"Kozaburo-san, I'd like to discuss swords with you."
"Discuss swords?"
Shimotsuki Kozaburo took a deep puff from his pipe and unceremoniously extended his weathered hand: "Give me your sword."
Hawkeye showed almost no hesitation, drawing the massive sword from his back and placing it carefully in Shimotsuki Kozaburo's grasp.
"So this is a Supreme Grade sword, Black Blade Yoru."
Shimotsuki Kozaburo caressed the blade bit by bit like stroking a beloved treasure, not missing any detail of its perfect construction.
This almost intimate behavior made Hawkeye frown slightly, as if he were witnessing something unseemly.
After a long while, Shimotsuki Kozaburo had examined every part of Black Blade Yoru with reverent care.
"Truly worthy of the world's greatest swordsman."
A trace of deep admiration showed in Shimotsuki Kozaburo's eyes: "Soft yet firm... is this your way of the sword?"
Hawkeye's golden eyes lit up with genuine interest. "That's exactly right."
"Please come inside if you're willing to listen to this old man's thoughts."
Shimotsuki Kozaburo gestured invitingly toward his modest wooden house.
Hawkeye was the first to step across the threshold.
Shimotsuki Koushiro and Kozuki Hiyori, both deeply interested in their conversation, also followed them inside.
For Kai, listening to sword theory wasn't nearly as entertaining as watching Sanji and Zoro's duel happen five years ahead of schedule.
At this moment, the two young men were already fighting with fierce intensity.
It had to be said, the principle of "longer reach, greater advantage" still held absolute truth.
Sanji, who had only trained on the ship for a few days, was clearly cautious and defensive when facing Zoro's intimidating three-sword style.
"Are we just going to watch like this?" Reiju's eyes couldn't hide her growing worry.
"No need to worry at all."
Kai spoke with mysterious confidence: "Sanji is the Vinsmoke family's greatest masterpiece, you know."
Reiju's beautiful eyes widened in complete disbelief: "That's impossible! He never showed anything special from childhood. Otherwise, my father wouldn't have..."
Kai spoke with absolute certainty: "Just wait patiently. Someday, Sanji will greatly surprise all of you. I have complete faith in this!"
To activate Sanji's dormant exoskeleton, the Raid Suit created by Judge was the essential key.
For this precise reason, Kai had specially obtained the Stealth Black Raid Suit that Judge had prepared for Sanji years ago.
His Raid Suit had been ready for years, but since Sanji hadn't awakened his exoskeleton, Judge had never bothered giving it to him.
This had created a frustrating deadlock.
Without the Raid Suit, he couldn't awaken his abilities; without awakening, he couldn't access the Raid Suit.
Back to the current battlefield...
Without his activated exoskeleton, Sanji currently possessed just an ordinary human physique.
Under Zoro's relentless three-sword style assault, he had sustained several bleeding wounds on his body after just a few heated exchanges.
"Hey! Curly-brow bastard."
Zoro retreated a calculated step and deliberately pulled back his aggressive stance, showing slight impatience: "You're no match for me at all. Just admit defeat and step aside. I don't want to kill someone for no good reason."
"What did you just say?!"
Zoro's seemingly well-intentioned words completely enraged Sanji: "Since you can use swords freely, then me using this won't be bullying you!"
He decisively pulled out a sleek black canister marked with the distinctive number 3 and inserted it smoothly at his waist.
"Oh? Can't hold back anymore?" Kai smiled with anticipation.
"Henshin!"
Dazzling light instantly enveloped Sanji's entire form.
When the brilliant light finally faded, Sanji stood transformed, now wearing a sleek black combat suit with a dramatic red-backed, black-faced cape flowing behind him.
"Don't say I'm bullying you... I won't even use the invisibility ability!"
Sanji smiled with newfound confidence: "Come at me again!"
"Tch, just changed your clothes?"
Zoro didn't understand where Sanji's sudden burst of confidence was coming from.
But no matter. All answers would be revealed in battle.
He closed the distance again with predatory focus, his three swords becoming a deadly forest of cold steel, slashing fiercely at Sanji from multiple angles.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The three swords struck Sanji's form but not only failed to break through his defense, they also produced the distinct sound of metal clashing against reinforced metal, with brilliant sparks flying in all directions.
