281
Luffy Pov,
I dashed through the forest around me, passing the broken trees and rubble behind me. I could already hear the others engaging the Blackbeard Pirates. I could have joined them, and left Aramaki for someone else, but no. I had a score to settle with him.
He tried to hunt me and my crew when we were at our weakest back then, and there was a high chance he would have succeeded if he didn't get cocky.
That time, I felt like a piece of crap for double-teaming Aramaki like that. Sure, I was a pirate and I knew that sometimes playing unfairly was the only way to survive in this world. But I didn't just want to survive here, no, I wanted to thrive.
I was going to be the King of Pirates. I was going to become the strongest man alive. I couldn't let the challenge be left unsettled.
Also, it rubbed me the wrong way with what he did with Law's crew. Their crew was made out of a bunch of doctors, doctors that wanted to live freely on the open sea.
I was keeping an eye on the other future Supernovas for potential recruitment or alliance. If Aramaki did this to Kid's crew or any other's I wouldn't have paid them any mind, but Law's crew?
They were genuinely good guys from what I knew in the series and what I gathered out of Morgan's information network. Sure, they had their own faults, but to be killed like that… that didn't sit right with me. It was just wrong.
The moment I saw Aramaki's figure my Observation Haki flared up, I had a small time to react as the Green Bull swiped his sword at me. I didn't back down from the challenge, but rather used my nameless naginata to match his sword, both of our weapons laced with Haki.
Our blades clashed, creating a small shockwave as the ground beneath us cracked. The wind blew and black lightning flashed due to the initial clash.
"So, you finally showed up, bastard!" Aramaki grinned. His face was covered with bandages. Well, mostly covered, the last punch from me ripped out a good portion of it.
And what I saw underneath the bandage was something that only a mother could love. Even that was stretching it. Only then did I realize that this was my handwork.
"Wow, you look like Voldemort's face had a kid with Dumbledore's nut-sack," I called out, grinning, "Your World Noble master has a kink for ugly bastard or something? On second thought don't answer that…"
Aramaki growled as he swiped his blade at me which I ducked, before parrying the following strikes. I took each strike with my nameless naginata. Each clash creating wind and shock waves. "I will take my sweet pleasure in ripping you apart." He growled, cocking back his fist as it bulged with green chemical bubbles. "Chemical Rebound!" his fist came forward, creating a giant explosion that went off right in front of me or that's how it should have been.
With a single use of Soru, I appeared right by his side and elbowed him in the ribs. I made sure to coat each of my blows with Haki with his logia body and all. And even though my blow made him shoot to the side, I didn't hear any of his ribs cracking. Huh, those would have been music to my ears.
It seemed I would have to take it up a notch. I could use Advanced Armament Haki, but I wanted to test out the waters first. And also, using too much Haki against him might be foolish, I still had Blackbeard and his crew to look out for.
I wouldn't be holding back on the fight. No. I would make him despair and show my true strength.
God! That sounded cringey. But it was an ego thing. I might act prideful most of the time to hit a few gags with my crew. But I still had honor. Aramaki had made it personal when he tried to finish off my crew back on Sakura Island and so I would make sure that he paid for it.
My heartbeat started to fasten as blood started pumping at an extreme speed around my body, I could see wisps of steam coming out of my skin and the muscles underneath my frame started to bulge with me gaining a foot or two in height. Previously, using Gear First and Second at the same time took a lot of concentration. Now? It was kind of second nature.
It just showed how much I have grown after my fights with him previously. Hm, I haven't named this, maybe gear two point five? Eh? Details… who cares.
I heard Aramaki roar as he charged at me, half of his body turned into a green oozing chemical as he launched himself towards me. His tall figure didn't cut away his speed it seemed. "I should have killed you back then, motherfucker! I made that mistake once, I won't do it twice…" with that he swiped his blade at me.
I took a step forward and the ground beneath me cracked as I parried his strike with my blade. Steel met steel as our attacks bounced off each other. He attacked again, I countered again. This repeated for a while as our figures blurred around the forest. His blows were devastating, his strikes were precise and yet it didn't matter.
"You will die here!" He roared.
"Oh, damn it dude," I called, holding my nose, "Did you gurgle Teach's ball sack or something?"
Aramaki's response was a roar.
Heh.
Our Observation Haki might be at similar levels but I was faster than him. It pays, having both the Slow and Speed user in your crew. Speed was right up my alleyway.
I had always wondered what might have happened if two users of Observation Haki that were at similar levels fought. And I had found my answer.
Observation Haki, from how I saw it, wasn't future prediction, or anything like that. It was more like an educated guess on how your opponent would react to your attacks or how they would attack based on how good you were able to read your opponent's intent. There was always a chance of your predictions being wrong, and you had to take that into account for that.
When both users of Observation Haki were at similar levels, the number of guesses and maybes became almost near-infinite for both parties. Almost becoming useless. The one who was faster would then be the superior fighter.
I could easily react to his blows while he was struggling against mine. And that is to say, I didn't even go into Gear Fourth yet. My blade cried for me to finish my fight, but I held on.
Aramaki was still strong, he should be a bit stronger than Jack when me and Sinbad fought him. So then why was he struggling? It was easy, Aramaki was holding back for now.
Did he really think so little of me? Fucking disappointment.
Aramki might wanted to wait for the right moment and strike, but he was for a rude awakening.
After fighting so much Sabo, I did pick a few things of his own fighting style. My brother usually targeted vulnerable places, and pressure points to make him strikes deadly. And I was able to pick up some of his skills.
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Aramaki and I clashed blades and fists. Our fighting dragged on, creating sonic booms in air, that destroyed the already destroyed landscape. Minutes passed by as both of us took damage from each other's attacks. But as the fight dragged on, it revealed who the superior fighter was.
His use of chemicals was as sub-par as ever. Most of the damage he did was only laced with poisonous chemicals, that my system boosted by Life Return could easily handle.
The fruit really was a waste on him.
But not to worry, I would make sure to gift his fruit to a better user after I'm done with him.
The cuts that seeped chemicals into my wounds burned like hell. But with Life Return, I knew none of the damage would be long-lasting. It wouldn't even leave a scar. There was another trick I learned from Sparky on how to negate others' devil fruit abilities, but I didn't want to waste my Haki on the small matter.
Was this really someone that had struggled with before? Hm… I really have gotten stronger… But I wasn't the only one getting stronger. My brothers had as well, and so did my crew.
When Sabo first met me in Log Town, he was only a bit stronger than the current Aramaki. And now, the present Sabo would stomp him. Sabo had grown quite a lot, his growth was staggering considering he didn't have any death battles.
But then again, most of the time, Sabo had little time to train due the constant missions given to him by the Revolutionaries. He was still stronger than me. So was Ace.
In the past week, Ace had gotten stronger as well, he made sure to keep his ranking as the strongest amongst us brothers. Who knew sibling rivalry could make the three of us strong like this?
I panted as I wiped my sweat away, eyeing my opponent cautiously, a grin plastered on my face. I was having fun, not gonna lie. After all that training I really was enjoying the fruits of my labour.
"Getting winded so soon?" Aramaki said, his breathing was also a bit rough. "I will finish you off…"
I blinked, "You know, you sounded like a male hooker for some reason." I said, "I'm sorry, but I don't want you to finish me off. Maybe if you had a pair of jugs that jiggled…"
Aramaki's response was a growl as he dashed in at me. I grinned and dashed forward as well. He was wild and his attacks were very hard to read, but all of it didn't matter.
I was stronger than him. I was faster than him. All the days of getting my ass beat by my brothers were paying off now. Also, in the open sea, only Haki mattered.
No fancy technique, no devil fruit, only Haki mattered. There was a reason why most old generations didn't have any fruit but are still a menace to us. Heck, the things I saw gramps do with Haki alone was still a memory that inspired me to get strong.
The moment I unlocked both forms of Advanced Armament Haki, is the moment I stepped into a level of power that few could get in their lifetimes. You could never be weak and have strong Haki, that's not how things worked. Haki, Will, Strength, all of it were interlinked in a complex way.
'For everyone, Haki is different, it is Will, it is Ambition. The ambition to live is a great motivator to get strong. But there are other ambitions… Still, one thing holds true for everyone: the one with the stronger Haki was stronger, other things didn't matter.' A simple statement that Garp had told me once, when I was begging him to teach me. A statement that still held its value.
My ambition was to get strong, to become the strongest, I knew I had a level I had to overcome, and still do. And each day I trained for it.
