Chapter 42: Katakuri's Overwhelming Strength! Houjin's Uphill Battle!
"Hi there" Normal Speech
"Hi There" Thought
"Hi There" Biju and techniques | Summon Speech
"Hi There" Biju thoughts and techniques in head | Summon thoughts
Flashbacks
"Hi There" Normal speech
"Hi There"Thought
"Hi There" Biju and Techniques
"Hi There," Bijuu thought and techniques in head
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or One Piece or any other material taken from Anime, Manga, Books, Video Games and etc that may appear. Examples: Shirone and Kuroka from Highschool DxD. Nor do I claim possession over the weapons used in this fanfiction. I do however claim ownership to the theories and concepts I've come up with. I claim ownership over Original Character's I've created (such as Suzuka, Vladimir, Dominic and Alphonse etc) and the concept of the original techniques I've come up.
Chapter 42: Katakuri's Overwhelming Strength! Houjin's Uphill Battle!
Shiina quickly backflipped as a sword struck the ground, cutting into the earth where she once stood. The young woman landed in a kneeling position, right knee pressed against dirt. Climbing to her feet, the Kunoichi brought her hands together into one of her most used hand signs, dog. Chakra poured into the young girl's hands, engulfing them in blazing blue chakra. The chakra began to thin itself, becoming more refined as wind nature chakra fused with it, creating a pair of razor-sharp scalpels.
"Fuuton: Chakura no mesu (Wind Release: Chakra Scalpels)!"
Kicking off the ground, Shiina launched herself at the armour less Cracker. She crossed the distance quickly, a chakra scalpel cutting through the air as Shiina swiped her right hand. Cracker sneered and raised his sword, Pretzel into the path of the incoming swipe. Wind chakra struck metal and began cutting into the blade, making the Biscuit users eyes widen in stunned silence. Deciding to retreat, Cracker jumped back, putting as much distance between them as possible to examine his sword. He could see a two-centimetre deep cut in Pretzel's edge.
"Impossible! Pretzel has no equal!" Cracker was genuinely stunned by the mark, sweat dripping down his face in panic, but Shiina rushed him once more, drawing the pirate's focus away from his blade. Haki flowed into the sword transforming it with the power of armament. Standing his ground, the biscuit user swung the blade into the path of the incoming Kunoichi, her left hand coming down with precision as it clashed with the sword. Sparks poured out into the air as the wind chakra found itself grinding against metal, emitting an ear-piercing screeching sound. A dainty right hand pierced through the air, cutting towards Cracker's stomach, the chakra surrounding it humming with barely restrained power.
Biscuit rapidly formed over Cracker's stomach to intercept the incoming hand. The wind cut through biscuit with ease and slashed across Cracker's stomach, drawing a long line of blood, droplets of the life-sustaining substance dripping to the ground. The pirate grit his teeth, wincing from the pain but refusing to cry out.
"You bitch!" Cracker shouted, bringing his right knee up and smashing it into Shiina's stomach. The knee struck and hit a transparent chakra barrier but still carried enough force to knock the young girl back, sending her sliding. Digging her heels in, Shiina released a burst of chakra from her body, summoning two sealing tags out of mid-air. The tags raced towards Cracker, appearing on his sides; the ink glowed as two rectangular barriers formed and pressed against the pirate, temporarily sealing his movements. With her opponent trapped, Shina shot forward, crossing the distance between them, chakra scalpels humming vibrantly.
She attacked, her hands cutting through the air aimed at Cracker's shoulders; the young woman intended to sever the nerves in her opponent's arms, rendering them useless for the remainder of his life. Cracker sneered at the approaching woman, struggling against the barriers, biscuit rapidly forming over his body, increasing his body size and mass. The armour pushed the barriers aside, forming six arms, all with matching Preztel swords. The biscuit began to crack as the barriers increased the pressure, and with a battle cry, Cracker slammed the arms of his armoured form into the walls, shattering them along with the swords they held, just as the two chakra scalpels sliced into the shoulders of the armour.
Cracker sneered, and the two remaining limbs swung up, the hands clamping around Shiina's wrists. Wind chakra roared cutting into the biscuit hands and slicing them off. Shiina freed her arms from the biscuit armour and kicked off the chest with her right foot, striking with enough force to break it apart. Flipping in mid-air, the young woman landed on a barrier that formed directly beneath her, allowing her to stand a metre above the ground.
"I'm getting sick of this shit!" Cracker spat out as his biscuit armour shattered, falling to the ground once more.
"Hanī Purettseru (Honey Pretzel)!" Taking a crouched stance, Cracker launched towards his opponent, thrusting his sword Pretzel at the young woman with great speed and force. As the sword was thrust forward, a powerful shockwave was released, carving a trench in the ground as it flew towards Shiina. The Kunoichi deactivated the chakra scalpels and pressed her hands together, creating a triangle and extending both arms out.
A small blue sphere of chakra formed in her hands before it shot out into the air, into the path of the incoming attack. The sphere rotated and began to expand, changing its' shape in mid-air as it created a transparent triangle shaped barrier over five metres tall in front of Shiina. The tip of the sword Preztel smashed against the middle of the barrier with a loud bang. Spider web cracks spread out from the point of contact, shaking the barrier violently.
Shiina shifted her legs and fell into the traditional fighting stance of the Goken, chakra flowing through the young woman's body as she launched it forward towards Cracker, intending to try and finish the fight. Closing in, Shiina shattered her barrier with a right hook. Chakra scalpels formed, enhancing the lethality of her blow as it cut through the air. Backpedalling, the Sweets Commander avoided the incoming blow as it hit the ground with a thud. Chakra scalpels enhanced by wind chakra carved through the earth where he once stood with ease.
A blade of wind ejected from the hand towards the Sweets Commander, catching him by surprise as it cut through his right side, splashing blood onto the ground. Cracker gripped the fresh wound with his left hand and sneered, forming biscuit over it to temporarily stop the flow of blood. The blood stained his hand as he wiped it off on his clothes; the pirate was growing annoyed.
