Task of the Topic:

Task Enemies Attribute References:

Kitaro tuned out the world around him as he walked on the smooth surface of rocks within the civilized, underground, and cave region of Gubo. It had been nice in there as he was afforded respect by the people who held power here. Kitaro was too wise and had been around the block enough times to understand that this respect as due to his money and connections rather than his presence or airs, but respect was respect. To Kitaro, this was no insult but rather a good inspiration to keep up his business, money, and connections if not expand them more than he is already planning. But those thoughts needed to be pushed away from his mind, it could easily be fatal to him to have such distractions.

Unfortunately, his companion, slave, and pseudo friend but not quite worth that title Flounder was not much for company, conspiring, or planning with. He is useful to Kitaro, and against his better judgment and policies about others, Kitaro has become somewhat attached. Not so much the attachment between friends that would be a bond, but attachment to a favored tool, or a familiar weapon that eased the task at hand. Kitaro always found it difficult to see him as an equal life form, they were of different races, he is extremely timid and arbitrary in his ambitions. He has only a single care in life. Polar opposite of Kitaro's entire life purpose and direction. Thinking about it, Kitaro spit to the right in front of where his slave Flounder was walking to try to inspire a comment, though the air remained a dank and dissapointingly silent.

The two passed under the edge of the waterfall, Kitaro glanced out of the corner of his squinty and thin slits of eyes to watch his slave's face when he encountered water, looking for some hint that he had a free will. Alas, however, Flounder simply walked through his natural element, his birth element, his birth right even as some Fishman reasonably claim it. A dissapointment, but a tool and one that has proven too useful to really correct this far into Kitaro's journey through life. He would likely die one day due to his timidity and experience only in ships but Kitaro would look for the way to make the most of it from here on. Though this thought was immediately followed by some justifying thoughts and reasons from Kitaro about how he was not actually wanting to sacrifice him but that it would probably end that way and better to die for a purpose than being in the way.

Anyone who dies from another, wants it to at least be on purpose. A good death, and a memorable life is all one can ask for at the end of the day and when the reaper calls. This is the guiding principle, the mantra if you will, of Kitaro when he is heading into dangerous territory and knows full well that he may not make it back alive. It eased his mind that everyone died at the end and that he was capable of making his death count at least, he was strong enough and had enough skill and intelligence to make a worthy death for himself. Though as he began to walk on jagged rocks and nearly lost his balance on the slickness of the rocks. If he was too concerned with his own death, it was now seeming likely that he would trip on a rock and break his neck on some uncivilized beach to become food for bats and bears and spiders. A thought that Kitaro quickly banished from his miind.

Focusing on the rocks and scanning the horizon and switching his focus from what the future might bring and whether or not he is ready for it and will be able to act in a way to make it dignified. Such thoughts should have been left back in Wano in the first place. Instead, If the locals that set him up to this task were to be believed traveling away from the typical path between the beach and ports and the cave entrance in any significant way will provoke attacks by the monsters of the island; Kitaro decided to add a bit of spice to his provocation by talking loudly to his slave and swinging his sword about in the air creating vibrations in the air for the sake of alerting anything as sensitive as the sensory hairs of a predatory spiders he was aware were hiding out and waiting for him.

"FLOUNDER! Stand at attention! Have you ever been assaulted by a Spider that was nearly as big as you? Have you ever been attacked by someone that's even half of your size? You need to get away from the ship more. I need you to be more helpful in the future and I don't want you to say okay, I want you to tell me how and give yourself an actual mind. Just, you know, remember the order of things around here. HAHAHAH" Kitaro was mostly jesting with his slave, but only half using this as something that he could speak at length about and loudly. He did want the Fishman to get himself together and become more useful by being able to actually think independently of orders. He was beat too hard, broken too long, hopeless in a mind that has only the purpose of things that can't be taken away from it. !!!! A sense much like a spider reactionary danger sense activated within Kitaro as he was thinking of his slave with a mix of both pity and dissapointment.

The Spiders had come and they had come hard and fast. Surrounding Kitaro by emerging from the crags and cracks between the rocks, invisible to those walking until they could spring upon their prey. Kitaro supposed that his disturbances, loud noises and vibrations in the air, and general presence coupled with that of a very large and very heavy Fishman that gave off the appearance of a warrior as well as the physicality had drawn them out. Alll good reasons to attack as a pack.

So, surrounded from all sides. two against a hundred, coming from Eight directions total. North, North-East, North-West, East, West, South-West, South-East and South.  and the sub directions that would imply a 45 degree angle upon a compass. Each group comprised of 13 Spiders, save from the group approaching from the East, where he had just been walking and currently what he had his back to, which contained only 9 of the giant spider beasts. As they closed in from 50 meters, to 40 meters, and approaching still; Kitaro drew his sword and spoke to Flounder as well as himself. "Their numbers imply only that they know they cannot defeat us by individuals. We are the greater warriors, the greater force, they can only win by overwhelming us and that can only happen if we give them the room, time, and openings to do so. If you fall I will mourn but move on, if I fall, you will be a slave here forever, fulfill your duty as best you can and I will compensate your lack of experience and skill with my own lifetime's worth." 20 meters and a dense cloud in the form of a circle above the ground had formed around the two. Spiders leaping from rock to rock, their legs providing much greater balance than bipedal legs ever could. It began there. A place that would forever be nicknamed, The Rocks of 800 legs after today. Kitaro grinned and braced himself, his mind racing with adrenaline and excitement to begin taking his life in his own hands to move forward once more...

450/450 Stamina

Kitaro was grinning subconsciously at this point, while Flounder dug his bare feet into the ground and raised his arms in a half assed mix between a boxing stance and arms being simply held in front of the face. The Kenbonshoku Haki that Kitaro was using for his battlefield awareness easily informed him of this and made it a part of his mindset, and he knew instantly that he was going to be covering for his poor and confused slave associated. But, at least it would draw the spiders toward an easier target and he would be able to pick them off much easier than if they were pilin down on just him. With that, his mindset switched to something like 65% offense and 35% defensive and his sword drawn began to sing through the air and he moved and felt what he was doing within the spirits of spiders, fishman, and himself alike through the color of Kenbonshoku Haki.

The spiders began to leap, though since they had surrounded the two and they were so outnumbered, they could not all physically fit in, in a way that would allow all one hundred to attack simultaneously. Hardly a blessing to count on, however, as being surrounded is a near impossibility to defend from due to the constant risk and exposure to simultaneous attacks from more angles than possible. Even if weak, everything adds up. This is for the long term, not just for fighting the Spiders. Strategy must come before violence in raw form. A key component to how Kitaro conducts business as well as combat when he is put in a situation involving it.

Spinning to face the Southern incoming Spiders, where fewer are attacking from than the other sides, even if only by 25% of a numerical decrease, it still meant less resistance and less risk so long as he didn't expose himself to the other spiders. There was no option to hold back and take a route that would be less costly and not guaruntee results. If he and Flounder were caught in the middle of an army of spiders on all sides, they would both eventually fall, only a matter of attrition in regard to how long they could take being bit and beat while still being able to kill them back. So, Kitaro decided that he was going to take a route that may prove to be more than necessary, but better safe than sorry when it's split second and a life depends on it.

"Flounder, Flank! RISING SUN!" With that, Kitaro dashed forward at the oncoming spiders from the South. Being in a mob mentality and attacking as a group they did not slow down or stop or raise their defenses. Not to mention that they don't have sentience in their brain but simply instinct and experience. So when Kitaro's dash and vertical slash down into the first Spider to be within range of his Titandachi, the Skill of Setting Sun Bushido began the battle with a bang. Exploding outward in a cone vaporizing the spider that had already been cut, the moment of the cut, and spreading outward and wiping out the nine Southern spiders. As Kitaro and Flounder on the side continued to move forward through the dust of the explosion, Flounder was able to bring his fists, interlocked at the fingers with one another, down on four more spiders that had been injured in the legs by the explosion from the South-West and South-East.

When the dust fully cleared and the hairs of the spiders legs were able to sense the vibrations once more to see, Kitaro had not had enough time to begin another assault. Unfortunately, his explosion was just not large enough to keep them in a state where he could massacre them. However, now all the spiders were North of he and Flounder. "Flounder, I know you're not a great warrior or have any experience, but I just need you to hit them as hard as you can whenever they begin to circle around. I can take care of the rest." With that, Kitaro steadied his stance, spread his legs to be squared with his shoulders, and held his katana where the hilt was at waist level, in a ready stance. As the Spiders were now forced to come at him in a line, they were forced to come in several rows at Kitaro. With all the spiders still charging him, numbering at 87, assuming that there had been a hundred even and Flounder hadn't done something on his own, he wouldn't of course but mental math didn't afford personality timidity when some giant rock-dwelling spiders had decided they would try to overwhelm him.

In the same split instance, Kitaro decided that he would end this with the spiders as quickly as he could. Rather than engage the spiders, he would unleash a fury upon them that would wipe them out and make a point to any other animals that would be in the area, capable of sensing his spirit, as he was sensing the spirit of the spiders as they charged at him in a mass. Kitaro was allowing them to, watching and sensing them as a sixth sense to make sure that they were staying within the range of his plan. While it was far more exhausting than he would have liked or decided upon using at once, it had turned dire much faster than he had anticipated. The immediate danger and scremaing need for him to eliminate it as fast as possible aside, the cold logic of the situation is that he would likely end up spending much more energy and approaching exhaustion, maybe even requiring rest by dealing with them individually. It was a trump card that he was playing right away, but Kitaro is the kind of person to go straight for the kill and ignore the drama and theatrics of fighting by testing his weakest abilities. His awareness of them through the color of Kenbonshoku told him all that he needed to know. Kitaro raised his katana after these brief moments of thought, extending it by cross his right arm over his chest and pointing the blade directly outward to his left, blade edge aimed forward as he inhaled and began...

