The Nine Tails barked out a haughty laugh as a swarm of Tailed Beast Bombs gathered at its maw. In a blink, threads of baleful aura thickened across the sky.
Marco's heart lurched. His blue-flamed wings snapped wide and he shot upward.
"Nine Tails, nicely done. I'll let you fish a Sea King tonight."
Rakuya nodded, satisfied. Using Marco the Phoenix to probe had told him what he needed to know about the fox's loyalty.
If there was a real headache in the shinobi world, it was the Nine Tails. Cunning. Vicious. A byword for malice.
But the one the system had summoned bowed to Rakuya with absolute deference. One hundred percent loyal.
Even if Rakuya smacked it around, the fox would not resist.
"Thank you, Master." The Nine Tails did not know what a Sea King was, but a reward was a reward.
Its arrogance burned hotter. The barrage at its mouth multiplied.
"This feels great. I can fire this many Tailed Beast Bombs at once... If I were still back there, I'd blow Uchiha Madara to dust."
"End it."
Hands behind his back, Rakuya watched. He had only matched the fox against Marco to gauge how it performed in the seas of this world. The answer was clear.
It did not lose to Whitebeard.
"Demon Fox Divine Flame."
The Nine Tails drew its tails in, then snapped them open. A brilliant white blaze raced out.
Boom.
White fire cloaked the fox from head to paw.
"Kid, taste grandpa's real power. Recruit me, will you? The kind I hate most is your kind."
The fox bared bright fangs. Its divine flame chased alongside the Tailed Beast Bombs, hemming Marco in.
Thoom.
Explosions hammered the firmament. The heavens went crimson. Yet within that storm the white flame still burned, unyielding.
It licked across Marco's skin and stabbed for his core.
For an instant, his mind stuttered. His body hung in midair.
The two figures collided. Rings of detonations rippled outward. Red and white fires chewed at each other, refusing to yield.
"What power is this? It is burning my soul."
Marco's eyes unfocused. The next heartbeat, the white blaze swallowed him whole.
Crushing his body was useless. Blue resurrection flames could mend flesh. So Rakuya had the Nine Tails strike the soul.
Shatter the spirit and the Phoenix could not rise.
The supposed trump card turned to ash in Rakuya's hands.
"Damn it. A soul attack."
For the first time, true danger shivered across Marco's face.
"Retreat."
He chose in a breath. He had no answer to an attack like this. Blue flames could only knit flesh.
Rakuya had seized his weak point.
"Next time, I will take back my pride." Marco's voice went cold. He beat his wings and tore free of the blaze, sprinting for the high sky.
"Running?"
Rakuya lifted his gaze. So the Phoenix did know fear.
"Bolting before we even trade blows. You are making Pops look bad. Since when did his sons get this soft?"
"Please. You are only swaggering because you have that monster fox. Lose the pet and I crush you to paste."
Marco fled and jeered in the same breath.
"Master, let me kill him. He called me a monster." The Nine Tails' eyes flashed. Chakra pooled at its claws.
"Wait. I will handle him."
Rakuya chuckled. "Marco, I will give you a chance to restate that. What did you say?"
"Hard of hearing? I said without your fox, I would butcher you in minutes."
The Phoenix's taunts sharpened.
"Where do you get that courage?"
"Courage? I am a division commander under Whitebeard. Kid, I have eaten more salt than you have walked steps."
He hovered overhead, looking down on Rakuya. At this range, he was sure he could still escape a fox strike. That certainty made him bold.
"Is that so?"
Rakuya smiled instead of fuming. Marco was thinking too simply. He had poked a tiger and did not even know he stood in its jaws.
The robe was the same as ever, red clouds on black. If Whitebeard's side had proper intel, Marco would never dare provoke the one called Flowing Cloud.
Otherwise, give him ten lives and he still would not.
"What, did I hit a nerve? Without the fox, what can you do? One on one, coward. I will even give you an arm."
Whoosh.
Rakuya vanished from the ground and streaked into the sky. His speed was blinding.
All Marco felt was a flare of light. Then the masked face filled his pupils, rushing closer, closer.
"That speed."
Cold ran down his spine. Death draped its cloak over his shoulders.
"Damn it, you are this strong too."
Panic hit like a hammer. He pumped his wings to flee.
Run. Run. Run.
He did not even think to counter. He could not win.
Killing intent roared off Rakuya in a wave. He lifted his right fist and, in the Phoenix's wide, frightened eyes, drove it clean through Marco's chest.
"Marco, when I do not raise a hand, it is not because I am weak."
"It is because you are not worth my hand."
Blood geysered. Blue flames sputtered and died. Only a thread-thin wisp still clung to life, flickering in the wind.
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