The arrival of Ichibei Hyosube had fundamentally rewritten the power balance of the New World. In the distance, the Marine Buster Call fleet—composed of ten warships and led by Vice Admirals—had ground to a halt. From their perspective, the sky over Dressrosa had been replaced by a swirling, ink-black vortex that defied the laws of meteorology.
On the central plaza, the "Ant" that was once Charlotte Linlin let out a shrill, powerless scream. Her Haki, her Prometheus, and her pride had been drowned in the Monk's ink. Beside her, the "Broken Toy" known as Grimmjow-Doflamingo stared blankly at his own hands, his Arrancar instincts screaming that he no longer existed in the eyes of the universe.
But Sith Auguro was not finished. He knew that the World Government would not stop at one Yonko. The Gorosei would be watching this through their hidden surveillance snails, and their fear would turn into a desperate, genocidal aggression.
"The world needs a cleansing," Auguro said, his voice cold. "And there is no one better at washing away the filth than the First Officer of the Gotei."
[System Notification: 10,000,000 Achievement Points consumed!]
[Summoning: The Divine General of the East, The Lightning Fast...]
[Character: Tenjirō Kirinji — 'Hot Spring Demon' of the Royal Guard.]
[Status: Materializing...]
The ink in the sky suddenly parted, not by wind, but by steam. A blistering heat erupted from the atmosphere, turning the humidity of the tropical island into a thick, blinding fog. Within the fog, the sound of splashing water echoed—a rhythmic, soothing sound that felt dangerously out of place in a war zone.
"Ahhh... this air is a bit too salty for my taste," a swaggering, cocky voice rang out.
From the mist stepped a tall, slender man with an incredibly long, pompadour hairstyle that defied gravity. He wore the white haori of the Zero Division, but his was tucked in at the waist, and he carried a long-handled paddle—a Kinpika. He looked more like a street thug from a back alley than a divine guardian, but the pressure he emitted made the remaining Marines on the shore vomit blood.
Tenjirō Kirinji, the "Hot Spring Demon," landed next to Ichibei. He didn't look at the enemies; he looked at Auguro.
"So, you're the new boss, huh?" Kirinji grinned, spinning his paddle. "A bit young, but you've got that look in your eyes. The look of someone who wants to flip the whole board over."
"Kirinji," Auguro greeted. "The Marines are approaching. They carry the 'Justice' of a corrupt world. Show them the 'Healing' of the Soul Society."
Kirinji let out a sharp whistle. "Healing? You got it. But my patients usually end up screaming before they get better."
Vice Admiral Onigumo, standing on the deck of the lead warship, drew his eight sabers. "Fire! All ships, concentrate fire on the island! I don't care about the civilians! Erase Dressrosa from the map!"
The cannons roared. Hundreds of shells, coated in high-grade gunpowder and some tipped with Sea Prism Stone, arched through the sky toward the palace.
Kirinji didn't even draw his blade. He simply dipped his paddle into a rift in space that appeared beside him.
"Blood Pond Hell!"
From the rift, a massive wave of boiling, blood-red water erupted. It didn't fall to the ground; it surged forward like a living serpent, intercepting the cannonballs in mid-air. The moment the shells touched the red water, they didn't explode—they melted. The spiritual acidity of Kirinji's hot spring water was so high that it disintegrated the steel and deactivated the gunpowder instantly.
"What?!" Onigumo's eyes widened. "The water... it's flying?"
"Too slow," a voice whispered in his ear.
Onigumo spun around, his eight arms slashing at the air, but he hit nothing. Kirinji was already standing on the ship's mast, balancing perfectly on his wooden clogs.
"You guys look stressed," Kirinji said, flicking his pompadour. "You need a soak. How about my White Bone Hell?"
He swung his paddle, and a spray of crystal-clear, shimmering water rained down on the entire Marine fleet. To the Marines, it looked like a refreshing mist. But the moment it touched their skin, the screaming began.
