A Cat and Mouse Game

**Date Started:** 22 September, 2019
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play**: Reigniting Ice
**Users Involved:** User:Lemasters30, User:GeminiVIII
**Setting:** New World, Castalos Island
**Characters Involved**:
* **Present**: Umori Kenshiro, Black Caesar

## Training Grounds

"Fwoooooosh!!", The sea parted as a reddish, crescent shaped slash passed through, agitating the waters. Another followed, this time, even stronger and faster than the previous one. From the coast of Catalos Island, a small, summer island with a local population of about 100,000 residents, stood two figures. One of them, the culprit behind these vacuums in the air, had again stanced up, preparing for another swing.

"You're using too much brute force. Focus your Haki outwards, let it flow. Your arm is simple a medium from which you will direct your strike..." The other, much taller man spoke.

"Tch!...Easier said than done," Answered Kenshiro, as he swung his blade diagonally, releasing even a much stronger slash.

"Yes. That one was good. You're getting used to it. Now, back to the boulder training."

"Uuhhg..."

Kenshiro walked over to an open area near the beach, where at least two dozen large boulders stood side by side. Each boulder had strings wrapped around them. This training was tough, as Kenshiro was supposed to cut through the boulders, WITHOUT damaging the strings in the slightest. This was part of his training with his avatar, Akisada Musashi, in order to master the advanced applications of Busoshoku Haki. Even while being a Seventh Dan level practitioner, he had yet to master the ability of extending his Haki outwards to such a point it can damage things internally, without damaging the outside.

Musashi was training Kenshiro in the art of Ittou Tenchi-Ryu, as it could prove useful for competing at a higher level, given the man's ambitions.

"Focus on extending your Haki outwards. No Haki tendrils, no Busoshoku: Bugutai. Just a pure burst of armored willpower, and COMMAND it to strike what you want to hit."

With a mighty swing, Kenshiro celanly sliced the first boulder in two. However, many of the strings broke as well.

"Again!", exclaimed Musashi.

A few feet away on a small hill, cloaked by rocks and the natural terrain of the surrounding space. Through the cracks of the rocks and hills, a small pair of green glowing eyes could be seen surveying the two man in their training efforts, seemingly small in size but still shrouded, unclear if it would be hidden from the sights on the bladed man and his mentor, though, it seemed unbothered and unwary to it’s situation...just watching and watching, and watching.

Kenshiro continued to struggle in his practice session. His Haki coated his blade, and he swung down with great force, creating a fissure on the ground, slicing the stone.

"No!...Again!", exclaimed Musashi. The wind blew through Musashi's hair, as he shifted his gaze from Kenshiro to a nearby hill.

"Not so subtle, aren't we?", he said with a neutral tone.

"Yeah, it's been pissing me off, breaking my concentration," said Kenshiro as he too, turned to face that same hill. He didn't have his typical hat, and his clothing was slightly different. He wore a black hakama and a kimono, and a cloack covering his left chest, shoulder and arm area.

"Fufufu...come on, don't be shy. Come and say hello..."

A small snail slid from out of it’s cover, revealing itself to the two men, approaching them closely, responding to their calls

It would simply slither up to the man, no sound, it had a pitch black shell with a gold and white striped body, glistening under the light of the sky as it made its way to the men. To the trainings eye you could see that it was a surveillance Den Den Mushi, not made to respond or call, though one oddity about it was the gold blinking light on the center swirl on each side of its shell, which would become more apparent as the snail stopped in front of the men, standing still, not moving or budging, almost as though it shut down or...died?

Kenshiro eyed Musashi, and looked back at the snail. He rested his sword over his shoulder, and wondered about this strange situation. "Umm...I wasn't expecting this. I thought I sensed something else..." he said out loud. he was glad this had caused a break from training, he was getting frustrated and was about to go mad.

Musashi simply stood behind with a blank expression, probably wondering as well, but who knows. From Kenshiro's shoulder, a golden arm protuded, belonging to one of his avatars, and proceeded to extend towards the snail.

"Oi...", with the avatar's index finger, he aimed to poke at the snail like a child would do. Kenshiro's curiosity was extremely child-like.

The light in the snails sell would begin to beep rapidly, faster and faster as the seconds went on. Second later the snail would make a long beeping sound before combusting on itself, a large flash of light preceded it, followed by a worried look in the snails face.

Left in the wake of the explosion was some slightly charred ground, but, the true oddity of the situation was what seemed like six pitch black playing cards, surrounding what seemed like a note on the ground. To Musashi this would have seemed like a weird anomaly, but, Kenshiro would know all to well what it meant.

“I’m coming for you, Ken.” The letter read vaguely, no sign, no location, just those words arranged on a letter, having been cut out of a book or magazine prior and seemingly glued on, once again, only a message Kenshiro would understand

"AAAH Shit!...Who have I angered now?!", Kenshiro exclaimed loudly while scratching his head. "And what the hell is with this sophisticated, ominous message?! Man, whoever did this has a lot of time on his hands! Right?", he asked, turning to Musashi, who just shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

He sat in the floor and crossed his legs, analyzing the letter further. "Let's see, who could be coming for me?". A single drop of blood ran down from his forehead to his cheeks. "Heh...a lot."

After a few minutes had passed, he shot up straight, almost excitedly, as if he had found the answer he was looking for. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell..." He turned his back to the snail and the letter and walked away.

