Two days later, in the rugged mountains situated behind Shimotsuki Village, the highly anticipated official duel between Bardock and Koushirou was about to begin.
Given the apocalyptic destructive potential of the two combatants, the spectator area had to be severely restricted. Only Enel and Daz Bonez—who possessed the raw physical durability and Haki mastery required to survive stray shockwaves—were permitted to observe from a relatively close distance. Robin, Perona, Kid, Killer, Zoro, and Kuina were forced to remain several miles away, watching from a high vantage point overlooking the valley. Even from that distance, the children couldn't stop chattering nervously.
As befitted a formal duel between master swordsmen, Bardock and Koushirou did not immediately rush into close combat. Instead, they simultaneously swung their blades, launching massive, highly compressed Flying Slashes (Tobu Zangeki) at each other.
This was the traditional 'greeting' among high-level swordsmen. The sheer size, density, and kinetic force of a Flying Slash instantly communicated exactly how far the opponent had progressed on the path of the sword. While a superior Flying Slash didn't guarantee ultimate victory in a duel, it provided a perfectly accurate baseline of the enemy's raw power.
The two distinct, crescent-shaped shockwaves violently collided in the dead center of the mountain valley. The air shrieked and groaned under the immense friction of the grinding energy blades.
CRACK!
With a deafening explosion of displaced air, both Flying Slashes completely shattered each other simultaneously, canceling out perfectly.
Having already exchanged basic techniques during their previous bamboo spar in the dojo, Bardock and Koushirou skipped the probing phase entirely. They immediately brought out their true strength.
Bardock aggressively coated both Yubashiri and White Iron in dense, pitch-black Armament Haki. Utilizing the high-speed explosive movement of Soru (Shave), he vanished, instantly reappearing around Koushirou and unleashing a localized hurricane of rapid-fire attacks.
Dozens of smaller, highly lethal Flying Slashes erupted from his blades, completely saturating Koushirou's immediate airspace. The dense net of slashes violently restricted Koushirou's movement; dodging was impossible, and standing still meant being instantly diced into ribbons.
However, Koushirou didn't panic, nor did he desperately attempt to match the barrage with his own Flying Slashes. Maintaining absolute, terrifying calm, he simply raised his sword.
The absolute microsecond Bardock's slashes reached him, Koushirou's blade flickered. Instead of blocking the kinetic force head-on, he utilized immaculate precision to strike the exact weak point of every incoming slash, gently parrying them and deflecting their trajectories away from his body. Sometimes, he even angled his deflections perfectly so that a parried slash would violently collide with another incoming attack, causing them to destroy each other in mid-air.
It was an absolutely masterful, flawless display of defensive swordsmanship.
Seeing that his high-speed, ranged barrage was completely ineffective against the Dojo Master's defense, Bardock seamlessly transitioned into fierce, close-quarters combat.
Unlike their spar a few days ago, Bardock completely unleashed his terrifying physical strength and speed. His dual blades were impossibly heavy and lightning-fast, raining down an apocalyptic barrage of strikes.
Under the brutal assault, Koushirou immediately began feeling the immense, suffocating pressure.
As the violent clash dragged on, Bardock quickly noticed a highly specific, glaring weakness in Koushirou's combat style: a severe lack of high-level, life-or-death combat experience against opponents of similar caliber.
Koushirou's swordsmanship was undeniably brilliant. His technical mastery, edge alignment, and application of Ryuo were absolutely flawless. He was a true Grandmaster.
However, his combat rhythm was fundamentally flawed for this tier of battle. Because he was used to effortlessly defeating weaker East Blue pirates with minimal effort, he wasn't accustomed to the suffocating momentum of a true peer. Within minutes, Koushirou was forced entirely onto the defensive, only occasionally managing to launch a desperate counterattack. This was a highly passive, losing strategy; a swordsman of his caliber should have possessed the battle instincts to forcefully disrupt Bardock's rhythm and seize the initiative.
