Chapter 264: A Little Test of Strength
"From today, I am a member of the Dawn Pirates, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the former Hidden Mist Village, Kisame Hoshigaki. Please take care of me."
After the introduction, Kisame gave a grin like a villain, showing sharp teeth that could scare children, "From now on, please be careful with me."
"Wow..." After just extorting a large sum of money from Outluck III, Esdeath was quite interested in Kisame's self-introduction.
"Ugh...!" The timid Miku hid behind Eric . "Darling, how could you recruit such a terrifying person?"
"Don't worry," Eric reassured her, "Kisame is an honest man, he just looks scary."
Eric turned around. "Sorry, Miku is a bit shy and has a fear of men. She threw up on Deidara the other day for getting too close."
The victim of the great vomiting incident, Deidara, also wore a disgusted, gloomy expression.
"I've experienced a lot of this kind of thing," Kisame himself didn't mind, looking at Esdeath sitting over there, "That woman, she's sitting there full of fighting spirit, wants to test my strength?"
Kisame was impulsive, combative, and cruel, but compared to other more battle-hungry members of the organization, he was relatively calm.
Having just arrived in this world, lacking basic intelligence and unclear on the strength comparison, but based on Deidara's words, his strength in the Dawn Pirates wasn't among the top. Now, figuring out his standing in this world was crucial.
"Wait a second," Scáthach stepped forward and stopped Esdeath, "Esdeath, you always teach the new members. It's my turn this time."
Esdeath: "…"
"So this is the Esdeath the Deidara mentioned?" Kisame's left corner of his mouth curled, growing more interested in the upcoming battle.
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"Hah... Looks like we really have to fight?" Eric rubbed his forehead, fighting with new members was almost becoming a fixed routine.
"Oh, you're using a spear?" Kisame gripped the yellow handle of Samehada with his right hand, "Click," he unstrapped the cloth that had wrapped around Samehada.
"Yes, the spear is called 'The Piercing Death Spear.'"
The ominous magic spear flipped between his hands. Scáthach spoke, "Does your sword have a life?"
"Well... I didn't expect you to see through it so easily." Kisame smiled.
"Clack clack," the white bandages shook, and the sound of blade scraping echoed from within.
"Rip!" The bandages broke, revealing a long blade covered in blue barbs, moving like a living fish, its barbs swaying back and forth.
"Great Sword · Samehada," Kisame introduced, "Be careful, it has a special ability," then he looked toward Eric .
"Don't look at me. You two don't know each other's abilities, so figure it out in battle. I won't favor anyone," Eric spread his hands.
[Kisame's affection increased slightly, bond level unchanged.]
"Alright... Let's begin. A warrior speaks with battle," Kisame declared.
"Just what I wanted." Red veins appeared in Kisame's white eyes.
"Rune, deliver power to this place." Scáthach drew several rune symbols in the air, and a ring of red lightning appeared under her feet, vanishing soon after.
'Clack clack,' the barbs on Samehada shifted back and forth. 'Samehada hasn't consumed this kind of energy before; it seems it's not chakra.' Kisame received feedback from Samehada's sensations.
(Since there is no chakra in the pirates, I wrote that Samehada can absorb stamina and magic, but not in the way it absorbs chakra in Naruto, where it absorbs a lot at once, like draining all of the Eight-Tails' chakra in a few moves.)
"Not going to make a move?" Scáthach adjusted her stance, pointing the spear upward.
"In that case, I won't hold back!" Kisame quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Style—" A spot of sea water at the shore surged, and the swirling water leapt high into the air.
"Water Shark Bullet!" The water formed into a giant white dragon, charging toward Scáthach .
"Is that the hand sign? It's my first time seeing a real ninja form hand seals." Scáthach swung her magic spear, the cold gleaming blade making a circle, creating dozens of identical red long spears that cut through the air and rushed toward the white dragon.
"Hey, Scáthach , I'm a ninja too!" Deidara complained from the side.
"You don't even form hand seals, what kind of ninja are you?" Eric added, mocking him.
"Bang bang bang!"
The white dragon formed from the sea shattered as the red magic spears sliced through it, continuing their assault toward Kisame.
"Fast!" Kisame, unable to form hand seals in time, used the wide Samehada to block.
At the moment the magic spear collided with Samehada, it shattered into pieces and vanished into the air.
Samehada absorbed the magic, expanding slightly, the mouth opening wide, releasing a red tongue.
"Your weapon can absorb magic, I didn't expect that." In just the first probe, Scáthach understood the special ability of Samehada, which was a key strength of Kisame.
"Did it get exposed already?" Kisame smiled, "But—my swordsmanship isn't weak either!"
Before the words could even finish, Kisame dashed toward Scáthach , dragging the enlarged Samehada behind him.
"Ah..." Deidara couldn't help but close his eyes. If Kisame kept using Water Style, or directly launched a massive Water Style attack, the outcome of the battle might be uncertain. But he didn't expect Kisame to choose to fight Scáthach in close combat, her strongest area.
"Clang!"
The sharp red spear blade collided with the massive Samehada.
"What?!" Kisame exerted all his strength, his hands trembling, but Samehada could not move forward even a millimeter.
"My strength is still considerable, I didn't expect to lose in a contest of strength to you, Scáthach …"
"Is that so? You'll have to get used to this feeling," Scáthach could clearly feel her stamina and magic being devoured by Samehada. Though the amount wasn't much, she immediately realized she couldn't fight a prolonged battle against him.
"I wonder, can your weapon absorb Armament Haki?"
"?" Kisame froze.
"Clang!" The hardened Armament Haki spear blade instantly pierced through three of Samehada's barbs.
"What?" Kisame exclaimed, immediately jumping back, away from Scáthach . "I didn't expect one spear strike to damage Samehada this much…"
"Wow..." Samehada's mouth opened wide, howling in pain, constantly complaining to its master Kisame.
"It's just the energy of this world; looks like you can't handle it," Scáthach twirled her spear, "Do you want to keep fighting? Honestly, this little scuffle doesn't even count as a warm-up."
She had just obtained some useful information: After Armament Haki wrapped around the magic spear, Samehada's ability to absorb her stamina slowed down. Samehada could not absorb Armament Haki.
"Yeah..." Kisame smiled, "Then I'll let you experience my perseverance."
"Rain Four Sharks!" Kisame created four water sharks, which flew into the air.
(END CHAPTER)
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