Chapter 12 - The path of the sword

(A/N Storm Pirates won the poll by a large margin.)

Looking at their smiling faces, I shouted "We will be known as the Storm Pirates"

"Yoshaa!" Shouted Yasopp excitedly.

While Mihawk simply nodded.

"Ok so are you guys ready for the grandline?" I asked, preparing our ship to start heading for reverse mountain.

"Hn." Yassop nodded with a large grin.

Just as I was about to change the course of the ship, Mihawk interrupted me.

"Not yet." He said.

Turning around I stared at him in puzzlement waiting for an explanation.

"I came to the east blue for 2 reasons the first to witness the execution of the pirate king and the second to challenge a certain man that resides in this sea." He stated his eyes full of determination.

"And who might this man be?" I asked.

"The strongest swordsman in the east blue, a samurai from the lands of Wano, his name is Shimotsuki Kuzaburo." He stated.

"Shimotsuki?" Repeated Yasopp as he started thinking about where he had heard such a familiar name.

"Shimotsuki? Isn't that the name of an island?" I asked.

"Ah right! I knew I heard that name somewhere its the name of an island further to the south-east from here." Yasopp said.

"Mn." I nodded, before looking at Mihawk. "Why do you want to challenge him?" I asked.

He simply raised an eyebrow as if surprised I hadn't figured it out yet. "My goal is to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship and to claim the title of Strongest swordsman in the world. It is only natural that I challenge each and every swordsman in these seven seas." He stated.

And it all made perfect sense, to be the strongest in the world he needs to be acknowledged as the strongest in each and every sea.

"Alright then! To Shimotsuki village we go!" I exclaimed before changing the course of the ship to the south-east of Gecko island.

~~~

As we were sailing toward Shimotsuki village, Mihawk started training intensely. He swung his sword day and night without reprieve.

I mean we had to cook our own meals ourselves, as he simply ignored our cries for hunger.

Seeing him train with such resolutions pushed Yasopp and I to stop lazing around and soon enough we were all training on the small boat.

Yasopp started shooting birds at first, but soon got bored so he started shooting a single feather of a flying bird. Instead of injuring and killing the bird he aimed to pluck out a single feather. A much harder challenge that he seemed to achieve once every four shots.

While my crew members dedicated theirselves in their training. I decided to focus on Haki. I had already thought myself basic observation and basic armament while training on the island. I now wanted to improve my observation Haki to future sight level. Something that seemed so far impossible.

The 3 days journey quickly passed without any pirate encounter as most pirate ships were heading for the grand line while ours was headed in the complete opposite direction.

"I can see an island in the distance." Yasopp exclaimed.

Taking my telescope in hand, I took a closer look at the island. The island seemed to consist mainly of rice fields, with hills and rice plantations everywhere. But a single location stood out, a hill that overlooked all the others. On top of that hill a house larger than normal stood tall.

As the ship approached the docks, the large house on top of the hill became clearer on its walls a single insignia was painted in deep red colours. Two cutlasses crossing, a symbol I recognized as the crest of the Shimotsuki clan.

As soon as we docked the ship, the mood on the ship completely changed. Mihawk expression who is always serious changed to a completely different one, a cold expression that looked less like a mans and more like a hawk ready to hunt.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed.

With Mihawk to my right and Yasopp to my left we walked through Shimotsuki village. The villagers cowered at our sight as they saw the pirate flag hanging from our small vessel. But some of them still followed a couple of feet behind us, curious about our reason in coming to such a peaceful village.

We simply walked in a straight line toward the top of the highest hill, where the Shimotsuki dojo stood tall.

After a 15 minutes walk where none of us uttered a single word. We finally reached the top of the hill.

As we stood in front of the closed gates of the dojo.

"Shimotsuki Kozaburo! I Dracule Mihawk challenge you to sword fight!" Mihawk shouted.

After Mihawk statement, the tension was high as more and more villagers started gathering around.

A couple of minutes later, the door of the dojo were slowly opened and out came a man with bamboo sandals.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack*

With each step the pressure and tension increased between the two as Mihawk's hawk eyes examined the feature of the swordsman.

The man wore a bright orange kimono, with lighter orange flowers embroidered on it. A blue belt held his white katana in place. A katana I immediately recognized as Wado Ichimonji one of the 21 great grade swords and the sword Zoro would later wield.

The man had the distinctive feature of the Shimotsuki clan, with his black hair styled in a high ponytail, a relatively square face and black piercing eyes. He looked like an exact copy of Shimotsuki Ryuma without any of the scars.

[Picture of Young Shimotsuki Kozaburo]

As the silence prevailed, no words were uttered between the two swordsman they simply examined each other for a little while. Before as if they had come to a mutual agreement, they silently unsheathed their respective blades and in an instant rushed at each other.