Gion's Awakening!

"So what if I'm a swordsman? I'll be a swordsman someday, and the world's Great Swordsman!!"

Faced with Jiaerluka's relentless advance, Gion no longer flinched or retreated; the cry in her heart hardened her gaze.

"Shave!"

"One Sword Style - Yatsuhashi Mochi!"

In an instant, she traversed a distance of about ten meters, her long sword transforming into a rainbow-like, bridge-like arc of light, swiftly striking Jiaerluka's throat from the left.

Gion's slash was so fast that the three prisoners could barely see the blade, but the next moment, with a loud clang, they saw it.

The blade, which was unusually straight in both length and width, blocked the flash of light. Gion was not disappointed at all; how could a dignified swordsman let himself achieve victory with a single strike?

Gion flipped her long sword upwards, parrying the direct clash of swords, and with a delicate shout, continued to unleash a bridge-shaped sword light, this time attacking the upper right.

"Is this your full power? What beautiful swordsmanship."

Jiaerluka's eyes remained unchanged as he smiled and dodged to the side, casually deflecting the flash of light with his straight sword. He then retaliated, but this time his attack was not aimed at Gion herself, but rather at the blade on the hilt.

As a master swordsman, he knew very well the importance of his sword to Swordsman. Since he didn't want to hurt the beauty, he would just destroy the longsword.

This forced Gion was about to unleash her third strike, to retract her sword and parry.

[Clang--]

The straight sword struck the blade, creating several bright sparks. At the same time, a tremendous force spread across it, knocking Gion back heavily. When she felt the blade in her hand tremble violently, she looked down and saw fine cracks appearing on the sword, which made her look panicked.

[Whoosh!]

But Jiaerluka didn't give her a chance to catch her breath. In his haste, he once again swung his sword at the longsword.

"He's going to destroy my knife!"

With such blatant behavior, how could Gion not see Jiaerluka's intentions? This made her dare not use her blade to parry anymore, and she used her 'Kami-e' technique to dodge the stabs with all her might.

[Swish! Swish! Swish!]

But Jiaerluka refused to give up, his straight sword transforming into afterimages, like a swarm of bees, relentlessly biting into the 'wounded' longsword.

[Clang!]

While Kami-e is exquisite, it has its limits. Furthermore, Gion's skill in Kami-e was not yet at a certain level, and ultimately, the longsword in her hand was struck again, making the cracks on the blade even more severe.

The girl could tell that if the knife was used again, it wouldn't work!

But for some reason, even though she was in a desperate situation where she was about to be killed, and even though Jiaerluka's face was becoming more and more unrestrained and arrogant, her heart inexplicably calmed down.

This tranquility is not the usual kind of tranquility, but a serene calmness where the mind is completely undisturbed, like the peace and quiet you feel when you close your eyes and enjoy a hot spring, where you can faintly feel the ripples of the water.

"Um?"

As Gion's heart and eyes calmed down, Jiaerluka immediately noticed the change; his sword could no longer keep up with her blade.

Even though his sword was still swift and the knife was still slow, each time they were about to strike, the knife would slightly turn at a strange angle to avoid the attack.

"One Sword Style - Yatsuhashi Mochi!"

The sudden appearance and attack of the bridge-shaped blade light filled Jiaerluka with surprise. This little beauty actually dared to fight back, but this was exactly what he wanted. He quickly sheathed his sword to meet the blade light.

With his keen eye for swords, a master swordsman, he could clearly see that the sword would shatter in a single clash.

But then something strange happened: the blade of light retracted the moment it touched the straight sword, and then transformed into another blade of light to attack from another angle.

[Swish!]

What happened next was somewhat unbelievable. Gion was able to fight Jiaerluka to a standstill, but amidst the flashing swords, there was no metallic clang except for the continuous whistling of air being cut.

This left the three nearby prisoners speechless.

"That's... Observation Haki!"

In the distance, a naval Rear Admiral hid behind a hill, watching Gion's actions with surprise and suspicion. The Kami-e and the actual effects of Observation Haki were somewhat similar, and ordinary people might not be able to tell the difference.

"To have Awakening Observation Haki at such a young age, she truly deserves to be called a genius."

He had originally prepared to step in and help, but now it seems that he can wait a little longer.

This scene, witnessed from the perspective of each Den Den Mushi, was clearly seen by the naval leaders in their respective conference rooms.

Faced with the praise from Fleet Admiral Kong, Sengoku, and the Vice Admirals, Tsuru was somewhat surprised. "When Gion asked me about Haki before, I only explained Observation Haki and demonstrated it to her three times. I didn't expect her to Awakening it so quickly."

"It must be the pressure of facing a powerful enemy and being in a difficult situation that forced her to unleash her potential. This situation is actually quite common. In addition, you also gave her some understanding of Observation Haki," Sengoku said softly.

Cognition has a huge impact on a person's growth. Just like the warriors of Amazon Lily Wano Country, who frequently deal with Haki, they can easily master the power of Haki.

Even people from Four Blues as strong as Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji, because they don't even know what Haki is, it's difficult for them to master Haki, even if their basic strength is no less than, or even greater than, that of the female warriors from Kuja.

Unless you are truly gifted, like Ace or Rogers who automatically Awakening in battle—though such things likely involve a large element of luck.

"Even if Awakening Observation Haki, Gion could never be a match for a swordsman." Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned, staring intently at the image of Gion.

"Observation Haki consumes mental energy; prolonged use can lead to mental fatigue and lethargy, and one must remain calm at all times."

"What is Zephyr doing? Why is he putting such a strong pirate on the island?"

Ultimately, He is also a woman, and seeing her 'sister' who she spends every day with in danger, she is inevitably moved to some extent.

"It's probably to increase the pressure on the trainees. Don't worry, he must have made ample preparations, and look, the results are showing now," Sengoku comforted him from the side.

He was certain that there were naval officers watching from outside the frame.

That being said, as time went by, the seemingly intense Swordsman battle was actually a nerve-wracking experience for Gion. If it weren't for the Awakening of her Observation Haki, she would have been defeated long ago.

It's not surprising that she discovered she Awakening Observation Haki so quickly. After all, the effect of Observation Haki is that it allows the user to clearly sense the aura of a target and predict their location.

In addition, she already had some understanding of Observation Haki, so of course she was aware of her own situation.

"Calm down. Calm down, I must calm down!"

However, Gion still couldn't help feeling sleepy, which was clearly a sign that she was starting to feel mentally exhausted.

"Finally couldn't hold on any longer, huh? That really took a lot of my effort." Jiaerluka sneered, slightly out of breath, the sweat on his forehead making him look quite exhausted.

Swordsmen generally have low stamina, and such frequent and prolonged sword swings have already depleted a lot of his stamina.

Oh right, not counting the future Nonoroya Zoro. He's a monster whose stamina rivals that of a master martial artist; even Zoan users might not be able to outlast him. Phew--

At this moment, Gion, who was dodging at high speed, suddenly exhaled a heavy breath. Her breathing became disordered. Jiaerluka's eyes lit up with joy, and his straight sword struck the long sword in her hand with Inazuma speed.

[Clang! Duang--]

The standard-issue longsword shattered instantly, leaving Gion with a look of despair.

"It's over."

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