19 Chapter 19 - Hell Island

A/N: Happy New Year! By the way, in regards to form names, I'm going to switch all of them to Japanese because I'm a weeb. I'll have the English caption in parenthesis.

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As Terumi dashed through the forest with Asahi in hand, he kicked his danger sense into high gear and sent flying slashes at every target that entered his sight.

'Don't think too much, just move.'

Smaller tigers and huge boars with large tusks fell, bisected in half by Terumi's slashes.

Soon, Terumi came across a large pack of wolves with silver hides, its Alpha stood double the height of the others, nearly ten meters tall.

"Owoooooh."

More and more wolves made their presence known as they appeared from the bushes, answering the Alpha's howl, surrounding Terumi.

'Quite the large pack they have, stepped right into the den huh? Let's thin the herd.'

Hissss

'Breath of Moon, Fifth Form.'

"Geppaku Saika! (Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy)"

Terumi's arm muscles bulged as he focused all his power into one hand. He curved his slashes at blinding speeds, adding layer after layer of crescent-shaped sword waves, creating a rising vortex of flying slashes.

One by one, the surrounding wolves got minced under the vortex of crescent blades.

The Alpha narrowly dodged the surrounding storm as it leaped around at high speeds. After the storm of blades dissipated, it took its opportunity and dashed forward straight toward Terumi.

'You want a battle of speed, huh?'

Terumi sheathed his sword and took an iai stance.

'First Form.'

"Yamidzuki - Yoi no Miya! (Dark Moon, Evening Palace)"

Terumi drew his sword at blinding speed, unleashing a curved horizontal slash in the shape of a crescent moon.

The Alpha wolf gets cleanly decapitated as its two halves flew past Terumi, falling to the ground. Seeing their Alpha killed, the rest of the wolves quickly retreated.

Terumi took a breath to regain his energy and gazed deeper into the forest. At that moment, a loud roar came ringing out not too far from his location.

Terumi ventured forward, drawn by the sound, and soon he came across a giant thirty-meter tall gorilla beast with four arms surrounded by a pair of giant forest tigers. As soon as the beast saw him, it roared and grabbed a nearby tree, using it as a hammer to smash the giant tiger pair into a gruesome paste, then it hurled the tree at Terumi at blinding speeds.

Terumi gritted his teeth and sent a flying slash to split the tree in half. The beast saw that its attack failed and slammed its four arms into its chest in anger.

"ROARRR!"

The sound wave from the beast's roar generated fierce winds, uprooting nearby trees and almost blowing Terumi away as he braced himself into the ground using Asahi.

'Shit, this thing must be one of the apex predators here.'

Terumi readied himself, filled his lungs with air, and gripped Asahi tightly as he prepared for combat.

Hisssss

"You want a piece of me? Come on then!"

Casting away fear and doubt out of his head, Terumi dashed towards the beast. The sound of his own breathing and footsteps were the only thing that he could process, as the rest of his attention focused fully on the beast in front of him.

The beast roared again in anger seeing the small creature in front of it daring to challenge its supremacy.

The gorilla raised all four of its arms, and then slammed down towards the ground heavily, creating an unbelievable sight as the ground shook and a wave of dirt and rocks got sent out from the resulting shockwave.

Seeing this, Terumi leaped high into the sky, his body parallel with the ground as he hovered just above the beast.

'Breath of Sun, Second Form.'

"Heki-ra no Ten! (Clear Blue Sky)"

Terumi spun his body and used the resulting momentum to unleash a huge 360-degree fiery slash that flew outward. The slash created a giant circle of flames as it extended in all directions, threatening to slice everything in its path.

The beast roared, and then, Terumi saw a shocking sight as the beast pulled back both of its right arms, covering them with a deep hue of Haki.

'It knows Haki? What is this?'

The beast then launched its fists forward at amazing speed, like a bullet released from a barrel, punching the flying slash and breaking it completely.

It then leaped into the air launching another punch straight at Terumi.

Seeing the approaching danger, Terumi sent a flying slash towards the ground and used its momentum to twist his body in order to narrowly dodge the punch.

Terumi then stepped right on top of the beast's outreached fist, using it as a foothold as he leaped right overhead the beast.

'Tenth Form.'

"Kasha! (Fire wheel)"

Terumi spun in the air downward, releasing a flaming slash in a circular motion aimed directly at the beast's neck.

Sensing the danger, the beast hardened its neck with Haki, deflecting Terumi's attack as it bounced from its neck and diverted into its shoulder, leaving a trail of blood.

Angered by an unfamiliar feeling of pain, the beast raged and swung its left arm backward, back-fisting Terumi straight into the ground.