405/450 Stamina
185/200 Haki Stamina

Sixth Sense Kenbonshoku Haki Perk active

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 1,049
Total Word Count: 2,346

OOC Note: Forget to list the number on the first post so listing it here. Apologies! First Post = 1,297

"Gamma Ray." Kitaro swung as fast and hard as he could with Titandachi, cutting through the air in a straight line from it's original position extended to his left until it came to rest extended in a straight line, horizontal to Kitaro, extended to his right. The motion happened in a blur to all of the spiders, even to Flounder, and somewhat to Kitaro himself, having swung the blade as fast as he could, knowing himself to be far faster than what the spiders had shown in their charges and movements so far. However, the rocks here were less jagged as they were closer toward the beach and in his push past the spiders. He had been in too much of a rush to notice the advantage that he had gained above the eight legged creatures who would far exceed his own talent at balance.

Kitaro would come to notice these things several seconds later. In the moment of Kitaro's swing, however, a bright light emerged from the blade as it swung, too fast to see until it was already well on it's way, traveling faster than Kitaro could physically sprint. To those who may be hiding and watching, the creatures of the island within view of the battle occurring, Anyone without a barrier between their eyes and the light, Flounder, and most definitely the Spiders; the bright light shone and stole the show for that moment. A beacon like lightning striking outward from the ground and flying away so fast that to almost the entire world, they would only be able to see it as a shadow. This was arguably Kitaro's most powerful expression of his swordsmanship skill while also being the fastest anything he had ever witnessed upon every use.

Before the Spiders were away of what was happening or what hit them, the light was already passing through the front of them. Kitaro's eyes caught up a moment behind it's path of destruction but his sensory awareness of the area gave a clear enough picture that he could have closed his eyes. Kitaro had no doubts of what his Gamma Ray technique would do to them and had taken the time to use a less exhausting technique previously to ensure his approximation of the combat ability of the Spiders. Most importantly, their durability in regard to strikes that would be able to blast away normal humans. As it was for almost all battles that Kitaro personally engaged in, he had predicted and done all that he could to ensure that his plan would win before the battle ever got the chance to truly begin and pose him any greater risk than that which the simple act of combat always carries. Essentially, Kitaro knew he had won as soon as he saw the first spider suffer the slightest damage of the explosion as it was engulfed.

Within a second of the light emerging from Kitaro's blade, it had passed through the center of the lines of spiders coming after him. Being able to face them all from a single direction guarunteed his ability to hit as many of them as he could with as little energy wasted upon them as possible. He had been warned of the spiders, but he had been told that they were nothing compared to the threats that would come farther outside of the normal routes from the sea to the civilization itself. The sheer width of the light covered 10 meters  (33 Feet) and was easily wide enough to encompass the width of a column of charging Spiders. While they were hardly in a formation and condensed tightly, there was a definite front line with the rest of the Spiders trying to get as straight of a shot and reach him as quickly as possible behind them, not spread out and tactically approach him. It would have been impossible for Spiders to be able to plan such a way regardless, but having never faced them Kitaro did not want to underestimate.

As the light blanketed the front, sort of, row of Spiders they dissapeared with the ones behind still moving forward when the light reached them and they suffered the same fate. By then the Spiders had perceived the light itself but while their speed of thought was able to notice there was a light, nothing can move faster than it can think, not that Kitaro had ever encountered. The light simply engulfed them all, and from a distance they would appear to have been shadows that dissapeared from existence by the light that passed over them. However, from a closer perspective and in reality they had been struck with a cutting and blunt force so powerful that their bodies had partially liquified and vaporized by the continuing burst of bright compressed air. This left behind nothing much of the spiders but some legs that ended up scattered along the rocks where they had been charging a moment before and some blueish/greenish bloodstains along the rocks, soon to be washed away by the high tides in days as well as hours to come.

As the light faded in the distance a full 60 meters away from Kitaro and well beyond the Spiders, slicing rocks that were raised and jagged in the moderate distance ahead to pieces as it went. At the end, the light of the compressed air faded out nearly as quickly as it was created and the world stood silent, save for the sound of the gentle waves of a low tide crashing onto the beach to the duo's right. Flounder still stood next to Kitaro, dumbstruck at what had happened though Kitaro paid him no mind while he scanned the area for signs of any more Spiders. There had been quite a bit and a swarm of enemies does not necessarily mean that they all had been defeated. All the while, maintaining his sword in a previous stance he had taken with the hilt gripped with both hands in front of the waist and raised vertically in front of his body slightly left of the center. Before a minute had passed, Flounder's jaw still hung agape but Kitaro could sense no Spider nor see signs of movement of any kind.

It had cost him more energy that he would have liked, it always irked him when he was forced to use his full strength and techniques which he had spent so much of his life coming to be able to perform on such weak creatures. It was the right move, it ended the threat in the quickest way and is incredibly efficient at fighting large groups of foes, though Kitaro couldn't help but feel a bit of shame as a swordsman for having used so much raw power to overcome a horde of Spiders. To have used any energy at all would have brought no pride or shame in hindsight. But, it was here that Kitaro had to stop his own train of thought oncce more. Distracting himself with inward reflection so much was a bad habit in any situation which is not entirely private in the first place. If there is time to think about what he himself was doing wrong, that time would be used in it's most productive way in thinking of a way to be better or compensate for that which he was spending time berating himself mentally for.

Regardless, as the two of them stood there for several minutes. Kitaro having a small inward struggle about the productivity of encouraging himself, thinking only of the next step when in an active situation, and berating himself to constantly remind himself to actually be better. Flounder had been silent, he stopped staring after a little over a minute had passed and stood silently, straight, and as still as a corpse as he had never seen combat outside of minor skirmishes and ships firing upon one another at sea. Kitaro had waited this long thinking in part to see if Flounder would have some kind of self awareness to not be paralyzed in fear to talk or be impressed if not outright awed in a way that he might show an interest or self motivation for becoming better in a fight himself. This not being the first time it would have been a lot more convenient if Kitaro were able to rely on Flounder surviving combat, even on a basic level. As it turns out, the Fishman who's raw physical strength outmatched that of his master, if only by a small degree, was only capable of smashing pre-wounded Spiders one at a time...

"Come Flounder, the later it gets the more an advantage the beasts will have over us. You're not a Fishman anymore either, you're just Flounder." Kitaro's tone and volume began strong, authoritative and commanding as it usually does in regard to those that are below him. It is necessary to be constant and consistent in making the decisions, not just as a leader but in keeping those below you who may have ambitions in line. But as Kitaro realized his habit was bringing that tone and volume against this dissapointing fish that had flopped out from the sea and puffed up his body with what could not even be considered hot air, his tone changed and his volume deceased. Changing in the middle of the sentence to curt, enunciating each word but speaking at a normal speed to convey how it upset him that he need say it. Kitaro paused for a small breath before his final three words. Speaking them in a resigned and dismissive tone that implied there was only negative interest in hearing a reply.

Even before he had finished speaking, Kitaro began to move forward again. Briefly he began to consider whether such a thing would insult or offend his slave, if he would even understand. But before Kitaro could think of an answer he believed to be likely, he shoved the thought from his mind. To Kitaro, such things did not warrant any more thought, his dissapoint would be permanent in this humanoid air bubble and dwelling or considering it was a waste of time and effort. Instead, focusing back into his sensory of the world around him, staring at his feet to ensure his proper balance as he walked along the rocks becoming increasingly jagged and toward the curve of the island that would bring more beach and smooth surfaces. If he was to be attacked where he would have to watch his step, protect a useless meat sack, and defeat an actually powerful or cunning enemy, he would need all the notice he could afford himself. He barely even noticed that Flounder was staggering along behind him, tripping once in a while and having to rush and stumble to keep pace.

Stamina: 375/450
Haki Stamina: 175/200
Sixth Sense Kenbonshoku Perk active

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 1,806
Total Word Count: 4,152

As the two traveled, they stayed close to the coast, avoiding the inland areas. The farther you went toward the island's center the more jagged mountainous hills and rocks jutted from the ground.  The taller and more steep they. The more treacherous navigating the land would become and with these factors, an incredible cost to the time of anyone seeking to travel them without flight or some similar ability. Kitaro, unfortunately, was not one of those lucky few in the world who are capable of flying. So, it was not a far stretch of reason that the closer to the easier terrain, nearer to the coast he could be, the higher his own success and survival rate became. As the situation were and with the most recent events that had led Kitaro to take a foul mood and adopting a macabre and dolorous exterior about the whole thing. Whether it was his own personal feelings of dissapointment toward his Fishman slave, or something he could call logically implied he could not say. But Kitaro had the feeling that if he took Flounder into the jagged peaks of Gubo, Flounder would not make it back out again. While this would not bother Kitaro personally, especially now, it would pose him difficulty in the near future with any venture requiring sailing of anything but the most basic of waters. Unlikely in the Grand Line, even if it was called Paradise, the name can only be a joke or a comparison to the most dangerous places in the world.

The two 'heroes' of this story walked silently for some time, enough for the sun to move noticeably in the sky. After a time that likely felt much longer than it really had been, the two approached the bend in Gubo's island where the coast changed direction with the curvature of the island's geography. Upon rounding the bend near where the sand met the rocks that made up most of the island, one of the rocks that had been to the side of them for quite some time revealed the mouth of a cave. The edges of the cave were jagged and pointed, giving it the appearance of a shark's open mouth. If the Shark had been punched quite hard in the teeth. Regardless of what it appeared to be, however, Kitaro was fairly sure that this wasn't some kind of massive rock camouflage monster. Though the thought would not have surprised him with the things he had seen in his days on the Grand Line or in his brief time on the seas of the New World. As they approached.

