Just barely noticeably enough to track, Kouta's fingers moved to his pouch. This clash with the pirates emptied his pouch and medical bags up quite nicely, giving a handful of medical tools to Mana so that she patched herself up on the run didn't help either. The boy removed a blue round candy-like looking pill and tossed it into his mouth cracking it with his teeth and carefully chewing it. It was a Chakra Resource Medical Pill that he ate. After spending so much chakra treating his friends he needed a little boost.

There were countless different food pills and medical pills that the medical ninja used. Food pills were usually just toned down and less risky versions of medical pills. Due to the higher risk of aftereffects of a medical pill ruining the mission the medical pills were usually prescribed by a medical ninja and usually all intake of them was strictly managed by the squad's medical ninja. This was a rare occasion where the medical pill was slightly less dangerous and carried fewer risks than food pills.

"Are you gonna be OK?" Meiko asked turning back at Kouta who was still taking deep breaths and wearing the black rings and bags around his eyes and the pale skin proudly.

"Just ate a chakra boosting food pill, it accelerates my chakra rejuvenation rate from a day or two to an hour or two. As long as I don't take another within two to four days and have some time for some of my chakra to return I'll be fine," the young ninja confirmed his condition.

"In the meantime stay behind and do some supporting from long range, don't give her a chance to murder you," Shimo suggested.

A powerful blast of purple and red rotating streams of bursting chakra flares blew out from the ocean. The rotation of these jets emitted an intense shockwave around its center creating an everlasting barrier of shockwaves that continuously grew larger and larger splitting a large crater in the salty waters.

"I didn't think she'd still have that much chakra..." Shimo mumbled out to himself mostly, his words did carry some semblance of sense. Read was well worn out by her battle with Hachiro and the continuous injuries she had sustained throughout it. The fact that her body was so greatly injured, cut up, beaten and bruised while she still had such immense chakra resources left could have only meant that she was holding it back this whole time.

Read's body surfaced slowly rising over the surface of the water as the shockwave began to allow the split waters to gather below it, therefore, rising the bubble of concussive force separating it. The purple and blazing fire red streams began to come closer and closer together before they made a singular translucent pillar of chakra, almost like an aura surrounding Read.

The sight of the three ninja observing their emerging opponent moved more to the half-exposed chest of the woman as her busted clothing offered poor protection from curious eyes and yet the nature of their stares had nothing to do with naughty thoughts. It was more intimidating than erotic as a glowing hieroglyph meaning "Release" began glowing on Read's exposed belly and suddenly the bodies of Read and Bonny began to merge together. The merging only stopped at Bonny's head which remained dangling on the back of Read's lower neck area.

"Meiko, you're the sealing expert in our team and that looks like a seal, any idea what happened?" Kouta looked at the troubled redhead who just shrugged.

"It looked to me like a Limiter Seal. Some ninja get so absorbed into their battles that they seal off parts of their chakra in case they forget to leave some for survival needs. The "Release" hieroglyph must mean that the seal is released..." the blacksmith theorized.

"She must've sealed off her sister's chakra so that the two didn't mingle together making it harder to control her own chakra. This seal release must've opened the floodgates and let their chakra mix together" Shimo deduced. "Let's see just how much chakra she'd regained and how useful it'll be for her injured body!"

With those words, the Yuki swordsman quickly weaved some hand seals and slammed his fist to the ground.

"Ice Style: Ice Pillars!" he chanted out the name of his technique as triangular almost cone-shaped pillars formed in his path leading up to Read. The woman weaved and dashed aside sliding over the water graciously using the Art of Water Walking jutsu.

Angered by the assault Read dashed into all three youths, the woman thrust her sword forward in a wild stab.

"Gatling Thrust!" she shouted out as another arm appeared right above her arm wielding another saber, just like Bonny used to when the two were separate. The pair of arms began rotating around each other like an actual Gatling gun creating a drill like thrusting attack.

Right before Read's attack finalized the shape it took Meiko reached for her boots touching the seals on them. Jets of chakra flames fired out off of them launching the young ninja onwards and attacking Read from behind. A strong kick right to the back made Read flinch out of her attack right after it formed giving Shimo some time to move aside from a much less dangerous and conclusive attack.

