Ch. 19

Over the course of the mission, Neji had used his byakugan to watch every fight. The only exception had been when Naruto performed his Harem no Jutsu. Yuuko-san had said that he would discover interesting things about the chakra in the worlds he visited if he did so. She had been right.

In this world, which Yuuko had called One Piece, the average person did not have chakra. Chakra was the combination of physical and spiritual energy, and in this world, there was no mixture. The physical energy was completely separate from the spiritual in most people here. It had been obvious from how he'd observed the navigator, Nami, the cook, Sanji, and the long-nosed sharp-shooter, Usopp. There were some exceptions, however.

The swordsman, Zoro, had shown signs of his spiritual and physical energies mixing. Especially when he'd been fighting Ed. It seemed that he unconsciously mixed chakra and expelled it from the edges of his swords when he attacked. During the first part of his fight, he'd been trying not to cut Ed, so only the blade itself had struck. However, when Ed had performed his heel-drop, Zoro had instinctively tried to cut him, and his chakra had caused his swords to slice right through Ed's metal leg.

The other exception seemed to be those people who had eaten the 'devil fruit.' Their situation was the reverse of the normal. In their case, it seemed that the spiritual and physical energies were combined completely. Also, they were spread throughout their bodies, adhering to no chakra channels at all. He had seen it in the tall woman, Robin, and he could see it in both the doctor, Chopper, and in the captain, Luffy. It was possible that that was why they had a weakness against seawater.

Yuuko was briefing them for this mission, her long pipe in her left hand. She blew out a stream of smoke before speaking.

"There are some basics about this world which you may need to know. Firstly, it is a world of vast oceans; the majority of the people dwell on islands. Secondly, it is currently in what is known as the Great Age of Pirates. The Mugiwara no Kaizoku is but one crew among thousands, most of whom are vying for the position of Kaizoku-ou, or Pirate King." She took another puff on her pipe, and then continued.

"Finally there are people in this world who have gained the use of strange powers. These people are the ones who have consumed what are called the devil fruit. While eating the fruit grants amazing powers, like all things it comes with a price. Those who have consumed the devil fruit are hammers. They cannot swim, and should they fall into the sea, they lose all of their powers and energy. The same is true if they come into contact with the stone called kairouseki." Yuuko tapped three of the wanted posters, separating them from the rest.

"Of the Mugiwara no Kaizoku, three of them have powers of the devil fruit, the captain, Luffy, the historian, Robin, and the doctor, Chopper. While these three can be defeated using power alone, it will not be easy. It is best to find a way to rob them of their powers, and then defeat them."

Neji had deduced certain things from his observations; while there was still much that was unclear, these things he was sure of. Some element in this world's seawater, or the stone kairouseki, drained all of the chakra from whatever it touched. Since most people had no chakra, they were unaffected by it. Those who had trained enough to gain chakra had tenketsu, which would protect the chakra from the kairouseki, and so were also unaffected. But those who had eaten the devil fruit had no tenketsu. Their chakra was therefore unprotected, and thus, the seawater or the kairouseki robbed them of their powers and energy.

This was completely different from his own world, where everyone had tenketsu and chakra, even if only shinobi used it. Shino's successful use of kikai mushi had proved that it was chakra that created these powers, though the specifics were still unknown. It would be interesting to see how his juuken worked on this Luffy, who was a devil-fruit user and a rubber-man.

Neji stood at the ready as Luffy grinned and zipped forward. When the rubber-man jerked to a stop in the center of the 'arena,' his feet halted, but his body kept going before rebounding back with a snap.

"Heehee!" Luffy grinned. "All set!"

"The first move is yours." said Neji. "I'm waiting."

"Yosha!" said Luffy, stretching his right arm back. "Here I come. Gomu-gomu no Pistol!" His arm shot forward, fist aimed straight at Neji's face.

"Byakugan." as Neji's eyes widened and turned solid white; he moved his head a few inches to the left and let Luffy's attack glide right by, smirking slightly.

