Chapter 175 (Patreon)

Konoha, deep within a deserted forest.

Beneath the shadow of a towering tree, Nerona Mihawk raised two fingers and lightly swept them through the air as though they were a blade.

An indescribable power flowed from his fingertips.

The space before him silently distorted.

Then, as if an invisible curtain had been sliced apart, a massive tear opened within the empty air itself. Darkness spread through the rift until it resembled a small black hole, forming a strange gateway that seemed to connect two entirely different points in space-time.

Mihawk quietly observed the world gate before him.

Before entering, he turned his head and glanced back in the direction of Konoha.

He had deliberately left Hinata and Hanabi behind.

This was his first time entering one of these unknown worlds, and he had absolutely no idea what might be waiting on the other side.

If the destination happened to be an extremely dangerous world—or worse, a world where beings far beyond his current strength were constantly at war—then bringing Hinata and Hanabi along would only place them in unnecessary danger.

Mihawk had no intention of gambling with their lives merely to satisfy his curiosity.

He would investigate the place himself first.

With that decision made, he stepped through the gate.

...

The moment Mihawk entered, the scenery around him changed completely.

A long passage stretched out ahead.

At its distant end stood a brilliant white gate of light.

Above him, below him, and on either side stretched what looked like the depths of the universe. Countless stars and distant galaxies shimmered within an endless darkness, making it impossible to distinguish up from down through sight alone.

Strangely, however, Mihawk could still feel solid ground beneath his feet.

It reminded him somewhat of walking across one of those transparent glass bridges from his previous life, except beneath this one lay an endless sea of stars.

The passage did not appear particularly long.

Yet Mihawk walked for nearly half an hour before finally approaching its end.

When he was only a short distance away, the single white gate before him suddenly changed.

The light split apart.

One gate became six.

Six identical white gateways now stood before Mihawk, each completely different from the dark rift through which he had originally entered.

Mihawk stopped.

It seemed he had been given another choice.

His gaze slowly moved across the six gates.

After several seconds of consideration, he stepped toward the first.

Ever since he was young, the number one had accompanied him through countless choices.

So this time, Mihawk once again chose the first option.

The moment he stepped through the gateway, dazzling white light flooded his vision.

It completely covered his sight, yet strangely, there was no pain or irritation.

Several seconds later, the light gradually faded.

What appeared before Mihawk was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Towering buildings filled the skyline.

Paved roads stretched through the city, surrounded by vehicles, signs, electrical infrastructure, and architecture that clearly belonged to a technologically advanced modern civilization.

For a brief moment, Mihawk wondered whether he had somehow returned to the world of his previous life.

“Rrgh…”

A low, guttural growl suddenly came from behind him.

Mihawk moved before consciously thinking.

His Observation Haki had long since become almost instinctive.

His right hand rose to the small cross-shaped sword hanging around his neck.

The tiny weapon slipped free.

Swish!

Puchi!

A white flash passed through the air.

The creature approaching from behind was instantly severed.

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

“...Dead Body?”

Mihawk glanced at the notification, his brows drawing together slightly.

Only then did he properly examine his surroundings.

This city was nothing like the bustling modern metropolis he had first imagined.

Instead, the entire street looked as though civilization had collapsed overnight.

Damaged cars lay abandoned everywhere. Some had crashed into walls or one another, while others continued to burn, sending thick columns of black smoke into the sky.

Broken glass and debris covered the road.

Pieces of rotting flesh were scattered across the pavement, surrounded by foul mixtures of dark red, green, and purple fluids.

The smell alone was enough to make an ordinary person vomit.

More noticeable than any of that, however, were the figures wandering through the streets.

Some stumbled aimlessly.

Others chased desperately fleeing survivors.

Whenever one caught its prey, it immediately sank its teeth into living flesh.

Screams echoed throughout the ruined city.

Mihawk naturally recognized what he was looking at.

Even after living in the shinobi world for more than ten years, he had not forgotten the creatures that stories from his previous life had called zombies.

Apparently, however, the system classified them as ‘Dead Bodies.’

Mihawk raised an eyebrow.

“The end of the world?”

Disappointment briefly crossed his face.

A post-apocalyptic world was not necessarily useless.

If the world possessed a vast supernatural system and these zombies were merely the weakest creatures within it, then there could still be considerable value here.

But Mihawk had never been particularly interested in environments like this.

Collapsed civilization.

Rotting cities.

And, more often than not, people revealing the ugliest sides of themselves once laws and order disappeared.

“Rrgh…”

Several nearby Dead Bodies turned toward him.

Apparently, even his quiet voice had been enough to attract them.

They rushed forward with outstretched arms.

Mihawk did not even bother drawing Nemesis.

