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OPI Chapter 440: Burn, Bleed, and Sink
🕑 Added 2025-06-22 23:56:54 +0000 UTC“Next, it’s time to clean up you pieces of trash.” Crocodile swept his cold gaze over the dense mass of demons below. At the same time, he s
“Next, it’s time to clean up you pieces of trash.”
Crocodile swept his cold gaze over the dense mass of demons below.
At the same time, he slowly raised his right hand—
In that instant, his right palm slammed heavily against the side of the Pyramid, channeling the power of his Suna-Suna no Mi into the relatively small desert below.
Before long, both demons and shinobi alike felt the ground beneath their feet begin to shake violently.
[BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!]
Suddenly, columns of yellow sand burst into the air one after another from within the demon horde, like geysers or erupting magma.
Meanwhile, as sand columns continued to rain down from the skies, the layer of sand thickened at an astonishing rate.
The demons were horrified to discover that their legs, now submerged in sand, were being tightly bound by a powerful suction force pulling their bodies downward.
It was quicksand!
But that wasn’t the most terrifying part.
“AAAH! What’s happening?! My… my body!”
“These sand grains… they’re sucking the blood out of us?!”
Grotesque, monstrous demons of all shapes and sizes screamed in agony as they writhed in the surging quicksand.
They felt as though every single grain of sand that touched their skin was drying out their flesh and blood.
“Underworld Domain!”
One mid-ranked demon let out a final shriek before being swallowed by the sand: “This is Underworld Domain magic!!!”
“Underworld Domain?”
“How is that possible? This is clearly elemental magic!”
“Only high-ranking demons can imbue elemental magic with the power of rules!”
“This sand… it contains demonic energy! It’s very faint, but I’m sure of it—it’s demonic!”
“Are you a demon? A native-born demon of this world? Or one from another world?”
Another demon roared furiously at the airborne Crocodile.
But what it couldn’t understand was—why did such a faint demonic aura wield such overwhelming power?
The suction beneath the sand layer was utterly inescapable.
“Huh?”
Crocodile raised an eyebrow.
He suddenly recalled that Shinnō had once said something similar.
Could it be that Devil Fruits were truly connected to these demons?
Or perhaps, as the legends claimed, each Devil Fruit actually housed a demon within?
But even after awakening his power, he hadn’t sensed anything of the sort.
Then again, the existence of beast spirits within Zoan-type Devil Fruits had already been confirmed by the Science Division.
At that moment—
Crocodile also noticed Rasa, who was manipulating ten 'golden sand spears' to slaughter demons one after another.
He didn’t even need to ask. Just by sensing the dense Magnet Release chakra infused into the spears, it was clear that this chakra nature could indeed harm demons—
—but its efficiency was far too low.
If they relied solely on Rasa’s method, even if every demon stood still, it would take an eternity to wipe them all out.
“Looks like to truly end this, I’ll have to cut it off at the source.”
Crocodile turned his gaze toward the volcanic cave in the distance, from which waves of demons were still pouring out.
Shukaku should be inside as well.
[WHOOSH————]
The next moment, as a fierce gust of wind swept past—
Crocodile’s body turned to golden sand, swiftly drifting toward the volcano spewing thick black smoke and fire.
Seeing this from afar, Rasa, Chiyo, and the others felt their panic and unease ease into calm.
Although they hadn’t known him long, and their encounters had been anything but friendly—
Crocodile’s strength now gave them an overwhelming sense of security.
With most ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, and even kekkei genkai proving useless against demons, without the World Government’s aid, the ninja world would have likely fallen completely.
Meanwhile—
The quicksand that Crocodile had unleashed before departing had obliterated countless demons.
It bought the Sunagakure shinobi a much-needed moment to breathe.
On the other side, the demons clearly had no intention of giving them any more rest.
In the distance, yet another vast horde of demons was charging in like a dark tide.
And this time, Crocodile was no longer there to help them.
“Stay sharp!”
Right then, Rasa flew over on a cloud of golden sand and shouted loudly: “This battle isn’t about the interests of our village—it’s about protecting our world! If you don’t want your parents, your families, and your children to face these terrifying demons, then prepare to lay down your lives right here!!!”
