"What?"
Sea Snake, who had already started to leave, turned back in surprise.
The spear forged from furious Haki and a rebellious will thundered forth. Amidst the storm's wild sweeping, the sea was torn open with a ferocious scar.
With Observation Haki spreading, Sea Snake 'witnessed' Unga in the battlefield, half his body blasted to pieces.
The remaining leg couldn't support him alone, and he fell to the ground, blood spreading across the gray-white frozen earth.
Sakura raised her eyes, her emerald gaze indifferently fixed on Sea Snake. "Your turn!"
"Damn it!"
Under the dusky light of the setting sun, Sea Snake's figure warped, his silhouette beginning to break apart.
Amidst the spreading, sweeping deadly poison, the savage monster from mythology straightened its body and roared at the sky.
Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Hydra! (T/N: Snake-Snake Fruit.)
This fruit was bestowed upon the most outstanding talents among the World Nobles' strongest shields as a reward for their loyalty.
Having consumed this fruit, Sea Snake gained not only the wild strength and powerful recovery unique to Zoan users but also the Mythical Zoan abilities unique to the Hydra… Poison and Regeneration.
Sea Snake's body could freely produce various fantasy toxins, which also helped him become the agent most suited for assassination work within the entire CP0.
Combined with his subordinate Unga's Kanjo Kanjo no Mi, which integrated detection, perception, and manipulation, the two could be called the strongest assassination team.
Any mission, no matter what, should be easily handled by the two of them.
That's how it was supposed to be...
"What the hell did you do to my subordinate?!"
The giant snake's eyes burned crimson as it opened its massive maw and lunged straight at Sakura.
Its massive body, capable of stirring ocean tides, came crashing down. Compared to it, Sakura was but a leaf boat in a stormy sea, hard-pressed to resist the enormous shadow descending upon her.
A foul wind rushed at her face; scattered saliva carried unknown toxins. The snake fangs were coated in flowing Armament Haki.
If bitten, one would face not just the internal destruction from the Haki but also the erupting toxins mixed within.
"Jaw: Devouring Abyss!"
Facing the giant snake, Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled an ice mist.
As her heart beat madly, boiling Yang Attribute Chakra raced through her Chakra Pathway. The dissipated light flames combined with the surrounding ice particles, blooming with a fluorescent glow.
Chakra and ability-created constructs pulsed and combined. The ferocious beast head upon the ice plain suddenly opened its eyes, its mouth gaping, bursting forth a roar from the joy of new life.
"I love large enemies like you the most! Tear him apart!"
At the girl's command, figures of frost giants rose stood tall within the wind and snow.
The Ninjutsu Constructs, fearing no poison, pierced through Sea Snake's prideful deadly poison, biting into its body. They savagely used pure strength to tear numerous wounds into its body.
"Roar!"
In pain, Sea Snake threw its head back, tumbled, tilted, using its huge body to shake off the ice beasts, then crushed down towards Sakura below.
"Come on!"
Sakura kicked off the air and soared up. The ice axe in her tightly clenched five fingers swept out a slashing attack that stirred storms and waves.
Screech-!
The slash crossed the long distance, carving a ferocious arc in the void, instantly severing four of the Hydra's heads.
"Grr! Damn pirate!"
The searing pain brought some reason back to Sea Snake. The crimson color in his pupils gradually faded.
The regenerative ability of the Hydra activated. Brand new heads grew from the smooth severed stumps.
Several snake heads underground also transformed into poisonous pus, spreading out, polluting the earth, forming a field of corrosive poison.
In just over ten minutes of fighting, this stretch of Dawn Island's coast had been transformed into a desolate land of death.
"Tch, can't keep fighting on land!"
Sakura's body jolted violently as she stepped forward.
The Hydra's gaping maw bit down, but only shattered the afterimage left in the air.
"Kami-e: Afterimage!"
The tip of her foot lightly touched the ground. Sakura was already standing beneath the giant snake.
Her left fist stretched straight down, her right fist inverted and pulled back to her waist.
Burning will converged terrifying Haki coiling around her fist tip. The cold current was thus grasped in her hand, forming a piercingly cold ice sphere.
"Fish-Man Karate: Ultimate Secret Art: Martial Reliant Piercing!!!"
Sakura ferociously threw her punch. The ice sphere formed from the cold current was forcefully shoved into the Hydra's scales.
In the next instant, ripples spread outward from the scales at the point of contact, until the shockwave passed through the Hydra's entire body.
Savage power propelled the beast, the size of a mountain, into the air, finally smashing it hard onto the sea surface.
The moment it touched the seawater, the freezing energy injected into the Hydra's body began to freeze the sea.
Sharp ice crystals grew from the sea surface, becoming clusters of deep blue crystals left in place.
But the crystals were quickly covered, shrouded by snow powder, transforming the sea for dozens of miles around into a snow country.
All nine snake heads reared high, the vertical pupils in their eye sockets turning white. Consciousness gradually left him.
'No good, can't keep fighting like this! I'll lose!'
Realizing his attack method was wrong, Sea Snake's body began to shrink rapidly.
His originally serpentine body grew hands and feet, covered in scales with sharp claws and teeth.
The necks under the nine heads contracted and thinned, but still writhed coiled and tangled.
"Wow... so ugly."
Sakura, who had jumped from the shore onto the ice, couldn't help but mock upon seeing Sea Snake's hybrid form.
"None of your business!" Sea Snake roared at her, furious and ashamed.
He had now decided to use his final trump card, take down the pirate before him at all costs.
Raising his scale-covered arm, Sea Snake sank his sharp fangs into it.
Toxins adjusted to squeeze mind and body potential in a short time were injected into his own blood vessels. Sea Snake's heart began to beat at high speed.
"Cough!"
Blood coughed from his mouth and nose, while emerald-green flames ignited.
A winding, floating flame cloud rose from his wrist, floating behind him, shaking incessantly.
Mythical Zoan: Hydra Model: Awakening!
"Hey now, you were hiding a move like this?"
Sakura tentatively tapped her toe. Four or five ice pillars pierced up from the ground.
However, just as the spikes were about to pierce Sea Snake's body, they inexplicably melted into a pool of boiling water, splashing on the ground with a sizzling sound.
"Awakening, huh..."
Sakura frowned, considering the intel.
'When an ability's mind and body match the ability, they awaken. In this state, their abilities undergo mutation.'
'Judging from his recent performance, it seemed to be a substance-altering type of awakening.'
'The effect should be... forcibly converting matter around his body into poison?'
"You guessed right!"
A fleeting dusky light lit up before Sakura. The figure, like a demon, raised its fist and threw a powerful punch at Sakura.
Having already received Observation Haki warning in advance, she crossed her arms in front of her. Ice armor quickly covered her arms, with Armament Haki coiled on the inside forming a transparent armor.
Boom!
The fist struck the shield. Sakura felt the immense force assault her, pushing her back as she dragged a long trail on the ground.
By the time she stopped, the armor on her arms had been completely shattered by the opponent's internal destruction Haki.
"Ahahahaha, this is how a fight should be!"
Just as Sakura was about to rise, her vision went dark, and she dropped to one knee.
Her body was rapidly weakening and undergoing mutation. Even her high-spirited fighting spirit involuntarily mixed with a hint of hesitation and panic.
Looking down, she saw a dark green hue already spreading on her arms.
Raising an eyebrow, she quickly discovered the cause and muttered to herself: "So you can make your Haki carry poison too..."