234. Battle of Higher-Ups

Now is the time for the sparring between the Red Scabbards against the executives. There are nine people in Red Scabbards' group. Kin'emon, Denjiro, Kanjuro, Kiku, Ashura, Raizo, Kawamatsu, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi.

Meanwhile, the executives only have 8 people now. Cricket, Palu, Enel, Mantis, Jude, Manba, Brook, and Ruff. They are short on Magnus who guards the ship and Deon who infiltrates the palace. Also, Ruff isn't a fighter, so they basically just have 7 people now.

"So you only have 7 fighters. Then we will also send 7 people," says Kin'emon.

"No need, the 7 of us will face the 9 of you. We don't need your concern. This kind of situation is a normal thing in any war. We can't hope that the enemy's number is the same or lower than us," says Cricket.

"Fine, if that's what you want. Don't regret or use it as an excuse when you lose," says Ashura.

"Don't worry, it won't happen because we won't lose," says Enel.

The 2 sides then move to the center and get ready to fight.

"Buggyjiro, let's make a bet," says Oden, finally enjoying this.

"Fine by me. What will we bet? Money?" asks Buggy.

"That won't be interesting. How about the loser tell the winner one of their secrets?" says Oden smugly.

Buggy smirks and says, "Sure."

"Hehe, my men are strong, you know," says Oden.

"I know, but my guys are better," says Buggy.

"We'll see," says Oden as the match is about to start.

The referee finally starts the match after checking the fighters. Both sides rush at each other but not all Clowns executives move forward. Jude & Enel stay behind while the others move forward.

Seeing the 2 stays behind makes the Red Scabbards wary. But they can't think too much about it and focus on the ones who rush forward. It will be a 9 vs 5 now with 2 people staying behind, so their chance of winning gets higher now.

But suddenly, the 9 Red Scabbards trip on something and fall at the same time. Jude has sneakily moved her ash on the floor to trip them. Then she grabs their limbs with her ash to make them unable to move.

The 9 of them can't move at all because Jude's ash grab is strong. They lay on the floor and try to retaliate. But before they can even do something, a loud rumbling sound is heard from the sky, and the 5 Clowns move back.

*RUMBLE RUMBLE* *BOOM BOOM*

A massive lightning beam strikes the 9 Red Scabbards from the sky at the same time. Enel has prepared this attack since the match started. Then after Jude held the 9 of them, he struck them with his massive lightning attack.

Enel's attack destroys the floor, making dust & smoke scattered everywhere. The Clowns wait in their positions while cracking their necks. They know that attack won't be enough to defeat the 9 Red Scabbards and they are right.

The 9's silhouette can be seen standing through the smoke. Then after the dust & smoke disperse, the 9's figures can finally be seen. There are some black charred marks on their skin and they look hurt but they still can stand.

Cricket & co grin because it won't be interesting if the Scabbards get defeated just by that. Both sides get ready to fight again but now the 9 Scabbards are more careful. Enel's attack was very strong and they would get defeated if they didn't use their Ryuo at the right time.

However, they also know that Enel isn't the strongest among the executives. They know that Cricket & Palu are stronger than Enel. It's just their intuition but they believe it because fighters like them need to believe what their hearts say.

The 9 have made a plan before and it changed a little after they saw Enel & Jude's power. They rush again but now they watch their surroundings more carefully. Jude's ash is still scattered around, after all, so they need to be careful.

The Clowns also rush at the 9 and now Enel moves too while Jude still stays behind. They are curious about how the 9 Scabbards will attack the 7 of them. Soon, the answer appears. Cricket & Palu have 2 people attack them each while the others only get attacked by 1 person.

Kin'emon and Ashura attack Cricket, while Inuarashi & Kawamatsu attack Palu. Kiku attacks Mantis, Denjiro attacks Manba, Kanjuro attacks Brook, Raizo attacks Jude, and Nekomamushi attacks Enel.

Previously, they planned to make Inuarashi & Nekomamushi fight Palu while Kawamatsu fights Enel. But Enel's lightning power changed that composition. Nekomamushi fights Enel now because he can use lightning power to some extent and they hope he can reduce the impact of Enel's power.

The battles start and the 9 Red Scabbard try to spread the Clowns. They've seen how the Clowns' normal members worked together so they assumed that the executives can work together that well too. That's why they need to be separated or it will be very troublesome.

This plan is very predictable that the Clowns want to laugh at it. But they still don't resist and let themselves get separated. They aren't worried about anything even if they get separated. It's a normal thing for them, after all.

The Red Scabbards and the Clowns fight with their basic skills first. No one uses Haki yet, even Cricket who fights bare-handed. His fists are hard enough even without Haki. Blocking wooden swords with his bare hands is easy for him.

Cricket also still uses his basic fighting skills without any flashy skills. He just uses his hands to fight against Kin'emon & Ashura who use wooden swords. Kin'emon uses 2 swords while Ashura uses 1, so Cricket faces 3 weapons with his 2 hands.

He should be at a disadvantage without any weapon against the 2, but he is not. Cricket's hands' movements are very nimble and he can move his hands in unusual motions at difficult angles because his joints are very flexible and his hands are quite long.

With his nimble hands, Cricket can block or parry the 2's sword attacks that come from many angles. Cricket also utilizes his Observation Haki efficiently to predict the 2's movements. He can always move one step ahead and make the 2 samurais overwhelmed.

They can't believe that they are the ones who get pushed even though they are together while Cricket is alone. Now they can only admit that Cricket's fighting skills are better than theirs. But they still want to win so they attack more fiercely.

As the 2 attacks more fiercely, Cricket's movements also become better. He wasn't using his full power before so he still can move better than before to match Kin'emon and Ashura's movements.

Cricket really lives up to his title as the first mate and Vice-Captain. He is strong enough to hold 2 of the Red Scabbards without much problem. As the 2nd rank in the crew after Buggy, he should be able to do at least this much.

"What's wrong? Can't you handle one enemy together?" asks Cricket mockingly.

"Stop looking down on us!" shouts Ashura while swinging his wooden sword from above.

Cricket grabs the sword and pulls it as he sends a punch at Ashura's stomach. Ashura gets hit and sent flying back then he crashes and rolls on the floor. It distracts Kin'emon who then gets hit on his jaw by Cricket and falls too.

Cricket smirks and says, "Is this it? Such a letdown."

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