## Twitching Whiskers

“You can run, but you can’t hide, Kenshiro. Your impatience is gonna bite us both in the ass, only yours will hurt worse.” Words echoed deeply from a large office tucked away at the very top of a marine base, on a island settled near the center of the grand line. Within this office sat a large desk an office chair turned to look at a large window that overlooked the beautiful view of the marine filled island. Sat in the dark chair was an equally sized man to the chair he sat in, holding a scotch glass in his hand as he rested his head upon his shoulders, his deep brown eyes piercing the glass before him, looking deeply into the distance, his eyes searching for something he would soon see

“Purupurupuruprupuru” A Den Den Mushi to the left of the man’s desk began to ring in a deep tone. He swung around in his seat, grabbing the phone from the desk and bringing it to his face. “Caesar here! I hope you have good news for me” Caesar said into the phone, awaiting a response from the opposite end of the phone.

"Yeah. I have to keep it brief. Your Kenshiro guy is on Catalos. Witnesses have said he's training with some kind of Samurai, but I couldn't get any further details." A deep voice spoke. This was an agent of Black Spade, his name is Tail, and he was the man who snooped through every Underworld deal in order to broker information for the Black Spades' cause.

“Good work, Tail! I’ve also managed to get some video footage from a not so threatening snail a sent to the pair.” Caesar said with a laugh, his deep voice making the snicker all the more infectious.

"That sounds good. I'm assuming the plan has been set in motion? If so, I'll start working on our other endeavors." Tail responded matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately, there's a deal closing in nearby so I have to focus my attention there. I'll call later, boss."

“Alright, make sure to put extensive focus on our other operations, you never know what he has up his sleeve.” Caesar spoke in a deep tone, interlocking his fingers and resting his hand upon them as the Den Den Mushi dropped the call, leaving Caesar staring deep into his office, pondering his next move, as well as, predicting that of his enemy.

## The Mouse Bites Back

Just off the coast of Catalos, a large marine ship would come into view, huffing along the oceans waves as the radiant light of the nights moon shimmered across the sheen and sturdy metal of the ship and reflected upon fluid waves of this ocean. The ship was alone, an odd sight to see, especially with who inhabited the island they closely approached. A watchful and educated eyed would see that the *marine* ship lacked the proper tags and badges, however, still bearing the traditional emblem of the marines, clearly a ship of their creation, but it would seem not of their use, the motors of this particular ship beared a different motive, one that’d soon be revealed.

An large ebony man stood at the helm of the ship, the man being Black Caesar, a highly ranked and respected and marine, for both power and bravery. His eyes hid a scary aura within him as he stared at the island, his arms held behind his back, alone on the ship, no body steering it, moving on its own as it traversed the oceans waters, soon to dock at its destination, now rising over the moon bathed horizon, clear to any eyes that would fall upon it.

Kenshiro was sitting on a hill near the beach. He was sitting outside a tent, in front of a campfire. Musashi sat nearby with his legs crossed, probably meditating. Kenshiro had gotten even greater control of his devil fruit, it seemed, as he was not straining at all, even after having Musashi summoned for a few days in a row. He laid down, contemplating the stars. He rarely had time to relax like this, he was always moving, plotting, attacking. This was a much needed rest from the chaos he had gone through since he became a Pirate, a bit more than three months ago.

Managing a large crew, and an even larger Underworld Organization can take a toll on anyone, and he was no exception. He had faced terrible odds, and powerful enemies, and had managed to survive and gotten stronger in the process. But to keep moving forward, he needed to stop advancing for a while, and go back to basics. The enemies and the odds would get even greater, so he needed to be prepared for it.

But something interrupted his short lapse of peace of mind, as he felt through Musashi something approaching. While lying down, Kenshiro "saw" and "felt" through Musashi what the avatar saw. A ship was approaching in the distance, however, it didn't have a crew. It seemed odd to be a marine ship, and only a single aura could be felt from it. Through the darkness of the night, Kenshiro enhanced his senses to "see" who it was.

He quickly got up, a bit startled. "Woah, is it really him? Now I get it...That message." He put his hand to his face and chuckled. "Fufufu...I've been meeting all these old faces recently. What a coincidence, or is it?...Caesar-kun..." He said to himself, as he walked down from the hill, making way to the beach to meet this familiar face.

“Ohh, looks like I’ll be greeted by the welcoming committee!” Caesar remarked in a fake gleeful tone, staring at Kenshiro as he made his was to the shore that his ship approached. Caesar made his way to the very edge of the ship. Before the ship would even dock Caesar would disappear from the top deck, disappearing in a flash, almost as though he was ripped from the space in which he stood, instantly and abruptly appearing on the shore before Kenshiro.

“How goes it, Kenny?” Caesar said in a friendly but slightly menacing tone, slightly towering over Ken who stood a few feet across from where he himself stood. Waving at the man in a friendly way, his eyes forming slits as he gave the man a smile, the terrifying aura all the more present.

Musashi had stayed behind on the hill, and merely observed as the two individuals met each other down on the beach. Kenshiro closed his eyes and smiled back, in his usual sarcastic manner. He was on guard, yet relaxed. He rested his palm on his sword's hilt, and slightly lowered his head in salute.

"I'm quite well, Caesar-kun. How do you do? What brings such a busy man to this corner of the sea? This couldn't be a coincidence, or is it?" Kenshiro opened one eye, visible from under his hat. The air felt as if it got chillier, and the space around them turned heavier, ominous. Someone weak of heart would've struggled breathing. It was barely noticeable, yet powerful. Kenshiro's aura, who many had described as sinister and outright dreadful, oozed slightly from his being. A bad habit he had, but had turned even harder to control the stronger he got.

