Part 10 - Who ordered sushi? 17/??

"Hyaku Mai Gaward Sei Ken (One Hundred Straight Hits) "

Kurōbi's strike was halted by Johnny's open palm, who had just moments ago been struggling to stop laughing. Despite the swift and harsh defeat of Momo, the boy's reaction and strength were unpleasantly surprising for the fishman. Kurōbi had not encountered such worthy opponents among his enemies for so long that this turn of events was almost new to him. His eyes widened in astonishment.

"There's no need to get so angry," Johnny said cheerfully. Clenching Kurōbi's fist with one hand, he began wiping his tear-filled eyes with the other. "If you don't want to be seen as idiots, then don't be so foolish."

"Takotsubo no Kamae: Taikai (Octopus Stance: Body Destruction)! "

It turned out that Hachi, the octopus fishman, was a swordsman using six swords —one for each of his arms— and he chose Yosaku as his target. Extending his arms with swords in front of him and aligning the points of all the blades, the octopus made a swift thrust towards Yosaku. Yosaku, drawing his swords instantly, attempted to block the strike. However, he was caught off guard by the weight of Hachi's swords, which were about one and a half to two tons each. The swords were swept wide apart by Hachi's powerful move, leaving Yosaku completely exposed! The octopus swordsman, tilting his head, leaped forward, aiming his forehead at Yosaku's chest. Yet, Yosaku didn't falter—his knee slammed into Hachi's chin, propelling him several meters into the air and sending him flying back a good distance.

"Not so fast, our many-armed friend," Yosaku said, regaining his balance. "The weight of your swords was a surprise, but that won't happen again."

Johnny took advantage of the moment while his opponent was stunned and Yosaku's adversary was picking himself off the floor to share a thought with his friend:

"Hey, I wonder what would happen if that octopus learned Zoro's Asura technique? He already has six arms!"

"It would be three heads and eighteen arms," Yosaku responded without missing a beat, already accustomed to Johnny's 'insights.' The two had known each other their entire lives, and it often showed.

"Don't get distracted!" Kurōbi roared, wrenching his fist free from Johnny's grasp and unleashing a flurry of new attacks and kicks. "Don't think that just because you stopped one of my attacks, you can stop them all! I'll show you how terrifying Gyojin Karate can be!"

"I don't want to sound cliché, but given what you said, I just can't help but say it," Johnny said effortlessly deflecting Kurōbi's attacks. "If every member of our family got a thousand berri every time someone told us we couldn't stop, do, or defeat something, we'd have been billionaires a long time ago... Not that we aren't billionaires already, but an extra billion or two wouldn't hurt."

Kurōbi didn't respond, only increasing his assault, but Yosaku did have something to say:

"What's with this idiot?" 

Johnny glanced over and immediately saw what had puzzled Yosaku. The last fishman from the trio had knelt, dipped his head into a pool, and was now drinking water. It was indeed something to be puzzled about.

"Yosaku, be careful, Chū can shoot water!" Nami shouted.

Nami wasn't worried about Yosaku —what could possibly happen to him? — but she was more concerned about the fact that she, her sister, and the villagers were behind Yosaku and Johnny. If Chū misfired at one of the boys — or hit the target accurately from the fishmen's perspective— it could harm the people close to Nami. Moreover, while Nami wasn't afraid of such an attack, her umbrella, deck chair, and beer certainly were.

At that moment, the fishman stopped drinking, straightened up, spread his arms, and slightly tilted his head back, clearly preparing to attack. Everything seemed fine, but Yosaku misjudged the situation. He heard Nami's warning but, seeing how unnaturally bloated Chū was from all the water he drank, assumed he would be hit by a series of small lethal attacks. Little did Yosaku know that Chū could release all the water he drank in one go —and at such pressure!

To prevent the attack, Yosaku charged towards Chū. He knew he wouldn't make it in time, but it didn't concern him —several fatal injuries were not a worry with his Devil Fruit power. 

All the more unexpected for Yosaku was the huge ball of water, larger than the guy himself, that was launched at him almost point-blank.

"Mizu Taihō (Water Cannon)!" 

The powerful blast nearly tore Yosaku in half and sent him flying backward like a fly swatted by a flyswatter. Nami, anticipating this turn of events —one had to be ready for anything with the Luffy family! — reacted quickly... or rather, began to react, ready to leap to her feet, only to realize it wasn't necessary. Yosaku, flying backwards as if fired from a cannon, was folded in half with a disgusting crunch against Zoro's outstretched leg... If Zoro hadn't done this, Yosaku would have crashed into the villagers standing behind. For Yosaku himself, a few broken bones would heal in moments, but any villager hit by such a fast-moving body could die.

"It looks like you two still need more training," said the swordsman as Yosaku fell lifelessly onto the concrete.

"Hey, what about me?!" Johnny protested immediately. "I'm perfectly fine and having no problems!"

Given that Johnny managed to block or parry all of Kurōbi's attacks even while glancing over his shoulder at Zoro, he wasn't lying —he genuinely had no issues with his opponent.

"Then you could help Yosaku."

"What will happen to him?! If anyone should be helping anyone, it should be him helping me!"

"You see, if you need help, it means you're lacking in training."

"No… I didn't mean that! " Johnny exclaimed almost in desperation.

"It's too late; you've already secured additional training hours for yourself," Zoro remarked, showing that he'd spent a lot of time with Luffy for a reason.