"Damn it!" Senbon Sakura's petals swirled frantically, barely avoiding a crushing blow from a massive staff. "If Lord Rosen had used Sode no Shirayuki instead, or if I had his Haki..." Her voice was strained, filled with the desperation of a spirit cut off from its master's full power.
As a materialized Zanpakutō, she could indeed unleash the original Senbonzakura's abilities, but without Rosen's Haki flowing through her, the disparity was crushing. In the New World, Haki reigned supreme. Devil Fruits alone could cause chaos, but against true masters, they were ultimately restrained.
Moreover, Senbon Sakura and the delicate Sode no Shirayuki were not rule-based Zanpakutō like Kyōka Suigetsu, nor did they possess the overwhelming raw power of Ryūjin Jakka. They were currently fighting a desperate three-on-one against Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and Hongo.
Sode no Shirayuki was faring no better, her ice petals scattered by Ben Beckman's relentless gunfire.
"Huh?" Just as Senbon Sakura sensed the fatal strike coming from Hongo's Armament Haki-infused staff, her footing suddenly vanished. It wasn't a stumble; it was as if the solid floor had turned into thin air. She plummeted, her spiritual body slipping through the shadows of the deck.
"What?" Hongo missed, staring in shock at the space where the samurai girl had stood.
"Disappeared?" Yasopp and Lucky Roux widened their eyes.
Simultaneously, Sode no Shirayuki—cornered by Ben Beckman's bullet—sank into the darkness beneath her feet, vanishing before the shot could pierce her heart.
"A shadow?" Ben Beckman's eyes narrowed. He was the intellectual apex of the Red-Haired Pirates. After witnessing the Zanpakutō vanish, his gaze shifted to the floor, analyzing the faint darkness pooling where they had stood. "They're hiding in the shadows," he muttered.
He raised his rifle, aiming at the pool of darkness where Senbon Sakura's sleeve had last been visible. But the moment his finger tightened on the trigger, a shadow behind him stirred.
Zzzzzip!
From the shadow beneath Ben Beckman's own feet, a black-and-white curved blade erupted, silent and deadly, aimed straight for his spine.
Ben Beckman's eyes flashed red. "What is this ability?"
He threw himself forward, soaring into the air while hardening his back with Armament Haki. The blade tore through his skin and muscle before the black armor finally solidified, preventing a fatal blow. He landed, stumbling slightly, a cold sweat breaking out on his brow.
"Insidious," he breathed, clutching his bleeding back. "Like a ghost haunting the deck."
Thud.
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed from behind him. Ben Beckman whipped around to see Hongo, the veteran fighter, impaled by a blade emerging from the floorboards. A black blade and a white blade—twin fangs rising from the shadows.
"There are two!" Ben Beckman's pupils constricted.
"Hongo!" Yasopp and Lucky Roux roared, fury overtaking their shock.
Meanwhile, across the frozen deck of Judge Forbidden Zone, Shanks locked eyes with Monkey D. Garp. The clash of their Haki shook the air, a storm of pressure and lightning. But hearing Hongo's cry of pain, Shanks' focus broke for a microsecond.
It was all Garp needed.
"Eat concrete, youngster!" Garp roared, his fist coated in jet-black Armament Haki. He grabbed Shanks' sword, Griffin, with his other hand and stomped the deck, creating a sonic boom that dragged the Yonko into the sky.
Then, like swinging a baseball bat, Garp slammed Shanks down into the frozen sea.
CRACK!
The ice shattered, a crater of splintered white erupting as thunderous Conqueror's Haki vibrated through the water. Shanks sank, vanishing into the freezing depths.
"That Rosen kid..." Garp huffed, dusting off his hands. "Just how many tricks did he pack into this Judge Forbidden Zone?"
He turned his gaze toward the entrance of the area. Under his observation, a silhouette emerged from the shadows.
She was tall, voluptuous, with purple hair cascading over her shoulders, wearing a low-cut dress that framed two snow-white breasts. An eyepatch covered one eye, and a skull ornament adorned her head. In her hand, she held a Zanpakutō that radiated an aura of rule and authority.
Behind her, a smaller, younger girl followed. Dressed similarly but obscured by a black cloth wrapped around her eyes, she too held a blade.
"If the big fish escapes," the voluptuous woman said, her voice sultry yet commanding, "we deal with the small ones."
She waved her hand. Instantly, Senbon Sakura and Sode no Shirayuki rose from the shadows behind her, fully restored.
"Hana-nee," Senbon Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Kotsu."
The newcomers were Katen Kyōkotsu and Shōtengai Kyōkotsu—the materialized forms of Rosen's most dangerous Zanpakutō.
While they didn't possess the sheer destructive heat of Ryūjin Jakka or the perfect hypnosis of Kyōka Suigetsu, Katen and Kyōkotsu held a unique distinction. They were rule-based Zanpakutō, masters of the most insidious and unpredictable power set in the arsenal.
Among the many Zanpakutō guarding the Judge Forbidden Zone, Katen Kyōkotsu was the highest-ranking commander. Rosen had entrusted her with this sector for a reason.
"Hana-nee," Sode no Shirayuki stepped forward, bowing her head. "Thank you for saving us. I will never forget this debt."
Senbon Sakura, usually arrogant and proud, clenched his fist. He bowed stiffly. "I underestimated them. I owe you my life."
"Rosen entrusted you to me," Katen Kyōkotsu said, raising her delicate hand, her fingers spreading as if conducting an orchestra. "And I will return you to him, alive and intact."
She glanced at the frozen sea where Shanks was surfacing, his Conqueror's Haki flaring like a volcano, only to be met by Garp's terrifying presence.
"But understand this," she murmured, a hint of apprehension in her single visible eye. "If that red-haired man had made a move without Garp to stop him... neither you nor Sode no Shirayuki would have survived a single exchange. Haki is the ultimate counter to our kind. And his is absolute."
She turned back to the battered Red-Haired Pirates, her blade humming.
"Now," Katen Kyōkotsu smiled, cold and dangerous. "Shall we dance?"
—-
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