"I don't suppose you've come to reminisce, so, answer me this first...old friend. Have you come for my head?", he asked as he lifted his eyes to lock them with Caesar's. His malevolent aura awaiting to burst even stronger, or retreat based on the man's answer.

“So it’s gonna be like that, huh? I haven’t even gotten to why I’m here yet.” Caesar responded, he eyes slightly opening, almost peering into Kenshiro’s soul as his aura would begin to clash with Kenshiro’s own. His aura enveloping the space around them with an evil warmth, almost like the aura of a demon who ripped through the gates of hell themselves, to a normal person it would be enough to make a person go mad with the overbearing fear stemming from the tall man as he returned Ken’s hostile demeanor.

“Oh, so you already know why I’m here, at least that cuts out the middle man. I’m sure you expected this after our more than unpleasant split.” Caesar said with a chuckle, his aura gradually becoming larger as the two men stood across from each other, the tension on the shore growing larger and larger, who would break it? We would soon see.

Kenshiro's aura suddenly retreated slightly as his own expression changed. "Ah, well. Forgive me. I've been on edge recently...Man!", he said as he removed his hat, and wiped some sand from it. "I keep meeting these people and old faces, but they always have something against me! You know, If anyone just wanted to meet me for some drinks, or to ally with my, I'd welcome that with open arms!"

He put his hat back on, and gazed into the ocean behind Caesar. "You may hate me for this, but...I don't remember how we left things, sorry!", he said in a humorous tone. "And secondly, can we find another way to resolve this? There are more people, far more interesting, and worth so much more! I'm just a measly rookie...What do you say, Caesar-kun?" Kenshiro closed his eyes and smiled.

From atop of the hill, Musashi shook his head and sighed.

“I wish we could, Kenny, but, I have to get retribution, can’t risk my operations exposed, now can I?” Caesar said as he took off his coat and folded it over his shoulders, exposing his ripped muscles and defined figure, still covered by a tank top with a marine logo.

“You may be a measly rookie in your own mind, but your bounty is worth a hefty bit of cash, and of course your head is worth a bit more in my circumstances.” Caesar said, placing his coat down on the sand, turning his gaze to the man who stood on the mountain to the rear of Kenshiro.

He sent a light wave in the direction of Musashi. “I’d hope Musashi intends to stay up on that cliff, but in case he doesn’t I don’t have a problem evening the scales.” Caesar said, eyeing his boat in his peripheral vision before turning his attention back to Ken, their aura’s still clashing as they conversed.

Kenshiro scratched his head, and watched as Caesar took of his clothes, preparing to engage him. He also looked back at Musashi, who had his eyes closed. "Hmmm...you're really stubborn, aren't you? Fufufu...we can make this work, I haven't exposed your dirty little secrets yet, have I? But...what makes you think I haven't a safeguard in place, if something ever happened to me, old friend? You know how meticulous I am..."

He pointed at Musashi with his thumb. "But, if you still wanna' have a go at me, Musashi won't interfere, unless you force me to...Fufufu. Though as I said, I'd prefer to resolve things like businessmen, for old times sake, eh?"

Grasping his sword, Kenshiro's aura met with Caesar's. It wasn't Haoshoku, no. It was just pure, raw intent. "If all those people that have gone for my head, haven't succeeded, what makes you think you will? Just because I know you, I'm offering a truce. As you know, I rarely am merciful..."

“Who knows, I might just surprise you. But no, truces are no fun, you knew what this would end in when you decided to put me and my subordinates at risk, and I’m just as merciless!” Caesar said, strengthening his aura in accordance to his increase in volume, his aura would now have extended to where Musashi stood nearly a mile away, there was no turning back at this point, and a truce seemed to be out of the question.

“So, should I come to you? Or will you come to me.” Caesar said, cracking his knuckles as well as his neck, the sounds of the cracks breaking the tension a bit as aura would still gradually expand.

Musashi eyed Caesar, he knew he was being challenged. However, the winds made Musashi wary of strange energies on the ship, but also something else...his master, Kenshiro. It was about that time, he knew what was coming. Musashi stood up, but decided to wait out what came next, as he hated the way it made him feel.

"Sigh...A pity", said Kenshiro. "I really tried for things to not end this way..."

A smirk formed in Kenshiro's face. His eyes went quite cynical, as his aura finally burst outwards in a powerful, violent wave. It was dark, yet it became even more so, as Kenshiro's aura enveloped them in pure obscurity. His aura had a terrifying quality to it. It was heavy, extremely so, and it brought with it the feeling of dread and utter despair. Anyone unfortunate enough to be enveloped by it, could hear the agonizing screams of victims, the smell of blood and death, as if the Grim Reaper himself had arrived from the depths of Tartarus. His aura pressed unto Caesar, with extreme heaviness, as if wanting to consume his very being. It would feel cold, and just outright foul, as it crawled upon his skin, taking shape and morphing into the most grotesque creatures of darkness and nightmares. Kenshiro's Haoshoku had gotten much stronger, and much more sinister.

The sand, the waves and the trees bent to his Haki's will. Nearby birds, critters and animals, even the trees and plants, bowed down to the sheer might of his Haoshoku. But their "bowing" was not temporary, no, their fall had been permanent. Trees and plants aged and withered away, the animals fell cold into the floor. Death was forced upon those weak enough to not stand in Kenshiro's presence.