Making some quick calculations of risk and reward, judging where the sun was and how much daylight he had left.  Before long it the sun would begin to fade and, should he not try to find shelter now, once the day faded to the dusk he would have a very short time to be able to. Originally, he had expected the area to be teeming with his intended enemies and prey, but the long walk of silence that was only broken by the stumbling falls of a lumbering Fishman made it clear otherwise. It made the most sense to Kitaro to, at least, check and examine the cave for a place to rest and allow the night to pass with greater safety and a more defensible position.

The easy decision was to enter the cave, sacrifice the few more hours of daylight left. There was a chance that they would have been able to find more of the creatures they had been sent to destroy, but the greater chance was that they would be attacked in the night where the beast's eyes would be far superior. All of these thoughts confirmed Kitaro's decision as he approached the cave cautiously while Flounder followed behind him about 10 meters back. It was a good decision on his part as Kitaro's patience with him was nearly gone and a mistake going into the unknown is the most likely to be fatal, and Flounder is basically a walking mistake, wrapped in meat, wrapped in Fishman skin.

Kitaro raised his right hand with his fingers extended into the air and a few seconds later, delayed by Flounder loudly stumbling, Flounder noticed and stopped moving. The noise he was making while approaching the cave made Kitaro regret even taking the mongoloid hulk off of his precious ship. But sometimes it feels like if he gets any more attached to it, he will return one day to find his pelvis nailed into the Sea Snake's hull. If only Flounder was capable of expanding his skills, or his mind, or being helpful at all.

With these angering thoughts, Kitaro entered the maw of the cave, careful to step over and around the three rows of jagged and sharp rock that had the unpleasant appearance as to remind him of a battle-scarred shark's mouth. It seemed like a sign that had a simple meaning and a profoundly negative one. It set him on edge, and that quickly melted away all of his anger and frustration with the capabilities and the self limiting Fishman slave that he now felt stuck with. The immediate concern was to be sure of the cave's safety before attempting to actually rest in it, or at least waiting out the night. Kitaro would have to figure out if Flounder could be trusted enough to at least be able to wake him up if something strange or wrong occurred....

Entering the cave, Kitaro could not he see how far it went. In fact, he couldn't actually see much beyond a few meters in the cave's entrance, either meaning it was a small cave that had only the one opening or was a large cave that turned enough times no perceivable light was able to make it to the shark-teeth maw from anywhere else. Diluted through the tunnels and caverns. A fact that did not set Kitaro at all at ease. But stepping a few steps into the darkness, keeping his left palm against the side of the cave to retain his bearings. However, to be sure of what this cave was and if it was a safe enough choice for the risk of rest as well as worth the time it would cost him, it needed to be sign. For that, there needed to be light.

"Falling Star" Kitaro said, without much enthusiasm or volume, but for the sake of it being a trigger for his muscles as were all of his skills and their names. Using this technique of his, Kitaro was able to strike the side of the cave to create a spray of sparks, revealing more of the cave and a long cavern in the distance, fading after a sharp bend quite a distance ahead. The Falling Star Skill allowed Kitaro to quickly strike his weapon across a large amount of the cave wall and spray sparks forward as well as up and down as he arced his sword to draw a pattern harmlessly into the rough stone of the shark-teeth cave. This upward sparking spray of very brief light, revealed a hole that went about a meter upward before bending off in a similar sharp manner to that of the turn in the distance deeper. It was a fairly large hole, but no individual part of it was wider or longer than a meter without some kind of jagged dagger of cave rock jutting in the way. Kitaro took this as a good thing, given it's large potential risk to anything trying to go up or down. Based on this information, Kitaro assumed it would take an impressive amount of agility and intelligence for anything to be able to come through that without killing or maimimg themselves in the process. A feat that would be difficult for an agile human, would be even harder for some animal. Besides, what animal that lives within a cave system and away from light almost entirely would have the eyesight required to not tear itself to pieces going down!

Walking back to just before the start of the teeth-like rocks at the entrance to the cave, but close enough that he was in the small amount of light that entered. An advantage came to mind as he was walking back toward the entrance. That one who was sitting within the darker parts of the cave but still in view of the entrance would be able to observe the outside, albeit at a limited range and angle, without being visible in return. Granted some of the things that he had been aware of that dwell on this island are capable hunters of day and night with eyes evolved specifically to filter light and see much clearer and farther in night or day. Mulling the idea over in his head, Kitaro waved for Flounder to come into the cave as well once he reached the cave entrance just inside of what he was not referring to as the "shark-teeth". As Flounder entered the two walked together just enough into the dark so they could not see deeper or the walls, but still have some angle to see outside.The bears were what worried him the most as far as a potential for attack, as Kitaro knew that they often hibernated and resided in the mouths of large caves or taking over small caves.

Given the sun's position, Kitaro assumed he had but a few hours at most, and a couple of hours at least before dark, and knowing Flounder as someone who cannot be trusted to be able to react properly, let alone with any competence in a potential combative situation, Kitaro would need to be awake through the night. If there was going to be any rest, it would need to be now and brief. "Flounder, I need to be awake through the night. If I'm not, we will both probably die here and you'll never see the Sea Snake again. I seem to have vastly underestimated how long this hunt would take and this may be the only chance I get the whole time we're out here. It is crucial I take it." Kitaro paused, waiting for some sign that Flounder understand what Kitaro meant and acknowledged the risks and situation explained to be as close to fact as could be. Flounder nodded his head and turned back to try to glance the sun through the mouth of the cave, but it had fallen too far on the other side of the sky. When he turned back, Kitaro continued.

"I need you to sit here, I need you not to move, not to talk, not to go into the light to look at blueprints or make designs. Sit here. Then I need you to wait for one of three things to happen to wake me up quietly. First, when the sun casts the orange light of dusk, that is the time I need to rise to be able to defend and be aware of any surrounding life, it is almost all hostile. Second, if you see anything larger than an insect, especially a bat or a bear, outside of the cave or coming toward or near the cave you need to wake me immediately and tell me that there is a bear. Finally, if there is any kind of noise that comes from the cave, above or farther in aside from the occassional dripping of water, you wake me and tell me. Whenever any ONE of these things happens, wake me up no matter what. Understand?" Kitaro stared into Flounder's eyes that seem to be all but devoid of life entirely. Waiting for a response, so Kitaro decided to be even more sure of his idiot slave's instructional understanding, Kitaro cut him off the moment he opened his mouth. "Repeat the reasons to wake me up and how to do so." Flounder did so, repeating them, wake Kitaro up at dusk if nothing happens, wake Kitaro up if there is any kind of animal outside that isn't a bug, wake Kitaro up if there are any noises in the cave that isn't water. And with that, sitting in the darkness and cold air of the cave marked by shark-teeth, Kitaro closed his eyes...

Stamina: 360/450
Haki Stamina: 175/200

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

OOC Note:

Word Count: 2,186
Total Word Count: 6,338

it was the next thing Kitaro knew when he opened his eyes. In a strange way, it felt as if he hadn't rested but instead had simply blinked very deliberately. He felt somewhat refreshed, more confident that he had enough left in his tank to be able to continue and finish the mission, though looking outside proved that it was dusk. Flounder had been too afraid to touch Kitaro directly so he just sat next to him saying his name until his eyes opened. Nothing like waking up to a dissapointment when you go down trying to clear and restore energy as much as stamina...Flounder's face being next to him, daring to say his name after all that he had cost the both of them today was enough to wake Kitaro with a headache on it's own.

Kitaro stared at the darkness in the cave some, the ominous feeling of not knowing how far or what was deeper within it was bothering him more now that he wasn't as single mindedly focused on getting some kind of rest before they moved on. In hindsight upon waking up, Kitaro realized that his perceived need to get some rest and restore the energy and endurance that he had lost fighting the spiders was, at least partially, out of spite for Flounder. A complete burden in combat, but there was nowhere safe for him to be and the ship was out of the question at this point. They had already spent enough time. This led to a very brief and dark thought about Flounder and letting him meet his own fate as whatever happens, happens. But Kitaro does not throw away assets and he is quite a useful one on the ship, just unable to get out of his broken mind enough to fight back against anything but pre-wounded, near dead, enemies and only then under direct orders.

Kitaro stood up and stretched, rubbing the small bits of sand, that had accumulated on his eyes in his brief respite from this island's monsters away. Kitaro did not acknowledge Flounder, as he was still too dissapointed and upset by the soul and mind of this broken amoeba in the body of a Fishman. Kitaro walked past him, ignoring him by simple feeling his existence within the awareness of Kenbonshoku Haki. As Kitaro's brain kicked further and further into gear from waking up, one of the first things he thought of was that he needed to pay attention to his awareness and instincts resulting from that awareness. It would be night, the beasts would be at a huge advantage. The back of his mind gnawing at his sense of safety and self confidence with the knowledge that, if attacked by a maul of bears from inside, he would be fighting where he could not see, only sense the presence and intentions of the attacking beasts. It would be especially those who are beta and follow Ursa Akuma around and unnaturally strong, and would likely mean that this cave is the hibernation ground, or breeding ground, or simple hideaway when not active or angry, for Ursa Akuma himself. A battle likely to be difficult, if the legends and rumors could be believed, making it exponentially more difficult if done in a way that takes Kitaro's sight from him.

In his sensory, he was only aware of Flounder behind him, not daring to follow Kitaro out of fear and knowledge of Kitaro's dissapointment turned anger. Nothing outside that was of hostile intent, nothing threatening or posing a direct danger...It was all quiet for the night time where the predators could use their vision and if not hunt people they may smell or hear or know the areas of their typical surface gathering, hunt natural prey. It was as if nothing was anywhere near this cave, or this corner of the island for some reason. A red flag, something was off, something is off. Why would a perfect bear cave be avoided by bears. The cave was less than a day's walk away from the most populated region for humans. The port and it's pathway to the waterfall, leading underground to 'civilized Gubo'. It would be an easy walk if you don't have to slow down for a mentally/willpower deficient Fishman tripping after you and balancing on the uneven ground. Faster still if you don't have to fight a hundred giant spiders. So why would the bears that seem to attack humans at their highest priority, damage property out of the blue, and attack ships and the port not use the closest and biggest cave as a den?

