Chapter 29
SAKURA KINGDOM
The leaf shinobi and remaining straw hats lay on the ground unconscious. Hancock's scream had knocked everyone, but her and Luffy, out cold. After a certain amount of time, Kakashi was the first one to come to his senses. The elder ninja slowly sat up and put a hand on his head.
"Ugh. What happened?" Kakashi asked.
Kakashi felt hard ground under him and became surprised.
"Huh? How did we get on the Sunny?" Kakashi asked.
Kakashi stood to his feet and looked around. Everyone was on the boat except for…
"HANCOCK!? LUFFY!?" Kakashi yelled out. No one answered.
Kakashi clenched his fist.
"Don't tell me they really went to that Marineford place looking for Zoro and Robin… how can they be so foolish!?" Kakashi asked himself.
The sound of paper broke Kakashi's thoughts. Kakashi looked down to a piece of paper beneath his foot. Kakashi picked it up by his index finger and thumb and became shocked when he read it:
"I'll protect them. Go get stronger."
Kakashi stared at the paper with shock.
"Who could've possibly…?" Kakashi asked.
Kakashi's thoughts were again interrupted by noises. The rest of the crew finally started to get to their feet.
"Ugh… what happened?" Sakura asked.
"What was that? I heard somebody scream and then I just passed out…" Sakura added.
"Was that Hancock-san?" Brook asked.
Sasuke stood up to his feet slowly and helped Hinata up.
"I have no idea what she did, but why didn't it affect Luffy?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi stared at the note and then looked back at everyone.
"She had to have used haki." Franky said, standing to his feet.
The leaf shinobi looked at they cyborg, Naruto just getting to his feet.
"Haki?" Naruto asked.
"Special abilities locked deep down in people's spirits. They can be awoken by training or sometimes even on accident. The haki displayed by Hancock… had to be conqueror's haki." Franky explained.
The shinobi and remaining straw hats all stared with shock.
"She has that haki?!" Nami asked.
"Conqueror's haki... that sounds really rare… and dangerous." Sakura said.
Sanji lit a smoke.
"That's because it is." Sanji said.
Naruto and company looked over at the blonde cook.
"It's said that only one out of several million people are able to use it. Able to manifest intimidation and knock out anyone who isn't mentally strong enough. I'm guessing we got knocked out because we didn't expect her to have something like that. Another thing that makes it dangerous is… that if mastered… some men or women can use it even when doing something casual like walking." Sanji explained.
Usopp gasped.
FLASHBACK
As Usopp and Chopper walked through town a, man with black spiked hair with red highlights, walked by them. As he crossed paths with Usopp it was like time froze and Usopp stood completely still, choking on his words.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Don't tell me he has that too!?" Usopp yelled.
Everyone looked at the long-nosed sniper.
"Don't tell you who has what?" Nami asked.
Usopp stared down in a sweat.
"Psycho!" Usopp yelled.
Everyone gasped.
"He walked past me in Nanohana! When he did… I… almost passed out from fear." Usopp said.
"I think that was just you being afraid." Sanji said.
"Usopp wasn't scared you bastard!" Chopper yelled, hiding in plain sight.
Hinata laughed.
"Does the deer know we can see him?" Hinata asked.
"Honestly after his display at Arlong Park 2.0 I wouldn't even be surprised… he can shoot beams of energy, use that jutsu stuff you ninja can use, and now he more than likely has all three forms of haki on top of that!" Nami stressed..
"This is annoying." Naruto said, "Psycho this and Psycho that!"
"I agree, this whole thing with him is annoying. He embarrassed us and didn't give us any chance to figure out what he is at all during the fight, the whole time however, he knew everything about us." Sasuke said.
Hinata looked on with confusion.
"Um… if you all don't mind me asking, who is this Psycho guy?" Hinata asked.
Everyone looked towards the ground. Their expressions hidden. Hinata became concerned.
