"Could this be... Devil Fruit awakening?"
Lucci's expression changed drastically as he immediately realized what was happening. He shouted in a low voice, "Retreat!"
At the same time, he grabbed the terrified, screaming Spandam and swiftly used the Six Powers' Shave to dodge to the side.
Blueno, Jabra, and the others reacted quickly as well, dodging just as fast. But Kumadori didn't move—instead, he activated the Six Powers' Iron Body!
The sky filled with a rain of paper like a cascading waterfall, slamming straight through Kumadori and sending him flying. The surrounding trees were instantly obliterated.
Finally, all the paper rain swirled in the air before flying upward, forming a pair of massive paper wings behind a blue-haired woman.
Konan descended from the sky, looking vastly different from before.
The most obvious change was that she no longer appeared pale with a body covered in cracks.
This was thanks to the Paper-Paper Fruit that Lin Xuan had obtained from Monkey D. Dragon. After Orochimaru finished his research, she had consumed it!
Now, Konan not only possessed Devil Fruit powers but had also been fully revived!
As for why she could revive, it stemmed from a unique property of Devil Fruits: even inanimate objects could gain life if they "ate" one, just like Spandam's sword.
Konan had been in a reanimated state, her soul bound by the technique while her body was merely condensed dust—an inanimate vessel. By eating the Devil Fruit, that body regained life, allowing her to truly come back.
Of course, this differed from Brook's Revive-Revive Fruit, which let the soul return to the body after death.
Already skilled in paper manipulation, gaining the Paper-Paper Fruit boosted her strength tremendously.
On top of that, after Orochimaru returned from the Dragon Ball world, he used special materials from Namek to create a strengthening nutrient solution, which Konan had recently used to enhance her physical body!
With Orochimaru's help, she had awakened her Devil Fruit powers. Now, she didn't even know the full extent of her strength!
At the very least, she no longer needed to prepare explosive tags in advance—she could create them directly with her awakened abilities!
"Intruders in the Ninja Guild will die!"
Konan turned her icy gaze toward Lucci and the others. Sheets of paper appeared in her hand, transforming into a long sword that she gripped tightly.
"Yoi yoi! I thought I was done for—ah, but I can't die just yet!"
Kumadori yelled as he charged back from the distance, rejoining Lucci and the group.
Though he survived, his body was riddled with bloody holes, blood flowing freely.
Spandam's face had gone pale; he thought he was about to die.
Now that he'd recovered, his expression darkened. He pointed at Konan and shouted, "Lucci, kill that woman right now!"
Lucci, Blueno, Kaku, and the others stared at the woman before them, recognizing her as the one who caused the massive explosion during the war at the Sabaody Archipelago.
They immediately went on high alert.
What bothered them more was that they couldn't use their own Devil Fruits, yet she could. Was this effect targeted somehow?
They didn't know how it was done, but they knew the Ninja Guild was behind it, deepening their wariness of the organization.
In this situation, retreat wasn't an option—Spandam clearly wouldn't allow it. So, they had no choice but to fight!
Shave!
In an instant, their figures vanished, reappearing around Konan.
They attacked from all directions, each unleashing advanced Six Powers techniques with tremendous power.
"Paper Shield!"
Konan remained calm as paper swiftly gathered around her, forming several shields that blocked the CP9's combined assault...
Bang! Bang... Bang!
The impacts echoed as the paper shields held against Lucci's attacks but were shattered and scattered.
At that moment, under Konan's control, the surrounding paper latched onto Lucci and the others. Black patterns emerged on them, turning the paper into explosive tags!
Konan flashed backward in retreat, whispering, "Explode!"
Boom!
The explosions detonated with a roar, blasting the CP9 members away.
"Damn it!" Spandam cursed from his hiding spot, his face twisting in frustration.
But he soon relaxed when he saw that Lucci and the others were still alive.
CP9's strength was undeniable—they'd used Iron Body in time during the blast. Though injured, they survived, albeit with serious wounds.
"This woman's ability is such a pain!" Jabra grumbled, wiping his mouth in annoyance.
Soon, they launched another assault on Konan. Their teamwork was seamless, and together, their combat prowess was overwhelming—even the empowered Konan felt the pressure.
The battle grew fiercer, devastating more and more of the Sabaody Archipelago.
Just as Spandam thought Lucci's team had the upper hand, Konan suddenly smirked and said, "I'm done playing around. As the boss would say, it's time to show the real deal!"
With those words, her body dispersed—it had been a paper clone made of explosive tags all along.
What was truly despairing was that the ground and trees all around had transformed into explosive tags, forming an ocean of them!
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T/N:
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