Land of Fire — Sabaody Islands, Central Plaza
"Wha—what is this…?"
"Oh, kami above!"
"What the hell's going on out there?!"
"Undead… Are those people really undead?!"
"I don't recognize them all, but I swear I've seen a few of them before… they're supposed to be dead!"
"The dead… they're rising, one after another!"
The square was packed with tens of thousands of spectators — shinobi, merchants, and wandering samurai — all frozen in disbelief as the vision unfolded on the live broadcast orb.
"Fairy Tail's Master, the Four Emperors' Sugisawa Yuuto… is he really… a god?"
"This kind of power — it can only belong to a god!"
The reporters and bystanders could barely breathe. Their voices trembled as they watched the unimaginable scene — fallen heroes, criminals, and legends of the shinobi world rising again under Yuuto's command.
"This is insane!"
"I thought even if he could use forbidden jutsu to summon the dead, it would require enormous chakra and preparation. No one can do it so freely!"
Captain Capone Bege of the Flame Tank Brigade widened his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief.
"We were all wrong… completely wrong!" muttered a former Marine officer, his voice trembling. "For that man, resurrecting the dead isn't difficult at all. A mere clap of his hands — and an army of undead appears. He's the Minister of Death himself!"
From the skies above, the monk Urouge of the Sky Islands whispered with awe, each word falling heavily from his lips.
"Even alone, that man is the most terrifying being in the world. He commands the legions of the dead — to him, the underworld is merely a training ground."
"The Emperor… that man is truly the Emperor of the Seas!" croaked the sea wanderer Skulachmanap, his voice unsteady.
Nearby, Eustace Kid turned sharply as he saw Trafalgar Law rise from his seat.
"Law, where the hell are you going?!"
But the Surgeon of Death didn't answer. His fists were clenched. His jaw trembled.
He moved swiftly, gathering his crew.
He was heading for the battlefield — to meet the man who had once saved his soul.
"Mr. Cora… wait for me," he whispered under his breath.
Naval Headquarters — Central Battlefield
The army of the undead had descended.
Old enemies, long-forgotten legends, and fallen brothers now walked once more among the living.
The entire field dissolved into utter chaos.
Enemies the Marines had once feared — now stood beside them.
Brothers they had mourned — now reached for them with trembling hands.
Two opposing emotions — joy and terror — collided, shattering the last remnants of order.
Even Marshal Sengoku, the unshakable pillar of the Marines, stood frozen — his heart torn apart between duty and longing.
And when he saw him — he broke.
"Miguo… welcome back."
Tears streamed from the old warrior's eyes, glistening against the light of fire and chakra.
"I'm home… Insenbei," said Donquixote Rosinante, voice choked with emotion. His eyes, too, were red with tears — joy and sorrow woven together. To see his father-figure again, to stand among the living once more — it was both blessing and curse.
"What in the world… is happening, Sister Crane?" whispered Admiral Gion, known by her codename Momousagi, her face pale as moonlight.
"This… this is all the work of that man," said Vice Admiral Crane, voice trembling for the first time in years. "We were wrong — completely wrong. Siding with the World Government against him was the worst mistake we've ever made!"
Her calm façade had cracked, replaced by the raw fear of someone who understood the scale of what she was seeing.
The problem wasn't just the undead enemies.
It was the resurrected loved ones.
Against the enemy's undead soldiers, they could still fight — without mercy.
But what happens… when the undead are your brothers? Your friends? Your children?
If those smiling faces suddenly turned and cut you down — what kind of hell would that be?
And whether that hell became real… depended entirely on one man's will.
Sugisawa Yuuto.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Vice Admiral?" Yuuto asked softly, his expression calm — almost kind. "Aren't you happy to see your daughter again?"
His voice was smooth, without malice — and yet, that made it even more terrifying.
"Grandma! Grandma, look — it's Mom! Mom came back!"
A young kunoichi — a girl with bright eyes and long legs — ran forward, throwing herself into her resurrected mother's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Vice Admiral Crane watched the scene in silence, her heart torn apart.
Finally, she whispered, "To manipulate the dead… this is the darkest of all forbidden arts. A taboo among taboos — one that should never have been touched."
Her voice quivered, heavy with horror — not only at Yuuto's power, but at what it revealed about humanity itself.
Because in that moment, surrounded by weeping mothers and resurrected sons, she realized the truth.
Sugisawa Yuuto was no longer just a man.
He was the boundary between life and death —
the one who could unmake the natural order itself.