"To keep things short and sweet Hinata, he's supposedly from the ninja world same as us. He carries the name "Uchiha" as well." Kakashi said.
Hinata looked at Sasuke, who had his eyes shut.
"He was the one behind the assault on the sand village and Princess Vivi's assassination attempt. He runs the secret organization we're investigating. We fought him already and he decimated us.. the scariest thing about it is.. I feel he's much stronger than he made himself out to be." Kakashi said.
"He has to be... to be able to use chakra and this haki stuff?... Imagine what else he's capable of." Sakura said softly.
Hinata looked down.
"Oh my… he's a lot of trouble." Hinata said.
Kakashi nodded.
"That's an understatement. Luffy and Naruto were almost killed when they fought him. They didn't stand a chance. Before he even powered up he easily dealt with Naruto in Nine Tails chakra mode and Luffy's gear second, which Psycho can also perform." Kakashi continued to explain,
"His last two acts were attacking this island and the navy base of Marineford… he and Cyclone killed everyone on the entire island. That's where Hancock and Luffy are headed now." Kakashi said.
Hinata stared up at Kakashi with surprise.
"Now I see why there was all that fuss earlier with Luffy going then… if he goes there…" Hinata was stopped.
"He'll be killed for sure. And he brought Hancock with him…" Sasuke said.
"We just wanted to help him! And he ran straight to their HQ looking for two people who might not even be there." Naruto said, squeezing his fists.
Everyone sighed.
"That's Luffy for you." Usopp said.
"You guys never heard this story, but we, really the navy trying to kill us, destroyed an entire judicial island just to get Robin back." Sanji said.
"That's why none of us were surprised that he reacted the way he did. The only thing that shocked us was that he fought you and Sasuke and tried to punch Sanji." Nami added.
"That definitely wasn't like him." Brook said.
"The main difference here is, this isn't some government agency we're at war with, this is a secret organization whose leader knows all of us personally and what we're capable of. Who knows how long he's watched us from the shadows? Straw hat and Hancock can't do it alone. Zoro and Robin are missing too so it's not like we have something to even aim for if we went there. The only thing they could possibly do is-." Franky was interrupted.
"Try to beat their location out of Psycho…" Sakura finished.
Everyone stared in silence.
"Reckless fool! Why would you do something so stupid!?" Nami yelled to herself.
"What're we going to do?" Hinata asked.
Kakashi looked down at the note in his hand, put it in his pocket, and spoke.
"Straw hats. How much do you trust your captain?" Kakashi asked.
The straw hats all jumped. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"We will forever trust him with our lives Mr. Kakashi." Nami said.
The rest of the straw hats smiled.
"Luffy is going to be the pirate king Mr. Kakashi. We'll do whatever it takes to get him there." Sanji said.
Kakashi smiled under his mask and looked at the note again.
"Then.. I've got a feeling they'll be alright!" Kakashi said, smiling.
Everyone looked at Kakashi with smiles.
"Let's find somewhere to get stronger. I think we could all use some much needed training in this down time." Kakashi said.
"A lot of islands here are very inhabited, where could we train?" Usopp asked.
Nami interrupted.
"I know the perfect place! And it's not too far from here." Nami said, pulling out a map, "It's called Long Ring Long island! Big, wide open spaces, It's perfect for a bunch of intense training!"
Naruto smiled.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO!" Naruto yelled.
Everyone, now in their respective positions, got the boat moving. Sanji walked over to Kakashi.
"Oi. You sure Luffy and Hancock-san will be okay?" Sanji asked.
Kakashi showed Sanji the note.
Sanji gasped.
"Wh-Who?" Sanji started.
Kakashi put a finger to his mask.
"I don't know.. it was in my pocket when I woke up.." Kakashi said, "They could've killed us but they didn't.. they must be good right?"
Sanji lit a smoke.
"I sure hope so." Sanji said.
