"Don't look down on us!"
Sherwin dismissive attitude seriously ticked off both Ace and Luffy. For a moment, they even forgot about the pain in their stomachs and charged at him together.
However, a yellow blur suddenly darted between them, blocking their path.
"You're the ones... who shouldn't look down on us Felynes!"
Sanji Meow leapt high into the air and slammed both feet into Ace and Luffy foreheads with a double flying kick, sending them tumbling backward.
Although he usually liked to argue and bicker with Sherwin, Sanji Meow still adjusted his behavior depending on the situation—and could be surprisingly obedient at times.
"You idiot! What kind of Hunter is as lazy as you, meow!"
(=ΦДΦ=)
After booting Ace and Luffy away, Sanji Meow turned back and grumbled at Sherwin.
Hmm… well, sometimes Sanji Meow can be pretty well-behaved!
"Waaah! Gum-Gum Pistol!"
Just like before, since Sanji Meow didn't know Haki, he couldn't actually hurt Luffy. So Luffy was the first to recover, stretching his arm out to throw a punch.
Ace wasn't far behind either, swinging the water pipe in sync with Luffy for a sweeping combo.
However, under Sanji Meow Observation Haki, their attacks missed completely—as expected.
"Sherwin-nii, Klee also wants to play with Luffy-nii, meow."
The little plushie in Sherwin arms looked at the chaotic mess of two boys and one Felyne tumbling around. She rubbed her cheek against Sherwin neck and spoke with growing interest.
"Huh? Didn't you say you weren't interested before?"
"Klee was worried she might accidentally blow up Luffy-nii and Ace-nii, meow," the little plushie explained seriously. "But since both of them are so strong, Klee should be fine using a little less boom-boom, meow!"
"…You'd better stay put." Sherwin scratched the back of Klee Meow head and firmly declined. "Other people houses are nearby. What if you end up blowing up someone home?"
"Oh…" Klee Meow ears drooped in disappointment. But soon, she began purring happily under Sherwin skilled Kattavan fingers.
On the other side, after exchanging several blows with the Ace–Luffy duo, Sanji Meow made a decisive move—he started fluffing up his fur...
"Diable Jambe: Power Overture Meow!"
Luffy strength was already on par with the Sanji from Baratie, and Ace was even stronger, so Sanji Meow didn't dare take them lightly. He activated his "Fur Tribe Mode."
His small black paw, crackling with electricity, landed squarely on Ace arm. The sheer force combined with the electric shock instantly numbed Ace fingers, causing the water pipe to fall from his grip once again.
Disarming Ace, Sanji Meow seized the moment and launched a fierce flurry of kicks at his stomach.
"Diable Jambe: Belly Meat Combo Meow!"
With the stimulation of electricity, Sanji Meow already swift speed leveled up once again. Even though Ace strength wasn't exactly weak, he still couldn't keep up with the little yellow cat movements.
By the time he reacted, his abdomen—already injured by Sherwin—had been struck several times by the small, electrified Felyne legs.
"Waa—!"
In that moment, Ace finally couldn't hold it in and let out a scream. The sudden paralysis made him lose all control over his body.
Fortunately, Luffy was nearby. His rubber arm, stretched to an absurd length, kept swinging over from afar, preventing Sanji Meow from finishing off the temporarily immobilized Ace.
"You think you're the only one who can do ranged attacks, meow?" Sanji Meow twisted mid-air, curling himself into a little furball, then kicked out with both legs toward the distant Luffy. "Day Tiger Meow!"
What shot out from Sanji Meow feet wasn't so much a tiger as it was an air cannon shaped like a cat, hurtling toward Luffy just as he was about to throw his third punch.
"Rankyaku? No, it... a bit different..." Garp, watching with great interest as his grandson got smacked around by the cat, rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.
To Garp, it wasn't a big deal that Sanji Meow could unleash something similar to Rankyaku.