Reality itself was being warped by black lightning, and his pitch black aura that sought to devour all. Kenshiro's eyes had turned pure white, and glowed brightly in the extreme darkness. Even Caesar's ship would shake violently under the display of his Conqueror's spirit. The aura had even reached Musashi, who gritted it's teeth and braces himself under the undesirable, dreadful wave.

One look above, and it would become apparent, there were no clouds, no moons, even the island behind would be consumed by expanding darkness, by an endless stream of hopelessness and nothingness. This was Kenshiro's will, the power to not only conquer, but to decide the fate and consume whatever stood in his way.

As his smirk turned into a wide grin, somehow, it glowed as well amidst the darkness. Just a pair of glowing eyes, and a twisted grin, directed at his adversary. When he spoke, Caesar would feel Kenshiro's voice coming from every corner of the pitch black setting. He would feel his voice creeping right under his skin, and miles away at the same time.

"**Come to me then...Black Caesar. I wanted to avoid this, but you were too stubborn. COME THEN!!**" His voice reverberated and spoke in various pitches, some sounding more demonic than human, as he motioned to Caesar to take the first move, if he dared to move.

Caesar gritted his teeth slightly under the mans aura, however he still stood tall even in the face of the mans overbearing will. The sounds of terror and screams of agony would rip through Caesar’s ears, the cold and dark energy of his aura expanding over the beach. Despite being center within and aura that would drive any normal person mad, Caesar let out a smile, “So I see you’ve grown quite a bit since we last spoke, but you’ll need a bit more than that to scare or force me into submission.” Caesar spoke.

As Kenshiro’s will began taking over the beach around them, Caesar stared at the man with the same smirk as the world warped around him. The Haki seemed to take some effect on him, but he was devoid of the fear that a normal person would be overwhelmed with. Caesar would begin to release his own aura once again, absorbing the space around him, fighting back against the effects of Kenshiro’s will as much as it could.

Caesar grew tired of their staring match and took it upon himself to act. Caesar’s arms became coated in a veil of darkness, much like the air around him. He would then clash his fists together, letting off a shockwave that would envelop and warp the space around them, sending tremors through the ground and pushing back at the waves of the ocean itself, shooting out in a dome like fashion aimed at the entire shore, including Kenshiro. “Now that you’ve set the stage, let’s start the show!” Caesar yelled one accordance to his attack, his body barely affected by the extreme weight of Ken’s aura, a testament to the resilience of his own will and aura.

"*Fufu...As I expected. You're able to keep your wits, Caesar. But this is merely a test*..." Kenshiro's voice echoed throughout the darkness, commending Caesar for his strength. But Caesar could not only withstand his overwhelming will, but fight back while basked in it. Of course, someone of Caesar's level would not be so weak willed to have Kenshiro's Haki overpower him. However, this wasn't merely a burst of aura, it was so much more. The area around them was being visibly warped by pure darkness and atrocious feelings.

Caesar's power burst through, reverberating with great force as it shot outwards of Caesar. Amidst the dark, an equally powerful blast clashed with the incoming shockwave, the clash briefly lighting their setting. However, in that brief second, Caesar would've seen the air slash that had clashed with his power. However, Kenshiro wouldn't be standing in his previous position.

Another flash briefly illuminated the beach, revealing a giant punch coming down right on Caesar's head seemingly out of nowhere at great speeds, creating a stream of air downwards as it came down, aiming to crush Caesar into the sand in one hit. Eyes peered at Caesar from all sides. The darkness intensified, as the incoming threat came downwards, while others, probably still lingered in the abyss.

Caesar simply let out a deep breath as he briefly licked eyes with Kenshiro before once agin being shrouded in darkness, his eyes would glimmer almost as if he saw him the entire time, slits would soon appear in his pupils as sharp as a blade and even more menacing than the aura that surrounded the beach as he almost peered into Kenshiro soul, watching as the punch came forth in sheer expectation.

Caesar would weave his head slightly to the side, allowing the punch to drift past his head completely, Kenshiro’s body still moving forward. With crushing speed Caesar’s now black veiled left hand would fly at Kenshiro’s elbows, aiming to slam into it with incredible force and snap it clean in half, however hidden in the midsts of that attack and shrouded by darkness Caesar’s fist would creep around Kenshiro’s own, gliding past it as it made its way to the mans own face with insane speed, the wind parting as the wrist ripped throught the aura and air around it and aimed directly at Kenshiro’s eyes, more precisely the very center of Ken’s eyebrows, the midpoint of his face. Caesar had a killers disposition, he made little sound and had little recoil or hesitation as his hands glided through the air with crushing intensity aiming to main and kill his opponent with every movement.

As Caesar's attack shot through, aiming to kill, he'd reach his mark, striking Kenshiro's skull with great force. However, blood didn't come out, instead, Kenshiro's body merely vanished as it made contact. Indeed, it was one of the many illusions created inside the complete darkness. Given that Kenshiro's aura was spread all over the place, it would've been nearly impossible to determine whether what he saw was the real Kenshiro or not.

