Suddenly, a flash of light wedged itself between Wendy's arms and Torteau's claws. An intense pain seared the inside of Torteau's claws, and a great pressure threw the two apart. Before either could process what had happened, a lone man stood perfectly still between the two, katana unsheathed and his long braid just now settling from the movement of the attack, glaring at Torteau.
"T-Takashi?" Wendy stammered in disbelief.
Takashi's focus remained on the crab fishman, "Your opponent will be me."
Torteau rubbed his claws together in pain, but slowly his annoyed scowl morphed into an anticipating smile. "On the other hand, a human who works in the kitchen must have a truly unique flavor," Torteau menacingly clapped his pincers together, "I think you will be the appetizer."
The crab fishman Torteau and the swordsman Takashi stared each other down along the shoreline, Wendy cowering behind the latter, still reeling from her second near-brush with death for the day, and not likely her last.
"Takashi… we didn't think you'd come. Thank you," she was trembling, partially from Torteau himself, partially out of shame for her weakness, when the situation suddenly rushed back into her mind, "Takashi! Listen, we don't have much time! Hammie and the rest are on that ship, and if we don't get to them soon and help them, they'll all-!"
"Irrelevant," Takashi's eyes never left his opponent, and his body remained tensed to strike.
"Right. They'll all irrelevant," Wendy repeated aloud before realizing what she said, "Wait, what?"
"What happens to the others, whether they live or die, it is none of my concern," Takashi emotionlessly explained.
"W-what? But then why are you saving me?"
"I'm not. Your fate is none of my concern either. However, since you probably value your own life, I strongly suggest keeping your distance. My blades do not distinguish between friend and foe," the swordsman warned.
"Uweeheehee… Perhaps you share my interest in unique dishes?" Torteau grinned widely, "If you're interested, I'm willing to share my supper with a fellow connoisseur. If you have other interests with the girl, I can give you some time with her first, if you'd prefer. How wonderfully perverse for a human," Torteau clapped his pincers together in excitement.
"Silence!" Takashi suddenly bellowed, "You, someone who has chosen the sacred profession of the kitchen, have committed three grave sins today!" he shouted, deeply offended.
"What is this nonsense?" Torteau asked annoyed.
With his free hand, Takashi raised one finger in the air, "First, you conspired to prepare and eat prey intelligent enough to protest its demise and consumption!"
"I'm 'prey?' Th-that's how you're phrasing me?" Wendy weeped in confusion.
Takashi raised a second finger, counting off, "Second, you inflicted unnecessary pain on the prey you planned to prepare for yourself. No meal should be flavored with fear or despair." Both Wendy and Torteau stood mouths open in shock.
"And finally, the most heinous of crimes for a chef to commit," Takashi raised a third finger and glared menacingly at the crab fishman, "You didn't wash your hands or your tools before cooking!"
Wendy twitched, "What… what kind of person thinks that way?"
"You have very strange morals," Torteau observed.
"You will pay for these sins with your life, and I will carry out the sentence!" Takashi reached into the bundle on his back and drew two more swords in addition to the one that was already pointed at Torteau. He held both swords opposite each other in the same hand as he took a different stance, "Three sins, three swords. That should be sufficient."
Torteau sighed, "And they call me crazy and amoral. Oh well, I suppose your state of sanity should not affect your flavor too much," His grin returned as he faced the swordsman, "Because you see, you are unfortunate enough to challenge me, and-"
"Imokiri!" Takashi quickly swung one sword in an upward arc, sending a shockwave at Torteau who suddenly had to bring both his pincers up to block his face, the one shockwave seeming to strike his armor dozens of times. Torteau himself was seemingly unhurt from the attack, but a boulder behind him quickly collapsed into perfectly cubed pieces.
"Ah!" Torteau cried indignantly, "That was uncalled for!"
"Did you miss the part where I'm killing you?" Takashi replied stoically.
"Well, no… But are you not supposed to warn your opponent when you're fighting? You know, 'Engarde' and all?" Torteau sheepishly asked.
"No. Yasaikiri!" Takashi let his one-hand sword drop in a downward chop, causing Torteau to shield his face again as the one sword stroke delivered multiple strikes. This time a boulder behind him collapsed into slices.
"Stop that!" Torteau shouted, "In case you haven't noticed, it's useless anyway! With my armor, even your most powerful sword strikes will only sting me like a baby little-" the crab fishman ranted before he noticed Takashi charging towards him.