Against creatures this weak, using his actual sword would be ridiculous.

The small cross-shaped sword in his hand was already more than enough.

His wrist moved.

Swish!

A thin white crescent flashed across the street.

Puchi!

Several bodies were cut apart almost simultaneously.

A mixture of dark blue and red fluid sprayed through the air, a few droplets landing against Mihawk’s cheek.

Thump!

His heartbeat suddenly became unusually clear.

Mihawk lowered his gaze toward the corpses still twitching on the pavement.

Then a faint smile appeared on his face.

“Maybe this world isn’t completely useless after all.”

The thought of immediately leaving disappeared.

Instead, Mihawk decided that he would remain here for several days.

There was something he had been unable to complete for a very long time.

His murderous swordsmanship.

As he had discovered long ago, swordsmanship centered around killing could not truly mature through technique alone.

It required intent.

Killing intent accumulated through actual slaughter.

Without that foundation, even with Mihawk’s overwhelming strength and the assistance of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, this particular path of swordsmanship would remain incomplete.

There had only been one occasion when Mihawk had truly entered that peculiar state.

Back when Konoha’s plan had collapsed and he had immersed himself completely in killing.

Afterward, no matter how much he trained, he had never quite managed to reproduce that sensation.

But just now…

The sudden acceleration of his heartbeat.

The subtle shift in his emotions.

That strangely familiar calm gradually settling over his mind.

He recognized it.

Mihawk finally gave the creatures around him a more serious look.

Not because they were dangerous.

They were trash.

Even ordinary shinobi would hardly consider creatures like these meaningful opponents.

There was another reason Mihawk had personally cut them down instead of simply destroying them from a distance.

They were peculiar.

Through the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Mihawk could see something on them he had never encountered before.

Their Lines of Death were fundamentally different from those of ordinary living beings.

Even the reanimated dead created through Edo Tensei and White Zetsu had never possessed death lines quite like these.

That alone made them worth examining.

Mihawk slowly closed his eyes.

When they opened again, their normal crimson color had disappeared.

A cold, crystalline blue filled them instead.

The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

His left hand rested casually near his waist while his right held the tiny cross-shaped sword that normally hung around his neck.

Then he began walking down the street.

Swish!

Puchi!

The first Dead Body was split apart.

Another lunged from beside an overturned car.

Swish!

Its body separated before it could even reach him.

More foul liquid splattered across Mihawk’s clothes.

Anything that touched the fabric was immediately swept away by an invisible force before it could stain him.

His silver hair and face, however, gradually collected a few traces of blood and grime.

Combined with those icy blue eyes, the sight gave Mihawk’s usually handsome appearance an unsettling edge.

Those eyes looked like pieces of ice embedded within his face.

Anyone who met them directly might have felt their body temperature drop simply from the sensation of being seen through.

Tear!

Slash!

Puchi!

The repeated sounds of bodies being cut apart echoed through the street.

Mihawk’s pace gradually increased, his walk turning into a jog and then a run. His blood grew hotter and his heartbeat quickened, yet strangely, his mind only became calmer.

That contradiction was exactly the sensation he had been searching for.

His perception spread naturally through the surrounding area.

At this point, even Mihawk himself could no longer clearly distinguish where Observation Haki ended and the perception granted by listening to the Breath of All Things began.

Neither required conscious effort anymore.

Both had become part of his instincts.

His running figure blurred.

Then disappeared.

An afterimage swept across the ruined street.

Whoosh!

The tiny cross-shaped blade in his hand became a streak of white light.

A Dead Body turned toward the sound.

Before it could even growl—

Puchi!

A white streak crossed its body.

Another had barely begun raising its arms.

Puchi!

Its head separated from its shoulders.

Several more emerged from between abandoned vehicles.

White flashes passed through them one after another.

For an instant, nothing happened.

Then perfectly smooth cuts appeared across their bodies.

Tear!

Dark red and bluish fluid erupted outward like fountains.

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

[You killed a ‘Dead Body’ and gained 0.0001% template progress.]

[...]

One.

Two.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

The number continued rising.

Wherever Mihawk passed, mutilated corpses began piling across the pavement.

Severed limbs rolled between abandoned cars.

Bodies fell apart into cleanly divided sections.

Torn intestines and internal organs spilled across the ground as the once-silent street gradually became covered in the remains of the Dead Bodies.

And Mihawk continued forward.

The tiny cross-shaped sword flashed again.

Author’s Note:

This world won’t last very long—probably fewer than ten chapters, or somewhere around the early ten-chapter range at most.

Its main purpose is to raise Mihawk’s template progress and his own unique sword style centered around "Killing and Death“ quickly so he can unlock another template before returning.

So don’t worry. He won’t be staying here for too long.