Shiina looked up at her opponent, sweat forming on her brow, her chakra reserves were running on almost empty. Reaching into her right sleeve, she gathered the last drips of chakra she could manage, channelling them into a seal engraved on the inside of the Yukata. In a puff of smoke three small round, black pills appeared in her hand, and she acted tossing the first into her mouth and swallowing it. The moment she swallowed the pill a burst of chakra erupted from her body like water bursting out of a dam, her reserves rapidly refilled. The pill forced Shiina's body to undergo a natural recovery mode, rapidly regenerating her chakra pool, all the while drawing in natural energy from her surroundings and converting it into chakra. Energy poured out of Shiina's body and mingled with the natural energy in her surroundings before being drawn inwards.
As she experienced the effects of the first pill, Shiina proceeded to swallow the second. Pain exploded throughout her body, as her chakra grew to an overwhelming amount, more than what she could physically handle. Ignoring the pain, Shiina began to convert all the excess chakra into medical chakra and poured it into every fibre of her body; muscles, nervous system and skeleton structure.
Muscles tensed and ached with pain as medical chakra rushed into them forcing them to expand. The muscles on Shiina's biceps suddenly expanded to twice their original size, only to expand again. The Kunoichi's right arm expanded, growing as the muscles expanded to five times their usual size. Shiina released a pained cry as her left arm followed, the muscles bulging beyond comprehension. The sudden act caught Cracker by surprise; he had no idea what was happening.
"Karada Kyouka no Jutsu (Body Enhancement Technique)!"
Without hesitation, Shiina threw the third and final pill into her mouth; chakra poured out from her body, engulfing her in blue, ghost-like flames. The ground trembled beneath her feet and broke, as a wealth of natural energy rushed into Shiina's growing frame, merging with her reserves, before transforming into medical chakra. Shiina's body expanded, growing in size from her normal height of five foot to an astonishing ten feet as a primal, guttural roar erupted from her mouth.
What stood before Cracker now was no longer a short dainty looking young woman, now she was a towering behemoth of a giant with muscles the size of tree trunks. The Yukata Shiina wore had been torn apart, leaving behind only rags, and revealing beneath a black sports bra and biker shorts. As she took a powerful stomp forward with her right foot, the ground pressed inwards beneath the power of Shiina's new form. With a powerful roar, the young woman shot forward like a raging beast; eyes whited out as if she had lost all reason.
Cracker quickly began to create his biscuit armour, using it to coat his entire body before enhancing it with Busoshoku Haki for boosted durability. The pirate stood in Shiina's path, unsure of what to make of this new form of hers, but had the intention to resist her attacks and take her down. However, he was in for a surprise. Shiina proceeded to crash into Cracker using the might of her new physical form, smashing into him with a loud bang and shattering the hardened biscuit armour to pieces, even with the Haki enhancement. Cracker was sent flying out of the armour and hit the ground with a thud.
A roar drew the pirate's attention as the behemoth stood over him, her left foot poised to squash him. As he rolled out of the way, the foot hit solid earth with a loud thud and buried into it. Another roar shook the earth as the monster stomped down again, forcing Cracker to roll away lest he be flattened into a pancake. Shiina followed after him, continuing to stomp down wildly; a strong murderous intent pouring out from her once gentle appearance. Cracker jumped to his feet and slid across the ground, trying to put some distance between himself at this beast of a woman.
"What is this shit!" The Sweets Commander couldn't believe his eyes but had no time to contemplate on what the woman he fought had become. Biscuit rapidly formed into the air as Cracker created a dozen Biscuit Soldiers over fifteen metres tall. Unlike the other biscuit soldiers, their armour was much thicker, since the Charlotte had reinforced it with up to a dozen layers of biscuit. The soldiers formed a defensive formation in front of their creator as Shiina came stomping towards them like a charging rhino.
"DIE!" Roared the raging behemoth; Shiina's voice was deeper and more aggressive as she ploughed into the created soldiers. Muscular arms tore through the first soldier tossing it aside before the left arm came down, a giant palm slamming into the chest of the second soldier and shattering it. A foot crashed into the stomach of the next biscuit creation breaking it into pieces. Shiina released another guttural roar as she stampeded through the puppets, destroying them with ease.
Sparks lit up at the end of Cracker's hair strands, sparkling violently as the swordsman crouched low, steadying his sword as the monster got close.
"Hanī Purettseru!" Cracker shot towards the behemoth as she tore through the last biscuit warrior and thrust his sword forward. Pretzel pierced through the air with great speed and force as its blade became coated in Busoshoku Haki. A shockwave tore through the air, released from the sword as it pierced towards Shiina, with the intent to carve a hole through her now muscled chest.
The towering woman roared and brought her right palm down into the palm of the blade; chakra erupting around her hand as the tip of the sword impacted against it. Muscles tensed and twitched as the tip struck solid flesh, the metal beginning to groan as the sword itself started to bend. A small trickle of blood dripped to the ground as the tip of the blade barely pierced the first layer of flesh. A roar erupted from Shiina's lips and, as she swung her left arm, an open palm struck Cracker, hitting the pirate squarely in the left shoulder. The blow carried enough force with it to cause a loud crack to sound out. Cracker screamed in pain as he went flying to the right, crashing into the earth and carving a long trench through it. Green chakra flowed into the minor wound on Shiina's palm knitting the flesh back together.
"Damn it!" The Sweets Commander spat out a wad of blood as he struggled to his feet, his left arm hanging by the side, completely useless. The single palm strike from Shiina had broken Cracker's arm completely, and possibly a few ribs as well. Using his sword to steady himself and stand up, Cracker readied himself once again, intending to try and finish this battle. Clutching the sword in his free hand, the sparks from his hair became more pronounced and covered his entire body, engulfing the blade and coating it in a thick layer of sparks.
"Curasshu Purettseru (Crash Pretzel)!" Kicking off the ground, the Sweets Commander once again launched towards Shiina, who was fast approaching. The swordsman gave a powerful thrust of his sword, crossing the distance and plunging it into Shiina's chest, its' blade coated in Haki to enhance its' offensive capabilities. A shockwave erupted from the point of impact as the sparks engulfed Shiina. Blood dripped along the blade as it dug into flesh, making its way through the first layer of skin and into the second, eventually burying itself a good ten centimetres into the Kunoichi's chest.
