Ch-33

The Haki training was still going on with slight improvement in the way with small visible improvements in the way the trio were able to sense the place where they were about to get attacked next but as for dodging the said attack, they still needed some time to be able to do that perfectly.

While on their break the trio were busy with their own things. Sanji was experimenting with a new dish in the kitchen, Luffy was busy with fishing, and Zoro was currently just roaming around in the town as he had already caught up with his sleep.

Zoro was in quite a good mood as he had first-hand experienced Usopp's unlocking and was also filled with the drive to unlock this power. Being able to sense everything in his surroundings even with his eyes closed would allow him to become an even greater swordsman which would take him a step closer to his ultimate goal.

"Huh? I was just roaming around the sea shore…how did I end up here?" Zoro said to himself as he realized that he wasn't in the place he thought he would be.

Just when this realization took place, he heard a familiar voice call his name "Hey wait!"

Feeling that the voice was directed towards him Zoro turned around just to see the face of someone who he had been trying to avoid.

"What do you want?" Zoro said in an irritated voice in an attempt to avoid having to talk with her.

"Ah, I'm sorry it's just I forgot to ask your name earlier and also didn't introduce myself. Now that fate reunited me with you again I wanted to do it properly. I'm Tashigi, a sergeant major in marine," Tashigi brought her hand forward while giving her introduction.

Hearing that she was a marine Zoro grew a bit cautious because they had already been informed by Usopp to not raise the suspicion of the marines as the marine captain in this town was quite a powerful dude with devil fruit powers.

"Zoro, a swordsman," Zoro gave a short reply and reached forward to shake her hand.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Zoro, if you need any help in town just say my name and most of the problems would be solved. Tashigi replied with a smile.

"You seem to have quite an influence here then," Zoro attempted to inquire more about her.

"Well, it's not me who does but it's my captain. So, I can ride on his coattails and gain some influence in this town," Tashigi said the truth in an embarrassed manner.

"So, what exactly brought you here? I'm sure it was not just an introduction that you wanted?" Zoro asked.

"Well…the thing is I'll be going away from this place tomorrow and I had this feeling bubbling inside me these past days that I really wanted to exchange swords with you…so can I ask you to help me with this selfish request?" Tashigi asked with determined eyes.

"Alright, follow me," Seeing such lively eyes of her Zoro couldn't make himself say no especially when they looked so similar to Kuina.

A few minutes later the both of them were in an isolated place outside the town and were pointing their Katanas towards each other. Zoro had only taken out one of his swords because he didn't want to make his three-sword fighting style known to her to garner her attention. The sword which he had in his hand currently was Sandai Kitetsu, the cursed blade, which he got from the sword seller in Logue town.

"Ready when you're ready," Zoro said as he looked towards Tashigi with a focused gaze paying attention to each and every move of her. He felt a small movement from her hand which transmitted to her legs as he propelled herself towards him with a burst.

This small movement wouldn't have been caught by Zoro if he didn't have even a basic understanding of observation haki so he couldn't help but feel amazed at seeing his progress in a real battle. Just when he was about to defend Tashigi's attack he heard a pop sound in his mind as everything around him all of a sudden slowed down.

Tashigi's approaching figure suddenly slowed down to such a degree that he could clearly see all the openings in her move. He realized that his movements were slow as well and it was just his mind that was processing things too fast.

With this he was able to easily anticipate Tashigi's next move and in an attempt to utilize this to the fullest he decided to target a point in Tashigi's sword that would off-balance her by utilizing a fault in her stance.

A few moments later Zoro's katana struck Tashigi's katana in such a manner that her body was not able to handle the inertia of the strike and she ended up falling off the ground. Just when the two blades made contact was also the time Zoro was let out of his earlier mental state.

"Wait..once again!" Tashigi asked for a rematch not wanting to admit her defeat and since Zoro had no reason to refuse, he agreed.

Thirteen matches later Tashigi was huffing intensely on the ground as she said "It's too frustrating you know…to get to know that after all this training that I've made myself go through there still someone who could still defeat me in a single strike."

Hearing her desolate words he commented, "You've been so engrossed in proving yourself that you've not paid attention to the obvious,"

"What do you mean?" Tashigi enquired.

"During all the thirteen strikes that I did earlier, I targeted the same weakness in your stance every time but still you didn't notice it much less rectify it," Zoro said.

Hearing Zoro's words Tashigi's mind played all the movements that she did earlier in her mind and clearly saw through the weakness that Zoro was talking about.

Tashigi slowly got up from the ground and took a deep breath, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She shouted out loudly in the air making Zoro look at her as if she was someone crazy.

"THE HELL ARE YOU SHOUTING FOR?!" Zoro shouted back at her which finally made her stop as she said in a bright expression.

"I was just letting out my frustrations…my bad," Tashigi said in an apologetic tone as she continued, "Thank you for sparring with me. I've learnt an important lesson today and I promise to learn from today's experience and get my revenge on you,"

"Revenge? I thought this was a friendly spar?" Zoro asked.

"It was…but since it hurt my pride as a swordsman to be defeated by you so many times in a single strike. I'll be going to defeat you in the future," Tashigi said.

"Prideful, aren't you? It's good. A swordsman should have pride otherwise he won't be able to get over losses quickly, I'll be waiting for you then Tashigi, defeat me if you're capable of it." Zoro said with a grin as he bid her goodbye.

Seeing the fading back of Zoro she clenched her grip on her Katana as Tashigi promised to herself to train even harder than before in order to defeat this man with whom she couldn't even last a single strike.

_____

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