Senbonzakura

Before long, Skye came downstairs again.

"You're always so scatterbrained." Mike affectionately tapped Skye on the forehead.

Skye wrinkled her nose and bared her teeth at him.

Standing nearby, Peter felt like he had been force-fed dog food.

He had come knocking on their door only to get fed...

This single dog was deeply saddened.

Could this world be a little kinder to single dogs? Other than their hand speed, when would single dogs finally rise up?

"You're Peter Parker?"

"Yes, I made an appointment by phone."

"Oh."

He had sounded young on the phone, and he looked young too. "You're not a middle schooler, are you?"

"No, no, I'm in high school." The moment he said it, Peter knew it was bad. What time did a high school student have for a part-time job? Many employers rejected him outright as soon as they heard "high school student."

Peter felt uneasy. He really wanted to help Aunt May ease her financial burden. He looked at Skye, a trace of pleading in his eyes.

Peter clearly did not meet the requirements, but remembering the opportunity Mike had once given her, Skye's heart softened.

She turned to look at Mike. After all, Mike was the boss. Doing good deeds with someone else's money and currying favor with someone else's things—that was taking credit at another person's expense, and it was disgusting.

So... no matter how close she and Mike were, even if they were lovers, she felt that she should ask for Mike's permission.

"You decide." Mike nodded. It had to be said that Skye's approach made him feel very comfortable.

With Mike's approval, Skye asked Peter about his circumstances in detail and decided to give him a chance, with a one-month probation period.

"Thank you, thank you." Peter gratefully bowed to Mike and Skye.

After Peter left, Old Earl asked, "Do you think he's reliable?"

Mike said indifferently, "We'll give him a try. If it doesn't work out, we'll just hire someone else."

Since Mike had said so, what else could Old Earl say? He smiled faintly. Back when Mike hired a homeless man like him, everyone else had probably thought it was unreliable too.

"Wait here."

Skye excitedly ran up to the second floor, then came back down and pulled Mike along. "Come with me."

"What are we doing?" In the elevator, Mike saw Skye press the button for the top floor.

Elevator shaking?

It was only a low-rise building with a dozen or so floors. Who was she looking down on?

Skye suddenly leaned close to his chest and sniffed, staring at Mike suspiciously.

"What now?"

"Perfume."

"Cough, cough. You could smell that? Impressive. Sigh, what could I do? I was born beautiful and couldn't help it. Everywhere I went, there would be... Hey, hey, what are you doing?!"

Skye reached into Mike's pocket, pulled out a bottle of perfume and a shopping receipt, then sniffed it. It was the same scent on Mike.

"Liar. You obviously bought it yourself. Heh... men... always pretending to save face."

The corners of Skye's lips rose.

The corners of Mike's lips rose too.

Never underestimate a woman's sense of smell and sixth sense. Rather than getting caught, it was better to expose himself first.

After taking Tracy back to the TV station, the first thing Mike did was go to a hotel to shower. Then he bought a bottle of perfume at the mall and sprayed on a little.

Then his bragging was exposed. Skye found it harder to press him about her other suspicions, or she would seem unreasonable.

This was called exposing one's own weakness to advance by retreating, sacrificing a pawn to save the king—straight out of a scumbag's training manual.

Sure enough, Skye did not pursue the matter any further.

They arrived on the rooftop.

"Let me show you the results of the past two days of training." Skye threw out a Poké Ball. "Burn, Charmander!"

"Char! Charmander!" Charmander was full of fighting spirit.

"Use Flamethrower!" Skye commanded.

Whoosh!

Charmander opened its mouth and spewed a two-meter-long blast of fire.

"What do you think?" Skye asked excitedly.

"Good! Really good!" What else could he say? That the windup was too obvious and the flames covered too small an area?

Mike was no fool. He immediately unleashed a string of rainbow-colored compliments, praising Skye and Charmander until they wiggled their butts in perfect sync.

