Nirvana

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Sengoku's heavy footsteps tailed behind Cherry as she swiftly darted through the trees outside the marine base.

Cherry was easily faster than him, however. A fact that irritated him greatly.

He really wished that Kizaru had been sent here instead as was originally planned, as he would have been the better choice to deal with the annoying girl.

When Cherry stopped and turned to face him he was somewhat surprised as they hadn't gone that far away from the base. He had expected her to lead him far enough away that he wouldn't be able to return in a short period of time.

"Confused? I never intended to lead you on a thrilling chase. I can keep you away long enough even if I face you directly." Cherry said, answering his doubts.

Sengoku said nothing and wasted no time in attacking her, thrusting out a palm strike with his enlarged golden hand.

Cherry's arm flashed with lightning and she met the palm with a stabbing thrust of her own.

*RUMBLE*

A shockwave erupted out from them, ripping apart the trees and other plant life around them for over a dozen meters and damaging them for a greater distance.

Both of their blows contained a fearsome vibrational energy that countered one another, seeming to be close in power. Cherry's attack contained electricity as well which enabled her to come out on top in this particular contest.

'How did she change so much in such a short time? Did whatever she did for Whitebeard take that much out of her, or did she really grow so much?' Sengoku pondered, but then another thought came to him. 'Didn't Akainu's boy also experience some strange power ups over short periods? It was harder to tell since I never saw him fight, but he definitely seemed to get stronger like this as well. Did Harpin D. Cherry kill him and steal some kind of secret from him? She did disappear from the battle at Marineford for a short period…'

His thoughts were interrupted as Cherry took the initiative to send a flying lightning slash at him.

Sengoku knew that sword was going to be annoying. His golden exterior wasn't just for show and was practically begging to conduct all the electricity that Cherry sent his way.

'This girl is a bad match for me, even if I'm stronger than her. Do I need to awaken to deal with her? Ugh, let's just see how this goes first. There's no telling what I'll do in that state…' Sengoku thought, conflicted.

Their battle didn't stay one one spot and moved around quite a lot. Wherever they went, destruction was sure to follow them as any and all obstacles were shattered and blown away in the fierce winds created by their display of violence.

Sengoku's golden body showed no signs of damage, but his ragged breaths suggested otherwise.

Cherry on the other hand had a steady breath even with the many wounds she had taken from their repeated clashes and her clothes were almost shredded off of her body. She was unconcerned with the state of her clothing, though, as it certainly wouldn't have been the first time she'd been forced to fight in the nude. She hadn't been bothered about such things for hundreds of years.

Sengoku squinted his eyes. He could swear that her injuries were visibly healing themselves over the course of the fight. 'Of course they are. Now that I think about it, White Beard was the same way after whatever she did to him.'

Sengoku decided to bite the bullet and take a gamble.

Cherry saw his demeanor change in an instant and prepared herself to fight or flee. She understood why as she saw a shift in Sengoku's devil fruit with her Life Sense. He was undergoing the process of awakening.

She watched with a sense of fascination, collecting valuable information by observing the process in fine detail.

Sengoku brought his hands together as if in prayer and his expression took on a serene quality. Many golden arms appeared from his sides and multiple heads appeared beside his original one.

"Sengoku?" Cherry spoke aloud. She felt there was something very off about him at this moment.

"You seek perfection through endless hardship? I pity you." Sengoku's many heads spoke in perfect harmony.

"Mind your own business." Cherry answered coldly.

"I see. Then allow me to assist you on your path and see if you can continue to walk it." The strange Sengoku said.

*BAM*

Cherry slammed into the ground after Sengoku seemed to disappear then reappeared instantly behind her, striking her with a chop to the back of her head.

Before a palm strike could follow up, Cherry rolled to her feet and used Soru to appear several meters away. Sengoku followed swiftly behind, but this time Cherry saw the attack coming and counter-attacked.

Unfortunately, Sengoku had many arms with which he could attack her with, which is precisely what he did. Even as he lightning ran rampant through the first arm, another slammed into her stomach and sent her flying backwards.

Sengoku did not stand in place and continued to relentlessly assault her with his seemingly countless arms. Even when she was flung away by one of his blows, he would appear next to her in the next instant with another and another.

Cherry utilized everything she possessed in her arsenal. Her sword, punches, kicks, her spear, her revolver. She even tried to bite him when he grabbed her for a body slam.

Sengoku wasn't unaffected by her frantic attacks, but his face showed no sign of pain or frustration, not even the slightest. It was perfectly peaceful, as if he weren't fighting in a life or death battle.

Cherry was getting worn down by the ceaseless barrage of attacks. Her wounds would heal quickly, but new wounds were being added faster than she was healing them.

However, that was nothing new for Cherry. She had been beaten in the dirt many times before. No, she found something else far more concerning.

While Sengoku's attacks had become stronger and faster since he had awakened his devil fruit, the amount of pain she felt from each strike had increased by many times and continued to increase further. On top of the fact that during their exchanges, Sengoku had had a few opportunities to deliver strikes to more vital areas but he neglected to do so.

Cherry thus came to a somewhat disturbing conclusion. He was torturing her.

"What are you doing, Sengoku?" Cherry asked, spitting blood from her mouth.

"This is what you wanted, no? I am assisting you." Sengoku spoke in that calm self-harmony that seemed all the more eerie.

"I don't need any assistance from you." Cherry stated, hoping to end this madness.

"In that case, I will accomplish the goal my imperfect self wished to achieve." Sengoku said, vanishing once more from the place he was standing.

Cherry sensed an immediate threat to her life coming from all sides. There was no time nor any path to escape.

So she did something reckless. Something she had pondered about before but never tried to attempt before due to the risks.

Cherry activated her fusion fruit at the greatest extent she was able and fused Sakura Tengoku with her own body and as a result, imbuing herself with the Rumble Rumble fruit's lightning logia ability.

Cherry transformed into lightning and sank into the ground right before the many golden hands of Sengoku could crash down upon her.

Cherry reappeared inside the marine base next to Robin, Cabernet, Perona, and the newly rescued Betty.

She unfused Sakura Tengoku from herself the moment she had completely reformed her body. Her veins and arteries were black as coal, her skin inflamed and red, many gashes spewing blood.

"Cherry?!" Robin exclaimed, grabbing onto her before she collapsed.

"We need to leave, right now!" Cherry spoke in a gravelly voice, before falling unconscious.

They didn't need to be told twice. Cabernet immediately transformed into her ship form and took off the instant the others were on board.

And not a moment too soon, as Sengoku's golden form entered the courtyard they had just been standing in only moments before. His many faces gazed up at the flying ship escaping his grasp, unperturbed.

Perona and Betty felt a chill down their spines at that look, and they were quite grateful when Sengoku shrunk down to his normal body then started shouting obscenities as if he hadn't been calm at all.