Chapter 25: Baratie Erupts
A/N: Just to reiterate a point: Zabuza was not fighting a full strength or potential with his duel with Zoro. I'm not saying that I dumbed him down for the Santoryu User, but the focus of that fight was to explore Zabuza's skill mostly as a Swordsman. And for that, Zabuza fought the duel mostly for fun. Not to win (in the beginning), but simply just to bash Zoro around a bit. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Zoro and Zabuza are on par with each other is their swordsmanship skills, which made the fight pretty much even.
You can argue Zabuza's skills are still superior, but in a crossover, nothing's ever really clear. Sometimes, you simply have to make a choice on just how strong characters from different series are in comparison to one another. This was one of my own.
Arc – Captured Rain Genin Resolution, part 5
Yoshino is dramatically pointing a finger at the group, with a speech bubble depicting a broom, paint brushes, tables and chairs, boxes, a mop, rags and dishes. The five Rain Genin are all nodding furiously.
Subtext: Until they arrive... you WORK!
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Baratie, fragments of the Dreadnought Sabre
Pirate Admiral Don Krieg was surveying his newest vessel, Baratie (he made a mental note to change its name), on one of the many fragments of his former flagship with his arms crossed as he looked at the assorted group of Chefs, Pirates and Shinobi on its wooden deck. Zabuza was still out cold, and the Mist Boy Haku was immediately at the Shinobi Swordsman's side, now that Mihawk was long gone. "Even some stupid people get involved. Not that it's a big deal for me."
He could already think of many uses for such a tiny, insignificant little ship like Baratie. With an innocent "restaurant ship", no one would expect it to be full of his pirates, especially if they appeared to be wearing the appropriate uniforms. Like the times they pretended to wave a white flag or possessed a Navy ship to catch their prey unawares, this Baratie was perfect for an ambush. They would lure the fools inside with them thinking they would earn a meal and serve some rations with poison to eliminate the troublesome pests, thus allowing Krieg and his men to get their valuables without interference. And once that was done, they would dump the bodies in the ocean and sink the ship, so that no witnesses could spread word of the true nature of the restaurant ship.
Krieg smiled to himself at the thought. Oh... yes. A brilliant maneuver worthy of his name. The Grand Line would not be a problem this time around! Much less that cynical bastard Mihawk!
Haku looked at him. "Zabuza-sama is fine, just unconscious. Allow me to - "
"No," Don Krieg cut him off. "Forget that worthless fool. It's his own fault for getting hit with a cheap shot like that. Just leave him."
Krieg could feel the boy's killer intent raise to such a significant degree that Krieg himself almost flinched at the feel of it. Instantly, all his men behind him readied their weapons to support their Admiral. At that, the two Demon Brothers landed right alongside Haku, their claws ready.
Krieg gave a small frown. He couldn't afford infighting right now. The "Demon" Brothers and even Zabuza himself was of no interest to him. But the boy... the boy was. He always had an eye for talent, and even the greatest of fools could see that Haku had immense potential. And Krieg wanted all that for himself! It was the chief reason why he had these four Mist Ninja serving him. Eyes darting towards Zabuza's form, perhaps now was the perfect time for that "accident" that he had been meaning to do.
But not just yet... not while the boy was watching. No, no... this must be handled carefully. Make it look like one of their current prey was responsible. With that, he waved down his men behind him. "We're not here to spill each other's blood, fools!" he said, the order firm in his voice as the all the men nodded at once and took a few steps back. Krieg looked back at the three shinobi. "The sooner we acquire our newest ship, the sooner you can attend to your master."
The two brothers didn't respond, but the boy merely looked at Krieg, then the ship, then Zabuza, until he finally looked at Krieg again. "Very well."
Satisfied, Krieg turned back to the restaurant. "Now, my men... rush forward and claim that ship! Once we have it, we'll be on our first step to returning to the Grand Line!"
"B-but... but Krieg!" one man protested. "If we go back to the Grand Line... we might meet others like Mihawk!"
In response to the man's plea, Krieg shot him dead.
"Any more cowards among you!?" the Pirate Admiral roared to his men.
No one responded.
