Can Yue vs. Hawk Eyes

Five minutes earlier, just as the Baratie began to sail away.

The sword energy released by Hawk Eyes and Can Yue clashed intensely.

Startled, many pirates from the Krieg Pirates swam away, including Gin, who was carrying Krieg.

As Gin watched in astonishment, the giant ship wreckage became increasingly fragmented, and the surging sword energy carved scars into the sea's surface.

Hawk Eyes laughed heartily, "It's been too long, too long since I've met an opponent like you."

Amidst the clash of sword energy, Can Yue sensed Hawk Eyes' thoughts and smiled slightly, "Then let's fight to our heart's content."

"Come!"

In an instant, Can Yue's Demon God Slayer and Hawk Eyes' Black Blade - Night collided.

They moved and dodged, each collision sending vibrations through the air.

In Gin's eyes, their speed was so great it was almost impossible to track with the naked eye.

"My god, Captain Krieg actually dared to provoke such a monster."

Watching Can Yue and Hawk Eyes battle, a certain restraint within Gin seemed to begin to break.

"Sword Pressure!"

After the collision, Can Yue leaped up first, swinging the Demon God Slayer downwards.

Unlike his fight with Zoro before, this Sword Pressure carried the unique Demonic Aura and sharpness of the Demon God Slayer.

If he had used this intensity against Zoro in Shells Town, Zoro would have been cut into pieces on the spot.

After all, Sesshomaru used this skill to suppress an enraged Inuyasha to the brink of death.

And an enraged Inuyasha's physical condition was far superior to Zoro's.

The swinging Demon God Slayer, carrying a massive amount of sword energy amplified by Demonic Aura, pressed down on Hawk Eyes.

Facing this move, Hawk Eyes' expression became solemn. He clearly felt the terrifying power contained within this attack.

He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, green sword light flowing along the blade of Black Blade - Night, and then he sidestepped and swung.

A fierce collision occurred again. This time, the impact was so strong that it instantly obliterated the giant ship wreckage beneath them.

After the collision, they resumed their normal attack and parry mode.

Hawk Eyes and Can Yue fought with increasing seriousness.

In Can Yue's perception, Hawk Eyes' current offense and defense had no flaws. A moment's carelessness would lead to a severe injury.

If he hadn't mastered Observation Haki, which allowed him to predict the future, Can Yue would have been injured by now.

From Hawk Eyes' perspective, he hadn't felt such tense and exciting combat in many years.

Besides simple slashes, every attack from Can Yue carried a terrifying Sword Pressure covering an area of about 2 meters.

Each time he blocked Can Yue's attack, Hawk Eyes had to deal with the slashes while also repelling the sharp sword energy contained within the Sword Pressure, as well as a strange power that even Hawk Eyes couldn't quite grasp.

The Demonic Aura inherent in the Demon God Slayer contained intense resentment and killing intent. If one wasn't careful, it could invade the opponent's consciousness, greatly reducing their combat ability.

Similarly, if Can Yue's will wasn't firm, he could also be affected by the Demon God Slayer.

Even with Can Yue's current fusion level with Sesshomaru at 45%, he still couldn't fully unleash the Demon God Slayer's power.

Both of them were fully immersed in combat mode, and soon, five minutes passed.

The giant ship wreckage had been reduced to two broken decks, not too large or small, separated by 50 meters, by the aftershocks of their fierce battle.

Can Yue and Hawk Eyes stood on separate pieces of wood.

Both of their expressions began to turn serious.

The remaining members of the Krieg Pirates had desperately swum towards the periphery of the two combatants' battleground during these five minutes.

Even so, some who were injured or swam slower died from the aftershocks of Can Yue and Hawk Eyes' fight.

Now, the surviving pirates were about 250 meters away from them, yet they still felt a strong sense of insecurity.

"The sea isn't rippling anymore? Are they done fighting?"

A pirate's question caused many other pirates, who were busy fleeing, to stop.

"Look, they're standing opposite each other, not fighting anymore."

"Hoo~" The pirates collectively exhaled and stopped, resting where they were.

Although Gin's strength was much greater than these fodder pirates, he had barely managed to swim to this spot while carrying the bulky Krieg.

He looked at the two figures standing opposite each other in the distance, his eyes filled not only with astonishment but also with a hint of anticipation. "Is everyone on the Grand Line a monster like this?"

