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Shigan: Ignorance Thunder!
In Buddhist philosophy, the first of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is Ignorance (Avidya).
But what exactly is "Ignorance"?
It means treating all things as if they truly exist, without understanding their impermanence or illusion.
Rowen drew inspiration from the visual representation of this concept, depicted as a blind old man groping with a cane. The symbolism is clear: once blinded, one can no longer see the truth of people or things.
Ryokugyu reached out to intercept the attack, only to realize too late, it was just an illusion.
The Thunder of Ignorance is not so easily dispelled.
"Not good!"
Crackling with electricity, Rowen's fingers, skinless, blood-red, and scorched, lashed out with blinding speed, brutally striking Ryokugyu square in the chest.
Puchi!
Lightning surged into his body, tearing through flesh and muscle. Blood sprayed like a fountain, splattering into the magma pool where it vaporized instantly.
"Haaah!!"
Gritting his teeth through the pain, Ryokugyu let out a roar and stomped hard with his right foot, trying to launch himself away using Geppo.
Thanks to intel from Orrick, Ryokugyu had trained himself to use this technique with ease. But Rowen had already seen it coming. Just as Ryokugyu channeled air pressure beneath his foot to generate upward thrust, Smack!
Rowen's foot intercepted his, and the resulting shockwave rippled through the magma pool, sending molten waves crashing outward.
Ryokugyu's ascent was immediately halted, his eyes wide with shock.
"You--!"
Rowen didn't respond. In a flash of lightning and thunder, the Thunder-Lightning Human exploded forward. He twisted his body mid-air and swung his other leg around in a fierce hook.
Ryokugyu managed to block the kick, but didn't expect what came next, Rowen's bent knee caught his neck and locked around it like a vice.
"You shouldn't have let him come down, Orrick."
With those cold words, under the shocked gaze of both Den Den Mushi and Ryokugyu himself, lightning burst from Rowen's body, unleashing a devastating shockwave--
BOOM!!
And with it, Ryokugyu's head was slammed directly into the molten pool.
…
Wano Country – Flower Capital
As the Den Den Mushi slumped into sleep mode, Orrick's expression turned ashen.
'He'd been played!'
'Even up until the final moment, Rowen had completely fooled him.'
'Why did Rowen deliberately rip open his own flesh in front of Ryokugyu?'
The answer was simple: to lure Ryokugyu down!
With his extraordinary regeneration ability, Rowen could turn the magma pool into his home ground. Ryokugyu, on the other hand, had no such luxury. Rowen was the only one in the sea known to possess such a monstrous healing factor; his uniqueness was obvious to all.
"What a wicked bastard!!"
Boom, Crash!
In a fit of rage, Orrick smashed the table to pieces. Lirisk calmly picked up his bowl and chopsticks, finishing his food as he looked over.
"The Soryu (Soryu (Azure Dragon))!!"
Killing intent flared in Orrick's eyes as a terrifying, oppressive aura erupted from his body, so powerful that the servants in the courtyard immediately collapsed unconscious, eyes rolled back.
Lirisk paused, then slowly put down his utensils.
"Ryokugyu… probably won't make it."
Everyone knew, the Soryu (Soryu (Azure Dragon)) was no saint. Pirate, enemy, civilian, it didn't matter. If anyone dared show even a hint of hostility toward him, he would kill them without hesitation.
From the moment you showed him enmity, there was only one possible outcome, kill or be killed. Rank and identity meant nothing.
Ryokugyu had ambushed him when he was injured in the battle against Patrick Redfield. That move had thoroughly enraged the Soryu (Soryu (Azure Dragon)).
And now, with the war just beginning, they had already lost their trump card, the END POINT, and an Admiral.
This was a major blow.
"You don't need to remind me!"
Orrick glared murderously, then softened his expression slightly when he saw it was Lirisk.
Hiss… Huff…
He took a deep breath and walked to the coat rack in the corner, pulling on a cloak.
"I'm going out. You eat by yourself."
With that, and without waiting for a reply, he threw open the door and strode out. He was going to find Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido to discuss their next move.
'The Soryu (Azure Dragon) breaking free… this was no small matter.'
…
Inside the Volcano Base – Magma Pool
The magma roiled and churned.