"Ninjin-Hakuri!" His arm with two-swords thrusted forward, scraping along both of Torteau's arms before they suddenly folded inward, converging on Torteau's eyestalks like pruning shears before Torteau's head drew back inside his shell at the last second.
"WATCH IT! YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN OUT AN EYE!" Torteau screamed.
"That's the point. Your shell might serve as an impenetrable armor, but you still have weak points. Your head, for example, is unprotected."
"Erk… S-so it is," Torteau twitched, one of his weaknesses being found so easily, "But that little problem is not so unsolvable," From both of his shoulders his armor folded inward, covering his head in a bright red shell with only two small holes for his eyes to peer out of, "Kani Kani Helmet! You were saying about my weakness, foolish human? Uweeheehee-"
"Santoryuu: Tamanegi no Shoutan!" Takashi, now in close quarters with Torteau, spun around, attacking with all three swords from multiple angles, all striking the armor in the head area. At first, it seemed fruitless, until several sparks from the clash of sword on armor jumped into Torteau's eyeholes.
"SACRE BLEU! IT'S IN MY EYES! AAAGH!" Torteau suddenly ran around in circles like a madman, the burning sparks stuck in his eyes.
"You are a disgrace to the title of chef, especially if such a small amount of pain is enough to make you wince," Takashi spat in disgust.
Torteau wiped his eyes as best he could before at least attempting to be menacing once more, "W-who's wincing? Uweeheehee… I'm only letting you get a few good hits. Let you think you're doing well. Uweeheehee… But I'm done playing around! This time I-"
"Oni-!" Takashi charged forward, his three swords converging on a single point
"NO! Not this time! Kani Kani Chop!" Torteau yelled as his pincers lashed out and grabbed two of the swords before clamping down, shattering the two blades.
Although it currently wasn't visible, Torteau laughed as he could see the odds turning back in his favor, "Uweeheehee… What will you do now that your precious swords have been severed?"
"The number of swords does not matter," Takashi stoically replied as he undid the bundle on his back.
"Uweehee-huh?" Torteau watched in horror as an entire pile of swords clattered to the ground, "Th-That's just overkill! How many swords does one man need, anyway?"
Takashi slowly picked up two swords from the bundle to replace the two that were just destroyed, "The sword itself, and the number of swords one uses, is irrelevant. Only the skill of the swordsman determines his strength, whether it's Ittoryuu, one-sword style, Nitoryuu, two-sword style, Santoryuu, three-sword style, or more, it does not matter. I only selected three swords earlier on a random basis."
"How-how many swords do you have?" the crab fishman was almost afraid to ask.
"I was travelling light, so only ten this time," Takashi casually replied.
"T-Ten? That's traveling light? Erk…" Torteau quickly did the math, and while he could probably destroy all the swords over the course of the battle, he didn't want to risk the swordsman finding a way to actually hurt him in the meantime, "It looks like I'll have to try something different," Torteau bolted towards the shoreline and thrust both pincers into the wet sand as it churned about in his claws, "My own recipe of fishman jutsu, mix one part ocean water and one part sand and… there we go!" Torteau picked up his closed pincers and pointed them at Takashi, grinning, "Kani Kani Sand Bullet!" Suddenly, both pincers shot out a small pellet of sand with the velocity of the bullet, which Takashi easily deflected.
"Such a weak attack won't work on me."
Torteau didn't lose his grin this time, "Aren't you forgetting someone? Oh, that's right, the girl doesn't matter to you," Takashi's quickly turned his head to see the scared stiff Wendy who, contrary to Takashi's instructions was still standing in the middle of the beach, watching the fight.
"Kani Kani Sand Bullet!" Torteau unleashed a barrage of machine-gun-fire sand bullets, this time at Wendy as Takashi instinctively dashed in front of her, parrying as many of the individual bullets with his swords as he could.
"I thought I told you to get away from here!" he shouted.
"I'm sorry, Iron Chef-sama. But I need to get to the water to help the others!" Wendy pleaded.
"You're interfering with my duel! Argh!" One moment of distraction was all it took as one of the sand bullets instead of being parried away was cut into two smaller bullets which both pierced Takashi as he collapsed to the ground.
"Iron Chef-sama!" Wendy cried out.
"Tsk tsk tsk… Should be focusing more on your duel, swordsman. Otherwise, you might get distracted," Torteau taunted.
"I'm-I'm sorry. It's my fault," Wendy sobbed.
For a moment, Takashi was silent, "… Do you still want to make it to the water?"