"Gomu-gomu no Gatling Gun!" Luffy cried, and let loose the rapid-fire attack.

Neji never lost his smirk. With his byakugan activated, he saw every attack in slow motion, and deflected them easily with his hands. Those attacks that would not hit him, he let pass him by, not even moving from his position.

This is so familiar. It's just like my battle with Naruto… In fact, this Luffy is a great deal like Naruto. The approach, this enthusiasm and overbearing exuberance, this affinity for charging in head-first… all of it is like Naruto. And I don't doubt that he'll have Naruto's stubborn unwillingness to lose and uncommon brilliance in last-minute ideas during battle. However, all of his plans will stem from his devil-fruit powers. I'll need to cripple those powers, or remove them entirely for this fight, to defeat him.

"Gomu-gomu no Mushi!" (note: Mushi can mean either bug, as in kikai mushi, or whip, as in gomu-gomu no mushi.) Luffy swung his leg around in a roundhouse kicking motion, allowing it to stretch to reach Neji. Although Neji could have dodged by jumping over it, instead he stood still and let the blow reach him. An instant before Luffy's move connected, his leg struck a wall of blue fire-like energy, which Neji had generated at the last second.

"Kaiten!" Neji began spinning in place, rotating faster and faster until he became a blur. His chakra spread to create a shield around him, and oddly enough, Luffy's leg stuck to it.

"Ara? What's going on? What's happening? It's stuck!" Luffy's eyes were wide and he stared in astonishment.

As Neji spun, Luffy's leg stretched further and further, winding up like cotton candy on a stick or thread on a spool. When he reached the limits of how far his body could stretch, he was reeled in himself, spinning around wildly before Neji halted abruptly, releasing his chakra. Luffy immediately went flying in an impromptu and painful version of 'crack the whip.' He smashed headfirst into the canyon wall, falling in a tumble of cracked and broken stone.

"Owww." He rubbed his head as he clambered out of the pile. "That actually hurt." He seemed surprised.

Suddenly Neji was right up in his face. He barely had time to react before Neji cried "Juuken!" and shoved his palm at his stomach. Luffy dodged, but only just, and Neji immediately caught hold of his left wrist. If I'm right, this should work. Neji thought, and then released a controlled burst of chakra through his palm and into Luffy's arm. "Juuken!" he said again, and shoved his power through Luffy's captured appendage.

"Hey!" Luffy said and managed to jerk away. He and Neji jumped back from each other, putting some distance between them. "That felt funny! Huh?" Luffy's left arm would no longer stretch. For that matter, it would no longer move. It hung limply at his side, dangling like so much dead weight. "Huh? What? What'd you do?!" Luffy was confounded. "You made my arm stop working!"

"I have discovered how your powers work. The devil fruit which you ate caused your spiritual and physical energies to mingle completely, outside of the normal chakra channels. This then spread throughout your body, making you a gomu-ningen, a rubber-man. By precisely controlling my own chakra…" Neji brought his to the surface of his skin, coating his hands in blue fire. "I can use it to manipulate yours."

He shot forward and caught Luffy's other hand when he brought it up to block. Neji let loose another burst of chakra, and Luffy's right arm went dead. He then shot his hand out towards Luffy's head, but the wacky pirate captain ducked and tumbled over backwards. Neji proceeded to chase him around the canyon, attacking relentlessly with his chakra-coated hands. Luffy jumped and dodged, leaped and tumbled, ducked and tripped and bounced off the canyon walls in his efforts to escape.

Neji's pursuit went unchecked, though, and he was never more than a fraction behind Luffy. When Luffy ricocheted off of the wall, flipping over his head, he pulled a kunai from its holster and flicked it behind himself without turning to look. It zipped through the air and plunged to earth through Luffy's right sandal, pinning it to the ground between his toes. Caught off-balance, Luffy stumbled and sprawled headlong. Unable to use his arms, Luffy flopped about trying to get up. When Neji slammed his palm down towards him he rolled, getting out of the way barely in time. Neji's hand slapped dirt, and Luffy managed to get his feet back under himself and stand up.