Shiina seemed to show no signs of pain, revealing only a look of pure rage as chakra poured through her massive form, her right hand coming down and striking Cracker on the head. Her palm pressed her opponent into the ground with a loud bang as a shockwave ripped through the earth, tearing it apart. As Cracker was plunged into the dirt, Shiina gripped Pretzel by the blade with her free hand and ripped it out of her chest, showing not even a flash of pain. Blood poured out into the air, splattering across the ground as green chakra surrounded the wound, knitting the flesh back together until the wound was gone, not even leaving a mark.
"HRA!" Shiina released a bellow so strong it made ripples in the air. Her giant leg moved, as the woman's right foot smashed into the Sweet Commanders body, kicking him up into the air. The pirate released a pained cry as blood and spit flew from his lips. A massive right hand came down, grabbing Cracker by the right ankle, and began to spin him around, turning the pirate into a toy for Shiina's amusement. The giant woman spun the pirate making him dizzy before slamming him into the ground with such force the earth caved in.
"GAH!" Cracker cried out in pain, his eyes starting to roll into the back of his head, the pain was unbearable. Shiina released her hold on Cracker and raised both arms into the air before bringing them down, slamming her forearms onto the pirate's body. The ground trembled and shook as another scream escaped the pirate's lips. The giant woman soon started punching the ground, slamming her giant muscled fists into Cracker's body and the earth around them mercilessly. With every punch, the terrain trembled and screams could be heard until no more cries came. However the behemoth kept striking, blood soon staining the ground as she relentlessly pounded into the body of her foe.
Naruto frowned at the distance, watching Shiina go wild, mercilessly striking with every punch, her knuckles dyed blood red.
"She's lost control." The Sage held up a hand, activating the seal on the back of his student's neck. As he did so, chakra binding chains poured out of it and wrapped around her body before constricting. The Kunoichi struggled violently trying to break loose; she had lost all sense of herself. The chains glowed brightly, sapping the chakra from her body and slowly forcing the monstrous form to shrink returning Shiina to her original soft appearance. Shiina collapsed to the ground, chakra exhaustion overcoming her, and in a flash of white, Naruto's student vanished.
"I never expected your student could hold such monstrous power, Naruto-san." Whitebeard appeared visibly stunned, he had often spoken with the young Shiina, she always seemed so soft and gentle. He knew she could pack a punch but had never expected that she could transform into such a beast.
"Ever since her defeat with Estella, Shina has been attempting to find a way to grow stronger. This is a result of her envy over Odin's Tenbihou and Yamato's mastery over the Eight Gates. After greatly enhancing her chakra reserves through the use of a chakra restoration pill, one that not only boosts the user's chakra regeneration but also draws in natural energy, Shiina converts it all to medical chakra. Once the chakra conversion is finished, it is then poured into her body, enhancing muscle and bone strength. The body must compensate for this growth, forcing the sudden transformation you witnessed. She lacks control over it, however, so her mind goes into a berserk state. The technique is still in its developing stage and will require time until mastered. Until then, I have added a fail-safe."
Explained the immortal sage as he eyed the crater where Cracker now lay, a bloodied and swollen mess, but miraculously still breathing, even if the pirate was on death's doors. If he managed to survive, it would be a miracle. A powerful gust of wind brushed against the Sage's face, turning his gaze towards the final battle, watching as shockwaves collided in the air as opponents clashed.
"This will be a true test of your abilities. Will you surpass your limits? You have great untapped potential inside of you, greater than you know. But you refuse to see it; you refuse to accept your other half, it limits and holds you back. Accept it, and your strength will reach a level, not even you can comprehend."
Katakuri Vs Houjin
Houjin dug himself out of the ground, pushing the debris aside as he climbed onto unsteady feet, blood dripping from his chest as he used his polearm as support. The blow had shaken the Jounin's body and made his organs tremble violently; the single strike had been beyond what he could handle. At the last moment, the youth had been able to reinforce himself with wind chakra, creating a shell at the point of contact. While the spear thrust had still broken through, it had reduced the damage to non-fatal levels. The front of Houjin's battle robe had a hole in it the size of the tip of the trident, and there was a deep gash in his chest that was leaking blood. To stop the bleeding, Houjin pressed his left index finger into the wound and poured fire chakra into it, cauterising the flesh and stemming the blood flow.
"You should give up. You're inferior to me in speed, power, everything." Said Katakuri, giving his trident a twirl and flicking the blood off.
"I'm not giving up that easy." Houjin retorted clenching his polearm tightly to the point that his knuckles turned white from the lack of blood.
"I'm already this outmatched. I was naive. If I can't even stop Katakuri; how can I kill that man?" Anger burned inside of the youth as the wind picked up, churning violently.
Scoffing, Katakuri settled into a stance and launched across the terrain with a loud boom. The trident user's speed was increasing dramatically, catching Houjin off guard as the mochi user quickly sped up to the point where the Jounin could barely keep up.. Appearing in front of the wind user, Katakuri's left leg transformed into mochi, the end coated in Haki to increase its' durability, and smashed into Houjin's stomach. The bottom of Katakuri's foot struck solid metal as the youth used his polearm as a shield. The force behind the blow sent Houjin skidding back; his feet digging into the dirt in an attempt to slow him down. The pirate didn't let up, shooting forward and curving to the left, appearing at the Jounin's side and thrusting Mogura forward once more.
Transforming his body into wind, Houjin moved out of the path of the incoming trident and reformed behind Katakuri swinging the axe half of his weapon from the right. The youth intended to bisect Katakuri in two from the waist. The axe carved its way through flesh, only for said flesh to transform into mochi and reconnect the two halves of Katakuri's body. Houjin quickly flipped the weapon, turning it over, so the axe half faced his opponent once more. Wind poured out from the hammer half as the axe blade while coating it in Busoshoku Haki; the polearm was propelled back to the right from the force of the wind. However, the mochi user's body transformed back into the sticky substance and moved around the haki embedded axe, re-joining on the other side, the entire time the pirate's eyes were glowing a demonic red.
