"Sensei! I'm back!"
The front doors of the dojo burst open, and Roronoa Zoro aggressively stomped into the room, his mouth running at a mile a minute. "Kuina, you wouldn't believe it! There's a massive, blindingly bright golden ship docked at the port! And on my way back, I kept seeing these weird, talking arms sprouting out of the walls and pointing at me..."
The primary reason Zoro had returned so incredibly late was because he had wandered off to gawk at the White Dragon at the port. Naturally, this massive detour completely shattered his already fragile geographical bearings, extending his usual getting-lost time by several hours.
"Zoro, you absolute idiot!" Kuina scolded, crossing her arms and glaring at him in exasperation. "How do you consistently manage to get lost inside our own village?! You have a terminal lack of direction!"
Feeling his pride had been attacked in front of strangers, Zoro aggressively puffed out his chest and fired back, "Who has a lack of direction?! I wasn't lost! I was... I was just taking the scenic route for extra physical endurance training! Yeah, that's it!"
"Alright, that is quite enough, you two," Koushirou smiled warmly, stepping in to gently halt their bickering. He turned to Bardock with an apologetic bow. "Please forgive my students' lack of manners. They can be quite boisterous."
"Not at all. It's obvious they share a very close bond," Bardock chuckled. He took a few extra seconds to observe the young Zoro. Currently, the future 'Pirate Hunter' just looked like a stubborn, incredibly goofy kid. His eyes held a very specific, pure, unadulterated kind of stupidity that was honestly quite endearing.
"Hmph!" Kuina and Zoro simultaneously scoffed, turning their heads away from each other in perfectly synchronized denial.
Ignoring the two tsundere children, Koushirou returned to the main topic. "Now then, shall we begin our spar? However, since this is merely a friendly exchange of pointers, I suggest we refrain from using live steel."
Koushirou walked over to a rack against the wall and retrieved a few sturdy bamboo swords (shinai). He kept one for himself and gestured for Bardock to take his pick.
Bardock looked at Koushirou, realizing the mild-mannered Dojo Master was completely serious. Bardock shrugged internally. 'Is he worried our clash will completely destroy the dojo?'
Honestly, Bardock had genuinely been entertaining the idea of finding a 'clumsy' excuse during the spar to completely obliterate the dojo's staircase—the legendary 'Supreme Grade Weapon' that was absurdly destined to claim Kuina's life in the original timeline.
Selecting two sturdy bamboo swords, Bardock gave them a few practice swings. The weight and balance were surprisingly excellent.
"Whoa! Are you here to challenge the dojo?!" Zoro asked, his eyes suddenly lighting up with intense excitement.
Once upon a time, he had been a brash dojo challenger himself... until Kuina had effortlessly wiped the floor with him. But that didn't matter! He was getting stronger every single day! He was absolutely confident that his newly developed Three-Sword Style would finally secure him a victory against Kuina soon!
"Shut up, idiot. Just watch and learn," Kuina scolded, lightly smacking Zoro on the back of the head.
Zoro glared at her rubbing his head, but he obediently clamped his mouth shut. 'Just you wait,' he grumbled internally. 'Once I finally beat you, you won't be able to boss me around like this anymore!'
In the center of the wooden dojo floor, Koushirou and Bardock stood a few paces apart.
Although neither had physically moved yet, the clash had already begun. A heavy, suffocating pressure filled the room as their respective combat intents violently intertwined in the empty space between them. The air grew thick, like the calm right before a devastating thunderstorm.
BANG!
The two men vanished and collided in the dead center of the room.
Their bamboo swords violently clashed. However, because both fighters had instantaneously coated their wooden weapons in highly compressed, invisible Armament Haki at the exact microsecond of impact, the bamboo didn't shatter into splinters. Instead, the collision produced a deafening, metallic shockwave that echoed like a cannon blast!
Bardock was utilizing his dual-wielding style. He aggressively parried Koushirou's downward strike with his left sword, while seamlessly thrusting his right sword directly toward Koushirou's throat in a lethal counterattack.
However, Koushirou's Observation Haki was immaculate. He had already anticipated the thrust seconds before it happened, smoothly retreating a few strategic steps backward to flawlessly evade the strike.
'What terrifying physical power!' Koushirou thought, exhaling a sharp breath as he disengaged.
He had struck with both hands on the hilt, yet Bardock had effortlessly absorbed and halted his entire kinetic force using only one arm. In terms of pure, raw biological talent and physical strength, Bardock was in an entirely different, monstrous league.
"Is defending all you can do?" Bardock grinned, his golden eyes flashing with excitement.
He instantly went on the absolute offensive. Bardock launched a relentless, high-speed hurricane of slashes and thrusts. His two bamboo swords blurred through the air, forming an impenetrable, suffocating net of attacks that placed massive, suffocating pressure on the Dojo Master.
In terms of pure swordsmanship technique, Bardock and Koushirou were roughly on the same tier.
Koushirou's swordsmanship was the result of decades of unwavering, daily discipline. His movements were incredibly refined, perfectly fluid, and utterly devoid of wasted motion. It was textbook perfection.
Bardock's swordsmanship, on the other hand, was a completely different beast. He had originally built his foundation by meticulously copying the combat styles of Dracule Mihawk and 'Red-Haired' Shanks through observation. From there, he had refined his techniques through endless, brutal life-or-death battles, aggressively pushing his body to the absolute limit and relying on Mansherry's miraculous healing—which essentially functioned like infinite Senzu Beans—to recover and train harder. Despite his young age, his intense combat experience had allowed him to forge a highly aggressive, deeply personal combat style.
As the intense, high-speed duel continued to drag on, Bardock suddenly realized something incredibly amusing.
Despite launching complex parries and devastating counter-slashes, Koushirou fought in absolute, deadly silence. He didn't dramatically shout out the names of his attacks.
'So that's how it is,' Bardock thought, suppressing a smirk as he violently clashed swords with the Master again. 'It turns out Zoro's ridiculous habit of screaming out absurdly long, edgy attack names didn't come from his Sensei at all. That kid really is just a chuunibyou who ate the mythical Name-Name Fruit.'
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