Looking into the distance.
The merciless blazing sun spewed down like flames without the slightest cover onto every corner of the golden vast sea.
The gracefully winding sand dunes undulated like waves stirred up by the ocean.
For someone seeing it for the first time, this would count as a magnificent view.
But Aramaki was sick of it—no, he was downright fed up.
The place he was at right now was more than 500 km from Rōran.
Lush, vibrant forest lay behind him, while before him stretched a boundless desert.
"Ugh, how long is this supposed to go on? Damn it, I'm a general, not a farmer, you bastards in High Command!"
Aramaki folded his arms, crossed one leg over the other, sat on a wooden chair made from tree roots, and let loose a furious string of curses.
High Command had said they would credit him a certain amount of battle merit points for every 1 km2 he greened.
But the monotony of the work still had him on edge.
The key was that it not only cost him many chances to fight, it was also eating up far too much of his training time.
He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he last set foot in the gravity training ground!
Suddenly, a mass of dark red energy appeared in midair over the desert, spiraling like a vortex.
"Hm?"
At the border between soil and desert, Aramaki rose at once, vigilance stirring in his heart.
A man in a white haori, with a crimson neck-wrap and a long whip-like braid trailing behind his head, stepped out of the dark red vortex.
When the vortex vanished, this strange man first took the measure of Aramaki's towering frame.
Then, in a cool tone, he asked, "World Government Army General Aramaki, correct?"
"Yeah, that's me. Who the hell are you—are you from this shinobi world?"
Bare-chested, draped in a black coat, sunglasses on his face, Aramaki frowned and barked back.
"My name is Jigen. Your body is indeed excellent—very fitting for a 'vessel.' No wonder you're a powerhouse who can single-handedly take on Konohagakure."
Jigen nodded in praise. Ever since the World Government appeared, he had been watching from the shadows.
One could say he had watched the entire process of the World Government conquering the shinobi world, including the part where they fought the Underworld demons.
What surprised him most was the people of the main battle corps—even a bottom-rung soldier, seemed suited to become his 'vessel,' that is, capable of bearing the thawing of all 'data.'
To be honest, this was a huge surprise for him.
Before, there had been no choice: he had searched the shinobi world for nearly 1,000 years and still could not find a single one suitable to be a 'vessel.'
And now, so many candidates had appeared all at once.
Jigen wanted to find the best possible target, for example, the most powerful Army General!
So Jigen's first target was actually Sakazuki, who was training with the power of the Dragon Vein beneath Rōran.
Originally, in the last few days, he had already been ready to make a move, but who could have known Sakazuki had long since left the shinobi world.
This forced Jigen to shift his gaze onto Aramaki.
His physique, over 3 m tall, was also uncommon among people.
The key was that his aura was incomparably robust and forceful.
Although he could not compare to Sakazuki, he far surpassed the other officers of the main battle corps.
Especially since Aramaki had recently often stayed alone deep in the uninhabited desert.
This finally made Jigen unable to restrain himself; he prepared to carve the 'Black Kama' onto Aramaki.
Then, once the 'thawing' was complete, he would directly seize the body.
Best of all would be if none of this were known to anyone; that way he could smoothly infiltrate the interior of the World Government.
"'Vessel'?"
"What the hell are you talking about, bastard!"
At the instant Aramaki was about to make a move to grab Jigen and take him back to Rōran for interrogation, black lines had already appeared across the latter's face, and he was the first to raise his hand and aim at Aramaki.
In the next second, four sharp black rods suddenly stabbed into Aramaki's four limbs, and in the blink of an eye pierced through the 'wounds' and swept toward the vast sea of trees behind.
Only, Jigen did not seem pleased by this; instead, his expression grew even more grave.
"Such speed!"
Across from him, Aramaki was startled.
If not for his ability to 'foresee the future,' which let him preemptively elementize and separate the parts being attacked at the critical instant, he would definitely have been hit.
Although he did not know what those black rods were, his instincts told him they could hurt him.
The key was that the speed of that attack had truly been too fast; even his Observation Haki could only barely sense the trajectory.
"You've made a move—then be ready to pay the price!"
Aramaki flew into a towering rage.
For someone from a defeated world to dare attack an Army Headquarters General—this was sheer audacity.
At once, Aramaki thrust out his right hand, and his five fingers rapidly turned into thick, long branches.
Their surfaces were dyed in a layer of black as they shot toward Jigen, raising shrill, piercing whistles.
His attack speed was also unbelievably fast; to the naked eye of an ordinary person, these branches that broke the sound barrier were simply invisible.
However, Jigen's body vanished in an instant, then reappeared on the other side, his palm already aimed at Aramaki.
"Again!"
Aramaki gave a cold snort; the fingers of his left hand also turned into branches, which he then swept rapidly before him.
In an instant they formed indistinct afterimages, blocking every one of the black rods that had appeared out of thin air.
But just then, Aramaki felt a sharp sound of air being torn coming from behind.
[Swish!]
With just a sidestep he slipped past the swinging black shadow; looking closely, it was a pitch-black long staff.
"Very strong perception."
Jigen, holding the black staff, offered a word of praise, then swiftly swept the staff to cover Aramaki.
"Your ability is interesting too—show me more!"
Aramaki saw two more black rods appear out of nowhere, piercing his abdomen and leg.