Rocketing back Houjin's transformed his legs into twisters, creating as much distance as possible between the two.
"I can't hit him! It's almost like he can anticipate my every attack and transform his body at the point of attack." Rattling his brain, Houjin tried to think of a strategy. Tossing the hammer-axe weapon aside, it vanished in a puff of smoke, if close range wasn't going to work, then he was going to changes things up with ranged attacks.
" Katon: Homuranagase (Fire Release: Blazing Meteors)!"
Jumping into the air, with his powers, and taking a deep breath, he expelled a myriad of small fireballs each half his size. Raining down towards, Katakuri was a volley of fireballs, intending to incinerate the man. However, the pirate showed no reaction, not even fear, towards the fireballs as they were approaching. Instead, he prepared his trident, twisted his arm and thrust it upwards. Releasing a powerful shockwave the trident began to spin. The shockwave smashed into the oncoming fireballs, making them detonate in mid-air. A bright red storm engulfed the skies as Houjin prepared a second attack.
Katon: Haisekishou (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning)!"
Floating down to the ground, just before his feet touched dirt Houjin expelled once more, but instead of fire, a large cloud of ash was breathed out into the world. However the ash was not ash, it was chakra infused gunpowder, produced from raw chakra. The cloud of gunpowder swarmed forward, wrapping around, Katakuri engulfing him in its mass. With eyes glowing red, Katakuri saw a vision of a giant explosion while being engulfed by bright flames.
"Perish!"
Houjin then spat out a small ball of fire right into the gunpowder. The fireball hit the gunpowder igniting it, with a roar, fired wash over, Katakuri. However, the Mochi user anticipated and reacted; left hand slamming onto the ground, transforming the earth into an ocean of mochi that rose up and around his body creating a dense protective dome. An explosive flame slammed against the mochi burning away at it, but was unable to penetrate its defences. A giant pillar of fire shot high up into the sky where it turned red.
Instantly moving a distance away, Houjin intended not to take any chances. Eyes widening as large tendrils of mochi poured out through the massive pillar of fire and head right towards him.
"Doton: Doryuuheki (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)!"
Houjin spewed out a large stream of mud; once it hit the ground the mud rose, solidifying into a ten-inch thick wall. The dense wall of earth shot up a good ten metre and was over ten metres long, showing off Houjin's proficiency in the technique. The more skilled the user, the greater the volume of earth created. A tremor vibrated through the mud wall as the mochi tendrils collided head-on, web-like cracks spread out from the point of impact. Houjin's lower half transformed into wind, and he rocketed upwards, landing on top of the mud wall and watched as the mochi retreated, the pillar of fire soon died down. The dome of mochi that surrounded, Katakuri, began dissolving into the earth as the devil fruit user walked out unscathed from Houjin's fire attack.
"Nagare Mochi (Flowing Mochi)!"
Katakuri placed his left hand back onto the ground, twisting it, ripples moved through the earth before transforming into soft and sticky mochi. Pouring forth like a flood was a tidal wave of mochi as the earth continued transforming and swarming towards Houjin and his mud wall. The wind user was startled but kept his cool as the mochi slammed into his mud wall causing it to break. The mochi floated upwards with the intent to capture him in its confines.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"
Houjin roaring loudly fired a blast of wind from his mouth. The blast of wind slammed into the oncoming mochi wave forcing it apart blowing it away. Strong gale force winds hit the ground making it tremble.
Katakuri shot across the terrain, jumping up into the air towards the floating Shinobi, thrusting Mogura towards Houjin. The Jounin responded in kind, transforming his right fist, enhancing it with Haki before punching down. The fist of wind slammed against the tip of the haki enhanced trident with a loud bang. A powerful shockwave of Haki erupted from the point of contact as red bolts of lightning filled the sky. The force blew back with both combatants landing on the ground, sliding back a distance from another once. Katakuri moved, taking the advantage, closing in once more. Mogura swung out from the right a fierce killer intent pouring off the mochi user's body.
Ducking under the swing, Houjin's left arm transformed intending to blow Katakuri away with one punch. The pirate's stomach morphed into mochi; the fist slipped through before the mochi constricted wrapping around the Shinobi's wrist.
"Shit!" Was all Houjin managed out, before Katakuri struck with his left fist, the forearm swelling up and expanding. His forearm became coated in a layer of haki before detonating with violent force.
"Yaki Mochi!" The fist burst into flames from the intense speed it was moving at and slammed into Houjin's chest. Assaulting Houjin's nose was the strong scent of charred flesh, Haki overwhelming the Logia's powers. A shockwave tore through the Shinobi's body, with his arm held by Katakuri; Houjin was forced to take the brunt of the attack as the fist ground against flesh leaving a large indent. Blood flew from the Jounin's lips, splashing against Katakuri's ace, as a wave of pain coursed through Houjin's body. Releasing the wrist at the last moment, Katakuri allowed the force behind the blow to send Houjin crashing through the ground like a meteor.
Houjin laid in a crater groaning in pain, struggling to climb into a seated position, blood trickling from the right corner of his mouth. The shinobi fell to his knees, vomiting up a large glob of blood mixed in with saliva, a couple teeth could be seen mixed into the ball. Struggling to his feet, Houjin vomited up another wad of blood, letting it splatter on the ground, blood trickling down his lips as he stood to face Katakuri. It was only thanks to the training Houjin had undergone that he was able to withstand such beating, the excessive training had made his body durable. However, it didn't mean he wants to be taking to many of those hits.
"It's useless, stay down. You cannot win." Katakuri spoke for the first time in a long while since the battle started. The two had been fighting in relative silence, neither speaking more than one word at a time.
"No thanks. What would my adorable Kouhai think if I surrendered? I gotta keep up my cool image!" Retorted the devil fruit user, "Bedside's were just getting started!" Houjin wanted to laugh, but it hurt too much, in all honesty, he was barely holding on and was just wasting time.