However, a different aura would appear right behind Caesar, right before a blinding light would illuminate him and the area around him. The darkness still persisted, but this incoming light warned of an incoming danger. Behind Caesar had appeared one of Kenshiro's newest avatars, Asurauchi, the combination of two of his avatars, Asura-Deva and Asauchi. Asurauchi was massive, larger than Asura-Deva, and possessed dozens upon dozens of arms. At least six arms on each side enveloped Caesar, trying to prevent his escape. However, his real threat would come in the combination of Asauchi's ability, the power to assimilate elements and other things within him. Each of Asurauchi's four faces expelled a different element from their mouths, as the merged in front of him in a highly condensed sphere, just before being shot straight at Caesar with great force and speed. Air, wind, water and Kenshiro's own life energy where merged into a powerful beam that had enough power to obliterate anything on it's path. Even the mighty behemoth known as Cain D. Abel, after coating his body in his highly advanced Busoshoku and with the aid of his Isho Isho no Mi, suffered slight injuries and was sent shot through the depths of the earth.

The powerful and bright beam illuminated the area amidst the darkness, briefly revealing Kenshiro's position, standing a few meters up in the air, looking down on Caesar as his attack aimed to take him down.

“Nice trick, Ken...Good thing I know them all!” As Asurachi appeared behind Caesar the hairs on the back of his neck stood, his senses urged by the impending danger, Instinctively sending him launching forward, leaving an after image where he once stood, leading the new combatant to believe his escape would’ve failed.

As light engulfed the beach Caesar had Ken in his sights, he maneuvered to the floating man, even in the absence of all natural light, the powerful blast being set off as he shot towards the floating pirate in intense speeds, however rather than stopping as he approached the pirate, Caesar flew past him aimed at the highest mountain pique, standing directly atop it as chaos ensued on the shore below.

Caesar’s aura somehow became even stronger, despite the overbearing force of Caesar’s own, bringing a dark illumination over the area, brightening the shores to reveal the two figures and Caesar standing atop them all. Caesar would soon raise his hands to the beach, holding them out forward as the overbearing aura of Kenshiro’s would begin to dwindle as Caesar’s own fought back against it. In an instant purple flames would engulf the shore, spreading even as far as the oceans that the sands held at bay, streaking even farther to engulf Caesar’s entire ship in flames. The flames itself imbued with Caesar’s aura would be enough to drive a sane person mad, almost as though they were being dragged into the depths of hell and being burned alive by its heat, though the fire did no damage to a physical being at all, but it was an underlying feeling, one that was inescapable. “You’re not the only one with backup! I’d like to introduce you to my friends from the OTHER SIDE!” Caesar yelled, a dark aura would begin to scream from the deck of the ship, it was an amalgamation of many souls, bonded to create one shrieking aura that inched closer and closer to the shore, what lord inside it would soon rip its way to the shores, parting the seas to open up a place that Ken would soon see as worse than hell.

The blonde haired glanced at Caesar who had passed by him, and into a nearby hill. At that moment, Kenshiro retracted his aura, as it would be pointless to waste stamina by keeping his will upon the scenery, instead, it surrounded his body, keeping Caesar's own powerful aura at bay. However, his attention was again drawn to the shore, where some ghastly flames began to engulf it. With a swipe of his hand, both Asura-Deva and Asauchi separated from their merged form, and returned to Kenshiro's body. As it had done a few weeks before, their overwhelming beam of energy left a mark upon the earth, fissures that extended all the way into the depths of the sea, and into the center of the island, while a massive crater now adorned the beach.

The imposing presence of what the purple flames brought forth was indeed worthy of Kenshiro's total attention. It was obvious, that this wasn't the work of his own devil fruit, YET...Caesar's words, and something about the way these strange energies felt, reminded him of his own power, of his avatars.

As the beings drew closer, Musashi began to walk down the hill as well. His eyes were fixated on Caesar, but his senses were focused on whatever would appear on the beach. Kenshiro, without looking back to Caesar, addressed him.

"Fufufu...It seems you had some more secrets of your own, Caesar...But don't act so cocky. I have a few of my own..."

Musashi arrived at the beach. With a stern look, his silver hair waving wildly, he stood firmly on the sand, in order to confront whatever he had to deal with.

“Joining the fray already, Musashi? Well don’t worry, I ensure you, it’s more than worth it!” Caesar remarked, as he did, the aura from the boat would grow stronger and stronger...suddenly a deep creaking could be heard from the boat, even where is stood miles away, the sounds of creaking wood resonated through the beach, followed by the clicking of shoes. Moments later a figure would rise to the top deck, it’s presence could be felt even more as it rose to the view of Musashi and Kenshiro.

Soon a wave of plants and seaweed would rip through the waves and rise above the ocean, creating a bridge to the shore, covered in beautiful corals and plants. The bridge would begin to rumble as many decaying hands would grab onto every edge of it, rising from the ocean floor in what looked like rusty and groggy marine armor, donning guns and sabers as they came wave after wave, marching towards the shore in insane numbers, picking up speed as the visible became more restless, ruthless and berserk, drool falling from their lips as they ran to the shores some even utilizing what seemed like Soru and Geppo, arriving at the shore with inhuman speeds.

“Say hello to my subjects, Davy Jones’ Fleet!” Caesar presented as the creatures began to go after Musashi, aiming to rip him to shreds, their teeth and hands primed and aimed right at Musashi and Ken behind him, Caesar just watching from above, his eyes focused on them almost as though he was controlling every one of them individually.

"Ohoo?", Kenshiro smirked at the sight of Caesar's mysterious powers. The aura these beings gave was strong, incredibly so. However, Musashi stood by, not reacting whatsoever to the rampaging warrior corpses heading their way.

"If you'll excuse me," said Musashi, as he began a calm walk forward.

"Heh...go ahead," answered Kenshiro.

With his left thumb, Musashi slightly withdrew his sword from the scabbard. The tall man continued forward, as the wave of corpses continued forward. A silver aura surrounded his body, making his pale white hair shine brightly. With a calm, slow movement, Musashi drew his sword completely out of the scabbard, and stopped his advance.

