Chapter 372: Fairy vs. Fierce Beast, Shark Devours Dinosaur
Who's Who stood with his arms crossed, looking down at the enemy before him. "So, you're here to assassinate Kisamezumi Orochi?"
"And my companions as well." Erza pointed her sword at the CP9 members in front of her. "I cannot tolerate the atrocities that Kisamezumi Orochi and you all commit against the common people!"
"Atrocities?" Who's Who mocked, "The weak are naturally the food of the strong. Don't you understand this principle?"
"..." Erza lowered her gaze. "No more words, let's see who's stronger under the sword!"
"Bang!"
One of Who's Who 's subordinates took the lead and fired a shot. Erza quickly turned her head to avoid the bullet that came flying toward her.
"Hahaha…!" Who's Who laughed loudly. "You didn't think we'd fight fair one-on-one, did you?"
"..." Erza coldly stared at him.
A pink figure suddenly descended from the sky again, a large exaggerated smile and orange sunglasses causing Who's Who to frown deeply. "Doflamingo?! You're still alive?!"
Doflamingo didn't respond. He walked toward the enemy in front of him with the steps of one who didn't care about others.
"The enemies inside are for my sister and Deidara to handle." Kisame, agilely dropping from the outer wall of Onigashima Castle, spoke. "I'll hold off Who's Who 's subordinates. You only need to deal with Who's Who ."
"Thank you." Erza nodded and thanked her. She then faced Who's Who , sword raised with a faint sword light gathering on the blade.
"..." Who's Who saw his subordinates were blocked, and in an instant, he transformed into his hybrid beast form, his slender figure turning muscular.
"Six Styles: Moonwalk!"
He stepped into the air, using his powerful back legs to leap high into the sky.
"Tusk Gun!"
Fangs snapped open and closed, releasing several air bullets shaped like teeth from his mouth, aiming at Erza .
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Erza 's sword flashed with light, slicing through the air bullets with ease. She furrowed her brows, looking at her weapon, noticing a few cracks forming on the blade.
"Your weapon is good. It didn't get shattered by my Tusk Guns."
"Transformation: Flying Armor!"
The armor now looked like leopard skin, with cute animal ear decorations on the helmet. Her weapon changed from a single sword to dual swords.
Although this set of armor was called Flying Armor, it didn't have the ability to fly. Instead, it greatly enhanced speed.
"Oh—!" Kisameme lit up.
"I will dodge all your upcoming attacks!"
"Let's see if you can!" Who's Who crouched down, his legs bent in a running posture. "Iron Block!"
"Tusk Flash!"
With a powerful push, Who's Who 's speed suddenly surged to an unimaginable level in an instant, faster than anyone could react.
However, his opponent was Erza , clad in the Flying Armor. Her speed immediately reached its peak, leaving afterimages in Who's Who 's retina.
"Wh—"
Who's Who 's canine teeth, empowered by his Haki, missed their target. As his legs slowed, Erza moved swiftly to his back. Two sword lights flashed like lightning, slicing toward Who's Who 's unguarded back!
"Ahh!"
Who's Who roared like an injured tiger, two deep sword wounds appearing in parallel along his back.
He twisted his comparatively slender waist, his inverted triangle-shaped upper body turning abruptly. Five sharp claws suddenly swiped toward Erza , but the figure before him was just a shattered afterimage.
"Fast." Who's Who finally acknowledged his opponent. "So, you guys came to assassinate Orochi just to save the people of Wano?"
"That's right."
"Hahaha…!" Who's Who burst out laughing, as if hearing the funniest thing. "That reminds me, when I was in prison, I heard a story."
"A prison guard, to mock me, told me to pray to some savior." Who's Who began to speak as if to himself. "Long ago, slaves believed a legendary warrior would eventually save them!"
"The slaves called him 'Sun God' Nika! They said he would bring smiles and freedom to the slaves' tortured lives, but who knows if he ever really existed?"
"Shave!"
