Chapter 6: Clash of Power, Swords and Spirits
Gajeel rushed towards Hibari and swung a shadow covered sword towards him, and although it was blocked by the tonfas, the force of it sent him sliding back. Not relenting in the slightest, Gajeel started punching and kicking rapidly towards Hibari, as the two of them jumped and clashed around the needle sphere, Hibari then kicked towards Gajeel's head, but was surprised when he dissolved into shadows, appearing behind him and kicking him to the ground.
Standing up slowly, Hibari looked towards the sky only to get slammed into from the side by Gajeel. Looking around in annoyance, Hibari managed to block a shadow infused sword with his tonfa and kicked Gajeel into the chest sending him sliding back.
"Whatever transformation you just did, it did increase your power somewhat herbivore," Hibari said while wiping a small trace of blood from his lip. "But is this the height of your ability?"
"Not even close," Gajeel said excitedly before turning into a shadow and once again rushing towards Hibari from the ground. However, unlike before, once he got close to Hibari and materialized behind him, he was quickly wrapped in a large amount of chains covered in cloud flames, and slammed into the ground.
Coughing up blood, Gajeel jumped up and rushed towards Hibari, his fist covered in iron and shadows again before swinging it downwards. Blocking it with his tonfas, Hibari was sent sliding back before he hit against the edge of his sphere.
Looking behind him, Hibari narrowed his eyes before he saw Gajeel aiming another shadow infused steel club directly at his face. Thinking fast, Hibari ducked under the technique and used Gajeel's moment of confusion to take out his Roll X.
"Cambio Forma", Hibari said calmly before merging with Roll and being covered in cloud flames.
Blocking his eyes from the bright purple light coming from Hibari, Gajeel kept his eyes and ears open for any sneak attacks. However, he was completely unprepared when several handcuffs flew out from the smoke and wrapped around his arms and waist, pinning his hands to his side.
'What the hell?", Gajeel said as he tried to wiggle his way out of the chains. "Why are these things so damn strong?"
"It's over", Hibari said as he started approaching Gajeel's immobilized form. "No matter how sharp your dragon fangs are, they were simply too short to bite me to death".
Raising his tonfa skywards, Hibari was about to slam it onto Gajeels head, knocking him out, when he noticed the reverse needle sphere started shaking.
Taking a moment to look around, he saw how it rapidly began cracking on all sides before it shattered like glass. Looking towards the culprit with narrowed eyes, Hibari was curious when he saw the form of Gildarts with an outstretched hand.
"Sorry I'm late Gajeel, I heard about an unbreakable sphere that you got yourself trapped in, and I just had to see It for myself," Gildarts said with a smile as he walked towards Gajeel's immobilized form. Reaching out with his hands imbued in crash magic, he shattered the cuffs before looking towards Hibari with narrowed eyes.
"Thanks, Gildarts", Gajeel said begrudgingly. "But I can handle this from here".
Looking towards Hibari's cloud flame covered body, Gildarts was prepared to sit back and watch the fight, when a large amount of mist began flowing into the area.
"What the hell is this stuff?" Gajeel asked confused.
"Whatever the hell this mist is, it's not just clouding my sight. I can't sense any magic through it either", Gildarts thought.
"Leave Mukuro, I have this fight under control", Hibari said with narrowed eyes.
"Kukuku, I can't believe you took this long to beat this child, maybe you are weaker than I thought Hibari," Mukuro said with a smile, as he appeared through the mist.
"Shut up, or I'll bite you to death as well".
"I'd like to see you try", Mukuro said pointing his trident towards Hibari.
Watching the two of them stare off Gajeel was ready to interrupt before his mouth was covered by Gildarts, who slowly backed away until they were out of there sight.
When the Hibari glanced over towards where Gajeel and Gildarts used to be, and saw them both gone he got very annoyed.
"Look what you did", Hibari said annoyed. "You let the herbivores escape".
"Well, maybe they wouldn't have escaped if you had kept your eyes on them", he said matter-of-factly.
Glaring daggers at each other they rushed towards each other and clashed.
"Why the hell did we turn back and run Gildarts?" Gajeel asked confused. "We could have taken them no problem".