While pondering how these things were being fired over, he engaged the other party at close quarters.
Both his fists had already woodified, their surfaces coated with an inky-black sheen and a layer of cherry-red flowing light.
[Clang-clang-clang-clang…]
The two of them became streams of light—one black-and-red, the other black-and-white—flickering back and forth between desert and forest.
The clash of heavy punches and black staff was like an unending piano piece, filling every corner of the battlefield.
Suddenly, a commotion far more violent than before erupted.
[Boom!]
Jigen was sent flying backward, crashing hard into the desert and heaving up a tidal curtain of sand.
In the next moment—all around the half-crouching Jigen in the sand pit, thick long trunks with sharpened tips burst up through the sand.
Like giant pythons opening bloody maws, they lunged at Jigen one after another.
Only for Jigen's figure to once more vanish into thin air.
All the trunks hammered into the empty sand pit.
Not far away, Aramaki focused his mind and immediately sensed Jigen's familiar yet extremely faint aura.
"So that's how it is—you also have the ability to shrink your body!"
Having seen all kinds of Devil Fruit abilities, Aramaki could easily accept and understand such special powers.
"It seems this state makes it hard to pin you down, so—"
Opposite him, Jigen, having returned to normal size, was likewise quite astonished by the combat power Aramaki had displayed.
Although his skill and experience in taijutsu were not worth mentioning, his strength was ferocious, his speed swift, far beyond Jigen's current 'first state.'
Especially his perception—it was unbelievably strong.
He knew that should be the ability known as Observation Haki.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki within Jigen wanted to end this quickly and began releasing more power.
The rhomboid 'Black Kama' on his chin flared with crimson light, until a curved sharp horn formed atop his head.
"His aura just got stronger?"
Aramaki looked genuinely shocked.
[Boom!!]
Jigen did not respond to Aramaki; with the slightest sway, his figure abruptly disappeared from Aramaki's sight.
At the same time, a surging shockwave blasted open where he had stood, once more pitching skyward pillars of sand.
[Bang!!!]
In the next instant, Jigen appeared right in front of Aramaki.
The black shoe, carrying a torrent of force, slammed hard into Aramaki's bare chest, bending him at the waist and sending him flying.
Like a massive shell, Aramaki, in the blink of an eye, punched through the vast sea of trees.
Every tree along the way turned to powder, and the ground was plowed into a long furrow.
"Hm?"
But just as Jigen was about to move to chase him down and deliver another heavy blow—the soil underfoot suddenly exploded.
Aramaki, lower body still woodified and upper body human, drove a fist into Jigen's chest.
Jigen was also completely unprepared for Aramaki's strike; after all, he did not have the ability to 'foresee the future.'
So he could only instinctively summon several black rods before him for defense and counterattack.
Aramaki did not retreat in the slightest.
His black fists, sheathed in a layer of cherry-red flowing light, smashed aside the black rods that tried to intercept him.
But the sliver of time the rods bought—was enough for Jigen to activate 'Sukunahikona' and shrink his body in an instant.
But right then, Aramaki was already prepared.
From his bare chest, needle-thin branches shot out in streaks.
With aura-lock from Observation Haki, they struck unerringly at Jigen's position.
Unfortunately, in this state Jigen's speed was unbelievably fast, and his movements preternaturally agile.
With a series of incredible contortions, he evaded every single twig's attack, then vaulted rapidly above Aramaki and returned to his normal size, as a grim sheet of black shadow pressed down from overhead.
They were massive black-and-red cubes.
Seeing this, Aramaki did not falter in the least.
In an instant, from the ruined earth all around, thick trees like thousand-year-old giants burst from the ground.
At a speed the naked eye could hardly follow, they formed colossal wooden fists that struck head-on at the bases of the massive cubes.
[Bang, Bang, Bang!]
The weight of the cubes was bizarrely immense, and the Haki-coated wooden fists were equally formidable.
But after only a moment of deadlock, cracks began to spread across Aramaki's wooden fists, which then broke apart.
In the end, they still could not stop those incredibly heavy cubes from crashing down.
"What?!"
At the same time, Jigen, breaking through layer after layer of sound barriers, kicked Aramaki flying.
His whole body blurred into afterimages, slamming straight into the surface of one massive cube.
The indestructible cube stood immovable, all the reactive force hammering his body up and down.
"Ughhh—!"
That made Aramaki spit out a mouthful of blood, shock filling his eyes.
What shocked him was that his Observation Haki had actually failed.
For someone long accustomed to relying on Observation Haki, this threw him into panic and left him deeply unsettled.
Relying entirely on his own speed, power, a thousand years of battle experience and technique, and his ability to shrink at any moment, Jigen relentlessly battered Aramaki as he struggled to resist.
Aramaki's heart burned with fury, his body erupting with violent Haki power.
Aramaki thrust both hands into the ground.
The earth heaved up at a rapid pace, spewing forth a massive surge of trees that hurled every surrounding giant cube away.
At the same time, his own body began to swell at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Aramaki realized this was an enemy he had to face with his full strength.
Otherwise, he might very well fall here!
But in midair, Jigen only looked down coldly at his every move, casually reclaiming the cubes flying into the distance into his space, then summoning them out again, to crash down upon Aramaki, who had already become a colossal tree-man.
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