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ANNOUNCEMENT:
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Chapter 46: Trial of Spheres
The pirates were starting to understand that it didn't matter where you were, on the surface or in the sky, every sea had its temptations and its dangers. While Luffy, Sakura, Sanji, and Usopp were at last free from the onslaught of booby traps and falling axes, they were still in deep waters. With plenty of other surprises lurking beneath. Including giant lamprey-like creatures that threatened to capsize them. It was big enough to stick itself into your nightmares, no matter how brave you were. At least on Usopps count.
"At this rate, we're gonna be dead before we even get to the altar!" Usopp whimpered, wanting to throw his hands over the edge of the boat, but refraining for fear of what might come out of this white sea next. "I wanna go home…."
"Can't do anything without the ship," Sakura reminded him, looking rather unbothered. But it was more of, she had conceded, and adapted in the full belief that this place was just going to be a journey of obstacles until they finally got back down.
Sanji exhaled a freshly lit cigarette, the one supply Sakura noticed he never seemed short of. "While we're on the milky road, we can't stop to catch our breath."
A new structure was closing in. It stood out even from their current distance, and as they closed in, they saw that it was a gate. A knawing sense of anticipation started to grow the closer they came. It stood between the treeline of the mile road. What appeared like a dead end, a face peering out from beneath the clouds, staring them down, daring them to come closer. It reminded Sakura of a Buddha statue. Holding up its hand in front of them, out of the four fingers, a series of gates opened.
There were words sprawled across each gate.
Trial of the swamp
Trial of iron
Trial of balls
"Now god wants to play a game with us?" Usopp said.
"At least he has a sense of humor," Sakura shrugged.
"I hope Nami and Robin are safe. What if they're also getting attacked?" Sanji wasn't usually a hand-wringer, even in the most perilous situations. However, when a girl was thrown into the equation, the situation suddenly became top priority.
"The merry can't take much damage either," Usopp said, to which Sanji objected, as he glazed over the girls.
Luffy was unobstructed, throwing his hands behind his head. "They'll be fine, Zoro's with them." Then he noticed Sakura staring at him, "What's up?"
"You put a lot of faith in Zoro, don't you, Luffy?"
"Well, yeah," he said, like it was the most obvious thing he could speak. "Zoro won't let them die,"
She turned away to look out into the distance, watching the gates grow closer, "Zoro's only one person. He's not invincible."
Usopp was biting his nails now, as their boat touched the shadow of the giant statue. "Which gate should we pass through?"
"Why don't we ask god?" Sakura gantered.
"Don't joke about that! We're gonna get hit by lightning!"
Luffy pointed, "Let's go with balls!"
"Why?" Sanji asked.
"Because it sounds fun."
It did sound the safest out of the list, Sakura noted; however, Usopp's paranoia just couldn't let them be at peace, and he tried to argue that it sounded almost too safe. However, before this could turn into an argument that would get them nowhere, because at the end, Luffy would be getting his way, Sakura reminded them:
"There's no point in speculating; we just have to make sure we get through this. Chances are there is no 'right choice here anyway.'"
This was for judgment after all, so why would they be shown mercy? If their journey was any indication, this God was not a benevolent one.
"Fine…"
..
..
..
They entered a dark tunnel, and speculation already started before they even saw any sign of light again. As soon as they did, though, they felt their stomachs lurch towards their ribcage, as the boat dropped them off a high waterfall. Screams filled the air as they held on, trying not to end up flying as they hit the new start of the milky road. Ironically, a much softer landing than if they were to hit water, which would've crushed the ship and them.
"We're safe!?" Usopp cried, still holding onto the side.
"For now." Sakura had her eyes focused on the new sights. The Milky Road stretched ahead of them, leading towards a forest.
Enormous trees stood over them, but what towered now was yet another unusual factor of the sky islands, or rather, the result of their choices to enter the gate. White clouds, rounded in perfect balls, floated between the trunks and across their path.
"Looks like our trials started," Sakura said, standing straight, her eyes trailing as far as they could see. The spheres looked harmless enough, made of clouds and bobbing around like soap bubbles, but something was making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
"This is a little suspicious."
"Maybe we picked the right one," Luffy suggested. "We'd probably be suffering some gruesome fate right now if we'd chosen another entrance."
"...That's probably true," Usopp said, not sounding particularly comforted by it.
"Idiots." Sanji's voice came out low and clipped, cigarette shifting to the corner of his mouth. "Don't let your guard down. Why would they put a prize door for criminals? Think about it."
"Sanji's right. Everyone, stay alert."
But Luffy already decided to lose the plot and went digging through their bags to unwrap the lunches Sanji prepared.
