"Dai D. Zhou Ze?"
Perona repeated the name softly, tapping her chin with her index finger, displaying a thoughtful expression.
"Your name is so strange!"
Hawkeye's gaze paused. He seemed equally surprised by Taro's name.
"So that is your full name?"
Saying this, he leaped backward, increasing the distance between himself and Taro, and drew the black blade from his back.
Exchanging names naturally signified the start of the duel.
Taro's mouth twitched. He wanted to explain, but seeing that Hawkeye had already taken his stance, he ignored it, drew thunderstorm with a backhand, and vigilantly stared at Hawkeye.
"Hey, don't fight yet, I'm going to call that idiot over!"
Perona flipped a few times in mid-air, preparing to call Zoro over to watch the fight.
"If you two fight, that idiot should be able to learn a lot, right?"
Saying this, she drifted toward the interior of the island.
"Whoosh, rustle rustle"
Just then, movement came from the forest again.
Immediately after, the green-haired Zoro, wrapped entirely in bandages, leaped out of the forest.
He was carrying a massive stone, over three meters in diameter, on his shoulder, sweat pouring off him as he advanced by alternating between jumping and squatting, performing frog jumps.
"Hmm? Wasn't I heading toward the center of the island? How did I end up at the seaside?"
After squatting down again, Zoro finally realized the ground beneath him had turned into sand.
And the coastline before him made him even more stunned.
Zoro's terrible sense of direction!
Taro's fighting spirit, which he had finally managed to muster, instantly dissipated, leaving him feeling frustrated.
"Taro? Why are you here?"
Zoro stood up, still carrying the stone. Seeing Taro, he was very shocked, forgetting that he hadn't intended to come to the seaside.
Then, he noticed the tense atmosphere between Taro and Hawkeye, and his eyes immediately became heated.
"Are you two going to duel?"
Taro's lips curled into a slight smile, and he was about to exchange greetings with Zoro,
Hawkeye, however, flashed forward, suddenly appearing in front of Taro, bringing his black blade yoru down upon his head.
His tone was extremely cold,
"Taro, distraction is the greatest insult during a duel between swordsmen!"
Taro hastily blocked with his sword. Hawkeye's powerful and heavy Slash forced him back half a step.
From Hawkeye's tone, he could tell that this World's Strongest Swordsman was truly angry.
The dignity of a swordsman must not be defiled!
Taro had never truly considered himself a swordsman, so he lacked a clear understanding of this principle.
Now, feeling the pressure of Hawkeye's sharp Sword Intent, he was secretly startled.
It must be this persistence and devotion to the Dao of the Sword that led Hawkeye to agree to teach Zoro swordsmanship!
"My apologies, I was distracted!"
Taro apologized regretfully, then his expression became much more serious. "Next, I will be serious!"
thunderstorm and black blade yoru clashed, and fine currents of electricity immediately surged forth. The ultimate Armament Haki collided, sizzling loudly!
"Very well, Taro, I will show you just how vast the gap is between true swordsmen!"
Hawkeye spoke, and Armament Haki surged out from his wrist again. After the black vortex coated the blade, black blade yoru shone with a deep black luster.
Taro's pressure suddenly increased. He had no choice but to grip the thunderstorm hilt with both hands.
His full Internal Energy was frantically mobilized, with more Internal Energy converting into Armament Haki to resist Hawkeye's pressure.
"Sizzle, crackle"
Suddenly, between Hawkeye's pure, ink-black Armament Haki and Taro's bluish-black Armament Haki, a streak of red lightning erupted.
The thick clouds covering the entire sky above Kuraigana Island were split in two by the clash of their peak Armament Haki!
"Boom!"
With a loud blast, the red lightning erupted again. This time it was much more noticeable than before, and Taro finally perceived the anomaly.
At the same time, Hawkeye's power suddenly multiplied several times. Fierce winds howled, and energy raged violently.
The air in the area where the two were fighting seemed to be instantly sucked out, and unparalleled force instantly crushed down upon Taro.
"Clang"
As if struck by a meteor, the ground instantly sank several meters, creating a massive sand pit.
[Conqueror's Haki Coating, successful learning!]
Taro was stunned by the System notification. Holy crap!
Conqueror's Haki can also be coated? Was that the red lightning?
However, this was not the time to ponder this. Under Hawkeye's heavy strike, Taro was gradually unable to bear it.
"Conqueror's Haki Coating!"
Silently reciting the phrase, the pure Internal Energy within Taro's organs surged out, condensing in his arms, and a blue-red vortex erupted violently.
"Sizzle, rumble!"
Red lightning and blue-red lightning exploded from between the two swords, shooting straight into the sky.
"Crackle! Boom~"
The sky roared, and the thick clouds covering the entire area instantly dispersed. A clear sky appeared in everyone's view for the first time.
"Patter patter~"
The split clouds slowly gathered, and heavy rain followed, pouring down from the sky.
Hawkeye's gaze deepened. The strength in his hand dissipated, and he retreated from the battlefield with two consecutive back jumps.
He stabbed black blade yoru into the ground, leaning on the hilt with both hands, looking at Taro with an unreadable expression. After a long silence, he finally uttered a sentence,
"Taro, you are no ordinary 'Baboon'!"
Hawkeye suddenly withdrew his power, catching Taro off guard, who was gripping the hilt with both hands and fully mobilizing his strength.
Since the power had nowhere to be released, Taro could only swing outwards with the momentum.
"Clang~"
The massive Slash, swung with full force, diagonally sliced across the sky, splitting the thick clouds once more.
"Rumble, rumble~"
A more terrifying clap of thunder sounded, and the rain became even heavier.
Taro released the power by executing this horizontal sweep, and he took a deep breath.
Yet, he was deeply shocked, realizing that Hawkeye, the World's Strongest Swordsman, truly deserved his reputation.
The matter of Conqueror's Haki Coating had already entered Taro's blind spot of knowledge.
He racked his brain but couldn't recall when "Conqueror's Haki Coating" had ever been mentioned in the original work.
Taro stabbed thunderstorm into the ground, gripping the hilt with his right hand and holding his right wrist with his left hand to control the trembling in his arm.
"I have already lost this duel, so please don't mock me!"
Taro stared at Hawkeye, his eyes flickering, and finally sighed.
Yes, in the contest of swordsmanship power, Taro had lost!
His arms were still uncontrollably twitching.
Hawkeye's gaze was profound, and he was secretly astonished. He knew very well that before the duel, and even when he brought his blade down, Taro did not know how to use "Conqueror's Haki Coating."
Yet, just a few seconds later, Taro was actually able to counter him using "Conqueror's Haki Coating"!
This learning speed was exactly the same as the "Human Imitators" on the island.
What was even more astonishing was that even when those Baboons learned human Moves, they still used their own inherent animal strength.
But Taro was clearly using some unknown power to sustain himself in doing all this.
"This is not a duel between swordsmen!"
After a long time, Hawkeye gently shook his head, feeling somewhat dispirited.
"I will not fight you again in the future!"
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