"Hahaha! Brat, if you hadn't teamed up before, you wouldn't have been my match at all!"
Looking at Zoro, who was biting down on his sword hilt with an unhappy face, Ace planted his hands on his hips and threw his head back in laughter.
"Don't get too cocky. I just haven't eaten enough!"
Seeing Ace laughing so loudly, Zoro shot back with an unfriendly expression.
Although he said that, Zoro had to admit that this guy's progress really was fast.
"Good job, Ace! That's it, beat this little kid down!"
A strange laugh rang out as Dorry, the giant sitting nearby, burst out laughing and shouted.
"I'll go." Kuina spoke and was about to step forward, but Hawkeye, who stood beside her, stopped her.
"No need. Zoro's talent is good, but his personality… hm." Hawkeye spoke, then frowned.
There was no doubt about Zoro's pursuit of swordsmanship.
Even after seeing countless swordsmen over the years, Hawkeye had rarely met anyone as focused as Zoro.
But Zoro's current personality… he could not quite describe it.
It was strange.
But then Hawkeye thought of Cyrus, and compared with Cyrus, Zoro suddenly seemed very normal.
"However, the two of you and Cyrus are complete opposites when it comes to swordsmanship."
Hawkeye raised his right hand and touched his chin.
As fellow disciples, when Cyrus had first asked him to look after his two juniors, Hawkeye had thought that since they came from the same swordsmanship school, they would share Cyrus's style.
Or rather, they would also be the kind of people with terrifying physiques but crude swordsmanship.
But after meeting and understanding them, he realized that although these two were far weaker than Cyrus, both of them had their own ideas when it came to swordsmanship.
At the very least, in Hawkeye's eyes, both of these young swordsmen had already stepped onto their own path of the sword.
As for what achievements they would reach in the future, he could not say.
But at the very least, in terms of swordsmanship, surpassing Cyrus should not be a problem.
"One-Sword Style!"
Zoro raised his hand and took the sword from his mouth before sheathing it.
"Iai!"
He bent forward, his body tensing.
"Lion's Song!"
Swish!
A figure and blade light flashed. Zoro, now holding a single sword, had already arrived behind Ace.
Ace's face showed shock.
His mind had not reacted, but his body already had.
Armament Haki wrapped around his crossed arms as he blocked in front of himself.
Even so, his entire body was still sent flying by the slash.
"Hah!"
Zoro exhaled, then sheathed his sword and looked at Ace, who had been cut dozens of meters away and was still rolling across the ground.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Gegyagyagyagya! Ace you actually got sent flying!"
Seeing this, the two giants laughed so hard that they rocked back and forth.
Their huge palms slapped the ground, making it tremble again and again.
Ace's rolling body finally stopped, and he stood with a dark expression.
"Sneak attack!"
"Sneak attack?"
Zoro crossed his arms and looked at Ace with disdain.
"Our fight wasn't over yet. You weren't strong enough, and you're calling it a sneak attack?"
Zoro's words made Ace's face turn red. The truth really was like that.
Their battle had not ended!
"Zoro, my turn!" Kuina shouted.
The disdainful look on Zoro's face immediately dropped when he heard Kuina's voice.
"I'm about to take him down."
Zoro turned and glared.
"We don't have that much time to wait around here. We still have to go to Sky Island afterward."
Kuina stepped forward, pressing a hand against the hilt of her sword. Wisps of blue flame rose from her body.
Seeing Kuina wrapped in blue flames, Hawkeye nodded slightly.
One's own ability was also part of swordsmanship.
On this point, Hawkeye had already come to terms with it.
"What are you all playing at?"
A voice suddenly sounded beside Hawkeye. Hawkeye froze, then turned sharply and saw Cyrus staring at Kuina's back.
"You're already here?"
The shock on Hawkeye's face was genuine.
It had not been long since they had contacted each other.
Could it be that Cyrus had already been nearby?
Kuina had not yet sensed Cyrus's appearance.
However, Zoro had turned to speak with Kuina earlier and happened to see Cyrus quietly appear from within the flames. His eyes almost popped out.
His mouth opened wide, and his jaw dropped to the ground with a click.
"Cyrus!"
Zoro's voice became sharp, as though someone had stepped on his tail, and he jumped up.