"**Ittou Tenchi-Ryu: Twelfth Step, Silence**."

Musashi raised his sword upwards, before swifly lowering it into the ground, lightly tapping the sand. He finished his "step" with his sword pointing straight in front of him. As the deadly corpses would near him, extremely powerful slashes would rip them to shreds as they got inside the radius of fifteen feet around Musashi. However, the master swordsman would remain still, as nothing would remain unscathed when entered on his radius.

Even then, the slashes would multiply in strength within each foot closer to Musashi himself. This was just a fraction the power of the legendary samurai, regarded as the strongest user of Ittou Tenchi-Ryu in history.

As Musashi made his move Kenshiro turned towards Caesar, disappearing from his location, and appearing right in front of the Marine, hand grasped unto his sword. "let's see how YOU dance..."

Darkness once again permeated around Caesar, as Kenshiro drew close to him. The pressure of Kenshiro's Haoshoku would weigh unto Caesar, and will follow Kenshiro's movement as an additional force behind it. Aiming to overwhelm Caesar's senses, Kenshiro would then strike.

With a swift stroke, Kenshiro swung his black blade horizontally, aiming to slice Caesar in half. A green and black aura followed his Haki coated blade as it aimed at Caesar. "**Ittou Tenchi-Ryu: Third Step, Triple Soul Slash**!"

As Kenshiro's blade drew near, Caesar would've been struck first by a slash in the same direction. It was a slash that struck just before the actual blade struck. This was the epitome of the Ittou Tenchi-Ryu technique, the complete control of airslashes, who would bend at the swordsman's will.

As the first slash would strike, surely catching Caesar off guard if he'd be focused on the "main" blade, the actual blade would follow with Kenshiro's main body swinging at Caesar with his own masterful swordsmanship, swordsmanship that has been praised by the likes of Vice Admirals, the Numerals and even Abel himself. However, a third slash would come next, right after the physical one. A technique aimed to slice an enemy no matter their defense, slashes striking as shadows before and after the main blade. Even if Caesar managed keep up with the unorthodox swordplay, and to block with his haki, three powerful blades striking in the same spot would threaten to break through one's defenses, and undoubtedly, Kenshiro striking with his strength and blade would definitely be enough to require a strong and dense layer of busoshoku, given his incredibly Haki proficiency.

As Kenshiro approached Caesar, his body became slightly heavy, however, he didn’t waver one bit as Ken seemingly shaved away from where he once stood to appear in front of Kenshiro. As soon as Ken appeared whiskers sprouted from Caesar’s face, twitching as Kenshiro drew his blade, his senses were heightened ten fold, sensing the air around him, identifying the three strikes, Caesar had not a moment to stop and identify the attacks, he simply had to block them, as taking the hits, even one could be detrimental.

Caesar’s hands would sprout long claws, followed by a veil of shiny black, the nails coated in a tough wave of Busoshoku Haki, shimmering in the little light appearing under Kenshiro’s aura as his hand cut through the wind, appearing before the blade. Caesar would hold his claws forward, in front of the blades path, curving the two wind blades to the ground before him, shaving off that part of the mountain. Whilst blocking the physical blade itself Caesar put forth three claws, aiming to take on and redirect the force of the strike to the air and space around him, running off the curves of his nails.

“You should know, Kenny. My senses are top notch, nobody can get past a cats whiskers!” Caesar exclaimed in a threatening tone. “Also, I commend you little lapdog here, but, that was simply the inaugural wave as I like to call it, the next wave is next to come...and it’s not your average wave.” Caesar said in a deep and whimsical tone.

As Caesar spoke, the deep footsteps would once again return, the sound echoing across the beach as the aura of every creature the Musashi cut down returning once again, but instead, it emanated from that single figure. What would begin to step into the basking light of the full moon was a figure clad in a full tux, reminiscent of royal butlers, their shoes, shimmering as the wax the coated it sheened across the plants they stepped upon. Breaking into the light seemed to be a long snout, reminiscent of a goats or a dogs, however...it was almost skeletal. It’s nostrils were disconnected from its face, the bone white color of its face was enough to scare any normal would by itself, but as its eyes broke into the moonlight, the deep crevices where it’s eyes were once set would terrify any living soul, smoke creeping from the holes where it’s nostrils once were and where it’s lips once blocked it’s teeth. Finally as the being would fully break into the light it would lift its fingers and snap, a wave of electricity flowing throught the entire beach, every visible living organisms that still remained, fell as the wave would approach Musashi, even him should be wary of its effects

“**CLICK-CLACK**” The sounds of its bones clicking together resonating as he moved, easing up as the electricity moved through his body and all around him. “Ahhh. It’s been a while since I’ve been out and about, to bad it could be for more simple endeavors. I’d love a cup of tea right about now.” The being spoke, it’s voice rumbling through the ground in its deep tone. What was this creature?

Kenshiro grinned slightly at Caesar's moves. He'd never engaged his "old friend" in combat, but he'd hear of his great prowess. Swiftly adjusting and effectively parrying his attacks, only experienced fighters would be able to do it as he did. They clashed briefly as his claws intercepted his blade. He pulled back a bit after their clash, keeping himself floating with Geppo, and retracting his dark aura more. *"I need to control my output, because this drains my stamina faster if I use it carelessly"*, Kenshiro said to himself.

