Mihawk didn't want to waste time and just wanted to test the strength of the guy who stole his entertainment. He decided to accept Zoro's challenge anyway.
— Well... If you want to fight so much, then I welcome it... - Mihawk replied and tore off the cross from his neck, revealing a small knife. - I'm sorry, if I knew what was going to happen, I could have brought a smaller knife with me.
"Stop showing off and get your real sword!" -Zoro shouted.
"I'm not a stupid predator who spends time on a little rabbit.- Mihawk replied. - Maybe you've earned a reputation here in a weak place called West Blue, of all the four places where you could get your nickname, then let the toad show how big this swamp really is.
— If that's the case. Then get it! "The demon strike."- Zoro got angry and ran at Mihawk to hit him.
Everyone expected to see a spectacular fight, but they saw the following:
Zoro's attack was stopped by a small knife.
"This is impossible,"- Zoro thought, and tried to add strength to force the enemy to retreat, but to no avail.
"What a barbaric technique,"- Mihawk thought.
As the battle continued, Muichiro carefully watched the battle with his transparent world and tried to find something unusual. He didn't see anything special, so he just waited for the end of the fight. Zoro was on edge, as he was furiously trying to injure Mihawk, and Mihawk wasn't even sweating.
Before Zoro's next attack, Mihawk stuck his blade close to his heart, thus showing their gap in strength.
"So what motivates you, kid?" Since you're trying so hard to at least bruise me? Mihawk asked.
— I made this promise to a close friend and I want to keep it. I can't die, I have to defeat you first. If I lose and survive, I will assume that the vows I made will simply be worthless. I'd rather die. - Zoro replied.
Surprised by the guy's pressure, he asked Zoro for his name. Then he took the "Yoru" out of his back and said the following:
— As a sign of respect, you will be defeated by the rare dark blade "Yoru". Be proud of it, Roronoa Zoro.
"Thank you, great swordsman.- Zoro replied and prepared to use his secret three-sword technique. He was spinning the blades at high speed, and Mihawk flew into him like a bullet with a dark blade in his hand.
What happened was what everyone expected, except for Zoro's support group. After all, it was the dominance of one side. Zoro simply didn't have a chance.
All but one of his blades were broken.
"Still moving?"
Zoro grinned and accepted defeat at Mihawk's hands. He sheathed the unbroken blade, got to his feet, turned around and said, opening his arms in different directions.
"The sword wounds on his back are a disgrace to a swordmaster. " -Zoro replied and grinned.
— Well said!- Mihawk replied and left a shallow cut on Zoro's body and sent him into the water.
Zoro's old swordsman friends quickly jumped into the water after him and took his body on board.
After wishing Zoro's abilities to grow, he turned his attention to Muichiro, who was standing on the shore.
Mihawk and Muichiro, who had reached the shore, looked at each other.
"You've got me pretty interested, kid. Cutting up a ship at such a young age is worthy of my admiration. I think I can entertain myself a little."- Mihawk said.
—I thought you came to pick up that man from the big ship, but still you decided to come to me...." -said Muichiro and took out a katana. He knew what the man wanted. He wants to fight.
Mihawk appraisingly looked at Muichiro's katana and noticed that the color of the katana was black...
"A strange sword....It doesn't look much like any other cursed blades, but it's cursed all the same," -he thought.
"Judging by your young face and small stature, you're about fourteen, no more... I don't intend to kill children, but I want to ask you something... That strange technique wasn't the Will Armament that you used?"
Muichiro was surprised by these words, but quickly focused on Mihawk standing on the other side of him.
"It doesn't matter, though... Now I'll find out for myself. " -Mihawk also focused on Muichiro. His sixth sense told him to underestimate this guy and focus on Muichiro's next actions. "Try to give it your all and don't disappoint me, kid."
"Whatever you say."- Muichiro said and took an attacking stance. He raised the blade above him, dyed the blade red, and ignited it with a bright scarlet flame. Then everyone watched as the ground cracked and a demonic killing intent emerged from Muichiro. Muichiro's hair fluttered as if in the wind, but there was no wind.
Such terrifying fortitude strained Mihawk, but he quickly gathered himself.
He grinned and took a defensive stance. But even so, he finally did it... He had found a future rival, but he was still weak... He could easily defeat a bunch of Kring-level extras, but if he met someone of Mihawk's level, he would quickly lose.
But Mihawk didn't want to use a lot of strength and wanted to see what this guy was capable of.
Muichiro, who was finally ready to attack, bent his right knee and rested his other leg from behind, he disappeared and flew at Mihawk.
Appearing in front of Mihawk, he dodged his blade and wanted to stab at his arm to chop off her head at the same time. Mihawk saw this attack and immediately parried it. Yeah.. Muichiro even burned through the grass near which he flew. Mihawk clearly saw him flying towards it, leaving rings of fire behind him. It was as if he had accepted the acceleration due to this momentum of his left foot and teleported to him, but at the same time left a trace.
Without hesitation, Muichiro disappeared into the haze and appeared behind Mihawk.
Caught off guard, Mihawk did not expect this and was surprised by it.
"Is he a devil fruit user? No... Is it just fencing? What kind of style is this... No, that's not how I should say it, but this way.:My God, what a kid and his weird technique..."
He saw the attack from behind and quickly stopped it with his sword.
— Such a terrifying technique makes me admire you once again. She's really terrifying. - Mihawk praised Muichiro and sent him flying some distance with his punch.
"As I said, your technique is amazing, but with your strength, you won't live long in this sea. There are much stronger rivals, and they probably won't be as lenient with you as I am. On the contrary, I see great potential in Zoro and you, so I will spare your lives. If you are interested in reaching your potential, I will be waiting for you on the island of Kuragaina and will be able to help you with this."
He put the sword back on his back and started to leave to ask Luffy something.
"Why do you want to help me?" Without even noticing that he had asked the question aloud, he turned to Mihawk.
Mihawk turned over his shoulder and only said the following words to the blue-eyed boy.
"People with terrifying talent like yours are very rare. And I don't think anyone will be able to stop you in the future when you can reveal it. With the right potential, you can become stronger than me in less than a few years. Until then, I'll be waiting.."
Those were Mihawk's last words, but Muichiro took it like this: You're too weak, go go to the gym and practice, The weakling.
The others looked at them and couldn't even say a word.
Mihawk, meanwhile, while Muichiro was thinking and remembering past hardships, managed to say a few words to Luffy, wished him luck and went to rest.
Kring responded to him and wanted to hit him with his armor-mounted weapon. Mihawk considered him a fool and cut the remaining deck of the big ship into several pieces and disappeared. He had already entertained himself enough and just left.