The strongest all had their own distinctive temperaments. There were people as moody and unpredictable as Big Mom, people as steady and cautious as Sengoku, and people as free-spirited and uninhibited as Garp.
Hawkeye Mihawk, on the other hand, had the textbook personality of a "reclusive master"—naturally aloof and always doing as he pleased.
Simply put:
Those he found agreeable were another matter; those he disliked, he would kill without hesitation.
If Garen had acted timid before Mihawk and openly admitted that he had only forced a draw through some trick, Mihawk would certainly have flown into a rage over the deception and insult.
But Garen's current display of utter fearlessness and ignorance of his own limits happened to suit Mihawk perfectly.
Garen had not only confronted Hawkeye head-on, but had also blatantly twisted the logic:
The reason I can block your slash is not because my ability is too strange, but because your blade is not sharp enough.
If those mildly provocative words had been said to any other powerful fighter, they would probably have enraged them.
Yet Hawkeye Mihawk was deeply moved by them.
Swordsmanship or Devil Fruit Abilities—none of that truly mattered.
As the world's greatest swordsman, would his blade fear strange sword techniques and Devil Fruit Abilities?
There was no invincible swordsmanship in this world, nor was there any invincible Devil Fruit.
Countless swordsmen and Devil Fruit users had fallen beneath his black blade. Nothing in this world could completely stop his slashes.
Yet today, there truly appeared a "strongest shield" that even Hawkeye's black blade could do nothing against.
Mihawk's hard features remained taut, his gaze sharp and piercing like a blade.
After a moment, Mihawk, who had stood in silence like a statue, finally sighed.
"I still cannot cut through it."
"You win."
Garen