Senga vs. Smoker

"Must it come to this?" Smoker's expression was grim.

He didn't want to fight—the reason for this battle was disgraceful, even laughable.

At the same time, he deeply regretted not stopping Barton's foolishness earlier, which had provoked Uchiha Senga.

"Not even an apology, and you think this ends? Who gave you that confidence—your so-called Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit?"

Senga clearly wasn't letting this go. Today, he intended to fight the strongest upperclassman, Smoker, and save himself a lot of future trouble.

Smoker had his pride too. Being mocked repeatedly by Senga in front of everyone got under his skin.

"Fine then, let's fight! Uchiha Senga!" Smoker couldn't hold back any longer and issued a challenge.

"You should've said that from the start."

Senga stretched his body and crooked a finger at Smoker, signaling him to begin.

"Arrogant brat! White Launcher!" Smoker erupted, his lower body turning into thick white smoke as he shot toward Senga.

"White!"

Smoker turned his arms into smoke mid-charge, his fists elongating rapidly with the nature of smoke. They turned black, coated in Armament Haki, and flew straight at Senga.

Senga's body swayed slightly, easily dodging Smoker's attack.

"Not done yet!" Smoker wasn't flustered. The empty fists, still wreathed in white smoke, abruptly reversed course midair and shot back toward Senga's back.

"Senga! Watch out!"

A cry came from the crowd. Ain, seeing Smoker's bizarre attack, quickly warned him.

The girl beside her tugged at her sleeve, thinking, My dear friend, neither of these two is easy to mess with—stay out of it!

Senga still stood motionless, his Rinnegan slightly open.

Shinra Tensei!

Boom! Before Smoker's fists could touch Senga, they were blasted apart into scattered smoke by a sudden shockwave.

After a moment, the wisps of smoke slowly gathered at Smoker's wrists, solidifying back into fists.

"A Paramecia Devil Fruit user?" Smoker found Uchiha Senga increasingly troublesome. That shockwave clearly countered his Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

"Think what you want." Senga couldn't be bothered to explain. A black vortex appeared in his palm as he activated Universal Pull on Smoker.

Smoker's body jolted, yanked violently toward Senga.

"Damn it, what's this now?!"

This time, Smoker didn't end up like those Senga had pulled in before—Senga didn't grab his throat.

When Senga reached for his neck, Smoker turned to smoke again, separating his head from his body, performing an impromptu head-disconnect maneuver.

Senga had expected Smoker to elementalize. Unfazed, he formed a few hand seals.

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

A gale burst from Senga's mouth, sending the cafeteria's fixtures flying. Some nearby onlookers were knocked off their feet.

Smoker, taking the brunt of the attack, was blown into countless wisps of white smoke scattered everywhere.

After a long moment, the smoke coalesced into a human shape. Smoker's pale face emerged first, his eyes locked on Senga as he demanded, "Wind again this time? That's definitely not the same power as the shockwave. You've eaten more than one Devil Fruit?"

Smoker was uneasy, controlling the smoke as it slowly reformed his body. The Great Breakthrough had hit him hard as a smoke man.

"You can call that a ninjutsu." Senga didn't press the advantage, watching calmly as Smoker completed his regeneration.

"Ninjutsu? You're a ninja from Wano Country?"

"Wano Country? Hah, what trash is that, worthy of being called ninja?" Senga sneered contemptuously, then his expression turned dangerous.

"I've had my fun. Now, one question."

"What?"

"Logia... do they bleed?"

At those words, Smoker instinctively scrambled backward. But Senga was faster.

Without warning, Senga appeared behind Smoker and grabbed for him.

"Useless! Without Armament Haki, no matter how strong your attack, it's futile!" Smoker, seeing no special move from Senga, relaxed slightly and taunted.

"Is that so?" Senga's hand touched Smoker's shoulder. A transparent circular barrier appeared, enclosing them both.

Rinnegan Path Technique: Seal Absorption

Smoker panicked as he found his Smoke-Smoke Fruit ability unusable—like severed limbs lacking nerve connections.

"Let me go!" This violation of common sense threw Smoker into full panic. He could only shout to drown the fear in his heart.

Sealing Technique: Seal Absorption, another use of the Preta Path, differed from absorbing an opponent's stamina or Chakra. It could absorb their techniques and had a sealing effect.

Without the Human Path to kill an Ability User, Senga's Preta Path couldn't directly drain the ability from the user. But through close contact, Seal Absorption could temporarily seal their power.

With one hand, he pinned Smoker to the ground, and a Black Rod materialized in the palm of the other. Senga aimed and stabbed it fiercely into Smoker's right shoulder.

Pfft. The Black Rod pierced through Smoker's right shoulder, blood gushing out. The pain drove him to frantically activate his Smoke-Smoke Fruit ability.

But the result left him in despair. Even though Senga had already dispersed that damn barrier, he still couldn't use his power properly.

To be precise, most of his body could turn into smoke, but his shoulder felt like it wasn't his own—completely unresponsive.

When he tried to pull it out with his other hand, the moment he touched the Black Rod, another wave of weakness washed over him, let alone yanking the rod embedded in his shoulder.

The Black Rod, a product created in the palm of a Rinnegan user through Yin-Yang Release, had the effect of sealing or disrupting the flow of energy within a target's body.

A Rinnegan user could even use it to control corpses, creating powerful Six Paths puppets like Nagato had.

"Behave yourself. If you keep struggling, that wound's only going to get bigger." Senga looked at the pitiful Smoker on the ground and offered a well-meaning reminder.

"What's going on here?! Everyone, stop!"

A shout rang out—Zephyr had arrived at the scene.

Seeing the wrecked cafeteria, Senga standing, and Smoker lying on the floor, Zephyr felt a headache coming on.

"Someone tell me what happened."

Ain shook off her roommate's hand, stepped forward, and declared loudly, "Teacher Zephyr! The upperclassmen provoked us first, and Barton threw the first punch. That's when Senga retaliated!"

Zephyr nodded, then glanced at Smoker on the ground.

"And what about Smoker?"

"Teacher, I'm fine. I just had a normal spar with Senga. Sorry for causing so much damage."

Smoker suppressed the searing pain and explained word by word.

Senga looked at Smoker in surprise, his opinion of him shifting considerably.

Withdrawing the Black Rod, Senga helped Smoker up and explained to Zephyr as well, "Yes, Teacher Zephyr. It was my fault—I didn't control my strength and hit too hard!"

Zephyr breathed a slight sigh of relief. Truth be told, both were his most prized students, and he couldn't bear to punish either.

"You take Smoker to the infirmary yourself! And as for the damage this time, you two will cover it yourselves!"

"Yes!" Senga and Smoker quickly replied.

"Barton! Starting trouble—your punishment is a hundred laps around the training ground! If you don't finish today, get out of the camp!"

Barton, who had long been hiding in the crowd, slumped his face. Not daring to argue, he dragged his terrified, limp body off to run laps.

Glaring at Senga and Smoker, Zephyr dispersed the crowd, flicked his sleeve, and left.