Turning to look at Gajeel, Gildarts simply sighed before moving him away from Mukuro and Hibari's battle. "Listen Gajeel, we don't know a lot about the abilities of these new opponents. Now I like a good fight as much as the next guy, believe me. But if we rush into battle blindly and fail, we could very well lose this tournament. And I don't think I need to tell you what that means".
Looking away from Gildarts begrudgingly, Gajeel looked unhappy but nodded in understanding.
"Listen Gildarts maybe we should-"
Gajeel was interrupted when something latched onto his leg and slammed him into a large rock formation.
"Gajeel!", Gildarts yelled before a similar pink substance latched onto his arm. But unlike Gajeel, he actually had the physical strength to hold himself from being swung around. Appearing out of the shadows, came a man whose hand was attached to the pink substance, who had pink spiky hair, and a white clown outfit on.
"Just who the hell are you?" Gildarts asked both confused and angry.
"My name is Hisoka Morrow", he said with a sadistic grin on his face. "And I have chosen you as my first opponent".
"Is that so?" Gildarts asked before using his incredible strength to pull Hisoka towards him, momentarily shocking him. But when he went to uppercut him, Hisoka managed to duck under it and kick him in the stomach, sending him sliding backwards.
Not giving him any time to recover, Hisoka yanked onto the bungee gum cable connecting his arm to Gildarts pulling him in for a punch. However, before he could get hit Gildarts used his magic to crash the gum around his arm, breaking the attack apart before upper cutting Hisoka, and sending him flying onto his back.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to play around with you right now", Gildarts said. "So how about you do us a favor and just surrender now. I'm not that good at holding back against opponents".
Hearing this only made Hisoka laugh, and as he looked at the small trickle of blood coming from his nose he knew, he had chosen the right opponent.
(Sanji and Gray vs Estarossa)
Sanji stood completely still, unable to move at all. While he was confused about the fact that he couldn't seem to move a muscle, Gray was able to move and attack Estarossa himself, although the attacks were either being dodged or blocked with ease.
"Why the hell can't I move?" Sanji asked frustrated.
Blocking another attempted punch from Gray, Estarossa simply smiled before tossing him back towards Sanji.
"Isn't it obvious, it's my commandment Love. Anyone with hate in their heart is unable to inflict any harm on others," Estarossa said confidently, never losing his smile. "Although I am curious as to how that black haired one is unaffected".
Chuckling slightly to himself Gray began standing up before activating his devil slayer magic, turning half of his body black. "Sorry to say, but my devil slayer magic makes me practically immune to the curses of demons. So it looks like your 'commandment' is useless against me".
"That maybe," Estarossa said appearing in front of Gray. "I don't need my commandment to crush you". Before he punched him in the stomach so hard that he nearly vomited blood and forced Gray to his knees.
"Oh, that's right, I should probably hold back a bit more so I don't kill you".
"What?" Gray thought. "He has this much strength holding back".
Moving his hand quickly, Gray managed to make an ice wall separating him from Estarossa, and gained some distance before making a bow of ice.
"Ice Devils: Zeroth Destruction Bow", Gray yelled while firing several arrows of ice towards Estarossa. However, they were quickly dodged before he sped towards Gray again, this time aiming a kick at him.
Having no time to dodge, Gray hastily made a shield out of ice to block the kick. But it was immediately shattered upon contact, and sent Gray flying at the same time.
"Why can't I do anything?" Sanji thought angrily. "If I can't move, I can't make that bastard pay for what he did?"
"Ice Devils Zeroth Hammer", Gray yelled swinging a hammer made of his ice that was once again dodged. Before he was forced to dodge another punch from Estarossa.
"This is pretty fun, but I'm starting to get a bit bored", he said before turning towards where Gray currently was with a smile. "So I think I will end this here".
Raising his arm for another attack and aiming on knocking Gray off with a single move, Estarossa was interrupted by a kick to the face that caused him to falter. In that moment of weakness, he was frozen completely by Grays devil slayer ice.
"What the hell took you so long you curly haired bastard?" Gray said with a slight smirk.
"Shut the hell up stripper", Sanji said with a tic mark before landing next to Gray. "I had to figure out a way to counter his ability. Now get ready, I can still hear his voice plain as day."
No sooner did he say that, did Estarossa break free of the ice while cracking his neck. "I am curious then. How did you manage to counteract my commandment?" Estarossa asked curiously.
