East Blue, the Sea Restaurant Baratie. "Hawkeye..." Zoro stood on the deck of the Merry Go, gazing down at the World's Greatest Swordsman, who stood calmly on the side deck of the Baratie restaurant. Despite his elevated position, Zoro felt an inexplicable pressure emanating from the man below. Hawkeye's presence was like that of a predator—cold, unrelenting, and utterly commanding. It was as if Zoro were being sized up by a beast ready to pounce.
Hawkeye's piercing eyes seemed to see right through him, his expression dripping with contempt. "Is a weakling like you really worth a bounty of four hundred million Berries?" he taunted, his voice cutting through the air like a blade.
"Weakling?!" Zoro's voice rose, his pride stung. "Don't look down on people, Hawkeye!"
"Hmph," Hawkeye replied, his tone mocking. "If you don't even have the courage to draw your sword and fight me, aren't you a weakling?"
"Courage is the one thing I don't lack!" Zoro shot back, his face darkening with anger. Without hesitation, he leaped down onto the side deck of the restaurant. He untied the green bandana from his arm and swiftly tied it around his head. Then, one by one, he drew the three sabers at his waist, gripping them tightly. His stance was firm, his resolve unwavering. He was ready to fight Hawkeye to the death.
Zoro couldn't deny the flicker of panic he'd felt when Hawkeye's gaze locked onto him. The man before him was the World's Greatest Swordsman, the pinnacle of all swordsmen. But that momentary fear didn't mean he lacked the courage to face him. In fact, even if Hawkeye hadn't provoked him, Zoro would have sought him out. The title of World's Greatest Swordsman was a prize too alluring to ignore. Any swordsman worth their steel would dream of claiming it.
The dining guests, sensing the tension, quickly rose from their seats and moved to a safe distance, eager to avoid the impending clash. The commotion drew the attention of Luffy and the Baratie staff, who hurried down from the third floor to crowd around the second-floor windows, eager to witness the duel.
Hawkeye's lips curled into a faint smirk as he watched Zoro prepare. "Oh? I didn't expect that after so many years, you'd finally find the courage to face me," he said, his voice laced with mockery. "It makes me look at you in a different light." With a fluid motion, he reached for the cross-shaped dagger hanging from his chest and pointed it directly at Zoro.
Hawkeye's memory was sharp. Years ago, a Pirate Hunter named Roronoa Zoro had promised to challenge him but had never shown up. He couldn't recall the man's face or voice clearly, but he remembered the cursed sword's aura and the unmistakable green hair. The name, the hair—it couldn't be a coincidence. This was the same man who had stood him up all those years ago. Today, Hawkeye intended to teach him a lesson.
"Hey! Hawkeye, what exactly do you mean by this?!" Zoro growled, his voice edged with anger. He stood in his signature Three Sword Style stance—a blade in each hand and one clenched between his teeth. His eyes narrowed as they fell on the small dagger in Hawkeye's hand. The insult was blatant. Even if Hawkeye was the World's Greatest Swordsman, this was too much.
Preparing to fight him with a small knife—what did this mean? Was Hawkeye mocking him? "I am not like beasts that use their full strength even when fighting a rabbit," Hawkeye said coldly, his arrogance palpable.
"Though you're a well-known Pirate Hunter, the gap between us is vast. If I go all out, you'll lose completely—utterly defeated." His tone left no room for doubt. He saw Zoro as nothing more than a minor challenge, unworthy of his full power.
Being looked down upon repeatedly, this was something Zoro had never encountered in the three years he spent traveling outside Shimotsuki Village. So much so that he is now truly unable to bear it any longer! "Bastard! There should be a limit to looking down on people! Don't regret it after you die!"
Zoro fiercely swung his three Sabers, causing three streams of blue sword waves to instantly appear on the blades, rotating and converging in mid-air. Immediately after, these three streams of blue sword waves actually merged together during their flight, forming a more powerful blue sword wave, like a phoenix, flapping its wings and charging straight towards Hawkeye. 108 Pound Phoenix! However...
Facing Zoro's fierce attack, Hawkeye simply quickly wrapped Armament Haki around the cross dagger and casually swiped. Swish-! A purple-black Haki slash instantly flew out from the cross dagger, colliding with the charging blue phoenix sword energy slash wave. The next moment. The two attacks collided head-on.
Under Zoro's shocked and bewildered gaze, Hawkeye's Haki slash, after mercilessly tearing through the phoenix slash, continued to cleave towards him with undiminished force. Clang-! Zoro held his two swords, wrapped in Armament Haki, horizontally across his chest, only then blocking Hawkeye's casual strike. "Your Flying Slash is somewhat impressive, but not much!
I've cut down no less than eighty, if not a hundred, people like you who have barely reached the Sword Master realm..." "Damn it! In that case, let me show you this move!" Zoro tightly bit down on the hilt of the sword in his mouth with his upper and lower teeth, while the Sabers in his hands were crossed vertically in front of his chest.
A cold, killing aura rose from him, creating an inexplicable sense of oppression, making him terrifying, as if he had transformed into a Shura from purgatory. "Hmm!?" Seeing this scene, the arrogant look on Hawkeye's face somewhat subsided, the contempt in his eyes dissipated, replaced by a hint of interest... Unexpectedly, Roronoa Zoro could use his aura to this extent... No!?... This is...?"
While Hawkeye was thinking, Zoro had already accumulated his aura and strength to the extreme. With a forceful stomp on the deck, he charged towards him with lightning speed, like a cannonball fired from a barrel. Three Sword Style: Purgatory Onigiri! "Interesting!" The corner of Hawkeye's mouth slightly curved upwards, outlining a cold arc.
He didn't dodge, also exerting force with his feet and charging towards Zoro, while the cross dagger in his hand emitted faint strands of dark red lightning. Swish-! The figures of the two crossed paths on the ship's deck. After a brief pause, blood splattered on Zoro's chest, revealing a gruesome wound that stretched from his left shoulder to his right waist.
Immediately after, his body swayed and with a "thud!", he fell onto the deck, blood continuously flowing from his chest. "Roronoa Zoro, a strong opponent after a long time! I acknowledge your strength." "Are you kidding me? You used only a small knife and made me lose utterly..."
Zoro struggled to get up from the deck, turned to face the Worlds Greatest Swordsman before him, and once again assumed a Three Sword Style stance. Seeing this, Hawkeye stopped the motion of putting the cross dagger back into its sheath. He raised an eyebrow and said with interest:
"What? Do you still want to continue fighting? With your current injuries, if you continue, you will definitely die!"
Zoro said with a pained expression, panting:
"It's better to die! Rather than living on with such a shameful defeat, it's better to fight with my life until the very last moment!" Hearing this, Hawkeye was silent for a moment before saying thoughtfully:
"May I ask you a question?" "What do you want to ask?" "A man with spirit like yours shouldn't evade battle...
"Why didn't you show up when I challenged you to a duel seventeen years ago?"
Zoro stared at Mihawk, the World's Greatest Swordsman, his expression screaming, Are you fucking serious?
It clicked. This whole fight started because Mihawk thought he was someone else—someone from seventeen years ago. Zoro clenched his teeth, the pain in his chest flaring up as he held back his frustration.
Finally, he sighed, his voice dripping with exasperation. "You've got the wrong guy! I'm only nineteen this year."
Seventeen years ago, I was two years old and hadn't even started learning the sword yet!"
Mihawk's silence said everything.