My brother's ambition was to not let me get ahead of them, their goals were just as selfish as mine. All of us trained till we weren't able to move an inch, and our bodies reacted to the fights, making us stronger. We still had a long way to go, but we were on the right path to gain strength.
Recently, I found out that my Observation Haki was unlike other people, I had a unique gift in it. Unlike others, I could judge other people's true strength and potential with it. When I spoke with Ace and Sabo on that matter, they were confused on what I was saying as I knew when they were holding back easily.
It seemed my brand of Observation Haki was a bit different. Maybe that was why I was able to see my crewmates' potential when I recruited them? When I have time, I should also experiment on that power, it could come in handy, but for now, I had a mad bull to tame.
"Ugh, come here bastard!" he jumped at me, only to get dangerously close to getting his head cut off.
I clicked my tongue as he somehow stopped mid-way and spilled some green chemicals on me before jumping back. He also added another explosion as he did and it seemed he wanted some distance.
But I didn't let him, I wouldn't let him set up anything that would bite me in the ass later so I followed through. "Is the Green Bull scared of the little ol' me?" I taunted and it seemed to get a reaction as he came forward to attack.
Kicking me right in the gut, sending me stumbling back, before I used the air to bounce back into the fight.
Getting under his skin was a bit too easy. I wondered if this was a trick, but honestly with the amount of cursing and swearing he did, I think it wasn't. He really didn't like that I had broken his face. Still, he was holding back, hmm… he needed a bit more motivation.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, you only look ugly on the outside, I'm sure you will look beautiful when I gut your insides," I said as he charged at me again.
He kicked me, which I blocked, but his blow almost sent me down. He wanted to follow through, but I shot a few Haki-clad air bullets his way, which he had tanked. They didn't hurt him that much, but annoyed him non the less. "Fuck you!"
"Nah, I don't swing that way, maybe say that to Camael when you see him next time." I snorted, like there was going to be a next time. I matched his first blow, dodged the second, on the third one I tried to slip behind, but he stopped me with a kick. I stumbled back as I was a bit slow to dodge that one.
"Keep your mouth clean of Saint Camael's name, you bastard!" Aramaki said with gritted teeth.
I blinked, my lips twitched. I shouldn't… I really shouldn't… but fuck. This was just the best setup, "How hard?"
"What?"
"How hard did Camael suck your dick, that you miss him that much?" I grinned, "His mouth must feel like a Hoover Deluxe."
Aramaki's response was to roar with fury and attack me head-on. Funnily enough, this time it seemed Aramaki wasn't holding back any longer. His body fully transformed into a chemical as he grew in size, large horns grew on his now semi-liquid head. And from his back, I could see four limbs that looked similar to Doctor Octopus, it even had those three pointed thingies on each end. Talk about copyright issues.
"Wow, I didn't know you had a magical girl transformation." I whistled, "Four out of Ten. Four 'cause you look like a whore that got a dildo shoved up…" I sadly couldn't finish my sentence as the four octo-legs smashed into my location, making me jump back.
The attacked followed though, which I had to evade by doing a few backflips.
Moving my body around to avoid losing ground, I landed a few meters away from him, but he had rushed at me by then. He threw a kick that I barely managed to avoid before swinging down his blade coated with green flames and Haki.
With his full body covered in dangerous chemical substances, I had to be careful when hitting him or I would get damaged as well.
Having Haki coating doesn't always mean you will have ultimate protection. So this was a good time to bring out the big guns.
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Without wasting even a moment, I planted my boot-clad feet on his knee and used Soru on it, to get away from the blade. I saw the blade an inch away as it swiped down. While he grunted I leaned forward and pushed my leg back using Geppo to bounce in air and deliver a fist clad with Haki, which he blocked with his hand, but my attack pushed him back. But this was no ordinary use of Haki.
Aramaki was wide eyed, "How do you know that?!" he hissed with gritted teeth. It seemed he didn't notice that the first punch I delivered was also coated with Advanced Armament Haki.
Wisps of illusionary flames danced around as the effect of Advanced Armament Haki cladded both of my fists, to my weapon.
Using his surprise to my advantage, I punched him. I expected him to fall back. But the bastard held on, and pushed back, so I tried to swipe at his leg, but I had to stop my attack when he tried to stab me with his blade. I managed to dodge it and kick his blade out of his hand.
Aramaki growled, "I don't believe it… you aren't that strong!" he said those words mostly to himself as he charged forward, even without his sword he was no less dangerous.
I snorted, "Yeah, man you're right. It's just you that has gotten weak."
Aramaki growled as his body suddenly blurred out of sight, appearing right in front me, and kicking forward. Oh, he made a mistake on that attack. And I would make sure he regretted it.
Smiling, I made a grab for his leg with Advanced Armament Haki coating my arm, managing to grab a hold of his ankle, twisting it, and I slammed him into the ground. That knocked the wind out of him, and I could have used my Naginata to stab him.
But I stomped on his back instead, pushing his body into the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Cracking the ground below as spred around like spider cracks. Finding himself right beneath my feet, I cocked both of my fists back, "Gomu Gomu no Storm Gatling!"
A fury of strikes, all of them covered with Advanced Armament Haki: Internal Destruction, slammed into his body. The speed of my strikes generated flames similar to Red Hawk, as they punched into Aramaki.
My strikes ripped off the four limbs that he had on his back along with the layer of chemicals that covered his body. Still, he was covering his whole body with Armament, but it had little effect.
He could protect his outsides from the damage, but my Haki's Internal Destruction would destroy his insides after I'm done with him.
As my strikes fell, I could feel his organs rupturing, his bones breaking, his muscles being torn. His body started digging itself into the ground more and more, due to the weight of my strikes.
"Enough!" he roared, as suddenly his body exploded out a green explosion that I had to dodge. But even then the almost nuclear-like explosion shot me to the sky. I had to use Geppo to stop spinning and quickly use Life Return to stop the damage from his attack.
Now that he was cornered, Aramaki was dangerous. I wasn't going to underestimate him. I took in deep breaths as I tried to close down the burns and cuts that I gained from the last explosion. All the while I watched the crater where Aramaki was.
His broken form was coming out and glaring at me. Honestly, in a few years, Aramaki might have been an actual Admiral-level threat.
He was bad at using his fruit. So, most likely, he didn't have the fruit for long. Because with time, even a bone head could figure stuff out with his fruit. Wapol did.
His Haki was no joke as well. He needed a few Haki blooms and if he could get someone in the Marines to teach him the advanced form of Haki, he could be a force to be reckoned with.
But now, not only wasn't he slightly weaker than me. He was also very easy to rile up.
If he was a calm-minded fighter, I might have had to go Gear Fourth on him. If he knew how to fully utilize his fruit, I might have had to call for backup. Now? I didn't need to. I could deal with him alone…
I was about to move in to continue the fight, but then I saw something that made my skin crawl. Up from the sky, I saw a gigantic octopus made of shadows, it was quite far from me. But I could still see it's gigantic form thrashing the forest. I could also see Sabo and Ace fighting that thing, and they seemed to be losing no less.
That couldn't be Teach… could it? With my Observation Haki, I confirmed my suspicion. Just how many devil fruits did that bastard eat? Even I was second-guessing my Observation.
That moment of distraction cost me as Aramaki was able to get in front of me and stab me with his sword. Or, at least, he tried to, at the last moment I had twisted my body out of its way before I punched him.
He shot back, but I had already thrown the chain part of my naginata onto his blade. The chain wrapped around the blade already eating away at the blade, but Aramaki hadn't noticed that.
Using Soru to get past him, and pulled, taking away his weapon yet again. With the chains still wrapped around his sword, he roared forward to attack me without his weapon. My answer was no-joke foot to his face making him shoot down from the sky.
"Ugh!" he grunted, getting up, but by then I had already fed his sword to my blade. "Where the fuck is my sword!?"
I ignored him. "Let's finish this," I said to my blade.
'About damn time!' my nameless naginata called out, as I poured my Haki into it. It roared in new power from consuming another blade. The muscles in my arms bulged and so did the muscles in my legs.
And with extreme speed, I threw myself onto Aramaki.
The bounty hunter was wide-eyed. He had shot a volley of green flames forward but rather than avoiding them, I faced it head on. And with one swipe of my blade, the sea of flames parted.
He jumped back when I got near and kicked.
Grinning, I ducked under his swipe as I stepped forward, narrowly avoiding his forceful kick. I spun around and drove my fist straight into his gut, paying him for the attack. The force of my strike created a gust of wind and his body bent around my fist. I wanted to follow through, but his body chemically exploded, throwing me off.
