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Chapter 462: The Unreasonable Law of Causality
The wind on the cliff continued to howl. Dragon's resolve remained absolute.
Ivankov was so frantic he accidentally crushed his goblet. "Dragon-boy, you're gambling with their lives!"
Down in the clearing, Pitou's claws were raised high. The tips of her nails flickered with purplish-black Nen. Her target was Sabo's right shoulder. With a single swipe, the blond boy's arm would be severed from his body as easily as slicing through tofu.
Luffy roared like a trapped beast in the mud pit. His broken right arm dragged limply against the dirt, completely useless. Ace bit through his own lip, blood dripping down his chin as he struggled to stand. They were truly smelling the scent of death now. This wasn't a game. This wasn't facing some petty East Blue pirate with a few million Beri bounty.
This was the absolute suppression of an apex predator from an otherworldly food chain.
The seeds of despair had firmly taken root in the hearts of the three boys. The objective of the lesson had been achieved. Any further, and the psychological trauma would be irreversible.
A heavy Bible snapped shut. Kuma took a step forward.
"Leader, the lesson ends here."
Dragon neither turned around nor stopped him. He understood his old comrade's nature perfectly well. Bartholomew Kuma—a pirate with a bounty of 296 million Beri. The world called him a Tyrant, but within the Revolutionary Army, everyone knew he was gentle to his very core. Especially after having his daughter, Bonney, Kuma simply couldn't stand watching children suffer such inhuman torture right in front of him.
The red tattoo on Dragon's face twitched slightly. "Do as you wish."
Pitou's claws descended with a piercing shriek that tore through the air. Sabo resigned himself to his fate and squeezed his eyes shut.
But there was no pain. Even the suffocating, purplish-black Nen Pressure vanished entirely, replaced by a remarkably gentle breeze.
Sabo opened his eyes. His vision was entirely blocked by a back as broad as a mountain. A black jacket with white spots. Kuma stood there, an insurmountable fortress wall.
Pitou's claws froze in mid-air. It wasn't that she had decided to stop; a translucent, golden shield of light had materialized right in front of her strike. Strange, glowing patterns flowed across the surface of the barrier.
Pitou tilted her head, her ruby pupils constricting violently. She couldn't sense any physical hardness to this shield. This wasn't a physical defense at all. The high-density Nen she had coated her claws with instantly dissolved the moment it touched the light—as if it had been casually erased by a higher law of reality.
Kuma raised his right hand, aiming the paw pad on his palm directly at Pitou.
"If you were to take a trip... where would you like to go?"
A deafening boom shattered the air. A paw-shaped shockwave slammed directly into Pitou's chest. The overwhelming recoil sent her rocketing backward like a cannonball, snapping a dozen towering trees in half before carving a long, deep trench into the earth.
Kuma didn't pursue. He turned around, looking down at the three battered and bloodied kids. Ivankov leapt down from the cliff, his massive head bouncing twice as he landed.
"Kuma-boy! Beautifully done!"
Luffy gasped for air, tears and snot smearing his face. "Big bear… my arm is broken…"
Ace struggled to his feet, shielding Luffy and Sabo as he glared warily at Kuma. Even though he knew this man was allied with the old man, he still maintained the defensive posture of a wounded animal.
Kuma crouched down, tucking his Bible under his arm. "Don't move."
He formed a strange hand seal. This wasn't a power native to the One Piece world. Nor was it Nen from the Hunter world. It was a conceptual-level reward he had pulled from a Mid-Tier Blind Box at Blake's tavern for ten million Beri. The ultimate healing technique from the Bleach universe.
"Soten Kisshun. I reject."
Two small streaks of golden light flew from Kuma's fingertips, weaving together in mid-air to form a semi-oval golden barrier. The barrier enveloped Luffy, Ace, and Sabo completely.
A miracle unfolded within the light. Luffy's arm, bent at a horrifying ninety-degree angle, emitted a sickening sound of grinding bone. The muscle fibers reconnected. The shattered bones fused back together perfectly. Even the dark bruises on his skin faded at a visible rate.
The deep, bone-exposing gash on Ace's chest closed up, the spilled blood seemingly flowing back into his body. The bruised, purple ligature marks around Sabo's throat vanished without a trace.
The three kids stared with wide eyes at their perfectly restored bodies. Even their stamina had been completely replenished.
