Chapter 203: [203] : Mihawk’s True Strength! Heroes Are a Dime a Dozen!

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WHOOSH!

RUMBLE!

A terrifying, violent slash of vibrant green energy instantly materialized, carrying an unstoppable presence, tearing apart everything in its path.

The solid ice on the sea surface shattered like fragile tofu.

Pirates screamed in terror, scrambling to dodge the deadly attack, staring in horror at the rampaging green slash.

—The World’s Strongest Slash, from the World’s Greatest Swordsman, ’Hawk-Eyes’ Mihawk.

And it was infused with considerably strong Haki. A slash even stronger than the one he had previously launched at the World’s Strongest Man, Whitebeard!

Its target: Luffy, charging towards the execution platform.

The moment Mihawk attacked, Luffy’s Observation Haki had already warned him.

Luffy, about to block the slash, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Through his Observation Haki, he saw a future where if he rashly tried to block—his Haki would be instantly sliced through, his arm severely wounded!

Without being in Gear Fourth with Haōshoku Coating, his Haki alone couldn’t stop this incredibly violent, terrifying slash!

And even if he were in Gear Fourth with Haōshoku Coating, blocking this slash head-on would consume most of the stamina and Haki he had just painstakingly recovered!

Under these circumstances—

Luffy instantly shifted into Gear Second to dodge the attack.

“Hah… That was close,” Luffy panted, looking towards Mihawk in the distance, who stood calmly holding his black blade, Yoru.

’What’s this guy’s deal??’ Veins throbbed on Luffy’s forehead.

Luffy now, under Rowen’s guidance, was no longer the naive fool from the original Summit War.

Having preliminarily mastered Haōshoku Coating, Luffy in Gear Fourth with Haōshoku Coating was now a true Admiral-level powerhouse—even on the grand stage of the seas, he was a formidable combatant capable of influencing the outcome of a war, one of the top-tier powerhouses.

With Luffy’s current insight, he could naturally tell Mihawk’s strength was absolutely above his own—the gap was considerable!

And this man’s Observation Haki was exceptionally strong—the power of his slash was precisely calibrated to a level Luffy couldn’t block head-on with Haki, yet its speed was just enough for Luffy to dodge with Gear Second at full power.

In other words, Mihawk’s attack was solely to impede his advance towards the execution platform.

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“If I let you pass so easily, I’ll lose my Warlord position—” Mihawk stated, holding his black blade, Yoru, horizontally before him.

For Mihawk, who detested trouble, the Warlord title was quite important; it spared him from Marine harassment.

As the former ’Marine Hunter’, his grievances with the Navy ran deep. In his spirited youth, he had honed his swordsmanship and Haki through countless hunts, finally achieving the title of ’World’s Strongest Swordsman’.

But now, with no one left in the world of swordsmanship to challenge him, he just wanted to live a quiet life.

“DAMN IT,” Luffy muttered, looking at Mihawk, veins bulging on his forehead.

He just recovered Haki and stamina… if he clashed with Mihawk here, it would all be wasted. For a time, Luffy was unwilling to activate Gear Fourth and expend his energy, and Mihawk just watched him, showing no intention of attacking again.

His meaning was clear: As long as Straw Hat didn’t advance, he wouldn’t act.

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“Ace’s little brother, leave him to me…” a burly man wielding two swords said, stepping up beside Luffy.

“Flower Swords Vista! 5th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!” Tashigi, whose attention had been locked on Rowen and Mihawk, instantly recognized the renowned swordsman.

Tashigi’s attention had been following Rowen, but as a swordswoman, she naturally wouldn’t miss a single move from the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

The moment Mihawk attacked, Tashigi had focused intently, hoping to learn something from his swordsmanship.

After the Enies Lobby incident, under Gion’s guidance, Tashigi’s strength had improved significantly compared to the original story’s timeline—she had even captured some famous pirates.

But upon arriving at this battlefield, Tashigi realized just how weak she truly was… Not just her—even Vice Admiral Gion, in this war, could at best only contend with Roronoa Zoro.