I had to protect my whole body with Full-Body Armament. Not making the same mistake twice, I also didn't want to get a full-body chemical tan. But my clothes on the other hand didn't seem to share my durability, but hey! At least I still had my pants on.
Aramaki coughed as he reformed despite the pain, but sadly he was running on limited time. I had an octopus to kill, not this second-rate bounty hunter.
With both of my fists tightening around the guard of my naginata I dashed forward. He was a second too late to jump back, as I swiped at him with my blade.
The strike created a diagonal slash from below, that cut open his torso, and chest and separated his left arm from his body. He had little time to scream as I drove a spartan kick into his gut.
His body bent forward and I grabbed his other arm and used it to fling him over my body into the ground. The ground smashed into spider web-like cracks as his body bounced up, only for my fist to smash into his face and planting him back into it.
With the wind knocked out of him, —along with a few teeth— he could only wheeze out a curse as I delivered a tempest kick that cut off his other arm.
The man screamed, losing both of his arms, "Ah… don't kill me. I-I…" I didn't give him time to finish the sentence as I used the blunt part of my naginata to stomp him on his groin.
I found sick satisfaction as I heard something inside of him break.
The man almost lost consciousness, but I didn't give him a chance. My other foot came forward and stomped him on his throat, breaking his windpipe as he was smashed into the ground further.
Aramaki struggled underneath my feet, like the bug he was. And I found dark satisfaction in that.
Part of me wanted to torture him even more than what he did. He almost killed my crew, and he did it with Law's crew too. But I had limited time on my hand.
"You were always a bug in my way. But I expected more from you…" I spat on his face, before putting more pressure on my foot that was still on his throat. "You are a fucking disappointment!"
He struggled for a while, shooting a look of anger, terror and fear before I heard a crack and snap. His throat smashed in from the pressure and his head popped off his shoulders, with one of his eyes bulging outwards. He had his tongue out and decapitated head looked quite gruesome with his smashed-up face.
I snarled as I brought my other foot down, destroying his head. I usually tried to make clean kills, but with him, my anger got the better of me. While I enjoyed the moment of power, I did regret it a bit for losing it.
But it didn't matter, I would need to keep myself in check next time. Things could have gone wrong but luckily it didn't.
With a job well done, I let myself rest a bit, still in my mixed gear form. But the fight was far from over, I looked to the north, Teach was next, and with that I blurred away from the location, leaving a dead bounty hunter on the ground.
I just hoped that I could get a chance to collect his fruit later. But for now, I had other things to worry about.
——————————
A/N: Without Law there are 13 members in the crew. And only three had survived, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi… I hadn't mentioned that in the previous chapters, so some of you might have missed that.
Aramaki was strong. But I didn't see him doing anything noteworthy other than fully relying on his fruit powers. Also, he's not as strong his canon counterpart, so yeah.
Also, Luffy was training with his brothers. And don't underestimate sibling rivalry.
Heck, I have siblings. I know how competitive we get sometimes for stupid reasons. And haki is ambition, and it seemed right to me.
Another thing, in the future, some of you might be a bit confused when I reveal the big fight between Blackbeard and others. Why I made him so strong and all of that.
I just want you to know, every time when Oda showed Teach fighting. He was losing it, losing it, then suddenly a scene changed and he won.
Oda didn't reveal how Teach won his fights. So I'm going to base the story off my theories. Hope you understand.
Anyways, enjoy!
284
A while back,
"Teach!" Ace yelled, bursting through the forest fist first right into the jaw of his former crewmate.
The Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates was clearly taken aback by the surprise attack, and he was flung off his feet and thrown back due to the attack.
His crewmates on the other hand were quick to react, Jesus Burgess jumped towards Ace's figure pulling out a dagger with an evil glint in his eyes, only for something to grab him by the fist.
"Dragon Claw Fist!" Sabo called out grabbing the large man by the face and smashing him face-first into the ground, making a crater where he fell.
At the same time when Burgess moved, another of the Blackbeard pirates reacted. And just as Sabo had caught the big guy, Van Augur fired off multiple shots from his long rifle, intending to free Burgess from Sabo's grip and skewer the blonde with bullets at the same time.
But he was surprised when his shots were slowed down and a kick in the gut sent him hurling backward. He had little time to react before he heard six bullets coming his way, but the man was fast enough to react in time and teleport out of its way. Teleporting multiple times to find a new vantage point. But even then, Sanji was on him darting from one possible location to another.
Laffitte and Shiryu, who were a bit far from the group, found two blade users stopping their way. Laffitte had to bring his cane up while Shiryu had his blade as a path of flames and frost crossed their path and blocked their way.
"You're not going anywhere," Zoro said with three blades already unsheathed, green flames lacing his blades. The swordsman took a low stance, ready to attack, and on his side so did Kuina.
"You will be fighting us instead," She said, her blade lacing frost.
Laffitte and Shiryu could only glare and stop, because they knew the opponents in front of them were strong and couldn't be ignored.
Doc Q, who was on his horse Stronger, jumped back, throwing explosive apples at the group along with a yellow powder-like substance. Wanting to use his Shiku Shiku no Mi to spread diseases.
But Doc Q instead found his whole body slowing down, before a shadowy arrowhead of all things stabbed him in the leg, stopping all of his movement. He was astonished as he knew he was in a bad position.
He couldn't even react as he felt small arms wrap around his face before, with a crack, his world turned. Only then did he realize that his neck had been snapped in the opposite direction. But the thing was he had yet to see the attacker.
An odd death, that his mind was still processing. The doctor also felt the invisible figure slip something into his clothes, but he didn't have any will to speak as his life started to slip away as the pain from the neck down rushed to his head.
"Doc!"
"You bastards!"
"Motherfuckers!"
But the first one to react was the Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates himself, as seemingly Teach appeared from right beneath Doc Q's shadow, and punched something invisible in the sky.
Sparky's form was revealed as Blackbeard used his fist crackling with red energy to punch him away from Doc Q's side.
The poor monkey was flung to the side, before Teach kicked Masked Deuce who was also at fault for killing his crewmate. Deuce didn't have the time to react and his body was flung toward Sabo's side, freeing Burgess from the revolutionary's grip.
As Deuce passed them, Burgess tackled Sabo while covering his body with Haki as he started running, going through trees and separating him from the group. Sabo started to pound his fist onto the man's back, trying to free himself. At the same time, two figures also ran towards them, intending to give Sabo a hand.
"Doc, talk to me…" Teach growled holding his crewmate's limp body, the next was twisted in a horrible way, but the doctor was still twitching, barely alive. He wanted to say something.
"B…omb."
"What?"
Teach was confused before an explosion covered the area, dismembering most of the doctor's body and Teach was covered in his crewmates' blood. "Uaghhh!" Teach roared in rage. "I will skin that monkey alive! That bastard planted a bomb on an already dead guy."
But Teach had little time to mourn for his crew, as someone had appeared nearby and attacked him.
"How did you get past me, bastard!"
It was Ace that appeared by Teach's side a moment later, brandishing Enma with Haki as he struck down. Teach growled as he used his Haki-clad fist to block the attack, a shockwave, and sparks of black electricity crackling in the air. Both of them using Advanced Armament Haki in their attacks.
"You are going to pay for what you did!" Teach growled, glaring at Ace, "All of you!"
"Don't start playing the victim Teach, you were the one that started this," Ace growled, taking back his sword and lacing it with his flames and Advanced Armament, and started swinging it left and right, up and down in a fury of blows that Teach matched with his own Advanced Armament and darkness.
Ace's attacks created a wave of flames that spread outwards, and Teach had matched it with his darkness that swallowed everything.
"Don't come near us, you guys can't handle him!" Teach called out when he saw Shiryu and Laffitte.
Both of them nodded before the fight between the fire and darkness users intensified.
Shiryu and Laffitte had to jump back to not get injured from their clash and fall behind. But they had their own set of problems as Zoro and Kuina threw themselves at the older pirates, trying to separate them from Teach.
"Fire Fist!"
The forest ground exploded into flames as the large volley of flames exploded onto Blackbeard's location. The darkness matched the fire for a few seconds before it started getting sucked into itself.
Ace frowned but didn't do anything as he rested Enma on his shoulder, looking at the scene.
Finally, Teach's figure was revealed unharmed and Ace saw something that made him raise his eyebrow.