The woman may have gained more chakra and new abilities to mesh with her sister and readjust her position on Read's body but the pirate captain's body was still injured and getting injured even more. The three genin felt the possibility of victory right from the start of the battle. Kouta did his best to support the team rushing right at Read and Bonny but dashing aside right before stepping within reaching distance to the woman. The young man distracted her attention and lightly tapped a couple of areas he passed leaving explosive notes that soon began to get covered up by the sand and the remains of wood that he rose up with his speedy movement.

Read flipped over her front and switched her focus onto Meiko while in mid the woman began kicking with a stomping motion at the redhead blacksmith while the captain's legs multiplied by letting Bonny's legs branch out and off of the flesh of Read's own. Forming a bombarding and blinding assault of stomping legs.

"Gatling Stomp!" Read yelled out.

Meiko shouted in pain as the immense force from the woman's kicks crushed her into the sand and the endless barrage of relentless and astonishingly powerful kicks began kicking her deeper and deeper into the ground leaving a wide hole inside of which sand and water began to fall into. The captain didn't even fall into the hole after the crater began to deepen and widen up, she just continued to stomp erratically while the blasting airwaves coming from her kicks continued to keep the woman afloat and crash at Meiko with half of the kick's strength.

Shimo's hands reached closer to his chest and tensed up, in a combination of muscle tensing and relaxing he flashed through the combination of hand seals formed in less than a measly moment in time. A howling gust of wind came into from the sea bashing violently against Read's side and attempting to break her focus, it did not work, the woman continued to kick and stomp at the blackening crater that had extended who knew how deep.

The gust of wind was completely freezing, so freezing that snow and slightly larger than usual icicles began following it and piercing right through the captain's flesh and skin. The frigid absolute zero temperature began to slow down her movements to the point where the woman could no longer kick fast enough to sustain her floating and all the shockwave bombardment. The captain was forced to descend firmly nearby the endless abyss she had created.

The very moment that Read's feet touched the ground they were frozen. The woman's entire body began to freeze up more and more. Shimo launched himself at the frosting and completely overwhelmed by the unbelievable and unearthly colds woman, his hands reached for the Audra blade and that skin tingling and heart freezing steel squeaking noise signaled the pinnacle of his drawing techniques coming.

"Ice Style: Ice Wolf Rampage!" Shimo roared out feeling the pressure that the chakra cost of the technique placed upon his body. The blizzard continued to rage and cut open new wounds in Read's body, an icy wolf rose right above Shimo's body materializing itself and being shaped by the user's chakra shape manipulation and being sustained by the raging blizzard, thrusting its claws an immeasurable number of times at the freezing woman.

Read screamed out as Shimo passed her by slashing at her while the ice wolf with its solid icy paws slashed her a great number of times. An immense explosion of the resulting shockwaves and airwaves clashing together rose up forcing the seemingly lifeless body of the woman to lift off into the air and rotate like a ragdoll tossed around by the eruptions of chakra leftovers around her. Just like that the absolute zero storm dissolved into nothingness after getting sliced down like a colossal loaf of bread.

Shimo sheathed his blade and turned around to look at the woman. Pools of blood began gathering beneath her body. It had to be over, his drawing slash alone would've been strong enough to finish anyone of the chuunin rank off, having in mind that Chuunin frequently sparred with people of world-breaking strength it was no small feat. Then there was his wolf comprised of pure ice style chakra, the bloodline of his clan forming a solid and hard as steel avatar of frost that cut and bit with both its fangs and claws so fast that no one yet in history could perceive the exact number of times it attacked. This was not a technique he invented, swordsmanship users of his clan used it before him but it was a technique Shimo made his own!

Overwhelming pain! A loud screech killed all of the sounds of the rushing waves or the seagulls around them. Shimo coughed up blood as the overwhelming sense of pain completely turned off his consciousness. His mind faded away before he could realize that Read had jumped off the ground and thrust her blade at him, together with Bonny using their "Gatling Thrust" technique amped up to eleven. A technique that thrust so fast with such ravaging force that it created a drilling airwave passing by anything in its path. Shimo's body was lifted off the ground and sent down on his back.

Read huffed, she was on her last legs but holding her own. "You idiot. Your own sword drawing technique is so fast that you didn't see Bonny's hands appear from my abdomen and block your sword strike. That ice wolf of yours hurt like hell but at least I didn't get cut in half..."