"It wasn't easy, after all I could never forgive somebody who would so casually inflict harm on a woman. But when you said that those with hate in their hearts couldn't hurt you, I realized that I would be powerless to fight you."
"Yes, but all of that still doesn't explain how yo-"
"So, then I realized, that in order to avenge that beautiful angel that you harmed, I had to defeat you. Not out of hate, but out of my duty as a man".
"So you suppressed your hatred to focus on defeating me, very impressive".
Looking towards Gray, Sanji slowly got closer so he could whisper without being heard.
"Do you have a plan to beat this guy?" Sanji asked. "Cause I hit him with as hard a kick as I could muster, and it did nothing".
"I think I have a plan. I noticed that he dodges every single one of my Ice Devil attacks, but blocks my regular Ice techniques. I doubt he even notices that he's doing it, he is just following his instincts".
"So your saying that your attacks can hurt him".
Gray nodded before taking a familiar ice make stance. "My Ice Devil Slayer magic is incredibly strong against demons, it may not KO him, but it's better than nothing".
"Alright then, I will keep him occupied, you make an attack strong enough to take his bastard down," Sanji said while lighting his leg on fire. "Diable Jambe".
He then shot towards Estarossa before kicking him in the stomach, and sending him sliding back.
"Oh, so you got a bit of power back in those legs of yours?"
Instead of responding Sanji rushed him again before aiming another kick at his chest, "Bien Cuit: Grill Shot". Unfortunately, Estarossa was more prepared this time and managed to block the attack with hardly any difficulty.
"Compared to his flames yours attacks are nothing more than matchsticks to me", he said before slamming him on the ground.
Coughing up blood, Sanji tried to ignore the pain and aimed another kick at him with his left leg. When it was dodged, his right leg immediately caught on fire. "Flanchet Strike".
The kick landed directly on the cheek of Estarossa, and sent him sliding back a few feet.
"Gotta use this opening while I have the chance", Sanji thought before rushing towards Estarossa at full speed. Covering both his legs in Haki, he rushed towards Estarossa and lit both his feet on fire, before rapidly kicking towards him. "Diable Mouton Shoot".
The kicks became so powerful and numerous that by the end of them Estarossa was sent flying back and into several pieces of rubble.
"That should have at least done something", Sanji said breathing a sigh of relief, before de-activating Diable Jambe. "Looks like that stripper may not need to prepare his attack after all".
"Look out!" Mirajane yelled towards Sanji in slight panic.
Sanji turned around to see Estarossa, aiming a punch at him and even though he coated his leg in haki to block, the punch was so powerful, that it nearly shattered his leg, and sent him slamming hard against the ground.
"Well this has been fun, but I think I'm done playing with you now", He said almost bored. "So if you don't mind, this is the part where I kick you off the stage."
No sooner did he say those words did he rush towards Sanji once again, ready to end this in one attack. However, he was stopped by an arrow that unexpectedly shot right through his chest.
"What the hell is this?" he asked confused. Trying to pry the arrow out of him, Estarossa noticed how much pain the attack was actually causing him, and how difficult it was to remove the arrow.
"Ice Devils: Zeroths Destruction Bow".
Estarossa turned around only to get shot in the chest by another arrow, that spread several spikes throughout his body. Damaging him greatly, and sending him sliding back.
"Why is this burning so much?" Estarossa questioned. "How can your ice do that much damage?"
"I'll show you why", Gray said jumping towards him with gauntlets covered in ice. "This is for what you did to Mirajane," Gray yelled before punching Estarossa across the face, with the attack doing a significant amount of damage.
"This is for taking my Devil Slayer Magic lightly," he said punching him once more in the stomach.
"And this, this is for FAIRY TAIL!" Gray yelled loudly, before slamming both fists directly into Estarossas chest sending him flying away.
Breathing heavily as the magic in his arms began fading away, he turned towards Sanji before walking towards him.
"Thanks for playing support back their curly brow. You gave me the opening I needed to finish him off".
Trying to avoid kicking the black-haired kids teeth in, Sanji looked towards the smoke that was rising from Estarossa's crater before he narrowed his eyes.
"It's not over", Sanji said begrudgingly.