"You are going to die here, Ace!" Teach growled as his right arm turned into pitch-black shadow and his left arm had red energy crackling around it. If it was any other time he might have been joking around, but now that one of his crewmates was dead he was forced to be dead serious. "And I'm going to put your head on a pike and see to it that the rest of the crew sees it. Pops would love seeing one of his sons like that." He grinned darkly.
"Keep pops' name out of your fucking mouth!" Ace growled, his figure blurring from his location and appearing right in front of Teach with his sword drawn.
"Zehahaha! Make me!"
Ace lashed out his blade, laced with Haki and flames while Teach punched with his left fist crackling with red energy.
Both of their attacks met, creating a large explosion of fire and will. Black lightning crackled as they clashed. As flames struggled against each other.
Ace backed off immediately when Teach tried to grab him, instead delivering a kick to the man's fat gut. Luffy had warned him of the Yami Yami no mi, and about its power to nullify devil fruit user powers.
But that wasn't why Ace backed off, "How are you using flames?" He demanded. "I didn't know the darkness fruit had that ability."
Teach grinned, "Would you believe me if I said I have more than one fruit?"
Ace snorted, "Fine, don't answer." He said rushing towards his opponents, "I will drag you to pops and get my answers after I'm done with you."
"Zehahaha!" Teach cackled as he met Ace's fire with his darkness, "Come on then!"
— — — —
A/N: Teach has another fruit. One given to him by Saint Camael himself.
I didn't want to give Teach Advanced Armament Haki, but then I looked at his age and his background. My man was in Whitebeard's crew for so long, and if he had Haki, he could find others in the crew and pester them to teach him Advanced Armament Haki.
But don't worry, I only gave him Ryo. External destruction, where one doesn't need to touch the target to damage it, I didn't give him Internal Destruction which destroys things from inside.
I gave Ace both 'cause he has Enma, and like with Zoro, Enma is teaching him the advanced forms, so he has both.
And I gave Sabo both cause if anyone has both forms of Advanced Armament, then it would be Dragon. Sure some downplay him because Blackbeard attacked Baltigo and the Rev. army had to pack up. But people did the same for Garp, and he has an attack that can flatten a city with just Haki alone.
My thing is, I won't underestimate any Monkey D(s) when it comes to Haki.
And if Dragon has both forms of Haki, I can see him teaching it to Sabo. And unlike Ace who's stubborn to train, Sabo isn't. As a boy all he did was train in the rev army.
Also, Sabo had shown off a technique with Dragon Fist (Ryu no Ibuki) which kind of is like Advanced Armament Haki because the destruction is spread out. Where he punches the ground and it destroyed everything around it, with what he calls hitting the 'core'. But then again it could be similar to Fishman karate, (which is a Shockbased technique) which negates durability.
Just a reminder that Shock-based techniques are quite OP on their own. But with haki they are far more stronger.
Some people forget that armament haki also have an enhancement effect. That's the reason, Kuja pirates were able to break boulders with normal arrows. (A group of One Piece community also sees it as a reason why gun users can shook speed-blitz characters in the series.) Like Izo or Ben Beckmen. So any technique be it Rokushiki or other stuff, you pour haki into it, it boosts the destructive capacity of it. Almost like nen.
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As Burgess tackled Sabo through the trees, the young Revolutionary started smashing his fist onto the man's back, trying to make him let go, "Let. Me. Go!" with a final smash Burgess was finally smashed onto the floor and Sabo skipped back.
Both Sabo and Burgess had taken damage but Sabo was in better shape than his opponent.
The blonde growled at the Blackbeard pirate as he held onto his metal pipe. Burgess was a notorious criminal on the list of the Revolutionaries' for quite a while. Even the Marines had a bounty on him, Sabo didn't remember the exact number but it was more than enough to be cautious about.
"You are guys going to pay for what you did to Doc." Burgess said with a sadistic grin on his face, "The man might have been a weirdo, but he was part of our crew… and you fuckers killed 'em." He then cracked his knuckles, "You will regret it after I'm done with you."
Sabo just narrowed his eyes as he calculated the situation. He could lead Burgess to the others like planned and help Ace with Teach, but Luffy had stressed the importance of killing the targets as fast as possible. And as a Revolutionary, Sabo knew that sometimes dragging the fight could backfire on you.
Burgess made a mistake of separating him from the group and he was going to cash in on it. "The only one regretting anything will be you." Sabo said, launching away from his spot.
The Revolutionary blurred from his spot using Soru and Geppo in a way that would make Luffy proud. As a Revolutionary, they were taught the basics of the Rokushiki, but Sabo had used the techniques less and less and focused on other aspects. Only after seeing Luffy's creative use of the techniques had he gone back to them.
Sabo dashed forward with his metal pipe coated in Haki, while Burgess came forward with his fist. Both opponents clashed, creating a sonic boom as the air rippled around them.
"I know of you!" The pirate declared, "You are Sabo, the second in command of the Revolutionary Army. Why the hell is a coward like you here?" Burgess grinned, "Eh, it doesn't matter. At least I can cash in your bounty. Now! Die!"
The helmsmen of the Blackbeard pirates cocked back his other fist and launched attacks in rapid succession.
Inwardly Sabo smiled, dodging his attacks with little difficulty. Many fighters didn't go all out from the start, some did it for the challenge, while others did it as a strategy. To make their opponents drop their guard and claw them when they least expect them to. And Sabo was the second type of guy.
"You might be strong but I'm faster!" Sabo said, matching Burgess's blows, putting on an act that showed that he was struggling. The World Government always had underplayed the Revolutionary Army's capabilities so most people thought them of being weak.
A strategy so that new people wouldn't join the side of the Revolutionaries, but it also made others underestimate them.
Most Observation Haki users thought they could base someone's true strength on their Haki. And in most cases they did, but when you were a Revolutionary who had to run missions under the nose of the World Government and the Marines, you tended to pick up on things.
Hiding your true strength from an opponent was a skill few people used, but it was a useful skill nonetheless. The most proficient one he ever saw was Sparky, and give that monkey a device that could turn him invisible and you'd have the ultimate assassin.
If all monkeys were like him, the Revolutionary Army really needed to up their charm in recruiting more monkeys into their ranks. Which was saying something as the leader of the Revolutionary Army's family name was also Monkey.
'Huh, would you look at that… the World Government has a monkey problem in their hands.' Sabo mused at his own joke.
"Wiiihahah!" the larger man laughed as he started to gain an upper hand on his opponent. Or so he thought, "Don't die too quickly, I still have to smash your face in for the earlier attack…! I almost thought you were stronger than me."
Sabo felt his brows twitch, but continued putting up his game of looking weak until a moment presented itself. And after a while, it did. Burgess had swung his fist in a wide arc that left his right side open, and Sabo cashed in on his mistake.
"You know, everything has a core…" Sabo said as his left fist took on a claw shape as it became covered in a layer of Advanced Armament Haki, the air around his fist crackled with sparks of yellow lightning crackling with energy, before smashing it right into the large man's side. "And your's is unguarded… Ryu no Ibuki!"
Burgess was wide-eyed as even though he had sensed the danger covering his sides with haki, he was too late. A devastating blow landed on him, making him bend, and cough up blood.
Burgess's Armament Haki gave little protection from Sabo's Advanced Armament-enhanced technique. A devastating liver punch that most surely destroyed a good chunk of his liver along with his stomach.
"Gah!!!"
But Sabo wasn't finished. He didn't waste any time as, with his other hand covered in Advanced Armament, he delivered a side hook, right into Burgess's stretched arm, right towards his elbow.
…crack
"Moterfucker! Agh!" Burgess screamed as he fell on his behind, holding onto his right arm, which had bent in an odd way, while his body was a bit tilted from the devastating liver punch. "Y-You! You! You were holding back!"
Sabo mused, at the downed opponent that was now on the floor, "Oh really? What gave it away?"
"Why you…"
"Don't answer that, it's called sarcasm," Sabo said as he started his attack yet again. The pirate had little time to curse the man as Sabo was on him yet again with a fury of strikes with his pipe. "What, you thought I would give you time to recover…? Don't delude yourself, pirate."
The pirate had to duck forward and roll back as Sabo came forward, swinging his pipe. "Hey, hey! We can talk about this!" Burgess said in a panic.
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"Hey, hey! We can talk about this!" Burgess said in a panic as he tried to dodge Sabo's attacks. Tried was the key word here as he was easily getting beaten up, and the damage was adding up.
"Heh, didn't you want to fight?" Sabo asked as he went on, trying to finish the fight early. But like a cockroach that wanted to live, Burgess avoided each strike, trying to keep himself alive. "I thought you were some strong fighter, but you only seem second-rate at best."
