"Heh."
Kuina let out a light laugh, her gaze calm as she looked at Zoro.
She held up two fingers, then spoke.
"Zoro, this is the 1823rd time you've said that!"
"Aside from the first time, when have you *not* said this before a challenge?"
"But it seems like you're just all talk every time!"
Hearing this, Zoro's face immediately flushed red. With a thick neck, he shouted at Kuina.
"This time is different! I've been through rigorous training. This time, I will definitely defeat you!"
Kuina's expression remained unchanged. She just spoke calmly.
"You've said that hundreds of times already."
"I'm tired of hearing it, even if you're not tired of saying it."
"Come on, let's make this quick."
As she spoke, Kuina raised her wooden sword, her eyes calmly fixed on Zoro.
Feeling Kuina's utterly indifferent gaze, Zoro instantly saw red and roared loudly.
"Kuina, you'll pay for looking down on me!"
As the words fell, Zoro stepped forward, raising his wooden sword and charging at Kuina with a roar.
Arriving before Kuina, he swung his sword down fiercely from above, carrying a sharp, whistling force.
Many of the dojo students around couldn't help but gasp in surprise, shocked by the power of Zoro's strike.
Although Zoro was much younger than them, none of them were his match.
Similarly, Zoro was no match for Kuina either.
They saw Kuina shift her body slightly, easily dodging Zoro's downward slash. Then, her wooden sword shot out horizontally at an incredible speed.
*Thwack!*
The sound of wooden swords clashing rang out. A flicker of surprise appeared on Kuina's face.
After sensing her attack, Zoro had forcefully twisted the trajectory of his own strike to block hers instead.
Seeing Kuina's expression, Zoro couldn't help but feel a surge of smugness.
"Kuina! I told you, I've been through rigorous training. This time, I will definitely defeat you!"
Kuina also smiled, her gaze still calm as she said softly.
"Zoro, are you getting this carried away just from blocking one of my attacks?"
"Wanting to defeat me? You're still too green!"
As her words fell, Kuina withdrew her sword, then swung again. This strike attacked Zoro's underarm from an extremely tricky angle, its speed unmatched.
Zoro's expression changed. He immediately used his wooden sword to defend, finally managing to block in front of himself just as Kuina's sword was about to hit him.
But it was rushed and awkward. The quality of this block wasn't good. Although he stopped the blow, the force carried by the sword pushed him back several steps.
Seizing this opportunity, Kuina closed the distance, arriving before Zoro. Not giving him any chance to catch his breath, she brought down another slash.
Zoro blocked hastily, barely managing to stop this attack, but the wooden sword coming next made his expression change again.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
Rapid, successive sounds of wooden sword strikes rang out. Zoro retreated again and again under Kuina's storm-like offensive. Before long, a blow landed on him, sending him flying to crash heavily onto the ground not far away.
Before he could get up, Kuina placed her wooden sword in front of him. Her gaze remained as calm as always as she looked down at him and spoke softly.
"You lose."
"I..."
Zoro started to speak but stopped, looking at Kuina with unwillingness. Suddenly, the fight drained out of him, like a wilted eggplant. He muttered.
"I lost."
However, this only lasted a moment. Soon, Zoro rallied himself, his eyes burning as he stared at Kuina. He waved his fist, as if to encourage himself or to issue a final threat to Kuina.
"Next time, I will definitely win!"
Kuina put away her wooden sword and said.
"You've said that many times before."
Having said that, Kuina turned and walked away.
*Creak!*
A sound came from the direction of the entrance as the dojo's large door was pushed open.
Instantly, everyone's gaze turned toward the doorway, including Kuina, who had turned to leave. She stopped, looking over curiously.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, they saw a boy with delicate, finely carved features walk in.
Everyone looked at him. He looked at everyone.
After a good while, someone finally reacted. They came over to the boy, crouched down to his level, and said.
"Little friend! Did you come to the wrong place?"
"Outsiders aren't allowed to just enter our Isshin Dojo. Where do you live? I'll take you back."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir. But I'm here to find someone."
"Huh? Who are you looking for?"
The boy pointed a finger at Zoro and spoke calmly.
"Him! And..."
Then he pointed his finger at Kuina, who was standing to the side, and spoke again.
"Her!"
This boy was Kyle. Just now, when he saw Kuina, the system's prompt tone had also sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Contact with key character detected. Generating recruitment mission!]
[Recruit the genius, Kuina!]
[Loading genius profile... loading...]
[Kuina, Zoro's childhood friend and swordsmanship rival. Once defeated Zoro 2001 times. They vowed to compete for the title of the World's Greatest Swordsman. Unfortunately died young. Her sword, 'Wado Ichimonji,' became Zoro's lifelong belief and motivation.]
[Recruitment Reward: Sword Technique 'Purple Thunder Seven Annihilations']
[Purple Thunder Seven Annihilations: The embodiment of heavenly punishment's thunder. The sword's momentum combines the thunder's 'violent destruction' and 'divine speed and ferocity.' Each strike pursues the ultimate in penetration and annihilating effect.]
Kyle couldn't help but let a smile show at the corner of his mouth.
Another double!
Come here once, recruit two. A huge win!
Kyle had some understanding of Kuina, Zoro's close friend from his childhood.
However, he always felt her death was somewhat abrupt. He wondered if it was due to plot convenience, meant to serve as motivation for Zoro's growth?
Otherwise, it was really hard to explain her simply falling down some stairs and dying.
What? Supreme Staircase? One who falls, dies?
As the daughter of Isshin Dojo's master, Koushirou, Kuina had trained with the sword since she was little. Although young, her skill surpassed many adults.
In the original story, Zoro lost to her a total of two thousand and one times.
And someone like that just fell down some stairs and died?
It's just... hard to explain!
But Kyle wasn't clear on the specific details of the original story, as related information was extremely scarce.
He didn't care about any of that. All he knew was that now, Kuina was also his recruitment target.
Therefore, the ending Kuina had in the original story would absolutely not happen to her now.
While Kyle was observing Kuina, Kuina was also looking at Kyle. Looking at his smooth, rosy cheeks, a strange thought sprouted in her mind. She stepped forward and began walking towards Kyle...
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