Kitaro came to the natural conclusion that there WAS something in this cave that was dangerous, assuming it was likely deep in the cave or away from the cave and thus had not encountered Kitaro nor Kitaro it. However, this perception was changed almost immediately after the thought came to him, as the sun dipped it's final bright orange lines below the distant line of ocean to pass to the other side of the world. Immediately a danger became apparent to Kitaro, coming from behind him...and above him at the same time. In the tiniest moments that it took Kitaro to recall the hole he had found, with the jagged rocks that seemed to block it, they were already upon Flounder. Incredibly fast, and numerous though Kitaro was unable to properly see them aside from a leathery and dark furred wing here, a claw in the moonlight briefly, and hear the screeching, disorienting, sound that they were making as they surrounded Flounder, attacking him faster than he could even process.

Fortunately for Flounder, though rather aggravating and further angering in regard to the island, the wildlife, the mission, and most of all Flounder. It was finally enough for Kitaro to stop caring about making the right move, making the conservating judgment to make sure that he would be fine later, taking the path of least resistance and highest reward. No, this surprise attack that Flounder was cowering from, completely unaware of where the flying Giant Bat pests had come from nor able to see them as they struck at him with claws and bit at him with teeth. Flounder was more durable than the average human, more durable even than the average Fishman as well. A tough guy, but his only strength as far as true talent is, well, his strength. Useless in this kind of battle, a burden entirely.

Taking advantage of the bats swarming and moving fast, faster than even those beyond unnaturally quick and agile bats to reach Flounder before Kitaro could fully analyze them. That didn't matter muc anymore though, Kitaro could feel their presence and it was just pissing him off. His patience had died and he could feel his heart pump faster and faster, his eyebrows furrowing, his teeth grinding together as he took the few steps required in the tiny moment it took to make his way to where the bats were overwhelming Flounder. Qick enough that not even the screeching bats, using their shrill and disgusting sounds to see their environment with their ears. Normally Kitaro would respect it, but now it was only disgusting, the whole scenario was.

Kitaro could sense quite a few of them, but he couldn't put an exact number on them, between 10 and 15 for sure, and he had the perfect way to handle it. An overwhelming force that had not been displayed from Kitaro in a long time. Beginning his rage-fueled assault on the Giant Bats, Kitaro yelled the name for his muscle memory to trigger and as a battle cry to release some of the energy from his boilingly angry blood flow. "RISING SUN!" Striking in the same moments as the words became audible vibrations. Slashing into the body of the closest bat to him who's back was to Kitaro in favor of attacking the downed Fishman. In hindsight Kitaro would assume that the bats assumed he was a giant beached fish for them to eat. In the moment though, the strike hit and cut into the bat's spine and raking it down, though surprisingly to Kitaro, the simple slashing part of the skill did not cut through or even all the way through the bone, stopping at the bone rather. Though it did not matter, in that instant this bat and others would perish without ever having the privelage to know why or how.

After the initial strike, essentially instantly as the bat was cut into, an explosion occured spreading out in width rather than height and thus being able to miss the downed Fishman who was on his back, confused and struggling like a helpless child. A true Flounder. Exploding in a cone stretching outward and into the bats that were on this side of Flounder or flying around the other bats and caught unluckily without another bat's body in the way to protect them from the explosion. The explosion struck with a force higher than Kitaro was able to manage using all of his strength to bring down his blade and blasted the bat he had struck into gore. The explosion expanding and blasting apart the back and sides of four other bats nearby, sending another two flying against the incredibly nearby cave wall of jagged rock and killing them by force of impact, speed of impact, and the rocks being an uneven and sharp surface, all hitting the body at once. Kitaro yelled something that was more a sound that one frustrated to the point that care has left them in regard to the source of frustration. Instantly following up this technique, stepping on Flounder's downed body so that he could be useful as a central point for the bats, minus all those to the side of him that Kitaro had come from. His frustration at the events of the past 24 hours coupled with a surprise attack that he did not figure out until it was too late, and the knowledge that even with these bats that would soon be dead, he would still not be close to the end of this mission in this forsaken wilderness. All these thoughts ran through his mind as he raised his sword above his head and brought it down more empowered than it had directly been in years, screaming the name of his skill once more as the bats scrambled to catch up and react...

Stamina: 387/450
Haki Stamina: 160/200
Sixth Sense Kenbonshoku Perk active

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 1,745
Total Word Count: 8,083

Kitaro's raised sword slashed forward as his Kenbonshoku detection of hostile intent was able to determine another 10 bats flying in from that hole. Thankfully, being faster than these monstrously beyond the abilities of any other bat Kitaro was aware of, allowed him to adjust slightly to compensate. As the bats began to pour out, spinning out of the way and angling their wings downward and close to their body around the final jagged obstacle in their way descending from above. The bats came through the hole incredibly quick and one after another as the other bats turned their attention from the grounded and no-longer threatening Flounder to Kitaro. The bats prepared to swarm at him, but he had already swung. "Setting Sun!" Kitaro yelled, his voice full of rage and quivering with the bulging blood vessels and muscles in his neck and face.

The sword angled itself diagonally somewhat, the skill itself being released as it struck against the tip of the cave rather than any bat and launching the cone of fire that came as the waves of the Setting Sun outward toward the outpouring point of the Giant Bats that were reinforcing as well as the rising height of the bats that were moving away from Flounder to attack the more significant threat. Having made contact with a material that was not directly flammable, the cave itself did not begin to burn from the walls. However, it projected a vibrant red spray of flame outward and across the top of the cave. Conveniently high enough in the air/cave to avoid damaging Flounder or putting him at risk for being lit on fire and/or burned. However, Kitaro was in such a rage he did not consider this at any point in the thinking of and execution of this Skill.

The flames blasted from Kitaro's blade would engulf the bats that were just joining the battle, bringing an ubrupt end to their thoughts of being able to get the jump on him or being able to surprise attack him ever again. As a bonus, as it spread, it not only was able to hit all ten of the bats descending from above, but also was able to strike four additional bats that were still alive from the original bunch. The flaming bats, beating their wings, spreading oxygen and making the flames engulf one another even more. The cave setting allowing the air that they were generating with their giant bat wings being the very thing that would keep the fire going long enough to be able to kill them and reduce them to ash. If they were sentient, they would die cursing the irony of their own large size and more extreme capabilities to that of others bats as the reason that this move was able to kill so many so easily.

While the bats burned, it blinded the limited visual abilities of the bats, while better than normal bats, the sudden introduction of fires and brightness in the dark night and darker cave was too much for the pupil of any bat. Mutated, Monstrous, or otherwise. This left some black spots of beating wings frantically screeching, but not quite as high pitched as the death rattles of the pleasantly burning majority of the bats. Echolocation was being disurpted by the cacaphony of screams from the bats and they were vulnerable. A fact Kitaro did not let escape his attention of his actions to destroy that which had enraged him so greatly. Dashing forward and letting his Haki determine where his blade would travel as much as his perceptual ability. Kitaro came in hard and fast against the four bats, dodging between the flaming bats as they ran into the walls and eachother. They continued beating the flames to make it appear as if the sun had risen in the cave and fell to pieces when it tried to rise. Kitaro paid them no mind as he evaded them, shifting his body, jumping to make quick side steps, to reach those bats that were not burned and moving away from the giant fires that would soon be the ashen remains of their brethren.

Kitaro reached them before their blindness wore off and, of course, while the burning bats still made horrible noises as they fluttered and blew fire from burning leathery wings. Upon reaching them, Kitaro aimed for their weak spot. Not bothering to use anything special, no Bushido, just a simple titanium sword and his rage. Aiming for the wings as a weak spot, cutting the wings from the bodies with chopping motions quickly, before they would be able to notice what was happening or try to escape from him as their senses came back. Kitaro would let none of the bats survive, he had found a true hated enemy once more.

It took him only moments to chop the wings from four bats, and the bats, unable to fly, unable to attack in any meaningful way, had become essentially at his mercy. A fact that he responed to with sheer force of strength swings of his sword, making sure it wasn't a clean death. Taking two or three swings to cave in each of the four bats heads while he embraced and let the sounds of screaming being slowly overpowered and drowned out by the sounds of fire.  Kitaro fed on the sounds, fed on feeling the hostile intent of the bats behind him die as the bats did themselves. A feeling that he embraced and held onto after he had caved in the heads of those four bats. He turned around to watch the bodies burn up on the cave floor, all now dead but still making the noise of air inside of them escaping, the liquids of their body turning to steam and escaping by pressure.

Best of all of these sensations was hearing these bats that had earned Kitaro's true anger, one was greater than the rest. The sound of their bodies being folded in on itself as the fire warped them and reduced them to something no one would be able to even distinguish from a bunch of burned paper or grass. The sight of their bodies folding inward as the blackened in a way that made them seem like statues made of deformed charcoal shrinking away. And the smell of burning flesh and meat that was now filling the cave and Kitaro's nose, as well as Flounder's surely who remained cowering on the ground in fear of the wrath Kitaro had demonstrated. A sight Flounder had never before witnessed to this degree.