MARINEFORD
Heavy battle continued at the former navy HQ. Both side suffered heavy losses, but casualties favored the Marines. Former CP9 Kaku continued to wipe out his share of naval officers while Lucci also easily disposed of his half. Doflamingo was engaged in a battle with Vice admiral Coby, the youngest vice admiral in navy history.
Coby's sword clashed with Doflamingo's leg.
Doffy backflipped away and launched a red string at Coby. The red thread wrapped itself around Coby's body, burning it severely.
"AGHHH! What the hell is this?" Coby asked in pain.
Doffy chuckled.
Coby was trapped in the intense heat of the scalding hot thread. His body was being burned intensely all over.
"ARGH this burns like hell! What can I?..." Coby thought then looked down at his sword.
Coby struggled to lift his sword just high enough to swing and slice it through Doflamingo's heat string. After it was cut, Coby ran towards Doffy and attempted to kick him, but Doffy threw a heavy punch that rocked Coby. Coby's leg was still off the ground so Doflamingo grabbed it and threw Coby into the air.
"This guy is strong!" Coby yelled out.
Doflamingo smiled and snatched his hand back towards himself.
Coby looked down and saw a faint white line coming from his ankle and suddenly dropped and slammed hard into the ground.
BOOM!
A small crater formed around the fallen vice admiral. Blood leaked from his head and mouth as he slowly struggled to get to his feet. A DEATH member looked over at him.
"Ha ha ha ha! Vice admiral?! Yeah right!"
The DEATH member ran over and kicked Coby in the face, dropping him, but was tackled by a navy captain. Doflamingo walked over to Coby with his hands behind his back and chuckled.
Doffy put out his left hand and thwittled his fingers, lifting Coby up. Coby, a bloody mess, was suspended in midair. Doffy laughed again before he pulled his arm towards himself and Coby sped towards him.
Doffy threw a punch at Coby's stomach while Coby attempted to move.
SLICE!
Blood dripped from Coby's sword. Doflamingo's pink feather jacket was starting to soak up the crimson red from Doflamingo's blood. Coby used the momentum to pierce Doflamingo right through the body.
Across the battlefield Kaku continued to make easy work of Doberman. As the two clashed swords Kaku taunted him. He slammed his swords against Doberman's.
"Ha ha ha! This is too easy! I thought you were a vice admiral?" Kaku laughed.
Kaku slammed his sword hard against Doberman's again and the impact irritated Doberman's earlier stab wound. Doberman winced.
"That wound still bothering you!? I can help!" Kaku said.
Kaku ducked and flipped his swords around backwards and thrusted his sword handles into Doberman's body. The impact made the vice admiral cough up blood.
Doberman landed on his back as Kaku walked over to him and then stood over him. Kaku raised his sword and continued to talk down on Doberman.
"The navy was very cocky after the summit war seeing as they held their own against the pirates, but this organization is a lot different as you can see! You're losing this battle quite convincingly!" Kaku taunted.
Doberman continued to clutch his side.
"As… as… as long as there is evil… in this world…" Doberman started.
Kaku smiled.
"THE NAVY WILL NEVER QUIT!" Doberman said, standing to his feet.
Kaku smiled again and un-crossed his arms.
"Fine. If you won't just roll over and die then I'll make our next round a living hell!" Kaku said, starting to transform.
Kaku slowly transformed into his giraffe-human hybrid form and stood over the vice admiral, who was shocked. Kaku cocked his head back and launched it at the vice admiral.
"Nose pistol!" Kaku yelled.
Kaku's giant square nose crashed into Doberman sending him flying across the battlefield.
Lucci continued to make short work of the navy officers who attempted to attack him, and Kuro sliced down heavy counts of navy officers. Vice admiral Tashigi took down DEATH members left and right until a yell got her attention. She looked over to see Cyclone flying right at her.
"ARGHHHHH!" Cyclone yelled, slamming his sword into Tashigi's.
"Grgh!" Tashigi sounded.