Now missing a sandal, Luffy stared at his assailant. "Wow, you're good!" he said admiringly.

"Luffy! This is not the time to complement your opponent!" Nami yelled. "He's the enemy, dammit!"

"Oh, right!"

"You forgot?! How stupid can you possibly be?!" Nami was practically shrieking in her anger.

"What's your problem? I was having fun!" Luffy pulled his eyebrows together sulkily.

"Aagh! Just… Just win, okay?! You'll be in so much trouble if you lose!" Nami snarled in exasperation. Luffy can't lose. It just doesn't happen! she thought.

Notes: Actually, it does happen. Luffy lost twice to Crocodile before he came back and beat the crap out of him.

"Aye-aye, sir!" Luffy grinned his insanely wide grin.

"Are you quite ready?" Neji asked. He had deactivated his byakugan during this exchange in order to conserve energy.

"Yep!" Luffy grinned at him with his usual confidence. "It's my turn now!" He shot out his foot in another "Gomu-gomu no Mushi!"

This time Neji did dodge, reactivating his byakugan as he did so. He shot forward, right hand surrounded by its corona of blue chakra again. This time he aimed at Luffy's chest, but missed again when Luffy fell over backwards to escape.

"Gomu-gomu no Yari!" (yari spear) Luffy's feet shot out towards Neji's unprotected stomach, only to barely miss when he rolled sideways in midair over him. Neji landed lightly on his feet and skidded to a halt a few feet away. Neji smirked slightly on the outside, but inwardly he winced.

That was close, too close. Just the pressure of that blow's passage was enough for me to feel it. I might have a bruise tomorrow. I need to end this quickly, before he gets the chance to recover his powers. Even now, to Neji's experienced byakugan, chakra was starting to trickle back into Luffy's arms. It wasn't enough for him to stretch with, but he could move them now.

Luffy had noticed too. "Hey, my arms can move again!" he called triumphantly. He waved at Nami excitedly. "See? They can move!"

"Good for you, now get back in the fight already!" Nami was relieved, but she was more concerned with his ability to win right now, than with his arms being able to move in general.

"Heehee! I can move my arms now! Whatever you did wore off!" Luffy grinned cheerfully at Neji.

"Of course it did." Neji replied calmly. "I'm prohibited from permanently incapacitating you, remember? Or perhaps you don't. But just because your arms can move does not mean you have any more of a chance of winning." He slid into an odd stance, closing his eyes as Luffy stared at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked. His answer was all too soon in coming.

"Hakke Hyaku Nijuu Hachishou!" Neji cried as his eyes snapped open. His hands shot forward as rapidly as striking snakes, hitting Luffy's body precisely. "Nishou! Yonshou! Hachishou! Juurokushou! Sanjuu Nishou! Rokujuu Yonshou!" With each declaration his speed and the number of strikes doubled, and Luffy staggered backwards, eyes wide in shock. "Hyaku Nijuu Hachishou!" So fast did Neji's hands move that the onlookers only saw Luffy fly backwards from the combined power of the strikes. Before he could recover Neji was right in front of him again. "Juuken!" he cried, and planted his open palm firmly in Luffy's stomach.

Luffy doubled over his hand and hacked, coughing as his vision went fuzzy. "How?" he asked in confusion.

"It is very simple, Luffy-san." Neji said, placing his left hand on Luffy's forehead. "My Juuken… is your off switch." The blast of chakra took Luffy full on the head, and he rocked backwards before collapsing in a heap.

"Luffy!" Nami cried. How could Luffy have lost? It's impossible!

Neji looked down at his defeated opponent scornfully. "The outcome was decided when I was chosen as your opponent." He said. "There was no chance that you would win. None at all." He turned away and began walking back to his teams' side.