At that moment, a scene was reflected in Gin's pupils.

A blue Azure Dragon and a massive green sword energy beam, piercing the sky, collided.

A terrifying explosion immediately erupted, visibly forming a terrifying sphere of light no less than 50 meters in diameter.

Along with the sphere of light, sword energy slashes, each nearly 3 meters long, scattered in all directions.

Many of these rushed towards the Krieg Pirates.

Gin immediately shouted to everyone, "Stop watching, dive!"

In their fear, many pirates began to dodge, but only a few heeded Gin's advice and started to submerge.

Most simply swam away.

Thus, the number of surviving Krieg Pirates decreased again.

The clash between Azure Dragon Break and Hawk Eyes' slashing waves affected everything within a 300-meter radius.

The wreckage of the giant ship completely vanished.

The sea surface was cut into a thousand holes, and even before the ocean could repair its wounds.

A more terrifying explosion occurred.

Centered on the point where the two attacks collided, huge waves were kicked up, surging outwards.

The moment Luffy and the others stopped their ship was the instant the waves were generated.

One minute later, the sea surface returned to calm.

For this ocean, no matter how much damage it endured, it could eventually restore everything.

Of course, some terrifying things were exceptions.

On the Baratie, everyone was still shocked by the battle that had just occurred.

Sanji lit another cigarette. He didn't say much, but thought to himself.

'If I had the power to shake even the sea, could I find the All Blue?'

Luffy, Nami, and Usopp watched the calm sea surface with solemn expressions.

"Where's Can Yue? Where's Hawk Eyes? Why did they disappear?"

The three were extremely anxious.

Nami, in particular, her rapid breathing caused her upper body to heave intensely.

This made it difficult for everyone to control their gaze from drifting to one spot.

Sanji's previously heavy expression turned into that of an LSP, and he unconsciously let out hot, red fluid.

Nami wasn't just worried about Can Yue's safety; more importantly, their next destination was Nami's hometown – that tragic town ruled by Fish-Man Arlong.

'Can Yue, you promised you'd help me defeat Arlong.'

On the calm sea surface, no human figures could indeed be seen.

This was because Can Yue and Hawk Eyes had already moved to beneath a giant rock a thousand meters away from the explosion's center.

Can Yue had naturally flown there, while Hawk Eyes arrived by using Black Blade - Night to slash the air, creating propulsion.

Hawk Eyes placed Black Blade - Night back on his back with one hand, looked at Can Yue, and the corner of his mouth curled up, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"Here, it seems we can't determine a true winner."

Can Yue calmly replied, "Strictly speaking, I lost."

If judged solely on sword skills and power, Hawk Eyes was indeed significantly stronger than the current Can Yue. Throughout the entire duel, Can Yue had been at full power.

The overall practical application of predicting the future with Observation Haki, the Demonic Aura of the Demon God Slayer, and Sword Pressure consumed a great deal. This situation made a prolonged fight impossible.

Hawk Eyes, on the other hand, fought Can Yue while maintaining minimal consumption.

If their battle had taken place on land, as time wore on, Can Yue's strength would have quickly been depleted, leading to his defeat.

Upon hearing Can Yue's admission of defeat, Hawk Eyes slightly shook his head. "If you hadn't just used swordsman's techniques, I would have certainly died on this sea."

Indeed, Hawk Eyes' judgment was not wrong.

Can Yue could have completely destroyed the landing points and then used his absolute advantage of being able to fly over the sea to wear Hawk Eyes down.

After all, for Hawk Eyes to move in the air, he had to repeatedly use sword skills to slash the air.

This kind of cautious fighting style, in Can Yue's eyes, had too many openings.

There were many ways to kill Hawk Eyes.

However, the mindset of the two was now different from before. For both of them, the outcome of today was not important; it was more like a friendly spar.

In a duel between excellent swordsmen, both sides could clearly sense the other's character.

After the battle, Can Yue and Hawk Eyes both acknowledged each other.

The two of them smiled at nearly the same time, though Can Yue's smile was the fleeting kind.

"Can Yue, I'll be waiting for you on land!"

"I'm not Zoro, I don't have any particular need to defeat you."

"Hahaha, then let me put it another way. In the future, I will definitely come find you."

"Hmph, suit yourself."