Freezing Hell.
A land ruled as if by an eternal winter — a hopeless, frozen abyss stretching endlessly into the distance.
The thick layers of ice were like giant mirrors, reflecting a pale and eerie light.
A bitter, cutting wind howled through the wasteland, sharp as arrows, carrying countless tiny shards of ice that ruthlessly sliced through the air.
Above him, snowflakes the size of newspaper sheets floated down like a never-ending white curtain, shrouding the world in a cold and hazy blur.
Vegapunk's snow-making machine had not been used by the World Government to benefit humanity.
Instead, it served as the foundation of this Inferno of Ice — producing snow and frost without pause, twenty-four hours a day.
The temperature here had dropped to the very limit that the surveillance Den Den Mushi could endure.
Without the "Eyes" watching them, the prisoners of this floor could at least feel a faint illusion of freedom.
In this frozen wasteland, a lone figure trudged forward with great difficulty.
Pirate Yujin shivered violently as the wind roared past him.
The prisoner uniform he had despised so much before… now it was his only source of warmth — though it did little to shield him from the cold.
The fabric clung tightly to his skin.
With each step he took, a faint scraping "sshhk" could be heard as the stiff cloth rubbed against his frozen flesh.
Icicles clung to his eyebrows.
Even his Sharingan, after staying open for merely three seconds, would be covered by a thin layer of ice.
So Yujin could only close his eyes and lower his head as he pushed through the blizzard.
His legs trembled uncontrollably.
Every time he lifted them, they felt as heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds.
He moved through the deep snow with agonizing slowness, leaving behind a crooked trail of footprints — only for them to be swallowed again by the falling snow moments later.
This was already his third day in Freezing Hell.
Wandering aimlessly through this empty land of ice, Yujin had no idea how large this place truly was.
Nor did he know if he was simply walking in circles.
Right now, he had only one thought.
Find the legendary forest of this floor.
Use the Fireball Jutsu to start a fire — and warm himself up.
The blizzard only grew fiercer.
Those newspaper-sized snowflakes fell like madness from the sky, drowning the world in endless white.
Yujin was nearly driven to despair.
He tried to spread his wings to scout the distance.
But after just a brief attempt at flight, the merciless wind hurled him out of the sky and he crashed face-first into the snow.
The pirate climbed back up, hugging himself as he shook violently.
He thought of the Great Fireball Technique — at least it could give him temporary relief from this torture.
He forced himself to stand still, his frozen, stiff fingers painfully forming hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing sphere of fire erupted before him, burning with fierce intensity.
The warmth instantly pushed back a small portion of the surrounding cold.
The orange-red glow reflected off his frostbitten face — a fleeting moment of comfort in this hell of ice.
However, in this hell of ice and despair, that faint warmth seemed so small and powerless.
Ten Great Fireballs burst out one after another.
The surrounding temperature had just begun to rise slightly, barely enough to bring a trace of life back into Yujin's body.
But before that weak warmth could spread, the raging blizzard once again swept across the land, mercilessly burying everything the flames had warmed.
The cold surged like a rising tide, drowning him completely.
The tiny spark of hope he had just felt was instantly extinguished by cruel reality.
Yujin's body had long reached its limit.
When that final thread of hope snapped, his legs could no longer hold him up.
He collapsed forward into the snow, sending a spray of icy white powder into the air.
His consciousness blurred.
It felt as if the blood in his veins had frozen solid.
The biting chill and the despair twisting in his heart intertwined, dragging him deeper into an abyss of endless darkness.
Only the falling snow continued to blanket his cold, motionless body.
"Awoo!"
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Yujin felt sharp pains stabbing all over his body.
He tried to turn over, but it was as if something was tearing at him.
He forced his eyes open — and the sight in front of him filled him with both anger and relief!
What he saw was a forest cloaked entirely in silver and white.
Tall trees sagged under the weight of heavy snow, like elderly figures hunching and trembling in the frigid wind.
Beside him, three wolves as large as tigers circled around him, low growls rumbling from their throats, their fangs still stained with streaks of blood.
Their ferocious gazes burned with hunger.
They bared their teeth at one another, each fighting for the "ownership" of Yujin's flesh.
One wolf clamped its jaws around Yujin's left arm, its claws dug deep into his skin.
The other two watched closely, waiting for the perfect chance to join the feast.
It seemed they had dragged him into the forest.
A surge of anger erupted in Yujin's chest!
He had almost died in this damned blizzard!
And now, these beasts dared to treat him as food!
At that moment, the wolves seemed to come to some sort of agreement.
The one biting Yujin's arm snorted, releasing his limb.
It lowered its head and shot a fearful glance at the wolf across from it — the wolf that was a whole size larger than the others.
Unwillingly, it surrendered the hard-earned meal.
That largest wolf lifted its head with a disturbingly human-like look of smugness.
It swaggered toward Yujin, its massive jaws gaping wide — ready to feast.
In the very instant that proud beast bared its bloody maw, preparing to devour its "delicacy"…
Squelch!
A blood-red, spear-like tail suddenly shot out from behind Yujin, gleaming with a murderous light.
It pierced straight through the military wolf's upper jaw at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.
With overwhelming force, the tail drove through its hard skull and burst out from the top of its head.
Crimson blood sprayed into the air, staining the pure white snow around them in an instant.
The wolf didn't even have the chance to let out a proper howl of pain.
It only uttered a short whimper, eyes widened in shock, before its body softened and collapsed heavily onto the ground — life extinguished.
The other two military wolves froze, terror filling their eyes.
They never expected this human — who had been dying on the ground, practically their next meal — to suddenly grow such a terrifying tail.
They instinctively took a step back, lowering their bodies as low growls rumbled in their throats.
Their sharp fangs were bared as they tried to mask their fear with hostility.
But soon, the fear in their eyes was replaced by hunger and primal instinct.
In this hell of freezing cold, food was scarce — and this human was their only hope of survival.
Both wolves leapt up at the same time, their attacks fierce and deadly, aiming to tear Yujin into pieces within seconds.
However, at the very moment they lunged, the corner of Yujin's lips curled into a cold smirk.
The two wolves snapped at nothing but snow, their jaws crunching into the frozen ground.
A clone!
Before they could react, Yujin — who had already shifted aside — seized the timing and formed another hand seal.
A blazing fireball roared forth, shooting directly toward the wolves.
In the blink of an eye, flames engulfed their massive bodies, igniting their fur.
They writhed in agony within the fire, their mournful howls echoing through the silent forest — only to be swallowed by the howling wind moments later.
It didn't take long before the wolves stopped moving entirely.
Seeing the corpses of the military wolves, Yujin's eyes lit up.
— Half an hour later —
A figure wrapped from head to toe in thick wolf pelts, chewing on a roasted wolf leg, continued trudging through the endless blizzard of this frozen hell.
He was searching for the legendary trace of the place known as Impel Down's hidden floor…
Level 5.5 — the Newkama Land.
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