His attention was drawn down below, at the mysterious power and being awakening from the ship. It was strong, he could tell as much even from a distance. Smirking, he turned his head back at Caesar. "Stop with the big talk, my "lapdog" over there is possibly stronger than myself. Don't think some flashy lightwork is enough to scare him."

The lightning released from this "being" reached all the way to Musashi, who with a horizontal swing of his sword, summoned a whirlwind that redirected the wave to his sides with the aid of the wind. He eyed the new challenger, and with a stern look, he lifted his head up, as if looking down on the creature. "Hmpf...finally, something worth cutting. Come forth, creature of darkness..."

Squinting his eyes at Caesar, who now had a feline-like appearance to him, Kenshiro swung his sword downwards, releasing a strong, straight line wind blade that was aimed at Caesar's midsection. However, instead of going straight, the air slash turned right, and then upwards, forward, and finally downwards, all in sharp angles, now aiming to pierce the Marine's shoulder. "My claws are better..."

Kenshiro disappeared from view as the air slash closed in on Caesar, suddenly appearing swiftly on the opposite side the attack was aiming for, with his blade sheathed, he drew it in an upwards strike, releasing three, claw-like wind blades that accompanied his blades's own strike, for a total of four slashes, enclosing Caesar on both sides. "**Dance of the Wind Spirit: Piercing Claws**!"

“I highly doubt that.” Caesar responded. As the blades of wind were shot towards Caesar’s back and front, he didn’t move an inch, he stood still. Less than a second later, just centimeters away from being cut to pieces, the wave of electricity would arrive where Caesar stood and as it did so, a large discharge would take place, dispersing the blades of wind and extending even to where Ken would be, extending all around Caesar at lightning speeds, somehow failing to hit him, despite his position. This was the extent to that beings control over his god given power of electro, it was clear that whatever this creature was, he was, at one point, a Mink.

As the electricity would disperse from around Caesar he would shoot a quick nod to the being, which would be received with a gentle bow. Wasting not a second more, as the final sparks began to peter out, Caesar would disappear from where he stood, a layer of his aura coating his entire body, protections him from Ken’s overbearing influence.

In an instant with destructive speed, Caesar would appear to the rear of Kenshiro, two of his claws drawn, his eyes in sharp slits, focused on the nape of Kenshiro’s neck, aiming to take him out with one slash. Caesar’s claws would be coated in a veil of black before his arm would swiftly disappear, shaving away at the air around it, aiming to slash past the nape of his neck with incredible speed. Caesar moves in dead silence with amazing agility for his large size, he wasn’t just cat like, but he moved akin to that of a panther or a tiger, he was cold and calculating, moving with powerful and defined strikes, going for the kill with every one.

Meanwhile down on the shore, the skeletal mink would begin to walk forward once again, rising from his small bow. With every step he walked with intention, every step of his shined shoes would spread fear across the beach. As he took another step forward he would halt for a moment, an invisible wave of sorts would be felt by Musashi as he did so, it was unclear if this was just the force of his step or his own aura, but left in the waves wake would be a valley of flowers and plants, they all looked beautiful and calm, brightening the dark shores, their pastel colors breathing life into an otherwise lifeless battlefield. “Don’t you just love a good flower.” The mink said in a deep British accent, steam releasing from his facial orifices once again as a he would hold a mysteriously enchanting plant in his hands, looking up at Musashi, his gaze haunting, but something about his demeanor was studious, making him all the more confusing.

His eyes flared, as his gaze kept focused on Caesar. Images flooded his mind, images of a next even which had yet to happen. Kenshiro had trained his precognition to the point of receiving flashes of future events, however, during his battle against Abel, he still needed to decipher what his "future sight" wanted to tell him. Now, more than a month later, being the relentless man he is, he had much better control over his already highly developed Kenbunshoku. However, seeing as his body was still in motion, he had no other option than to be slightly struck by the incoming and unpredictable wave of electricity, although his airslashes managed to divert some of the force away.

He took a step back in midair, shaking his head after being slightly shocked, but just as he aimed to regain his composure, Caesar had slithered to his side, aiming to swiftly end the fight, with such stealth that was as good as Kenshiro's own. If he had depended on his five senses, he would've been dead in a flash, but his sixth sense alerted him of the danger, just in time for Kenshiro to swing his blade backwards, positioning it on the side of his neck, intercepting Caesar's haki imbued claws with his own blade. This was all too...familiar.

Indeed, surprisingly, Caesar's fighting style was aggressive, and every strike was with intent to kill...same as Kenshiro's. This made it all the more interesting, but also quite difficult.

Flashes of black lightning and force spread outwards as Caesar's claws made contact with Kenshiro's blade. Keeping Caesar's arm in place with his sword, Kenshiro's right leg swung in an angle, however, it wouldn't reach Caesar, but the force it created would, another, crescent shaped air blade aimed at gashing Caesar's midsection, a Rankyaku attack.

Should Caesar dodge or block, Kenshiro would press his sword against Caesar's claws, and once again, push himself slightly backwards, to prepare for his next move.

On the beach, Musashi took two steps forward, unbothered by the feeling the skeletal mink released. He eyed the strange flowers, and then laid eyes upon the stranger.

"A corpse, yet possesses this strange powers. It reminds me of someone..."

Pointing his katana at the creature, a powerful gust of wind enveloped the area, especially around Musashi. "I don't swing my sword carelessly, so tell me...are you here to assist that man? If that's the case, I'd have no qualms about striking you down, you beast...."

