"Hmm?"
Suddenly, just as he was activating the Preta Path's absorption ability, Kaito stopped. Something wasn't right—the ability wasn't working the way he expected.
In Naruto, the Preta Path of the Rinnegan could absorb chakra, and chakra was essentially energy. Translated into the world of One Piece, that should mean Haki or the energy within the body.
But Kaito wasn't satisfied with just that. He believed that Devil Fruit abilities also relied on physical energy, so why hadn't he sensed any of that special power when he was absorbing earlier?
Could it be… that the source of Devil Fruit powers doesn't lie within the body?
But if not the body… then where?
"I've got it!" A flash of inspiration struck Kaito.
"It must be the soul! Of course! Aside from the physical body, the only thing left is the soul!"
Acting on the thought immediately, he turned to the Human Path of the Rinnegan—perfect for dealing with souls. Grabbing the now-defenseless Brand, he placed one hand on the man's head and then, as if gripping something, yanked upward.
Brand, whose eyes were the only things still able to move, stared in terror as a humanoid purple spirit form was pulled from his own body. His body trembled instinctively.
Sure enough, Kaito could see it clearly: in the soul form of Brand, near the heart, was a writhing ball of black energy.
He activated the Preta Path again. That black mass began to struggle, trying to flee, but under the powerful pull of the absorption, it was helpless—completely drawn into Kaito's body.
As the power entered him, Kaito instantly felt a strange new energy surging within. The moment it entered his body, it rushed straight toward his eyes. A black tomoe appeared in the patterns of his right eye.
Sensing the change, Kaito created a small curtain of water midair using Water Release and looked at his reflection.
In the water, he saw a new tomoe had formed in his right Rinnegan.
"Isn't this Sasuke's Rinnegan? Though it's only a single tomoe…" Kaito was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that by absorbing Devil Fruit powers, his Rinnegan could evolve—and so easily at that!
"Based on Sasuke's eye, a single Rinnegan can hold six tomoe. Since I have two Rinnegan, I should be able to hold twelve tomoe total. That means… I can absorb twelve Devil Fruits!"
This time, Kaito was genuinely thrilled. Discovering a way to evolve his Rinnegan meant he was now one step closer to reaching the level of the Sage of Six Paths.
With a casual swipe through the air, a door materialized before him.
Satisfied, Kaito looked at the spatial gate and thought,
"I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Looks like I can pull off what Blackbeard did—and do it even better."
This battle had been quite the haul. Kaito stopped thinking further and turned his attention back to Brand in his hand.
Now that his soul had been ripped out, Brand's eyes had gone white. His life force was gone. He was dead—completely, utterly dead.
Kaito tossed the body aside like garbage. Brand ended up just like the small fry before him.
Smack! A new human-shaped meat patty splattered onto the ground. As for why it didn't turn into paste? Come on—he was at least a pirate captain from the Grand Line. A bit more physical toughness isn't so strange, right?
The whole process, from Brand's first move to his death, had taken barely five minutes. The pirates below hadn't even processed what happened before their captain was already reduced to this.
Silence.
Then, little by little, trembling voices broke out among the pirates.
"R-Run! Run for it!"
"He's a demon! A demon!!"
"How is he using the captain's power?!"
"Why the hell are you asking that now?! You want revenge? Be my guest! I'm outta here!"
The pirates completely lost it, scattering in every direction like headless flies.
"Tch tch… how pathetic." Kaito looked down at the disorganized mob in disgust. They were ruining his mood. What technique should he use to clean this up?
"Eh, guess I'll go with this one."
His eyes lit up as the idea struck. Pressing his hands together, with both index fingers extended, Kaito took a breath and exhaled slowly.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A jet of flame shot from his lips, instantly expanding into a massive sea of fire that engulfed the entire pirate crew. It surged toward the fleeing pirates, devouring them in an instant.
"It's fire! It's fire!!"
"Help me! It burns—it burns!!"
"Am I dreaming? Please just wake me up already!"
"I-I beg you, sir! Spare me and I'll be your most loyal follower! No! Please, have mercy!!"
"It's over! It's all over! Who would've thought the Brand Pirates could survive the Grand Line, only to be wiped out here in the weakest of the Four Seas! Hahahahaha!!"
Desperate pleas, agonized screams, hysterical laughter—all rang out in chaotic waves from within the sea of fire.
Kaito frowned. He realized he'd held back too much. So he upped the intensity.
Soon, everything went quiet.
The flames died out, leaving behind only charred, human-shaped lumps.
"I'd better take these with me. They count as merit, after all." Kaito figured it was time to clean up the scene.
With a small gesture of his hand, the burnt remains on the ground began to gather together, compressed into a black sphere. Kaito even thoughtfully pulled out Brand's more intact corpse and set it aside separately.
Satisfied with his handiwork, Kaito opened his dimensional gate and tossed all his "spoils of war" inside.
Then, yanking down the pirate flag of the Brand Pirates, he torched their ship with another burst of flame.
"Now everything's in place. With all this, maybe I'll finally get the Marine Headquarters' attention," Kaito thought.
"Whatever. I'll find out soon enough." Having made up his mind, Kaito left the small island where he hadn't even spent a full day resting.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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