One Piece: Freedom's Song

As we stood face to face against each other, a trail of blood ran down my forehead, spreading an oddly relaxing sensation. I took a deep breath, letting my shoulders fall, accommodating the sword in my hand. Taking a step forward, a wave of white flames donned my shoulders.

An all too familiar warm sensation spread through my chest, traveling through my arm, ending in the hand holding my sword, coating it in a layer of Haki.

Jumping off the floor, I thrust my blade into the man's heart, disposed to end things quickly. The tip of the sword cried in protest, trying and failing to pierce the man's clothes. Before I could try and pull back, a flaming fist slammed against my face, sending me crashing against the floor. 

Wasting no time, King raised his foot, ready to crush my head. Quickly rolling to the side, I coated my arms as fast as I could, crossing them over head as my Haki screamed at me in warning. When King's foot slammed against the ground, everything exploded in a wave of fire, sending me flying across the street, consumed by his flames.

As I hit the ground, my body skipped uncontrollably through the streets. In a desperate attempt to stop myself, I shot both hands into the ground, painfully stopping my body from going further.

I clenched my hands as the fire of the explosion had eaten away at the skin from my forearms, mixed with dirt and filth covering the burns, making the pain even worse.

"Aghhhh!"

A pained scream escaped through my teeth as I pressed my temple hard into the ground. The smell of my burning skin made me want to throw up as the searing pain from my forearms increased the agony.

Despite the excruciating pain, King's presence gradually got closer, making all my senses flare up. My legs were shaking as I tried to get up in any way I could.

"Stay down, it's futile"

Thinking about it, I just might. Staying down sounded a hundred times better than anything else. God, I must look so stupid right now, one moment trying to act though and then a minute later writhing in pain on the ground.

"hahaha-aghh" I tired to get up but my legs finally gave up, and I fell on my back. I gave my all in breathing, focusing intensely on every breath as the air went from my nose to my lungs and back.

Sitting straight, I again took a deep breath before letting all the air out, making my flames reignite with the bit of strenght I had, numbing the pain eating at my body.

"If you want to make a pointless, stand so be it. Better that way" Amusement radiated from him, he wasn't bothering hiding how much he was enjoying this.

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As King got closer to Yasu, his free hand burst into a ball of fire, bathing all their surroundings in a burning glow. Grunting, Yasu stood up, aided by the flames covering him, and following King's example, the flames made their way to his fist, covering it in fire.

Both of them cocked back their fist at the same time in anticipation of the clash. 

"Imperial flame!"

"Kouzui!"

A bright explosion lit up the skies of the capital as two streams of fire clashed with one another before disappearing into nothingness, letting dust take its place.

As the dust slowly settled, only one figure remained standing. Where the second figure stood, now a crater took its place.

Inside the crater, Yasu lay there, surrounded by puddles of molten stone, clothes burnt, and skin gone, leaving charred flesh exposed. King walked to the crater to see firsthand the state Yasu was in.

A weak cough came out of his lips. His muscles trembled, looking for any strength they could muster, all in vain as King's giant hand grabbed Yasu by the neck lifting him from the ground.

"I never do this, but the blood of my people courses through your veins, so I can make an exception." As King held Yasu by the neck, he took the moment to look at their surroundings.

Many houses were burning all around them while the sounds of alarms rang all across the city. King clicked his tongue in annoyance. Orochimaru won't be happy, which means he will pester them about this like a fly.

"What were you called again?" He had forgotten the name of the boy already, no, that's not right, he said he didn't care, right? Whatever. He loosened the hand on his neck to let him speak.

...

...

The boy didn't utter a word. If not for his Haki he would have thought the kid had already died. That would be a shame, not a big one, but a shame nontheless.

"I'm going to make you an offer. Join Kaido, sail under his flag across the seas, and I will see that you live past this day" This was not the mission that was assigned to him, but the kid could make a good addition to Kaido's armies, but the samurais of this annoying country were as stubborn as they come, so he already knew the answe-

Spit landed on King's face before quickly evaporating. Yasu had used all of his remaining strength as spitting made him cough his lungs out in pain.

King wasn't the best with Observation Haki, but even he could see the boy's fear with clarity.

'Whatever, good enough try' No one could tell King he didn't try not to kill the kid. Raising the hand that held his sword, King pointed the tip at Yasu's head and lazily thrust forward.

"STOP!" The tip of the sword came to a stop a mere inch from Yasu's head lifting his hair from the wind. King felt Yasu's body suddenly tense after hearing the voice.

King turned to whoever wanted him to stop. On the ground, a samurai knelt with his forehead touching the dirt.

"Please, my Lord! I beg of you! Spare his life and take mine!" Looking at the samurai begging for his life to be taken, King felt the corners of his lips rise.

"What is he to you?" The samurai involuntarily tensed, taken back by how direct to the point the giant had been.

"He is my son!" Shimazu answered without hesitation. King turned his head to look at Yasu, whose hands had begun to hit his in an attempt to break free. He took a good look at Yasu and then back to the samurai. Not much resemblance, but he could humor him. 

Opening his hand, King let Yasu fall to the ground and slowly made his way to the samurai.

"If I remember correctly, your people have a ritual for giving their lives, don't they?" King asked as he walked behind Shimazu.

"Yes, my lord" Shimazu answered with determination as he sat straight in a perfect seiza position.

"Anything you want to say to your kid before you die?" King asked as Yasu's hand gripped the edge of the crater he was in, trying to get to them.

Shimazu looked at Yasu's white eyes filled with tears as he crawled with every ounce of willpower he could muster.

There were many things he wanted to tell his son, but only one thing came out of him.

"I'm proud of you"

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Welp, so it's my birthday so I decided to go and finish this chapter that has been eating away at me for so long. 

The fight is not over, but if things end here I guess it wouldn't be that bad.

Anyway, enjoy