Chapter 46: Haki Domain

“The sense of territory… How…!?”

I felt bewildered, but instinctively, I unleashed that power to oppose the monstrous strength of Whitebeard.

Boom!!

The crimson Haki surged from within my body.

The Conqueror’s Haki I wielded began to seep into the territory I had expanded.

That alone allowed me to freely control the Conqueror’s Haki within the territory, but…

In addition to that, I used the Armament Haki to pull out the essence within me.

The essence of the Devil Fruit, to be exact.

“Grahrah! A monster!!”

In that instant, I felt a chill run down my spine as Whitebeard swung his Naginata viciously, slicing through the space and cutting down the overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki that filled the area.

I thought that if even one of those hits landed directly on the ship, even the Adam-made Moby d*ck could be in danger.

But that alone could not make the legendary Whitebeard flinch.

His Observation Haki had reached a level that allowed him to see beyond the future.

That meant this chill I felt certainly indicated that there was something behind this overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki!

“I can’t let this go!”

Fwoooosh!

His eyes shone a bright blue as a crackling sound echoed.

His grip began to focus immense vibration and Armament Haki.

This was the trigger for him to break through his limits and move to the next level.

While he couldn’t reach the 4th stage of Armament Haki like that monstrous being, he was about to infuse the Haki of Yuen into the vibrations!!

Yuen, the pinnacle of the 3rd stage of Armament Haki, could strike with enough force to affect the inside of the opponent’s body.

And vibration, which specialized in shaking and disrupting internal organs, was the perfect power to combine with that!

“Grahrahrah!! I’ll take you down in one blow! Even if you faint, I’ll make sure to drag you up!!”

He swung through the air!!

Break the world!!

Crash!!

Crackle!!

The vibrations surged toward me, and as they approached, I didn’t think of splitting the space to block it.

Instead, I entwined my hands, channeling the essence of the Devil Fruit into my grasp.

There were no incantations. It felt as though I was substituting the Devil Fruit’s powers.

I drew on the powers of the Fusion-Fusion Fruit, the combination of the Needle Needle Fruit and Thorn Thorn Fruit, and opened my mouth.

“The 5th stage of Haki…”

—Haki Territory Expansion.

Fusion-Fusion Fruit.

At that moment, I felt the entire world around me enter my domain.

While it might be compared to the awakening of a fruit, it was a sensation far beyond that—divine power, truly.

Everything in the world, including concepts themselves, could now be synthesized as my material.

Yes, even the opponent’s attack.

Crackle!

As I saw the massive vibrations and Haki rushing toward me, I spread my hand wide.

“Compose.”

“What!!?”

Whitebeard was genuinely stunned, his eyes widening.

After all, it was clear that his attack, the vibrations from the Shake Shake Fruit, had been wrapped in my grasp as if it were my own.

Like it was truly my attack. Without hesitation, I swung those same vibrations toward him!

Crackle!!!

“Grahrahrah!!!”

For a moment, Whitebeard froze, taken aback by the absurdity of it, but he quickly realized that if he took this attack head-on, he would not emerge unscathed.

He rapidly summoned his vibrations to counterbalance the incoming attack, and with a swish, he tried to punch through.

“Compose.”

“!?!”

As he reached out with his hand, I felt the vibrations flowing through me.

If things continued this way, I would steal the power of his Devil Fruit…!!

In an instant, he instinctively unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki.

Boom!!

He forced his Haki to sweep away the territory he had been trapped in!

With that, he barely managed to preserve his fruit’s power, and with that preserved energy, he swung a punch.

Crack!!

Boom!!!

The two vibrations clashed.

Finally, cough!!

Whitebeard’s iconic white beard was stained red.

He hadn’t fully summoned his strength in time to fully offset the attack, and as a result, the shockwave penetrated, damaging his insides.

Only then did he realize the significance of the Conqueror’s Haki territory that had surrounded us.

“Grahrah… the 5th stage of Haki… Territory?”

“That’s right.”

“…It seems like a combination of Conqueror’s Haki, Observation Haki, and Armament Haki at the 4th stage, with the Devil Fruit essence merged into a kind of domain…”

As he observed the crimson lightning streaking through the area, he looked toward the far-off blue sea.

There, the effects of Conqueror’s Haki had no influence at all.

The crimson Haki’s lightning only flickered within a clearly defined domain.

Normally, Conqueror’s Haki spread and faded, but this was truly an absurd level of control.

He couldn’t even do this with his Conqueror’s Haki. Maybe if it was just focused in a straight line, it could be done, but…

It was probably the Conqueror’s Haki mixed with Observation Haki.

By combining Observation Haki’s domain with Conqueror’s Haki, the latter was concentrated.

‘In that territory, I injected Armament Haki into the essence, altering the Conqueror’s domain. By blending the Devil Fruit’s essence into it…

This was, in fact, the territory of the Devil Fruit. The Fusion-Fusion Fruit.

Thanks to the intuitive name, I realized that within this space, I could likely synthesize anything, even an opponent’s power, into my own.

As expected, the original power of the Fusion-Fusion Fruit was limited to synthesizing only what I personally owned: things I could hold in my hand or within my body.

That was the original limit.

Since the Fusion-Fusion Fruit was a combination of the Needle Needle Fruit and the Thorn Thorn Fruit, it had no awakening power of its own.

But by infusing that power into my hands, I broke free of that restriction.

I could spread the powers of the fruit far and wide, as if I had achieved the awakening of the fruit.

As a result, I could even return an opponent’s attack back at them by synthesizing it into my own.

And while within the territory, I could even steal an opponent’s Devil Fruit abilities temporarily.

It was truly a power on par with territory expansion.

‘If only it weren’t for the Conqueror’s Haki…’

Nonetheless, the essence of the Conqueror’s Haki still had its influence.

If my opponent could also use Conqueror’s Haki, they could somewhat neutralize the effects of my domain, as Whitebeard had just done.

That said, that was about all.

My vibrations could be launched as ranged attacks, synthesized into my own power, and I could strike from a distance.

Furthermore, with the Fusion-Fusion Fruit’s abilities, I could unleash even stronger attacks.

“…Huh… So this is possible?”

I raised the sea, blending the seawater with my body.

Normally, the Devil Fruit’s weakness to sea water was a significant disadvantage.

But within my Haki domain, that weakness was nullified, and I could become a giant made of seawater, akin to a Logia!

Seeing the towering sea goddess, Whitebeard gazed up in awe.

To think the weakness of the Devil Fruit would be absorbed into my very form…

It was truly absurd.

But for Whitebeard, the Devil Fruit’s weakness still applied, and if we fought up close, he would lose power from being soaked in the seawater.

In this dilemma, Whitebeard laughed out loud, clearly in a difficult spot.

“Grahrahrahrah…!!!! Truly strong! Truly strong!! There’s no way around it!!! I surrender!!!!!!”

And with that, he raised both hands in the air.

( TL NOTE: And that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for reading and following along. )