I'm certainly not a swordsman, and I never said I was, alright!
The trembling in his arm eased significantly. Taro sheathed his blade, his eyelids drooping slightly as his gaze flickered.
Hawkeye also returned the black blade to his back and looked at Taro.
"If this were a battle of life and death, with your current strength and those strange abilities of yours, the outcome between us would still be uncertain!"
Taro understood Mihawk's meaning. He could enter the Second Gear state and could also imbue his blade with "Vibration Energy" and "gravity energy."
In a true life-and-death duel, Taro actually had many more "abilities" he could use.
And for Taro, who knew nothing about the Way of the Sword, he truly couldn't be considered a swordsman.
Taro waved his hand, and Internal Energy surged out to block the rain. He said softly:
"Perhaps!"
In a duel between experts, victory or defeat is often decided in a single breath, a single move.
The duel between Hawkeye and Taro had torn the sky apart, bringing rolling thunder.
Perona was already stunned. She forgot to open her umbrella, and only after letting the rain soak her did she remember to hold it up. She screamed hysterically,
"You... you two, are you monsters? Truly monsters! Monsters!"
On the other side, the torrential rain quickly filled Zoro's mouth, which was wide open in shock.
Flames almost burst from his eyes, and his whole body trembled with excitement as he murmured:
"Is this... is this the world's strongest swordsman? The pinnacle of the Great Swordsman!"
As the heavy rain poured down, the swordsman standing at the world's peak used Taro to give Zoro, who aimed for him, a vivid lesson!
Inside the castle.
Back home, Hawkeye clearly cared much more about his image. He didn't drink directly from the bottle like he did on the small boat.
Instead, he held a red wine glass with great poise, taking small sips.
Taro also held a wine glass, staring blankly at the red liquid, lost in thought.
After Perona brought some desserts and placed them on the table, she stood quietly to the side.
The clash between those two monsters had deeply shocked her, making her afraid to be too insolent.
After a long time, Perona finally couldn't take it anymore and snorted in dissatisfaction,
"How boring, you monsters..."
Saying that, she walked toward the door.
"Close the door behind you!"
Hawkeye put down his wine glass and said flatly.
"Ugh, you really have a terrible attitude, even worse than that idiot who only knows how to lift rocks and practice swords all day!"
Perona, reaching the door, suddenly turned back and roared,
"And you, what are you smiling at!"
Taro's eyes were narrowed with laughter. Hearing this, his expression turned serious, but the amusement remained in his eyes.
Hawkeye ignored Perona. After the Ghost Princess roared angrily for a while, she obediently retreated and closed the door.
"One day, he will surpass me, right?"
After the Gothic girl left, Hawkeye suddenly spoke.
Taro was stunned for a moment, then realized Hawkeye was talking about Zoro.
"He will!"
Of course, he's a member of the protagonist's crew!
Hawkeye's pupils contracted slightly. "You seem even more convinced of that than I am!"
Taro tilted his head back to take a sip of wine and chuckled, "You agreed to teach him swordsmanship; isn't that because you believe he can do it? I trust your judgment, so naturally, I have to believe in him!"
Hawkeye picked up his glass and took a sip, noncommittal.
After a while, he said seemingly casually,
"The power you use is not Haki."
Taro raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Hawkeye stood up, walked to the window, and looked at Zoro, who was persistently training in the rain outside the castle, and said softly:
"Haven't you noticed? Your blade."
Taro's expression froze upon hearing this. He then drew a section of thunderstorm, looking at the dark red blade with an indifferent tone, his voice flat,
"What's wrong with my blade?"
"Whether it's Armament or Haoshoku, attaching it to a blade will continuously temper the blade. Eventually, any blade can be refined into a Black Blade."
Hawkeye continued to watch the training figure, his tone somewhat mocking, "Taro, your blade won't!"
Taro's eyes flickered. After a long time, he sighed, "So that's how you found out!"
He drew thunderstorm completely. The dark red blade, carrying a bloodthirsty chill, was exactly the same as when he first obtained it.
Taro had noticed this long ago.
His 'Armament Haki' was a knock-off version transformed through Internal Energy mimicry; it didn't have the effect of 'refining a blade.'
His 'Armament Imbuement' merely wrapped around the blade, using it as a carrier. What truly worked was his Internal Energy.
It wasn't the hardness characteristic added by a 'Black Blade'!
Hawkeye turned around and looked solemnly at Taro,
"That's why I said you aren't a swordsman."
"True." Taro nodded slightly. "I'm not a swordsman."
After that, neither of them spoke again, and the room fell into a long silence.
After a long time, Taro suddenly chuckled,
"By the way, Mihawk, aren't you going to tell Perona the news about Moria?"
Hawkeye's gaze instantly sharpened, then quickly returned to normal. He said flatly:
"What if I tell her? In the vast ocean, where could she go to find him?"
Taro's words almost broke Hawkeye's composure.
Hawkeye was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He knew Perona was worried about Moria, so he went out alone to gather news without telling her directly.
Haha, Taro had scored a point. He felt secretly amused, and his tone became lighter,
"True, staying here with you is also good. At least she can have two years of peace."
Hawkeye was only stunned upon hearing this, not showing the fury Taro had imagined.
He walked back to the table, tossed the wine bottle to Taro, signaling him to pour his own, and then said thoughtfully,
"Two years...? Are you saying that after the World Conference, the Seven Warlords of the Sea will be abolished?"
Taro was shocked. Is this guy's brain really that sharp?
"You deliberately mentioned Perona just to tell me this, didn't you? Now that I'm interested, you're not going to talk?"
Hawkeye's gaze sharpened again, his tone becoming even colder.
Taro scratched his head, feeling somewhat helpless. I only mentioned Perona to get back at you; I didn't mean to sell out intelligence to you!
Finally, Taro sighed, "Sigh, since you've guessed it, there's no harm in talking about it."
"Issho, that civilian expert who fought me at the Sabaody Archipelago—you should have heard of him, right?"
Hawkeye poured more wine and took a shallow sip,
"I've heard rumors that after your battle with him, you proposed a World Conscription to Marineford!"
Damn it, don't mention that. The World Conscription really has nothing to do with me! Why does everyone think I proposed it?
The corners of Taro's mouth twitched, leaving him speechless.
He rubbed his face and then continued,
"With Issho's strength, the status he gains in the Marine will not be low."
"A major reason he joined the Marine is that he wants to abolish the Seven Warlords of the Sea system."
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