Cocking his head in confusion, Gray was about to ask what he meant when he sensed a large amount of energy pouring out from where he sent Estarossa. "There's no way, I hit that bastard with everything I had".
Yet just to prove him wrong, Estarossa stood up, the wounds he received from Gray already starting to slowly heal. Although, he noticed it was much slower than normal.
"Well, then", He said slightly annoyed at the two in front of him. "I think it's time we ended this little game, don't you?"
Before either could respond, Estarossa was in front of Gray before kicking him in the stomach and sending him towards Mirajane.
"You bastard, Poitrine", Sanji said kicking towards his chest.
However, in response Estarossa merely summoned a sword and blocked the attack with it.
Before he could kick him again, Sanji was suddenly pushed back by a large amount of force to his stomach.
"What the hell just happened?" Sanji thought. "I know I hit him. But somehow I took all the damage".
Grabbing him the neck, Estarossa was getting ready to toss Sanji off, before he was forced to dodge an incredibly powerful lightning attack. One so strong that it drew the attention of everyone in the stadium.
"So, who has the balls to attack me off all people?" Estarossa asked curiously.
Looking towards the direction of the attack, standing with two fingers pointed in the distance, was none other than former Captain Sosuke Aizen.
After he noticed the look Estarossa's face, one of slight shock and confusion, Aizen began slowly strolling towards his opponent's location.
With his full attention now on the opponent in front of him, Estarossa didn't notice as Sanji and Gray picked up Mirajane and began running in a different location.
"You felt that right?" Gray asked while running. "That power".
"Yeah, my observation haki was practically shouting in my head, telling me to get away from that guy".
"I have never felt strength like that before", Mirajane said slightly trembling. "Even August and Irene pail in comparison to that".
"Yeah, that dude we were fighting earlier was comparable to Zeref. But whoever that other guy was, it was like I was staring down Acnologia himself."
Staring each other down, both Aizen and Estarossa were trying to get a feel for the others power. Finally, Estarossa summoned several swords and shot them at Aizen, all were dodged with flash step almost easily.
"So, who may I ask has come to fight me after seeing my power?' Estarossa asked.
"You can call me Sosuke Aizen," he said flaring his spiritual pressure while Estarossa flared his magical energy.
(Byakuya vs Rinku)
Byakuya dodged several more yo-yo attacks from Rinku, calmly assessing his battle strength, while using flash step to keep his distance.
"Hold still," Rinku said angrily before his Yo-yo's were sent flying towards him once again.
Deflecting them with his sword Byakuya was prepared to fire another kido spell, before he saw a disk like energy attack nearly cut him in half.
Looking towards the culprit of the attack, Rinku was seen spinning his weapons so fast, that they were creating large disks of energy, before he sent them shooting towards Byakuya.
"Bakudo 81: Danku". A barrier was quickly erected blocking the attacks and giving Byakuya enough time to finish a kido spell incantation.
"Hado 4: Byakurai", he said calmly as an enormous burst of lightning surged towards Rinku. One that when it struck him, filled his body with electricity. Paralyzed he was unable to prevent Byakuya from appearing behind him and slashing him in the back.
"It was foolish of your universe to send a child to a tournament like this," he said matter-of-factly. "Now surrender, and allow yourself to be knocked off the stage without a struggle".
These words however, were suddenly interrupted when several yo-yo's wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving a his arms or legs.
Standing up surprisingly quickly for somebody who had a large gash on his back, Rinku began using his healing technique to repair his injuries.
"Looks like my plan worked perfectly," Rinku said with a devious smile. "I lowered my energy as much as possible, to make myself seem weak. Since killing isn't allowed, you had to weaken your attacks, so that you didn't accidently kill me, and disqualify yourself. This is my real power."
Rinku began slowly powering himself up, and although he didn't show it, Byakuya was slightly surprised. He originally felt the energy of a 3rd seat, or maybe a lieutenant in strength, but now he realized that this child standing before him had low captain levels of power.
Stoically looking at Rinku, who was advancing towards him, he was quickly punched in the stomach repeatedly, before Rinku kicked him into a large pillar of rock.
"Well, looks like this fight is over," Rinku said confidently. "You can't move your arms to fire those energy attacks, and even though your still holding onto your sword, you can't even swing it. Without your sword or your spells, your too weak to beat me".