But once Krieg was on a rant, he didn't stop that easily. "Do you really think that a normal man could split a giant galleon with a sword!?!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"It's obvious! Hawk-Eye has the power of the Devil Fruit!" Seeing that he had his men's attention, he continued. "He has eaten the Devil Fruit. The Grand Line is crawling with people like that! When he broke my ship, he probably used some Devil Fruit power! On the Grand Line, that Straw Hat brat will just be another pirate! But 'Red Leg' Zeff... he sailed the Grand Line for a whole year. He must know some secret to sailing with those freaks!" He held out his hand towards Baratie. "I bet it's written in that Logbook of his! And with any luck, the location of the One Piece!"
While the pirates cheered at the brilliance of their boss, Haku wondered just how stupid they really were. Krieg included. Mihawk clearly used only skill when he defeated Zabuza-sama, wiped out the fleet and fought with the Santoryu user. If he really did have a Devil Fruit, then the peons couldn't even comprehend the seriousness of the situation. The fact that Hawk-Eye had done these things without any Devil Fruit powers, if he truly had one, only made him more fearful than any Devil Fruit power he supposedly possessed. And these fools were too dumb to understand that.
He also found it interesting that if Zeff really did find the location of the One Piece, he would be the most famous person in the world now and most likely the newest King of the Pirates. Krieg was just leading his men and inspiring them. For better or worse, they were drinking it all in like sponges and were all ready for battle. Say what you will about Don Krieg: he knew how to rally his men.
Kreig commanded his men to storm Baratie, which they all willingly did... for five seconds, before they heard a loud 'Gum-Gum Rocket!' before the rubber idiot came flying at him with the words 'and Giant Scythe!'
Luffy's arms stretched out outrageously far as he flew to the first wave of men, hitting twenty at once with his arms and sending them flying in all directions into the sea, grabbing one of the fallen masts to prevent himself from falling into the sea.
The other eighty odd men left all gave a loud battle cry as they charged the restaurant.
"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Five hundred Narutos appeared.
"AHHHHH!!!!" Krieg's pirates all screamed as they did an about-face and began running back the way they came with the clones in pursuit, much to Krieg's annoyance.
"Good job, boys!" the Chefs cheered, which was music to the two idiots' ears as they both broke out grinning.
"The Grand Line is crawling with people like them?" Choji asked absentmindedly as Krieg roared at his men and destroyed a batch of Clones with his guns, inspiring his men to return to the fight, giving their battle cry again as the pirates and clones did battle.
Wrapping his legs and arms around the mast, Luffy glared at the Pirate Admiral. "You ungrateful jerk! I'm going to beat you up and send you flying to the moon!"
"You, beat me up?" Krieg asked, laughing at the young man. "You brought the fight to the water, where you can't move freely. That's right, I know all about you Devil Fruit users... you sink like stones in the water! Anchor Boy!"
"But I can still stretch," Luffy countered, sticking out his tongue.
XXXXXXX – Baratie, Patty and Carne
"Forward!!!" both Patty and Carne shouted together as they began pedaling on the mounted bikes as fast as they could. "Baratie Naval Warfare Weapon Mackerel Head #1! Anyone who doesn't wanna die better swim for it!!"
At that, the remaining pirates and clones stopped fighting (a third of the pirates were out cold, and half of the clones destroyed) as they all watched the Fish Head of Baratie suddenly pop off and disconnect from the ship. The head part opened its mouth wide, revealing three cannons. Behind the head figurine at the top part of the 'spine', Patty and Carne could be seen in a small cockpit. The fins on the side of the boat were spinning around like paddle wheels while the tail appeared to act like a rudder.
"COOL!!!" Luffy cried at as he looked at the thing in complete awe.
"What... is... that?" virtually everyone else asked as the Fish Head moved forward slightly, then stopped. It then started turning to the left, then shifted to the right, then back to the left before going backwards and slamming into Baratie, making the entire crowd just sweatdrop at the sight.
"C'mon! Row faster!" came Carne's voice
"You row faster!" Patty's voice this time.
"I'm trying!"
"You're on the starboard paddlewheel! You got to row faster than me or we can't turn port!"
"I know that! Quit trying to boss me around, you bald octopus!"
Punching sounds rang out, before the crowd heard two loud yells of "FULL STEAM AHEAD!! FASTER!! FASTER!! GO FASTER!!"
