Zoro's little fight with the Sound Five continues with him still not taking it seriously. He doesn't underestimate them, but he also doesn't use everything he has to fight them. After all, they are more skillful than most Jonins, but they are still not strong enough to make him serious.
Zoro actually uses this chance to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of his moves. He tries to use minimum movements with minimum ranges and minimum energy, all while trying to not use his Observation Haki to increase his other senses' power.
Not using his Observation Haki to fight 5 strong jonin-level shinobi is really challenging. But it's still doable with all his fighting experience. The 5 young shinobi are also not too strong for him, so he won't really be in danger even without Observation Haki.
He does this because there might be times when he can't use his Observation Haki in battles. Zoro wants to be prepared for every situation that he can think of. After all, he never knows what will happen in the future.
The Sound Five are attacking Zoro with everything they have. Kimimaro with his powerful bone jutsu that has gotten much stronger with his 2nd level curse active combined with his really good taijutsu.
Sakon and Ukon with their good cooperated taijutsu combined with feints. Kidomaru with his powerful golden arrow shots. Jirobo with his strong physical attacks and Earth-style jutsu. And Tayuya with her 3 giant summons that she controls with her flute.
Their cooperative attacks are very good actually and it gives Zoro some troubles. It also makes Zoro wonder why these kids and quite a lot of shinobi prefer to fight alone when they can get much stronger when they are working together like this.
If they fight together like this instead of individually when they took Sasuke out of Konoha in the story, then they would surely give those konoha genins a much harder time before being defeated by plot armor.
Their fight with Zoro destroys the base after a while. Well, mostly because Zoro just sends random attacks to keep them on edge. But his attacks are still strong despite not being serious, so they still cause the building to collapse.
Now they have more room to fight and the Sound Five actually gets much better in an open space. They have more freedom to move and use big moves now, making Zoro glad that he destroys the building because it becomes more fun.
Zoro blocks and deflects their attacks that come from all sides. He uses the blunt sides of his swords every time he hits them to not kill them. It's also easier to just use the blunt side instead of controlling his swordsmanship to not cut with the sharp side.
Anyway, none of the Sound Five's attacks are working on Zoro. He can see all of their attacks, even the ones sent from blindspots because he can sense them with his sharp senses. He is also really fast and can stop even surprise attacks, making them very frustrated.
Even when their attacks somehow landed on him, they wouldn't be able to pierce his skin. Black spots that are harder than steel suddenly appear, blocking their attacks from injuring him. None of their attacks can break through the black steel skin jutsu at all.
"Fine, let's see if you can take this." Kimimaro looks very serious all of a sudden.
His teammates widen their eyes and suddenly run away as fast as they can. Zoro is confused, but he doesn't chase them. His feelings tell him that something interesting will happen, so he doesn't move away from his spot.
What happens next is much more interesting than he expects. Giant bone spikes suddenly grow out of the ground very rapidly. The bones will pierce anything above the ground where they spawn, that's why the other young ninjas are retreating.
But as expected, the sharp bone spikes can't pierce Zoro's body. Instead of being pierced, he is being lifted by the growing giant bone. So now he is standing above the giant bones.
"Damn, kid. You must've drank all the milk in this country to have enough calcium to grow this many giant bones. Or maybe you are eating animal bones every day?"
Zoro is honestly impressed by the sheer scale of this jutsu. It looks creepy but also impressive at the same time. Now he really feels that it's such a shame to let this kid die, but it's not like he knows how to treat Kimimaro's terminal illness.
Kimimaro suddenly comes out of a giant bone and thrust his giant bone spear at Zoro. But Zoro simply blocks it with a sword, again. This is the first time Kimimaro can't even scratch his opponent since he joined Orochimaru.
"Well, I think this fight has gone for too long. Hiyori will be worried if I don't return soon, so let's end this, shall we?"
Zoro says it so calmly while sending Kimimaro away with a light swing of Wado Ichimonji. Then he lines his 2 swords horizontally and swings them while spinning his body.
"2 Sword Style: Twin Dragon Twister!"
Zoro creates a blade tornado with only 2 swords, so it won't be as strong as when he uses 3 swords. But it's enough to completely destroy the bone land that Kimimaro made very easily even though they are as hard as steel.
It surprises the Sound Five that knows how strong Kimimaro's bones can be. None of them, not even Kimimaro himself can cut those bones without his control over them. Yet, Zoro can cut them apart with just 1 move.
"Dammit! We should've just left." Tayuya curses loudly.
"Yeah, you should." Zoro suddenly appears behind them, scaring them so much.
They reflexively jump away and get into fighting positions again. Even if now they know they aren't Zoro's match, they still won't go down without a fight. Shinobi like them know that it's better to die than being captured because they'll just face a horrifying torture if they are captured alive.
Too bad for them, Zoro has a principle. He will never kill minors after he becomes an adult. Luckily for them, he never planned to capture them. But that doesn't mean he won't hurt them.
Zoro sheathes Sandai Kitetsu and only holds Wado Ichimonji now. He coats it with Armament Haki, making it turn metallic black as he raises it in front of his face.
"Have you ever dreamed of freedom? Maybe you have, maybe you haven't, but I certainly always dream of freedom and always chase it. Being free to do whatever I want, free to make my own rules, free to decide what's right and wrong in my point of view. Hmm, maybe everyone can do the last one, but at least my view isn't based on my village or my boss, it's solely based on my perspective. And in my perspective, this is the end of our fight."
Zoro holds his sword on the left, right beside the scabbards. He lowers his stance a little while looking at the Sound Five menacingly. Then he swings Wado Ichimonji from left to right in a calm motion.
"1 Sword Style: Beheading Ghost!"
All members of Sound Five suddenly see an illusory Ghost above Zoro. They aren't scared of ghosts, but now they are rooted in their places. For reasons unknown to them, they feel very scared, not of the ghost, they are very scared of Zoro, so scared that they can't move at all.
So when Zoro swings his sword, they can't do anything or even move away even though they know his attack is coming. They are rooted in their spots and in the next moment, their necks are sliced and their heads fall to the ground.
At least that's what they are feeling because the cut on their necks is just an illusion. But it feels very real. It makes them stop breathing for a moment and lose consciousness, making them fall to the ground and revert to their original form.
Zoro sheathes his sword while feeling pleased with the result. He might not be able to use Genjutsu, but he can do something similar. By inflicting fear on his opponents with Conqueror Haki and combines it with his killing intent as he makes a fake attack, he can make his opponents think they have been cut and killed by him even though it's only their spirits that get attacked.
In principle, it's similar to the technique Daishinkan or Great Dragon Shock that the original Zoro used to defeat Monet without killing her. It's just that this technique doesn't cause any physical damage at all, unlike Daishinkan that still causes physical damage.
The downside is this technique can only be used on significantly weaker opponents. But the upside is this technique can't be dispelled with "Kai" because it's not Genjutsu. It's Zoro simply overpowering them with his terrifying spirit, bloodlust, and killing intent that might be scarier than most Genjutsu.
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Chapter: 183. Battle of Giants
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