Spitting out a small amount of blood, Byakuya simply looked at the child in front of him before tightening the grip on his blade.
"Your right, I can't move my arms or legs, meaning I can't swing my sword", Byakuya said before staring at Rinku. "However, I don't need to swing my sword to cut you, now Scatter, Senbonzakura".
Before Rinku could wonder what he was talking about, the blade of Byakuyas zanpakuto transformed into hundreds of petals that rushed towards Rinku at high speeds. Having no time to dodge, Rinku tried using his yo-yo's to defend himself, but was unable to prevent the large number of blades from slicing him all over his body.
"Impossible", Rinku thought. "His attacks bypassed my yo-yos".
"You were right about one thing", Byakuya said as he calmly strolled towards him. "I did hold back on my techniques so you weren't killed. I won't make that same mistake again."
Holding up his hand, dozens of the blades began swirling in the sky, making a mini-tornado that was about to be slammed onto Rinku before a whip wrapped around his hand, and prevented him from moving his hand down.
"Sorry, but could you hold off on maiming our friend for us?" Kurama asked politely.
Before he could get a chance to respond, Hiei appeared next to Rinku and moved him away from the other two.
"So, are you both going to attack me together?" Byakuya asked calmly.
Giving a slightly annoyed look towards Kurama, Hiei merely drew his sword before pointing it at Byakuya. "I didn't want to, I would prefer taking you down myself. But he insisted that teamwork would be necessary in order to defeat some of these other world opponents."
As a response to this, Byakuya allowed his petals to fly down towards Kurama, and while he managed to dodge them, they still cut up his whip enough to release Byakuya from its grip.
Hiei then appeared next to Byakuya and slashed at him with his sword, Byakuya managed to flash step away from the swing, but was caught slightly off-guard when Hiei appeared next to him again and nearly took his head off with a swing that he barely dodged.
"Looks like your pretty fast," Hiei said slightly smirking. "But so am I".
Forming some of his Senbonzakura petals into a blade, Byakuya began trading blows with Hiei. They began zooming across the area, blocking, parrying and slashing at each other at such high speeds that most onlookers couldn't even follow them.
Tired of the game of cat and mouse, Byakuya stabbed his sword into Hiei's chest, but was surprised when the attack went right through him.
He never got a chance to turn around before he himself was stabbed in the back by Hiei's own blade.
"Sorry, looks like my afterimage was too fast for you", Hiei said with a smirk. But that smirk quickly turned into a look of shock when he realized that his sword was piercing through Byakuya's shirt only.
"I agree completely," Byakuya said as Hiei turned around. "You are far too slow to evade my Utsusemi. Unfortunately, you will pay for that."
However, his sword was stopped by a large amount of vines that appeared in between the two speedy combatants.
"Do you two mind if I cut in?" Kurama asked politely.
Flash-stepping away from the two, Byakuya looked at the both of them before he took a slight stance with his blade.
When both Hiei and Kurama, took a fighting stance to get ready and attack him together, they were stopped by a small ball of fire nearly hitting them square on. As they jumped back to gain some distance, they noticed a short child with white hair jump next to Byakuya.
"I didn't expect you to come and assist me Captain Hitsugaya", Byakuya said while eyeing the other two.
"Captain-Commander Shunsui sent me to aid you", He said coolly. "So what exactly are we dealing with?"
Looking towards Kurama, Byakuya narrowed his eyes slightly, "The one with the red hair has the ability to control plant life. The vines he summons are durable enough to block a slash from my Zanpakuto."
"And what about the black haired one?"
"He is fast enough to keep up with my Flast Step, albeit barely. And he is somewhat decent in swordsmanship."
"Well then, I think its about time we take them down, for the sake of Soul Society. Reign Over the Frosted Heavens: Hyorinmaru."
(Killer Bee vs Erza)
Killer Be rushed towards Erza at a high speed, aiming a punch to her chest that she barely managed to block.
Requipping an axe into her hand, Erza swung it towards Kill Bee, before he managed to duck under the attack and jump back.
"Wow, that attack missed me by a hair. This chick can summon weapons straight outta the air. If you think you can beat me black and blue, its time I showed you what a real swordsman can do."
Pulling out his seven swords and placing them in his mouth arms and legs, Killer Bee quickly rushed towards Erza at blinding speed.