A senbei materialized in front of Sakura's face. Luffy was right beside her, holding out a rice cracker slathered in soy sauce.
"Sakura, come on. Eat."
"Luffy, what are you doing-
"Hey." Sanji appeared on Luffy's other side. "Nobody feeds Sakura-chan but me. And what did I just say about keeping your guard-
Sakura had already stopped listening, her attention snapping back to the tree line, to the floating orbs, to every shadow that moved in a way it shouldn't.
Behind her, Luffy and Usopp had apparently decided that the best use of their time was to grab one of the orbs and start playing with it like a beach ball.
One of the floating orbs sailed between them. Then back again.
"CUT IT OUT, CHA!" Sakura yelled.
Then she turned back to the tree line, because if she kept watching, she was going to do something.
She heard the orb sail through the air, heard Luffy and Usopp laughing away like fools, and then a scream.
She turned around and watched a snake opening its jaw to swallow Usopp, its body appearing from the sphere.
Sakura moved quickly; her fist connected with the orb before the snake cleared two feet of air. They watched as she sent it rocketing into the forest. And now they were all alerted to the danger literally floating around them.
"Sanji!" Usopp spun around. "In front, another one-kick it away!"
Sanji's leg came up in a clean arc and connected with the nearest orb, sending it spinning into the air above the treeline, and then it exploded. The shockwave hit them. When the smoke cleared, the four of them were standing in the middle of the Milky Way, covered head to toe in grey ash.
Sakura looked down at her hands. Looked at the smoldering remains of the orb scattered across the clouds beneath her feet.
"Okay," she said, calmly, as a thin ribbon of smoke curled up from her shoulder. "So, apparently, we aren't as safe as we thought."
"Ho ho ho ho ho."
The laughter came from above, round and rolling, and self-satisfied was the best way to describe it. The pirates stood to attention, searching for the source as quickly as they could. Then they tell him.
Admittedly, it would've been easy to miss him in this setting, given that he was the same shape as the spheres surrounding the forest. He stood on top of one of the orbs, practically dancing, jumping from one foot to another.
Round-bodied, red-haired, with wide feathered wings at his back and an expression that suggested he found all of this tremendously entertaining. He looked down at them from his cloud perch.
"Welcome," he announced grandly, spreading his arms wide, "to my Trial of Balls."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Are you one of the priests?"
"That's right. I am Satori," he said in a sing-song voice, twirling around, which should've been harder given his shape.
Didn't Nami and the old guy say he was really strong?" Usopp muttered, his voice dropping low.
"I'm not seeing it," Luffy said.
"Don't let your guard down." Sakura's eyes swept the tree line again, cataloguing the dozens of cloud orbs drifting lazily between the branches. Every single one of them was a potential threat. "This entire forest is packed with those things, and we have no idea what's inside any of them. If he's this relaxed, it means one of two things: he's ignorant as a fighter, or he's actually skilled enough to be so lax."
"Sakura-chan is right," Sanji said before taking a lighter to a new cigarette. For a moment, Sakura felt relieved knowing that at least one person on her team was taking this matter seriously from the start…then she looked at him and saw that his eyes were practically glazed over with hearts.
"You really are just so smart, Sakura-chan." He pressed a hand over his chest. "Of course you'd be worried about my well-being. But you don't have to concern yourself — I will-
"That's not what I said." She turned on him with a hiss, teeth clenched. "Get back on track."
Sanji blinked, snapped back to reality, and cleared his throat. "Where are Nami and the others?!" He demanded, looking back at the priest.
Satori continued to dance, "Oh, who knows? They're going to die anyway. You really should be worried about yourselves. If you want to reach them, you'll have to defeat me!"
Launching himself from his cloud perch, faster than his shape suggested, he came at the crew directly, without hesitation. Luffy was already reacting, his arm pulled back, but not far enough just yet, not enough for anyone to see the strength or get that surprise that his enemies usually received when they found he was made out of rubber for the first time.
No. There was no indication of that. And yet, Satori grinned and asked the harrowing question that caught them all by surprise.
"Going to stretch?"
The question arrived at the exact same moment as the punch. Satori dodged Luffy's fist without scrambling or flinching. Stepping aside with ease, the kind that made Sakura's stomach drop.
'He saw it coming?"
Luffy wasn't faster than Sakura, but she didn't consider him slow or lacking in skill as a fighter, not to mention his rubber attacks could usually take his opponents by surprise due to the fact that no one would expect your anatomy to extend in that form. Yet somehow Satori had predicted that move.
