Chapter 425: Asura Within the Blade, The Pinnacle of the Sword Path!
"..."
The corner of Hawkeye's mouth twitched; his hand reaching for the black blade Yoru halted abruptly, and he instead removed the dagger from his chest:
"Then what a coincidence."
"I have no blade shorter than this either."
Whoosh—!
The cold wind howled.
The crowd in the stands, which had just been brimming with excitement, suddenly fell silent.
They had finally figured it out.
Every single person currently standing on the Round Table Arena was no good!
Yet in the next instant, the two figures on the Round Table Arena vanished simultaneously.
While everyone was distracted, a powerful shockwave already swept out from the center of the Round Table Arena!
As if intending to overturn everything it touched!
"What's happening?!"
A spectator stood up against the shockwave but was blown until he could not open his eyes, able only to feel his own consciousness nearly fainting at that moment!
That was an instinctive protection when the body could not withstand an overly powerful impact of will.
"Hey, hey, hey, is this for real?!"
"Is this... Conqueror's Haki?"
Knowledgeable spectators had already sensed the Conqueror's Will erupting with a boom!
"Is this... that Hawkeye's?!"
"It must be!"
"The World's Greatest Swordsman; even if only formerly the World's Greatest, isn't it only natural for him to possess Conqueror's Haki?!"
Such a judgment immediately gained the agreement of the surrounding crowd.
However.
What they failed to notice was that whether in the distant contestant seats or sitting right beside them, the Supernovas of the Worst Generation all displayed expressions of immense astonishment!
"That is..."
Hawkins glanced sideways at Drake:
"You must have felt it, right?!"
"That sensation of one's very soul trembling, there's no mistake!"
"It is Conqueror's Haki!"
"And the source of this Conqueror's Haki is not Hawkeye, but Roronoa!"
Drake did not answer, his eyes fixed死死 on Zoro in the center of the Round Table Arena!
Watching as the short blade in the latter's hand clashed tip-to-tip with Hawkeye's short blade, yielding not an inch!
Watching the crimson-black lightning summoned in the void!
For a moment.
Drake's heart could not help but waver.
Not only was Invisible Black, who seemed to have stepped out of a manga, but even the members of the Round Table Knights were top-tier swordsmen possessing Conqueror's Haki, capable of clashing with Hawkeye?!
Just how far had the military strength accumulated by Britannias reached?!
The Marines...
Could they truly face such monsters?!
Countless questions arose in Drake's mind, causing his hands to unconsciously clench tight.
For the first time, he wavered in his belief that the Marines could uphold the will of justice!
While Drake was lost in thought.
Suddenly, a burst of cheers erupted from the stands!
The initial probing exchange between the two sides creating such momentum was already enough to prove their combat power far surpassed that of ordinary people, nearing the peak of the seas!
And this was precisely the battle they had been waiting for all along!
Accompanied by the cheers.
The two figures in the arena, without the slightest pause, engaged each other once more!
The short blades in their hands swung, colliding in the air to produce a series of sparks, while the sound of metal clashing merged into a continuous roar!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Amidst collisions as dense as raindrops, strands of sword intent spilled out.
Tearing through the cloud layer in the sky, they left deep slash marks on the arena floor beneath the two men's feet!
"Remarkable!
"Roronoa, you are truly remarkable!"
"In three years, you have completed the path that took me over thirty years to walk; I acknowledge you!"
Looking at Zoro before him, who was now capable of contending with him, Hawkeye could not help but let out a sigh of admiration!
But within his stiffness lay even more an excitement he could not suppress!
Three years ago, on a whim, he had fought his way from the New World to the East Blue, finding a piece of gold filled with impurities and a piece of jade that was pure enough yet still immature.
Since that time, Hawkeye had been anticipating the growth of the two, looking forward to the scene where they would finally walk before him.
Now, not only has Gao Wen surged ahead, leaving Hawkeye far behind, but Zoro has also gradually realized his potential, gaining combat power sufficient to contend with him!
The seeds sown three years ago have finally borne fruit at this moment!
As for the flavors within, let us speak only after tasting them!
"You are qualified to become my opponent!"
"Now let me see whether you will first cross over this great mountain of mine, or whether I will step upon your body to greet that monster standing at the peak!"
Accompanied by a roar, Hawkeye exerted sudden force with the short blade in his hand to push Zoro away, then drew the black blade Yoru from behind his back and slashed fiercely at Zoro!
After the initial probing, the fighting spirit burning fiercely within Hawkeye's heart left him no mind to continue such a boring game.
He only wished to exert his utmost strength to crush the opponent before him!
Yes!
An opponent!
Now that Zoro had stepped into the Admiral-level realm, Hawkeye regarded him as an opponent worthy of competing against him!
"An impatient fellow!"
The corners of Zoro's mouth split into a ferocious grin; his fighting spirit likewise soared, while the Murasama clasped at his waist had long since emitted a deafening hum from excitement!
Shattering the final obstacle standing between him and that man...
... would happen today!
Zing!
Three blades unsheathed, with Murasama leading the charge, boldly meeting Hawkeye's attacking black blade Yoru!
Clang!
A visible sound wave burst open in the air.
Beneath their feet, the sturdy floor crafted from special materials, capable of withstanding attacks from Warlord-level powerhouses, shattered in response!
Spiderweb-like cracks spread outward for dozens of meters!
Following this came an even more violent impact that overturned everything around them!
Countless spectators who failed to dodge in time fainted on the spot, unable to withstand the Haki of the two.
Yet what truly filled them with horror was that a monstrous rookie under Gao Wen's command, unknown and without any record of fighting powerful experts, had qualified to grapple with Hawkeye right from his debut!
The plump noble who had just bought outside bets on Zoro jumped up excitedly, gripping the railing with both hands and staring wide-eyed at the clash in the Colosseum arena, yet he could barely catch the afterimages of their movements with his naked eyes.
The only thing he could feel was the shockwave transmitting through the air again and again, beating in unison with his own heart...
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
"Roronoa... can you really do it?!"
What he did not say was this.
Three years ago, at the first World Martial Arts Tournament held at Raven Port, he had also been present.
It was also at that time.
That he had been attracted by Zoro, who toyed with everyone using a short blade like a plaything, crushing them all, and had been waiting ever since for this monstrous rookie to reappear.
Now, three years later, it was predictable that Zoro's combat power would have improved significantly.
But even the most beautiful fantasy had never conjured a scene like the one before his eyes!
"Three years... rising from an unknown nobody in the East Blue to someone capable of clashing with the former World's Strongest Swordsman?"
"Just what kind of monster are you?!"
"As expected!"
"My judgment will never be wrong; Roronoa is destined to become the future World's Strongest Swordsman!"
While speaking, the plump noble looked provocatively at the slender noble beside him; seeing the latter's dazed expression, he felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
In truth, at this moment, it was not only the slender noble who was dazed.
Almost every existence paying attention to this battle was rendered speechless by Zoro's sudden eruption.
Even those in the contestant stands, who had previously felt Zoro's leaking aura, were dumbfounded!
"This fellow... is very strong!"
End of Chapter
