Chapter Forty-Nine: One Step, One Person

“What... what is that?”
Staring in astonishment at the Asura Demon Statue that had manifested behind Chu Yi, Tiger muttered his question, but received no answer. Hancock and Rob Lucci were equally curious about the mysterious figure behind Chu Yi, uncertain as to its origin. Only Chu Yi himself understood the truth behind the Asura Demon Statue.
The answer lay within the awakening material he had used for his second awakening—the Visualization Fruit.
The legendary Visualization Fruit was truly miraculous. Aside from a select few like Hammock who could grasp its profound mysteries, elevating it to a legendary Devil Fruit in the pirate world, most who consumed the Visualization Fruit spent their lives never comprehending its true wonders.
But Chu Yi was not among those unfortunates.
After using the Visualization Fruit as his awakening material for a second time, it did not take long for Chu Yi to discern that the source of his power stemmed from the Asura Demon Statue.
As his understanding of the fruit deepened—especially after his battle with the future admiral Aokiji, which inadvertently revealed to him the deeper secrets of the fruit—Chu Yi gradually mastered the cultivation method for the Visualization Fruit’s power: to push himself to his absolute limits. In doing so, the Asura Demon Statue, the wellspring of this power, would bestow upon him countless benefits.
Yet, as he set out to “purify” the filth of Mary Geoise, to cleanse that decaying street, new insights dawned upon him, and suddenly, Chu Yi realized he had been mistaken.
His error was not in his cultivation method.
Indeed, every time he pushed himself to the brink, his mastery over the Visualization Fruit grew.
But this was no shortcut—nor was it the truly correct path. The true way to harness the Visualization Fruit lay not in the body, but in the mind.
With each deepening realization, as his heart found clarity, the pace at which he cleansed the filthy “Sixth District” quickened. At last, enlightenment struck!
In a single thought, one could become a Buddha—or a demon.
Since both Buddha and demon arise from a single thought, the Asura—master of the path of slaughter—was not simply evil.
To wield the Asura Blade and cleanse the rotten world...
That was Chu Yi’s path of slaughter.
That was his Asura Way!
The moment he attained this realization, a transformation occurred deep within his soul, and with a sudden thundering within, the Human-Human Fruit’s Asura form merged flawlessly with his being.
The Visualization Fruit, used for his second awakening, fused perfectly with the Asura form as he comprehended the path of slaughter. The two became inseparable.
Although this perfect fusion did not grant Chu Yi a dramatic boost in physical prowess, one thing was undeniable: the flawless integration of the Human-Human Fruit’s Asura form and the Visualization Fruit had brought about a qualitative leap in his power.

At the same time, Chu Yi gained a deeper understanding of how to master his newfound abilities.
To become a perfect fivefold awakener, he would have to successively master the Way of Strength in his third awakening, the Way of the Leopard in his fourth, and the Way of Ice in his fifth.
Yet, for now, fusing the other three great Ways into himself would be no easy feat. But even with only the perfect comprehension of the Asura Way, the surge in his strength gave Chu Yi the confidence to lead Tiger and Hancock in wreaking havoc in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise!

It wasn’t long before—

“Hm?”

Leading the way, Chu Yi suddenly halted. His instincts, honed by the art of Paper Drawing, sensed three powerful presences up ahead.
Sure enough, three figures in navy uniforms soon appeared before him.
Tiger, bringing up the rear, clenched his fists the moment he caught sight of the marines, clearly preparing for battle.

“Kid, be careful!”
Fixing his gaze upon the trio, Tiger’s eyes fell first on the one to the left. In a voice audible to Chu Yi, he said, “That one on the left is Ryan, Vice Admiral of Headquarters. He’s a master of Armament Haki and swordsmanship. See the sword in his hand? Rumor has it that Ryan—”

“Wait! Kid, what are you doing?”

Tiger hadn’t finished relaying Ryan’s information before, with a startled exclamation, Chu Yi’s form flashed and appeared directly before Vice Admiral Ryan!

“Soru!”

In an instant, his toe lightly tapped the ground, executing a flawless Soru from the Six Powers of the Navy.

Seeing Chu Yi approaching at such speed, Vice Admiral Ryan slowly drew his sword, Armament Haki coiling around the blade, ready to strike down at Chu Yi.

But before Ryan could bring his sword to bear, almost at the very instant his hand gripped the hilt, a crimson light flared in the eyes of the Asura Demon Statue behind Chu Yi. In the next breath, a fist shot out!

A thunderous roar split the air—Tiger Shakes the Earth!

Ryan was given no chance to react. As the Asura Demon Statue’s fist crashed down, a golden leopard phantom struck the ground, sending dust and debris swirling.
Chu Yi had not even allowed Ryan the opportunity to draw his sword, dispatching him in an instant with the Asura Demon Statue’s Tiger Shakes the Earth!

Yet just as Vice Admiral Ryan fell, a cold snort rang out.

“Hmph!”

The middle of the three Vice Admirals raised his foot and unleashed a Rankyaku, a slicing blue shockwave streaking toward Chu Yi with blinding speed.

Damn...

That was Vice Admiral Shadowless, a master of the Six Powers!

Completely forgetting the fate that had just befallen Ryan, Tiger’s Observation Haki sensed the attack and he shouted, “Kid, dodge! That’s Vice Admiral Shadowless. According to my intel, he’s a master of the Six Powers, and his Rankyaku is the most powerful among all of Headquarters. Even though he hasn’t awakened Observation Haki, his mastery of Paper Drawing—”

“Uh...”

Tiger had meant to explain more, but the sight before him forced the words back down his throat.

For as Shadowless’s Rankyaku slashed toward Chu Yi, he neither dodged nor flinched. Instead, he stepped in close.

At the exact moment the blue arc was about to strike his body, a sharp crack rang out!

The Asura Demon Statue behind Chu Yi enveloped him, forming an impenetrable armor that shielded him entirely from Shadowless’s attack.

In that same instant, Chu Yi’s palm, gripping the Asura Blade, slashed downward!

A chilling cold exploded outward—the power of the Ice-Ice Fruit unleashed!

Even before the blade fell, the icy aura spreading from it instantly froze Vice Admiral Shadowless into a glittering sculpture of ice.

A double kill!

Two seconds. With each step, Chu Yi dispatched a powerful Vice Admiral.

In this moment, Chu Yi’s performance was flawless, but he remained unsatisfied. With another sliding step, he closed in on the final Vice Admiral, not even giving Tiger time to speak or explain the man’s background. Relying on the Asura Demon Statue’s extraordinary defense, Chu Yi easily blocked the sudden Shigan attack.

Then—

Left hand forming a palm, Shinra Tensei!

A resounding boom.

Harnessing the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei, Chu Yi sent the last Vice Admiral hurtling away. The marine crashed into a nearby building, collapsing into the ruins in utter defeat. With this, Chu Yi completed a perfect triple kill, dispatching three powerful Vice Admirals, one with each step.

Such swift victories left Tiger and Lucci utterly dumbfounded.

But as Tiger’s eye twitched violently, searching for words to describe Chu Yi’s overwhelming strength, Chu Yi’s cool voice drifted over, nearly driving Tiger to the brink of giving him a sound beating:

“So, Tiger, what’s the name of that last Vice Admiral? What’s his specialty?”

“Why did you fall silent?”