The towering Who's Who turned into a high-speed phantom, charging at Erza , constantly attacking with his hands.
If Who's Who was a fierce saber-toothed tiger, then Erza was a swift leopard, nimbly dodging his vicious claw strikes.
"You're like an eel, can't land a hit!" Who's Who growled angrily, continuing the story, trying to provoke her into making a mistake:
"I suffered endless torment in prison, so I believed in that legend!"
"So, the original victims turned into abusers?" Erza frowned.
"An opening!" Seizing the moment when Erza spoke, Who's Who took the chance and launched Erza away.
"Tsk," seeing Erza only knocked back without injury, Who's Who clicked his tongue. "I don't care about the details, I just want someone to save me!"
"Too bad you're now a vicious tiger under the dragon's control."
"Hahaha!" Who's Who widened his tiger eyes, filled with hatred. "I was once a member of the World Government's intelligence agency, CP9. I was thrown into prison and tortured because the Devil Fruit I was escorting was stolen by Shanks."
"Days later, the guard who told me about Nika disappeared without a trace, and I realized that even knowing this story was forbidden..."
"I knew hearing the legend meant I couldn't escape death, so I risked my life and broke out of prison!"
"I've heard enough of your boring story..." Erza coldly interrupted. "Transformation: Fairy Armor!"
The leopard-patterned armor disappeared and was replaced with a pink-themed armor, with wing-like decorations on the helmet and shoulders.
"I just want to defeat you now! Defeat the Beast Pirates! Liberate all of Wano!"
"What, do you want to be 'Sun God' Nika, to save the people of Wano?" Who's Who sneered. "Unfortunately, you'll never defeat Kaido!"
"How will you know unless you try?" Erza proudly replied.
"I don't need to try to know!" Who's Who roared and charged at Erza .
...
"…!" Kisamezumi Orochi stood alone in front of Akame and Deidara , with the remaining ninjas, including FuKisamekuju, all cleared out.
"I really don't want to deal with this guy," Deidara shrugged. "Too weak. Hmm."
"I'll do it." Akame drew several blade flashes.
"Damn it, don't underestimate me!" Kisamezumi Orochi's ugly head split into eight, growing snake scales, horns on his head, and his tongue flicking out.
The eight dragon-like heads surrounded the two of them. "I'll bite your heads off!"
"Although it looks scary, your strength is too weak. Hmm." Deidara casually flicked his hand, and a spider-shaped explosive clay dropped into one of the heads' mouths.
"Ha!"
With Deidara 's command, the explosive clay blew apart one of the serpent heads.
The bare neck started spewing hot blood, wriggling like a decapitated worm.
"Damn it!" The remaining seven heads launched simultaneous attacks, flashing with cold light. All seven heads were severed by Akame alone.
The seven heads fell with loud thuds, and the body, now headless, convulsed before collapsing.
Akame, without mercy, stabbed the lifeless Orochi with Muramasa.
Once, twice, three times...
The black curse toxin began to spread, gradually covering his body. Kisamezumi Orochi, as if sensing it, stopped pretending to be dead and looked in horror at the curse toxin on his hands. "What… what is this?!"
Akame didn't answer but placed an apple next to him.
"Ugh—!"
Orochi weakly reached out with his right hand, trying to grab Akame, but his arm dropped powerless.
The cruel, arrogant, and lecherous Kisamezumi Orochi, who had ruled Wano for over ten years, finally died. Beside his corpse, the red apple began to change, growing eight long stems and leaves, with spiral patterns etched on its surface.
The Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Eight-Headed Serpent Form!
Akame bent down, picked up the Devil Fruit, and turned to Deidara . "Let's go help Kisame with those samurais."
"I haven't blown enough stuff up," Deidara said. "Can we blow up this Onigashima Castle too?"
"Not allowed." Akame turned and left.
◇
"Is that all the strength you have?" Kisame laughed.
"Your weapon is strange—!" Sasaki gritted his teeth. "It actually drains my stamina?!"