At that, the Mackerel Head finally turned around to face the pirates, and in the blink of an eye, sped right up to them, giving many a good scare due to how fast the thing just moved. The cannons fired off multiple rounds at the disorganized pirates as they all scrambled from one floating piece of debris to the next to get out of the way of the surprisingly destructive firepower of the floating Fish Head. Unfortunately, Carne and Patty were arguing too much to realize they were blasting Naruto clones as well, but since they were driving off the pirates, no one complained.
That's when the two turned their sights on Don Krieg himself, moving the floating arsenal right towards the Pirate Admiral. Patty and Carne then shouted together. "Alright, Krieg!! Prepare to die!!! Feel the power of Mackerel Head #1, the pride of Baratie!! Prepare to be shark food!!!"
With that, the Fish Head fired several rounds at Krieg, followed by a huge explosion. Patty and Carne eagerly paddled forward again to look at the results of their attack, only to realize that no matter how fast they paddled, they wouldn't move an inch! Looking down at the clearing smoke, they saw Don Krieg standing, not a scratch on him! And he was holding back the Baratie Naval Warfare Weapon Mackerel Head #1 with one hand without even breathing hard!
"I am Don Krieg! Ruler of the World's seas!" Krieg declared loudly, flat out ignoring Luffy's protest. Krieg then grabbed one of the cannons hard as swung the entire thing around and lobbed it high into the air. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES!!!"
"WAAAAAAHHHH!!!" was the only response he got.
"Those two had a lot of heart," Sanji said to himself, taking out another smoke.
That burst of inspiration rallied the rest of Krieg's men as they swam/charged towards Baratie, where the Fighting Cooks were ready and waiting. The only problem was that the Fish Head was still flying in the air, so the cooks all ran off to the sides so they wouldn't get caught underneath and crushed by the thing.
That's when Sanji jumped into the air, delivering a kick to the thing and sending it away from the restaurant and off to the side on the fin.
"What leg strength!" one pirate shouted, purely amazed. "He deflected that Fish Head!!"
"A kick technique?" Krieg asked himself, shooting a dangerous look to Zeff himself. The man didn't react at all to that stare, just keeping his face impassive as he kept his gaze on Sanji.
At this point, both Carne and Patty emerged from the rubble, mad as hell. "Sanji, you jerkwad!!" Patty shouted, his face red.
"You trying to kill your own allies, dammit!?!" Carne roared, looking ready to explode.
"... yeah."
"'YEAH!?! STOP PISSING ME OFF, YOU BOILED SQUID!!!"
"YOU ALMOST DESTROYED TWO VALUABLE MILITARY ASSETS, SPAGHETTI HEAD!!!"
While that was going on, Haku arrived at the scene, casually sidestepping a cook that tried to skewer him, as if all the fighting and chaos around him was nothing more than a simple brawl, not worthy of his attention. He walked right up to the last remaining Straw Hat crewmembers and merely pointed at Naruto and Sasuke. "You and you, I will take down."
"Ha! You like that!? He pointed to me first," Naruto gloated in Sasuke's face, causing the other boy merely to snort in response. "Like I care."
Haku merely jumped over them on to the top of the restaurant. "If you both care to follow me, let us fight uninterrupted on the other fin." Without waiting for an answer, he hopped off to the other side of Baratie. Both Naruto and Sasuke shot each other a look before following along.
XXXXXXX – Baratie, Port Fin, Choji vs the Demon Brothers
Choji just watched for a moment while the pirates and fighting cooks continued beating the crap out of each other, before stomping on the fin loudly in preparation for his own attack, when he noticed one of the Mist ninjas seemingly flying straight at him. The boy gave a brief yell before ducking, the man flying over him and landing a few meters behind him.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Choji said, very pleased that the two he sought saved him the trouble of looking for them. Meizu quickly stood up and held up his left arm, revealing a large metal claw as well as a sharp chain coming out of it. Meizu then jerked his left arm back hard, as if pulling something towards him. Choji then saw something out of the corner of his eye and looked over his shoulder… just in time to see the other brother, Gouzu now flying right at him, his right hand also having a large metal claw on it as well as the chain connecting the claw. The chain itself had a number of small, but deadly looking spikes on the interlocking parts.
Once again, Choji quickly ducked as Gouzu's metal claw passed right through where the boy's head had been a moment ago. The plump boy didn't have long to smirk as Gouzu's left hand came and slammed against Choji's face, sending him rolling along the deck. 'Those two have a chain connecting between them and use it to alert each other when an attack is coming, like mine in the restaurant, as well as throwing themselves with it. Damn cheaters!'