"It will be your funeral! I had thought of sparing your wretched life, but you and your comrade have claimed the lives of-of my beloved siblings! You have impeded me from assisting them! That is an unforgivable crime!" Roared the Charlotte Sweet Commander, while there was anger in his tone, he remained calm. The Commander couldn't allow himself to lose focus; breaking focus would impede his ability to use his enhanced Kenbunshoku Haki.
"You think they're the only ones going to die?" Houjin spat back revealing a smug smirk.
"You came to our home, none of you are going to leave alive! I'll keep you here as long as I have to, until my last breath!" The Jounin spat out another glob of blood, Houjin knew full well he wasn't Katakuri's opponent but had offered to stall the man. The Second Generation User wanted to test himself, refusing all help. Yamato had offered, no demanded to assist him, but Houjin refused and told his friend to remain behind, this was his fight! Houjin had a strong desire to improve and grow from this experience.
Wind spun around Houjin the youth's eyes glowing blue; chakra started to circulate through the devil fruit users body.
"Kazekiri!" Kicking with his right leg, Houjin's limb transformed, launching a blade of compressed air towards Katakuri. The blade carved through the ground as it sailed towards the pirate, only for the man to easily step to the side avoiding it.
"Courageous of you, but it's useless." Complimented the Mochi user, tightening the grip on his spear and expanded his senses when a powerful energy washed over him. In the distance, a giant Buddha comprised of a strange energy manifested itself and palmed his brother Daifuku. Katakuri felt a twinge in his heart; he shared a deep connection with Daifuku; they had been born together as triplets alongside Oven. The brothers shared a close bond and had always been there for one another in their youth. Kicking off the ground, Katakuri moved towards the battle between Daifuku and Mariko intending to intervene.
"Not so fast!" Transforming his body, Houjin moved into Katakuri's path intending to block the pirate.
"Katon: Goukakyuu (Fire Release: Great Fireball)!"
With a deep breath, Houjin expelled a large stream of fire from his mouth that came together into the shape of a giant fireball dwarfing Katakuri. Sneering the pirate slammed a hand onto the ground, transforming dirt into mochi that rose up in front of him as a thick wall. Heat slammed against the wall making the mochi wall quiver as flames split apart creating a wall on each side of Katakuri. Punching the air with both fists, Houjin transformed them into twisters that funnelled into the flames drastically increasing its size and power.
A tremendous heat slammed against the mochi wall as the flames grew in intensity. A giant pillar of fire began to curve around the wall, spreading to engulf Katakuri. Grinding his teeth, Katakuri manipulated the mochi transforming it into a tsunami. The tsunami collided with a wall of fire as the two forces fought against one another for dominance.
"Tatsuken (Twister Fist)!"
Punching the air with both fists, Houjin's arms transformed into dual twisters that shot forward their size growing tremendously. Twin fissures formed in the ground as the tornadoes slammed into the fire and mochi standoff, carrying enough force the twisters blew the two sides away as thousands of wind blades tore the opposing forces apart. The twisters flew towards Katakuri easily dwarfing the pirate; they were intending to consume him. Gripping Mogura, Katakuri thrust the trident into the path of the twister.
"Yaki Mochi Tsuki (Grilled Mochi Thrust)!"
The mochi users right bicep began to expand as the entire Trident became imbued with armament haki once more. The bicep exploded as the arm fired off like a rocket, launching the trident and the hand towards the twisters with such speed the entire trident caught on fire. The flaming trident slammed into the oncoming twisters, releasing a powerful shockwave that tore them apart and carried on. The wind from the twisters only worked to enhance the flames that surrounded the trident turning it into a giant flaming arrow.
Coating his right arm with haki, Houjin transformed his arm turning into a giant fist over four times its normal size and punched. The compressed fist of wind struck the incoming flaming arrow on the tip; powerful shockwaves rattled the wind user that made him grit his teeth. Pressing the attack, the Jounin refused to give in, pouring wind out from the back of his arm pushing the fist forward to increase its strength. With a battle cry, the fist slammed into the tip of the trident knocking it off course smashing it into the ground with a loud bang.
A tendril of mochi shot from Katakuri's exploded wrist, grabbing the trident and ripped it out the ground, whipping it in Houjin's direction. The action surprised the wind user who stepped back, narrowly avoiding the trident as it slashed at his neck. The mochi retracted pulling Mogura back towards Katakuri; arm regenerating as a hand caught the weapon.
"This guy's Devil Fruit is just too freaky."
Houjin didn't hesitate, lower half transforming into a tornado; the force propelling him forward, both arms transforming into twisters of wind and launching towards Katakuri. The pirate intended to intercept, only for a sharp pain to pierce through his heart. Expanding his senses, Katakuri felt the life force of his brother Daifuku vanish as his life was snuffed out. The sudden shock of his brother's death rattled the devil fruit user, momentarily cutting off the power of his Kenbunshoku Haki.
Two fists of wind coated in Busoshoku Haki slammed into Katakuri's chest, sending the pirate into the ground with a loud bang; the earth broke apart on impact. The fists of wind ploughed Katakuri through the dirt, carving two long fissures before they came to a halt.
"It hit?" Not intending to let the opportunity go, Houjin rocketed towards the fallen body of Katakuri rising above the man, right fist grew to ten times its size.
"Kyojin no Ken (Fist of the Giant)!"
Punching down, the giant fist of wind crashed on top of Katakuri's, carrying enough force to shake the ground as it struck without mercy. The wind tore the ground apart, sucking it up and transforming the fist into a giant swirling storm of debris that relentlessly ploughed into the Sweet Commanders body. Beneath the fist, Katakuri gritted his teeth as the wind bombarded him, little blades of wind began to cut into flesh, drawing blood. Without hesitation, the commander quickly hardened his body with Busoshoku Haki and regained his senses. Placing a hand on the ground, dirt transformed into a large amount of mochi that wrapped around Katakuri's body protecting him from the wind.
