In One Piece, as Hashirama Senju

[25] The Oasis & The Desert (4)

Chapter 25: The Oasis & The Desert (4)

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"Want a bite?" Hashirama offered a half-eaten apple to the girl beside him, watching her look down at the apple before shaking her head. "Huh. If you want a non-eaten one, I can make one for you right away."

"No need." Nico Robin shook her head, turning to look ahead at the distant horizon that looked beautiful from this rooftop. "I am rather worried about your Main Body. Will he be safe...? Will he win?"

"How would I know?" Hashirama, a clone, shrugged his shoulders as he finished the apple. He turned around, leaning against the railing to look at her face. "He sent me back here two days ago, so I don't know what plans he made. He just called and told us Sir Crocodile had reached the Rain Base—so we can just wait for his next call."

"Right." Robin sighed. Moving her eyes away from the horizon, she looked at his relaxed face. "You are not worried at all? What'd happen if the Main died?"

"I will die too, I think." Hashirama said. "But it is what it is. That possibly isn't enough to make me worry."

"Huh. Alright," Robin gave him a nod, finding all this interesting but at the same time too worried to continue the conversation.

At the very least, knowing that this clone would vanish if Hashirama the Main died, the fact that it was still here meant he was still alive. That made Robin a bit relieved.

They knew the fight shouldn't last very long, so the two of them just waited on the rooftop— gazing at the morning horizon and waiting for the Den Den Mushi snail to ring.

* * *

"One of me sing a song, while the rest beat him up." –this was what one of the Clone-Rama said before one indeed began to sing as if mocking Crocodile, while the ten others rushed to the villain of this country.

These eleven Hashirama had the job of weakening Crocodile, and that didn't just mean physically—annoying him enough that he got frustrated was also a good outcome.

The ten clones ran towards Sir Crocodile in a circle, and one of them reached the clone enough to throw a punch; a punch that passed through his body when that particular part turned into sand automatically.

"You can't even touch me!" Crocodile growled angrily, grabbing the clone by the throat and gawking into his eyes. "How dare you try to attack me?"

Quite enraged, Sir Crocodile activated the technique dubbed [Desert Encierro] that sucked the moisture out of Hashirama's throat. Spreading in two directions from his throat, the drying effect infected his entire body—and turned him into dust even before he could react at all.

"Tsk," Crocodile dusted his right hand against his clothes and looked at the other remaining clones, which had stopped in a circle around him. "Fools. Staying far isn't going to help you. At all."

He raised his right foot and then stomped hard on the ground, initiating his skill, [Desert Grande Espada] that caused sharp spikes to jump up from under the clones. A few of the clones noticed and jumped away, but three of them were too late and got caught in the attack.

The clones were severed in two and turned into smoke right away. The remaining six fighters, and one singer, all paused in their spots and exchanged glances.

"Shouldn't we be a bit too careful about how we die? If it's painful, it'll just cause the Main's migraine to be worse after this. C'mon, try not to die, guys!" one of the clones took the role of a leader and cheered, followed by the others.

Sir Crocodile's patience had run out long ago, so he interrupted their foolish shenanigan by using his technique [Sables] that brought a small tornado into the palm of his right hand. When he waved his hand, the tornado rushed forward, becoming larger as it pulled a few of the clones from the direction it moved towards.