Volume 1 Chapter 27

Over the past months, both the White and Black teams have shown excellent qualities in both training and during the missions. All officers in the White team were trained to excel at close combat, armed or unarmed. This was because of their regular spar with their Captain. On the other hand, the officers on the Black team were trained according to each of their own speciality, this was as a result of Warhead being a recruit of Marineford. Although he didn't have a complete understanding of the training system at Marineford, he was aware of some techniques which were not available in the West Blue.

Currently, both teams have completed the training missions with outstanding scores similar to the Blue Team. The only problem was that the White team had some officers injured and were still receiving treatment or recovering.

Both teams were briefed about the capture the flag competition. "Instructor if I may, I believe my team cannot participate in this competition, we have a few injured officers, and with such a large handicap, it will be pointless to continue with the competition. We are not planning to throw in the towel either, is it possible to suggest a change to the tournament for this battle, can we have a 5 v 5 battle with the Black team. This way the condition for the fight is balanced." Dalmatian said, he was highly confident about his and his teams battling competence.

"Ok, leave it with me. I will pass your request to the Black team and the management. If your request is accepted then the battle between you two will take place after the winner has been determined between the Red and Blue team," the White team's instructor mentioned. "Make sure your officers recover properly, don't rush things" he added before taking his leave.

'Battle between Hothead and Poseidon aye' he shook his head as he headed towards the infirmary.

Two days later.

The white team's instructor called for an assembly at the training grounds. "The battle between the Red and Blue team finished a lot earlier than expected. A month was scheduled for the competition but who would have thought that it would be over in a matter of days.

The request for a 5v5 tournament has been approved."

"Instructor who won," Dalmatian asked.

"You should prepare, every single team improved greatly during the year of training. The Blue team won by a landslide, that Poseidon is something else." the Instructor whispered.

At the border between the rocky north and the grassy east, a clearing was created. This was to be the venue for the battle between the White and Black teams. An instructor stepped forward to announce the rules of the competition. "This will be a tournament between the Black team and the White team. Each team will select 5 fighters, both Captains must lead their teams.

Each officer is worth 1 point, and a Captain is worth 5 points. For fairness, only officers can fight officers during the competition. This arrangement is to put pressure on the Captains, if they cannot win then the battle is lost no matter how many wins the officers obtain."

The first match will be between Officers:

A two-sword style (nitoryu) Swordsman from the white team was against a Swordsman from the black team. The battle was short as the white team obtained the first victory.

The remaining battle ended in the same pattern. The match between another swordsman from the white team vs a Halberd using officer from the black team. The match between an unarmed fighter from the white team and a swordsman from the black team. The match between a gauntlet user from the white team and a heavy club user from the black team. All these battles showcased the superiority of the white team's officers as they overwhelmed the black team officers.

"The score is 4:0" the officiating instructor announced as he thought, "The physical strength of the white team was on a different level when compared to the black team. Their team captain must excel at training officers."

The deciding battle was left to the captains: Dalmatian vs Warhead.

This was a battle to watch, both had the power of a devil fruit. One excelled in physical strength, enhanced hearing and smell, and possessed a very rapid regeneration. The other had the power of the Bomu Bomu no Mi (Bomb Bomb Fruit) making him an exploding human.

Dalmatian was vigilant, he already knew some details of the Bomu Bomu no Mi from his two years as a member of the yellow scarf elite. He knew for him to stand a chance in this battle he had to pull off a perfect hit and run technique.

He started bouncing on the spot, shifting his weight between his left to right legs. This strange rhythm was what he had developed during training, it brought out the real power of his boxing skill when paired with his footwork.

Seeing Dalmatian's expression, Warhead could not help but get serious also. Although he was like Hothead who focused on developing the devil fruit power, he was still well trained in hand combat which became more deadly when paired with his powers.

The fight turned into a regular boxing match.

Punch - Block.

Punch - Dodge.

Hook - Dodge.

Dodge - Counter,

After a couple of exchanges, both captains backed away from each other.

Dalmatian's eyes turned red as he entered a frenzy increasing his attack while reducing the amount of pain he felt "Beast Rage". He lowered his stance and centre of gravity and began to aggressively weave his upper body in a pattern similar to the shape of a sideways figure eight as he made his way towards Warhead executing a series of hooks.

"Dempsey Roll"

Seeing the approaching flurry of punches, Warhead decided to add his power to his own punch, this will cause an explosion with anything the fist came in contact with.

Punch Bomb"

Punch after punch caused a series of explosions, Dalmatians frenzy could not keep up with such an attack.

"Full Body Bomb" was similar to the bomb punch, only that this application of the Bomu Bomu no Mi uses the whole body to create the explosion. The weakened Dalmatian could not avoid this attack, "Tough Skin" was a defensive skill where the skin is hardened to reduce damage.

Boom!

A body was seen flying out of the explosion area, with foam frothing out of his mouth, parts of his body were charred black and his eyes were rolled backwards.

"4:5 Black team wins."