The priest then moved to attack. He threw his hand in front of Luffy, palm wide and without even throwing a hit or creating momentum. Somehow, the straw hat captain was knocked out of the boat and flying across the forest until he slammed into a tree so hard his back was buried in the wood.
"Luffy!" Usopp lurched forward. "You're okay, right?! Regular hits don't work on you . Your rubber—"
Luffy did not respond.
Sanji's leg was already swinging, but he connected with nothing. Satori sidestepped it the same way he'd sidestepped Luffy's fist.
"Only the well-trained," the priest said pleasantly, "are given the power of Mantra."
Sanji went flying as well.
'Something's wrong with this guy.' Sakura grabbed Usopp by the collar and pushed off, before Satori could return his attention to them.
"Sakura, wait-the ship!" Usopp struggled.
"Get it after we deal with him."
"But it's going to sail away!"
She felt the priest falter behind her, heard the absence of a footstep where she'd been standing a half-second ago.
"You two alright?"
"Fine," Sanji said, though the way he said it suggested he had opinions about how not fine he was.
"Yeah." Luffy rolled his neck.
The engine of the boat sputtered. Satori stood at the stern, one hand on the throttle, then he stepped calmly off the back of the ship as it lurched forward, sending their vessel surging ahead along the Milky road. Intending to strand them in Upper Yard.
"Our boat!"
This is the Illusion Forest Ball Ordeal." Satori announced grandly. "Survival rate: ten percent."
"We gotta go after the boat before we lose sight of it!" Usopp exclaimed, already turning.
Sakura cracked her neck. "Alright then." She exhaled slowly. "Looks like we're doing this quickly. We split up."
Luffy's knuckles cracked. He didn't say anything, but the grin that spread across his face.
"Sanji, Usopp. You two get the boat." Sakura instructed.
"What-
Usopp's eyes widened. "Sakura, you're gonna fight?"
She was already grinning, "It's been a while since I had a real fight." She flexed her fingers, filling some chakra in her hands. "Besides." She glanced at Satori, still floating serenely on his cloud behind them. "I've got some experience with guys like this."
Enemies who fought you like they were reading from a script, while you were given a blank page.
She could handle a priest with a parlor trick.
"Luffy! You better not let Sakura-chan get hurt!" Sanji called, dashing off with Usopp in tow to the other side, trying to follow after the boat.
Luffy went in first.
He grabbed a low-hanging branch and swung himself forward, and once again, somehow without explanation, Satori had already called it. He was already ducking under the arc of the punch that followed. He caught Luffy's stretched arm mid-extension,and then he spun.
Luffy left the ground, being spun around and around, using Luffy's own elastic momentum against him before slamming him into the nearest tree trunk. Satori laughed all the while he practically danced around them.
Punch after punch after punch followed. Luffy came at him from every angle he could manage, every variation of reach his rubber body allowed, and none of it landed. Satori wove between them like the attacks were something he was remembering rather than reacting to.
While he seemed occupied with her captain, Sakura came up behind the priest. Satori turned his palm, which was already raised.
The impact hit her like a wall, the same force that had launched Luffy like a ragdoll. She felt it slam into her from the front. She flew back, and instinctively flooded her body with chakra, letting it wrap her like armour as the shockwave rolled through her. For the most part, cushioning the blow.
But diffused and broken apart, she felt it rattle through her skeleton like a bell being struck from the inside. Her teeth ached. Her vision briefly whitened at the edges.
'No wonder Luffy's out of it.'
She straightened up, pressing a hand briefly to her sternum, glaring at Satori's back. His attention had turned to Sanji and Usopp, who were picking their way along the bank, racing for the boat. Even that instant track was suspicious. He barely had to look, as if he knew where to find them. Something was very wrong with this man.
Luffy had pulled himself free from the tree stump, slapping himself back into alertness with both hands. He cracked his knuckles and grinned at her like he was having the time of his life.
"Alright then," he announced. "Let's do this."
"Luffy." Sakura was already beside him, voice dropping. "Listen to me carefully."
She leaned in and told him.
His eyes went wide. "Are you sure?"
"Can you handle it?"
"Yeah!"
He reached out, grabbed two tree trunks, stretched himself back like a slingshot, and launched.
Satori was already attacking Sanji and Usopp using his spheres. A burst of flame. A single daisy, which Usopp nearly impaled himself trying to dodge. What appeared to be a small, aggressive crab. Something that might have been a sky shark. They couldn't commit to any attack because they never knew what was coming.
"GUM GUM GATLING!"