Hearing him, Kuina also turned sharply.
After seeing Cyrus, her eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
"Cyrus!"
Blue fire flashed, and Kuina arrived in front of Cyrus.
That speed made even Cyrus pause. Then he raised his hand and pressed it against Kuina as she tried to throw herself at him.
Compared with his current height, Kuina standing in front of him still looked exactly like a child.
"Hm?"
The sudden appearance of this figure made Ace freeze.
He looked at Cyrus in surprise, his face blank, clearly unable to understand the current situation.
"Ace, brat, I think you should run right now! That guy is the chairman of the Hunter Guild."
Blue Ogre suddenly leaned down beside Ace and spoke in a low voice.
The air from his breath was like a gale, and it carried the fishy stink of roasted fish.
But Ace had no time to care about that now.
'The chairman of the Hunter Guild?'
That was a true great figure of the Grand Line!
'Someone like that had appeared just like this?'
Even though Ace was bold, he felt somewhat intimidated now.
He still had dreams. He did not want to die here!
But from the look of things, this man knew Zoro and the others, and their relationship seemed quite good.
'No wonder the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye, had been hanging around with those two.'
Thinking this, Ace kept his eyes fixed on Cyrus in case Cyrus suddenly attacked him.
But Cyrus did not even look in his direction, as though he had not noticed his existence at all.
Ace, who had originally been retreating, suddenly stopped.
The expression on his face shifted, and no one knew what he was thinking.
On Cyrus's side, he held Kuina's face down with one hand while the girl's arms flailed wildly like two windmills, unable to advance even a single step.
"Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri!" Zoro's excited voice rang out.
Controlling three swords, he leapt into the air and attacked Cyrus.
Seeing this, Hawkeye took two steps back, clearly preparing to watch what would happen.
Whoosh!
Cyrus raised his hand.
At the instant the three incoming swords crossed, Cyrus blocked them with one hand.
Thud!
Zoro slammed into him as though he had hit a pillar.
His entire body fell forward and crashed to the ground, completing the whole process in an instant.
"I only found them an opponent to sharpen themselves against."
Seeing the scene before him, Hawkeye shook his head slightly and spoke.
Cyrus glanced at him, then turned toward Ace, who was staring at him with both fists clenched not far away.
"Mm. Gol D. Ace."
Gol D.?
Cyrus's words made Hawkeye pause.
Then he frowned and turned to look at Ace as well.
"That name is the same as Roger's, the Pirate King. This brat's talent is very high, not inferior to your juniors at all."
With Hawkeye's eyes, he could naturally see some of Ace's qualities.
He could also tell that Ace had grown wildly on his own.
Perhaps someone had taught him a little, but definitely not much.
If someone had guided him before, Ace's strength would absolutely be more than this.
During this period, under the guidance of the two giants, he had learned combat techniques and the use of Haki.
His strength was improving at a visible pace.
"It is indeed the same."
Cyrus nodded, but after glancing at Ace twice, he withdrew his gaze and looked again at the two people in front of him.
"Enough! You're both already this old, yet you're still so jumpy."
Zoro and Kuina had calmed down quite a bit by now, and both stared at Cyrus.
"Why did you come here? Didn't Hawkeye say you were in the New World?"
Zoro sheathed his sword and asked.
That exchange just now had made him understand that his strength before Cyrus was still the same as before.
Or rather, the gap had grown even larger.
"Oh, I went to Mary Geoise to handle something. After finishing that, I remembered you two had come to the New World, so I stopped by along the way."
Along the way?
Hawkeye's expression became strange.
What part of this was along the way?!
"So that's how it is!"
Zoro nodded seriously.
Although he had already learned some information about the islands on the Grand Line, none of it had really stayed in his head.
Hearing Zoro beside her, Kuina raised a hand and slapped her forehead, looking speechless.
"Sigh. You really still don't use your head, kid."
Cyrus looked at Zoro with pity, his tone full of emotion.
Zoro's fists clenched hard.
If he could beat Cyrus, he would definitely punch him right now!
That tone was exactly the same as it had been back then!
"Wait. You went to Mary Geoise?"
Kuina and Zoro did not understand, but Hawkeye's pupils abruptly contracted.
"You didn't attack the Holy Land again, did you?"