Next, Charmander demonstrated Scratch and Tail Whip.

It was enough to beat up some small-time thugs. Against professionals... it could probably only rely on cuteness to muddle through.

The two sat embracing on the rooftop for a while. Skye went downstairs first. She still had things to do, and Chloe would be back soon. Babi had to "receive customers." Ever since getting Charmander, the little girl had become a bit more cheerful.

Mike remained alone on the rooftop.

Looking down...

Pah, pah, he had absolutely not been thinking of jumping.

There was still a Destiny Fruit in the System Space. He had just gotten cozy with Skye, and he felt as though the luck of an emperor had possessed him.

He took a deep breath.

"Open the Destiny Fruit."

The moment he finished speaking, the fruit with golden hook-like patterns split open down the middle, blooming with dazzling light.

"You've got to be kidding me. I got a katana? That's it? This is supposed to be a fucking Destiny Fruit?!"

Mike was so angry he wanted to curse.

"Wait!" Just as he was about to toss the katana into storage, Mike vaguely sensed a spiritual connection with it. He focused his thoughts on the katana, and the system displayed the following information:

[Weapon: Senbonzakura]

[Type: Zanpakutō (Permanent Item)]

[Note: A weapon forged with its wielder's soul as its template. Every blade has its own soul, thoughts, and personality, so it is more than merely a weapon.]

The system prompted, "To use all of Senbonzakura's functions, you must pay 800,000 US dollars at once."

"Pay?"

"Fuck!"

What a coincidence—Mike's bank account had just over 800,000 US dollars in it. If the system had not deliberately set the fee at that exact amount, Mike would not believe it even if someone beat him to death.

Where was the system's conscience?

Were workers not people?

"Pay?" the system prompted again.

"Pay!" Mike thought, Money is nothing. You can't bring it with you when you're born or take it with you when you die. Only strength belongs to you, and it never depreciates.

But... why was his heart bleeding? Bleeding profusely.

The system prompted, "Payment successful."

A text notification of the deduction followed. Better not look at it—it would only make him sadder.

Taking Senbonzakura out of the space and gripping it in his hand, Mike felt as though the blade were an extension of his arm.

With a light swing, the blade left a shallow mark on the wall.

It moved as easily as an arm...

"If I use Senbonzakura together with a Possession Card for Zoro or Zabuza, my swordsmanship should rise to another level, like... surpassing the character himself."

"What a pity... if I could choose, I'd like Ryūjin Jakka best, followed by Hyōrinmaru. As for Kyōka Suigetsu... I guess I want them all."

It was purely personal preference. Plenty of people probably liked Kyōka Suigetsu. Maybe someone even liked the five-shaped head.

"Since I've taken it out, I might as well try it."

"Shikai... Scatter, Senbonzakura!"

As Mike spoke the Shikai release command, the blade broke apart into countless invisible thin blades. Under the light, they resembled dancing pink petals.

Beautiful, deadly!

Under Mike's careful control, the petals carved countless tiny sword marks into the wall.

"Without special defensive measures, this move really is impossible to counter. And... perhaps it can make up for one of my weaknesses."

One of Mike's weaknesses was that he could not fly. Zoro had an ability similar to Moonwalk, but it was still far from actual flight.

The pink petals gathered together, forming the shape of a greatsword that slowly carried Mike into the air.

"Flying on a sword!"

Mike was thrilled as he flew a low circle around the rooftop.

Then he came back down.

Mike took off his shoes. The soles were ruined, and his feet were covered in countless crisscrossing tiny cuts.

"No wonder Byakuya Kuchiki set up a No-Damage Zone, even knowing it would become a weakness. Perfectly controlling so many tiny blades is too difficult. I got hurt just using them as a flying sword. What about in actual combat? But hehe... Armament Haki combined with Shikai or Bankai should solve the No-Damage Zone problem. It's practically perfect."

He could also fly in the final-scene White Emperor Sword state.