"You two, is this all you've got?" John looked at Shutenmaru and Gyuro, a cruel expression on his face.
Shutenmaru and Gyuro were strong, but in his eyes, they weren't enough. John's power was indeed inferior to Shiki's, but this gap existed only because of Conqueror's Haki. Putting that aside, John wasn't much weaker than Shiki in terms of Observation and Armament Haki.
After all, he was a high-ranking officer on Rocks' ship, not someone just anyone could mess with!
"Hey, how about you two just join me?" John slung his Western sword over his shoulder and laughed. Both he and Shiki lacked fighters like Shutenmaru. So he started trying to poach them right on the battlefield.
Of course, the chances of success were slim; he was just trying to disgust them a bit.
"Shut up and die properly!" Shutenmaru sneered, swinging his blade again. He charged forward, Ryuo surging powerfully around him, gradually forming the shape of a savage bull.
"Genryuu - Ongyuu Shousatsu!"
He swung his blade, and a dark-purple ongyuu (demon ox) with sharp horns on its head charged forward.
"Don't look down on us, bastards!" John mocked, instantly forming a Haki slash with his reverse grip, striking down the ongyuu!
John didn't want to reveal his full strength too early; it would lack style. It would be better to observe from above like Shiki, the old lion, and join the decisive battle at the last moment.
But soon, he and Shiki realized this wouldn't work. In terms of numbers, their side had more, even after suffering heavy losses. They still outnumbered the enemy several times over. The problem was that the enemy had too many high-tier fighters.
It was as if their side was still deploying basic troops while the enemy had already brought out super units and was pushing through.
Honestly, John and Shiki weren't particularly concerned about the Ruin Guards and Ruin Heavy Machines. They were indeed powerful, but two Ruin Heavy Machines together could even overpower giants over thirty meters in a contest of strength.
But in the end, they were just that—giants. In their eyes, these were just slightly larger soldiers that didn't require much effort to deal with.
The truly critical fighters were Shutenmaru, Yukiko, Yayoi, and all the squad leaders. When these people entered the battlefield, they became merciless killing machines. There were very few on John and Shiki's side who could stop them.
Especially Shutenmaru and Gyuro. Their combat prowess was no less than that of future Katakuri and King. In the Four Emperors' crews over a decade later, they would be among the mainstays. Right now, there was no one in Shiki's crew who could intercept them.
Though Yukiko and Catelal were slightly weaker than Shutenmaru and Gyuro, they were equally unstoppable on the battlefield. One was a user of the Snow-Snow Fruit, a Logia-type, which exerted even greater power on this frozen winter island.
Catelal, on the other hand, was a user of the Murderous Crow Fruit. This was a very special ability, not a Zoan but more like Bartholomew Kuma's Paw Paw Fruit. Paws were originally part of an animal's limbs, but when they became a Devil Fruit, they developed special abilities.
Murderous Crow represented crows while also symbolizing a massive swarm.
"Murderous Crow · Zombie Dance."
Catelal's entire body dispersed, instantly transforming into a flock of crows circling in the snow. They pecked at the pirates' corpses or burrowed directly into the dead bodies. After eating their internal organs and brains, they became the "inner" part of the deceased, controlling the corpses to continue killing enemies!
Pirates who had already fallen stood upright again. Their eye sockets sank, their eyeballs replaced by the eyes of crows. They twisted their limbs like resurrected zombies returned from the underworld!
Pirates who thought their comrades had fallen hadn't yet realized the severity of the situation when a blade struck them from behind.
On this battlefield filled with corpses, Catelal was in his element. Whether using enemy or ally corpses, he could make them stand again draped in skin and bone, returning to the battlefield like puppets!
"Damn it!"
A pirate was attacked by a dead comrade. He gritted his teeth again and thrust his blade through the corpse's chest, but it was useless. The corpse's organs had already been hollowed out. It was unfazed, continuing forward with the blade still piercing its body, launching an attack!
"Die!" Whether overwhelmed by fear or something else, the pirate became frenzied. He swung his arms wildly, frantically hacking at the corpse until it was shredded in pieces.
After being cut in half, the corpse finally stopped advancing.
The pirate breathed a sigh of relief, bending over with his hands on his knees and panting heavily. Suddenly, a black shadow shot out from the corpse's eye sockets!
"Agh!"
The pirate clutched his eyes. In that instant, they had been pecked out by crows.
Even Shiki was a bit unsettled seeing this ability. It was just like a ghoul. However, he didn't worry too much, as snipers had already begun targeting Catelal.
When gathered, Catelal's power was formidable, but when dispersed into crows, he wasn't that difficult to handle. The trouble was that unless all crow clones were killed, Catelal couldn't be truly killed.
...
Yukiko, dressed in a kimono, walked lightly across the ice field. She held Yukimaru in her right hand, the Ranba, a small cross-patterned blade seeming to come alive in the snow, the white blade reflecting the falling snow.
Before her, dozens of pirates charged forward at full speed.
Yukiko showed no fear. Her fair palm opened at her lips.
"Fubuki."
She blew out fine snow, as if stirring up a small storm on her palm.
The white wind blew, and after leaving her palm, it instantly turned into a violent gale! The white wind became a raging wave, instantly engulfing these people!
"Ahhh—"
"Can't move!"
"Feet are frozen!"
The charging pirates suddenly stopped in their tracks. Their upper bodies fell forward as if their feet were rooted to the snow. They felt their bodies freezing, even their joints sending sharp pains.
Yukiko's expression remained calm, walking leisurely into the frozen crowd. As she approached, these shivering pirates felt even the eyeballs in their sockets freezing and about to burst!
They couldn't move, their blood cooling as if ice crystals were flowing through their veins.
Yukiko swung her blade lightly. She didn't particularly enjoy bloody scenes, so as she swung, cold air seeped through the enemies' wounds. At their wounds, frozen crimson ice flowers bloomed, forever sealing away their lives.
[
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting on Patreon. You'll get 30 advance chapters immediately, plus monthly updates and bonus content. Every subscription keeps the chapters coming.
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Every new member literally buys me another week of doing this. Every existing member staying is the reason I'm still here.
]