"What the hell is your pet tree doing, Fujitora?" Cherry asked in a clipped tone.
Fujitora was scowling. Even without eyes, he could tell what kind of devastation was happening within the Flower Capital.
"It's a good thing he hasn't killed anybody," Cherry said, voice low. "There would be nothing left to bury."
Fujitora sighed. He'd known that Ryokugyu was a loose cannon, but he had hoped that he could restrain himself somewhat around the innocent at least. The World Government has committed many atrocities, most intentionally forgotten by history no doubt, but this random violence was a step beyond even that. It was entirely pointless.
"I'll deal with-" "No, you won't," Cherry cut him off. "You just go clean up the stragglers from Kaido's crew. That's what you came for."
Fujitora nodded and turned to leave to do just that. "My apologies, on behalf of the marines."
Cherry continued to watch the destruction placidly. She knew that her own crew were standing back for now, so she would as well. Wano wanted to show them that they could stand on their own feet, that they didn't need anyone to protect them.
Her senses caught on a certain someone. She huffed, amused, and made her way over to what's up.
…
"This bastard isn't even trying to hit us half the time! He's just wrecking the city on purpose!" Kiku groaned.
"I'm sorry!" Shinobu whined.
"Stop saying that! We know you didn't know this would happen!" Kiku shot back, not meaning to sound as angry as she did.
"I should have known! He's a damned tree! Trees live a long time, sometimes thousands of years! And they get bigger with every one of those years!" Shinobu reflected.
Before Kiku could say anything else to the sulking kunoichi, they had to pull apart to dodge a whip-like branch as thick as two men are tall. It left a trail of destruction in its wake, cleaving through buildings with no show of resistance.
It was a good thing that they evacuated the city, because this would be a damned bloodbath otherwise.
Despite the dire circumstances, though, they hadn't lost anyone. The admiral may have gotten bigger and stronger, but their blades bit into his wooden flesh just as easily as they did at the start.
However, the longer this went on, the more it seemed like Ryokugyu had bottomless stamina. The Red Scabbards, on the other hand, were starting to show signs of flagging.
And Ryokugyu noticed.
"You're slowing down. Sooner or later you'll make a mistake you can't recover from. Are you sure you want to die for a bunch of criminals?" Ryokugyu sneered. "They won't stay here and protect your people once you're gone. They'll be torn apart by the jackals that sail the seas in a matter of months, and make Kaido's tyranny look like paradise."
The Scabbards did not respond. They would only be playing into his hand by arguing with him now.
Ryokugyu opened his mouth to needle them some more about the vague consequences of protecting pirates, when he was interrupted by a thin beam of light crackling up his form, burning a scar up his torso and alongside his face.
Ryokugyu roared in pain, jerking his head in the direction of his attacker.
"Say hello to my little friend!" Cherry said, waving her new weapons around to show it off.
"""Momonosuke-sama?!?!?!""" The Scabbards shouted in shock as they saw the tiny pink dragon held in Cherry's arms like he was some sort of rifle.
"Hit it, Momo!" Cherry encouraged, giving his belly a squeeze.
Momo opened his jaw and another beam burned through the air and incinerated a bit of Ryokugyu's shoulder as the admiral narrowly dodged out of the way of a headshot.
Cherry laughed maniacally. "You can do better than that, Momo! Try to burn a hole right through that mother fucker!"
"I am trying! This is the first time I've even made the heat breath work!" Momo complained.
"Less yapping, more blasting! He's headed this way!" Cherry urged him.
Momonosuke managed to pepper Ryokugyu a few more times before he got close enough to counter attack. He expected Cherry to simply dash away, since she was certainly faster than him in this enormous form.
However, she did no such thing. She did dodge out of the way, but only at a normal amount of speed. None of those vanishing acts from using Soru.
"What are you playing at, Cheapshot?!" Ryokugyu swung his arms wildly, trying to catch the duo with an unpredictable swipe.
"That's my question! What are you playing at by tearing up the capital of a sovereign nation?!" Cherry shot back.
"Even member states cannot harbor pirates from justice, let alone unaffiliated countries!" Ryokugyu argued, knowing full well that that was bullshit and that Cherry knew it was too. "Why are you dancing around like you're weak?! Don't underestimate a marine admiral!"
"Still mad that I fried your ass without you even getting to fight back, huh?" Cherry snickered. "Well, this isn't really my fight, so I'm just taking Shogun Momonosuke-sama here out for a peaceful stroll. If he happens to light your ass up again while we're at it, that's not my business."
"Shogun?" Ryokugyu only now seemed to noticed Momo's dragon form in Cherry's arms. "What is that thing? There's only one dragon fruit in the world, and I know it ain't such a girly pink color."
"Who are you calling girly?!" Momonosuke groused. "Pink is a MANLY color! Only real men wear pink!"
The insult apparently lit a fire in Momo's heart, because in the next second, he hit Ryokugyu point blank with his most powerful breath so far! He actually sliced one of his arms right off!
"You little worm!" Ryokugyu roared, aiming to stomp on them this time.
Only, the Red Scabbards finally caught up, and they didn't take their time for nothing.
All at once, they attacked from several angles, each aiming to kill or to cripple without mercy. """SUNACCHIIIIII!!!"""
Rykugyu couldn't dodge. He had one leg lifted up, and otherwise he was simply too big and lumbering. So when the Scabbards put their all into turning him into firewood, they succeeded.
Massive blocks of wood tumbled to the ground with resounding thuds.
Cherry silently turned around and very deliberately pointed Momo's face in another direction. He was confused for half a moment, but caught on quickly enough. He fired!
"AAAAAGGH?!?!?!" Ryokugyu screamed. He only just started sprouting from the ground, and he was instantly struck by Momo's dragon breath. Intense heat spread across his new and much smaller body.
"I got him? I got him!" Momo cheered.
Ryokugyu writhed in pain on the ground for a moment, but he didn't skip all the way up the marine hierarchy to admiral for no reason. He was a tough bastard, and killing him was easier said than done.
In fact, the damage done to him by that heat blast, while painful, was not debilitating. His ego was harmed much more thoroughly than his body.
Ryokugyu tried to stand, but a voice gave him pause.
"You had better leave, if you know what's good for you," Momo said. His childish tone did not diminish the steel in his voice. "If you cannot even stand against Wano's defenders, how do you hope to fight the Straw Hats as well?"