Ivankov's jaw dropped wide, ruining his thick lipstick. "This… this is even more absurd than my Healing Hormones! This isn't healing, this is time reversal!"
Kuma stood up, adjusting his signature round sunglasses with a completely expressionless face. "It isn't reversing time. It is rejection. Rejecting the fact that damage ever occurred, and reverting the subject to the state before they were harmed."
That was the true essence of Soten Kisshun. In the One Piece world, a power that manipulated rules and concepts like this was an absolute dimensional suppression.
A rustling sound came from the ruins nearby. Splintered wood was shoved aside as Pitou dusted herself off and leapt out of the crater. She hadn't suffered any heavy injuries. The terrifying physical resilience of a Chimera Ant, combined with her Nen defense, allowed her to endure Kuma's shockwave.
But her attention wasn't on her own body. Her ruby eyes were locked onto the golden barrier Kuma had just utilized. Her fluffy tail swished restlessly behind her.
"Meow~ How truly fascinating." Pitou stuck out her tongue, licking the dust from the back of her hand. "I just perceived them with my 'En'. Those three little apples weren't 'healed'. The very fact that they were 'injured' was erased entirely."
A morbid thrill laced Pitou's voice. She couldn't sense a single drop of Nen flowing within this towering man, yet he commanded a god-like power even the Ant King didn't possess. Looking up from the crater, Pitou noticed the tips of her claws trembling slightly. It wasn't fear, but the shivering thrill of encountering the unknown.
In the Hunter world, Nen abilities came in all shapes and sizes—Emission, Conjuration, Specialization... but there was no power in existence that could simply ignore the law of causality. Kuma's displayed power shattered Pitou's common sense as a Royal Guard.
She began to wonder: if she devoured these genetics, to what terrifying dimension would the Ant King evolve?
"What is your name?" Pitou dropped to all fours, her muscles coiled to the absolute limit like a wildcat preparing to pounce. Purplish-black Nen erupted from her body once more, the pressure ten times denser than before. The surrounding trees rapidly withered and blackened under the corrosive aura. It was pure, concentrated malice and killing intent.
But as the Nen Pressure surged toward Kuma, it slammed into an invisible wall. Kuma didn't even actively defend himself; the lingering effects of Soten Kisshun were still active. Rejecting harm, rejecting corruption, rejecting any malicious energy that dared to approach.
The fanaticism in Pitou's eyes nearly overflowed. "I want to eat you so badly. If I offer your brain to the King, he will become even more perfect."
Kuma raised his hand expressionlessly, pointing his paw pad directly at Pitou. "Your killing intent is too heavy. If possible, I do not wish to start a massacre in this world."
Suddenly, the sky darkened. It wasn't storm clouds blocking the sun, but a suffocating pressure descending from above—far vaster and infinitely deeper than Pitou's.
Dragon descended from the cliff, his dark green cloak billowing wildly. His purple Rinnegan stared coldly at the crazed catgirl.
"This farce ends here." Dragon's voice wasn't loud, yet it rang clearly in everyone's ears.
Pitou's fur bristled violently once again. She felt a genuine, existential threat. The life energy of the man with the square tattoo on his face was unfathomably deep.
Dragon walked over to the three kids, looking down at them from above. "Remember the feeling you had just now. That is the reality you will face on the Grand Line."
Luffy gritted his teeth, offering no argument. He clenched his newly restored right fist; he felt even stronger than before. He glanced back at Kuma. This towering, quiet man who always carried a worn book… Luffy had always assumed he was just a weird guy with super strength. Now he understood: every customer who walked out of Blake's tavern was an absolute monster.
Ace wiped the dried blood from his chin and slung his iron pipe over his shoulder. He took a deep breath, circulating Teyvat's Pyro energy through his body. Despair had passed, leaving behind a burning, overwhelming desire to grow stronger.
Sabo touched his neck, finding not a single bruise remaining. He looked at Dragon's broad back. That man was like a mountain, radiating a presence that terrified even the monsters. Sabo silently swore that one day, he too would stand at that peak.
Pitou made no reckless moves. Her beastly intuition screamed that facing both of these men simultaneously offered zero chance of victory. She took a step back, melting into the shadows of the forest.
"Meow~ I'll remember your scent. When the King is born, I'll offer you as the ultimate congratulatory gift."
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