Houjin landed on the ground, pulling back the giant's fist where it returned to its normal shape. A giant fist sized crater had formed, and in the middle lay Katakuri mostly unharmed, with only minor gashes over his body. Glaring daggers at the wind user, Katakuri climbed onto his feet.
"Zan Giri Mochi (Sliced Mochi)!"
Katakuri immediately transformed his entire body into mochi while dropping Mogura to the ground. The Devil Fruit users forearms became enlarged coated in spikes and were hardened with Busoshoku Haki. Once the transformation was complete the pirate's body began to spin, flying towards Houjin in a doughnut-like shape. The speed at which the Sweet Commander used was faster than Houjin could track, appearing directly in front of him. Once in rage Katakuri had regained his clam, right enlarged mochi forearm swung towards Houjin at high speed. The momentum from the spinning drastically increasing the arms speed and strength as it slammed into Houjin's side, with such force a loud crack rang out as ribs broke. Blood splattered the ground as the hardened spiked pierced into the Shinobi's body
Blood flew from Houjin's lips as he was pummelled into the ground, debris collapsing onto his body. Biting down on the inside of his cheek, the Jounin transformed his body to escape the sticky mochi. If it had been anyone else they would have found their body stuck to the mochi, but thanks to the constitution of his Logia powers he was able to escape reforming a good distance away. Houjin fell to his right knee, clutching the bleeding wound as blood dripped to the ground, the spikes had dug in deep, luckily for him, they had avoided the major organs. Pouring fire chakra into the wound he cauterised it, the smell of charred flesh assaulted his senses.
Digging into the right breast pocket of his flak jacket, Houjin removed a deep green pill and tossed it into his mouth. A rush of chakra flowed through his body as a green aura engulfed him, immediately the Jounin could feel his wounds start to recover at an astounding rate, in time the damage was made mute.
"It's a good thing I stopped off to stock up on supplies."
Houjin knew he would have a tough time against Katakuri and made sure to come prepared. What the Jounin had taken was a new type of military ration pill, instead of recovering chakra it would draw on the users own reserves, converting it to medical chakra to restore any injuries sustained in battle. It couldn't heal fatal wounds, but for the type of injuries, Houjin had suffered it would work perfectly. The couple of ribs Katakuri had broken healed back together as good as new. The downside was, he couldn't use too many before running out of chakra as they took a toll on the reserves.
"At most I can consume two more before things get dicey."
Houjin brought his hands together forming the ram seal, releasing a powerful burst of chakra from his body. Seals linked like chain pieces came to life, spreading out from the centre of his chest down both arms and legs finishing the wrists and ankles.
"Kai (Release)!"
The seal links broke apart before vanishing into the ground. A great weight was released from Houjin's body, as he felt lighter than ever before
"I wanted to keep them on the entire fight, but if I had, chances are I'd die."
Knees bent, muscles tensed before the wind user shot forward, speed increasing exponentially, double what it was before. A puff of smoke appeared besides Houjin; a scroll dropped to the ground as the hammer-axe polearm made its appearance once more. Gripping the weapon Houjin ignited it, making it burst into red and orange flames before he leapt up into the air, swinging the hammer downwards.
"Bāningu no eikyō (Burning Impact)!"
Katakuri jumped back, tendrils of mochi launched out from his back forming a shield in front of him as the hammer struck where he once stood. A pillar of fire erupted on impact detonating and collapsing in on itself with such force it released an explosive wave of fire. The flames crashed into the mochi wall with enough force it flung the mochi user back.
"I'm far from done!" Spinning the hammer, Houjin sprung off the air creating a foothold beneath him and sped towards his opponent, with a twist the weapon was swung down at the mochi shield. The axe side became coated in wind, sharpening its edge as it slashed down. The weapon split the mochi shield in two, Houjin's right foot shot forward, the limb transforming into a spinning twister enhanced with Busoshoku Haki. The foot slammed against Katakuri's right knee, as it was raised to block the incoming attack. Gritting his teeth, Houjin vanished, speed increasing, appearing directly behind the pirate.
Swinging the hammer side from the right the weapon fire poured out increasing speed, the axe side poised to strike. Fire poured out acting like a thruster to increase the momentum of the polearm transforming it into a crimson blur. Katakuri's eyes glowed red as the mochi user vanished from mid-air. Houjin followed after moving at high speed, following after Katakuri, every time the Jounin caught up, Katakuri would move again and force the Shinobi to follow him. The two would clash in mid-air, limbs or trident blocking the polearm, Houjin shifting between both the axe and hammer side.
Landing on the ground, Houjin panted softly, Katakuri landing opposite him, there was a good twenty metres between them. Lifting his polearm like a spear Houjin threw it at full force; wind erupting from the weapon increasing its momentum as it headed towards Katakuri. Snorting Katakuri twirled Mogura, thrusting the weapon into the path of the incoming polearm and struck it on the top. Mogura slammed into the top of the weapon releasing a powerful shockwave from the collision, Mogura and Katakuri disappeared as a blast of wind erupted from the hammer tearing the ground where the pirate once stood apart.
A barrage of mochi tendrils shaped like fists coated in Busoshoku Haki flew down from above at Houjin with the intent to pummel him into the ground.
"Kazeryuuheki (Wind Style Wall)!"
Houjin threw both arms out to the side, transforming them into two twisters of wind that expanded in mid-air covering him in a spinning dome of wind. Haki covered mochi fists slammed against the spinning dome; mochi splattering everywhere as the dome spun with such speed it shredded the incoming attack apart.
Landing on the ground in a crouching position, Katakuri launched towards Houjin and the dome of wind. Thrusting Mogura forward, Katakuri's arm transformed into mochi and twisted as much as possible before it began to unfold, spinning the trident at high speed. The tip slammed into the spinning dome with another force the wind broke apart, Mogura carried on towards the Shinobi with the intent to turn him into a shish kabob.
"Kussaku Kaze (Drilling Wind)!"
Houjin's left arm turned into a vicious cyclone as the tip where his hand once was spun up creating a powerful drill like appearance. Houjin trust the spiralling drill and met Mogura head-on, the collision of the two strikes causing an explosion of Haoshoku Haki as the two Kings struggled for dominance, the earth beneath them breaking apart.
