After having first blood drawn, Ryuma was ready to up the difficulty.
Like pulling out a minigun with a switch—yes, that sounded stupid, they already shot fast—but now the Sword God was about to go all out. Whether Zoro lived or not depended on him.
"Now we may use techniques."
Zoro felt his stomach drop, but he never thought of quitting. He was no pussy. Mama didn't raise no bitch... mama didn't raise shit to begin with, but oh well.
The very next instant—
"Dragon Flash."
Ryuma's blade vanished from sight as shockwaves could be felt. They tore through the stone floor like a hot knife through butter.
Kairo's eyes glinted at the attack. Well, that was another move added to his already pretty deep bag.
It seemed like Ryuma launched a wave of compressed Conqueror's Haki, and deep within that wave was a lot of Ryō, which meant this attack—the second you blocked it—would burst, and not only release Conqueror's Haki, enough to temporarily block your sight, but also have Ryō to break you from the inside.
Truly... a move worth stealing.
As the wave of Conqueror's Haki rushed at Zoro, he raised all three of his swords on instinct, blocking the attack. The burst of Conqueror's Haki detonated the second it made contact with him.
He felt the muscles in his arms tear, the ground beneath his feet shatter.
Zoro's body was sent crashing against the walls of the barrier. He never let go of his swords. He was a swordsman, and a swordsman fought till the end.
He forced his body to get up.
"GET UP."
His body would not stand up, no matter what he did. He had no control over it. All he knew was that one move was all it took for his body to become a mess. He couldn't even stand right now.
"GET UP!" he screamed at his body once more. His muscles were not responding to him. He needed to get back up. He had made a vow. He refused to lose before he faced Mihawk again.
"So this is your limit, huh?" Ryuma seemed disappointed as he looked at his descendant. The man wasn't as strong as he thought.
"I am not done with you yet." Zoro felt like his body was on fire. This Dragon Flash move was really dangerous. His bones were broken and his muscles were fucked up like no other.
Flashback.
"You said something about Haki being different before," Nami said suddenly. This was soon after his bout with the admiral. She had remembered him mentioning that a few days before—you know, before he and Kuzan destroyed that island.
And currently, she needed every single reason to get him off her ass. She was a woman, dammit. Who the fuck made a lady do 300 push-ups?
And since when was he the dress police? Anytime she chose a dress, he would make a slight test—use Wind Style—and if her panties or her ass were seen, then she had to choose another dress. So she had leggings on and a jacket that he probably stole from someone.
They were around a fire, and everyone was drained. Sanji and Zoro were lying on the floor, having been beaten by clones the whole day.
"Well, before the World Government decided to split it, Haki was used to access your other side."
"Other side?" Nami was really trying to make him forget. She still had to do twenty sit-ups before she could relax.
{What is about to be said below is merely a theory and not canon}
"The Abyss. Long story short, before Haki was sliced into three, you could connect to your other self through the Abyss. In a way, think of the Abyss as an alternate universe. In said universe, your subconscious self exists."
He paused a bit.
"That side takes control if you are overwhelmed by the Abyss." Robin seemed interested in this.
"From what I was taught, you can use Observation Haki to sense that other half, or at least be aware of it. Conqueror's Spirit will allow you to overcome that spirit, and Armament allows you to wield it."
Something seemed to click inside Chopper's mind.
"Wait, is that how you can replicate Devil Fruit abilities?"
Kairo simply smiled at that.
"Aren't you just smart?" He tossed the reindeer a cookie.
"If you are able to tame that version of yourself, to make it bend to your will, you will be way stronger. But it's risky. If you lose, you might just lose yourself forever."
Ah, of course there had to be a downside to it.
Kairo's brow furrowed a bit. He needed more power.
He had operated on himself, done some light surgery on his own wounds in order to heal back up to 100%.
He should be back up soon. But before that—
"Nami, you still owe me twenty sit-ups... get to it."
"Aw, come on." She really thought he would have forgotten.
"I am not Sanji. You cannot fool me."
Sanji was way too tired for a clapback.
A/N He lost his right eye by the way.
Vote with power stones.