But nah bruh, we haven't taken Ls. Recall the reason we had Riboku that high martially wasn't for some generic clashes, but specifically what's implied about his past. And his past has yet to brought up when it comes to combat scenarios. Let me explain:
In Riboku's backstory, Riboku tells us about a warrior who was a beast martially. He went to war for revenge against for his family, by taking his friends/cousins/etc to war as well. And then when Kaine asks if that warrior and his battalion lost all their lives, he says no, that only happened to the enemies. With a serious as fuck look on his face.
But how did no enemy survive? Well this is the key part. He went into a trance. They attacked him non-stop, arrows, spears, etc, the mf tanked it all and kept slaying all his enemies. But then he came to sense once he accomplished the goal of killing the enemy general. Meaning the entire time he was going beast mode, he wasn't in his senses, aka no awareness of the battlefield around him.
When he comes to his senses he doesn't even know that none of his battalion survived. That's how bad he lost his senses in the combat. 0 awareness of comrades and the on going battlefield, just complete focus on slaughtering.
After this he kept on being wreckless and throwing himself head first, in turn suffering crushing defeats, leading to the point he meets Houken. (Note all the Zhao soldiers going ?! what?! when they hear Riboku lost many things he held dear and how he used to be in the past. Meaning this mf's past is essentially something only handful know)
In KINGDOM, Hara also gives us an insight on Riboku's thoughts of the past. He blamed himself (and still does) for the losses of his family. He's like yo fucking I let them die. They died because of what I was doing, and what he was doing was going into a trance where he's simply slaughtering enemies without care for anything else.
After being saved by Houken is when Riboku has a change of mind/thinking. He abandons the combat role and focuses solely on strategy, to a point many viewed him as a "coward". Which he even teased himself with, that he's a coward. Which is a complete contrast to the DAWG he was.
Up to chapter 260, we had the likes of Ouki/Houken/Moubu/Renpa/Kashibou/etc introduced in the series. But WHO was the character to whom's body Oda dedicates a chapter? Riboku. Not just any type of body, but a Warrior's Body. This is coming AFTER we already know he's a got a formidable martial aura from his meeting with Ryofui.
And in that chapter 260: A Warrior's Body. We have this panel of Kaine:
Formerly what? Cause remember when he met Kaine he was just a strategist. And things against the Xiongnu, strategy. So when she's referring to "was formerly", it's referring to that time that Riboku told Kaine about. A time that Hara has to get into within the main storyline still. Hence he cut off after "Was formerly". Even the scars that Karyo Ten highlights that he possesses, these scars are from even before he met Kaine (as they exist in the one shot which leaves villager people stunned when they see them).
So when I'm speaking of this mf gonna be Top 1 martially for Zhao. I'm not speaking of a sane Riboku, no no no. I'm speaking of when this mf goes into that trance, where he's focusing on simply slaughtering the enemy and nothing else. That's the Riboku that's a martial beast. And so far in the series, no chance has come where him going into the trance is more beneficial to his goals and ideals than being a sane strategist.
Now with that said, the recent chapters don't mean much. I feel like some folks are heavily exaggerating what happened. Nothing surprising or big that determines anything about Riboku's martial prowess happened in this chapter.
642: He comes in and blocks a downward all out two-hand swing with his sword. Notice his sword isn't drastically moved down but simply moves a little bit. This is from somebody who's supposedly the next big hitter of the Kanki army after Zenou. (Keep in mind Moubu had somebody like Aisen in his army. Kanki also having a hidden youngin martial beast that's not a general isn't anything surprising).
642: Next we have an exchange that lasts barely few seconds. Where the Shuma dude is aggressive and forces Riboku to be on the defensive blocking for 1 hit.
Then another defensive block for the 2nd time. I'm fairly certain I can go back in the manga and find where a superior combatant was forced into a defensive position of blocking like that due to the opposition being overly aggressive. We can see from Riboku's face he's completely fine, but of course Kaine comes in regardless:
Then within few seconds after Kaine's interference, with Riboku still right in front of the dude. He does this with a casual mfin face And the other guy ain't know what hit him until after he was stabbed through the head, despite Riboku being in front of him and right behind Kaine the entire time:
643: He doesn't "sense" the arrow come since he's distracted by one of his cherished people's health, not a big deal since Ouki got hit by an arrow while being distracted. Cause we've already seen him deflect arrows like nothing before.
643: Then he clashes with that other dude/chick. And after the equal clash he gets overpowered in the 2nd one where he's on the defensive and blocking it. He blocks the attack meant for his head, then other people come in.
643: Then once the other people come in for Riboku, he simply goes quiet, until there's some distance, then he comes back to get Kaine. But within that time that kid catches up to him again. And this time he blocks a swing coming at him, the other dude then overpowering his block. Overpowering a block and pushing him back has simply to do with physical strength, not with martial prowess. And it's not like Riboku swung his sword on the offensive and got overpowered. If that kid from Kanki's army couldn't overpower a generic sword block from Riboku who put it up last second, then the mf should just retire as one of Kanki's commanders.
So overall, there's really nothing here to slander or downgrade Riboku martially. He's completely win without any serious or even semi-serious injury. He's been on the defensive this entire time, which is within his character. Then when he went on the offensive he easily 1-shot a dude who's meant to be the 2nd beast after Zenou or sum shit.
Why do the zhao soldiers come in to "protect Riboku" as if he's weak? Cause to pretty much everybody he's mainly just a strategist. Cause nobody in Zhao except for a handful know of his past, prior to Ganmon.
Why does Kaine come in to protect Riboku as if he's weak? Cause she knows of Riboku's past and the whole "trance" shit that Riboku sealed off and refused to let go of over becoming a strategist.
I'm glad we ain't have this forum during the Mougou vs Renpa, the Renpa slander would've been insane lmao. Considering Mougou actually made him bleed a bit before getting destroyed.
So nah bruh bruh we good, haven't taken any Ls so far. Riboku's martial time will come during that final campaign. Until then, just strategist boyo with fairly solid martial abilities.