"H-Hey! Now! We don't n-need to fight!" Burgess yelped as he blocked another strike from Sabo, but hissed in pain from that attack. Even though Burgess had covered his fist with Haki, Sabo's stronger Haki easily broke through his defenses and did more damage than it should.
"Please, save the groveling for someone who cares," Sabo said, "You die here!" He had to finish this quick, he couldn't waste any more of his energy on this fool.
Burgess growled, jumping back from Sabo's attacks, and throwing sand. That made Sabo stop as he gave the pirate flat look. "Did you just throw sand at me?" he asked in disbelief.
"Well, it stopped you…"
Sabo opened his mouth and closed it, looking at him with disbelief. "How the fuck have you even survived till now? Dumb Luck?"
"Eh…" he shrugged, but hissing from the pain on his broken right arm.
Sabo was about to jump him when Burgess cocked back his left hand and punched forward, "Galleon Lariat!" causing the wind to blow forward, forcing the Revolutionary to step back.
Seeing his attack able to keep Sabo away, Burgess followed through, "Galleon Lariat! Galleon Lariat! Galleon Lariat!" he shot off multiple attacks as he started jumping back while Sabo followed from a distance, avoiding the wind attacks.
Who knew keeping him away would be easy… Wait, easy…?
'Something is wrong…' Burgess was cut off from his thought as a giant mace with spikes hit his body, making him drop from the sky. His Observation Haki had caught the danger too late as he was too focused on Sabo. "Ugh!"
His body flew with multiple shards of spikes sticking out of his body before landing with the grace of a boulder, crushing the trees as he groaned in pain. "Ah, fuck… who was it this time…?"
Burgess couldn't even finish his sentence as he had to put up his injured right arm to block an attack.
"Ugh!" he grunted as he saw six claws sticking out from his already injured hand. He glared at the pink-haired boy before the boy kicked his foot forward, sticking it in the left side of his chest, and puncturing his lungs. "Fuck you…"
Burgess tossed Coby to the side before delivering a kick, sending the pink-haired pirate away, while he held onto his wounds.
Burgess didn't look good, he had multiple wounds, with spikes sticking out his body. With the left side of his chest bleeding, and the right side of his stomach almost destroyed he was almost half-way out of the fight.
"I can't take all of them on…" he grumbled, eyeing the new figures. He recognized them. Two of them were Straw Hat pirates, their targets. If things went well, they would have been the ones hunting them by now. But now? The situation had flipped to its side.
The 'Man-Demon' Gin, who was half-transformed into what appeared to be an Ancient Zoan. 'Hero of the Navy Port' Coby, who had already recovered from his injury and had his claws out. And lastly, Sabo, the Second in Command of the Revolutionary Army who was fully uninjured from their fight.
Burgess knew he would die if he didn't get any help, so, putting two fingers in his mouth, he whistled.
"Wait, what did he just do?" Coby asked.
Gin was on guard, still half transformed, "Don't know, but be on guard."
Sabo also narrowed his eyes as he stretched out his Observation Haki intending to stop it before it arrived.
.
Van Augur panted as he teleported again from his spot as, just a moment later, the tree he was perched in was smashed into hot flames, as it got torn apart by Sanji.
The sniper knew of the man, moreso 'cause he had already connected who Sanji was. He was one of the Vinsmoke siblings, when Teach had targeted the Straw Hat pirates, he had reviewed each of the crewmates with what little information they had.
And in Sanji's case, his curled-up eyebrows gave a big indication of who he was.
Van Augur had been on the Grand Line for almost nearly a decade, taking on multiple assignments from various clients, and he had taken a few jobs from the Germa 66. So he knew about them. Especially the Vinsmoke family and their weird abilities.
The sniper wondered how a new pirate like Luffy was able to get a Vinsmoke of all people into his ranks.
And to top it all off, Sanji might be as strong as his siblings. Van Augur was no fighter, he was more of an assassin. So he knew that fighting Sanji head-on would be a grave mistake. His side still ached from the pain due to the last attack. He wouldn't be able to take too many kicks from him.
Van Augur was also sure that Sanji's shoes had sea-stone in them. Maybe only the sole of the shoe, but when Sanji had kicked him, he had lost his ability to teleport temporarily. "Troublesome…"
The sniper had a good control over both of his Haki. Using Observation Haki to detect Sanji's location, he shot his rifle.
The bullets flew with a shine of Armament Haki as they targeted Sanji, but the man sped away just in time.
Van Augur clicked his tongue in frustration at the missed shot. Sanji also had Observation Haki, maybe even only Observation Haki. And even though the sniper was better than him, Sanji's speed ability was a very bad match-up for his Warp Warp fruit and his sniper skills.
The sniper fired off multiple shots at Sanji's back, before teleporting to another location.
Van Augur teleported to a tree, only for the tree to be torn apart as a flaming Tempest Kick demolished it. The sniper teleported again, and the same thing repeated, over and over again.
In between the teleports, he fired off his bullets intending to harm the chef, but most of his shots were missing. And that frustrated the sniper, but as the fight went on, he noticed something.
Sanji wasn't alone, someone was with him. Someone small, Van Augur blinked in surprise. His Observation Haki had missed it, but was there a little man with him?
Wait… now it all made sense. There were rumors that one of the Straw Hats was a user of the Shrink-Shrink Fruit on their crew. It was Usopp, wasn't it? And he was also a sniper.
And not just any sniper… Van Augur was sure that he was related to that man.
The sniper growled, with how similar they looked, he might as well be Yassop's son.
Van Augur gritted his teeth, 'So my missed shots weren't just lucky escapes… Usopp was shooting down my bullets… that's impressive. But my bullets are covered with Haki… did the boy know Armament Haki Imbuement or was he using sea-stone bullets…? It doesn't matter, they won't win against me.' He thought before switching up a function in his gun as he jumped back rather than teleporting. "Heavy Bullet Barrage!"
Multiple bullets surrounding all directions came out of his gun as they made their way to Sanji's location.
"Diable Jambe: Flaming Concassé!" Sanji spun with flames that made a flaming wheel deflecting the Haki-cladded bullets.
Definitely had shoes with sea-stone in them.
Otherwise, his Armament Haki-cladded bullets would have destroyed his feet. But then again he could be wrong, as the Vinsmoke siblings did show having powerful exo-skeletons.
Van Augur was about to take the chance to attack head-on, when his ears picked up a whistle. Fuck, he was in a bad position as it is, and now his crewmate required help. Things were getting worse with each passing minute!
— — — —
A/N: Sanji's shoes have a bottom layer of sea stone, so that it wouldn't affect his own devil fruit ability while doing so for his opponents. Kind of like how Smoker uses his jette.
This also makes his shoes stronger and more durable in some ways. If it wasn't obvious it was made by Sniper King Usopp himself. Nothing too fancy.
Also, his exo-skeleton isn't as strong as his brothers' yet. If I gave him that he would already be on his way to ifrit jambe. But with his speed fruit coming into play he would get the ability way sooner than his canon counterpart.
Sabo's ability to hide his strength and aura might be canon. 'Cause I don't see any other way how they got past two marine admirals and into the Reverie, when all of them knew Observation Haki.
Observation Haki is stated to make you see things even if they are hidden if they have aura. And Sabo and his gang of Revs were able to get past skilled CP agents, admirals and others into the Reverie. Heck, he was even able to get the drop on Imu and five elders when he tried to save King Cobra.
Either Observation Haki is an active skill, where if you don't have it active you don't know about threats.
Or there are ways to avoid getting detected if you can hide your aura. Like making yourself look weak and they misread you as a nonthreat.
Or both? Who knows.
Cause I understand Sabo being able to get the drop on the five elders, but how did Wapol do it? My theory is, cause he was so weak that no one even noticed him.
Again Haki is a concept that is very vaguely described in the series as the level gets higher. It gets confusing.
Like how two normal observation haki users against others would be useless if they are on the same level and other stuff.
Anyway, you guys don't need to worry about that, just enjoy the story.
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Van Augur teleported out of the way of Sanji's kicks before sending more bullets his way, all the while making his way toward where he heard the whistle from. And he found Burgess in a very bad position.
The large pirate was bleeding from the left side of his chest, with his right arm hanging limply by his side while he saw a blue bruise on the right side of his stomach. Along with multiple shards sticking out of his body, he looked like a man that already had a foot in his grave. No wonder why Burgess called in for help.