Kitaro watched the fires until they became embers, sitting still and simply enjoying his hate being brought in such a way that he was able to burn so many of them alive and watch them die and become ashes. It was a long process, the burning of bones especially, but Kitaro wanted to take every moment of it in and silently. Flounder, in the meantime, was too afraid to even rise from being on his back on the floor where the bats had brought him down to and had assaulted him in. Likely he was as confused about some things that hapepned as the bats were about some of the thinsg Kitaro did. He was not the most perceptive and not at all the fastest and Kitaro could imagine that he was only able to actually see a small degree of what actually happened. To him, it may look like Kitaro's rage called upon dark and magical forces to slay the bats with fire based on his sheer fury. The thought amused Kitaro.

His amusement, however, was cut off suddenly. He had just seen the moon dip below the line of the ocean in the distance, knowing day would be upon them again soon. Determining what course of action would be the best in terms of being able to deal with the rest of the creatures here. The bears and Ursa Akuma likely being more difficult opponents than the bats, but now this was a degree personal. This mission, these creatures, this island, had put him to this point and he would  take it out on all that he ran into on his path to the great demon bear that sat atop them all on the food chain. Kitaro wondered if he could eat the bear, so long as he brought back the head...But with that thought came a shock in his Kenbonshoku Haki. A hostile intent, an untargeted desire for violence approaching the cave. Four of them. But Kitaro was in no mindset to evade, reason with, or find a non-violent solution. Kitaro had reached a mood where he was only inclined to kill, destroy, and burn. So, of course Kitaro raised from his sitting position, he stepped toward the mouth of the cave, making sure to tread upon the ash piles of any bats that were in his path to send them scattering. When reaching the edge of the shark-teeth cavern entrance, he could feel that they were only about 10 meters away. Kitaro drew his sword and made sure it made a sound of metal on metal. Flounder stayed where he should, behind him and hiding in the cave. Kitaro gritted his teeth, furrowed his eyebrows, and tensed his muscles. He would have been happy to seek out life to burn life into ash, but he was overjoyed that it had come to him...

Stamina: 342/450
Haki Stamina: 150/200
Sixth Sense Kenbonshoku Perk active

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 1,577
Total Word Count: 9,660

Kitaro knew he wasn't going to get a break long before he sensed the presence of these four. But the joy he felt at watching his new enemies burn was worth so much more to him than all the rest in the world to recover would have been. He was renwed in his vigor in this task, and he was out for blood with the kind of fervor that he believed could give him an edge when he finally reached Ursa Akuma. Such a beast may be born of hate, may hate me by my existence, but no creature, man, monster, or machine could ever be able to match my rage when I am truly angered. It had been a while since Kitaro had spoken to himself like he was now as well. Preferring to think of things as a narration rather than putting himself as the sole perspective of this thoughts. In the back of his mind, the part that was calculating always, no matter the mood, situation, trust, or position, knew that he was going into dangerous territory changing his entire mindset and being reckless against such powerful enemies. In a way, Kitaro was well aware that he was exposing himself to greater risk of being killed by those things that he was trying to destroy completely.

At this point though, the state Kitaro was in, the feelings he had, the experience of anger in a way that had been so long dormant, and all of this hate, made him not care. He wanted to, that small voice that was his subconscious reasoning was trying to scream to him to be cold, calm, unfeeling as possible, and analytical here. If there was ever a chance for reason to win out, however, when the four creatures he detected as so hostile finally came into view from the cave entrance, what they were shut out the possibility of his rage dying down entirely. Their shadows alone gave it away, and when they walked in front of the shark-teeth, their heads turned all at once and quickly to meet Kitaro's eyes. Their eyes were red, Kitaro's were aflame with his rage against the bears for being the reason that the entire wildlife monstrosities would have to be exterminated. The bears were the reason this was happening, the reason he was stuck here with a useless gimp of a slave fishman, the reason he had to encounter the bats at all. It was all the fault of these bears and their damned to hell alpha or demon leader. That was all his mind needed for that kick in the violent direction.

It began with a flurry of movement. The bears beginning their headlong charge at Kitaro, tensing the muscles in their hind legs and preparing to stand up to smash at him with their powerful paws and claws, trying to crush him, Kitaro imagined, as in his mind the image of the bears grabbing him and squeezing and his head popping like a grape before they tear out Flounder's stomach and eat them both before the long sleep time. Fortunately, there would be a long sleep for them, their brothers and sisters of Ursa Akuma's maul, and Ursa Akuma himself The thought, the confidence with it, and the memory of what he's getting out of it made him mouth the words "I vow on my life I will kill all of the Akuma Bears" And with that, Kitaro's thinking was over, it was his body calling the shots, his rage guiding it's hand, and fueling his spirit to continue the mission and exterminate them all. IT made him want to burn them, but he was using too much of his stamina already and he may not get another rest until after Ursa Akuma was dead. There was no longer question of it.

Kitaro kicked off from his position within range of the first great bear's claws. He was outside the teeth and Kitaro inside, which allowed Kitaro's backtracking by little hop to be easily a success. Kitaro was mocking the bear, testing it's intelligence to see if it would react with anger or simply continue pressing at him, or avoid the cave...But sure enough the bear he had mocked charged in ahead of the others, the narrowness of the cavern forcing them into single file and while Kitaro's Haki allowed him to sense the dangers, the bears had no such thing, no such spirit. No such luck against Kitaro's rage to burn them all. And so he began.

While the bears were clawing around, slowly homing in on Kitaro in the dark, focusing on him instead of the unmoving Fish in the corner who had begun to crawl slowly toward the exit as the bears came farther away and deeper in the darkness of the cave. When the bears were all starting to get close, moving faster, roaring at him all the while. Kitaro showed himself and let himself be heard to show his position. "Setting Sun! HEHEEEHAAAA! Kitaro spoke in an almost celebratory tone as his anger was able to have a target and that target would become fire and ash. The sword flew across the air and met the bear who was far close than he had realized, catching him in the fur and turning his attention to the side the fire was on. Unfortunately for Mr. Bear, while the cut itself only made it slightly through the hide, the sword then erupted with a cone of flame. Blanketting Mr. Bear's face and two others that had been on that side of him in the darkness nearby. The cave was so narrow the chances of hitting 2 to all of them was very high.

The bear that had been struck roared much higher in pitch than his roar when he thought himself hunting and about to claw apart his prey. But the cry was cut short as his face had been in the direct path of the fire, turning to look at it. Naturally it being the only light in the room and a sudden change, it is the instinct of all to look at that change. The fire poured down his throught, into his insides as his fur caught alight covering his entire left side in beautiful red dancing and licking fires. Behind him, a bear's face had been hit by the spraying flames and the hair about his face, neck, and shoulders was aflame and he was ramming into walls to try to smash the fire out. The final bear struck took it on his right side, shielding from his left being ablaze by the bear who's throat burned with fires of justice and rage. His hide aflame, the lights blending, the bears roaring and clawing and smashing into the cave. Kitaro simply moved away from the scene, keeping track of the other bear who was not on fire, aware of the situation but back with the other bears, without the hostile intent. Likely confused or trying to aid somehow. Only more tinder for the fire of their lives. Kitaro threw his Fishman slave to the ground on the smoothish rocks outside of the shark-teeth and turned, wondering if bears would make the same cooking pops and whistles and crinkles that bats did, though Kitaro was underestimating their tenacity.

Stamina: 297/450
Haki Stamina: 140/200
Sixth Sense Kenbonshoku Perk active

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 1,233
Total Word Count: 10,883

Kitaro was standing up and leaving Flounder where he had thrown him down, he hadn't forgiven him for his incredible weakness yet. But he stood himself up and motioned for Flounder to do the same, brushing himself off as he saw the swirls of flame dancing and embers bashing up against the sides of the walls. The thundering hits echoed out of the caves as the flames danced on and on. Though something was wrong, there was not the bear roaring of being consumed in flame, and there had been one of the bears that had not been lit aflame...

First out of the cave came the bear who's throat had eaten a fireball after half of it's face had been burned. Roaring a broken roar, more of a cough of pain as it's open mouth was leaking flames that seemed to be melting through it's jaws. The rage was clear in it's red eyes, no longer red by the hate and demonic nature of the bears of the Akuma pack but now red by the fires that raged on the inside of the beats trying to lick their ways into his brain. The flames unable to put the beast out of it's misery by the monster's own sheer durability. Keeping it alive, trying to beat the flames down inside of it's body and surely causing it horrible pain. The poor bear monster was clearly in pain and raging like a monster, only making it easier to take advantage of. Kitaro had actually been worried that something was going on inside of the cave to make them more dangerous.

As the bear came rushing at Kitaro, he positioned himself ready for the thing, he would put it out of his misery but not for the sake of ending it's misery, for the sake of ridding the world of these bears that had earned his hate. He did not allow anything that had earned his spite in such a way to survive. The reason that he had gained such power as he had in his life had been quite specifically to ensure this very thing. It was easy for Kitaro to deal with in the noon-day sun however. As the bear barreled it 's way at him, he held his swrod vertically in front of him, it's hilt in front of his waist and it's straight edge rising above his head.

Waiting for the bear to approach within a few feet of him, while sensing out the other bears. The one who had not been burned had finally found his way out of the cave and the other two had followed him. Trailing behind them the swirls of flame that they had been unable to extinguish by their slamming against the walls. Kitaro took this as a good sign that fire to light the fur of Ursa Akuma aflame would be a good way to handle it, or at least be able to take and advantage. It was a clear sign that the bears were able to be set afire, that they were no true demons.

Regardless, as soon as the bears had exited the cave all together, Kitaro performed the finishing move against the four of them. It had been easy, given that they had all come at him at once. Kitaro smiled at the bears a bit too big for that of a sane man about to commit a murder, Flounder, floundering a few feet off to the side of Kitaro and moving closer away to the coast behind them. It was to be expected unfortunately, but it put him safely out of the range of Kitaro's action. Aiming for the level of that unburned bear's mouth in the background, ignoring the bear that had reached about 5 meters of distance from him, Kitaro suddenly swung the blade in a horizontal path from far left to right right, extending his arm fully. "Gamma Ray" Firing one of his most powerful attacks directly into the bears that were charging in a rage. While he was still maintaining his control of the situation, he surely was having to use his full power to do so.