Swinging every blade at high speeds, Erza was barely able to react to the attacks. She managed to summon two swords to try and block, but when she clashed with Bee, she was soon electrocuted by his lightning chakra.
Trying to move back as far as she could Erza began glowing before she changed into her Lightning Empress Armor.
"This should give me the resistance I need to his lightning attacks," She thought before charging towards him.
As they clashed in a flurry of steel and actual lightning, Erza began to notice that she was not only having trouble predicting Bee's moves, but she was also slowly getting a few cuts across her body.
"First I float like a butterfly", Killer Bee rapped while breaking further and further through her guard, before he managed to slash her hard enough to break parts of her armor. "Then I sting you like a killer bee."
Sliding back and checking her armor, Erza began changing into her speed armor, before rushing towards Bee almost in the blink of an eye. Now it was his turn to be on the defensive, blocking and parrying each of Erza's attacks, he noticed that the spear in her hand was stopping his electrical attacks. When he looked closer, he saw that It was the sword from her lightning armor.
"So she can change her armor but keep the sword, that switching technique keeps her style from getting bored. So it looks like if I wanna when and get that prize, I gotta bust out my own sword surprise," Bee thought. Before jumping away from Erza.
Looking towards him with slight surprise, Erza took another fighting stance and was prepared to attack him again, when Killer Bee suddenly put his swords away, and drew a huge one from his back, covered in bandages.
"You think you can beat me but you won't win, once I bring out my awesome sword shark skin", Killer Bee rapped as he stuck the sword into the ground.
"Shark skin?"
Rushing towards Erza, Bee swung samehada at her with great force. When Erza brought up her blade to deflect it, she was shocked when the force of the attack sent her sliding backwards.
Changing into her flame empress armor, Erza swung a large blast of fire towards Bee, one that was cut in half by the sharkskin blade, much to its annoyance.
As its hilt began knocking against Bee's skull, Bee began muttering an apology before he turned back towards Erza.
"This girl's techniques are bizarre Bee. But at the end of the day she is a swordsman, press your advantage and take her down," Gyuki said to Bee in his mind.
However, when Bee looked towards Erza, she was suddenly in her morning star armor before she charged at Bee, with full speed.
Aiming for his chest area, when Bee deflected the attack she used that moment to kick him back.
"Photon Slicer", Erza yelled as she sent a blast of energy straight towards Bee.
However, before it could hit him he slashed at it with Samehada, and the attack was immediately shredded away.
"Impossible, you can even cut through my magic?" Erza asked shocked.
"My sword can shave away your energy, letting me defeat any enemy. Your attacks won't even come close. And pretty soon, you'll be toast, fool ya fool."
Trying to think of a strategy that would give her a better chance, Erza was shocked when she saw a huge lightning bolt shoot towards Bee, one that he was forced to block with Samehada.
When Erza looked towards the culprit, she saw none other than Laxus Dreyar land beside her in his lightning form.
"I could feel your magic energy in the distance, along with another one just as strong. Figured you could use some help out here," Laxus said with a slight smirk.
"Yeah, be careful though. He is an incredibly skilled swordsman. And that blade he is wielding can cut through magic. He also uses lightning techniques as well, though that shouldn't be a problem for you."
While the two Fairy Tail mages were talking, Bee was having a conversation of his own.
"Listen Bee, that new guy that arrived is incredibly powerful. While the other girl was comparable to a Kage in power, this guy exceeds even her. Beating them alone won't be easy."
"But I'm not alone I got a partner, that's more sturdy and durable than all her armor. So if her blonde friend wants to have fun, I guess I gotta bring out Version 1."
No sooner did he think this, did Killer Bee get surrounded in a cloak of chakra, that was red and bubbling with demonic energy, that caused many different reactions from around the stadium.
Naruto was surprised that Bee had to use his chakra cloak so soon.
While Gray was running with Mirajane, he suddenly stopped before he looked in the direction where he felt that aura. "That's demonic power," He said while looking in that direction. "And Erza and Laxus are right in the middle of it".
From atop a large pillar, Zeldris was watching the battle unfold with a curious look on his face.
"Demonic energy?" He wondered confused. "So he is another individual that possess power akin to us demons."