Burgess was prideful but even he had common sense when the situation got this bad. He needed immediate help, if he could get him to Doc Q… only then did he remember that their resident doctor was dead.
Van Augur cursed, was this why they took him out first? Fucking bastards.
"Oi, shit face! Stop running from me!"
The sniper had to duck as Sanji came through with a burst of speed using Soru and Geppo in a way that complemented his speed powers. He couldn't fully use his powers yet, but he could do well in short controllable bursts.
The sniper took out a smaller gun from inside his jacket, quickly firing it off as Sanji was still near. But rather than a bullet coming out of the smaller gun, a haze of green gas burst out from the gun near Sanji.
The chef retreated immediately, though some of the gas had already entered his lungs.
Sanji coughed as his world started to shift and he started feeling sleepy. Van Augur used that chance to take multiple shots at him, only for another blond to come and block the attacks.
Sabo spun his pipe around his hand, deflecting the bullets with ease, before jumping towards the sniper. Van Augur quickly teleported away, only for a metal pipe of all things to come at him with breakneck speed.
The sniper managed to dodge the metal pipe as it planted itself in the ground, almost digging fully into it.
Sabo had sensed where he had teleported and attacked immediately. But unfortunately, the Revolutionary had missed. Sabo clicked his tongue in frustration.
Only now did Van Augur realize why Burgess was put in such a bad position. He rounded the whole group up, before teleporting again.
"Gin, watch out!" Sabo called out as he had the better Haki than all of them and read Van Augur's intent.
The sniper teleported, appearing right in front of the Man-Demon and grabbing him by the shoulder before teleporting out. He appeared right above the sea, before dropping the zoan user.
"What the…!?" Gin was to slow to react as he fell from the sky, by the time he noticed the sea and was about to use Geppo to get out, the sniper had thrown a bomb of all things onto him!
…boom!
A large explosion went off, and more than the damage, the shockwave from the explosive threw Gin right into the open sea. "Oh, shit!" Gin could only curse as the sea started drowning him.
Van Augur didn't come back immediately, rather he teleported a bit back to catch his breath. Using his devil fruit too much was drying up his stamina. He needed to act quickly and fast if he wanted to be useful.
When Van Augur came back, the rest of their enemies were ganging up on Burgess, the larger man had given up on running and instead curled up into a ball with Armament Haki covering his body.
"Where did you take Gin!?" Sanji interrogated, stomping on the man with his flaming leg.
"Subdue him first and ask questions later," Sabo said, stomping with Advanced Armament and using Internal Destruction with each blow.
Coby on the other hand was watching as the look out with his claws out, his nose and ears constantly twitching. He might not have Observation Haki, but his senses were always sharp and in this tough situation, he was very close to unlocking his hidden potential.
Van Augur moved, appearing right above the group and dropping a bunch of explosives before teleporting away.
Sanji was the first one to react, kicking his feet up as a volley of flames consumed the explosives upwards as they exploded.
Still, it broke off the group as Sabo and Coby had backed away and Burgess used that moment to tackle Sanji into a bear hug.
"What the… let go!" Sanji grumbled, "I only take hugs from women!"
"You have to settle for me, hot shot," Burgess snorted as he tried to wrap the pirate into a bone-crushing bear hug with his strength.
The exoskeleton around Sanji's body started to crack as the man roared in pain, "Fine, you asked for it. Fullpiece Grill!" And Sanji's body exploded in a burst of hot flames that burned way faster due to his speed powers enhancing the speed.
"Agh, fuck!" Burgess let go as half of his body was covered in third-degree burns, while Sabo attacked him with his pipe, and had an eye out for the sniper.
Van Augur appeared again this time with his weapon drawn and right above Coby's location, as he was the other target who didn't have haki.
But the Second in Command of the Revolutionary Army had anticipated this, "Coby, Usopp… now!" Sabo called out.
And the sniper, who was about to shoot his massive rifle in the back of Coby's head for a lethal blow, was astonished when a flash grenade hit him right into his face from somewhere.
The flash bang was way smaller in size, but it exploded with enough sound and light to catch the sniper off guard. And at the same time, from Coby's body dozens if not hundreds of small bone spikes shot off in all directions.
Van Augur had pulled the trigger by instinct and had missed due to the flash bang, and the sniper had multiple life-threatening spikes planted in his body. More than a dozen of them pierced his body and one of them even managed to pierce his eye. "Aagh! Why you…!"
But the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates had little time to curse as Sanji moved in yet again. "Diable Jambe: Concassé!" A volley of flames and a kick landed on the sniper's back as he was thrown front and onto the ground.
The sniper felt his energy slipping away due to the seastone shoes Sanji wore.
"Hado Elbow!" Burgess, who saw Van Augur in a bad position, was about to attack the chef to get him off the sniper when he suddenly felt his world slow down. Burgess was shocked and knew he was fucked.
Sabo and the rest of them noticed the large pirate who was running at a pace that would put a turtle to shame.
"Good going, Sparky!" Sanji called out as Sparky's body became visible as he turned off his invisibility watch. The First Mate of the Straw Hat Pirates looked quite beaten, and three of his arms had large blue bruises, but the smaller-sized monkey was still ready for a fight. "Are you all right?"
"I'll live…" he answered, then Sparky gave Sanji a stiff nod, and the cook nodded back
Sanji then drove his other leg down right onto the back of Van Augur's head, smashing the sniper's head into ground in mess of blood and gray matter, killing the pirate.
At the same time, Coby extended his arm blade decapitating the larger pirate's head in a single slash.
Both of them didn't even hesitate, which came a bit surprising to Sabo, but then again, the Straw Hats had seen how cruel some pirates could be back on Nanimonai Island (G3 base), they had grown up and weren't naive anymore. They knew some enemies were too dangerous to be kept alive, though they also knew not to cross the line, that was the reason for the swift deaths.
Usopp had also taken the time to jump off from Coby's shoulder and returned to his normal size, as being smaller than an ant all the time was hitting his stamina. Sanji, Coby, and even Sparky had visibly relaxed after the two pirates were done with. They might have grown, but they were still new to all of it.
Sabo had little time to think over the situation when a large volley of darkness and fire exploded out from where Ace was fighting Blackbeard.
"Sanji, Sparky, Usopp… go and see if Zoro and Kuina need a hand or not." Sabo said, "I will go see if Ace does…"
The three of them nodded, before Coby asked a question. "But where's Gin?"
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Kuina and Zoro had their weapons out as they eyed their enemies. Both of their bodies now sported multiple wounds, small and large, with blood covering their clothes. And yet the two Straw Hat pirates stood tall against the challenge.
Laffitte and Shiryu were their opponents. And unlike them, they were mostly unharmed, maybe a bit winded.
They dwarfed Zoro and Kuina in both experience and skill. But even then both Kuina and Zoro were putting up more than just a challenge.
Zoro had his three blades out and grinned at Shiryu, "You know, for a former marine, you are very skilled with the blade."
Shiryu took a drag from his cigar, "Well, I do pride my skills with the sword." He said resting his sword Raiu on his shoulder. "But I have to say, Pirate Hunter, for a kid your skills are quite good as well." He then also nodded to Kuina, "And so can the same be said for the little missy."
Kuina's response was a curt nod but one could see a ghost of a smile on her face.
Laffitte chuckled amusedly, "It's almost sad that we have to go against each other…" he said, leaning on his cane, which now sported a noticeable change. The lower portion of the cane was an actual thin blade, making it look like an odd-shaped rapier. The sword was also of good quality, definitely a named blade. "But alas things are this way…"
Kuina snorted, "Say that after you wipe that bloodthirsty smile off your face." she said, "You are pretty good with your words, but you reek of bloodlust."
Laffitte's response was to chuckle again, before his grin stretched to match his inner demon. "You guys were always our targets… a certain someone paid quite a lot, to kill you scum." he grinned, "And I promise you one thing, death will be the least of your worries after I'm done with you. We still haven't settled the debt for killing our doctor."
"Bullshit," Zoro snorted as he lowered himself, "You just wanna kill… at least don't try to justify it on a dead man."
Laffitte's grin widened before he jumped from his spot, with his wings out, speeding up to clash with Zoro. Laffitte used his own blade, the cane rapier sword, which was kind of like a hidden blade in his cane that he carried around.
The three-bladed swordsman parried the blow, digging his feet into the ground while he did. Sparks and flames flew as Laffitte and Zoro locked blades, both of their blades covered with haki. A crater formed beneath his feet from the attack, but Zoro held strong.