Only now did Tashigi truly understand the meaning of Vice Admiral Gion’s words when Tashigi had previously declared her ambition to retrieve all famous swords from villains and capture Sky Sovereign Rowen:

“Before that man… I wouldn’t even be able to withstand a single blow.” Gion had only sighed then.

At the time, Tashigi didn’t understand. Vice Admiral Gion was incredibly strong in her eyes, even if Rowen and the other Admirals were stronger, surely it wouldn’t be a one-hit defeat??

But having truly witnessed the full power of this sea’s supreme powerhouses, Tashigi understood…

It wasn’t that Vice Admiral Gion was weak—it was that Emperor-level powerhouses like Sky Sovereign Rowen were too strong. Without Admiral-level strength, one wasn’t even qualified to stand before that man.

So Tashigi desperately tried to absorb strength and insight from this war, wanting to get stronger.

At the very least, to be qualified to stand before Rowen.

The rainy day in Loguetown was still fresh in her memory—

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“Uncle, can I leave him to you??” Luffy asked, looking at Vista.

“Yes, every swordsman dreams of crossing blades with this man,” Vista replied, raising his twin swords, a eager smile on his face.

“Vista of the Flower Swords?” Mihawk’s gaze remained emotionless.

“Leave this to me! You keep moving forward, Ace’s little brother!” Vista roared, then charged forward.

Challenging the World’s Greatest Swordsman with ranged slashes was a waste of time and stamina. He swung his twin blades, a flurry of illusory flower petals manifesting around them, each carrying astonishing sword pressure—the origin of his epithet, ’Vista of the Flower Swords’.

But—

WHOOSH!

CLANG!

Mihawk seemingly casually swung his black blade, Yoru, and completely parried Vista’s full-power attack!

Yes—PARRIED!

This Supreme Grade Sword, Yoru, supposedly capable of destroying anything, was as gentle as flowing water in Mihawk’s hands.

Yet with this gentleness… The full-power attack of a world-renowned great swordsman like Vista—was so easily, so utterly, shattered.

“WHAT???” Vista stared in horror at the scene before him.

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“That swordsmanship again…” In the distance, Zoro was also drawn to this battle.

The Whitebeard 5th Division Commander’s swordsmanship was worthy of his fame; his first move had made even Zoro’s eyes narrow.

But before Mihawk, it was so utterly ineffective.

That ’soft’ swordsmanship… just like their first encounter in the East Blue, when he gently altered the trajectory of the bullets fired by Don Krieg’s soldiers.

WHOOSH!

A terrifying flying slash shot towards Luffy, who was preparing to move.

“Damn it! Uncle, let’s take him on together!” Luffy roared, angered after dodging the slash again.

“Alright!” Vista also knew this was no time to be stubborn.

Ace was still waiting to be rescued.

The execution time was running out!

“Gomu Gomu no… JET GATLING——!!!” Luffy roared.

Though called a Jet Gatling, with Luffy’s current strength, in Gear Second, his fists shot out like a barrage of cannonballs.

The very air rippled from the force—

CRACKLE! BOOM!

The power of Haōshoku Coating instantly surged, making the rippling air crackle with violent crimson-black lightning!

“A remarkable attack!” Vista exclaimed in admiration.

As expected of Haōshoku Coating. Even preliminarily mastered, its attack power surpassed his own.

Vista’s eyes narrowed. Armament Haki coated his twin swords as he unleashed a storm of jet-black flower petal sword slashes! His full-power long-range attack!

But—

CRACKLE! BOOM!

Violent, tyrannical crimson-black lightning exploded from Mihawk, roaring madly through the atmosphere! In an instant, this lightning formed a cloud around his black blade, Yoru!

Fully mastered Haōshoku Coating!

WHOOSH!

With a swing of his black blade, Yoru—even enveloped in the violent Haōshoku Coating cloud, the blade’s movement was still incredibly soft and fluid!

BANG!

Whether it was Luffy’s attacks or Vista’s slashes—all were parried completely!

“How… HOW CAN THE GAP BE THIS LARGE??” Vista muttered in disbelief.