The light exploded from his Titanium Nodachi and immediately struck the flaming bear. It's jaw bones and head already weakened from eating the fireball, the bear's head essentially broke in half due to the blunt force and cutting edge of the bear. Exploding in two directions while the beam of light blasted the monstrous version of a bear backwards toward the others. Falling on the ground to reveal the light traveling so fast that none of the other bears could even see themselves. It was sudden a sudden and unexpected force that striking directly between the open jaws of the bears trying to come at Kitaro with intimidation and teeth ready to clamp, had really spelled their own doom by allowing Kitaro a way to target inside of their weaker insides. It wasn't a doubt in Kitaro's mind that he would have been able to defeat them even if they hadn't made such a mistake. The deadly mistake had been to fight him in the first place.

The large wave of light then washed over the frontal charging bear, who's head was now in two pieces and neither of them attached to his body. It passed directly into the next group of bears who were charging as well, catching the one who was roaring in the mouth as well, the beam actually traveling fast enough to occur within the time it took the bear to roar easily, beginning after the bear opened it's mouth and zooming through his mouth before the roar could finish and the mouth be closed. Fire or not, the inside of a bear's mouth is not durable enough to survive the power of the Gamma Ray and it shot through and ripped it's head clean apart traveling through, while simultaneously to the bear next to it smashing into it's bowed and charging neck. Bearing down with a pressure enough to break the bones and leave the bear as a corpse on the ground, it never being able to understand what had happened to it.

The final bear was just managing to leave the cave at the time, trailing behind the others as it was on fire across an entire side of it's body. Granted the other had been as well, but this seemed to be the one that had been slamming itself against the sides of the cave. While it wasn't roaring or charging the Gamma Ray hit it against it's chest. A powerful blow that surely broke some ribs on the insides and probably some organ damage, but not enough to slice it open and damge it to death. Until...It was dragged backward, being carried into the cave itself by the Gamma Ray, smashing it's lower back at the speed and strength of the Gamma Ray against the durability of the cave system on the Shark-Teeth. Flying back as it caught the Bear in the torso, wounded in it's back, it's ribs, it's side on fire fueled by the oxygen in the cave. Eventually coming to rest by slamming it's back once more and most powerfully into the back wall of the cave before the unexplored bend. It's bones cracking under the pressure, it's being stuck between the cave's wall that would not break, and the Gamma Ray wave that could not be stopped. The bear's insides jellied.

This had taken quite a lot out of Kitaro though, but it was daylight now and the creatures did not seem to go out near the waters. So, having not trashed Flounder in a good while, he spoke to him once before he decided that he needed to get rid of his exhaustion, we was going into the end now. The final fight with Ursa Akuma was coming up and he would need to be rested now that all the bears were dead.  "Flounder, same rules as before. Awaken at me at Dusk or before if there is any sign of any trouble. I need the rest to be able to continue fighting enemies at this level in this kind of progression. It is wearing on me. It's your life too, remember. Sea Snake's life...Just make sure to stay behind me as I face the waves, I will rest sitting as I learned to long ago..." Kitaro did not pass out this time around, simply sat making no motions, using up no energy. Simply regaining his strength for the sake of the final push.


Stamina: 252/450
Haki Stamina: 140/200

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

OOC Note:

Word Count: 1,685
Total Word Count: 12,568

Kitaro sat by the water, not necessarily all the way to the shore, but he had chosne a place where the stones were at their least jagged, right before the sand that constituted an actual beach. He closed his eyes though, so the scenery and the beautiful waves in the air was not what interested him. He was more spending time focusing on what he needed to further complete the task at hand. He was going to be faced up against more bears, at least six more if the rumors about the Akuma Pack could be believed. If the more extreme could be believed, he had another ninety six to go at least. But the real challenge was the demon bear itself. Ursa Akuma, said to be the strongest bear on this island, and if the locals could be believed, on any other.

The combative future was not so much of a restful point, but it served as a jumping off point for Kitaro's mind to be lost to the world. For his breathin to be the most stressful thing that he was doing. So, instead, Kitaro began to remember the sweet songs of Dressrosa that he heard from way up in the towers far above his slave pens. Back when he was a young man, in his teens, and when hope was something that he still had the idea to cling onto. There had been a woman, a girl, it was as hard to say now as it was back then. But this female who lived up in a tower that was only a short distance away from where he was kept. Kitaro could still remember his tiny cage, just a few meters outside was a row of weapons, always in sight of him but never in reach. A good lesson in retrospect and having taken that field of work himself.

Since then he had been fighting a lot less, up until today. He had been a field agent and trying to get shit done. Politically though, through words and diplomacy. Through trading goods and positioning himself stronger and stronger. He, himself, Kitaro had not been training to become physically greater in very significant fashion since then. This was the first physical excursion and significant period of battle, aside from single combat, that he had been a part of for two full years. Perhaps longer now. Kitaro mused about his time back then.

His final battles in the Dressrosa Arena, his listening to the singing of the young maid every night, his owner while he spent his time there, the mysterious band that had captured him initially. Suddenly his mind was flooded with memories. His parents and family that he had left behind back on Wano. The wars and political disputes back then, the rules of the country that had applied nowhere else in the world. The fact that Kitaro could never return under threat of death. But also his decision to make a new life for himself, for the success that he had, despite having begun it as a slave. The empire of the Underworld that had established himself. He was proud of it and he was not going to go back on his decisions now.

All of the introspection was good for him. And he was glad that he was still able to introspectively consider himself like this. He had needed to put his past and present selves into perspective for him. Considering his past and still deciding that he was in a place that he felt was worth it and that he could be proud of filled him with some vigor for his continued path in this direction in life. It was something that he knew very few people were actually able to claim for themselves in their lives and the fact that not only had he become successful and powerful but also been able to achieve something of happiness was happy in it's own route. As much as the shock was that he was considering himself, the concept of happiness, and all of it while hunting down a demonic monster version of a bnar that may yet prove to be his doom. The thought of it all together made him smile as he stood with Flounder to continue their quest. Watching the rubble and dust coming down the path up the Jagged Moutainous cliff face on the other side of the shark-teeth cave...

Stamina: 314/450
Haki Stamina: 140/200

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

OOC Note:

Word Count: 738
Total Word Count: 13,306

Having been able to finally think of the peaceful moments of life and his nature in it's entirety, Kitaro finally was able to calm down. When he rose again, it was not because Flounder had alerted him, in fact, Flounder seemed to be getting his own rest. He had been getting his own life together as well and probably questioning whether or not he was going to be able to survive this mission any longer. Kitaro was going to say something to him, but there was the rubble and dust rolling down the side of the mountain that was made entirely of jagged stone from the island's surface. In his mind was now the sweet songs of the unknown that used to comfort him in his nights of slavery in the Dressrosa Arena, and he walked by Flounder, drawing his sword to face them as they came.

"Flounder, the past few days are in the past now. It's been proven that this is not where you belong and this is not the kind of thing that you can deal with on your own. You stay back at the water from here on. There is nothing left here that you can deal with or survive against in the best of circumstances." Soon after they came into visible appearance as they actually crossed the range of the shark-teeth cave. They were the bears, the rest of the pack, Kitaro assumed, as the numbers fit up with the most reasonable estimate that he had been given.

Six bears with red eyes, huge as the last four that he had killed had come down. Likely they had been rattled by the mountain when it shook as one of their fellow pack members crashed into the cave wall so hard it shook the entire system of rocky walls that made up these mountains. It provided a threat, and as the bears were charing at Kitaro, they would surely notice the corpses of at least three of the other bears. It was unclear how intelligent they were, but it was likely that they were getting more angry than they had been before as he noticed a slight increase in their charge and much more roaring upon their crossing of the corpses on the relatively smooth part of stone.  Kitaro accepted this as he raised his blade to face them, Flounder retreating fully into the water this time.

Knowing that this was the last of the pack before he would face Ursa Akuma himself, Kitaro could not waste what of his stamina he had recovered in his time resting, and he could not rely on his most powerful abilities to defeat them here. Even though they were six and he was one, even though he had used one of those abilities to defeat a mere four of them before. The thoughts had begun to exit his mind but the last that remained in his mind before his combat instincts had taken over was that of a song from long ago. He wasn't even sure how he remembered it or why these songs had come back so strongly to him in these moments but they brought a smile to his lips. Not one for blood, but one for the life he had lived.

I Sense There's Something In The Wind. That Feels Like Tragedy's At Hand. And Though I'd Like To Stand By Him. Can't Shake This Feeling That I Have. The Worst Is Just Around The Bend. The lyrics bomed in his mind and slowly faded to that of a whisper. The words of a unique hope that came to him unknown to she who would sing it sadly above him at night. And then pure instinct took over as the bears were upon him.

The first one lunged at him standing on it's two feet and swinging a massive claw at him. Kitaro's blade raised against it but he was surprised at the sheer strength of the creature. He hadn't physically encountered one of these bears in direct physical confrontation before. He had instead chosen the safer and more aggressive route of burning them and fighting them from away from their element. It was only here that he realized that they were so physically capable. True monsters to the locals indeed. Kitaro's sword was knocked aside like his strength was nothing. Though Kitaro was no ordinary swordsman. When the strike hit his nodachi he was surprised but he had been swordsman too long for such a surprise to take him off guard and cost him his blade. He let the blade be knocked aside, instead rolling himself with the power of the swing to evade the bear's falling on top of him after the strike as he tried.