Gouzu then flipped through the air and landed on the fin. Once he did, both took off running at Choji from two sides, with the chain lingering between them. Choji managed to regain his senses just in time to see the chain just about on him, quickly performing the hand signs Ox, Hare, Dragon, and Snake. Just as the chain began wrapping around Choji, his skin became grayer and more solid looking. Both of the Demon Brothers stopped and yanked their arms back, tightening the spiked chain around Choji in an instant. To their surprise, however, none of the spikes cut the boy at all!
"You won't break my Ganseki Kawa (Rock Skin) that easily!" Choji boasted as he gave a loud grunt, struggling against the chain that bound him. He managed to get it to slack slightly, which was just enough for him to be able to grab the chain with his rock-like hands. Using all the strength he could muster, he gave a hard yank, pulling both Gouzu and Meizu hard. Both men were caught by surprise as they went soaring towards each other. As a result, the chain around Choji slackened even more and allowed the young Akimichi to jump out.
The Demon Brothers both flipped in the air, making their legs appear in front as their feet clashed together. With a simple thrust, they both backflipped to the ground unharmed. With a flick of Gouzu's wrist, Meizu jumped backwards and landed on his older brother's back. Gouzu then took off running at the Baratie busboy and slashed downward with his left hand claw, only to be intercepted by Choji's left arm.
"Told you, buttmunchers! You can't cut me!" Choji boasted happily as he threw a right punch at the older brother, who dodged easily enough. Meizu jumped off his brother's back, his own claws aiming for Choji's head, though Choji sidestepped it easily enough... only to realize that Meizu grabbed the end of his scarf as he landed.
'My scarf!? What's he want that - " Choji didn't get a chance to finish that thought as Meizu suddenly thrust the scarf right in Choji's face, both blinding him and slightly suffocating him. In a flash, Meizu wrapped the scarf three times around the plump boy's head, covering his face.
"Too slow, fatso! Now die!" both Gouzu and Meizu shouted together as they spun around and delivered a kick to Choji's stomach. While not strong enough to actually hurt him with that Rock Skin, it was more than enough to still send him rolling across the fin and right to the ocean line.
"I'naoughtfaaaahh (I'm not fat)!!!" came Choji's muffled shout of rage through his scarf as he managed to pull it off... only to realize he was about to fall into the ocean. After giving a startled cry, he slammed both of his hands into the deck hard, stabilizing himself just seconds before falling into the ocean. Choji's face was bright red with anger again. "I'm just big boned!! Get it through your skulls!!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever, fatty."
Steam blew out of Choji's ears as he began stomping a foot angrily on the wooden fin. "Damn you both! That's it!" He then formed two more signs, the Ram and Bird. "Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)!" With that, his stomach seemingly grew out considerably, making Choji's physical body more circular, like a large round ball with stubby arms, legs and a head attached.
"Wow... you really are fat..." the Demon Brothers stated, more out of fact than an actual insult.
"SHUT. UP!!!"
The Akimichi launched himself into the air, drawing his limbs and head inside his body, becoming a large round human boulder. "Nikudan Sensha (Meat Tank)!" At that, the human sphere began rotating in the air at incredible speed before falling back down on the fin. Once it touched the wooden platform, Choji took off rolling right at the two Demon Brothers, both of whom calmly jumped off to the side.
"Too slow, kid," Gouzu commented. "Especially with all that rock on you."
"And with little turning ability," Meizu added. "Don't you know that the frontal method rarely works?"
That's when Choji hit the lodged Fish Head, startling the two as Choji went zooming right back at them. He had been aiming for he Fish Head on the off chance he did miss and gave himself a second shot! Choji bounced off the small boat and headed right back at the two Demon brothers, both of which jumped away once again. Only this time, Choji unfolded himself in an instant and dove towards the deck, his rock hands grasping the chain hard.
"Got you this time!" Choji hollered in glee as he utilized all his strength and began spinning the Demon Brothers around and around. Both Meizu and Gouzu screamed as Choji spun faster and faster, nearly dizzy in the eyes himself, before flinging the chain with all his might into the air. He cupped his hand over his eyes to shield from the sun as he watched happily. "That's right! That's what you get, ha ha!" he gloated as he watched the chain fly into the distance, before his face dropped, realizing a very crucial point.