Pouring out from Katakuri's body was a thick murderous intent, as he felt life force of his siblings fading. Across the battlefield the members of the Charlotte Family were dropping like flies, Katakuri could hear the agonising screams of those who fell in battle, lives snatched away. While others were struggling for dear life, holding on with nothing but their desire to live. To the Sweets Commander family was everything, always possessing a strong bond with his siblings.
Snarling behind his scarf, Katakuri put more pressure into his spear thrust; forearm expanding with pressure before exploding. The force of the explosion increased the power behind Mogura's strike allowing the spear to cut through the wind drill with ease, allowing the haki imbued tip to pierce the top of Houjin's left shoulder. Revealing a pained expression, Houjin's hammer like weapon fell to the ground with a clang, as blood splattered onto the ground. Lower half transformed into a tornado as Houjin flew backwards, taking Mogura with him, intending to separate Katakuri from his weapon.
Moving swiftly, Katakuri closed the distance, arm regenerated, and he grabbed the end of the trident before ripping it out. Blood soaked the ground as sprouting from the Sweet Commanders back was dozens of mochi tendrils taking the shape of haki enhanced fists. The Logia user quickly separated his body, transforming into wind and retreated as the fists rained down. As Houjin's body came back together, mochi fists slammed into his torso making him puke blood.
Skidding across the ground, Houjin dug his fingers into the dirt bringing him to an abrupt halt. The Jounin promptly brought his hands together in one seal, tiger.
"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)!"
Moulding a large amount of chakra internally, Houjin compressed it before firing a large dragon-shaped fireball. Katakuri raised an eyebrow, a red glow appearing in his eyes, the pirate's eyes widened in shock; quickly retreating he placed a hand on the ground. Dirt turned into mochi that flew upwards creating a large mochi wall once more. The fireball hit, and an intense heat struck Katakuri melting the mochi wall dissolving it. The dragon head released an incredible heat making the earth melt, turning it into molten rock.
Taking another breath, Houjin expelled two more of the compressed dragon head-shaped fireballs, feeling his chakra reserves dropping. If he couldn't hit the mochi user, he was going to melt him with intense heat!
"Kaku Mochi (Square Mochi)!"
Katakuri, jumped back to avoid the next fireball. However the third was moving faster than the other two, thanks to a fist of wind slamming into it from behind it, increasing its momentum suddenly. The mochi user discarded, Mogura, transforming both hands and arms into mochi, before compressing them into square like shapes. The square shapes hardened with Haki and he punched forward with both arms meeting the fireball head on. Mochi and fire collided the intense heat from the flames melting away at the mochi and exploded outwards creating a torrential rain of fire that poured over Katakuri's arms. Mochi bubbled and melted with great intensity.
Both of Katakuri's forearms began to swell before the pressure made them explode separating the devil fruit user from both limbs. Quickly retreating, the intense heat poured over where Katakuri once was, melting the ground. Feet skidded across the ground as both arms began regenerating, mochi spewing out from stumps as limbs reformed. Where the fireball had hit, was now a puddle of molten liquid.
"I've had enough of this. Nagare Mochi!" Placing both hands once the ground, Katakuri transformed the surface into mochi and sent it flooding towards Houjin. The wind user panted heavily, growing exhausted. Tendrils of mochi raised upwards, attempting to cut off an escape, coming down like a tsunami. Transforming his body Houjin ejected backwards, anticipating this Katakuri appeared behind the Jounin, hands on the ground. The earth beneath and around Houjin transformed, rising upwards as mochi came from all sides cutting off his route.
"Doton: Tsuchi Kairo (Earth Release: Earth Corridor)!"
The remaining earth beneath, Houjin rose up, pushing mochi aside as it created a cavern around the logia user. The cavern opening closed up, forming a protective dome against the incoming mochi that crashed against the earth. Chakra flooded into the dome, keeping it stable, but cracks began to form from the pressure of the mochi. The dome couldn't sustain itself as the mochi broke through and swallowed up everything inside.
Naruto frowned watching the fight; things certainly seemed one-sided. The level that Katakuri had trained his Kenbunshoku Haki to, certainly gave him quite the advantage, but he also outclassed Houjin in terms of battle experience, being much older than the youth was. Katakuri had a good twenty plus years on Houjin when it came to battle experience, having grown up in a life of piracy. A puff of smoke appeared besides Naruto as a clone was creating.
"Give my permission for them to enter the battle; should things go astray." Informed the immortal to the clone, getting a salute as the copy vanished in a flash of white.
As the mochi came to a halt, Katakuri could see a human-shaped object trapped inside of it. The mochi user began compressing the mochi, trapping the logia user inside. Even if he transformed with the power of a Logia, Houjin would still be trapped. Katakuri's eyes flashed as a pair of hands popped out of the ground, attempting to latch onto his ankles. Ankles transformed into liquid mochi and separated allowing the hands to grab nothing but air. Quickly reattaching his limbs, Katakuri moved away from where he once stood.
The ground broke open as Houjin popped up out of the earth. After using the Tsuchi Kairo, he had immediately buried into the ground using the Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique). As for the humanoid shape in the mochi, it vanished, causing the mochi to collapse in on itself, he had used Doton: Kage Bunshin (Earth Release: Shadow Clone) as a decoy inside the earth corridor.
Katakuri spun around, haki coating fists of mochi that shot out of his back and slammed into Houjin's body. The Shinobi gave a pained cry as the fists rammed him into the ground. Kicking off, Katakuri appeared above the Jounin and kicked down with his right leg.
"Yanagi Mochi (Willow Mochi)!"
Katakuri's right leg transformed into long haki enhanced mochi tendrils, each stopping down while mimicking their creator's foot. The leg tendrils rained down on Houjin from above, stomping down with great force. Over a dozen tendrils rained down into the ground, breaking it apart and shoved Houjin deeper into the earth on each impact. Bringing the assault to a stop Katakuri landed on the ground, revealing a deep crater with Houjin lying in the middle, body battered. The logia struggled to his feet, spewing up a wad of blood. Katakuri suddenly appeared in front of the youth, a fist ploughing into his stomach.
