Chapter 92: The Shocked Zoro

Boom!

At this moment, the clouds surged over Kraigana Island!

Shiro, a Rear Admiral, and the world's greatest swordsman, Hawk Eyes Mihawk, stood locked in a fierce confrontation.

The clash between their swords—Destiny and the Black Sword, Yoru—split the clouds in the sky into two, with a terrifying momentum that echoed across the island!

These scenes left Zoro and Princess Perona utterly stunned!

After all, neither Zoro nor Perona had ever witnessed such a high-level duel!

Without any exaggeration, the strength of Shiro and Hawk Eyes was completely beyond their imagination!

This only strengthened Zoro's resolve. Now, he could fully comprehend what Luffy meant.

In the war at Marineford, Luffy's will must have been severely tested.

In front of the true powerhouses of this sea, neither Luffy nor Zoro himself had reached that level yet.

For the bond between their crewmates and for their own dreams, the Straw Hat Pirates must become stronger!

Otherwise, if they were to encounter formidable opponents like Shiro or Hawk Eyes one day, they would have no chance of victory!

"Shiro, you really surprised me!"

In the midst of the fierce battle, Hawk Eyes Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, looked slightly crazed.

He hadn't expected this—Shiro's swordsmanship, Haki, and overall skills were exceptionally powerful!

Such a young talent is probably the only one in the entire sea. Mihawk considered himself fortunate. Today, he could finally have a truly satisfying battle!

"Likewise, Hawk Eyes. With your strength, it's surprising that you chose to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

Shiro responded confidently.

Having honed his swordsmanship in the Navy for ten years, through countless harsh winters and scorching summers, Shiro was confident that he was only a step away from reaching Hawk Eyes' level in swordsmanship alone.

Adding his mastery of Haki and his physical prowess to the mix, even without using the powers of his Devil Fruit, Shiro was strong enough to have a thrilling battle with Hawk Eyes.

After all, his objective today was to recruit Hawk Eyes to assist him in challenging the World Government and establishing a new order, not to fight to the death.

Thus, there was no need to go all out. Shiro didn't even feel compelled to use his Devil Fruit abilities. This was one of his hidden aces, not to be revealed in a friendly duel with Hawk Eyes!

Swish—

After a moment of intense combat, Hawk Eyes stepped back and unleashed the 'World's Strongest Slash'!

The cyan slash roared like a dragon, charging straight toward Shiro!

Though this wasn't Hawk Eyes' ultimate move, he was known for treating every strike like a final blow.

Thus, Shiro didn't dare to be careless. As the slash approached, he gripped his sword with both hands and unleashed an extraordinary slash of his own!

Boom!

The slash from Destiny was no less powerful than Hawk Eyes' attack, and in terms of momentum, it was even superior!

After all, every random slash from Shiro now contained the power of the Kunpeng! And this was without Destiny deliberately exerting its full abilities!

Thus, even though Hawk Eyes' ordinary slash was known as the world's strongest, it was easily blocked by Shiro's counterattack.

The slash still had enough power to continue charging toward Hawk Eyes, who finally split it with a horizontal cut!

This simple clash of slashes left Zoro speechless.

No way, he was in awe.

Were these two people's ordinary slashes really this powerful?

Even though Zoro had confidence in his swordsmanship talent and current skill level, he had to admit that even his most powerful techniques couldn't compare to either of the two slashes just exchanged!

It was terrifying to think that in this vast sea, there existed swordsmen as powerful as these!

"Hey, you idiot with the green algae head! These two people are much stronger than you. How can you call yourself a swordsman with that level of skill?"

Princess Perona noticed that Zoro seemed to be taking a heavy blow and, feeling playful, couldn't resist adding fuel to the fire.

"What does that have to do with you? Believe it or not, I'll cut you down, you annoying woman!"

Zoro, already feeling demoralized, was further agitated by Perona's taunts and felt like his heart was about to shatter. He yelled angrily.

"Oh? You're so amazing, I'm so scared, negative ghost!"

Princess Perona looked at Zoro with a smirk. She loved seeing Zoro looking helpless and frustrated.

Fun, fun, fun!

Immediately, a negative ghost passed through Zoro's chest.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong. I'm a pig. Please forgive me!"

"Hahahaha, this is so much fun!"

Princess Perona flew around happily as she watched Zoro lying on the ground in a negative daze.

Soon, she turned her gaze to Hawk Eyes and Shiro, who were still locked in fierce combat.

She wondered if her negative ghosts would have any effect on these two.

She didn't dare to target Hawk Eyes—those sharp yellow eyes of his could scare her so much that she couldn't move.

However, the negative ghosts might have some effect on Shiro. After all, Shiro looked so young, and his mentality shouldn't have reached the state of extreme self-confidence. With such strength, he couldn't possibly be as negative as that hateful long nose.

There was a chance to try it out.

If her negative ghost could turn Shiro, one of the world's most notorious criminals with a bounty of 3.58 billion Belly, into a passive state, that would be too amusing!

The duel between Shiro and Hawk Eyes continued.

Even though Hawk Eyes was a step ahead of Shiro in swordsmanship alone, Shiro's mastery of the three forms of Haki, along with his various physical skills and powerful observation abilities, made it impossible for Hawk Eyes, the world's greatest swordsman, to gain the upper hand!

What worried Hawk Eyes even more was that the aftermath of their battle was having a tremendous impact on Kraigana Island.

Especially with Shiro—each of his slashes that missed the target carved deep fissures across the island.

As a result, the stability of Kraigana Island was rapidly deteriorating!

However, since the battle had already begun, it was impossible to change the battlefield now. Hawk Eyes had no choice but to continue fighting Shiro.

If the island became uninhabitable, he could always move to another one after the battle!

The battle between Shiro and Hawk Eyes raged on for an entire day and night.

Since Shiro did not use his Devil Fruit abilities, it seemed that Hawk Eyes also held back and did not unleash his ultimate move.

Nevertheless, this battle still left both Hawk Eyes and Shiro deeply satisfied.

As the fight neared its end, both Shiro and Hawk Eyes were exhausted.

The two world-class swordsmen were no longer at full strength!

And naturally, Kraigana Island was now on the verge of collapse…

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+65 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg

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