From the corner of his eye, Zoro could see Kuina facing off against Shiryu, she wasn't doing any better than him but Zoro had his own battle to worry about.
Laffitte moved fast and swiftly, using his legs and wings to attack along with the cane rapier. With Armament Haki, everything could be turned into a deadly weapon. And with his nimble movements, Zoro was constantly on the back foot.
The green-haired swordsman was used to fighting kick specialists like Sanji. But Laffitte was another case, he used his every body part as a weapon.
But Zoro wasn't afraid of that, with his three swords he fought off his attacks.
Zoro waited and finally found his chance when Laffitte let his guard down. Or at least tried to, Laffitte had shown off his skills when he easily deflected Zoro's blow, and even planted a kick right into his face, sending the swordsman into the trees.
Laffitte had read Zoro's intent with his Haki, the three-bladed swordsman was the one to get caught off guard.
With a broken nose, Zoro pushed himself off of the wreckage, eyeing his opponent.
Even though Zoro knew Laffitte's Observation Haki was better, it wouldn't be for too long. The constant threat looming over his shoulder was doing great for his growth. And with each passing moment, Zoro found himself gaining strength.
Though he didn't like having a broken nose. Planting one of his swords into the ground, he grabbed his nose. And with a wince, he set it back in position. The swordsman snorted out some blood from his nose before picking up his sword.
All the while the Blackbeard pirate curiously eyed him. Just from the brief exchange, Zoro could feel that his opponent was hiding something.
Laffitte was the first one to break the silence, "You know, I have been in the Grand Line for almost half of my life. But you are the first one I've seen using three blades… a peculiar choice." He said, tilting his head to the side, "How do you even speak with a sword in your mouth? Odd, very odd. But then again I don't care… I have killed far stronger and stranger opponents than you. And you would be no different. "
"This is a battle with swords, and as long as one of us is breathing this battle is not over." A grin spread widely on his face. He didn't back down from a fight. With his swords catching on the green flames along with unleashing his Conqueror's Haki, he was ready to unleash hell on his opponent. "So be ready to die!"
Laffitte had an unreadable expression on his face, and Zoro prepared himself to move. But… suddenly Zoro's Observation Haki flared up.
"Zoro, watch out!"
The three-bladed swordsman quickly followed the advice and used his two blades to counter the swordsman that had attacked him. Shiryu grinned right up in his face with his sword. Both of them getting locked in a power struggle with their swords.
"You seem interesting," the former marine said, "A Conqueror among this pesky group of pirates…? I haven't hunted one of you for quite a while." He gave a bloodthirsty grin that sent a chill down Zoro's spine.
'What the fuck is wrong with this guy…?' Zoro wondered, 'He's dangerous, I will have to end him before he becomes a threat to the crew.'
Flames exploded out of Zoro's sword, attacking the former marine from the side, but rather than fighting, Shiryu backed off to Laffitte's side.
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"Oi, I will take on the kid." Shiryu said to this comrade, "You take on the little missy." Shiryu took another drag from his cigar before throwing it out his mouth. He then grinned at Zoro as his bloodlust flared up, "Let's see what you are made of kid."
With that Shiryu blurred away from his location, locking blades with Zoro once again. A sonic boom went off as their blades met, both of them using Armament Haki to coat their blades.
Green fire exploded out of Zoro's blades, but Shiryu cut through them without even flinching. His blade glowed red with bloodlust and Haki as he went after the green-haired swordsman.
Laffitte stood there for a few moments, "Don't I get any say in this?" he mumbled to himself before looking at Kuina. The ice user also seemed a bit annoyed at the situation. Laffitte shrugged, "Let's get this over with… I need to get back to Captain's side anyways."
Kuina looked at him but nodded. "I was expecting a challenge… but you have to do for now."
Laffitte blurred from his spot appearing right in front of Kuina locking blades with her. Their clash created a sonic boom, and the ground underneath Kuina formed a crater. Kuina's knees almost buckled under the pressure. Almost. "Be careful little girl, or I might put you into eternal sleep."
Kuina flared up her aura, the temperature in her surroundings dropping a few degrees. "You know, I have cut down a few guys who use 'little girl' and 'sleep' in one sentence… I was expecting better of you." she said with mock disappointment.
And Laffitte felt his brow twitch, before his red lips split into a grin, "I going to enjoy ripping you apart."
With that he kicked her, the girl blocking it with her free hand. And while she avoided the damage, the attack sent her hurling back into the air.
Laffitte followed through with his attacks, giving Kuina little time to recover, but it didn't matter.
Laffitte struck, but Kuina countered. The Blackbeard pirate moved with extreme speed, his form being a blur to anyone, but Kuina kept up with him. Even if just barely.
For a while, they were in a deadly game of a dance of swords before Laffitte found a chance, and kicked Kuina into the sky. With his wings outstretched from his back, Laffitte followed through to the sky, engaging the sword battle in the air. Unsurprisingly, Kuina could easily fight in the air with her Geppo and put up a good fight against the Blackbeard pirate.
As the battle went on, it became clear on who was the better of the two. While Kuina was constantly on the back foot, she was still managing to keep up. And that was with Laffitte holding back.
She wasn't like her captain. But she could clearly see that Laffitte had something up his sleeves and that she needed to be careful.
In both Haki and experience, Laffitte was superior to Kuina, but the Blackbeard pirate was finding it difficult to finish the fight. Not unless he showed off his ability. But the Blackbeard pirate wanted to reserve the ability for later to help his captain.
Kuina internally grinned, all the fights against Luffy and his brothers were paying off! Both Zoro and her only had access to Armament Haki a week ago.
But due to all the intense training, they were able to unlock the Color of Observation. And while it wasn't on the level of Laffitte, or any of the other experienced fighters here, she made up for it with her speed. She had been putting a lot of focus on speed with Sanji. And it was paying off now.
Just from the brief clash alone, she could feel that Laffitte was much more of a troublesome opponent, unlike Shiryu. Kuina knew she couldn't defeat him, not alone at least. 'Zoro, I might need your help with this one.' She thought internally.
While this was happening Zoro and Shiryu were fighting their own battle.
Their forms blurred through the forest, with a figure of red and green clashing in between from time to time. Each time they clashed they created sonic booms, and trees around them were either uprooted or burned to ash, due to their fight.
The ground broke off in chunks, and the earth rumbled each time they clashed. It was a fight of epic proportions. While Kuina's and Lafitte's fight was fast and skillful, their fight was destructive and wild.
"You are not bad, kid!" Shiryu laughed, swinging his sword up and down like a wild beast. His blade gleamed with bloodlust as sparks went past him, "I usually don't get so much into fighting… but you…? You, Zoro, are a worthy opponent!"
Shiryu smiled internally, he was longing for a fight like this. A fight against someone wild as him.
When Saint Camael offered him freedom, he made a choice to never return to the Marines. And when Teach had offered him a position in the crew he was reluctant at first. But when the man showed off his ability to use more than one devil fruit, Shiryu joined him.
That kind of man was all about challenging the world. And challenging it meant he could get a lot of opportunities to test out his blade, and so he joined in. Shiryu wasn't regretting any of that.
In fact, he was thrilled. Unlike the others in the crew, he didn't care who died as long as he got a good fight out of it. Of course, he valued his life, that was also the reason why he was fighting the younger pirate alone.
The others were a bit too strong for him. After years of being in prison, his skills with the blade had dulled. He wasn't at the level of his former self anymore. It would take a few more months to get back to his former strength and improve from there. But Shiryu didn't mind.
After dealing with the green-haired brat, he would be getting himself out of the island. Shiryu wasn't stupid. He knew the Blackbeard pirates were fucked. And he wouldn't mind throwing them under the bus if he could live.
Shiryu grinned with bloodlust, his sword oozing off killing intent. "Show me what you are made of, kid!" he said, "Blood Sword Style: Bleeding Fang!"
A sword slash with pure gleaming red energy shot off from his blade towards the three-sword style user.
Zoro parried his attack with his three-blades, digging his heels into the ground before cutting through the sword slash with pure power alone.
Shiryu grinned widened, "Impressive."
The green-haired swordsman panted but he had a grin on his face as well. His hands shook just from countering the simple sword slash, that was the power difference between the two.
In his hands, Sandai Kitetsu hummed along with Akaiittou Nozarashi. Only Yubashiri that was in his mouth was calm. But even then he could feel his blade's emotions, they wanted to fight. They wanted to win. And Zoro would make sure of that.