"Shimo! You stupid idiot! Get back on your feet, I just healed you!" Kouta yelled out trying to taunt his friend, still unaware of the exact condition of his friend.

Read coughed up blood, her body was covered with blood to the point where she appeared like one large blood demon standing in front of her opponents. Her body was completely covered with shallow scars and cuts that she managed to survive thanks to the newly released Bonny's chakra augmenting Read's body. The ice wolf really did its damage but it didn't finish the job, they let their guards down too fast!

"Man, shut up!" Shimo's voice finally broke the eerie silence. "Do you have any idea how this hurt?! Shit, right through my chakra augmentation!" he cursed.

"Impossible! The airwave of my "Gatling Hell Arrow" is powerful enough to pierce anything within its reach traveling well beyond Earth's orbit, well past the Moon even!" Read screamed out in disbelief.

Shimo sat up on his butt and wiped the blood off his mouth giving her a crimson daredevil smile.

"You were too messed up by my ice wolf to aim right, you missed my heart by like a mile. Ninja got stabbed and impaled and messed up bad all the time. Next time wait for your eyesight to line up straight before shooting..." he taunted the woman.

"Your body is at the limit, Read, please surrender already. If you end up dying of your injuries it won't matter how much chakra you have left. Your chakra augmentations can only sustain a dying body for that long. If you die, Mana-chan will feel bad for you and I don't want that" Kouta shouted out trying to reason with the pirate captain.

"Yeah, I guess that silly friend of ours really did chance us a bit... Normally I don't hurt nice ladies and actually look out for them, but I'd have never shed a tear for you if I'd have never met Mana. You're done, give up!" Shimo shouted out clutching at the fist-sized hole at his abdomen surrounded by crushed bones all around it. His chakra augmentations would sustain him for a little while but it'd be for the best if he didn't fight. Losing focus on sustaining one's own life would've easily lead to the wound killing him.

"Yeah, Mana had probably already found the Box by now and maybe even regained her chakra. I sure would've wished to hold it in my hands but... Soon there'll be another ass kicking genin joining our ranks" Meiko nodded staring at Read with a serious expression on her face.

The woman spat some blood aside and grunted in pain before erupting in a wild fit of laughter. That creepy and disturbing laughter of a dying person that then ceased just as eerily as it started.

"Sure... You messed me up badly. But just because my body is dying doesn't mean that both of us are. I'll just have to make Bonny take it over from here while I feast on your chakra and heal" Read continued to clutch at her eye-gouging ridiculous wounds as she laughed as hard as her state allowed her. The same jets of purple and fiery red chakra erupted from the woman's body, the "Release" hieroglyph began to glow and other hieroglyphs began running down her beaten and bloodied body in lines. Enough to form an entire poem...

A hand erupted from the glowing hieroglyph. The hand then slammed at Read's chest and began pushing it, almost like forcing more of something through a hole. All of a sudden Bonny's entire head burst from the released seal, then the other hand which then began to force the entire body out of the seal.

"l'Ollonais fought hunter ninja and marines for days on end and was attacked by the worst of the worst. I'd be a fucking letdown of the greatest crew in the world to die like a filthy dog now! Take it over from here, Bonny!" Read screamed out in pain as, finally, Bonny's entire body appeared from the seal with only a small patch of Bonny's skin being connected to Read's chest still. This Bonny was different – larger, better formed and more athletic looking, she was covered in blood like she had just finished swimming in a bloody pool but then the color just stayed on the woman's skin as the blood all disappeared falling into sand-like dust onto the ground beneath her feet.

Read's body began to wither, slowly the injured and battered pirate captain became frail with her crimson flaring hair covering up the woman's face entirely as she began resembling a ghoul who had just risen from its grave. A smile covered Bonny's face as both women lunged forward. They were attacking Kouta – the least injured and yet the most tired member of the group.

It made no sense for the two to attack the least busted up opponent, did they not wish to win? Kouta was so unprepared for being the target that he not only couldn't focus properly on perceiving the movements of the two sisters, not that he could, even if he did, having his current chakra level in mind. Nor could the youth focus on properly defending himself. Meiko dashed in between the attacking women and deflected their attacks, the blacksmith used her armored plates to defend against the attacks but they were entirely inefficient, the young woman just grunted and flinched in pain as the blades opened up wounds easily busting through her armor.