Kitaro had rolled into the range of the next bear who tried to run directly into him, at the last moment opening it's mouth and trying to take a bite at him with the full force of it's speed behind it. Kitaro's instincts had taken over however and such was an opening to him more than it was an attack to be feared. As the bear opened it's mouth at it's widest to bite Kitaro while he was on his knees he used his knees as a spring to stand up and stab upward at the same time. Reaching his blade into the creature's mouth with a strike exceeding what it could even see with his natural speed, entering the mouth, piercing the top of the mouth and into it's head, allowing the bear to crash forward. Kitaro did not have time to revel in his victory though as the bear that had knocked his blade aside before was no slouch and already attacking once more, with another bear that had been near the one he had just slain.

Kitaro leaped backward, pulling the blade from the bear's head as he did so, and allowing a spray of blood to take his place. The two bears ran into one another at this point and it crowded the way for two other bears who had not reached where the fighting had begun quite as quickly. This was an opportunity, though Kitaro was trying to be weary and cautious about how many times he used his abilities here. He needed to save as much as he could for his battle with their pack leader, Ursa Akuma, a demon who had taken the form of a bear on Gubo.

"Rising Sun" Kitaro stated calmly as he took a step forward and swung his blade in a slash that reached across the sides of both the bears that had been trying to reach his position and crashed into one another missing him. Immediately afterward blasting them with a sheer explosive force that was stronger than he typically let on. But here he was just instinct, he had left thought at the door to this battle. Without holding back, his Rising Sun technique blasted into both of the bears in front of him and exploded their sides and deep into the two of them. His sheer speed advantage over them had eclipsed their ability to move or untangle themselves from one another while he made the strike against them. The raw explosive force nearly cut the two bears in half and sent them flying backwards into the other two bears that had been temporarily stopped coming after him with improper timing.

The bear that had yet to enter the combat appeared then, rushing in from Kitaro's left, though Kitaro deftly evaded him, by ducking his head over a sweep of his massive paw and claws, and then making a dive forward toward where the other four bears had landed. The two that had the exploded bears land on top of them were pushing their way out but Kitaro was on them in an instant. His speed eclipsing what they were able to see as well as what they were prepared for. As the first of them, pushed the blown apart bear off of his torso, Kitaro was there and plunged his nodachi into the eye of his that was the first to see him, allowing him to roar before quickly pulling it out and stabbing the beast in the mouth and directly through to the back of it's head. Cutting the roar short before it had even reached a pitch proper to that of a bear. The second, who had already begun to rise, Kitaro moved for just as swiftly.

It was getting back into position on four legs when Kitaro was on it, stabbing at it's mouth with his blade before it got a chance to use it's superior strength against him, Kitaro wedged his blade between the gaps in it's teeth and pushed downward to crank the mouth open. Immediately, as this was happening and the mouth was being forced open even, Kitaro forced the blade forward as hard and fast as he could. Stabbing it through the mouth as well, before pulling it out to face the final bear, who had come upon him faster than he had expected. He should have been using his Haki but he was trying to save every possible bit of energy and here he paid for it. The bear was slashing at him and with his blade having been in the head of the other bear, he was not able to properly evade as a samurai. Ducking under the strike and leaping between it's legs as the bear came crashing down to the ground. Kitaro reaching for his blade as the bear swung down on his arm, a wild west shoot out for which could reach the blade in the corpse of the other bear first...

Kitaro was faster, but he wasn't able to reach around the bear and grab the blade and then change direction to pull the other way before the bear could reach him. Having to leap forward after grabbing the blade and ending up sliding forward while off the ground, to avoid getting tripped up on the head of a dead bear. In doing so, he ended up slicing the dead bear's head further but avoiding all but the very tip of that bear's claws as it raked across his clothing and ripping the fanciful silk garment. It was not something that he was even truly conscious aware of. As he reached the other side of the bear, he found the bear not fully turned around to face him, giving him a moment to prepare his own strike. He didn't think he would get lucky enough to have another through the mouth strike. Instead, going for another similar opening that the bear had not yet seen. As it turned, Kitaro did not stay to face it from teh side that he was on. In trying to catch up to him, the bear would end up going in the wrong direction as Kitaro moved at much greater speeds back to stand atop the dead bear he just took the sword back from. In a single motion of pivot and step to reach the height, he shoved the tip of the blade into the ear to create his favorite opening, with the bear roaring in pain. The rest is in the pattern and the bear soon fell, his mouth bleeding out and his life ended.

As Kitaro's consciousness came back, he still felt the calm that he had before. he was strangely peaceful, happy even that such a thing had happened. He was able to engage in combat as he used to, before the bats had driven him into a rage. All thanks to the random memory of music that had changed his life as much as his experience with rage once again had. The song came back to him in part, with just a few more lines before he began up the trail to face the final bear. He was sure that he would find the demon up where the others had come from. Ursa Akuma would surely be up the mountain path. And Does He Notice, My Feelings For Him? And Will He See, How Much He Means To Me? I Think It's Not To Be. Kitaro wondered what she had been singing about, or if she would ever know that her singing to herself in that tower was what had saved him from a rage that he had thought unstoppable. He would likely never know but in the spirit of that girl's kindness he called to Flounder to tell him that he should stay in the water, and that Kitaro would soon return with the Demon Bear's head.

Stamina: 331/450
Haki Stamina: 140/200

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 2,114
Total Word Count: 15.420

Kitaro pressed on toward Ursa Akuma, he knew where the thing was, he knew that it was waiting for him up where the other bears had come down from. So, with the song and the kind girl in mind, with Flounder in sitting in the sea in reflection upon himself. With Kitaro determined to face down the demon bear that he had underestimated fiercely and the stink of many dead bears of his 'maul' on his sword and his clothes. But that was a good thing, it would make sure that the demon bear Kitaro came to face would not make the same mistake that Kitaro himself had upon the exodus of his task. That it would not underestimate him as he had it in his own turn. However, in a way, Kitaro had become more of himself than he had been before to achieve this level of understanding of himself through the events that had transpired on this forsaken landscape of monstrous animals. He would thank the bear for this adventure by taking it's head.

So, Kitaro began the trek up the side of the mountain. Atop some smoother rock that was surrounded on either side by rocks of jagged edges and twisting spires that were so common in Gubo. If only he had known that the path up to Ursa Akuma had been directly next to the cave. His dignity and sanity may not have needed to take such a horrific blow from the ordeal that he suffered with the bats of that cave... Under A Tree At Quarter-three. I Had Some Hope In Me. The final words of the song that would pass through Kitaro's mind before the battle with the demon of hate and anti-human sentiment would appear. Before Kitaro would face down Ursa Akuma, this would be the final thoughts of peace as he rounded the corner at the top of the pathway.

The rounding revealed an isolated clearing in the rocks, Kitaro would have believed the legendary bear of monsters had cleared it out himself were it not for the scant amounts of actually life that were here. A small pond with some grasses around it, a few trees even to the far side of the clearing. It seemed a place that Ursa Akuma had been protected to allow for the growth of plant life in an area that was otherwise barren. How exactly he had been able to find a place that plants could grow from the rocks was unknown, but likely it had not been made by him but rather found. A place that had food in abundance, compared to the rest of the island's nature, and would be suitable for raising the new generations of his bears. It was as noble of a goal as it was easy to determine that it was his actual goal. However, this was a demon bear. Kitaro had been paid to bring the head of the Demon Bear. Ursa Akuma was the obstacle of Kitaro's progression and whether or not he was noble or had a purpose here that was greater than himself, it didn't really matter. Not in the grand scheme of things, not to Kitaro.

As Kitaro entered the clearing that would soon become the battlefield between two forces of nature on this island, the demon was instantly aware of Kitaro's presence. It was a monster of a bear, much larger and much more intimidating than any of the previous bears. They had, had red eyes, prickly fur that seemed to press down like plates of metal, and claws that shone in the light no matter how small making them gleam with a clear and deadly sharpness. Ursa Akuma was an entirely different breed of monster. Upon seeing Kitaro, the beast stood up on it's hind legs and made itself appear bigger. It's eyes a white and yellow glow, it's roaring mouth firing spit so hard and fast that it made it across the clearing to Kitaro the moment the bear seemed to open it's mouth. Ursa Akuma cut an imposing fifteen feet in height and weighing clearly far more than the other bears. While it was impossible to look at a bear and judge it's weight, much like a well dressed woman, Kitaro could tell that it would be capable of using that weight to rip him in half should he be grabbed or exposed in a way that would allow it. An interesting thought, as he had yet to actually come into contact with something on Gubo that so directly threatened his life.

Kitaro instantly activated his Kenbonshoku Haki, to be aware of what the bear was going to do, to be aware of incoming threats, that would be his greatest ally in this battle. As fast as Kitaro was, and as powerful as Kitaro was able to strike, it would all be for nothing if the bear was able to grab hold of him or get him with a perfect or 'square' hit. It was not a difficult assessment to be able to tell that the monster would be able to do some damage if he got close. It was as clear as the dark coloration on his claws, not just dark claws. Not just darker than the glowing sharp rods that were that of the Akuma pack bears. This was the dark coloration, the black color of arms that was Buoshoku Haki. The bear was full of such spite toward humanity, such a spirit for violence, that it had managed to unlock Haki on it's own spite. In a way, this was a showing of what Kitaro would have been had he not found a way to calm himself down. Or would become if he did not find a way to continue keep himself within his composure.

Then, just as suddenly as the bear had been discovered, the battle had begun. The bear, being far more naturally aggressive of the two, was the one to launch the first attack. Barreling at Kitaro with a massive burst of speed on all fours, greater than what Kitaro would expect from a bear of any size, and swiping between the charging motions of his four legs, an act that would almost seem to be a natural movement of his run. Only Kitaro knew better, Kitaro's Observation Haki knew better. The casual swipes from the bear had released nearly invisible shockwaves, that were pressing their way toward Kitaro, forcing him to move out of the way and deal with the oncoming strikes long before the bear would arrive, preventing Kitaro from using one of his favorite tactics against opponents that were so melee inclined. It had worked on so much of Akuma's pack that he had figured he might have a chance to pull it off on the demon himself. Evading at the last moment, and striking at the exposed flank, that is.

