The fact that Mihawk was willing to make himself an enemy of the world government for a bunch of kids made Kizaru curious.
"Why does the famous Sword-Genius care so much about the lives of a few brats?"
"I wonder!"
"You've never stood against the world government before, are you really willing to change that for a bunch of kids?!"
"I wonder!"
"Which of the kids are you protecting exactly?!"
"I wonder!"
Seeing as Mihawk refused to answer any of his questions with a genuine answer, both men stared at each other intensely, neither willing to make the first move.
When Mihawk arrived, Kizaru wasn't the only one surprised. Smoker looked at the young swordsman with more than a little fear.
[Why is that man here, protecting them?! What are the connection between them and the man referred to as the most talented swordsman of his generation?!
As far as I know, Mihawk made a name for himself by challenging and collecting the bounties of famous pirate swordsmen in the New World.
In the past he never seemed willing to make an enemy of the navy, always abiding by the laws, but now, because one of these kids, he's willing to make an enemy of not only the Navy but also the World Government by protecting a bunch of kids who've killed the guards of the Celestial Dragons, A Navy Commodore and most importantly a Celestial Dragon himself. If Mihawk prevents Vice-Admiral Kizaru from carrying out justice, then Mihawk will officially become an enemy of the world.
Who is it… Which one of these kids could be so important?
Wait, Orion… To have come so far in the way of the sword at such a young age… You need more than just talent, you need a good teacher… Could it be?]
Just as Smoker believed he'd potentially figured out the reason behind Mihawk's behaviour Kizaru took action. He clapped his palms together before spreading them slowly. As they spread, a golden sword made of light was created.
"Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven!"
Mihawk looked at Kizaru indifferently as if he was waiting for him to prepare himself. When he saw the sword in his hands and the change in Kizaru's aura, Mihawk nodded as he said lightly.
"You're at the Swordsman boundary… Not bad!"
Kizaru took a step towards Mihawk as if he wanted to chop the young swordsman in two.
"I'll take that as a compliment coming from such a young Sword-Grandmaster…"
Mihawk saw Kizaru's sword coming but didn't move until the last second, where he took the gentlest of steps barely evading Kizaru's attack.
He then replied by slashing his sword diagonally down aiming for Kizaru's neck. Seeing his movement Kizaru raised his sword blocking the attack.
"How troublesome, I was expecting an easy time on the island!"
"I'm sorry to disappoint, Vice-Admiral Kizaru."
The two men clashed over a thousand times within a minute alone. The speed of their battle was so fast not one person watching was able to actually see who was winning.
After a while they finally separated and although not suffering any significant damage Kizaru seemed to be on the losing side as a few cuts could be seen on his clothing, whereas Mihawk still looked perfectly fresh.
Kizaru let out a sigh as he looked at Mihawk.
"Fighting you is too difficult, I'm already losing and you're still holding back!"
"That's because you're still only using your sword to fight. Even though you're not bad with a sword, I can tell that's not your true forte."
As he heard that, Kizaru looked at Mihawk's eyes before replying.
"To be capable of seeing so much… Those eyes really live up to the reputation of your families technique!"
When he heard Kizaru mention his family, he involuntarily tensed up. That involuntary reaction didn't go unnoticed by Kizaru.
"Looks like you still haven't gotten over what happened ba…"
Before he could finish his sentence Mihawk sent a green sword wave flying at Kizaru.
When looking at Mihawk, at first glance he still seemed like his usual indifferent self but Kizaru could feel a burning rage being forcefully suppressed under the surface.
Kizaru let out a helpless sigh as he said.
"You're pretty scary when you're angry!"
Mihawk didn't reply. Instead he darted forth appearing directly in front of Kizaru almost as if he teleported slashing out multiple times in an instant.
Kizaru could only block one attack before being forced to dodge but Mihawk wouldn't give him the time to catch his breath, staying on him like a rash.
Kizaru increased the speed he was moving and eventually managed to find the chance to counter.
He stabbed his sword aiming at Mihawk's heart. Mihawk replied by stabbing his sword at Kizaru's but just as the two swords were about to collide, the impact that Kizaru was expecting never arrived.
At the last possible moment, Mihawk pulled his sword back and as he did Kizaru's sword followed. It was like the swords were dance partners and Mihawk's was the male, leading his partner along.
Mihawk spun his body as he directed Kizaru's attack away from his body. After leading Kizaru's sword away from his body, he used the power he generated from parrying the Vice-Admiral's sword to carry on with his spinning motion ending up behind Kizaru. Before Kizaru realised what happened, Mihawk slashed his sword aiming to bisect Kizaru from the waist up.
Feeling something was wrong Kizaru decided to transform into a ray of light to try and escape his current predicament.
Even though he evaded the attack coming at him from behind, he still ended up with a deep wound on his back!
Feeling the pain on his back, Kizaru glared at Mihawk. He got rid of the sword of light he created and flew into the sky, crossed his arms in front of his chest and fired off a torrent of small beams of light.
"Comma Jewel of 8 Shaku!"
Mihawk easily dodged the small beams of light with minimal movement and effort but Kizaru turned himself into a ray of light and fired into Mihawk.
Next thing Mihawk saw was Kizaru's body directly in front of him with his foot kicking towards his side, nearing his body rapidly.
Knowing he couldn't dodge, Mihawk jumped backwards in an attempt to negate some of the damage and raised his sword and swung it at Kizaru.
Mihawk was sent flying into a ship on the port, but he didn't forget to take a bite out of the Vice-Admiral before being sent flying.
Kizaru had a deep gash running down the front of his chest from where Mihawk's sword cut him. He looked towards the ship he sent Mihawk crashing into, as he said with a sigh.
"What a troublesome man!"
Mihawk walked out the now damaged ship calmly.
His breathing was a bit ragged and he had blood trickling from his mouth but the light in his eyes hadn't diminished even slightly.
Suddenly he looked towards the South with a frown. Seeing his reaction Kizaru was a little confused but then he felt a powerful aura rapidly approaching.
Eventually everyone could see the figure Mihawk and Kizaru had sensed from afar.
It was a tower of a man. He stood at a height of 7" 5, with a full head of white hair that matched his long white beard and a golden tiara that sat on his head. He had tanned skin, big brown eyes and a cross shaped scar on his cheek.
He had on a pair of golden brown shoulder armour that was barely visible underneath the Marine jacket hung on his shoulders with the word "Admiral" printed on the jacket.
He was wearing a pair of baggy dark grey trousers that were held up by a silver sash with the picture of a black fist printed on it and tucked into black warrior shin guards but was stood bare footed.
He had a long red staff in his hand that was resting on his shoulder as he looked down at everyone present.
Smoker looked at the new arrival as he thought to himself.
[Admiral Sun Wu… I thought it was a little strange that a Vice-Admiral was dispatched instead of an Admiral when a Celestial Dragon was killed!]
As Kizaru saw the man who came he let out a little chuckle as he said.
"You've finally arrived… Teacher!"