Terumi guarded his body with Asahi, but he still got slammed hard into the ground. He felt his ribs cracking as he made contact with the dirt, creating a small crater from the impact.

The beast landed on the ground next to Terumi, slamming its chest in triumph as it roared.

Terumi spat out a large mouthful of blood as he stood back up with madness in his eyes.

"Fuck, that hurts like hell, you stupid monkey!"

Whatever rationale that remained in Terumi's consciousness left as a wave of Haoshoku Haki erupted from his body, slightly stunning the beast.

Terumi waved his sword as he prepared the combo he used on Garp.

"Kiki Onko! (Beneficent Radiance)"

Terumi spirals into the air, sending wave after wave of flaming slashes that surrounded the giant beast, as he leaped backward creating distance between him and his target.

The beast covered its four arms in Haki and defended against the attack by punching wildly at the incoming slashes.

Terumi landed on the ground and raised his sword high above his head. Focusing all his mind and willpower into his sword, Asahi.

'Twelfth Form, Kai!'

Asahi glowed brightly as it vibrated loudly, sucking in Terumi's Haoshoku Haki and wrapping itself tightly with it, forming a whirlpool of flaming energy.

"Rengoku Enbu! (Purgatory Flame Dance)"

Terumi disappeared into a ray of light, transforming into a fire dragon, heading directly towards the giant gorilla beast.

The beast had no time to react seeing the incoming danger, it crossed its top two arms over its chest and covered them with Haki.

BOOM.

A shockwave erupted outward from the collision of forces.

The two were locked in a momentary clash as the beast raised its remaining two arms, slamming both of them swiftly down upon Terumi.

Time slowed as Terumi stared at the incoming attacks, knowing he doesn't have enough time to move or dodge.

'Am I gonna die here? No, to hell with that! Not in this shitty forest, not to this stupid monkey!'

"HAAAAH!!!"

Terumi screamed in desperation as he struggled to slice through the gorilla beast's defenses. Terumi's heartbeat steadily rose faster and faster as time began to move slower and slower.

At that moment, Terumi's scar on his forehead changed, its erratic mark slowly transforming into a flame pattern.

BOOM.

Another explosion of energy burst forth from Terumi's body, Asahi greedily sucked it in, the back of the blade turning from white to black.

Swish.

As the blade's back fully turned black, the sword sliced down through both of the beast's arms.

Seeing this, Terumi performed the second slice of Enbu, sending forward a horizontal slash to defend against the beast's attack slamming down on him.

"ROARR"

The beast roared in pain as its two hands fell to the ground and it staggered backward.

Terumi breathed heavily with a pained expression on his face. His body was exhausted, and his ribs were beginning to puncture his organs.

"Haa, haa."

The beast stared at him, angry, screaming, cursing Terumi as he roared loudly, creating a whirlwind generated by its voice.

Terumi braced from the whirlwind as the gorilla raised its two remaining fists and jumped.

The beast covered its arms thick with Haki as it slammed both arms down in one final desperate attempt to crush Terumi completely.

Terumi jumped right into the attack, he spun his body midair to narrowly dodge the incoming fists. He winced as the motion caused his ribs to further pierce into his organs. Landing on the beast's chest, he stepped on it and backflipped into the air placing himself right in front of the beast's face.

"THIS ENDS HERE!"

'Fifth Form!'

"Shayo Tenshin! (Setting Sun Transformation)"

Terumi delivered a swift and powerful upended slash, decapitating the beast's head from its body.

Thud.

Terumi's body fell to the ground as the beast's head landed right next to him.

"Haa, haa."

Terumi breathed heavily as his body ached from his internal wounds, but nevertheless, a smile rose to his face as he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, ow, everything hurts. I can barely breathe. But for some reason, I've never felt more alive."

Terumi dragged himself up, using Asahi to support himself.

'I have to move, the other beasts will be here soon, drawn by the battle.'

He slowly walked forward, making his way towards the outer edge of the forest.

As he walked, many smaller beasts started surrounding him, keeping their distance, waiting for a chance to strike at their injured target.

Terumi saw this and laughed.

"Hahaha! You weaklings want to eat me!? Come then! I'll kill you all!"

A wave of Haoshoku Haki burst forth from Terumi's body, scaring away all of the beasts.

Seeing this, Terumi smiled as he kept walking.

'Haoshoku is pretty handy.'

Soon, Terumi successfully made his way out of the forest. As soon as he left, he found a large tree and sat down, leaning against it.

'One day down, twenty-nine more to go.'

Terumi closed his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep.