Tashigi watched the battle below in utter shock, feeling the gap between herself and these 'monsters' for the first time.
To her, Smoker was already terrifyingly strong even without using his abilities. Since being transferred to Loguetown, she had never seen Smoker in a difficult fight. More often, he would impatiently use his abilities to quickly finish off opponents.
Whether they were pirates with bounties of millions or tens of millions, they were all wiped out in Loguetown under Smoker's watch.
Once he used his Logia type Devil Fruit Ability, the rest was a one-sided crush.
This was also why Tashigi dared to stay and remained convinced that Smoker would emerge victorious. However, it now seemed that Hiroto was a monster far more terrifying than Smoker.
The battle below, which appeared to be evenly matched, was actually Hiroto holding the upper hand. Smoker was relying entirely on his Logia nature, attacking by trading 'wounds' for wounds.
However...
Tashigi breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how strong Hiroto was, he would lose in the end, because there was no way to actually harm Smoker.
As soon as his stamina failed and a lapse occurred, Hiroto would be injured by the unscathed Smoker. Once injured, Hiroto's fate would be sealed.
At that moment, the situation below suddenly changed.
Having adapted to Hiroto's offensive and become familiar with his patterns, Smoker caught a lapse.
Swoosh—
The jitte whistled down, grazing Hiroto's shoulder and smashing the ground.
Even so, the terrifying force sent Hiroto flying, his legs dragging on the ground for over ten meters before the momentum dissipated.
"Looks like you're going to lose to a sandbag."
Smoker gave him no room to breathe, immediately chasing after him.
Hiroto didn't answer. With a thoughtful expression, he performed Nukiashi again and vanished.
He currently had three goals.
First, a high-quality opponent was rare and could help hone his swordsmanship.
Second, to use the pressure from Smoker to try and master Nukiashi and even Shakushi.
Third, and most importantly, to see if he could exploit a bug with Effort King.
If learning and mastering Nukiashi while fighting Smoker could be considered training and thus multiplied by 200 times, it would provide Hiroto with a significant new channel for self-improvement.
Obviously, Smoker didn't know Hiroto was treating him as a sparring partner. He wordlessly pursued, swinging his jitte to press his advantage.
Hiroto's footwork shifted constantly as he dodged and slashed, but Smoker remained indifferent. Without Armament Haki, no amount of attacks would affect him.
The roaring in the courtyard continued, and the nearest Marine soldiers had already arrived as backup.
Around the courtyard, Marines with live ammunition raised their flintlock rifles, their dark muzzles aimed at the battlefield where figures were barely visible amidst the sparks and roars.
It's settled!
Tashigi felt a bit more at ease.
Just then, Hiroto's figure suddenly appeared, raising Shigure to block Smoker's descending jitte.
"If you want to surrender, it's not too late." Smoker pressed down, mockery flashing in his eyes.
If Hiroto had turned and run upon seeing him, he might have found it troublesome, but clashing head-on after realizing the gap made him want to laugh.
The advantage of a Logia type wasn't something you could find a counter to just by thinking about it.
Yet Hiroto ignored him completely, looking as if he had just realized something, a look of sudden enlightenment on his face.
"So that's how it is..."
Before he could finish his sentence—
Bang! Bang! Bang...
At Tashigi's command, a volley of gunfire rang out, a hail of bullets whistling through Smoker's smoke-transformed body and the Hiroto pinned down by Smoker—an afterimage!
"He disappeared?!" Smoker's pupils constricted.
This time, he hadn't seen Hiroto's movement trajectory.
It was as if... he had truly vanished?
Pfft!
A burst of blood suddenly erupted from a Marine soldier's chest, a wound appearing that nearly split him open.
The flintlock rifle in his hand snapped simultaneously, the cut perfectly smooth.
Witnessing this, Tashigi was horrified.
Was this... Kuro's Shakushi?
How could it be?
It was one thing to learn Kuro's technique without any instruction. But to further imitate Kuro's ultimate move in such a short time?
There was no answer.
An invisible attack now blew through the courtyard, as blood splattered from over a dozen Marine soldiers one after another.
Be it shoulders, chests, or waists.
Curiously, though, the wounds were getting shallower, as if they were being intentionally controlled.
At a certain moment, Tashigi felt a sudden chill before her eyes. Then, her glasses snapped at the bridge and fell to the ground.
Her breathing was incredibly ragged.
She was wrong.
It wasn't imitation, but learning, and then, surpassing, in such a short amount of time.
What kind of monstrous talent could achieve such an unbelievable feat?
Tashigi couldn't understand it—a monster that exceeded the boundaries of her perception.
The invisible killing wind continued. Hiroto was immersed in his realization, as if he had already merged with the wind.
The slashes he unleashed became more and more natural, moving according to his will, unlike Kuro's, which were completely uncontrollable.
[Entry: Shakushi (Blue) acquired!]
The message that popped up signified that he had truly mastered this silent killing technique and showed how strong the enhancement from [Son of Wind] was.
"Get out here and fight me head-on!"
Seeing his subordinates suffer casualties, Smoker couldn't help but roar, his smoke body suddenly expanding to fill the entire courtyard.
The smoke was his body. No matter how fast Hiroto was, he would create feedback when passing through it.
"Got you!"
Amidst the surging smoke, Smoker sensed Hiroto's trajectory. No matter how fast he was, it was impossible to ignore inertia and turn at will. The air currents sensed by his smoke body became his 'eyes'.
Not only that, Smoker truly demonstrated the ability of the Logia type Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
The white mist filling the courtyard suddenly condensed, forming thick, python-like vines. In the middle of the coiled white mist vines, Hiroto was actually ensnared.