As the two stood, swords against each other, Cyclone spoke.
"So… vice admiral Tashigi? How a frail female like you got this position is beyond me!" Cyclone taunted.
Tashigi smiled.
"I love it when criminals like you underestimate me!" Tashigi said.
Tashigi forced Cyclone back and spun around to swing her sword at Cyclone's head. Cyclone holstered his sword quickly and smiled as he held up a finger.
CLINK!
The sound of Tashigi's sword hitting stone sounded throughout the battlefield, except it wasn't stone her sword hit, it was Cyclone's finger.
"Huh!? He blocked it with his!?" Tashigi asked out loud.
Cyclone smiled even wider.
"HA HA HA HA HA! FAR TOO EASY!"
Tashigi clenched her teeth and swung her sword rapidly, only to be blocked by Cyclone's finger every time. Cyclone caught the sword with one hand and stared at the vice admiral.
Cyclone smiled wide again and snapped Tashigi's sword. Tashigi fell back on her butt in a cold sweat and panic.
"That was… a legendary sword… he… he… he snapped it like nothing!" Tashigi thought to herself.
Cyclone laughed.
"Legendary swords are overrated little lady. Looks like you put too much trust in that piece of metal and not your own abilities. You should know as a vice admiral that swords don't make you, YOU make the sword." Cyclone said, walking closer to Tashigi, who slowly backed away.
"And now that you don't have a sword… how much of a problem do you think you'll pose to me!?" Cyclone asked, grabbing Tashigi by the throat.
Navy officers on the battlefield looked over at Cyclone choking Tashigi.
"He's got the vice admiral!"
"What do we do!"
"Obviously help her you fool!"
Navy ran in to fight Cyclone, but Kuro jumped in the way.
"I can't allow you to interfere. Any attempt to do so will result in immediate death." Kuro said, pushing up his glasses.
Cyclone smiled and looked at the barely breathing Tashigi. Cyclone continued to look at her and let her drop slowly, but before she could hit the ground he kneed her in the chin.
Tashigi's head bounced up, blood coming from her mouth. Cyclone jumped and kneed her again and grabbed her leg with one hand and slammed her down onto her back.
Tashigi coughed up more blood as her back hit the stone ground. Cyclone then kicked her over onto her stomach and stepped on her head, crushing it. Tashigi screamed as she bled rapidly from her mouth and head.
Marines watched as she suffered. Cyclone looked at all of them with a smile before he pulled out his sword.
In the Coby battle, Coby panted with relief that he was able to stab the former warlord through the body, but that was too easy.
Doflamingo smiled big and choked the vice admiral. Doffy then attached strings to his organs through his wounds and patched himself up.
"Huh!? Are you…?" Coby began to ask, struggling.
Doflamingo chuckled sinisterly and squeezed Coby's throat harder. Lucci walked up behind Coby.
"My strings can patch up any internal injuries I have. That was a slick move you pulled vice admiral Coby. Against anyone else you probably would've had them beat, but I'm different!" Doflamingo sneered.
Lucci, with his signature glare looked up at Coby, who bled and choked while in Doffy's grasp.
"Lucci-san… let's show Psycho how brutal we really are!" Doflamingo smiled.
Lucci held up a finger and pressed it to Coby's back. Coby looked back barely and his eyes widened.
"Finger pistol... SPOTS!" Lucci yelled.
Lucci rapidly stuck his finger into Coby's body incredibly fast. Blood spilled from each hole Lucci put inside the young vice admirals body.
Coby choked and spit blood, turning blue from being choked and "shot" repeatedly from behind. When Lucci was done, Doflamingo still held Coby in the air, letting blood run from his body.
When Coby let Doflamingo's arm go, Doffy let him drop to the ground. Coby's mouth wide open and his pupils gone, blood ran from his mouth and head. Marines took notice.
"MEN! VICE ADMIRAL COBY IS DOWN!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM!?"
