Luffy's Belief

Ronan and Luffy, watching from the second floor, both became incredibly serious.

"Ronan..." Luffy clenched his fists. "Zoro..."

"Just watch, Luffy," Ronan said in a deep voice, his gaze never leaving the battlefield. "This is a hurdle Zoro has to overcome. After today, he'll be reborn."

Meanwhile, Johnny and Joseph on the side exclaimed, "No one can beat Big Brother! Big Brother is the strongest!"

However, reality was cruel.

Faced with Zoro's killing intent, which could cut through metal and jade, Hawk Eyes did not draw the giant black blade on his back. He casually reached up and took a pendant from his neck – it was a palm-sized, cross-shaped dagger.

Zoro froze, his eyes bloodshot. "You... what do you mean by this?"

Hawk Eyes toyed with the dagger, which wasn't even as big as a fruit knife, and said calmly, "I'm not like a foolish beast that goes all out to hunt rabbits."

"Although you're a well-known swordsman in the East Blue, this is, after all, the weakest of the four seas – the East Blue." Hawk Eyes' tone held a deep loneliness. "I regret that I don't have a smaller knife than this."

Humiliation. Naked humiliation.

Zoro felt all the blood rush to his head, his reason completely consumed by rage at that moment.

"There are limits to looking down on people!!"

Zoro roared, his aura erupting to its peak, like an enraged demon god.

"Don't regret it when you die!!!"

"Three Sword Style: Oni-giri--!!"

Zoro stomped his foot down, cracking the deck. He transformed into a whirlwind, his hands crossed, a blade in his mouth, charging at Hawk Eyes with all his strength and speed!

This strike was enough to sever steel!

This strike carried all his dignity and dreams!

"A frog in a well..."

Hawk Eyes watched the charging Zoro, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. "Come and see how big the world is."

"Clang!"

A crisp, almost piercing metallic impact rang out in the dead-quiet harbor. Time seemed to freeze.

Ronan's pupils constricted sharply. Although he already knew the outcome, seeing it with his own eyes still filled him with shock.

Zoro's "Oni-giri," which carried the force of ten thousand pounds, had stopped. It stopped right in front of Hawk Eyes. And what blocked these three famous blades, what blocked that furious strike, was merely the cross dagger in Hawk Eyes' hand... only a few centimeters long.

Hawk Eyes hadn't even taken a single step back. His arm was as steady as a mountain, using only the tip of the dagger to hold the core point where Zoro's three swords met.

"Wh-what?!"

Zoro remained in his charging stance, his eyes wide open, pupils trembling violently. No matter how hard he pushed, his swords felt like they were hacking into an unmovable divine mountain, unable to advance even an inch further!

"No... impossible..."

"How is this possible..."

Zoro's worldview collapsed at that moment.

"This is... Oni-giri!!"

"This is a move I've... never failed with before!!"

"To think... to be stopped by a toy-like knife..."

Cold sweat trickled down Zoro's face, dripping onto the deck.

The gap.

Was this the gap Ronan spoke of... a gap like a natural disaster?

On the deck, Johnny and Joseph hugged each other, their pupils trembling violently.

"How... how could this happen..."

Johnny's voice was choked with tears as he pointed at the despairing scene ahead:

"Big Brother's 'Oni-giri'… it was actually blocked? That's a sure-kill move that always sends enemies flying the moment it's used! What in the world is going on!!"

At the end of their line of sight, Zoro remained in the charging posture of Oni-giri, his muscles tensed to the limit, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms.

"Can't... can't move..."

Zoro's teeth gnashed, cold sweat trickling down his cheeks and dripping onto the dry deck.

He didn't believe it, or rather, he refused to believe it.

Just a week ago, under Ronan's special training, he had clearly awakened beginner Observation Haki.

He could predict Luffy's punches, he could sense Ronan's iron spear.

But now!

In his sensory world, the man before him, named Mihawk, was like an unfathomably deep void.

He couldn't predict Hawk Eyes' moves, he hadn't even seen when this small knife appeared.

"How is this possible... how can it be so far away!!"

Zoro's inner world churned violently, the sound of his faith collapsing.

"The world... can't possibly be this far away!!"

With a roar of unwillingness, Zoro abruptly pulled back his twin swords, retreating rapidly, then lunged forward again like a mad tiger!

However, Hawk Eyes merely shifted his body slightly, his small knife moving like a butterfly flitting through flowers, easily piercing through Zoro's impenetrable sword net.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

No matter how Zoro attacked, no matter how tricky his angles were, that small toy knife was like an insurmountable wall, deflecting all his attacks.

"Too strong..."

On the second-floor balcony, Nami covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with shock.

In her eyes, Zoro was a companion with monstrous strength.

Even that nightmarish Arlong might not be much stronger than Zoro.

But now, that powerful Zoro was being suppressed as if playing with a baby, completely unable to fight back.

Ronan stood to the side, arms crossed, his gaze sharp.

"Did you see clearly, Luffy?"

Ronan's voice was low, "This is the pinnacle of 'skill'. No wasted movements, every strike targets a weakness."

Ronan was also shocked.

Although he knew the plot, witnessing such a crushing battle with his own eyes still made his blood boil.

He could clearly sense that Zoro's aura was already chaotic, while Hawk Eyes' aura... hadn't even rippled.

"This is a trial Zoro must go through," Ronan thought. "Only by seeing himself in despair can true iron be tempered into steel."

"Puchi—!"

In the center of the battlefield, the outcome was decided.

Zoro's forward-charging, never-retreating "Tiger Hunt" was easily seen through by Hawk Eyes.

The cross dagger accurately pierced Zoro's right chest.

Blood instantly stained Zoro's white shirt red.

But he did not retreat.

Hawk Eyes looked at the trembling young man before him, who still maintained an offensive stance. A flicker of emotion finally appeared in his golden hawk eyes.

"Do you want to be stabbed directly through the heart?" Hawk Eyes' voice was still calm, but with a hint of questioning, "Why don't you retreat?"

"Retreat?"

A trickle of blood escaped Zoro's lips. He gave a tragic smile, but his eyes gradually became clear and firm:

"I don't know... I don't know myself..."

"I just feel that if I take even one step back here... all the important vows and promises up to this point... will disappear!"

Kuina's smiling face, Luffy's trust, Ronan's expectations, and the promise to become the world's greatest.

"If I retreat... I can never return here!"

Hawk Eyes looked at the flame in Zoro's eyes, the light of a strong person.

"That's right," Hawk Eyes nodded solemnly. "This is called defeat."

"Hmph hmph..." Zoro grinned, his mouth full of blood, "Then I... definitely can't retreat!"

"Even if it means death?"

"Dying would be even better!"

The sea breeze blew, lifting the blood-stained hem of Zoro's clothes.

A long-lost respect rose in Hawk Eyes' heart.

In this weakest sea, he had actually seen such a powerful heart.

Would rather die than be defeated?