Sanji had been in the kitchen earlier, so he had neither seen Meow Jūshirō beat Patty until his head was covered in lumps nor heard Zeff's explanation about the Mink Tribe. Deep down, he really did not want to bully such a fragile-looking little kitty.
But now that his own name was at stake, Sanji could no longer worry about that. He did not want to be called Squid Tentacles! Not even for a little while!
Besides, knowing those bastard cooks at the Baratie, once Sanji accepted that name, they would never stop calling him that.
So this was a battle for his reputation and dignity. If he had to bully a cat, so be it. At worst, he would go a little easier on him.
Sanji was very confident in his strength, and Sanji Meow was even more confident in his own.
After all, he had kicked plenty of vicious pirates in the West Blue, including quite a few with sizable bounties. The pirates in the East Blue were clearly much weaker than those in the West Blue, so Sanji Meow thought nothing of a mere cook from the East Blue.
As for Sanji's dismissive gaze, Sanji Meow paid it even less mind. Thanks to the adorable appearance of Palicoes, this was far from the first time someone had underestimated him, so he was long used to it. He had barely reacted when his cooking, his greatest pride, had been looked down on earlier, much less his fighting ability, which he cared less about.
He had even learned how to properly use his appearance to his advantage after hearing Xie Wen tell them a story about a "severing-type Palico in boots."
Of course, Sanji Meow had no intention of using such tactics in this fight, because he wanted the