"I'm giving up swordsmanship! No, I'm giving up ordinary swordsmanship!"
Mihawk's fervent declaration boomed across the deck of the Conqueror.
Takuro and Tiger stared at him, bewildered.
Tiger could only manage a quiet, "…Huh?"
They looked at the famous swordsman, known across the Grand Line, as if he'd lost his mind. What else could you think when a World-Class Power suddenly announced he was quitting his lifelong profession out of the blue? It had to be a problem with his head.
Takuro narrowed his eyes and asked for confirmation, "Are you absolutely sure about this?"
"Absolutely!" Mihawk nodded vigorously, a fiery conviction erupting from him, one that Takuro had never witnessed before. "Just now… I achieved Satori!"
He looked at Takuro, his eyes filled with gratitude and reverence, almost like a disciple addressing his master. "I finally understand! A truly strong person doesn't need to rely on any external object!"
The revelation had struck him like a sudden lightning bolt of Ki energy.
"Therefore, I've decided! From this moment forward, I will diligently cultivate my 'Chi'! I will continuously temper my own body! I will learn how to channel my Ki not just through the air, but through my very flesh!"
Mihawk declared with profound seriousness, "Then, I will… use myself as a 'sword'!"
The moment he spoke these words, Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk felt his inner Sword Heart—which had been clouded with confusion and bottlenecks—suddenly clear up. The spiritual and physical conflicts he'd been battling for years were instantly resolved.
His soul seemed to have undergone an unprecedented sublimation!
A shimmering, golden path, full of infinite possibilities and leading to the true apex of swordsmanship, now seemed to unfold slowly before his very eyes. He felt a newfound freedom, a spiritual energy that reminded him of the pure destructive power of Ki that Takuro had introduced him to. It was the path of making his own body the ultimate weapon, a path that could rival even the strength of a Super Saiyan or a fully Awakened Devil Fruit user.
Takuro, on the other hand, was left speechless.
So, this was the great enlightenment he'd come up with after all that deep thinking? To become a giant, human sword?
However, seeing the former Warlord's completely resolute gaze and the state of profound, almost religious rebirth he was in, Takuro simply couldn't bring himself to say anything discouraging. Besides, if he was completely honest with himself, the way the other man was now behaving was not entirely unrelated to him.
'Was I too forceful with the Chi instruction? But I didn't actually hit his head, did I?'
Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped trying to puzzle over the man's eccentric nature and shrugged indifferently. "...Alright, man. Whatever makes you happy. Just don't break anything on your way out."
The sun was directly overhead, signifying that it was nearing noon.
Takuro glanced up at the somewhat dazzling sunlight and then looked at his crew. "Since things have come to this, let's not worry about all that other stuff for now. Let's eat. I'm starving."
Just then, Robin also walked out of the cabin, carrying a plate of freshly cut fruit. She smiled sweetly and reminded her captain, "Master, lunch is ready. We have plenty of fresh seafood and fruit from the last island."
Takuro called out to Tiger, who was still frozen in a daze, and to Mihawk, who was basking in the glow of his sudden epiphany, inviting them to join him in the dining room.
However, Mihawk promptly shook his head.
"I won't be eating," he said, his tone urgent and full of purpose, as if every second of time was precious to his new form of training. "Time is short. I must set sail immediately!"
"Hmm?" Takuro asked, utterly puzzled. "What's wrong now? Where in the Grand Line are you going to go, and why are you suddenly in such a hurry?"
He found this guy to be more trouble than he was worth, questioning if there was truly anything more important than a full meal.
"I want to…" Mihawk's eyes burned with a fierce, ambitious flame, similar to the intensity of a true Saiyan warrior. "…like a true 'newcomer'! Embark on a journey anew!"
He gripped the railing of the Conqueror with a strength that briefly cracked the wood. "I must leave all past comforts behind to pursue my brand new path of swordsmanship! My path to becoming the ultimate Chi-sword!"
Takuro felt a massive headache coming on, and he wondered if teaching this man how to cultivate Chi was a terrible mistake. Yesterday, he was the cool, collected, and aloof World's Greatest Swordsman, and today he was acting like a crazed Rookie Pirate starting his first voyage on the Four Blues.
He could only sigh helplessly and try to be practical. "Alright, I'll have someone prepare a small escape boat for you, and we'll get some food and water together, at least. You can't survive out there on just air and Ki."
"No need!"
