Chapter 26 Zoro: I Practiced For A Year, But You Did It In One Day?

**Trafalgar Law**: "The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is too hardworking! If he skips just one day of training, he feels guilty right away." 

**Usopp**: "Our Luffy here would love to sleep all day long~~~." 

**Monkey D. Luffy**: "Hey! I don't sleep all day long!" 

**Vinsmoke Sanji**: "That's true, Luffy doesn't sleep all day long." 

**Monkey D. Luffy**: "See? Sanji gets me!" 

**Vinsmoke Sanji**: "Because, besides sleeping all day, Luffy also eats a ton of meat every day!" 

**Nico Robin**: "Ahahaha~~~." 

**Monkey D. Luffy**: "Aaahhh, you two idiots, I'll show you!" 

**Shanks**: "Hahaha!!" 

---

**[The next day, Luffy and Zoro head back to the mountains and forests.]** 

"Luffy, when you're training, I've got nothing to do. I can't just waste time! Teach me swordsmanship!" Luffy said to Zoro. "That way, while you're practicing Haki, I can practice swordsmanship!" 

"Swordsmanship?" 

Zoro looked a bit surprised. 

"Swordsmanship has to be trained from a young age," Zoro said. "Starting now, it'll be hard for you to make progress. Besides, with your strength, you don't really need it." 

Luffy shook his head. "Don't worry about that. I just don't want to waste this whole month. If I'm going to waste time here, I'd rather let you train on your own while I keep moving forward!" 

He still felt bad about wasting a day yesterday—it was unbearable! 

For Luffy, wasting time is like a gamer not being able to touch their console for a whole day. If he had to go through a whole month like this, he'd lose it! 

Even if Zoro was right and swordsmanship didn't suit him, it wouldn't hurt to learn something new. At the very least, it would keep him busy. 

"Alright! I'll teach you swordsmanship!" 

Hearing that Luffy might leave, Zoro quickly gave in. 

"No way I'm letting someone like Luffy, who's helping me with Haki training, just walk away. If I did, I'd regret it every night." 

"But swordsmanship training isn't easy," Zoro warned. "We'll have to start with the basics. It'll be boring and repetitive at first. Are you okay with that?" 

"If you keep wasting time talking, I'll leave right now." 

"Alright, alright! Let's start!" 

Zoro drew his sword and cleanly chopped down a pine tree. Then, he carved a small mark into the cut surface. 

"Your first task is to hit this mark every time you swing without damaging the rest of the tree. Once you can do that perfectly, we'll move on to the next stage." 

Zoro handed a sword to Luffy and walked off to continue his Haki training. 

"Swordsmanship..." 

Luffy held the sword and stared at the mark on the tree. 

He swung! 

The blade landed just beside the mark—close, but not perfect. 

"This is training for precision and control," Luffy realized. 

It reminded him of how he practiced precise strikes with his Rubber Fruit powers as a kid. The only difference now was that he was using a sword instead of his hands. 

---

**Usopp**: "Luffy's learning swordsmanship? That's crazy~~~." 

**Franky**: "With Luffy's wild fighting style, him using a sword would be hilarious!" 

**Monkey D. Luffy**: "Hey, hey, hey! Don't underestimate me. I've used a sword before—it's just a bit inconvenient~." 

(Luffy had briefly used a sword during his fight with the dragon in Cocoyasi Village.) 

During the battle with Moria in the Devil's Triangle, Luffy also used a sword.

So overall, it's not too surprising~~~

Trafalgar Law: "With the Straw Hat captain's talent, if he had trained in swordsmanship from a young age, he'd probably be one of the most famous swordsmen on the seas. But picking it up halfway like this? He's probably just practicing to kill time~~."

Dracule Mihawk: "While swordsmanship usually needs to be trained from childhood, those with extraordinary talent are an exception!"

Shanks: "Exactly! Physical training and swordsmanship have a lot in common. If someone already has great strength and potential, switching to swordsmanship wouldn't be that hard for them."

Gol D. Roger: "Shanks, you seem to have high expectations for Luffy!"

Shanks: "Of course! Captain, haven't you noticed something about him?"

Gol D. Roger: "I noticed it the moment I saw that."

Roger realized Luffy was the one Shanks had spoken about when he saw how the Rubber Fruit had chosen Luffy!

He also believed Shanks' judgment was spot-on.

This Luffy might really be the chosen one!

Kozuki Oden: "Captain Roger, what did you figure out?"

Gol D. Roger: "Haha, Oden, it's not time to talk about that yet."

Shiki: "Damn it, Roger! Stop acting mysterious! What are you and Shanks planning?!"

Gol D. Roger: "Just watching, Shiki~ Watching~~~."

[The next morning, as the first sunlight touched the world, two figures were already deep in the mountains.]

"Zoro, today you'll keep training your Haki, and I'll keep practicing my slashes," Luffy said confidently.

Zoro stretched and dropped a bag of food nearby. "Yeah, we've got lunch packed, so no breaks."

But before Zoro could start his Haki practice, Luffy stopped him.

"Wait! I think I'm ready for a new sword lesson," Luffy declared.

Then, he drew his sword and swung it. With a clean swipe, he chopped down a pine tree, leaving a perfectly smooth surface.

Swish swish swish swish swish!

Luffy continued slashing the tree trunk dozens of times.

When Zoro saw the single clean mark left on the tree, his jaw dropped.

"What the...?! What kind of freak are you?!"

Zoro's face went pale as he stared at the perfect mark. His voice trembled in disbelief.

"This... this isn't possible!"

"Huh? What's not possible?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.

Zoro pointed at the tree. "I started learning swordsmanship when I was five! My master said I had exceptional talent, and it still took me a whole year of training to achieve the level of precision you just showed."

"And you... you managed it in one day?!"

Zoro was in complete shock.

Luffy scratched his head, thinking hard about it. Then he looked at Zoro and said seriously, "Maybe... I'm the exceptional talent your master was talking about?"