Next Bonus, 100!!
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"I've trained my ass off—" Zoro roared, "not to be stopped by a toy, but to defeat you!"
"It doesn't matter what burden you carry, or why you seek to become strong," Mihawk said. "In my eyes, you are still weak."
He sent Zoro flying again.
And again, Zoro got up.
He was running on pure adrenaline now, his world narrowed to the enemy before him.
"Tiger—"
"Is brute force all you have left?" Mihawk said suddenly. "A beast like you is not worthy of the name 'swordsman'."
Zoro froze, his impulsive rage giving way to a flicker of clarity. He let out a long breath. "You're right... I'm sorry..."
He had been shocked, impulsive, angry, his perception of reality shattered by the sheer gap in their strength. He had lost his composure.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
The air around him changed.
"His presence... it's different," Zeff noted.
In the next moment, a black aura began to coat Zoro's blades.
"What's that??" Patty and the other cooks exclaimed.
"Haki?" Viola said, surprised. She looked at Zeff. "You know what that is?"
"Shouldn't I?" Zeff replied, giving her a strange look. He had spent a year on the Grand Line. He'd heard the stories.
"Hey, old man, what is it?" Sanji asked.
"A special power," Zeff said, his voice grave, "said to be used by the strongest pirates in the latter half of the Grand Line."
So that's what Viola was teaching them.
After the battle in Orange Town, Viola had told them about the two main ways to fight Devil Fruit users: Haki and Seastone.
Luffy and Zoro had been training ever since.
And this was the first time Zoro had successfully used Armament Haki.
It wasn't that hard to awaken. In the New World, it was standard issue for elite Marines.
He could feel it now. That power.
"Tiger Hunt!"
He charged again, his Armament-coated blades even sharper, a ferocious tiger hunting the world's strongest swordsman.
Shlick!
The small knife plunged into Zoro's chest.
"Zoro!"
Armament Haki?
Mihawk had it too. And his was far stronger.
But he hadn't used it. He had simply applied a little more force and broken through Zoro's defense.
In his eyes, Zoro's swordsmanship was full of openings. He hadn't even come close to landing a blow. What good was Armament Haki?
But what surprised him was...
"Why didn't you retreat? Why didn't you dodge?"
"I don't know," Zoro said, his voice strained. "But I know that if I take even one step back... all the oaths, all the promises I've made... they'll all be broken. And I'll never be able to come back."
"That's right," Mihawk said, a flicker of respect in his eyes. "That is what it means to be defeated."
"Is that so?" Zoro said. "Then I have even more reason not to retreat."
"So you would rather die?"
"I would rather die with honor than live with shame!"
Mihawk's respect turned to admiration. "Such a strong will... I've never met anyone like you." He pulled the small knife from Zoro's chest. "Your name."
"Roronoa Zoro."
Seeing that Zoro was still ready to fight, Mihawk reached for the hilt of the massive blade on his back.
"I will remember it. It's been a long time since I've met a true swordsman."
With a will like that, in this world where will is everything, his future was limitless.
He drew the blade.
"He drew it... the world's strongest sword!"
It was a beautiful weapon. A crucifix hilt, inlaid with jewels. A blade with a gentle, wave-like pattern. And it was completely black, tempered by a powerful Haki.
"Is that guy insane?" Sanji said, frowning. "He knows he can't win, and he's still fighting? And that captain of his... he's not even trying to stop him?"
"Because that is the dream that swordsman carries on his back," Zeff said calmly. "And that captain knows that to stop him now would be to defile the very blood he has just shed for it. Just watch. Even if he dies, it will be a glorious death. It's been a long time since the East Blue has seen a man like this."
Zoro took a deep breath.
His indomitable will was the source of his strength.
As long as he survived this... he would evolve.
"As a show of respect," Mihawk said, "I will use the world's strongest black blade to end your life."
Zoro's spirit had earned his respect.
"One last attack," Zoro said, his eyes focused. "It's all or nothing."
"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds!"
Mihawk simply charged forward and swung his blade.
The two swordsmen passed each other.
Clang!
CRACK!
The two Armament-coated swords in Zoro's hands shattered. They were just sharp blades. The gap between them and Mihawk's black blade, tempered by his own Haki, was immense.
"I lose," Zoro said, blood pouring from his chest. "So this is the power of the world's strongest."
He sheathed Wado Ichimonji, turned to face Mihawk, and spread his arms wide.
"What are you doing?" Mihawk asked, surprised.
"A wound to the back," Zoro said with a grin, "is a swordsman's shame."
A smile spread across Mihawk's face.
"Well said."
He raised his blade and brought it down, a diagonal slash from Zoro's left shoulder to his right hip.
"ZORO!!!" Usopp and Viola screamed.
Sanji, Patty, Zeff, and the other cooks were all stunned, their skin crawling as they watched the swordsman fall.
What kind of man was this?
Mihawk watched Zoro fall backward. "You must live," he said slowly. "You are still young... My name is Dracule Mihawk. You won't die so easily. Find your true self, see the true world, become strong. And then, no matter how many years it takes, I will be waiting for you at the top. So fight. Challenge me again, Roronoa Zoro."
Even in this brief encounter, Mihawk had been deeply impressed by Zoro's spirit, his will.
There were few people like him in the entire world.
He looked forward to their next meeting.
"Gum-Gum...!"
Luffy rushed to Zoro's side, his face now a mask of panic. "Hey! A doctor...!"
"You guys, go help him," Zeff said. "A young man like this shouldn't die here."
"Yes, chef!"
The cooks from the Baratie rushed over.
As they were carrying Zoro away, Luffy stood before Mihawk.
"You want to challenge me too?" Mihawk asked.
"I'm Luffy," he said. "And I'm going to be the King of the Pirates."
'Luffy?' Mihawk looked him over. 'So you're the one...'
The one Shanks had bet his arm on.
"I hear you're one of the Seven Warlords," Luffy said. "I want to see the power of a Warlord."
"Then watch closely."
Mihawk swung his blade, and a long, crescent-shaped slash flew toward Luffy.
"Gum-Gum... Pistol!"
Luffy dodged the slash and threw a punch at Mihawk.
Mihawk sheathed his sword.
He met Luffy's punch with his own.
A simple, brutal, Haki-infused punch.
BOOM!
Luffy was sent flying.
It wasn't that he was weaker than Zoro. It was that Mihawk was now serious.
As they were now, the Straw Hats were no match for him.
"Hey! I thought you used a sword!" Usopp exclaimed.
"A true master is not bound by his weapon," Mihawk said. "You want to fight me too?"
Usopp trembled, but he drew his slingshot. His rifle was still wrapped up on his back.
"Stop it, Usopp," Luffy said, staggering to his feet. He wiped the blood from his mouth. He understood now. The gap between them was immense.
"Wise," Mihawk said. "I hope to hear your names on the Grand Line."
"You will!" Luffy said, his eyes blazing.
Mihawk leaped onto his coffin-like boat and slowly drifted away.
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