'Shimotsuki Style: Drawing Sword Slash.' A black sword energy slashed out from the wado ichimonji. With a wave of his hand, Hawkeye also sent out a slash with the black blade yoru. It broke through Kuina's sword energy and continued toward her with undiminished power.
Kuina stomped the ground hard, using'Shave' from the Six Powers to dodge the attack and charge toward Hawkeye.
Aokiji still had his hands in his pockets, making no move, but ice rose from the sea's surface to block Hawkeye's slash.
"A swordsman who has already awakened Armament Haki? You are worthy of me using this sword."
Hawkeye blocked Kuina's wado ichimonji with the black blade yoru. While blocking her attack with one hand, he didn't forget to give a sharp critique: "Your speed is fine, but your strength is still insufficient."
Then, Hawkeye found a flaw in Kuina's sword technique and swung his black blade, slashing toward Kuina's arm.
Beside them, shadows surged beneath Hera's feet, and her tightly clenched hands revealed the emotions in her heart at this moment.
Aokiji's Observation Haki was fully active, and his hand was already pressed against the ice, ready to intervene at any moment.
Kuina shouted, "Don't help me!" Black Armament Haki wrapped around her wrist that was about to be cut, and she swung the wado ichimonji in her other hand toward the direction of the black blade yoru's strike.
Under the deflection of the wado ichimonji and the protection of Kuina's Armament Haki, the strike Hawkeye had aimed at her flaw was successfully neutralized. However, Kuina had swung too hard and couldn't regain her balance, leaving her back turned to Hawkeye as her blade's momentum carried her.
The ice beneath Kuina's feet showed signs of erupting, but Hera pressed down on Aokiji's hand.
Hera was already enveloped by the City of Devouring Time. In this state, she saw the future's direction and stopped Aokiji's rescue.
The black blade yoru slashed across Kuina's back. Even with the protection of Armament Haki, a deep scar appeared on her back, and blood gushed out from behind her.
Hawkeye had no killing intent when he delivered this strike. He didn't want to use his true skills before Kuina had truly grown. This strike only severely wounded her.
Kuina was knocked to the ground by the strike, spitting out a mouthful of blood. On the pure white ice, this splash of red was exceptionally piercing.
At this moment, Hera was suppressing her own anger, but she knew that Kuina had to pass this hurdle on her own. If she stepped in to help, it would undoubtedly be a negation of Kuina's dream.
Hawkeye looked at Kuina as she used the wado ichimonji to support herself as she stood up, nodding in approval. Although his strike had severely wounded her, if she didn't even have this much resilience, then becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman would be nothing but a delusion.
Kuina stood up tremblingly, her wado ichimonji still pointed at Hawkeye. Even though her consciousness was somewhat blurred, the fighting spirit within her remained fiery.
Hawkeye swung his blade, and a slash flew toward Kuina once again. Kuina slightly shifted her body, dodging the attack.
"Still capable of dodging even with a blurred consciousness? It seems your body has already remembered the battle."
He then suddenly closed in and slashed at Kuina. Kuina blocked the strike with her sword, but the massive gap in strength still sent her flying from Hawkeye's blow, and she spat out blood in mid-air.
After being sent flying, Kuina ignored the blood overflowing from her mouth and stood up again with her sword. Her strong will made her unwilling to fall to the ground and admit defeat. Her pursuit of her dream and her love for the sword would not allow her to fall here.
Kuina felt her consciousness gradually drifting away, but the hand holding her sword became even steadier. She now had only one thought: to slash out everything she had left.
At this moment, Kuina's body seemed to emit a glow. From Hera's perspective, the spiritual energy that had been hidden within her and slowly modifying her body sensed Kuina's danger and was activated all at once.
Hera clutched her head, suddenly feeling as if she had gained a new memory, and something suddenly appeared within the City of Devouring Time.
A sentence suddenly appeared in Hera's mind: "Quickly, hand the spirit crystal from the City of Devouring Time to Kuina."
Subconsciously, she pulled something out from the City of Devouring Time—it was a glowing crystal. Without time to think, Hera threw the crystal toward Kuina.
Then, she heard a familiar voice in her mind; it was her own voice: "Sigh, no, I'm just giving a spirit crystal to the past. You Old Geezers, this is an ability I already had."
This was followed by a burst of cursing, and then she heard: "I told you I already had it, it's not a post-Transcendence ability. Why are these Old Geezers so troublesome?"
Hera didn't dare to speak. She seemed to have realized something—was she actually going to be this strong in the future?
The voice in her mind continued: "Alright, it's no good for you to know this early. I'll delete a bit of your memory. Besides, sigh, Transcendence is such a headache. You'll understand once you unlock the 'Eighth Bullet'."
Then the voice in her mind vanished. Hera felt as if she had forgotten something, but that thought quickly disappeared from her mind.
Regarding the suddenly appearing spirit crystal, Hera had her own guess: "It must be that my future self, who absorbed the Toshi Toshi no Mi and obtained Yatogami Tohka's abilities through imagination, took out the spirit crystal and sent it back here."
On the other side, the spirit crystal resonated with Kuina and drilled into the wound on her back. In the next instant, the purple princess dress-styled 'Spirit Dress: Number Ten' appeared on her body.
A Golden Throne appeared behind Kuina. Fragments flew out from the back of the throne and, following Kuina's will, merged into the wado ichimonji. The originally slender wado ichimonji gradually transformed into a double-edged greatsword.
The unconscious Kuina only felt as if the wado ichimonji had become an extension of her body. Her originally flickering consciousness returned to her body, and she slashed her blade toward Hawkeye.
Hawkeye's eyes lit up as this slash actually made him feel a hint of pressure. He swung the black blade yoru and blocked this heavy and powerful blow.
Hawkeye subconsciously wanted to swing his sword in a counterattack, but Hera moved. In her state of merging with the City of Devouring Time, her speed was exceptionally fast. White and black light intertwined on 'Saikū', blocking Hawkeye's strike.
With her other hand, she caught the exhausted Kuina. The City of Devouring Time extended from Hera's body, injecting spiritual energy into Kuina to maintain her Spirit-form.
Seeing Hera move, Aokiji also took a step forward.
Hawkeye, who had already had his fill of the fight, saw Kuina faint from exhaustion and sheathed the black blade yoru: "Little girl, I have no intention of being an enemy to the Marine. Just now was a subconscious reaction to feeling threatened."
Hera nodded but remained in her merged state, asking Hawkeye: "Are you calm now?"
Hawkeye sighed: "I didn't expect that I would actually feel threatened by a young girl and lose control of my own sword. It seems I still need to practice more."
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