The two were different, more ferocious and almost like their remaining chakra was evenly split amongst the two. Having Read's injuries in mind that was probably why the two weren't able to just kill them before they were even seen moving as normally Read's abilities surpassed those of the squad of three by far. This wasn't an actual power up – the speed and strength of the two downgraded but their fighting style became even more aggressive and ferocious. They didn't maim or dismember with a cut nor did they kill instantly, they left shallow cuts because they were so impatient to attack again instead of committing to an attack.

Meiko tsked with her tongue and touched her boots letting the chakra flares send her forward and tackling both of the sisters carrying them off on Meiko's shoulders. The blacksmith turned up to the skies and after lifting off as high as she could she gracefully maneuvered herself in a loop of death before slamming right into the crater that Read's kicking previously created. Meiko could feel the immense heat before, she could feel the magma so close to her the last time so she counted on the thin earthly remaining layers to crumble.

Both Meiko and the two sisters submerged into searing hot sludge below firing off a gigantic gazer of magma bursting from the amazing body-slam into it. For a moment longer the ground continued to shake more and more. Meiko must've been fighting the sisters or at least committed to punching them some more while completely submerged. A couple of more gazers began to open up throwing arcs of magma out of them. Kouta ran towards Shimo and moved him out of the way because the swordsman was just too injured to move out of the way himself. It would've only taken a small push in a battle to incapacitate the swordsman.

The bodies of the two sisters burst through the mantle and out into the sky. As they fell down Meiko with her ruined armor and singed clothes followed. The three appeared to be almost evenly matched and luckily enough it looked like the sisters had lost their swords in the struggle beneath the mantle.

"Go, you're holding us back, do your thing" Bonny commanded the other sister speaking for the first time, her voice was much more sounding like that of a little boy, tomboyish and playful yet with a peculiar feminine flare that still made it obvious that it was not a little boy but instead a woman sounding like one that was speaking.

Meiko tried to intercept the freefalling sister that was slung and thrown at Kouta's and Shimo's general direction but Bonny occupied Meiko's attention by trying to overwhelm her with a barrage of punches and kicks. Luckily enough while Bonny was skilled at hand to hand, she was a much better swordswoman than a martial artist so Meiko was easily able to hold her own, despite the fact that she missed one sister rushing at the tired medical ninja and the injured swordsman.

Kouta clenched his fist tighter, he felt a semblance of his former strength seeping back, not enough to make a real difference but just enough... The young man flipped over his front and slammed his foot against the sister's head driving her into the ground. Only now did the medical ninja get to see this strange technique of the two, whatever they did, dyed their skins completely red and made their eyes glow with the light blue shade of the typical chakra color. It also made their hair turn black and change into a more hedgehog-like look than an actual hairdo.

Right before the two hit the ground Meiko finally found an opening and broke Bonny's guard sending a kick to her jaw making the sister rotate and fly sideways like a ragdoll. Just as the blacksmith's foot touched the ground she chased after the sister but right before it looked like the redhead was almost within the reach for a good kidney punch the sister blurred and disappeared from sight.

"Shit!" Meiko cursed throwing her feet forward and forcing the chakra jets to change her direction a full 180 and back at where Bonny was rushing to her sister's aid.

Kouta's eyes wandered off and onto the oncoming threat, it was too late, there would've been no way that he could move to react in time given his current chakra level. Shimo's figure dashed in front shoving his sheathed sword right into the chin of the demonic looking sister and throwing her into the air.

"Thanks..." Kouta smiled, "Try not to get hit again" he added.

"I know, Mom!" Shimo grinned maliciously trying to bite his friend verbally. Despite his painful injury the young swordsman managed to interfere just in time.

"Who could've thought the two would still give us trouble, after the crazy battle she and Hachiro had..." Kouta grinned looking with surprise at the two sisters picking each other up off the ground.

"We're having trouble... We need to use that! We need to infect them!" Bonny shouted out angrily at her injured sister who kept on bleeding out onto the sand and barely manage to pick herself up. It appeared that some semblance of Read's past injuries were still maintained in this form.

Read only nodded while the two picked themselves up and took an offensive fighting stance meanwhile Meiko finally rejoined her own team and prepared to once again give the two sisters something to think about.