"THEY SHOT HIM! HE'S BLEEDING WE NEED TO HELP HIM!"
Lucci looked up at the marines.
"We won't allow you to assist this man. He'll die here. Setting an example for the rest of you and the world."
Robin watched from the temple.
"That young boy… he won't… really die will he?... I should… help… but if I do, what will Psycho do to me?" Robin asked herself.
Cyclone watched Coby's defeat go down and looked down at Tashigi, sword still drawn.
"Pitiful! So these are your vice admirals!? I swear they were much tougher all those years ago! AH HA HA HA HA!" Cyclone laughed and continued to stomp on Tashigi's head.
Tashigi clenched her teeth as Cyclone continued to step on her.
"Smoker… please… help me!" Tashigi yelled to herself.
Cyclone looked down and smiled.
"Smoker isn't coming to help you fool! He was knocked unconscious by his own sea stone rod! The fool!" Cyclone said.
Tashigi gasped and looked up barely. Cyclone's eye had words running across it.
"You're going to die here just like that boy did! AH HA HA HA HA!" Cyclone laughed.
As Cyclone laughed, he raised his sword in the air and brought it down to stab Tashigi.
SPLAT!
Cyclone looked down with a smile at the blood-soaked sword. Blood dripped from his mouth. Smoker was behind Cyclone, panting heavily. He pierced Cyclone with a sword he found on the ground.
"Stay… away from her." Smoker said.
Cyclone looked back at Smoker and began to laugh hysterically.
"AHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA AHHHHH HA HA OH HO HO AHHH HA HA HA!" Cyclone laughed.
Smoker looked up with anger and then shock as Cyclone's dark eye slowly turned yellow and gears began to appear. The eye took the appearance of a clock and began to turn counter clockwise.
ZEEEERRRRROOOOOOOPPPPP
As Cyclone laughed, he raised his sword in the air and brought it down to stab Tashigi. Right before Cyclone could stab her, he looked out the corner of his eye to see a smoke cloud dashing towards him. Cyclone smiled to himself.
"Earth style: Rock clone jutsu." Cyclone said to himself.
A rock clone of Cyclone came up from the ground and grabbed Smoker in his tracks. Cyclone stretched his arm towards Smoker and the clone and fired a blue energy beam through Smoker's body and through the clone.
Smoker groaned from the blast and the clone exploded into rocks. Smoker fell to his knees and coughed up blood. Cyclone smiled.
"How many times do I have to tell you? We are a different breed!" Cyclone said.
Smoker breathed heavily, trying to hold on to his life.
"You and this woman make me sick! Thinking you're so tough beating on weak pirates and throwing around your authority knowing no one can do anything about it!" Cyclone snapped.
Smoker looked up weakly, Tashigi still had her eyes closed and her teeth clenched.
"You don't understand what it's like to be a regular civilian in this world… I hate the navy… just as much as I hate those celestial dragons!" Cyclone continued.
Kaku, Lucci, Kuro, Doflamingo, and Psycho all watched with neutral faces.
"Psycho hogged all the fun last time… but since I don't have a celestial dragon to do this to… I'll do it to the next best thing!" Cyclone yelled.
Smoker looked up with fear.
"NO!" Smoker yelled.
Cyclone lifted his sword and stuck it straight through Tashigi's back and through the ground. Tashigi screamed in pain, tears and blood falling from her face.
"BEG! BEG FOR YOUR LIFE RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!" Cyclone said, swirling the sword in Tashigi's body.
"AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH!" Tashigi yelled, going hoarse.
"BEG ME TO STOP! I'LL MAKE IT WORSE THE LONGER YOU FIGHT IT! BEG ME LIKE YOU MAKE THE COMMON FOLK BEG TO BE LEFT ALONE!" Cyclone yelled again.
Tashigi continued to scream and cry as Cyclone tortured her. Marine soldiers ran in to interfere, but Kaku, Lucci, Kuro, and Doflamingo all got in the way.
