Chapter 289

289

"Oi, I will take on the kid." Shiryu said to this comrade, "You take on the little missy." Shiryu took another drag from his cigar before throwing it out his mouth. He then grinned at Zoro as his bloodlust flared up, "Let's see what you are made of kid."

With that Shiryu blurred away from his location, locking blades with Zoro once again. A sonic boom went off as their blades met, both of them using Armament Haki to coat their blades.

Green fire exploded out of Zoro's blades, but Shiryu cut through them without even flinching. His blade glowed red with bloodlust and Haki as he went after the green-haired swordsman.

Laffitte stood there for a few moments, "Don't I get any say in this?" he mumbled to himself before looking at Kuina. The ice user also seemed a bit annoyed at the situation. Laffitte shrugged, "Let's get this over with… I need to get back to Captain's side anyways."

Kuina looked at him but nodded. "I was expecting a challenge… but you have to do for now."

Laffitte blurred from his spot appearing right in front of Kuina locking blades with her. Their clash created a sonic boom, and the ground underneath Kuina formed a crater. Kuina's knees almost buckled under the pressure. Almost. "Be careful little girl, or I might put you into eternal sleep."

Kuina flared up her aura, the temperature in her surroundings dropping a few degrees. "You know, I have cut down a few guys who use 'little girl' and 'sleep' in one sentence… I was expecting better of you." she said with mock disappointment.

And Laffitte felt his brow twitch, before his red lips split into a grin, "I going to enjoy ripping you apart."

With that he kicked her, the girl blocking it with her free hand. And while she avoided the damage, the attack sent her hurling back into the air.

Laffitte followed through with his attacks, giving Kuina little time to recover, but it didn't matter.

Laffitte struck, but Kuina countered. The Blackbeard pirate moved with extreme speed, his form being a blur to anyone, but Kuina kept up with him. Even if just barely.

For a while, they were in a deadly game of a dance of swords before Laffitte found a chance, and kicked Kuina into the sky. With his wings outstretched from his back, Laffitte followed through to the sky, engaging the sword battle in the air. Unsurprisingly, Kuina could easily fight in the air with her Geppo and put up a good fight against the Blackbeard pirate.

As the battle went on, it became clear on who was the better of the two. While Kuina was constantly on the back foot, she was still managing to keep up. And that was with Laffitte holding back.

She wasn't like her captain. But she could clearly see that Laffitte had something up his sleeves and that she needed to be careful.

In both Haki and experience, Laffitte was superior to Kuina, but the Blackbeard pirate was finding it difficult to finish the fight. Not unless he showed off his ability. But the Blackbeard pirate wanted to reserve the ability for later to help his captain.

Kuina internally grinned, all the fights against Luffy and his brothers were paying off! Both Zoro and her only had access to Armament Haki a week ago.

But due to all the intense training, they were able to unlock the Color of Observation. And while it wasn't on the level of Laffitte, or any of the other experienced fighters here, she made up for it with her speed. She had been putting a lot of focus on speed with Sanji. And it was paying off now.

Just from the brief clash alone, she could feel that Laffitte was much more of a troublesome opponent, unlike Shiryu. Kuina knew she couldn't defeat him, not alone at least. 'Zoro, I might need your help with this one.' She thought internally.

While this was happening Zoro and Shiryu were fighting their own battle.

Their forms blurred through the forest, with a figure of red and green clashing in between from time to time. Each time they clashed they created sonic booms, and trees around them were either uprooted or burned to ash, due to their fight.

The ground broke off in chunks, and the earth rumbled each time they clashed. It was a fight of epic proportions. While Kuina's and Lafitte's fight was fast and skillful, their fight was destructive and wild.

"You are not bad, kid!" Shiryu laughed, swinging his sword up and down like a wild beast. His blade gleamed with bloodlust as sparks went past him, "I usually don't get so much into fighting… but you…? You, Zoro, are a worthy opponent!"

Shiryu smiled internally, he was longing for a fight like this. A fight against someone wild as him.

When Saint Camael offered him freedom, he made a choice to never return to the Marines. And when Teach had offered him a position in the crew he was reluctant at first. But when the man showed off his ability to use more than one devil fruit, Shiryu joined him.

That kind of man was all about challenging the world. And challenging it meant he could get a lot of opportunities to test out his blade, and so he joined in. Shiryu wasn't regretting any of that.

In fact, he was thrilled. Unlike the others in the crew, he didn't care who died as long as he got a good fight out of it. Of course, he valued his life, that was also the reason why he was fighting the younger pirate alone.

The others were a bit too strong for him. After years of being in prison, his skills with the blade had dulled. He wasn't at the level of his former self anymore. It would take a few more months to get back to his former strength and improve from there. But Shiryu didn't mind.

After dealing with the green-haired brat, he would be getting himself out of the island. Shiryu wasn't stupid. He knew the Blackbeard pirates were fucked. And he wouldn't mind throwing them under the bus if he could live.

Shiryu grinned with bloodlust, his sword oozing off killing intent. "Show me what you are made of, kid!" he said, "Blood Sword Style: Bleeding Fang!"

A sword slash with pure gleaming red energy shot off from his blade towards the three-sword style user.

Zoro parried his attack with his three-blades, digging his heels into the ground before cutting through the sword slash with pure power alone.

Shiryu grinned widened, "Impressive."

The green-haired swordsman panted but he had a grin on his face as well. His hands shook just from countering the simple sword slash, that was the power difference between the two.

In his hands, Sandai Kitetsu hummed along with Akaiittou Nozarashi. Only Yubashiri that was in his mouth was calm. But even then he could feel his blade's emotions, they wanted to fight. They wanted to win. And Zoro would make sure of that.

Shiryu attacked again, and Zoro countered. Their swords sending sparks flying all around them, as they fought. And while the green-haired swordsman was able to block off any big attacks, small wounds were still appearing on his body.

Shiryu on the other hand was mostly fine.

Zoro's body ached, and keeping up with Shiryu was tough. And unlike Laffitte he was a much easier opponent to fight against. But even then it wasn't as easy as it seems.

That was also another reason to fight, out of the two, Laffitte was stronger. Much stronger. Zoro had a sinking suspicion that Laffitte was hiding his true power… he needed to help Kuina if that was the case.

But first he needed to deal with him first.