The chain was flying into the distance... just the chain...
WHERE WERE THE TWO NINJA ATTACHED TO IT!?!
The Leaf ninja got his answer as Gouzu appeared behind him (both him and Meizu having used their claws to cut the chain), his clawed hand backknuckling Choji across the face. Meizu came from the other direction, sliding across the ground as he hit Choji's right foot, knocking the fat boy off balance. As Choji fell, both brothers took a hold of his arm and jumped into the air. Rotating the young Akimichi in the air, they slammed the boy against the deck headfirst.
Choji slumped to the deck as both brothers jumped back, surveying the damage they did. Surely, even with that hard skin, that strike had done some damage to the punk brat. The boy lay upon the ground for a few moments before sitting up and rubbing his head. "You two are going to pay dearly for that!"
"Sure we will," Meizu commented, rolling his eyes.
"We may not be able to harm you," Gouzu said. "But you're too slow to hit us. Soon or later, your little rock defense will fall and then we'll have you."
To their surprise, the Rock Skin began disappearing all over the boy, though the rage in the young ninja's eyes wasn't decreasing at all; in fact it only seemed to grow. That wasn't the only thing growing, however, as tan fur seemed to be appearing all over the boy. His hands and feet became paws with nasty-looking claws on them. "You want speed!?" Choji defended, his face becoming more cat-like with fangs emerging. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to provoke a sleeping lion!?"
XXXXXXX – Baratie, Port Fin, Sanji and Pearl
After the Mackerel Head #1 had been crushed and the two Chefs argued about it, both Patty and Carne took weapons and charged the boarding pirates, swatting them down with ease, much to the sheer surprise of Krieg's men.
It didn't last long, though, as a new figure approached, beating down the two Sea Cooks with one blow. Standing before them was a towering man with wavy black hair and a disheartening smile on his face. He had two large iron plates covering his back and front with a distant pearl embedded within the middle of those plates. He wore smaller versions of those plates on his knees, elbows and fists, while wearing black shoes. "Ha Ha! Invincible is here!" the man shouted happily. His name was Pearl, the Iron Wall. The Second Mate of Don Krieg's pirates.
One of Krieg's men knelt down over Patty, noticing a high quality knife at his waistline. Seeing that the blade was of much superior craftsmanship than anything the pirate possessed, he greedily reached down and took it for his own, only to have Patty's hand reach up and take hold of it by the blade itself, not willing to give it up.
"Hey, you should be dead!" the Krieg pirate complained, placing his hand on Patty's face in an attempt to yank the knife free of the chef's grasp, who only gripped it more tightly, the knife cutting deep into his own hand.
That's when Sanji kicked the man hard in the neck, sending Patty's knife out of his grip and flying into the air. The force behind it was so powerful that the man collided with three other pirates, sending them all crashing into the Iron Wall's chest plate hard enough to create a loud gong-like ringing sound that could be heard by all. While Pearl himself didn't so much as flinch, the four men collapsed down in a heap on the deck and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
"A Chef's knife is his soul. A crap-bum like you had better not touch it," Sanji declared out loud as he held out his hand, catching the knife as he fell back to earth. The one-eyed Chef handed it back to Patty. "Here, hold it tightly while you die. I'll take care of them."
Of course, this just pissed off the immediate group of pirates as ten of them swarmed him. In response, Sanji jumped down into a handstand as he spun, his feet kicking each of the pirates in a blink of an eye. In a flash, he jumped back onto his left foot and swung his right foot around, kicking all ten pirates at once and sending them flying in several directions.
"As I told Gin: slaughter without mercy."
"Ha! So you beat them down with kicks alone!" Sanji turned his head to the owner of the voice that just spoke, Pearl himself. Given the strength he displayed earlier, Sanji guessed he was the reason why so many of the orange-clothed boy's clones were dispatched. It was pretty clear that this man's strength was much greater than the lackeys around them.
"You seem pretty clever!" Pearl went on. "Is that your fighting style?"
"A cook's hands are his life. I can't risk damaging them in battle. I'll finish you with just my feet, too." Sanji lifted a foot in Pearl's direction for emphasis, not that the man so much as batted an eye. If anything, he merely looked amused at the thought, like Sanji had just told a very poor joke. "You're going to finish me? Impossible! In 61 battles to the death, I've won them all with being cut! I'm the Invincible Iron Wall! You protect your hands, but I protect my whole body! I've never lost a single drop of blood! Not one drop!"
He clashed his hand pearl plates together, the sound ringing through Sanji's ears. "That's how tough I am! I'm Pearl, the Invincible Iron Wall of Don Krieg's Pirates!" He gave a smile. "And I'm handsome too! And as smooth as polished silver!"
Luffy heard that last statement, and couldn't understand what was wrong with the man.
"Hey Straw Hat, never take your eyes off your opponent!"
Luffy snapped his head back just in time to see a giant spiked mace on a chain coming right at him (where'd that come from anyway?). It smashed through Luffy's support beam, causing him to fall down towards the ocean while Krieg rallied his weapon back to him and threw it forward once again, slamming it right into Luffy himself this time, sending the Straw Hat Captain flying right back to Baratie.
Sanji himself had become fed up with Pearl's constant chatter as he launched a kick at the man's face, only for it to be blocked by Pearl's right elbow plate.
"A cannonball from a Navy ship couldn't hurt me!" Pearl boasted… just as Luffy came flying towards them, slamming against Pearl's head, which sequentially slammed Pearl's face against the back of his own shield.
"What?" Sanji asked in surprise, as Luffy rolled down to the deck and patted himself off. "Phew, that scared me. I'm sure glad I didn't fall into the ocean." That's when he finally noticed where exactly he landed, and being Luffy, gave the predictable response for the situation.
"Huh?"
Neither Pearl or Sanji responded, as both men were looking at Krieg's Second Mate's left hand, where there was a small amount of blood on his fingers due to Pearl's newly bloodied nose due to Luffy's fall. "... blood."
A curious look appeared on Don Krieg's face. "Damn."
The other conscious pirates were also panicking. "It's blood! Oh no!!"
XXXXXXX – Baratie, Starboard Fin, Haku vs. Sasuke and Naruto
Haku was at the end of the fin, with the two boys on the other side. The masked boy crossed his arms, giving a stern look to the two younger boys. Not that one could easily tell, given the mask, yet it was still something that could be felt.
"You can both charge me at once, if that'll make you feel better," Haku said.
"Forget it," Sasuke responded as he took a step formed, pointing at himself with his thumb. "I'm more than enough to defeat you."
"Yeah, whatever. Don't trip over your ego on the way over," Naruto commented.
"I don't need advice from a loser midget."
"What you need is an attitude adjustment."
"You got a problem with me?"
"No, I have about twenty of them!"
"Why don't you go play with kunai, pretending you're doing something useful!"
"This coming from the guy who spent four years on an island doing squat!"
"I had my reasons!"
"Yeah, all of them moronic!"
"Ahem!" both boys stopped and looked over the other boy, who was tapping his foot impatiently. "If you two are done, come at me. Or should I come to you?"
Both boys stared at Haku, then back at each other, before they reared their fists back and threw them forward.
"RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!RockPaperScissors!"
Haku resisted the urge to sweatdrop at the sight. How could two boys who were just arguing with each other suddenly turn around and start playing a game at the drop of a hat like that? Did they hate each other's guts, or were they simply best friends? Unable to come up with a satisfactory answer, he just watched until finally, the blond-haired one held out scissors, while the black-haired one held out rock.
Naruto looked at the final two signs and snorted. "Fine." Sasuke merely nodded in return, clearly pleased he came out the victor. He then turned his attention back to Haku as he broke off into a sprint directly toward the other boy. Once he was right on top of the Mist Hunter ninja, Sasuke threw a left fist at him, which Haku calmly caught with his right hand.
Shocked, but not at all deterred, Sasuke fired a right kick, which was blocked by Haku's left arm. Annoyed now, Sasuke just launched a barrage of punches and kicks, all of which Haku blocked with minimal effort. Not once did Haku falter in his stance or look like he was struggling as his arms intercepted each of Sasuke's attacks.
Sasuke's right hand came in again, and this time, Haku ducked it, elbowing the Uchiha hard in the abdomen. Sasuke took a step backwards as he held his stomach, before Haku's sandaled foot slammed into Sasuke's chin, sending him rolling along the deck.
Haku wasted no time in stepping to the side, avoiding a series of shuriken thrown at him. "My turn!"