“Damn it! If I waste any more Haki and stamina here…” Luffy deactivated his Gear Second, looking at Mihawk, veins bulging on his forehead.

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“Hey, Moss-head. You’re not scared after seeing that, are you?” Sanji asked, looking at Zoro, who had fallen silent after witnessing Mihawk’s true strength.

“Strong… So strong it’s exhilarating,” Zoro replied, looking up, a feral grin spreading across his face.

This was the true swordsmanship and strength of the World’s Greatest Swordsman. Even Luffy’s Haōshoku Coating-infused attacks couldn’t break through this man’s sword defense.

This man’s swordsmanship had truly reached an unbelievable level. And because it was a perfect blend of hardness and softness, trying to break through his defense with pure brute force was incredibly difficult.

So what??

Zoro’s eyes, far from showing doubt, now burned with even greater intensity.

Could a ’soft’ defense block Rowen’s Super Electromagnetic Cannon?? An attack of that terrifying magnitude… trying to parry it by deflecting the force was pure fantasy.

Even Admiral Aokiji was obliterated by that single blow.

Zoro never doubted his own path. Just as in the original story, even after training under Mihawk, he still walked the path of absolute power in swordsmanship.

Having witnessed Rowen’s strength, Zoro was even more resolute in his own path. And at this moment, Zoro truly saw hope of becoming the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

Zoro looked at Mihawk, his eyes like those of a starving beast.

This man now only desired a peaceful life; he had lost his ambition. A man without ambition, no matter how strong his current swordsmanship, was no longer qualified to sit on the throne of the World’s Strongest Swordsman!

Look at Rowen… hailed as the World’s Strongest Devil Fruit User—yet still relentlessly strengthening himself.

Mihawk was the strongest swordsman, yes, but that didn’t mean his overall strength was the strongest.

In Zoro’s view, Rowen’s strength was absolutely above this man’s.

Possessing room and potential for improvement, yet lacking the ambition to pursue it—this made Zoro see the true hope of toppling this man from the throne.

Heroes are a dime a dozen!

One without ambition doesn’t deserve to remain the World’s Strongest Swordsman.

Zoro’s eyes flashed with an astonishing crimson-black light.

“Hmph.” Seeing Zoro’s expression, Sanji smiled. Though he and this moss-head didn’t get along…

As expected of the man acknowledged by Rowen—to become the World’s Greatest Swordsman.

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FWOOSH!

Rowen exhaled a plume of cold air, beginning to retract his Ice-Ice Fruit ability.

This ultimate crowd-control Devil Fruit power was finally his. And upon acquisition, it was already in its Awakened state, unleashing its full potential.

But—

“Has too much stamina been consumed?” Rowen’s breathing was now also somewhat heavy.

Aokiji had been completely vaporized by the Super Electromagnetic Cannon attack. Every cell in his body was annihilated, and the physical energy contained within was naturally lost.

Rowen wasn’t too disappointed by this; killing a fighter of Aokiji’s level in such a short time was incredibly difficult.

Especially on Marine HQ’s home turf, facing over five Admiral-level powerhouses…

Without the Super Electromagnetic Cannon, successfully killing Aokiji was almost impossible. If it turned into a war of attrition, the Navy had numerous reinforcements.

Successfully taking out Aokiji—losing his physique energy was a small price to pay.

Fortunately, the spiritual power of the One Piece world was special; even if the body was destroyed, the spirit wouldn’t immediately disappear.

Aokiji’s Desire to ’Be Ice’ that resonated with the Ice-Ice Fruit, along with the fruit itself, was plundered by Rowen.

Aokiji’s entire spiritual power was also plundered by Rowen.

Now, Born of the Sea (Apex Gold) was frantically digesting this immense spiritual power, allowing Rowen’s Haki to completely recover, and then become even stronger.

However, his physical stamina, because Aokiji’s body was annihilated, could not be replenished…

Looking at Sengoku and Garp on the execution platform, their teeth almost shattered from gritting them so hard…

Rowen began to scan the battlefield.

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