"Geez, Neji, you're such a pompous ass." Naruto said irreverently.

Neji's cool exterior shattered. "I am not pompous!" he protested hotly.

"Are too. What's with you and this whole inevitable thing, anyway? You said the same thing when I fought you, and I won!"

Neji quivered, incensed. "That was different!"

"Was not. You really are a pompous ass."

"I am not pompous!"

"You'll note that he didn't deny being an ass." Shikamaru remarked casually to the remainder of his team. Ed, Al, and Naruto snickered as Tenten retrained a giggle. She might like and admire Neji, but he could be a bit overbearing with the 'fated' thing at times.

Neji tried to recover his poise by masking his emotions and saying, "All joking aside, there's only one challenge left. My part here is done." Trying to gather the scattered shards of his shattered dignity, he went and sat down next to Shino, the only team member not openly laughing at him. Not that that meant much, as Shino lacked a sense of humor and never laughed anyway.

Still smirking, Shikamaru nodded to Al. "Al, it's your turn."

"R-right!" Al stood and scooted forward. He didn't really want to fight, but this was important.

Al had slid into a typical martial-arts pose, and was waiting for Chopper to make the first move. "Sorry." he said. His youthful, high-pitched voice seemed out of place in such a large suit of armor. "It's nothing personal; I just can't let you pass."

"Same here. I can't let you stop me, even if I am a doctor." Chopper replied. Neither of them really wanted to fight, but they had no choice. "Rumble Ball! Heavy Point!" Chopper grew enormously, and then swung one fist in a powerful right hook. Al blocked it and shot out a fist of his own. "Guard Point!" Chopper barely had time to switch before he was struck, but the thick pelt protected him as it was supposed to. I only have three minutes, he thought. I have to beat him before the Rumble Ball's effect wears off.

Al still stood there; content to let Chopper take the offensive. He had all the time in the world, while Chopper's was limited. "Walk Point!" Chopper shed the excess fur as he took on his full-reindeer shape and galloped forward, dodging right and left in an effort to fake out his opponent. At the very last second he cried, "Jumping Point!" and shot straight up into the air, leaving Al to stare up at him and turn to meet him as he fell. As he landed, just as Al got turned around to face him, he switched back to Heavy Point and slammed his left fist into the armor's visor face.

Silence reigned as the whole of the Straw-hat Pirate crew stared openmouthed at the gaping hole where a human head should have been. "Hey!" cried Al, "you knocked off my head!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Chopper screamed. Unintentionally switching back to his normal shape, he clapped his hooves to his face in utter horror. Thud. He passed out and hit the ground, stone cold unconscious.

"What the hell?!" was the general attitude of shock and confusion amongst the pirates.

"G-g… gha-gha-gha… g-ghost… ghost…" Usopp quietly stammered, eyes rolling fearfully.

"There's no such thing as ghosts." Zoro said rolling his eyes sarcastically, though at this point even he wasn't so sure. He argued the point out of force of habit, nothing more.

"G-ghost…"

"Is not."

"Well, what do you know, it really worked!" Shikamaru said, looking surprised.

"You expected this to happen?" asked Al incredulously, picking up his 'head.'

"Not so much expected as hoped." He shrugged in reply. "You never know how people will react to ghosts. It was worth a shot."

"I'm not a ghost!"

"See? He said he wasn't a ghost." Zoro said matter-of-factly.

"You're a disembodied spirit possessing an ancient suit of armor. I'm pretty sure that qualifies you to be a ghost." Shikamaru remarked.

"And he says he is." retorted Usopp, having recovered from his fright. "I think I'll trust the smart guy over the ghost."

"But I'm not a ghost!" Al wailed plaintively.

"It looks like you were to him." Shikamaru pointed out, nodding in Chopper's direction.

"But…"

"It does not matter." said Shino with finality. "We have won. Now we merely need wait for Negi-kun and Watanuki-san to arrive and tell us that our mission is completed."