The destructive radius of Cursed Technique Reversal: Vortex was more than twice that of Wedge, reaching approximately thirty meters.
Combined with its enormous area of effect and astonishing activation speed, avoiding this attack was anything but easy.
Makoto was confident that even fifteen-finger Ryomen Sukuna would have no choice but to be sliced in half if he stood directly in front of this technique.
However, Makoto didn't lower his guard simply because he had successfully unleashed the attack.
He understood perfectly well that, compared to Sukuna, the Veterans of the Main God Space possessed a far greater variety of survival abilities.
Not long ago, one Player had escaped from a Mission World right before Makoto's eyes, using something almost equivalent to temporary invincibility.
And now that the Players before him were clearly stronger than those he had encountered earlier, there was no way they would die so easily.
Sure enough, the next instant, every Player demonstrated a different method of preserving their life.
With a sudden puff of smoke, the short girl, Lia, transformed into a piece of wood.
Her real body had already appeared dozens of meters away.
Having also mastered Future Sight through advanced Observation Haki, she had combined that ability with the Substitution Technique to develop her own survival strategy.
Meanwhile, the towering Hayes chose to endure the attack directly.
A brilliant layer of golden light appeared across his entire body.
For the first time, Makoto's powerful Spatial Slashes failed against a humanoid opponent.
This unprecedented sight made him examine Hayes more closely.
However, Makoto soon realized that Hayes had paid a considerable price.
The man's life force had previously been as vigorous as a small volcano, but its intensity had suddenly fallen by half.
Clearly, he had used some kind of Talent that redistributed or absorbed damage at the expense of his vitality.
Kawa, who had been clutching his Seastone electromagnetic cannon the entire time, was torn apart instantly.
As far as Makoto could tell, the man had genuinely died.
However, another Kawa suddenly came to life in the distant shadows.
He immediately raised his weapon, aimed at Makoto, and opened fire.
Apparently, Kawa possessed some kind of substitute clone that could die in his place.
Alternatively, perhaps the one Makoto had just killed had been a clone all along, while his real body remained hidden.
Chen Yue, the high-ponytailed girl wielding Ichimaru Gin's Zanpakuto, transformed her entire body into lightning.
Through elemental transformation, she avoided the physical slashes produced by Makoto's reversed technique.
When she returned to her original form, dazzling lightning was already wrapped around her Zanpakuto.
Clearly, she had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
As for the team's captain, Spink, he actually allowed Makoto's reversed technique to slice him in half!
Yet in the very next instant, the two halves of his body rejoined.
It was as though he hadn't suffered any injury whatsoever.
The sight reminded Makoto of Buggy the Clown's Chop-Chop Fruit.
However, the underlying mechanism was completely different.
Makoto frowned and carefully examined Spink's energy fluctuations.
To his surprise, he discovered that Spink had used cursed energy during that brief instant.
'Could that be Mahito's Idle Transfiguration?'
This made Makoto even more curious.
It was one thing for a Player to obtain Gin Ichimaru's Zanpakuto.
But how had Spink managed to acquire Mahito's Idle Transfiguration as well?
After all, under normal circumstances, killing an NPC didn't allow Players to directly obtain that character's abilities or Talents.
They would generally receive Mission Points or certain dropped items instead.
'Don't tell me these major Guilds have already figured out mission procedures that let them obtain specific abilities or Talents?'
Wait a moment...
A sudden realization struck Makoto.
'If their objective is to summon Imu, could they have already discovered a way to steal Imu's abilities?'
It was an extremely bold possibility.
However, it would explain why Spink and his group had gone to such extraordinary lengths to execute such an elaborate plan.
While Makoto was considering this, someone suddenly appeared beside him.
It was Admiral Kizaru.
"Hehehe. Young people these days really are terrifying. What kind of ability was that just now? I don't remember hearing about a Devil Fruit like that."
Makoto rolled his eyes.
Instead of answering directly, he replied,
"Is this really the time to discuss something like that? Our enemies have scattered. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to defeat them one by one?"
Kizaru's smile faded.
He examined Makoto seriously before speaking.
"Then can I take that to mean you've accepted my request, young man? Looks like we'll be colleagues soon. In that case, let's fight together today."
Makoto raised an eyebrow.
Only then did he remember that Kizaru had triggered a B-rank mission earlier.
'Do I really want to complete that mission and become a Marine Admiral?'
In truth, Makoto had never particularly liked the idea of serving as a lapdog for the Celestial Dragons.
And becoming an Admiral apparently came with certain obligations.
Makoto had absolutely no intention of working for the Celestial Dragons in the future.
Frankly, the fact that he hadn't already slaughtered every Celestial Dragon he encountered was merely a reflection of his relatively good mood.
