Chopper flew backward, smashing through three enormous fluorescent mushrooms, which burst and spewed clouds of colorful spores. He finally embedded himself in the trunk of a dead tree, which snapped with a crack. He hit the ground and coughed up blood, feeling all his organs churn-that shove had not only deftly reflected most of his own strength, but also added a subtle, insidious shock wave that penetrated straight into his organs, sending his blood surging and inflicting considerable internal trauma.
"Cough, cough..." Chopper struggled to his feet, his left arm trembling too, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Two moves.
In just two moves, his right arm had temporarily lost its function, and his internal organs had been injured.
Yet his opponent stood there, still clean and effortlessly composed, without even his gray coat in disarray.
"The Rumble Ball lasts three minutes, right?" Hongo took an exquisite silver pocket watch from inside his coat and checked it-he really did have a pocket watch. "You have two minutes and forty seconds left. Once time runs out, you'll be forced into a weakened state, helpless at anyone's mercy. That's how the drug works. You understand it better than I do."
He put the pocket watch away, slipped both hands back into his coat pockets, and tilted his head, his gap-toothed smile carrying a hint of teasing.
"And during that time, you don't seem capable of touching a single hair on my head. Still want to keep going, little reindeer? If you surrender, I can give you emergency treatment. At least that way, this arm of yours will still be able to hold a scalpel."
"Stop looking down on me!" Chopper roared, his eyes red with rage and pain. "I'm not... a doctor who can only take a beating!"
"Fur Enhancement!"