Suddenly,
BOOM!,
Like an explosion, scalding magma splashed everywhere as the pool burst open.
"AAAAAAHH!!"
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the sealed chamber. Ryokugyu lunged forward, jamming his limbs into cracks in the rock walls, pounding his head against the stone in agony.
Hua la la!
Another towering figure erupted from the magma. Rowen, completely naked, stood tall above the churning red magma. His body, covered in gashes as thick as a baby's arm, was rapidly healing, skin growing back, wounds closing, muscle knitting together with terrifying speed.
The destruction caused by the magma had been completely nullified by Elementalization. At this point, even the wounds Rowen had sustained earlier were nearly fully healed.
In contrast, Ryokugyu was a complete mess.
His entire body had been scorched. His hair and beard were gone. If he hadn't shielded his eyes with his hands at the last moment, he'd be completely blind by now.
Creak... Creak...
As Rowen stretched his freshly healed body, powerful muscle lines rippling with energy emerged beneath his skin. He turned his gaze to Ryokugyu, who was still clinging to the rock wall, his charred form dripping with molten magma.
In a calm tone, Rowen spoke:
"Even though you've hidden it well, never exposing yourself before or now, you're actually a Devil Fruit user too, aren't you, little guy?"
"You bastard!!"
At those words, Ryokugyu lifted his head from the wall and glared at Rowen with eyes full of killing intent. A clear mark, about two fingers wide, ran down his face, identical in thickness to the Seastone cage that had once bound Rowen.
That slam from earlier hadn't just been about dragging Ryokugyu into the magma. At their level, monsters like them could resist lava for a short while in full-power mode.
No, Rowen had aimed for something else: The Seastone cage that had fallen into the magma pool earlier. It hadn't sunk completely.
He had slammed Ryokugyu against the cage.
The moment Ryokugyu touched the Seastone, his strength was cut off entirely, and the magma ravaged him before he could even activate Armament Haki to protect himself.
"How... did you figure it out?" Ryokugyu's voice trembled slightly beneath his seething hatred. His eyes held not only rage, but a creeping fear.
This chain of setups, one trap after another, was terrifyingly precise. If he hadn't been the one to act through each step himself, Ryokugyu would've sworn this was all a performance, meticulously staged to lure him in.
"That's... because I've read the original manga."
But of course, Rowen couldn't say that out loud. Instead, he just smiled, offering no answer. Besides that, there had been plenty of clues, his strange refusal to eat for three years, how he'd never laid a finger on Rowen while imprisoning him...
But really, was there any point in explaining?
After all, He's going to die anyway.
Szzzt... Zzz...
BOOM!
"God's Cry: Thunder Gunfall!"
A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, blasting through dozens of meters of mountain rock overhead and landing squarely in Rowen's outstretched hand.
There, it formed a thunder-lance, crackling with divine energy and filled with a destructive aura.
An invisible wave of pressure rippled outward. No sparks danced across the air, yet every pirate in the volcanic base felt their skin tingle and hair stand on end.
Ryokugyu's heart sank as he sensed the rage and killing intent radiating from Rowen's lightning.
"You've got one more shot, Ryokugyu. Since you were the first guy to actually capture and cage me, I'll grant you a cleaner death."
The now-youthful Patrick Redfield had speed and power that rivaled Rowen's own. In close combat, he even had a unique Observation Haki that could read intent. From afar, the Black Mist Pirates, immune to normal observation, were a nightmare to deal with.
Combine that with Red's flexibility, agility, and the Black Mist Pirates' stealth, and Rowen was constantly on the defensive.
So in order to win, he was willing to hurt himself.
And he had no regrets.
Even if, in the end, Patrick Redfield had defeated him...
It was Ryokugyu's cowardly sneak attack afterward that finally pushed Rowen over the edge. And then Orrick tried to use that attack as the catalyst to start a war?
Rowen couldn't help but laugh.
"Put yourself in others' shoes", that only works if there's a reason to. Why should the Marines worry about how a defeated pirate feels? If you care so much about justice and fairness, why the hell are you a pirate?!
He'd make Orrick regret every decision he ever made. And he would start with Ryokugyu.
(End of Chapter)