Shiryu attacked again, and Zoro countered. Their swords sending sparks flying all around them, as they fought. And while the green-haired swordsman was able to block off any big attacks, small wounds were still appearing on his body.
Shiryu on the other hand was mostly fine.
Zoro's body ached, and keeping up with Shiryu was tough. And unlike Laffitte he was a much easier opponent to fight against. But even then it wasn't as easy as it seems.
That was also another reason to fight, out of the two, Laffitte was stronger. Much stronger. Zoro had a sinking suspicion that Laffitte was hiding his true power… he needed to help Kuina if that was the case.
But first he needed to deal with him first.
290
Shiryu was strong, and for a long time, Zoro was itching to fight a pure swordsman. And Shiryu didn't disappoint, the former marine was quite skilled with a blade. Skills, haki, and power, Shiryu overpowered him in all of them.
But Zoro didn't care, he liked the challenge. If this was a week ago he wouldn't have been able to stand against the swordsman. Shiryu was strong, more than strong.
With only Armament Haki, he wouldn't be able to fight against him at all. After the week-long training, he was able to unlock his Observation Haki. He couldn't fully control it yet, but it was more than helpful against Shiryu.
What he lacked in Haki, he covered up with his speed and flames. But even then Shiryu was able to cut down his flames with pure swordsmanship alone.
The fight went on, Zoro gaining more wounds on his body while he was only able to deliver some skin-deep wounds to his opponent.
But even with the wounds Zoro fought strong. While he wasn't as good at using Life Return like the others in the crew. He was able to cut of his pain receptors, around the wound. He was also able to stop the bleeding with it. This was the only reason why he was still fighting.
His lungs burned from exhaustion, and fatigue was pushing his body to the extreme. But Zoro wouldn't give up.
Shiryu was better than him, Zoro admitted. But not for long. He had to beat him. And he would beat him.
Zoro gritted his teeth as he stepped forward with a cross slash with his blades, Shiryu blocked it with his own blade. The former marine's sword glowed red and black with Haki and power, while his own burned with green flames.
"You know, this has been going on for long enough. Have to say, you have earned my respect, Pirate Hunter" Shiryu said, pushing back as his red aura flared around, "Let's end this!"
Zoro grinned, "You're speaking my mind." He agreed, pushing Shiryu off of him as he struck with Akaiittou Nozarashi and Sandai Kitetsu. With Yubashiri in his mouth, he charged forward with a fury of strikes and slashes.
Shiryu charged forward as well with his blade, Raiu, he parried each strike, and countered them. Their movements turned into blurs. Both of them using Armament Haki to enhance their blows.
While Zoro used his green flames, Shiryu's strike was enhanced with his own bloodlust-given form. It was a battle between Red and Green. Both of their forms zipped through the landscape as they fought.
Shiryu blocked one of Zoro's strikes before kicking the green-haired swordsman. Zoro was a second too late and he was launched off into the air, Shiryu gave chase using his own Geppo. He was a former marine after all.
Zoro backed off, stopping himself mid-air and using the air as a platform with Geppo, he launched forward. Luffy would have been proud if he saw that.
"Three Sword Style: Flaming Onigiri!" Zoro roared as he launched himself forward with his three blades being covered in green flames along with Haki.
Shiryu read his opponent's intent using his Haki and met his blow head-on with his own blade. The former marine-turned-pirate grinned at the challenge, meeting Zoro's attack with Haki and bloodlust. Both of their attacks met, creating a shock wave as both fighters struggled for superiority.
Shiryu over the years had fought many opponents due to his role as the head jailor. And he had to admit Zoro was one of the most unpredictable opponents he had ever faced. His Observation Haki had a hard time picking up Zoro's attacks, as the man, most of the time, moved on wild instinct.
He was like a wild animal with his three blades and Shiryu was impressed. Heck, he was actually having a hard time with the kid. But it wouldn't matter. He was the superior one here.
"You are good, but you aren't on my level kid!" Shiryu called out, pushing Zoro back, before calling out his attack, "Blood Sword Style: Red Reflection!"
And Zoro was shocked as the flames from his own strike got fully reflected back at him. A large explosion went out with smoke covering it as Zoro was tossed back.
Shiryu followed through with his own Geppo, intending to end the fight.
Zoro felt his Observation Haki warning him from a mile away as to what was about to happen.
He could already see his body getting split in two if he didn't move. He had to move! He had to move! Damn it!
Things slowed down for the green-haired swordsman.
His body ached from all his accumulated injuries and yet his will wasn't broken. He wouldn't give up. He needed power! He needed power to fulfill his dreams, and help his friends!
All three of his blades responded to his will and Akaiittou Nozarashi was the first one to respond. The power inside the blade burned hot like the sun and started pulling in his haki.
Zoro found himself wide-eyed as his right arm shriveled up due to Nozarashi pulling out his haki and he started to feel weak. The blade told him to trust it, and for a second Zoro doubted it, before fully trusting the blade.
Zoro, whose body was flying back in the air, suddenly rolled back before again using the air like a slingshot to charge him forward. "I am not done yet!" he roared, unconsciously unleashing his Conqueror's Haki, as the muscles in his arms bulged.
Shiryu was wide-eyed when he saw a green ogre appear from Zoro's back. He blinked and it was gone, as if it was an illusion, but it was more than that. The former marine knew it.
Shiryu gritted his teeth, "Blood Sword Style: Thousand Rain!"
"Three Sword Style: Rengoku Oni Giri!"
The Haki that was pulled in by Nozarashi quickly turned into green flames. Flames that were as hot as the sun. And all three of his blades caught his green flames before they made a thin layer of flames above the blades along with the blackness of Armament. It looked like green neon lights as Zoro burled through the air, moving in towards Shiryu.
Shiryu's own attack created a dangerous red aura around him and both fighters met in the middle.
A large explosion of flames and Haki, went of as both attacks met, the shockwave vibrating throughout the island. Trees got uprooted and burned to a crisp, along with a large part of the land mass shifting. Their attacks having devastating effects on the surroundings.
Both fighters landed on opposite sides, Zoro sporting a noticeable wound on his left shoulder that stretched out to his right torso, and he fell on one knee. Blood pouring out of the fresh wound, and there was an unreadable expression on his face.
On the other side, Shiryu grimaced as the sword fell from his hand. A look of disbelief on his face.
There was a large '✱' shaped wound stretched from his front to his back. He coughed up blood as his body fell apart in pieces, with his insides falling to the floor, making a pool of blood underneath. Even his head was split in the middle.
Zoro didn't say anything, he only had time to sheathe his blades before the green flames that were around him got snuffed out and he fell to the floor. Unconscious. He only regretted not being able to help Kuina with her own fight. But Zoro trusted his crewmates. With that, darkness overtook the unnamed Vice Captain of the Straw Hat pirates.
———————
A/N: I have made some few changes to Laffitte's abilities. And honestly, some of you might not agree with how I wrote the power-scaling for the fight, but I understand.
I always saw Shiryu being weaker then people like King and Queen. I saw him as Doflamingo's, or maybe, if stretching it, Jack's tier.
Why?
'Cause he decided to eat a fruit that's literally useless if you have Germa tech. The invisibility fruit, really? For a swordsman it was kind of cowardly to eat that.
Also here Shiryu was imprisoned for a few years, so he wasn't at his peak strength. And it is before time skip.
In canon I'm sure Shiryu was able to gain strength fighting off the Whitebeard pirates for the territory wars.
But even then I don't think Shiryu would be a villain the current Zoro should be worried. Sure he might be able to get a few hits on Zoro. Due to his invisibility, but that's it.
(And even Apoo was able to damage Luffy when caught off guard in Wano. But the long arm man is no way that strong.)
Also, my man got one shot by the goat Garp. So yeah…
Laffitte on the other hand I personally see as strong.
Why?
He might not have some overpowered haki. But he should have some ability and strength in him.
The man literally dropped by the Seven Warlord's meeting. And was even able to remain undetected for a bit.
Sometimes, people's willingness to fight speaks more for their abilities.
That's why I made him stronger than Shiryu.
As he was an active pirate and wasn't imprisoned like Shiryu for an unknown amount of time. With his age, he should be at his peak at least.
One might say Shiryu is stronger than Laffitte cause Laffitte is the fifth titanic captain, and Shiryu is second Titanic captain. But that logic doesn't hold up either. As Kuzan is the tenth Titanic captain, and he most certainly is one, if not the strongest crewmember in the Blackbeard pirates.
So its my personal reason why I made one stronger than the other. Hope that clears it out.
Anyway, where's Gin?