Houjin was blown off his feet and went sailing backwards; the Sweets Commander appeared right behind his flying body. Katakuri spun, slamming his right heel into Houjin's right cheek and kicked the Shinobi into the ground. Vanishing again, Katakuri appeared besides Mogura, grabbing the trident and kicked off, launching back to Houjin as he hit the ground. The mochi user was moving faster and faster, speed increasing as he arrived at Houjin's location swinging the trident.
Digging a foot into the ground, the wind user leaned back attempting to avoid the incoming weapon. Blood splashed against the shinobi's face as the flak jacket was torn open, a large gash appearing in his chest. Stumbling back, Houjin placed a hand over the wound to cauterise it. Katakuri dug a foot into the ground performing a rapid succession of thrusts with Mogura at such speed it transformed into multiple tridents. The onslaught bombarded, Houjin, who attempted to avoid the incoming strikes, but failed each time. The tip slashed across his cheeks, chest, arms and torso as blood dripped to the ground. The tip coated in Busoshoku Haki, negated Houjin's abilities every time he attempted to transform to avoid, Katakuri anticipating it only to strike where he moved.
Houjin dug his feet into the ground, taking a fighting stance, right hand shot out into the path of the incoming trident. Blood splashed against the wind users cheeks; the trident was piercing through his hand, ignoring the pain the Jounin gripped down onto the blade, refusing to release it no matter how hard Katakuri pulled.
"Bofuken (Windbreak Fist)!"
Transforming his left hand and enhancing it with Haki, Houjin began compacting it with layer after layer of wind that wrapped around itself. Wind erupted from the back of Houjin's left elbow to increase the momentum of the fist as it raced towards Katakuri's right cheek. Katakuri's eyes glowed red as his mochi body transformed around the fist, only for Houjin to smirk. The fist exploded releasing a violent storm of wind blades that shredded the mochi user's body apart. Wind-carved into the ground creating deep fissures the force knocking Katakuri back, the trident hitting the ground with a thud.
Katakuri's body was covered in countless gashes, but no blood was leaking out, he had transformed his body into mochi to avoid what would be a fatal blow. The mochi connected back together bringing the devil fruit users body back to full strength. A tendril of mochi shot out from his back and latched Mogura reeling it back into Katakuri's outstretched right hand. Taking a strong grip of the weapon, Katakuri released a thick murderous intent, red lightning sparking from his body.
Houjin used the wind to summon his weapon to his side the touch of cold steel on his skin was refreshing. Taking a tight grip of the polearm, Houjin shot forward to meet the foe head-on, red lightning formed on the top layer of skin, the battle of the two kings would soon come to a close.
The hammer swung towards Katakuri, one last swing to decide the victory. Wind and fire poured out from the axe side adding momentum and power, while Haki encased the hammer. Katakuri coated the tip of Mogura with Haki and met the incoming hammer dead on. Two kinds of Haki collided as the two foes struggled for dominance, red lightning erupting from the point of impact destroying the surrounding terrain as dark thunder clouds formed overhead. The ground was torn apart as an invisible force pushed the earth away carving out a crater around the two.
"Yaki Mochi Tsuki (Grilled Mochi Thrust)!"
The right bicep connected to the hand holding Mogura began to inflate and swell. The pressure built up before it became too much and the bicep exploded, drastically increasing the power of the tridents thrust. Houjin's knees buckled as his hammer was aside, a piece of its corner cracking, vibrations travelling down the polearm and into the Jounin's hand with enough force he had to release the hold of his weapon. The polearm went flying as the trident carried one. Blood sprayed through the air as the Haki imbued trident pierced through Houjin's left shoulder.
Katakuri was far from down; his left bicep began to swell as his hand turned into mochi and extended. The extending hand grabbed onto the trident as Katakuri stepped on the ground, shortening the distance again, the tip of Mogura piercing through flesh and bone. The mochi users left bicep detonated with violent force to create a second explosion. The powerful penetrating force added to Katakuri's thrust, plunged Mogura deep into flesh, tearing it apart. Ripping the trident out, a painful scream escaped Houjin's lips.
A shockwave struck the wind users body knocking him backward, a trail of blood left behind as he slid across the terrain.
"ARGH!"
Houjin gave a pained yell his right hand was grabbing what was left off his left shoulder. The strike had torn off his left arm, leaving pieces of flesh and shattered bone behind. The torn limb lay at Katakuri's feet over twenty metres away. The Jounin's left shoulder was a mess of blood, flesh, muscle and bone, looking like something out of a horror movie. Blood trickled down his body, dripping onto the ground forming a pool. Houjin swayed, the pain was unbearable, he could barely focus, body felt weak, and he barely had the strength to move.
"It's over! That was just a bit of interest. Now you die!" Katakuri spoke coldly and launched forward, poised to finish what he had started. The Sweets Commander had no intentions to take just an arm; he wanted the Jounin's life.
Katakuri crossed the distance, hands regenerating, as the right latched onto Mogura and brought the trident into a striking position. Haki flowed into the weapon as his right arm began to expand rapidly in size. Mochi appeared as the limb swelled to five times its normal size before it glowed bright red and exploded.
"Yaki Mochi Tsuki (Grilled Mochi Thrust)!" The limb exploded encasing Mogura in flames and launched it towards Houjin like a blazing arrow, poised to pierce through his heart,
"It's not over!" Houjin spluttered out, vomiting up blood as he watched the trident approach. Chakra flowed through his body, as the Jounin called on what was left of his dwindling reserves, he wouldn't die like this not until he had killed that man!
Houjin felt a wave of cold wrap around his body in a sweet tender embrace, before strands of green hair filled his view followed by the appearance of heavenly beauty with a seductive voice.
"I can't believe you let yourself get hurt this badly, you idiot! Kamakura Jussoshi (Ten Layer Snow Hut)!" The woman's divine appearance transformed into a wall of snow that coiled around Houjin in a protective and loving embrace.
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