fishman homeless… and throw the seas into chaos, prey for human traffickers.
Fury surged within Jinbei. With a thunderous step, his form blurred into a streak of blue light as he charged.
This had to be stopped.
To everyone's eyes, Yuno was nothing short of a villain.
But Yuno showed no hesitation. Thunder and fire erupted behind him, two forces clashing and feeding into his body, filling him with overwhelming power.
"I don't have time for you."
Catching Jinbei's strike with his bare hand, Yuno's lightning-wreathed fist pulsed, rippled—and struck.
The blow landed squarely in Jinbei's abdomen, hurling him into a distant coral wall.
In the blink of an eye, Yuno appeared at Otohime's side.
"You bastard, what are you doing?!" Fukaboshi's eyes went bloodshot. He lunged with his trident, but Yuno casually waved his hand, white lightning flaring, and sent him flying—though he held back, only knocking him several meters away.
Otohime, pale and bleeding, coughed, her voice trembling:
"You… you did this… why? What is your purpose?"
Yuno looked at her, quietly impressed by the mermaid queen's ideals. A soft, glowing light flickered at his fingertip, flowing into her wound, knitting flesh together—but the bullet inside remained.
"The one who fired wasn't mine," Yuno said flatly. "Look closer within your own ranks. There may be scum among you."
Then his gaze shifted to Shirahoshi. "As for my purpose—it's to test the power of the Sea King."
Otohime's eyes widened, but she coughed up blood before she could ask further. Yet with her Observation Haki, faint though it was, she sensed something: Yuno's intentions carried no malice.
And her life, which had been slipping away, had steadied.
"Don't move," Yuno warned. "Your organs are damaged, and the bullet is still inside. If you move, you'll die—and I'm not taking the blame for killing a princess."
Even as he spoke, several colossal Sea Kings swam into view, their sheer presence shaking the seas.
Yuno focused his Observation Haki, tracing the soul-fluctuations emanating from Shirahoshi.
The soul was an unknown realm to him—but he suspected his uncanny control over his clones stemmed from some innate soul-related talent.
So when he felt Shirahoshi's wave, he knew instinctively:
This was the power of the soul.
Yet, try as he might, he could not draw more from it.
"Tch… this size… I can't handle it. If too many gather, even I won't be able to manage…" Yuno muttered, frowning at the Sea Kings.
A being of that scale couldn't be suppressed by Conqueror's Haki alone.
Finding no further answers, Yuno gave up his probing.
He turned to Shirahoshi, lightly patting her cheek. "Alright, enough. Stop crying. Your mother is safe."
Shirahoshi sniffled, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands. Though tears still fell, she glanced toward her mother and saw she was alive, though frail.
Relief and curiosity filled her gaze as it shifted to Yuno—then fear, as the mask covering his face unsettled her.
In panic, she flailed a massive hand at him like a reflexive slap.
Yuno's expression darkened. He instantly evaded and reappeared before her face, tapping her forehead.
"Don't cry. If you do, I won't save your mother again."
Pouting, Shirahoshi's lips trembled. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she held them back, staring at Yuno pitifully.
At that moment, Fukaboshi rushed back, supporting his mother.
"Mother! Are you alright?!"
Thanks to Yuno's treatment, Otohime's complexion had brightened considerably, and her speech was no longer halting.
"I'm fine," she said softly.
"Princess Otohime, are you truly alright?" Jinbei emerged from the rubble, rushing to her side. His gaze lingered on Yuno, filled with wariness and confusion at his inexplicable actions.
Then, as his eyes lifted, he froze. Several colossal Sea Kings loomed in the distance, their sheer size pressing down on the ocean around them. His expression darkened.
Otohime, after reassuring Jinbei, also looked solemnly beyond the protective bubble.
"Tch… trouble…" Yuno muttered.
Ignoring the others, he fixed his gaze on the approaching Sea Kings, unable to suppress a groan. He hadn't expected that even though Shirahoshi had stopped emitting her power, the creatures would still head their way.
Still, since he had caused this, Yuno couldn't just stand idly by.
"Fat Blue, guard your princess! I don't want her turning into a corpse while I'm busy!"
With that, Yuno shot into the sky, lightning and flames bursting forth behind him.
The buzzing hum that followed reverberated through the waters, drawing the attention of the Sea Kings.
"Hey… stop!" Yuno's cold voice rang out from above.
The titanic creatures turned their eyes toward the "ant" who had dared to challenge them.
One blew out bubbles, releasing waves of sound—"Human?"
Another followed—"The King's aura lies ahead. Ignore him. Seek it out."
But they did not halt. Their enormous bodies stirred raging currents with each stroke of their fins, slamming into Fish-Man Island's bubble barrier. The protective film shuddered under the force.
"What's that? A Sea King?!"
"So massive?! They're charging right at us!"
"If the bubble bursts, Fish-Man Island is finished!"
Panic spread through the residents as they gazed up at the monstrous silhouettes.
At Ryugu Castle, King Neptune, alerted by his ministers, also looked skyward. His eyes widened.
"Has Shirahoshi run into danger…?" Anxiety filled his voice as he turned toward Gyoncorde Plaza, though the walls obscured his sight.
"Quick, send men to Gyoncorde at once!" he ordered.
Just then, a brilliant light flashed in the heavens—Yuno's explosion of power.
"You don't understand human language, do you?" Yuno's eyes narrowed, and a surge of Conqueror's Haki crashed down upon them.
At first, the Sea Kings barely reacted. Conqueror's Haki alone held no sway over them.
But a moment later… their gazes wavered.
They suddenly perceived something—an immense, towering figure standing behind Yuno. Even their colossal bodies felt like insects before it.
The phantom wore a black kimono, a blade in its grip, its face indistinct yet overwhelming in presence.
Just one glance from this entity made them crumble inside. Pressure—immense, spiritual pressure—crushed them, not physically but deep within their souls.
Terror. Panic. The sensation of witnessing an apocalypse.
Unbeknownst to Yuno, his Conqueror's Haki carried not just willpower, but Reiatsu—spiritual pressure from his Shinigami heritage.
This unique wave was undetectable by humans, but the Sea Kings—creatures bound to the will of Poseidon—sensed it clearly.
"I said… stop."
The chilling command, resonating with their very souls, jolted the Sea Kings awake as though from a nightmare.
An illusion… yet real.
They froze, unable to move another inch forward. The pressure emanating from Yuno dwarfed even their kings—Poseidon, Joy Boy, even Im.
Compared to the being before them, all else seemed insignificant.
"Back off."
His voice shook their cores. Trembling violently, the Sea Kings turned tail, whimpering as they fled into the abyssal waters.
This presence… a god. A being beyond this world. To defy it would mean annihilation.
Yuno hovered, blinking in surprise.
"…That actually worked?"
He hadn't imagined that releasing his Haki so casually would terrify such beings into retreat.
"Is Conqueror's Haki really that impressive…?"
The thought flickered through his mind, but he quickly shook his head. Ordinary Haki—no matter how strong—shouldn't have shaken those titans so deeply.
No… what he had felt radiating from them was not mere respect. It was terror.
'Then… could my Conqueror's Haki be different?'
After all, his Haki was born of Reiatsu, not pure willpower.
Just like Shirahoshi, whose tears alone could stir the seas, his aura carried a resonance others couldn't perceive.
If the Sea Kings could sense Shirahoshi's soul waves, then surely… they had sensed his.
But Yuno himself, as the wielder, could not perceive this difference.
I'll have to test it again… when the time comes.
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