Rakuya looked to the sky, gaze deep and unreadable.
The Nine Tails was strong. Very strong.
"Nine Tails, finish him."
Watching the Phoenix caper above like a clown, Rakuya gave the order.
"As you command, Master."
A point of blackness opened before the fox, and then countless pinpricks of darkness rushed in from every direction, gathering at its maw. Malice surged. In the space of a heartbeat, the black condensed into a pulsing sphere.
"Tailed Beast Bomb."
Marco's face tightened. His thoughts lurched. What a terrifying force. If that thing hits me, even if I live I will shed a layer of skin.
He did not try to meet it head on. Only a fool would.
As a division commander under Whitebeard, Marco's reactions were razor sharp. He jinked left and right, breaking into a harrying flight. The sky was his domain, and he wrung every last advantage from it.
Even so, when the shot detonated the world shook. A column of crimson fire punched up through the clouds and the shock front rippled outward like a collapsing mountain range.
The roar rattled heaven and earth. The blast wave scythed toward Marco with unstoppable momentum.
Energy fanned out in all directions. A distant ridgeline simply shaved flat under the sweeping force.
Fire howled across the sky and swallowed the Phoenix whole.
It spread faster than he could fly, by more than double. There was nowhere to run.
"Can't dodge it? Damn it." Horror flashed across Marco's features. The scarlet aura wrapped him in an instant and he felt it, intimately, a savage malevolence forcing its way through his skin and tearing at him from within.
The detonation carpeted the high air. Aftershocks ripped outward to scour everything they touched.
Ufole stared, slack-jawed. "A Whitebeard division commander… Marco the Phoenix… is getting crushed? What is that monster? And that monster listens to the god's orders."
Momousagi was equally stunned. Since meeting Rakuya she had been shocked daily, and today was no exception.
"That destructive power… is Marco dead?"
"In front of him I was a hatchling, there to be butchered. In front of Master's subordinate, he can only take a beating."
"Well done, Nine Tails. Hit him again."
Rakuya played effortless commander, standing atop the fox's head. He only had to give the word. It also told him exactly how far the Nine Tails could go here.
"Yes, Master." The fox's fangs showed in a wicked grin.
The obedience looked almost cute. The smile did not.
Marco's silhouette had vanished in the storm. The bloody aura thinned and blew away. Only a single thread of blue flame continued to burn in the sky.
"Still not dead. As expected of a Mythical Zoan. Near-immortal."
Rakuya narrowed his eyes.
As he spoke, that dying wisp of blue fire surged as if a gale had struck it. In a blink it swelled seven or eight meters high and blew the malice back. A brilliant phoenix burst free with a piercing cry.
Azure flame drew together and Marco reformed within it.
"Nine Tailed Demon Fox, it is useless. No matter how strong your attack, I revive. That is my power."
Back from the brink, Marco sounded steadier, shoulders set. He was not a Logia, yet his rebirth eclipsed most Logias. Few people in the world could claim such a cheat of an ability.
Rakuya's eyes lifted, amused. "You died once already. You ate a Zoan, not a Logia. How does dying feel? Would you like to try again?"
"Hmph. So what if I die once? No matter how strong your hit is, I can revive."
Rakuya knew Mythical Zoans were rarer than Logias and monsters besides. Sengoku of Marine Headquarters had the Human-Human Fruit, Buddha model. Every one he knew was outrageous.
And Marco the Phoenix was no exception, able to resurrect again and again.
"Marco, infinite revival? Do you take me for a child? Even if your power is terrifying, if I kill you a hundred times, a thousand times, will you still revive?"
"Heh." Marco scoffed, flapping high above, blue wings casting light. He stared down at the man standing on the fox's skull. "What do you think you are? The stronger the technique, the heavier the cost. How many times do you think you can fire that shot?"
"How many times? Watch and find out."
Rakuya smiled, unruffled. If the man refused to yield, then he would be beaten until he did. Beaten until he trembled.
Marco dived first, a meteor cloaked in fire.
"Going for close combat?"
Rakuya read him at a glance. His smile turned faint. "Nine Tails, blast him to the point he questions his life."
Marco was clever. He was betting the fox could not repeat that last shot in quick succession. In Naruto's world, perhaps the Nine Tails could not have. But the system's repair made its recovery obscene.
The fox dipped its head.
Right before Marco's confident gaze, a cloud of black motes swarmed together again. A baleful power boiled into being at the fox's mouth.
"Tailed Beast Barrage."
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