This wasn't ordinary water. It was the essence of Kirinji's healing technique pushed to a lethal extreme. The water rapidly extracted the spiritual pressure and "impurities" from their bodies. Marines fell to the decks, their skin turning as white as chalk as their very marrow was drained by the water.
In less than a minute, ten warships—the pride of the Marine Navy—became ghost ships. Not a single soldier remained standing.
In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, the Room of Authority was silent. The Five Elders (Gorosei) sat around the table, watching the live feed from a high-altitude surveillance bird.
"Big Mom has been reduced to... an insect," Saint Saturn muttered, his voice trembling with a rare, cold fury. "And the Buster Call was annihilated by a man playing with water."
"This Sith Auguro," Saint Mars added, staring at the screen. "He isn't just a pirate. He isn't a Revolutionary. He is a 'Soul King.' He is claiming a domain that exists outside our Cycle of Life."
"We cannot wait for the Navy," the bald Elder, Saint Nusjuro, said as he gripped his Shodai Kitetsu. "If he continues, the 'Empty Throne' will no longer be the center of the world. We must authorize the use of that."
"The 'Mother Flame'?"
"No. We must wake the Knights of the Gods. And... we must contact the 'Red-Haired' one. If anyone understands the balance of this world, it is him."
Back on Dressrosa: The Recruitment
Auguro walked through the carnage of the palace plaza. He stopped in front of a trembling figure hiding behind a pillar. It was Trafalgar Law.
Law had been watching everything. He had seen the "Monk" erase a Yonko's name and the "Demon" boil a fleet. His heart was racing. As a doctor and a strategist, he realized that the "D" in his name, which was supposed to bring a "storm," was nothing compared to the "Divine Realm" Auguro was building.
"Trafalgar Law," Auguro said, looking down at the Surgeon of Death. "You have the Ope Ope no Mi. The fruit of 'Eternal Life.' A name that carries a heavy price."
Law gripped his nodachi, Kikoku. "What do you want, 'Soul King'? Are you going to take my name too?"
Auguro smiled, but it was the smile of a predator. "On the contrary. I want to give you a better one. You spend your life cutting people open to fix them. Join my Gotei. I will grant you the position of Captain of the 4th Division. Under Tenjirō Kirinji's guidance, you won't just perform surgeries. You will master the law of souls."
Law looked at Kirinji, who was currently drying his hair with a towel made of spirit ribbons. Then he looked at Ichibei, who was humming a tune while painting "Black" over the ruins of the city.
"And if I refuse?" Law asked.
"Then you remain a 'D'—a remnant of a dead history," Auguro replied. "But if you join, you become a pillar of the New Age. My age."
Law looked at his crew, who were unconscious but alive, protected by a barrier Hanatarō had erected earlier. He closed his eyes and sheathed his sword.
"I've always hated taking orders," Law muttered. "But I hate being irrelevant even more. I'm in."
[System Notification!]
[Legendary Talent Recruited: Trafalgar D. Water Law!]
[Assignment: Captain of the 4th Division (Medical/Logistics).]
[Reward: Law's 'Ope Ope no Mi' has evolved! New Ability: 'Kaidō' (Healing Kidō) Integration!]
[System Update: The Divine Realm is expanding!]
[New Territory Acquired: The Kingdom of Dressrosa.]
[Total Population under Divine Protection: 2,500,000.]
Auguro looked up at the sky. The ink was fading, replaced by the brilliant gold of the setting sun. But the gold was different now—it was the color of his empire.
"Ichibei, Kirinji," Auguro commanded. "Prepare the Senkaimon. We aren't waiting for the World Government to come to us anymore. We are taking the Soul Society to the Red Line."
The Monk let out a deep, booming laugh. "Ho ho! The Red Line? I haven't painted a mountain that big in a long time!"
Kirinji grinned, his eyes sparking with lightning. "I'll get the water ready. It's time for a world-wide bath."