Caesar’s claws clashed with the blade for a short moment, his mind began to foresee Kenshiro’s attack for a moment, mere seconds before it took place, leading him to react with cat like speeds. Caesar would allow his hand to weave around the blade, aiming to slash across the man’s back all the way to where his leg would kick back, aiming to halt the Rankyaku kick and tear into the tendons in his leg, taking advantage of his defensive position for a moment.

“That’s some bold talk, I hope you can put your money where your mouth is. But yes, I’m here with Mr. Black, so since we’ve cleared that up, and you have none of those pesky *qualms* in the way...” the man spoke for a moment, his British accent and deep voice hiding his humorous tone as he dusted himself off and set his sights on Musashi. The being would once again snap his fingers, but this time, rather than a simple wave of electricity, a large rail gun like blast would shoot from the man’s hand with incredible speeds, aimed directly at him and right before the attack would connect he would utter a single sentence more. “Excuse my manners. My name is Yale, it’s a pleasure to be able to kill you today.” Yale said in a cynical and ash like voice, uttering then as the attack shot forward, his aura going along with it, his tone enough to to drive a person mad.

As Kenshiro's leg sprung back with the force of his kick, his senses barely reacted in time, covering the back of his leg in Busoshoku just after Caesar managed to graze it slightly. "You sneaky bastard," Kenshiro muttered, as he once again pushed himself back from Caesar, creating distance between them. Just a millisecond later, and his leg would've probably be ripped to shreds. It seems this man wasn't bluffing when he came in confident to take down an infamous pirate as Kenshiro.

His eyes glanced slightly at the beach below, the strange skeletal creature approaching Musashi with an ominous aura. His gaze quickly returned to Caesar. "You think that pile of bones is enough to take down a legend as Musashi? It seems you're denser than I thought," said Kenshiro mockingly. He sheathed his sword, and now held his scabbard horizontally right in front of him, with his right arm still gripping the sword's hilt.

"Time to get serious..."

A reddish aura formed around his body, as an arm sprung from his backside, and launched itself forward, though curving itself in order to hit Caesar from his right side. As it extended outwards from Kenshiro's body, the arm would grow in size exponentially, reaching near the size of a giant's fist once it neared Caesar. Right after that one, another fist followed, this time aiming from Caesar's left side, the fists large enough to encompass the man's whole body, and lastly, right from under Kenshiro's chest, a third arm, this time aiming a palm strike. Indeed, Kenshiro could manifest individual body parts of his avatars at will, and it was actually much less stamina consuming than summoning the avatar in their full form. Three of Asura-Deva's massive arms in their full form aimed to critically hit Caesar, as each of it's attacks carried tremendous force, evident by the numerous times the avatar had leveled an entire area by just hammering down on it with it's fists or punches.

Kenshiro had learned from his previous battles. Even though he fought aggressively and calculative, he often got caught off guard even when he had the advantage, as he often decided to hold back from the start. But not anymore. Caesar had made his intentions clear, there was no negotiation to be done, as such, the "testing" fase was over, Kenshiro was coming at Caesar with full force.

"Tch" Caesar jumped back as Kenshiro did, creating a gap between them. He watched as an arm sprouted from his back, he simply stood there until the arms seemingly closed in on his body crushing it. Caesar's aura would lie within the fist as it crushed in on what it would think was Caesar's body, but in reality, it was just a bag of rotten flesh and broken bones, but by displacing his own aura and leaving traces of it on the zombie that he snuck into his place. In truth, Caesar had shaved away just mere seconds before the closing of the fist, as he know existed just behind Kenshiro.

"Boo!' Caesar's claws became coated in a dark purple veil, aiming to stab into Ken's back and end it all.

### Bone is as Strong as Steel

Simply keeping his gaze etched on Yale, Musashi said nothing in response to the skeletal mink. As the beam of electricity came forward, Musashi's gaze turned even more intense. "Hmm, forcing me to reveal the Ittou Tenchi-Ryu's true power from the start, eh?", he thought, as his blade seemed to shift in and out of existence. "Heaven's Sword", Musashi muttered.

His blade seemed to "liquefy", and almost transparent. For the brief moment Musashi swung his sword down to intercept the electricity beam, his sword became "nothing", removing it's "physicality" in order to "cut' what normally couldn't be sliced.

The beam of electricity was sliced in two with a powerful downwards slash by the master swordsman, both parts spreading outwards tu Musashi's side, his pale hair waving violently. His blade seemed to return to it's physical state. This was the true power of the **One Sword, Heaven and Earth** swordsmanship of the Akisada Family.

Without wasting a single movement, from it's downwards position, making small, yet precise wrist movements along the way, Musashi then raised and extended his sword to his right side. As his motion finished, a total of eight, silver colored wind blades were shot towards Yale, four aiming from the front, and four from his right side. Musashi wasn't an amateur, as such, each slash was aimed to pierce and dismember whatever was unfortunate to be on their path.

Yale watched as the man slashed in the air, sending silver blades of air soaring through the air at him. Several thick tendrils of sea plants rose from the ocean, grabbing multiple zombies and throwing them at the blades of wind, dwindling the blades as the zombies and skeletons were dismembered and the blades dwindled into nothing. "I'm no spring chicken, such basic attacks have no effect on me.

As Yale spoke, five plant tendrils would rise from just behind Musashi, having wormed their way to him through the bridge they were connected upon. "*Now, let's see just how good his haki is, among other things.*" Yale thought to himself sinisterly, awaiting to see a response to the thick tendrils with purple flowers attached on their ends.