Byakuya and Hitsugaya both noted that it felt similar to Hollow Spiritual Pressure, while Hiei and Kurama, noted that the power they were feeling was on par with mid to high S-Rank demons.
Even Natsu stopped his attacks against Luffy, noting that the smell he was picking up was the same aroma that he got from Mard Geer, but the power was far greater.
After the aura finished covering him, Bee was getting ready to jump towards him while Erza and Laxus prepared to fight him.
"Get ready, he's coming," Erza said before requipping into her blackwing armor.
Rushing towards the two of them, Erza was barely able to react when Bee tried to slam into her jumping over him to dodge.
When Laxus shoot a blast of lightning towards Bee, he noticed the attack hit him point blank. But Bee simply jumped out of the smoke of the attack, and nearly slammed into Laxus. Before the attack could hit though, Bee went right through Laxus who shot towards Erza covered in lightning.
Turning towards them Bee began rushing towards them once again, and when Erza jumped in front of the attack in order to deflect it, she was slammed with so much force that her armor was shattered, and she was sent flying into the ground.
"ERZA!" Laxus yelled, before a chakra arm grabbed his leg and slammed him into a large rock formation.
"My chakra attacks in version 1, aren't here just for fun. My attacks are deadly, and they'll take you down, there's no way you can beat me you clown."
"Guess we gotta take this up a notch ourselves," Laxus proclaimed before he started getting covered in scales around his arm and chest. Erza began glowing as well before she switched to her Armadura Fairy Tail.
(Kenpachi vs Kuwabara)
Kenpachi and Kuwabara continued clashing weapons, both with swords capable of cutting through anything. However, with each attack Kuwabara was cutting more and more into Nozarashi, and Kenpachi was being pushed slightly back.
"Damn, your sword is certainly a sharp one huh? But I wonder how long you can keep this up."
Instead of responding Kuwabara jumped back from Kenpachi and turned towards his right before cutting through the air, making a portal.
As he jumped through and vanished Kenpachi got an annoyed look on his face.
"What a coward, choosing to run instead of fighting," Kenpachi said disappointed.
No sooner did Kenpachi say that, did Kuwabara appear above him, forcing him to block with his blade.
"So you didn't run after all. And here I thought you were a coward."
"Please," Kuwabara said feeling insulted. "I never run from a fight."
As they continued clashing back and forth, blades flying through the air as they continued dueling. Kuwabara managed to stab his blade into Kenpachi's chest. But instead of deterring him, he just moved closer and headbutted Kuwabara in the nose so hard that it broke.
Recoiling from the attack, he was completely un-prepared for a slash from Nozorashi that hit him directly in the chest, leaving a large gash and sending him sliding near the edge of the stadium.
Looking at the infinite void of space behind him, the grip on Kuwabaras sword tightened as he resumed eye contact with Kenpachi.
"Damn, at this rate he's gonna knock me off," He thought. "I need to finish this in one attack".
Holding up his sword and making it grow bigger to the point where it was more of a great sword. Kuwabara sent a massive slash of energy towards Kenpachi one that glowed a bright orange.
"Yes," Kenpachi yelled with glee. "That's what I'm talking about. Show me all you've got kid".
Rushing towards the attack Kenpachi swung his blade at the oncoming wave of energy, and although it was difficult, began slowly pushing past the attack. Eventually he broke through it completely, but upon going to the other side of it, he noticed that Kuwabara was gone.
Sensing his energy suddenly appear behind him Kenpachi turned around only to get a spirit kick directly in his face, sending him flying off the edge of the stadium.
"Hell yeah," Kuwabara said with glee. "Looks like my plan worked."
"And with that, it looks like Kuwabara knocked someone off," Koenma said with glee.
However, just before Kenpachi could fall into the pit he was suddenly grabbed by several wires, and pulled back to the safety of the stadium.
Looking towards the person who threw them, Kuwabara noticed a dark-skinned woman with purple hair pulling Kenpachi to safety.
"I can't believe you fell for such a trick Zaraki. You really do have a one-track mind don't you."
Standing up from his current position, and ripping the wires off of him that were still around his chest, Kenpachi just looked towards his savior with narrowed eyes.
"I didn't ask you to save me Yoruichi."