"W-what?"
"You could've just gone inland a long time ago, but you're still here. If I can get you to the water, will that get you out of my duel?" Takashi explained.
She didn't even need a second to think about her answer, "Y-yes."
"It will be dangerous," he warned.
"I don't care."
"The kitchen is not a place for the weak," Takashi slowly stood up, "If someone is not careful, the kitchen will cut or burn them. They can get sick from improperly prepared food. Do not go into the kitchen if you are unprepared for the consequences."
"I… I think I understand," she really didn't, but was determined to do what Takashi told her nonetheless.
"Very well. On my signal, run towards the water. No matter what happens, just run towards the water. I'll see that you get through," Takashi picked up his three swords, "Oh, and one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Dinner's at seven. Do not be late," the swordsman promised.
Torteau stood a good distance away along the shoreline, continuing to taunt Takashi at least until the human stood back up and he'd have a better shot, "Aw, did I hit one of yourweak points little human swordsman? Why don't you stay down and make this easier for all of us, since there's no way you can beat me."
"A chef will rise to any challenge!" Takashi reclaimed his stance.
"Don't you mean a swordsman?" the crab fishman sneered, having already believed he'd won.
"To me, they are one and the same," Takashi charged forward, with Wendy running as fast as she could to keep up just behind him, "Santoryuu," Takashi took all three swords and spun them around in a circle, creating a shield of swinging blades, "Mijingiri no Retasu!"
"Kani Kani Sand Bullet!" Torteau shot a barrage of sand bullets again, and while most of the bullets were parried, a few grazed Takashi, who didn't flinch or slow at all at being struck. Wendy, however, was untouched. Finally in close range, all three swords in Takashi's attack were stopped in its tracks by Torteau's powerful claws, "Ha! How pathetic. You still can't break through my armor!" But as Takashi kept the crab in a deadlock, Wendy ran past the pair and bolted for the water, "W-what? No fair!" Torteau quickly chopped through all three swords and turned to face Wendy.
"Down to five swords," Takashi spoke aloud to himself as he leaped back to his collection of remaining swords, "Got to make this… Damn," Just as Takashi looked up, before he could draw a sword, the crab fishman was nowhere to be found even as Wendy was still running.
"Kani Kani Sand Wall!" the crab's voice echoed as a barrier of sand shot up just between Wendy and the ocean, completely cutting her off. It didn't take long for Takashi to realize that the crab had burrowed underground, "Uweeheehee… where do you think you're going mon petit cherie? You'll miss the main course!"
"Kani Kani Donabe!" The sand wall grew both in height and in length until it circled both Takashi and Wendy, quickly arching over them as the circular barrier cut out the light of day and became a large dome with a single hole at the top. Wendy tried to force her way through, but found the sandy wall as hard as stone.
"Can't you cut through this?" Takashi was way ahead of her though as he tried cutting the wall, only for sand to fill in the fresh cut he made.
"It's too thick. Even if I could cut through it, the sand would just collapse on top of us, Takashi stood analyzing the situation."
Torteau's voice echoed, "Uweeheehee… Right you are, my delectable little treats! In this oven you'll both bake into wonderful little morsels!" As if their predicament wasn't bad enough, the hole at the top of the dome was plugged with what looked like a boulder.
"What do we do now?" Wendy once again looked to the swordsman for answers.
"The crab is probably lighting a fire beneath the Donabe right now, planning to cook us alive," Takashi thought aloud, "How disrespectful, he doesn't even bother to add broth, vegetables, or seasoning."
"And yet somehow, that part's not what I'm worried about."
Even in complete darkness, Wendy could feel Takashi's cold stare on her, "Girl, I warned you the kitchen is a dangerous place," An arm, a human arm thankfully, grabbed Wendy and forced her to the center of the dome, "Stand here and try not to pass out. It's about to get very warm in here," Wendy couldn't see, but she could feel the air move with Takashi's movements, and brief sparks let her know that Takashi was slicing up the inside of the pot, possibly with all five swords if that was even possible, as the sparks became flames that trailed along with the swords.
Other than the light show, Wendy couldn't see what Takashi was trying to do, "What are you doing? This will just heat the place up faster! We'll be cooked alive!"
"I know…" was the only reply from the swordsman.