The Mist boy turned around to see Naruto coming right at him, a right hook ready. Haku nudged his head off the side, but Naruto spun around, delivering a rear kick to Haku. Again, Haku blocked the attack easily, sending Naruto's foot to the ground and throwing him off balance. Naruto gave a brief cry of disbelief before using the fall to deliver a backknuckle at Haku, who merely grabbed it and shoved Naruto backwards.
The blond boy stumbled backwards a few steps on one foot before regaining his balance. Grabbing a kunai, he gave a yell as he charged again, kunai held high. He threw his arm down to bury it in Haku's skull, but the boy intercepted once again, the weapon skipping across the deck. Haku then delivered a powerful palm strike to the side of Naruto's face, before spinning around and hitting the boy on the chest, sending him rolling across the deck as well. Haku merely resumed his relaxed stance. "That all?"
At that, both boys jumped to their feet easily as they rubbed their faces. Naruto shot Sasuke a dark look. Sasuke met it for a moment, before shrugging. "Whatever." With that said, both boys took off running towards Haku, each throwing a punch at Haku... who easily blocked with his arms once again.
Both boys gave a slight gasp at this before going into another frenzy of punches and kicks at Haku, all of which were easily deflected by Haku's arms. 'This is nuts! How the hell can he fend both of us off with just one hand apiece!?'
After another thirty seconds of that, both of them dropped back from their assault, visibly shaken by what had just happened. Though it was more apparent on Naruto's face than Sasuke's, but he too was affected. He just hid it better.
"You both have traveled the oceans," Haku said simply, lowering his arms down. "Visiting new places, learning new things, growing. Both mind and in body. Don't be so foolish to think that this applies only to your little group."
Naruto gave a visible groan as he looked at his crewmate. "Any bright ideas?"
"I'm working on it," was the only reply he got.
Something that sounded remarkably similar to a chuckle was heard from the masked boy. "Frankly, I don't know what you two are worried about, considering you're both better at taijutsu than I am."
XXXXXXX – One of the remnants of Krieg's ship.
One of Krieg's pirates, Hustle, carefully crept across the floating debris.
He wasn't one of the more notable crew members, like Pearl, Gin, or even Don Krieg himself. He was, however, the combat instructor of Krieg's men, personally responsible for seeing that all these dogs were up to par with what was expected of them.
He wasn't nearly as strong as the big three, but he was no slouch in his fighting abilities either. When compared to normal men, that is. Devil Fruit users and Ninja Freaks didn't count as normal!
Right now, he was on a very special assignment, given to him by Don Krieg himself! Holding one of Baratie's large knife weapons, he carefully made his way to Zabuza's unconscious form. This one shinobi had outlived his usefulness. The time to get rid of him was now, while everyone (specifically, the other three Mist Shinobi) was distracted with the fighting. Hustle was going to get rid of the loose cannon once and for all! Krieg had promised a great deal of riches for the task! The pirate was already drooling at the thought of all the money he would make. With a few more assignments like this, he might even become Second or First Mate!
Taking another careful peek, he made a stealthy dash towards Zabuza's fallen form. When he was only a meter away, Zabuza's eyes snapped open.
Hustle stopped in his tracks, not believing his rotten luck. He wasn't stupid enough to try and take Zabuza, no matter how dazed the Shinobi Swordsman was!
That's when Zabuza gave a very irritable yell as he leapt up to his feet, swinging his arms out in a rage. His the flat edge of his sword hit Hustle right on, sending him flying into the air with a fearful scream before landing in the ocean a good few dozen meters away. The only lucky thing for Hustle was that Zabuza didn't even notice the man.
Giving his face a rub, the Demon of the Mist looked around. "Pull cheap tricks with me, will you?" he asked in a dangerous voice as he looked around for his prey. "You're going to wish you had finished me off when I get through with you, Zoro!" he said, looking into the sky with rage.
Zabuza was back on his feet.
And he was very pissed off!
End of Chapter 25
And with that, the next chapter is done! Hoped everyone liked it! Several of the fights have started, a couple of others are in the works, and Zabuza is back in action as well! I never intended Zoro's cheap shot to defeat Zabuza for the remainder of the arc. That would be disrespecting the character too much for my tastes, and not something I would want to do. Only needed him out for a short while to deal with the Mihawk situation. And now he's back, and mad as hell. What will Baratie's defenders do!?