Among high-level fighters, the techniques of the Navy Six Powers weren't that mysterious.
Even if the "Rankyaku" Sanji Meow used looked unusual, it just seemed like a more advanced variation of the original move.
What Garp didn't know was that even Sanji Meow himself found the "Day Tiger" a bit inexplicable.
In the beginning, all he could kick out was a cat paw–shaped air cannon. But after more and more training... the "Day Tiger" just started changing shape on its own...
As for Sherwin, he remained calm. After all, CP9 Jabra could kick out wolf-shaped Rankyaku attacks — and those wolf-shaped Rankyaku could even bounce around the ground.
Compared to that, Sanji Meow kicking out a cat-shaped one was no big deal.
After kicking Luffy—who was in his way—flying, Sanji Meow once again turned his focus back to Ace.
Although Ace combat instincts were "a bit worse" than Sherwin, they were still impressive. He quickly recovered during the brief lull.
While he still couldn't do much about Sanji Meow speed, at the very least he managed to guard his vital spots as best he could under the barrage of attacks.
"Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!"
Sanji Meow kicks didn't pose much of a threat to Luffy, the rubber man, so Luffy quickly jumped back into the fray...
...only to get sent flying again by a single Felyne kick.
"Wah! This idiot is so annoying, meow!"
It could be said that without Armament Haki, Luffy rubber abilities completely countered Sanji Meow.
Kicks didn't work, and even the electrified version of the Diable Jambe couldn't do any damage to a rubber man.
After all, Luffy "Rubber Fruit" could even ignore the lightning produced by the Goro Goro no Mi—so Sanji Meow little static shocks were even less of a concern, barely a tickle.
Because of Luffy relentless interference, Ace gradually began to adapt to Sanji Meow speed. He could even attempt a counterattack now and then... though he still couldn't land a single hit on the cat.
However, Ace wasn't a rubber man like Luffy. As the number of electric shocks he endured reached a critical point, his entire body went numb.
Completely paralyzed and without feeling, Ace finally collapsed to the ground, full of unwillingness. He wouldn't be getting back up for a while.
With Ace taken care of, Luffy posed even less of a threat to Sanji Meow. Sure, he could tank the little yellow cat kicks and shocks, but...
Cats have claws!
"Waaaaaahhh! That hurts like hell!"
Before long, Luffy body was covered in countless scratch marks, and he wailed in pain as he thrashed around.
However, this kind of attack wasn't very damaging, so even though Luffy was getting scratched up pretty badly, he was still shouting in pain with full energy.
The key point was that after a few scratches, Sanji Meow retracted the claws on his paws and switched back to regular kicking techniques.
Because Sanji Meow suddenly realized—Luffy, this guy who wasn't afraid of being kicked or electrocuted, was the perfect sandbag! He could take the opportunity to try awakening Armament Haki!
While the little yellow cat was happily kicking Luffy back and forth, Dadan and her group of bandits nearby were completely stunned.
"No way, right? Those two monster brats can't even beat a single cat?"
Garp was initially quite pleased. After all, he originally wanted Ace and Luffy to understand how strong people outside were, and how unreliable being a pirate could be.
But seeing them getting completely overwhelmed by Sanji Meow, barely able to fight back, made him unhappy again.
"Looks like the training I gave them wasn't nearly enough! They can't even beat an underage Felyne!"
Garp grumbled angrily, completely ignoring the fact that he'd been raising the two brothers with a long-term free-range training method.
At this point, it could basically be declared that Sanji Meow had won. But Sherwin couldn't wait for the little yellow cat to use this chance to train more, and Garp, sulking and wanting his grandsons to learn a lesson, didn't call for a stop either.
Just when Sherwin thought the fight would only end once Luffy completely ran out of stamina, Ace—who had been lying motionless on the ground—suddenly let out a roar.
"AAAAHHHH—!!!"
Along with Ace shout, a wave of oppressive force burst out from within him, making hearts tremble...