However, before Makoto could answer, the Players launched their counterattack.
Chen Yue, who had already revealed her Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities, no longer bothered concealing them.
Her body transformed into a streak of lightning as she charged toward Makoto at tremendous speed.
Even Kizaru was startled.
The woman's movement speed was barely inferior to that granted by his own Glint-Glint Fruit!
"I'll stop her."
Kizaru immediately volunteered.
The next instant, two brilliant streaks of golden light began colliding repeatedly across the sky.
One was composed of pure light.
The other was lightning.
Their astonishingly powerful exchange immediately attracted the attention of numerous people across the battlefield.
Sengoku's expression became even uglier.
He had originally believed that defeating this mysterious Player team would finally reverse the situation.
However, he had never imagined that the team had been concealing so much strength.
One member alone was capable of keeping Kizaru occupied!
Didn't that mean the battle was tilting even further in the pirates' favor?
Sengoku turned toward Ace, who was still kneeling before him.
Finally unable to restrain himself any longer, he issued an order.
"Execute him! Kill him immediately!"
As long as Ace died, the Whitebeard Pirates would lose their primary reason for fighting so desperately.
Of course, executing Ace would inevitably provoke retaliation from the Whitebeard Pirates afterward.
However, given Whitebeard's personality, Sengoku believed the old pirate would probably withdraw with his remaining crew today.
After all, Ace was his family, but so were the other pirates under his command.
Surely Whitebeard wouldn't allow every remaining member of his family to die here for someone who was already dead?
Unfortunately, Sengoku had barely finished issuing the order when two consecutive gunshots rang out.
The two Marine soldiers standing beside him were shot through the head!
The optically camouflaged tanks that had disappeared earlier had reappeared.
This time, they were directly attacking Sengoku himself.
Sengoku immediately activated Armament Haki.
Ordinary bullets could no longer injure him.
However, he didn't dare use his Devil Fruit abilities again.
Instead, he rushed forward and began attacking the tanks directly.
Unfortunately, that brief opening was all Luffy needed.
Obsessed with rescuing Ace, Luffy suddenly charged forward.
Taking advantage of the tremendous reach provided by his rubber body, he extended his arms across the battlefield.
He grabbed Ace and pulled him straight off the execution platform, dragging him into the midst of the pirates!
Mr. 3 immediately used his Paramecia-type Wax-Wax Fruit to create a key.
With it, he unlocked Ace's restraints.
The moment the pirates realized Ace had been rescued, thunderous cheers erupted throughout their ranks.
Seeing this, Sengoku felt his scalp go numb.
Furious, he wanted to charge forward and continue fighting.
However, the battle between Garp and Whitebeard had also come to a halt.
And that meant Garp no longer wanted to fight either.
Since the war was going to end anyway, Garp figured they might as well allow the pirates to rescue Ace.
Although this would severely damage the Marines' reputation, Garp could always work hard to defeat more pirates afterward and restore their prestige.
As for Sengoku, he no longer dared continue the battle.
If the fighting dragged on, they might lose far more than the opportunity to execute Ace.
The entire Marine Headquarters could be destroyed!
Just then, a Marine deserter who had somehow returned to the battlefield seized the opportunity and began shouting.
It was Koby.
"That's enough! Please stop fighting! So many people have already died! Don't any of you care about their lives?!"
"This is such a terrible waste of life! Every one of these soldiers has a family waiting for them to come home!"
"If we start treating the wounded right now, we can save more soldiers and prevent even more people from dying!"
"Continuing to fight like this is just stupid!"
The Marines and pirates who had noticed the changing situation began stopping their attacks one after another.
And Koby's words conveniently gave them a reason to put down their weapons.
Even Garp and Whitebeard turned toward the young Marine.
Although they found his words incredibly naive, perhaps even laughable, they had to admit that his speech provided a perfectly reasonable justification for ending the war.
Whether Ace had been successfully executed no longer mattered.
Neither did deciding which side had truly won or lost.
Instead, they could focus on allowing more Marines and pirates to survive.
They could end the fighting in the name of protecting human life.
Unfortunately, just as everyone's attention shifted toward Koby, Spink's pen began moving rapidly across the pages of his Death Note.
Makoto immediately noticed his movements.
Without hesitation, he launched another series of Spatial Slashes toward Spink.
However, Hayes voluntarily stepped in front of his captain, shielding him with his own body.
Makoto's Spatial Slashes struck Hayes repeatedly, causing his life force to decline at an alarming rate.
Yet Kawa, who was hiding in the distance, suddenly fired a shot that struck Hayes.
The projectile injected some kind of medicine directly into his body.