Zoro was genuinely shocked to discover that his razor-sharp slashes could only leave barely visible white scratches on his opponent, marks that were rapidly disappearing under some mysterious self-repair function.
"Wahahahaha!" Sanji put his hands confidently on his hips and laughed triumphantly: "This is the incredible power of science!"
"Damn it all!" Zoro frowned deeply, his frustration mounting.
He wasn't frustrated about Sanji using what seemed like cheating equipment but about his own clearly insufficient strength.
If he couldn't even defeat a peer his own age, what could he possibly use to fight Hawkeye!
"I was planning to save this technique for Hawkeye himself."
Zoro straightened up as the two swords in his hands began spinning rapidly like mechanical windmills, creating powerful gusts of wind.
"Now... let you taste it first."
"Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds!"
He charged at Sanji with absolutely unstoppable momentum.
Sanji's eyes focused with laser intensity as his leg suddenly kicked upward toward Zoro's exposed abdomen: "Belly Meat Shoot!"
SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!
Harsh cutting sounds accompanied by shower of sparks rang out across the battlefield.
The next second, a green figure flew backward through the air, crashing heavily into the distant grass with a painful thud.
Sanji stood calmly in place, slowly withdrawing his extended leg.
His combat suit displayed only several shallow surface cuts, which quickly disappeared completely under the memory metal's advanced restoration effect.
"As expected," Kai was completely unsurprised by the outcome.
The defensive boost provided by the Raid Suit was simply too overwhelming for the current Zoro. He simply couldn't break through such advanced protection.
Defeat had been inevitable from the start.
In gaming terms, Zoro was more like a late-game carry hero.
In the early stages, he was just a talented, hardworking swordsman who had even lost to Kuina over two thousand consecutive times.
Although Kuina's incredible natural talent was certainly a major factor, it still demonstrated the vast disparity in their current abilities.
Not to mention compared to the many terrifying monsters who had become famous at ridiculously young ages across the seas.
But in the late game, after years of grueling training began showing genuine results, Zoro's progress could be described as advancing a thousand miles in a single day.
"Cough... Damn it, is the gap really this enormous?"
In the distance, Zoro struggled desperately to support himself with his swords, coughing violently with a thin trickle of bright red blood at the corner of his mouth.
The severe pain radiating through his abdomen made it almost impossible to straighten up properly.
But the very next second, Zoro actually assumed his three-sword stance once again.
Sanji frowned deeply with obvious concern: "You still want to continue fighting? That was your ultimate trump card just now, right? You should clearly understand the gap between us... that's a chasm you cannot cross right now!"
"So what if I can't? Give up just because the enemy is stronger?"
Zoro shouted with fierce determination: "I once lost to a girl two thousand and one times! Now, I can lose another two thousand and one times to my next opponent!"
"Even if I die in the process of challenging stronger foes, it doesn't matter at all! I will definitely become stronger! I will definitely become the world's greatest swordsman!"
That was his sacred promise to Kuina and to himself.
It wasn't that he couldn't accept defeat... he simply refused to give up on his dreams.
Could a person abandon themselves just because of a few failures in life?!
He, Roronoa Zoro, would never be that kind of man!
"Hey, Kai, I'm starting to really like that guy."
Yamato elbowed Kai playfully in the side.
Zoro's never-surrender spirit reminded her so much of her own approach to life.
Kai nodded with quiet approval.
Many people in his previous life had loved Zoro precisely because of this unbreakable never-give-up belief, and he was certainly no exception.
On the battlefield, Sanji suddenly let out a light, appreciative laugh.
He lightly pressed a control somewhere on his waist, and the combat suit instantly transformed back into its compact canister form, which he tucked away carefully.
"You really are something special... It would be completely dishonorable for me to keep using the Raid Suit against someone with your spirit."
Sanji slowly raised his right leg in front of him with practiced grace: "Let's continue this fight with the mutual resolve that only one of us will be left standing!"
"Just what I wanted to hear!"
Zoro grinned widely despite his injuries.