Chapter 20 - Battle Aftermath

A/N: 20 Chapters and almost 40k words, I really didn't think I would get here. I was only planning on dumping some thoughts on the page for a few chapters but I really didn't expect all the support everyone has been giving me. Thank you guys, I'll try to best to stay consistent and deliver more content, let's have a happy 2022. :)

Shorter chapter because this weekend I'll be busy with my family, and I'm doing research to plan out the next few arcs of the story as well. Enjoy.

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On the dawn of the next day, Terumi woke up aching all over his body next to the tree he fell asleep against yesterday, Asashi still grasped in his hand.

"Ouch. Well, good news is, I'm still alive."

Terumi groaned as he shakingly stood up using Asahi as support.

"Oof, I'm gonna be feeling this for the rest of today for sure."

As he patted himself down to feel the extent of his injuries, his stomach rang out.

"Ah, well. I guess I didn't get a chance to eat yesterday."

Terumi looked around, trying to gauge his current position. As he scanned the scenery, he saw the coast in front of him but did not recognize any of the locales. Terumi then thought for a moment and remembered he leaped off Zephyr's ship without his stuff.

"Hmm, ah forget it. I left my stuff behind, but I'll make it work."

Terumi ran and jumped into the sea with Asahi in hand.

A new minutes later, he surfaced from the water, dragging a small sea king along with him.

Using Asahi, he fileted the fish and set up a small campfire, stringing up a large filet for breakfast.

As he ate, he thought about the battle the day before.

'Hmm, could use some seasoning, but not bad. Okay, let's recap. I was able to unlock my Haoshoku Haki yesterday, can I still use it?'

Terumi focused his mind, remembering the feelings he felt yesterday. Sweat drops started forming on his head due to his intense focus, trying hard to recapture the sensation of using Haoshoku.

An intense aura burst forth from his body and started scaring a few birds away in the trees nearby.

Terumi opened his eyes and smiled.

"Not bad."

Terumi then felt a slight headache as he shut off the aura.

"Damn, this requires a lot of focus using it on command. Guess I still need some time before I can control it fully."

Terumi then picked up Asahi into his hand, unsheathing it as its white back and red waves shined in the light.

"Okay, now what about this? I'm pretty sure I was able to imbue Asahi yesterday, so I must have unlocked my Armament Haki as well."

Terumi summoned his willpower and felt a strange but familiar energy start to circulate around his body. He focused that into his arm and hands, wrapping the energy around his arm, feeling a comfortable warmth well up. He then tried to wrap that energy around his blade as well but to no avail.

"Ngh, I can't do it. What's wrong? This should indeed be Armament Haki. Why was I able to do it yesterday?"

Terumi tried focusing more, but he soon started feeling some mental fatigue. The blade stayed white as the energy unstably leaked out of his hand, unable to combine with the sword.

"Hmm...I swear it was just like this, but then again, all I did really was just force out as much power as I could. How did imbuement even happen with all that chaotic energy?"

Asahi then stared at Asahi curiously.

"Was it you? Did you do it? Can you do it again?"

Asahi then vibrated and started sucking in Terumi's Haki at an accelerated rate. Terumi felt his arm start to sting, with fierce prickly pain spreading all over.

"Wait wait wait, stop!"

Asahi stopped absorbing, returning back Terumi's Haki.

"Damn, that was close. Well, I guess you really saved me back there, didn't you? Thank you."

Asahi shook slightly, responding to his feelings of gratitude.

"Well, imbuement is an advanced application of Haki. If it was so easy, everyone could do it."

Terumi sighed as he continued chewing on the sea king meat.

"But how was Asahi able to be imbued yesterday if it takes that much Haki? It didn't feel like this anywhere as bad as this. There must have been some other factor I'm not accounting for."

Terumi started rubbing his forehead as he contemplated the issue. Feeling a subtle difference in the touch, he removed his hand.

"Huh."

Terumi stood up and walked over to the water, looking at his reflection in the water.

The image reflected in the water was his previous scar, now bigger and resembling some kind of flame pattern. It formed a small mark just above his eye, now replacing his old scar.

Terumi's eyes widened upon the realization.

"Of course! The mark! The first time I used Haki was when I utilized Water Breathing when I was five. The breath styles must have a positive effect on my willpower and lifeforce, it does require a lot of focus after all. The demon slayer mark was tied to one's lifeforce in Demon Slayer as well, not too dissimilar from Haki. My mark must have awakened briefly yesterday and made up for my lack of Haki."

Terumi gripped Asahi tightly in his hand, taking a combat stance, and started focusing intensely on his breathing.

His heartbeat steadily rose, his body started warming up as his blood started pumping at high speeds.

"Enbu!"

Terumi let all of his Aura burst out of his body as he performed a flying slash with all his power. He felt his lungs swell up intensely as a burning feeling started forming on his forehead.

Quickly taking the opportunity, he looked at his reflection in the water once more. His scar grew from a small pattern on his forehead, to a large flame mark wrapping around his left eye.

"Asahi! Do it now!"

Asahi vibrated and started sucking in the Haki violently flowing out of Terumi's body, transforming the back of its blade black.

"Yes!"

Moments after he celebrated his success, his body hit its limit and he coughed up blood as his veins started rupturing internally.

"Shit!"

Terumi dropped to the ground, quickly calming his breathing and controlling his Haki to stop leaking out. Asahi stopped absorbing Haki and turned back to normal.

"Haa, haa, well. That's fine. I'll be able to control it with some more training. My physique could still use some work as well. But at least I know it's possible and I have a clear way forward."

Terumi then smirked and summoned a small out of Haki, wrapping it around his hand.

"Heheh, now I can knock Smoker on the head if we spar again, it didn't much for a spar since I wasn't able to hit him. Also at the very least, this should improve my overall combat ability without a sword. Once I learn the Rokushiki martial arts, then I'll be pretty strong even without needing to draw Asahi."

Asahi then shook slightly in disagreement. Terumi stared at it with bewilderment.

"Come on now, don't get jealous. Learning the Rokushiki is the best way to improve my physique, I'll be able to provide you with more Haki once I get stronger."

Asahi returned to its slumber, not vibrating anymore.

"What a troublesome child."

Terumi returned to his campfire and quickly ate the rest of the sea king, stuffing his anime stomach. Standing up after his meal, he felt much better than before.

"Much better. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how fast my body absorbs nutrients. Praise the constitution of One Piece residents. Let's speed it up a little bit."

Terumi then stretched his body, loosening up all his muscles, and used his breathing to divert energy to heal himself.

"Ah yeah, I feel great. Okay, let's scout out where to go for today."

Terumi sheathed Asahi into its scabbard and leaped on top of a tall tree. He scanned the forest with his eyes like a hawk looking for its next prey.

"So, where to go next..."

At that moment, the tree under Terumi's feet started shaking.

"Huh? What's happening?"

Soon, Terumi saw in the distance as the volcano in the middle of the island erupted, flinging magma and lava all over its base. The rumbling shook the air as Terumi held on tightly, not wanting to be thrown off the tree.

A roar from an unknown beast then rang out in the distance.

"ROARRR!"

Terumi tried to zoom in on the location of the sound, but couldn't make out exactly what kind of creature it was. The roar seemed to come from the area near the base of the volcano.

"Well, I guess my destination is decided. Let's check it out. Anything that lives near such a treacherous area must be pretty strong."

Terumi jumped down and dashed towards the active volcano.