Meanwhile, outside the clay oven, Torteau fanned the flames he created at the base of the oven, licking his lips in anticipation of his meal, "Uweeheehee… A shame all of my seasonings are still on board the ship. Oh well, maybe I can find some nice herbs to go with my meal. Aw, who am I kidding? I prefer the purity of the flavor any day," Suddenly, the oven started trembling, and Torteau could feel an immense heat pouring from inside the pot, "That's strange, they shouldn't be cooked for a long while yet..."
"Yaki Tatsumaki!" The boulder plugging the top burst off the dome as a column of fire shot upwards, startling Torteau. When the flames subsided, he looked on in horror as Takashi emerged, two swords in his hands and three swords thrust into the top of the Donabe. Wendy kneeled next to him, her eyes spinning in spirals.
"All the fishies are so very pretty daddy, can I keep one?" she rambled incoherently.
Torteau visibly twitched in anger, and started screaming at the top of his lungs, "You pathetic pestering cockroach! Didn't your mother ever teach you it was rude to interrupt mealtime? And yet you continue with your antics? I don't care anymore if I render you a bloody unusable husk, I'll see you as a corpse!" This time, Torteau brought both of his pincers together and instead of a barrage of sand bullets, launched one man-sized ball of sand at the humans, "Kani Kani Sand Cannon!"
"Get ready, girl," Takashi softly warned.
"But I don't wanna go to school to-wait, what?" Wendy had barely enough time to come to her senses as Takashi picked her up by the collar and threw her as hard as possible out into the bay, Wendy screaming as she flew through the air, "AIYEEEEEeeeeee….."
The sand cannon enveloped Takashi entirely and exploded in a flurry of sand, and for a moment it seemed that the swordsman was no more, "Uweeheehee… that's one down…"
"Now we can finish this without distraction," Suddenly, the sand split in two and dispersed, Takashi having sliced it at the last possible second. The swordsman now wielded one sword in each hand with three remaining next to him, "I now see my mistake. I've been treating you as a fellow chef and giving you an honorable duel. Now I see the proper way to battle you would be to treat you as you truly are: an unfavorable piece of meat that needs to be properly cooked."
Torteau was unimpressed, "Big talk. But you still can't pierce my armor, and I can break your swords like chopsticks. There's only five of them left, oui?"
"We'll see," Takashi spun both swords and struck the three swords in the ground, launching them at Torteau as spinning projectiles all at once, "3-Point Kushi!"
"Whatever you're trying, it won't work!" Torteau stood his ground and snapped one sword out of the air, "Four," his other claw caught a second sword, shattering it into tiny shards, "Three," But with only two claws, the third sword imbedded itself in a chink on his elbow, "ERGH!" Despite the pain, even with a blade sticking out of his arm, Torteau chuckled, "Uweeheehee, down to two now. What a waste…"
Takashi launched forward, both swords poised, "Santoryuu,"
"But you only have two swords left!" Torteau protested.
"Onigiri!" Both swords slashed forward in an X, the cross of both striking the hilt of the sword imbedded in Torteau's flesh, driving it through with much more force. A loud crack sounded, and suddenly the three swords pierced all the way through the arm, severing it completely from Torteau.
There was no blood or other bodily fluid, likely from the crab's strange biology, even as the arm fell limp to the ground. Torteau screamed in agony, "You…!"
Takashi turned with both swords in hand and the third at his feet, "It appears I am not the only one capable of being disarmed. Your armor might be thick, but like any steamed crab it can be broken apart at the joint."
"This… this isn't fair! This is sick! Twisted!"
"If you can't take the heat," Takashi prepared his next attack, "Then you shame your ancestors and should atone with seppuku."
"THAT'S NOT HOW THAT SAYING GOES!" His own words suddenly inspiring him, Torteau's eerie grin returned, "Uweeheehee… in fact, maybe I should just 'get out of the kitchen'," The crab fishman quickly bolted to the water, "There's a much tastier morsel in the water already."
"Get back here! Our duel isn't finished!" Takashi yelled.
"I'll forfeit if it means I get the girl as a consolation prize! Uweeheehee…" Torteau taunted as he sunk beneath the waves.
As Wendy rocketed through the air screaming, she quickly slapped herself to get a grip, the situation coming back to her. The fishman headquarters had completely submerged by this point, Wendy could see it through the crystal blue water. With very little time before she hit the water, Wendy took as deep a breath of air as she could before crashing into the bay, diving far deeper than she ever had before and probably ever would. Her body wanted to float up with the air in her lungs, but even though she lacked the strength of her friends, Wendy swam down towards the underwater fortress as fast as she could. The closer she was to the ship, the more likely this had a chance of working.
A much younger teenage Wendy toiled away, pushing a large wooden contraption alongside a feeble old man, her father. The contraption would normally draw freshwater from the ground with a windmill connected to the contraption, but the air had been still for three days now. Even combined, the old man and young girl could barely move the thing.
As they toiled, a fishwoman gleefully ran up the hill towards them, waving cheerfully. "Hey, Wendy! You're still here? We were going to go shopping today, remember?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Linda, I've got actual work to do, so make like a tree and get the hell out of here!" Wendy angrily retorted through gritted teeth and a cigarette.
"Well, that's not very ladylike," Linda replied sarcastically, "Isn't this thing supposed to run on its own?"
"Windmills tend not to work without wind, stupid."
"Wendy, don't talk to our guest that way!" scolded the old man, who really didn't have the energy to properly punish his daughter while trying to operate the machine, "I'm sorry Linda, but unless the winds miraculously pick up, we'll be at this awhile. Otherwise, the village will run out of drinking water."
Linda smiled, "Well, why didn't you say so?" Linda effortlessly leaped up to the top of the windmill.
"Hey, get down from there! You'll break something!" Wendy yelled.
"Aw, don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Linda smiled sweetly as she climbed.
"I'm worried about the windmill, you moron!"
Ignoring her, Linda took a deep breath and blew directly into the windmill's sails, and suddenly the windmill sprang alive, turning so fast it looked like it was in the middle of a tornado. Wendy and her father were knocked to the ground as Linda lightly jumped down. "Ah, sorry, should've warned you."
"Damn straight you should've warned us! You could've killed my old man!"
"Amazing," despite his exhaustion, the old man stood up and marveled at the windmill now in overdrive, "You truly are a blessing upon us, Linda."
"Really, it's nothing special. Just a little talent of mine," Linda replied.
"WE DON'T NEED YOUR HELP HERE, YOU… YOU DAMN FLOUNDER!" Wendy stormed off, already mumbling to herself trying to think of a better insult.
"I'm terribly sorry about Wendy's behavior," the old man apologized, "She's just impossible to bring under control."
"Hey, don't worry about it, that just means she's got a good, strong spirit. Besides I've met flounders. They can actually be quite cute," Linda joked despite Wendy's attempts to insult her, "I guess that means we're not going shopping today. Oh well, let me see if I can go catch up to her. Later!"
It's always been that way. I've always been weak. I've always needed help. I've never been strong enough to help anyone. Even now, it's not going to be me saving everyone. Once again, you're showing me up, Linda, just like always. As Wendy swam down in the bay and her thoughts swam around in her head, she didn't notice the one-armed figure rapidly catching up to her.
"OH MON CHERIE!" Even with one arm, Torteau was far faster and far more agile in the water than any human. Wendy tried to swim away but the crab fishman wrapped his one good pincer quickly grabbed her, wrapping around her throat. Torteau could've chopped her head clean off there, but planned to enjoy himself, making this as slow and painful as possible, "I am so elated that we finally have a few moments alone. That swordsman was such a third wheel, don't you agree?"
Even if they weren't underwater, the claw slowly crushing her throat would've made it impossible to respond anyway, cutting off her windpipe, "Ah, but don't worry, mon cherie. He won't catch up to us for a while. I think we can serve the first course before he gets here, non?" Torteau squeezed his grip tighter as a few drops of her blood seeped into the water, "Oh, there is no seasoning more satisfying than sheer terror and despair. Uweeheehee… heh?" Torteau carefully studied the girl's face, but could find neither. Instead, all he found was determination and… a growing smile?
Behind him, Torteau could hear the churning and bubbling of water getting closer and closer. "No… there's no way," His eyestalks popped out of the helmet and turned to look behind him. Takashi rocketed towards him like a missile, spinning all three swords as a propeller. Torteau was rendered speechless as the swordsman stopped with the three-sword propeller and brought his swords forward, his momentum keeping him hurtling straight towards Torteau. It didn't matter that he only had two hands for three swords, as the two swords in-hand simply pushed the third at such an angle so that all three struck Torteau in the same attack as before.
All three swords struck at once on Torteau's other arm, severing it completely as it released Wendy and fell to the ocean floor. Torteau was now completely helpless, even in the water, and Takashi was not about to let him escape.
Wendy didn't squander the opportunity as she quickly swam away, getting closer and closer to the submerged pagoda, specifically a large hole in the side. The fact is I'm living off of a borrowed life, one that if I had the chance I'd give back if I could. But don't worry Linda. Since I can't do that, I'll make sure that your sacrifice won't be in vain.
Wendy stumbled through the town hall, trying to find some refuge from the painful groans of the slowly dying. She herself couldn't breathe without a significant amount of pain. She was sweating profusely and her vision was blurry at best. Mambo had told her to stay in bed, but she couldn't, not with all the sick and dying around her.
She stumbled into another room, and her eyes started to focus. Her eyesight had been going in and out for the past day or so, but she could make out another collapsed body in this room. Only this one was new. Quickly recognizing Linda, Wendy rushed over to her side, "No, not you too!" she barely managed to cough out. That's when she noticed the empty syringe in Linda's hand. One she knew didn't used to contain medicine. "Linda! What have you done?"
"Sh…" whispered the fishwoman quietly, "It's for the best, really."
"No! I'll get Mambo. We can still get the stuff out of your system!" Wendy wasn't sure that was true, but she rushed up to get help, only for her arm to be grabbed. With her lungs she could barely speak much less call for help. "Let go, Linda! You can't die like this! You can't take your own life!"
"I'm not taking my own life, sweetie," Linda calmly replied through half-open eyes, "I'm giving it to others. I know it sounds weird, but I think… I think this is best."
"You can't! You mean too much to everyone! To Brody! To me!" Tears streamed down Wendy's face as she collapsed to her knees.
Linda gave a light chuckle, "What's this? Stone-cold iron-wall Wendy actually crying? How cute," Linda smiled as she looked into Wendy's eyes, "You're going to get a second chance, okay? Do me a favor and try not to spend it all in one place."
Wendy was rendered speechless. Finally, her body screamed on its own, ignoring the many pains in her chest. That's when the door burst open and Brody and Mambo burst in.
She was shoved to the floor, but she couldn't find the strength to move or care anymore. Slowly Wendy's eyes closed as she fell asleep.
I may not be able to save the others, but you can. I may be weak, but you were always strong. And now, with your help, we can make a difference. Almost to the ocean floor now, Wendy finally exhaled. Instead of floating up to the surface in a stream of bubbles, her breath filled one bubble which grew, and grew, and grew. It enveloped Wendy, Takashi, and Torteau, who were tossed around by the swirling winds inside the bubble. Eventually the bubble completely enveloped the pagoda which crashed onto the ocean floor, water flooding out of every orifice. Even still the bubble grew until a large air-filled dome occupied the bottom of the bay. Wendy fell to the ground, prone and exhausted. The crab fishman crashed unceremoniously into the ocean floor head-first while Takashi landed gracefully on his feet.
"That's it, guys… That's all I can do…" Wendy couldn't stand up, she was too exhausted, but she couldn't sleep either. All she could do was watch as the events unfolded, "I just hope it's enough…"
Author's Notes:
Good reviews so far! I'm trying to respond to everyone's questions via PM, so if I miss yours, just let me know!
Takashi's attacks are obviously in Japanese (and probably poorly translated too), but here's a glossary so far.
Imokiri – Potato Slice - A single slice that can hit enough times to slice its target into perfect cubes. Useful for dicing potatoes.
Yasaikiri – Vegetable Slice – A single slice that can hit enough times to cut its target into perfect segments like a freshly sliced vegetable.
Ninjin Hakuri – Carrot Peel – An attack which scrapes the sword(s) along the target's surface in an attempt to weaken or peel off defenses.
Tamanegi no Shoutan – Onion Crying in Pain – A series of attacks aimed at the eyes of the target in order to blind it either with the attack itself, or sparks, dust, force, etc. from the attack.
Mijingiri no Retasu – Shredded Lettuce – Spinning the sword(s) in a circle like a blender to parry multiple attacks. Admittedly more of a defensive maneuver.
Yaki Tatsumaki – Fire Dragon Twister, also Fire Sushi - Tatsumaki is one of Roronoa Zoro's more popular moves, though the chapter's circumstances let Takashi add a fiery twist to it.
3-Point Kushi - 3-Point Skewer - Launches swords as projectiles to impale the opponent. A good setup manuever for other attacks.
Onigiri – Demon Slice, also Rice Ball – Also one of Roronoa Zoro's more popular attacks, but with a pun name like Rice Ball, can you really expect Takashi not to use it?
Also Kani means crab for those of you who didn't know, which is really all you need to know for Torteau's attacks. Oh, and a Donabe is a special Japanese clay pot/oven for cooking.