Several miles away, hearing the continuous, thunderous explosions echoing from the distant mountains, Kuina's hands trembled uncontrollably. Her father was currently engaged in a terrifyingly violent battle, and the sheer scale of the destruction was paralyzing.
Suddenly, she felt a warm, reassuring hand rest gently on her shoulder. She turned around to see Nico Robin smiling down at her.
"Don't worry," Robin said, her voice smooth and profoundly calming. "They're just exchanging pointers. Nothing bad will happen."
For some inexplicable reason, Robin's calm demeanor possessed incredible persuasive power. Kuina instantly felt her suffocating anxiety dissipate.
"Okay..." Kuina nodded slowly. Thinking about how well-traveled this pirate crew was, she looked up at the archaeologist curiously. "Big sister Robin... do you happen to know of any truly powerful women currently sailing the Grand Line?"
"Powerful women?" Robin paused, mentally sifting through her vast intelligence network. "I've heard of quite a few, but I've only personally met one."
Robin smiled warmly, happy to educate the young girl. "The first one that comes to mind is undeniably the Queen of Totto Land and the Captain of the Big Mom Pirates, Charlotte Linlin. She is universally recognized as a 'natural-born destroyer'. When she was merely five years old, she effortlessly one-shotted a legendary Giant warrior and completely annihilated an entire Giant village with her bare hands. Today, she is indisputably one of the Four Emperors—one of the absolute strongest individuals on the planet.
"The second is the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock," Robin continued. "I had the pleasure of meeting her in the South Blue. She is widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world, but her beauty completely masks her terrifying strength. At the young age of eighteen, she effortlessly crushed the Supernovas on the Sabaody Archipelago and was immediately appointed as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
"The third is a woman our Captain frequently mentions with high regard: Marine Vice Admiral Gion. I have it on good authority that she is currently one of the absolute strongest master swordsmen in the entire Navy.
"Furthermore, there is Emperor Kaido's daughter..."
Kuina completely tuned out the rest of the sentence. The only words echoing in her mind were: Marine Vice Admiral Gion... one of the absolute strongest master swordsmen.
'I have to meet her!' Kuina thought, her heart pounding with desperate hope. 'I have to ask her... is it truly possible for a female swordsman to overcome her physical limitations and become the World's Greatest?!'
Noticing that Kuina had completely spaced out, Robin gently waved a hand in front of the girl's face.
Kuina violently jolted, her cheeks flushing bright red in embarrassment. "I-I'm so sorry! I got completely lost in thought!"
"It's quite alright," Robin smiled softly, her eyes filled with profound understanding. She could easily see the incredibly thorny, difficult path the young girl was trying to walk. "Do you wish to become strong? I must warn you, that path is incredibly unforgiving."
Kuina took a deep breath, her eyes burning with fierce, unshakable determination. "I want to become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"
"The World's Greatest Swordsman is going to be ME!" Zoro instantly interjected, aggressively pointing a thumb at his own chest.
Kuina sneered, glaring at him with absolute disdain. "Hmph! You idiot Zoro! You've already lost to me exactly two thousand times in a row! Why don't you try actually beating me once before you start bragging?!"
Furious, Zoro aggressively reached for his bamboo practice swords, fully intending to start match two-thousand-and-one right then and there. Robin merely chuckled and gently held the boy back by his collar.
Meanwhile, the battle in the mountains had officially reached its climax.
"Spear of Elbaf: HAKOKU (Sovereignty)!"
Bardock unleashed the legendary, apocalyptic technique of the Giants.
If this had been a true life-or-death battle, he would have utilized his highly modified, armor-piercing variation, Hakoku: Pierce. However, for a simple spar, the raw, overwhelming concussive force of the original technique was more than sufficient.
A massive, devastating cylinder of pure shockwave violently erupted from Bardock's crossed blades, instantly obliterating everything in its path as it roared toward Koushirou.