The Sunagakure shinobi froze for a moment.
That’s right—
If they let the demons break through this line, wouldn’t those precious people—
Just the thought of it made the shinobi who had slumped to the ground grit their teeth and climb back to their feet.
Seeing this, Rasa and Chiyo exchanged a glance.
At the very least—their morale was still intact!
“I’ll buy you more time to rest. Recover as much chakra as you can!”
Without hesitation, Rasa flew straight toward the approaching demon army.
With a furious shout, he clapped both palms together in front of him.
[RUMBLE RUMBLE!]
In an instant—
The earth, already turned to desert, surged up with massive waves of golden sand.
Under the control of Magnet Release chakra, it formed tide after tide of golden sand waves, surging forward like an unstoppable flood.
Rasa truly lived up to the name of the Fourth Kazekage. In this critical moment, he was undeniably reliable.
Previously, he had refrained from using this scale of Gold Sand technique to conserve chakra.
But now, Rasa had realized—the key was no longer how many demons he could kill.
It was about helping their side hold out long enough for Crocodile to eliminate the source.
And Rasa believed that the World Government’s reinforcements must already be on their way.
Sure enough, about 20 minutes later—
Reinforcements did arrive. But they weren’t from the World Government.
It was a Konoha unit led by Jiraiya and Uchiha Fugaku.
As soon as they arrived, without a moment’s hesitation, they coordinated with Chiyo and Pakura.
They requested their help in organizing the retreat of the Sunagakure shinobi—and passed control of the defensive line over to the Konoha forces.
Not long after, upon hearing the latest intel regarding the demons, Uchiha Fugaku furrowed his brows and asked: “So only Magnet Release chakra can harm demons? I’d like to test that for myself.”
As soon as he finished speaking—and under the watchful, awed eyes of the Konoha shinobi around him—
Fugaku vanished in a blur, his body slicing through the air with a piercing whoosh.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared near Rasa.
“The Uchiha Clan Head?”
“It’s no use. These demons can only be dealt with using my Magnet Release!”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
Fugaku bit his finger without hesitation. As fresh blood flowed, he slammed his palm onto the sand.
“Summoning Jutsu!”
[BOOM————]
With a puff of white smoke, a large black hawk appeared out of thin air, lifting Fugaku on its back and soaring high into the sky.
Fugaku, riding high above the demon horde atop his black hawk, looked down.
His eyes rapidly morphed into the sinister glow of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
“Amaterasu!!!”
The next moment, as a single line of blood-tears streamed from Fugaku’s left eye—
A jet-black flame erupted in the middle of the demon army, appearing out of nowhere.
[BOOM————]
The black fire began to engulf the demons, burning fiercely upon their pitch-black bodies.
“Ahhhhh! What is this thing?!”
“Fire? Black fire?!”
“It burns! It's scorching hot! Damn it—why won’t it go out?!”
Grotesque demons, mostly black in hue and each bearing twisted pairs of horns, were driven into an even more frenzied hysteria as they faced the agony and fear brought on by the black flames engulfing their bodies.
The black flames currently consuming the battlefield struck deep, unshakable fear even into these demons—creatures that thrived on the terror of living beings.
They tried everything—blasting the flames with lightning, dousing them with torrents of water, even scorching themselves with their own fire in an attempt to fight fire with fire—but all of it was futile.
No matter what they tried, the black fire consumed everything without mercy.
In the end, all they could do was watch in horror as the flames spread over their bodies, until they collapsed with blood-curdling screams, dying miserably in this world they had only just entered.
The surviving demons quickly scattered, fleeing from any of their kin that had caught the black fire.
None of them had ever encountered a flame so terrifying.
However, some demons began to notice that the black fire didn’t actually spread that quickly. It was still possible to amputate the burning flesh in time.
Faced with the threat of death, they acted with shocking decisiveness.
Once one demon successfully rid itself of the flames by cutting away its flesh or severing a limb, many others began to imitate the method with remarkable speed.