"But if I hadn't then you would have been knocked out," Yoruichi Shihoin said smugly.
Kenpachi merely grunted in annoyance before looking back towards Kuwabara, "I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told that arrogant punk Kuchiki. You get in my way of this fight and I'll cut you down too."
Holding up her hands in mock surrender, Yoruichi stepped back to allow the fight to continue. But as Kenpachi and Kuwabara turned towards each other to resume the fight. They all suddenly noticed a disgusting energy signature appearing close to them. Kuwabara could barely react before several snakes wrapped around him from underground.
"What the hell are these things?" He asked confused, while trying to get them off of him.
Similar snakes tried to entangle Yoruichi and Kenpachi, but Kenpachi crushed them with the force of his spiritual pressure, and Yoruichi moved too fast for even the snakes to get her.
A sinister chuckling was suddenly heard by all parties present, "Looks like I only managed to snag one of you."
Kuwabara reacted in slight fear and disgust, when Orochimaru suddenly appeared in front of him from underground with a grin on his face.
"But one should do fine for now."
Not wanting to lose a chance to fight someone who was incredibly strong, Kenpachi rushed towards both Kuwabara and Orochimaru, but he was suddenly stopped by several giant's snake summons that tried to get in his way.
"Fine then, guess I'll cut you guys down first," He said with a glee.
Struggling against the snakes, Kuwabara tried using his sword to cut through them, but every time he so much as twitched a finger, the snakes tightened their grip on him.
"Sorry about this, Its nothing personal really. But this tournament is about survival, and you were far too weakened to pass up an opportunity like this."
"You bastard," Kuwabara managed to choke out while gasping. "Don't you have any honor, just because this is a tournament, doesn't mean that we have to fight dirty."
"Honor?" Orochimaru asked before he began chuckling. "I have no need for such a thing."
Rearing his fist back before delivering a wicked punch to Kuwabaras chest, he quickly used his snakes to spin him before throwing him off the stage.
"In a tournament such as this, those kinds of things will only get your universe erased."
Appearing in the stands, Kuwabara was both incredibly frightened from what occurred, and incredibly annoyed, "Damn it, I can't believe I was the first person to get eliminated. Hiei is never gonna let me live this down."
While Bon and Kuina tried to comfort him, Orochimaru looked towards his now dead snakes with an annoyed Kenpachi staring directly at him.
"So you took out my opponent, but you seem pretty strong yourself. So I guess that means your taking his place."
Chuckling at that statement, Orochimaru just looked at him before giving him is trademark snakelike grin, "Unfortunately, I'm afraid that in a head on clash I would simply be no match for you."
Rushing towards Orochimaru, Kenpachi swung his sword down at him planning on giving him a serious injury. A slash that was narrowly avoided by the Sanin who began jumping back.
"We won't know unless we try. Besides, it's not like I'm giving you a choice in the matter."
Dashing at him again, he prepared to swing his sword once more, before Orochimaru began making hand signs.
"Fire-Style: Burning Ash," Orochimaru said as ash began pouring out his mouth and covering Kenpachi, before he clicked his teeth and created an explosion.
When the smoke cleared Kenpachi was left unharmed, But Orochimaru was now gone from the sight of the battle.
"Damn coward ran away," Kenpachi said annoyed as he placed his eye patch back on and resealed his zanpakuto. "Guess I gotta find somebody else to fight."
(Meanwhile)
Ichigo Kurosaki was walking around the battlefield, looking for an opponent that he could fight against.
"Ah damn it, Kenpachi, Byakuya and even Toshiro have already found some people. If I don't fight someone soon, then everyone is gonna think I'm slacking."
However, unbeknownst to Ichigo, three people were currently watching him and were hiding both their bodies and their energy.
"This guy is one of the stronger ones, if we wanna take him down we have to do it together. You ready Gon, Killua?" one of the shadowed figures said to the other two.
"Got it," Gon said nodding.
"Lead the way Kurapika," Killua said as they stared down their target.
A.N: So its been awhile since I updated, and I am incredibly sorry that I haven't been updating frequently. I have had a lot of stuff going on lately, but that is no excuse for the hiatus that this story has been on. Nevertheless, I will be attempting to continue this story as frequently as I possibly can. I won't let such a project die without a fight.
Next Time: The Tourney Tenses Up