Kisame clasped his hands together. "I still have plenty of techniques left."
"Armor Unit, come over and bind up the dried apricot Kisame!" Sasaki commanded his subordinates. "Let me take this spy down!"
"Sasaki-sama, we're coming!" The armor unit surged forward.
"Can't beat me so you call for help?" Kisame sneered and quickly formed hand seals. His cheeks bulged as torrents of water shot from his mouth. "Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
A massive wave formed, crashing violently into the steel forces.
"Ahhh—!" Beast Pirate members in the hallway were swept away by the wave.
Sasaki's face darkened, and he coldly stared at Kisame.
"Finally, no one is interrupting our fight," Kisame grinned. "Now, let's settle our personal grudge!"
Silently, Sasaki's massive triceratops form quickly transformed into a bipedal dinosaur warrior. With a mechanism spiral blade in his hands and a metal shield over his head, he wore the bloodied wounds from Kisame's shark muscles and continuously used pain to fuel his animal-like aggression.
"Oh, so this is your human-animal form?" Kisame asked with interest. "Jack only turns into an animal form, but I'm curious how strong you are in human-animal form."
Sasaki activated his spiral blade mechanism, causing the tiny blades attached to his sword to stand upright and spin rapidly like a drill.
"No useless obstacles now, excellent!" Sasaki grinned, spinning his neck shield like a helicopter rotor, using the powerful force to lift his massive body into the air.
Kisame coldly smiled. "Preparing to use your trump card?"
"Let me send you off with this, traitor!" Sasaki shouted, "Helical Triceratops!"
Sasaki dove from the air, spinning blades like a deadly lotus. With the added speed of the spinning spiral blade and his rapid charge, Kisame was sent flying, crashing through walls before dropping to the ground.
"Puhaha!" Kisame spat blood from his mouth.
Sasaki didn't give Kisame a chance to rise, slashing down with his sword, the second wave of blade energy ruthlessly heading for Kisame.
Kisame's arms were nearly numbed. With all his remaining strength, he sidestepped, narrowly dodging the sword energy that could've split the building in two.
Kisame looked up once more, as Sasaki sheathed his sword. The triceratops neck shield began spinning again, preparing for another lethal charge.
"Take this! Ballistic Triceratops!"
The terrifying beast charged at Kisame with terrifying force.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!" Kisame sprayed a massive amount of water from his mouth, forming a giant oval-shaped water prison, flooding the entire building and trapping both Sasaki and Kisame inside.
"This is?!" Sasaki froze, his neck shield stopped spinning as he moved his hands back and forth. "Why can't I lose my power underwater?"
"Ah." Kisame sighed. "I knew it, using my water can't restrict Devil Fruit users."
"This is your trump card?" Sasaki sneered. "Trying to defeat me with this? You must be dreaming!"
"Let's see who's stronger in the water, the dinosaur or the shark." Kisame's shark muscles slowly melded into his body, changing his appearance as his elbows sprouted fins, his head elongated, and he took on a half-fishman form.
The neck shield spun again at high speed. "Ballistic Triceratops!" He launched forward, charging like a torpedo at Kisame.
But with home advantage, Kisame easily dodged the unstoppable charge, his tail swaying behind him as he swiftly approached Sasaki, grabbing him tightly from behind.
"Let go of me!"
"Stop dreaming." Kisame sneered. "In this water prison, I've never lost to anyone!"
Sharp, deadly spines shot out of Kisame's body, sinking into Sasaki, and his shark muscles devoured Sasaki's strength and Haki greedily.
"Damn!" Sasaki spun his neck shield, smashing everything that dared to block him as he struggled against the water prison, desperately trying to escape the shark's gnawing.
"This water prison moves with me!" Kisame laughed. "Only by moving away from me can you escape."
Sasaki's blood-Red widened as he let out a defiant roar, now unable to breathe in the water. He had become prey in Kisame's trap.
...
End of Chapter