For those of you not liking how I've handled Naruto in this story so far, hope this chapter changes your opinions somewhat: he didn't argue, whine or complain when he lost the rock, paper, scissors game to Sasuke. In addition, Sasuke didn't try to talk out of tagteaming with Naruto. Yes, the two did argue before they started fighting. They can't get along all the time after all; things would get dull.
What I will say right now is the Baratie Arc is the milestone I set for Naruto to start maturing (mind you, slowly) from the way he's acted in the previous chapters. But I'll cover this more at the end of the arc with my intentions and what I did.
So how was Choji's battle? I hoped it all surprised you and that is was enjoyable. From both Choji's part and the Demon Brothers. And how many were expecting a Lion Zoan Devil Fruit from him? Hope that it was a welcomed surprise. It's fair to note that I still don't have the order details down for the battles just yet. Should be settled by the next chapter.
Originally, the Devil Fruit I had in mind for Choji was to revolve around Magnetism. However, a character in canon managed to claim that before I could get to this part. I could have given it to Choji anyway, but I didn't want to conflict with Oda. I hold too much respect for him.
I had several possibilities in mind, both good and bad. So again, I called upon my little support group to discuss the matter and the majority opinion was a Zoan type fruit. After deliberations, I agreed to it. Should be able to do nicely for Choji and the story. Now let's just hope Oda didn't intend for a character to have a Lion Devil Fruit.
On a side note: the Japanese name for Baratie's Fish Head is Sabagashira. No idea if that's translated to something in English, or if it's a new word Oda made up for it. Decided to call it by what's gone in the dubbed manga. I personally don't have a problem with such works.
And believe it or not, Hustle is a canon One Piece character, revealed in Oda's Blue Data book. He does appear in chapter 60 of the manga, though unless you know where to look, he's easily missed. Check out the One Piece Encyclopedia on my bio page to get a look at him.
Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Mass Shadow Clone): is an advanced variation of the Kage Bunshin Ninjutsu technique which was banned by the First Hokage. This has not stopped many Jounin-level ninja from learning the technique however. Instead of creating several clones, several hundred clones are created. Like normal Kage Bunshin a ninja's chakra is split evenly among the clones when created. Canon Technique
Gum Gum Rocket (Gomu Gomu no Rocket): Luffy's main method of traveling long distances fast. He stretches out one of his arms (or both) and grabs a handhold, then retracts them, projecting himself high into the air, over great distances, or even into an opponent. This technique is oftentimes reckless, especially if not done properly as Luffy could accidentally propel himself into a body of water or worse. Canon Technique
Gum Gum Giant Scythe (Gomu Gomu no Kama): Luffy grabs an object behind his opponent and pulls himself towards them. He then stretches out his other arm and clotheslines his opponent. Canon Technique
Ninpou: Ganseki Kawa (Ninja Art: Rock Skin): is a Ninjutsu technique of the Akimichi clan. It allows the user's skin to become rock hard, or even harder. It's requires a constant drain on chakra and calories, though with large reserves, this is something that can be maintained for long periods. Like the Multi-Size technique, skilled users can only affect parts of their bodies to better compensate for the needs of battle. A skill Choji has not mastered yet. C-class Ninjutsu. Original Technique
Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique): is a Ninjutsu technique used by the Akimichi clan. Using this technique the clan member can alter the size of their body. Highly skilled clan members can alter the size of their body to a large scale with little trouble. When the clan member changes the size of their body, it uses up body calories. Because of that, the clan members will usually be seen eating high calorie diets. Clan Secret Technique. No rank. Canon Technique
Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank. Also known as Meat Tank): is a Taijutsu technique used by the Akimichi clan. After using the Baika no Jutsu technique to modify their body into a large sphere shape, the clan member draws their limbs into the main spherical body. Next they launch their body into the air and begin to spin at a high rate of speed. Launching himself at the target, the fast spinning prevents most incoming projectile attacks from landing, instead they bounce off with little effect. Any direct attack the opponent uses with their body would result in the crushing of their attackers bones. C-class Taijutsu. Canon Technique
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 49, Naruto: 58. Currently on hold due to Nami's departure.
May the Kage Bunshin and Gomu Gomu no Bazooka be with you!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto. Big thanks to Paintball-Gamer for beta-reading this!