Hayes's weakening life force immediately began recovering!
Thanks to this, he actually managed to withstand Makoto's Spatial Slashes for the time being.
At the same moment, an intense mental shock exploded inside Makoto's mind.
One terrifying illusion after another appeared before him.
Someone had clearly launched a mental attack against him!
Even Chen Yue, who was still fighting Kizaru, shifted part of her attention toward Makoto.
She was prepared to use her speed and abilities to assassinate him from a distance at any moment.
With the entire Player team targeting him like this, Makoto no longer had any reason to hesitate.
He pulled one hand backward.
Sky Manipulation activated instantly!
Although Makoto still appeared before everyone's eyes, he was no longer standing in his original position.
Furthermore, anyone who wanted to strike him would first need to break through the defenses created by Sky Manipulation.
After completing these preparations, Makoto summoned the four shadow clones he had prepared earlier.
He immediately ordered them to move.
The four clones transformed into blurs and rushed toward different Players!
'This is bad! I can't lock onto him anymore! Retreat!'
Lia's warning echoed through the minds of Spink's teammates.
Her Telepathic Communication Talent relied on Observation Haki to identify and connect enemies and allies.
Under normal circumstances, anything possessing a life force would be unable to escape her perception.
However, the shadow clones Makoto had summoned were constructs composed entirely of chakra.
Since they would disappear the moment they suffered sufficient damage, they couldn't truly be considered complete living beings.
As a result, their presence appeared extremely faint through Observation Haki.
Yet the threat posed by a shadow clone was often barely inferior to that of the original body.
This was especially true when the clones were created by someone as powerful as Makoto.
Lia had already done everything within her capabilities.
Unfortunately, Makoto was simply too fast.
His shadow clones entered spatial passages directly.
When they emerged again, they had already appeared beside three different Players.
Immediately afterward, three cold voices sounded simultaneously.
"Domain Expansion: Mustard Seed Killing Array!"
Almost every member of Spink's team was pulled into the Mustard Seed Killing Array.
Only Lia managed to escape.
Thanks to Future Sight, she had predicted the danger the instant Makoto's shadow clone entered the spatial passage.
She immediately activated the Body Flicker Technique and escaped from her original position.
However, Makoto's shadow clone had absolutely no intention of giving up.
It continued pursuing her at tremendous speed.
The distance between them rapidly narrowed.
Just as Lia was about to be caught, an uncomfortable tightness suddenly spread through Makoto's chest.
His heart, which had been beating powerfully only a moment earlier, suddenly went completely numb.
He immediately activated the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal it.
However, something astonishing happened.
The Reverse Cursed Technique, which was powerful enough to regenerate flesh and blood, had absolutely no effect on his stopped heart!
'What the hell is going on?!'
Almost instantly, Makoto reached a conclusion.
The reason his Reverse Cursed Technique wasn't working was that his heart hadn't suffered any actual physical damage.
The force responsible for stopping it was the Shinigami's authority, a power that operated above ordinary physical laws.
Conventional physical healing methods were completely useless against it!
And at that exact moment, Makoto's body began reacting violently.
Because the blood supply to his brain had been interrupted, his vision rapidly darkened.
His field of view began narrowing.
A persistent ringing filled his ears, while even his thoughts started slowing down.
These were instinctive physiological reactions that couldn't be overcome through willpower alone.
After all, Makoto had yet to acquire any ability that would allow him to preserve his consciousness independently of his physical body.
An overwhelming sense of danger descended upon him.
Even the two girls inside his cursed technique's spatial dimension realized something was terribly wrong.
"Makoto! Let me out!"
Sakiko screamed desperately.
She pounded against the spatial barrier in front of her, her eyes turning bloodred.
However, Makoto had no time to respond to her.
His remaining time was limited.
He needed to examine every ability he possessed and find something capable of countering the Death Note!
'Making Fake Become Real?'
'Intangibility?'
'Or perhaps Fate Burn?'
Makoto's mind raced desperately through the possibilities.
Just then, a warm light suddenly emerged from the ventilation opening and entered his body.
His heart, which had completely stopped responding, unexpectedly showed faint signs of coming back to life!
At the same time, a muffled groan echoed through Makoto's cursed technique's spatial dimension.
It turned out that Asuna had activated her Talent, Light of the Heart, without the slightest hesitation.
She had linked herself directly to Makoto, intending to help him resist the Shinigami's power behind the Death Note.
The good news was that Light of the Heart genuinely worked!
Even though the opposing power came from a Shinigami, her Talent recognized its effects as a form of curse.
The bad news was that maintaining this resistance consumed Asuna's mental energy.
And with her current attributes as a newcomer, there was no way she could endure that burden for very long!
…