Koushirou, who was already heavily fatigued from the relentless assault, realized dodging the massive AoE attack was completely impossible.
He planted his feet firmly in the dirt, took a deep breath, and desperately unleashed a rapid succession of his strongest Flying Slashes. The slashes violently collided with the front of the shockwave, slightly dulling its momentum, but they were ultimately overpowered and scattered.
BOOOOOOM!
The massive shockwave violently slammed into Koushirou's crossed blade.
Koushirou gritted his teeth, his arms trembling violently as he desperately tried to hold his ground. However, the sheer kinetic force was too much. He was violently pushed backward, his sandals carving deep trenches into the earth. As he was pushed backward through the forest, his back violently smashed through massive trees and solid boulders, shattering them instantly.
"HRAAAAH!"
Koushirou let out a fierce roar. He aggressively stomped both feet into the ground, violently halting his backward momentum. Utilizing a highly specific physiological technique, the muscles in his arms suddenly bulged obscenely, expanding to twice their normal size. With an explosive, desperate heave, he violently angled his blade upward, successfully deflecting the remainder of the Hakoku shockwave into the sky!
(Years later, Zoro would occasionally utilize this exact same muscle-expansion technique—calling it Ichi Gorila, Ni Gorila—proving he truly had learned the deepest secrets of physical conditioning from Koushirou).
Koushirou stood in the ruined forest, panting heavily. The muscles in his arms rapidly deflated back to their normal size, but his hands were visibly trembling uncontrollably. For a master swordsman, losing the fine motor control of one's grip was a catastrophic failure. It was glaringly obvious that he was completely out of stamina.
"Do you wish to continue?" Bardock asked calmly, slowly lowering his swords.
He knew Koushirou could theoretically push through the exhaustion and continue fighting for a few more minutes on pure willpower, but it was completely unnecessary. The outcome had already been firmly decided.
"No. We will stop here," Koushirou exhaled deeply, smoothly sheathing his sword despite his trembling hands. "You win."
Bardock's raw technique was slightly superior, but his physical stamina and endurance were in an entirely different dimension. Even after fighting at such a terrifying pace, Bardock wasn't even breathing heavily. Koushirou had absolutely zero chance of victory.
In the distance, noticing that the apocalyptic explosions had finally ceased, Kuina leaned forward anxiously, desperately trying to see through the settling dust. She couldn't tell if her father was safe.
"Don't worry. The duel is over," Robin stated confidently, having already assessed the situation with her Devil Fruit. "Neither of them suffered any serious injuries."
Hearing Robin's confirmation, the massive, suffocating boulder of anxiety finally lifted from Kuina's chest.
A few minutes later, Bardock emerged from the tree line, casually walking alongside Koushirou, whose traditional robes were heavily torn and covered in dirt.
Tears instantly welled up in Kuina's eyes. She sprinted forward and threw her arms around her father's waist, burying her face in his chest. Koushirou smiled softly, gently stroking his daughter's hair and murmuring comforting words.
Standing off to the side, Zoro scratched the back of his head in profound confusion. 'Why is she crying? Sensei is totally fine.'
With the duel concluded and the final goodbyes exchanged, Bardock and his crew returned to the port. It was time to leave Shimotsuki Village and continue their voyage. Koushirou politely offered to host them for a few more days, but Bardock respectfully declined, eager to keep moving.
As the massive golden galleon slowly pulled away from the docks, a young boy with green hair stood at the edge of the pier, clutching a black-lacquered sword tightly in his hands.
"HEY!" Zoro screamed at the top of his lungs over the roaring ocean wind. "THE NEXT TIME WE MEET, I'M ABSOLUTELY GOING TO DEFEAT YOU!"
Standing on the deck of the White Dragon, Bardock smiled and nodded approvingly. "I'll be waiting for you on the sea."
The White Dragon sailed out of the harbor, eventually disappearing over the horizon, leaving the peaceful East Blue island behind.
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