"HELP ME SOMEBODY PLEASE! I CAN'T BREATHE! IT HURTS!" Tashigi yelled.
Robin shed tears while watching the exchange.
"BEG FOR YOUR LIFE AND I'LL MAKE THE PAIN STOP! AHH HA HA HA!" Cyclone ordered.
Tashigi continued to scream.
"I… I… PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU! DON'T KILL ME I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Tashigi yelled.
Cyclone stared down at her with a smile and snatched his sword out of her. Tashigi panted heavily as she bled severely from her wound. Smoker stared with shock, as did the marines.
"See? That wasn't so hard was it?" Cyclone asked.
Tashigi got a few more breaths off.
Cyclone's smile turned serious and he lifted his sword again. Smoker's eyes grew wide with fear.
"CYCLONE STOP! STOP!" Smoker yelled.
Cyclone, sword in the air, looked at Smoker.
Cyclone swung his sword down and across Tashigi's back. A giant slash of crimson splashed over the battlegrounds.
No one could believe what they were seeing. Smoker especially couldn't believe the brutal display he had just seen.
Akainu, still in Psycho's rock trap, watched it all. His hat covered his expression. Psycho walked next to Akainu and spoke, his arms crossed.
"You brought a lot of people here to get hurt." Psycho said.
As Psycho spoke, Akainu grew angrier.
"How does it feel? Being useless?" Psycho asked rhetorically, walking away from Akainu.
Akainu's body slowly became complete magma and the rock he was surrounded in got weak. Akainu growled and the ground rumbled. After a few moments of intense anger and heat, Akainu burst out of his rock prison. Psycho looked back at the fleet admiral barely.
Akainu huffed and puffed and blew steam out his nose. Akainu loaded up a huge magma punch and attempted to hit Psycho.
Psycho turned and stuck out one hand, his fingertips against the fleet admiral's chest. Akainu became confused but still attempted to throw the punch. Psycho looked up at Akainu with one eye closed. The one that was open was the red eye he usually had covered. Psycho's hand and arm became covered in haki.
"Demon-brick, One inch punch…" Psycho said softly.
Psycho closed his fist onto Akainu's chest, and the fleet admiral zoomed across the battleground and crashed into the Marineford palace wall, a bloody and bruised mess. Psycho stood tall.
"I can only imagine the embarrassment you feel right now, fleet admiral." Psycho said, holding out a hand, a red ball of cosmic energy forming in his hand.
"You never stood a chance against me from the moment you stepped foot on this island.." there's still so much to show you..." Psycho said.
Akainu struggled to look up.
Akainu was able to fight his way out of the hole in the wall, but fell to his knees, he looked up at DEATH's leader with anger.
The red energy in Psycho's hands slowly expanded.
DEATH members hurried and ran out of the way while marines stood confused.
"What is that!? Another devil fruit power!?"
Psycho smirked.
"HA!" Psycho yelled.
A giant red energy beam exploded from Psycho's hand and swallowed any marine who was in the way. Akainu watched as men were sucked into its massive radius and covered his fists in magma in an attempt to block it.
"BRING IT ON! I'M NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!" Akainu screamed.
Just as he said that, a man stuck out his hand and the giant energy beam was sucked into darkness.
"Ze ha ha ha ha. Looks like you were having trouble fleet admiral!" The man said.
Akainu looked up at the man with shock and anger.
"You! What are you doing here!?" Akainu asked.
The man turned and looked at the fleet admiral.
"I'm here to capture that man over there!" He said, pointing at Psycho.
"ZE HA HA HA HA HA ZE HA HA HA!" The man laughed.
Psycho stared in annoyance at the man who absorbed his attack.
"So… you've shown up… you really plan on capturing me?" Psycho asked.
The man smiled through his multi gapped toothed smile.
"Marshall D. Teach." Psycho finished.