Instead, the shockwaves forced Kitaro to move early and to continue moving as the bear would adjsut his path to compensate for every dodge. Each time making his way closer to Kitaro, as Kitaro lurched out of the way, his speed advantage proving useful enough to give him the range and speed to evade the oncoming shockwaves from the paw strikes while the bear ran. However, each time a paw strike happened, each time Kitaro evaded, the bear was closer than he had been before and the next evasion was by a closer margin. Kitaro was also quickly coming into range to be wounded severely by the great demon monster as well, and he was sure that the stink of his dead pack on Kitaro's clothing and weapon would do him no favors in the bear considering him anything less than a mortal enemy.

As Ursa Akuma reached a point close enough to Kitaro that he was able to swing down from both sides, Akuma attacking with both of his paws from either side of Kitaro to clap him into a pile of squish, Kitaro activated one of his most powerful abilities in response. There was no use in keeping his strongest moves hidden, there was no use in trying to take it easy on the bear to try to preserve his own stamina. He would either defeat the bear and in doing so, create symbolism both to himself and to the other wildlife of the island that he was able to defeat them all, or the bear would defeat him, kill him, likely eat him, and he wouldn't have to worry any more about how much energy he used up during the battle itself.

As the bear closed in from either side with it's paws. Not realizing that it was exposing itself at close range as much as it thought it was cutting Kitaro off at close range. Kitaro used a technique that he had not used since he arrived on the island, even more, he had not used this technique in months. Never finding a time or a purpose to use such a skill in conflict for a long time. It excited his blood to use it, but having remembered where his mind had gone the last time his blood was pumping for the drawing of more blood, he decided it would be best for him to keep his composure instead of losing himself to the feel and thrill of combat.

The paws came in from either side, Kitaro's sword raised and struck forward with grace but even more so, speed, as Kitaro's voice boomed at the Akuma's ears. "Prism Ray! Came the words from Kitaro to signify the Skill that he was using in response. While the bear was coming at him from left and right, Kitaro's response would be able to respond in more than just those directions. His sword seemed to multiply as a shaft of wind covered the blade and seemed to extend in a variable distance around and along the blade of Kitaro's Titandachi itself.

First the blade came outward and slashed against the paws of the demon bear, blocking them with Kitaro's enhanced force from the Prism Ray strike itself, actually striking at them twice and leaving gashes in the padding on Ursa Akuma's paws. The next two strikes were stabs that simultaneously occurred as a blur to the bear, reaching upward from Kitaro's position and stabbing the wind of the blade into it's neck stronger than his sword would normally be able to strike regardless. Passing through the thick outer hide, if only barely, and drawing  blood from either side of Akuma's throat. Not enough to kill the beast, not enough to mortally wound the bear, but enough to draw blood and begin an offensive that would work. Kitaro was pleased that his strongest was able to deal damage, that was all he really needed to know. Further his next two strikes went slashing outward cutting either side of Ursa Akuma's jaws. Slicing the skin open and giving him a permanent and red smile, as the skin on either side of the mouth would be some of the least durable parts of the body. Kitaro had  created a wider mouth for the monster who had surely devoured many humans before, but a painful, painful one. Still, it was concerning that he was only able to cut the face of the bear enough to give it a bloody and painful smile. The final two strikes from Kitaro's Prism Ray technique had been against the underarms, near where the armpit would be, for either side of the bear's limbs. Slicing into them and, as with the neck, managed to draw blood from beneath the great hide and cut in slightly but not cause permanent damages. Wounding the bear, opening the bear for further attacks, but not actually destroying or seriously wounding it with a single go. It was to be expected, however, Kitaro's primary attribute was certainly not being able to smash through the Titanium-like hide of bears.

It was more than enough to convince Ursa Akuma that he was not dealing with some simple minded and speedy prey however. He reared up on his hind legs and jumped back before slamming his paws back into the ground. Kitaro was impressed that even in defensive retreat, the monstrous bear was able to continue it's offensive. When the paws of the bear landed on the ground in it's smashing attack, sending a shockwave forward to where Kitaro was standing. Attempting to take advantage where most people would be taking pride in having managed to drive the bear back and draw blood from it, Kitaro's Haki sensed the Shockwave danger coming as soon as it was launched and allowed him plenty of time to evade it and press his own offensive onward. Though, Kitaro had to admit that this attack would have sent him back and knocked him on his ass if not worse had his Haki not been able to sense it coming. It had been such a fluid dropping of it's paws to grab onto the ground, that such a movement hardly registered as an attack.

Having access to Kenbonshoku Haki however, and the ability to sense danger as it was approaching. Allowing Kitaro to leap into the air with a kick against the ground, moving up and above the entirely ground-based shockwave traveling his way as Kitaro had angled his strike forward, to come down against where the bear was. Unable to control his movement in the air, he had to make sure that his strike coming down would be enough to press his attack with solid enough force to keep from his airborne position being made into a vulnerability rather than an escape.

It seemed that Ursa Akuma had run through the same instinctual thought process and had swung both of it's paws at him, roaring and sending another shockwave just from the roar, let alone both of the overlapping paws shot came across more as a swodsman's compressed air slash rather than a shockwave of raw strength. The bear was proving that it had combative skill, perhaps it had been a swordsman in another life that was using it's claws and raw strength to achieve that status once again. Though such would never be known, not to Kitaro, not to the bear. Kitaro responded to this by using a technique of his own, speaking the words as he swung his sword forward to meet against the slashes oncoming, the two layers of them. He needed something that would be able to beat back the crossing shockwaves that had come from the paws and still have enough 'oomph' factor to be able to at least stall the incoming strike from the demon bear's shockwave roar. Notably less powerful than the first two, but would still be enough to cause Kitaro some wounds should they hit him directly.

Kitaro's sword slashed forward and as the Titanium metal from his blade reached the shockwave from the claws that had been launched to tear him to pieces, Kitaro spoke the words of yet another of his skills. Less powerful than Prism Ray, but enough to save him. "Rising Sun! The sword itself smashed into the oncoming shockwaves and the power of his Rising Sun's actual strike was able to defeat them, but as he drew closer, falling from the sky at Ursa Akuma against his roaring shockwave, it would be a battle of the shocks to see which would injure the other. As Kitaro approached the bear's face, the explosion fired from his blade, the arc of his swing over. The explosion having more force than the bear's simple non-technique shout and flying through. Blasting the beast in the face, burning into the holes in it's neck that Kitaro had previously created and blasting into it's eyes, damaging the bear's senses as it was only capable of the directly combative form of Haki. This was Kitaro's chance, a chance to finish the beast! It had come much earlier than Kitaro had imagined, but such was the course of battle and having respect for this foe, he knew he had to end the battle as soon as he could.

Kitaro landed on the ground, sword in hand and did not hesitate a moment in using his next most powerful attack. The only chance that he would otherwise be able to end the battle with relatively little damage to himself and others around him. Ignoring the cost that it would take to his endurance as far as maintaining the battle or being able to fight other battles ahead. Kitaro followed up his Rising Sun with a familiar move that had been 'lighting up' the environment in Gubo for a few days now. As the bear's mouth opened, tongue extended, and it's claws reached for it's eyes to scratch at them so that they might see again after the explosion that Kitaro had caused. Kitaro spoke the words and swung his blade as quickly as he could, aiming at the opened up area in the face, and taking advantage of the weakened shoulders of Akuma's front legs as well as neck. "Gamma Ray!" Kitaro yelled as he swung his sword and created one final blast of light from the arc of his sword's slash. The blinding light traveled forward, tearing at the bear as it reached it instantly.

The short range did the bear no favors as the thick and wide beam of light caught it in all of the spots that Kitaro's previous Prism Ray attack had been able to damage it in. Buckling it's legs from under it in front, exposing it's neck to be cut deep into in a single maximum speed and high powered strike. Thick enough to strike both in the neck as well as in the facial opening and allowing some of the beam of cutting light to enter the bear's face and slice through, cleanly removing a good chunk of the head with the swoop. It was over in a spray of blood, a roar that was cut short very quickly, and the battle came to an end. Kitaro huffed and puffed as he had truly exhausted himselef to make such consecutive striking. However, he had been able to end the battle relatively quickly and easily without suffering any major injuries.  So it was that Kitaro grabbed the top-most half of the head of Ursa Akuma and began the walk back to Gubo's central civilized location.

On the way back down, Kitaro picked up Flounder, motioning to him by waving the head of the bear and calling out. "Flounder, we are heading back. We have some money to collect, some favor to cash in on, and more importantly, an island to soon leave behind." When Flounder and Kitaro began their approach back however, it was decided that bringing in someone who was so openly a slave would probably be a bad idea as far as doing so in a region that followed World Government laws. Flounder was sent to the ship to wait for Kitaro's return and Kitaro would walk his way to the civilized zone of Gubo, after taking a long rest at his ship. He would finish this mission that he had taken on and gained so much more during than he would have expected himself capable of from simple wildlife and animal interactions. He was happy that he did it, though it had opened his eyes to just how vulnerable he was to the wide world out there. As he walked back to Gubo, a final line of memory from a song that was remembered as the hope of his worst days came to his mind. Something Kitaro ironically felt hopeful for even remembering as he walked back toward the Waterfall to take him to Gubo proper. But Life Was Taken From Me. But I Did Not Feel Peace.


Sixth Sense Haki Perk Used
Haki Stamina: 125/200
Stamina: 166/450 [Winded and under 50% at end of topic]

Skills Used:

Enemies Status:

Word Count: 3,318
Total Word Count: 18,738


END OF TASK/TOPIC