[20] Crocodile's Rage

Chapter 20: Crocodile's Rage

—

[A Few Days Ago]

In this world of Pirates and Marines, exists humans with the power to turn into natural elements of destruction on their will alone. They were one of the lucky ones to have eaten a Logia Devil Fruit.

Sir Crocodile was one such person, with the power to turn into Sand at will, thanks to his Logia: Sand-Sand Fruit. With that, he had the ability to suck the moisture out of the air, and out of any living being he touches as well. This set of powers, a decade ago, had made him one of the most dangerous Pirates in the seas—and he would have continued to be that way if Whitebeard hadn't put him in his place.

Later, Sir Crocodile started to plan a coup d'etat on this country that caught his eye. The Kingdom of Alabasta, a desert country that would make him the strongest within. Being the user of the Sand Logia, he was practically invincible while fighting in the terrain of Alabasta.

For the last decade and a half, that's why, he has been pushing pieces of chess from one place to another within the country, with the final goal of taking down the King off his throne.

Everything was going well, until one day these Senju bastards came to this country—ruining everything that Crocodile had been building with his own hand.

For the last eight years, Crocodile was on the edge of his seat, frustrated yet waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike.

At last, he found such an opportunity.

Tsunade Senju, the main culprit behind why this Senju problem hadn't been taken care of yet, was supposed to leave this country for good. From a spy he had within the Royal Palace, he managed to learn of this fact. So naturally, he planned an assault on Hashirama right on the day that Tsunade would leave.

The boy who was the ruin behind all his plans, Hashirama Senju, was finally to be taken care of.

* * *

[Present]

Out of everyone else, Sir Crocodile had sent the two subordinates who had a better match against Hashirama than the others.

Reportedly, Hashirama had fought quite a few thugs in his short life, however though he defeated them and won—based on the skills he showed, he didn't have much battle prowess.

That's why Crocodile didn't see the need to send the best of his troops—more so, since they had other jobs to do—but the ones he did send, should have been enough to obliterate Hashirama.

For his personal fighting powers, he sent Miss Valentine who would have been enough. Miss Valentine, when in her heaviest form, shouldn't take any damage from his base-human-level punches—as she was greatly immune to physical attacks when she increased her weight (otherwise it wouldn't make sense for her to survive her own initiated falls).

As for the possibility that he could use his tree-creation powers offensively, then Hashirama's match would be Mr. Five. The weakness of wood should naturally be Fire—something that Mr. Five could use by creating explosions.

So in all honesty, in a fight between them, it should have been an easy win for the Baroque Works against the 16-year-old Hashirama.

Yet—nothing went right.

Sir Crocodile was on an island near Alabasta, in one of the branches of Baroque Works, as he sat behind a desk while wearing a deadly scowl.

"You better be joking, All Sunday." Crocodile hissed towards the Den Den Mushi kept on his desk, as the snail was taking the features of Nico Robin. "How do you expect me to believe you when you say that Mr. Five and Miss Valentine were defeated and possibly killed by a snotty brat!?"

– By now, you should be aware that I am not one to joke, Sir. It's been a year since we have been working together.

'This bitch and that smart mouth of hers…' Sir Crocodile cursed Robin in his head, while she continued to report.

– This matter is entirely what I am hypothesizing, that they were defeated by this Hashirama boy. Otherwise, there is only one other possibility for why they haven't contacted me yet—that they have fled, and escaped from the organization.

"That is highly unlikely, and you know that." Crocodile told her harshly. "They have seen what happens when someone betrays me, they have seen the blood, they wouldn't make such a mistake. You know that."

– I do. That's why I reached this conclusion—that they indeed were defeated by this boy. But don't hesitate to suggest what you think yourself, sir. After all, even I can be wrong sometimes.

When she finished, Crocodile grumbled. His body trembled and his right hand, his only remaining hand, clenched and unclenched in sheer anger.

For a man who has been planning to take over this country for a decade and a half, Sir Crocodile may be the most patient person around these parts. So for him to feel like wanting to punch this desk into splinters, he no doubt was in the angriest state of mind at this moment.

"Regardless if Mr. Five and Miss Valentine escaped or were defeated," Crocodile growled deeply. "It means that either way, Hashirama is still breathing right now. Fine then, if these minions are incapable, I will go down there myself."

"...Alright. Then I will-

"All Sunday," Sir Crocodile interrupted her. "I will be taking over for this mission, I didn't quite like your smart mouth today. I wouldn't need you in this fight, so you do the management thing you are so good at. Everything else, I will take care of them personally."

"Wait, but-"

"I am ending the call."

Sir Crocodile ended the call right away, cutting Robin off, as he picked the snail up while standing up from his seat. His coat fluttered behind him when he walked to the door, opening it with a kick, while his hand dialed on the Den Den Mushi, connecting to Mr. One in an instant.

"Mr. One, it's me Zero." Sir Crocodile stopped on his steps, his jaws clenched tightly. "Come to Alubarna with Doublefinger. I as well as the Officer Agents will be joining you on this mission, as this mission is the most important for us."

Sir Crocodile cut the call once he heard the affirmative answer from Mr. One, as expected.

Sir Crocodile wished to see how Hashirama would counter him when he was to knock on Hashirama's door with the strongest agents standing behind him.

* * *

Nico Robin was quick to tense up when Sir Crocodile cut the call midway, with an angry growl.

It's also not as if this was the first time she acted 'smart' with him, but she had underestimated how pissed off he was at the very moment and therefore ticked him the wrong way without intention.

The result of that silly mistake? Now she didn't have any info at all about the current situation.

What was Crocodile planning? How many people would he take with him to go against Hashirama? Heck, would he even be going to Rain Base?

'This is bad.'

At this rate, Hashirama might be waiting for Crocodile in Rain Base while the latter would instead make his way to the capital city. Sure, they will come across each other sooner or later, but by then so many innocent people might die at Crocodile's hands if he really does go to some other place than Rain Base.

"…I should go there myself, in that case." Robin decided soon. "If Crocodile comes to Alubarna first, I will be present there, and will hold him back before Hashirama comes there himself."

Obviously, she won't fight him—she would die if she did—but she had enough speech power to keep him busy for a while.

To be fair, this problem could be fixed if she had Hashirama's number, but she didn't, since he didn't even have a Den Den Mushi on himself when he left. He did have her number though, so she planned to let him know about this plan when he contacted her from his side.

"Alright… let's get going."

Nico Robin took in a deep breath, slowly rising from her chair before she left for Alubarna.

—-

"Oh God."

Later, when in Alubarna, Nico Robin face-palmed.

She just realized a better idea to for sure lure Sir Crocodile into Rain Base, something that made her accept that she was very stressed and nervous about this mission—so much so that a person as careful as her tripped over twice in a row, on the same day.

"...I hope he doesn't fail."

In either case, Robin waited for Hashirama's call to instruct him according to her plan.

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Master4thWall Note: With that, this will be the last Hashirama's Voyage chapter of the Year 2022!! Happy New Year, everyone!

Considering joining my Discord server, where I will post new year celebration pictures of the girls from my stories. Just like the ones I posted in christmas-!

Link = https://discord.gg/pkGvcYpTbJ