Luffy unleashed a storm of punches in every direction, his fists blurring as they connected with orb after orb after orb. Fire erupted. A cascade of blades sprang from a cluster near the bank. Birds burst out of three separate spheres and immediately began targeting the nearest available heads. A sky shark appeared from nowhere in particular. Crabs scuttled out across the cloud surface.
Sakura stood at the edge of it all, watching with one hand pressed to her temple as her crewmates were collectively set upon by the combined contents of roughly twenty spheres.
Sakura watched with a sweat drop as she watched Luffy set off all the goods inside the spheres and send them in the directions of Sanji and Usopp at the same time, getting caught in his own attack. It seemed there was no end to the imagination when it came to what would appear in the spheres.
Finally, Sakura moved. After watching Luffy get knocked down once again, as Satori straightened. He saw Sakura heading straight toward him.
She launched off a tree trunk to her left, changed angles, launched off another to the right, accelerating, cutting her approach into fragments that should have been impossible to predict. Or at least she thought so. By bouncing around, perhaps he wouldn't be able to keep up with the trajectory. But somehow, he avoided every single attempted attack.
"Intending to do this," he said calmly, sidestepping her third approach without apparent effort, "after most of the spheres have been cleared by your friends?" He tilted his head. "Were you hoping there'd be fewer distractions?"
She didn't answer. But she was watching, the same as she was taught. She kept coming, kept forcing him to move, pressing from every angle she could construct.
Until the priest finally decided he was done taking the defensive. "Enough of this."
He raised both arms, and the remaining orbs in the forest began to shift, drifting toward each other before threading together until they formed a single long chain. At the end of it, a dragon assembled entirely from cloud spheres.
"This is my Dragon Orb, and the end of you, little girl!"
She looked at the string that connected it, barely visible, almost translucent where it caught the light, the single line running from the dragon's neck all the way back to the stick in Satori's hand.
She smirked. "I wouldn't die that easily."
"We'll see about that! One touch is all it takes! "I am a Priest of God. To strike a Priest is to become a first-class criminal. To attack me is to declare war on the Almighty God Eneru himself."
Satori threw his hand forward, the rod directing the dragon that started straight for Sakura. But she didn't make any movement, she stayed as she was, closing her eyes.
"Then let's see if he comes to your rescue."
And then, when she could feel the presence of the inanimate object, she threw a punch filled with chakra.
The forest filled with a heavy booming noise that echoed to its edges, and rumbled like an earthquake from the center.
"SAKURA!"
Eyes were closed from the flashing light and the smoke that filled their noses. It was a storm for the senses, a terrible, disorienting storm. Even for the priest. He finally failed to realize that he had slipped, letting go of control.
"Is that girl insane? Killing herself for-
The world became a blur, and the edges of his vision blankened as he went flying through the forest. Satori barely registered the pain of being slammed straight through a giant tree trunk before finally impacting against another, sliding down to meet a branch. His mouth hung open, with his tongue hanging out, his face swelling as if trying to compete with the rest of his body.
He could barely move his neck, but he was determined to at least meet the eyes of the person who had knocked him down.
'How-how did she?'
Sakura stood on the branch, near where he had occupied before, the smoke was still thinning, which made it harder to see her.
"Sweet dreams, cha."
Hey, love
So, you just read that chapter.
And now you're sitting there. Staring at the screen. And thinking about bookmarking till the next update?
Well you don't have to wait.
Right now, over on my Ko-fi, there are 3-6 chapters ahead of what's publicly posted. That means that moment you're dreading or hoping for Sakura? It's already written. Sakura has already walked through what comes next and I promise you, she does not disappoint.
What's waiting for you over there:
The chapter directly after this one
The plot reveal I've been building toward since chapter one
3–6 full chapters to binge
And coming soon: My author notes-the unhinged behind-the-scenes commentary only Ko-fi readers get.
I write this story because I love Sakura the way you love Sakura.
If this story has lived in your head rent-free, made you feel things you weren't ready for, or made you want to throw your phone across the room in the best possible way the early access chapters are for you.
Thank you for reading.
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EARLY CHAPTERS FOR MEMBERS NOW: BUYMEACOFFEE https://ko-fi.com/katsura369/tiers
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes chapter (102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107)
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (47, 48, 49)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter (38, 39, 40, 41)
-Through the Looking Glass chapter (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
- (Bleach crossover) Kunoichi amongst Reapers: (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-Commission: Demon slayer x My hero academia (PART 1 & 2)
- Kunoichi amongst Benders (Avatar x Naruto crossover) (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-SPECIAL HALLOWEEN CHAPTER: Shinigami amongst Shinobi
THANKS FOR TUNING IN BUT NOW I'VE GOTTA TUNE OUT