Hawkeye waved a dismissive hand, interrupting Takuro's logistical arrangements. "Although it's a new journey, it's also a form of intense training. How can I live too comfortably! That would defeat the entire purpose of this new path!"
Then, under the profoundly shocked and utterly incomprehensible gaze of Takuro, Tiger, and Robin, he suddenly took a running leap! He channeled his internal Chi into his legs, resulting in a jump of incredible power.
"Plop——!!!"
With a loud, massive splash, he jumped directly into the boundless, deep blue ocean, not even bothering to look back. For a man of his former status, this was not just eccentric—it was utterly insane.
"Hahahaha——!!! Farewell! Takuro!"
Mihawk's boisterous, unrestrained laughter came echoing from the sea.
"When we meet again next time…"
The voice began to fade slightly as he rapidly moved away from the ship.
"…it will surely be a brand new me! A Tier 4 powerhouse built purely on the body and spirit!"
Then, with a final, roaring declaration of intent that sounded like a Super Saiyan battle cry, he shouted his final words into the wind.
"Wait for me, Shanks! I… am coming for you!!!"
Swish swish swish!
A brilliant white wake, like a jet boat's trail, was instantly pulled across the surface of the sea. Mihawk, with a newfound surge of energy from his Chi cultivation, was swimming away at an utterly astonishing speed toward the distant horizon!
Soon, his lone figure completely disappeared over the curve of the ocean, vanishing entirely from everyone's sight.
On the deck of the Conqueror, silence returned.
Takuro: "..."
Tiger: "..."
Robin: "..."
Everyone was as if under the effect of a Logia user's freezing ability, plunged into a profound, deathly silence.
After a long, uncomfortable moment, Tiger slowly turned his head. He looked at Takuro beside him, his expression one of deep questioning and very high uncertainty.
"Um… Mr. Takuro…" Tiger finally managed to speak softly.
He scratched his head and asked the million-Berry question. "Does the cultivation of 'Chi'… also cause irreversible damage to the practitioner's brain? Does it mess with a person's mental state and make them do things like jump into the ocean?"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Takuro immediately shot him a severe glance, quickly distancing himself from any responsibility. "It's clearly that guy's own brain that's messed up! It has nothing to do with 'Chi' at all. Look at me—do I look like I have a problem?"
"Uh… alright…" Tiger mumbled, quickly dropping the subject.
He actually wanted to say that sometimes he felt Mr. Takuro wasn't quite normal either, and it was hard to keep up with his incredibly fast and erratic thoughts. But he was afraid of being hit with an unexpected Ki blast or a punch infused with Armament Haki, so he wisely shut his mouth and kept his thoughts to himself.
As for Nico Robin, she had absolutely no idea what had just transpired. She just saw the famous swordsman suddenly laugh like a madman and then leap into the vast sea.
So, she simply asked her own simple, pragmatic question. "Master, is Mr. Mihawk coming back for lunch? Should I keep a plate warm for him?"
"He's definitely not coming back," Takuro shook his head, finally regaining his composure. "Don't worry about him; he won't die anyway. He's much stronger now than he was yesterday."
According to Takuro's precise estimation, Mihawk, having learned to infuse his body with potent Chi energy, had improved his combat strength and stamina by more than a little—easily enough to keep himself afloat and moving across the entire ocean.
"Let's go, let's go. Inside now."
"…I'm starving. My Ki is low."
Time passed leisurely, yet with many odd interludes and amusing character moments, during the rest of the sea journey across the Grand Line.
In the blink of an eye, three or four days quickly passed on the open water.
When the Conqueror finally navigated through a special, incredibly dangerous sea area full of strange whirlpools and unpredictable currents—a section famous for throwing off any ship's navigation—a giant, beautiful island group, looking as if it had jumped straight out of a fairy tale world and full of bright, fantastical colors, finally appeared in everyone's sight.
"Wow! It's quite spectacular!" Takuro exclaimed with great, genuine interest. "That's definitely not a natural phenomenon!"
It was a completely unique archipelago, composed of seventy-nine enormous Yarukiman Redwoods that seemed to stretch up forever into the sky!
Huge, almost perfectly translucent resin bubbles, like dreamy, glowing balloons, slowly rose from the ground and the tree trunks, refracting all the colors of the rainbow under the noon sunlight.
Vehicles and even pedestrians moved slowly and gracefully through the air, utilizing these peculiar, natural bubbles for their personal transport.
This was the end of the first half of the Grand Line and also the essential entrance to the treacherous New World—the legendary Sabaody Archipelago.
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