Zoro's Conviction

Ronan and Luffy, watching from the second floor, both turned incomparably solemn.

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

"Watch, Luffy."

Ronan said in a low voice, his gaze never leaving the battlefield for even an instant.

"This is a hurdle Zoro has to overcome. After today, he will be reborn."

Johnny and Joseph, standing nearby, said, "No one can beat our big brother! He's the strongest!"

However, reality was cruel.

Before the murderous aura emanating from Zoro, powerful enough to cut through gold and jade, Hawk Eyes did not draw the enormous Black Blade from his back.

He merely reached up nonchalantly and removed a pendant from around his neck—a palm-sized little dagger in the shape of a cross.

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

Hawk Eyes toyed with the tiny knife, which was not even as large as a fruit knife, and said flatly,

"I'm not like foolish beasts that go all out just to hunt rabbits."

"Though you're a somewhat famous swordsman in the East Blue, this is still the weakest of the four seas—the East Blue."

A deep loneliness seeped through Hawk Eyes's voice.

"Unfortunately, I didn't bring a smaller knife than this."

Humiliation. Naked humiliation.

Zoro felt all the blood in his body rush to the top of his head, his reason completely burned away by rage in that instant.

"Don't look down on people... too much!!"

Zoro roared, his aura erupting to its peak like an enraged Ghost God.

"Don't regret it... when you're dead!!!"

"Three Sword Style: Demon Slash—!!"

Zoro stomped hard, cracking the deck beneath his feet.

He transformed into a whirlwind, arms crossed and a sharp blade clenched in his mouth, charging furiously at Hawk Eyes with his greatest strength and fastest speed!

This strike was enough to cleave steel!

This strike carried all his dignity and dreams!

"A frog at the bottom of a well..."

Hawk Eyes looked at the charging Zoro, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

"Come and see how vast the world is."

"Clang!"

A crisp, almost piercing metal impact sound rang out across the deathly silent harbor.

Time seemed to freeze.

Ronan's pupils suddenly contracted. Though he had long known the outcome, seeing this scene with his own eyes still left him deeply shaken.

Zoro's overwhelmingly powerful Demon Slash had actually stopped.

It had stopped right in front of Hawk Eyes.

And what had blocked those Three Famous Swords, what had stopped that savage strike, was merely the cross-shaped dagger in Hawk Eyes's hand... only a few centimeters long.

Hawk Eyes had not even retreated half a step. His arm was as steady as Mount Tai, the tip of his blade pressing precisely against the central point where Zoro's three swords converged.

"W-What?!"

Zoro remained in his charging stance, his eyes wide as his pupils trembled violently.

No matter how much force he exerted, the swords in his hands felt as though they had struck an immovable divine mountain. He could not push forward even a fraction!

"N-No way..."

"How is this possible..."

Zoro's worldview collapsed in that instant.

"This is... Demon Slash!!"

"This is the move that has... never failed me before!!"

"And it was... it was stopped by a toy knife like this..."

Cold sweat streamed down Zoro's cheeks and dripped onto the deck.

The gap.

Was this the gap Ronan had spoken of... a gap as vast as a natural disaster?

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

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

Johnny's voice quavered as though he were about to cry. He pointed at the despairing sight ahead.

"Big Brother's Demon Slash... was blocked? That's a sure-kill technique that sends enemies flying one hundred percent of the time whenever he uses it! What the hell is going on!!"

At the end of their sight, Zoro maintained his Demon Slash charging stance, every muscle in his body stretched to the limit, the veins at his temples erupted like earthworms.

"I... I can't move..."

Zoro's teeth ground together as cold sweat slid down his cheeks and fell onto the dry deck.

He could not believe it, or rather, he refused to believe it.

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

He had been able to predict Luffy's punches and sense Ronan's iron spear.

But now!

Within his sensory world, the man named Mihawk before him was like a bottomless void.

He could not predict Hawk Eyes's attacks. He had not even seen when that little knife had appeared there.

"How can it... how can it be this far away!!"

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

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

With an unwilling roar, Zoro suddenly pulled back his Dual Swords and retreated rapidly, then pounced again like a crazed tiger!

However, Hawk Eyes merely turned slightly. The little knife in his hand moved like a butterfly flitting among flowers, effortlessly slipping through Zoro's impenetrable web of blades.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

No matter how Zoro attacked, no matter how tricky his angles were, that tiny toy knife was like an insurmountable wall, deflecting every attack.

"He's too strong..."

On the second-floor terrace, Nami covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes full of shock.

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

Even that nightmare-like Arlong might not have been much stronger than Zoro.

But now, the powerful Zoro was being completely suppressed like an infant being toyed with, unable to fight back at all.

Ronan stood beside them with his arms folded, his eyes blazing.

"Do you see it clearly now, Luffy?"

Ronan's voice was low. "This is the pinnacle of technique. There isn't a single unnecessary movement. Every strike targets a weakness."

Ronan was equally shaken.

Though he knew the story well, witnessing such a crushing battle firsthand still made his blood boil.

He could clearly sense that Zoro's aura had become chaotic, while Hawk Eyes's aura... had not even rippled in the slightest.

This is a trial Zoro must experience, Ronan thought. Only by seeing himself clearly in despair can stubborn iron truly be tempered into steel.

"Squelch—!"

At the center of the battlefield, victory and defeat had already been decided.

Zoro's fearless Tiger Hunt, a move that never retreated, was easily seen through by Hawk Eyes.

The cross-shaped dagger pierced precisely into Zoro's right chest.

Blood instantly stained Zoro's white shirt red.

But he did not retreat.

Hawk Eyes looked at the young man before him, whose whole body trembled yet who still maintained an attacking stance. At last, a flicker of emotion crossed those golden hawk-like eyes.

"Do you want your heart pierced directly?" Hawk Eyes's voice remained calm, but now carried a trace of questioning. "Why don't you retreat?"

"Retreat?"

A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of Zoro's mouth. He smiled miserably, but his eyes gradually became clear and resolute.

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

"I just feel that if I take even one step back here... all the vows and promises that have mattered to me until now... will disappear!"

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

"Once I retreat... I'll never be able to return to this place again!"

Hawk Eyes looked at the flames in Zoro's eyes. They were the light of a strong one.

"That's right." Hawk Eyes nodded solemnly. "This is what defeat means."

"Heh heh..." Zoro bared a blood-covered grin. "Then I... can't retreat even more!"

"Even if you die?"

"Better to die!"

The sea breeze swept past, lifting the bloodstained hem of Zoro's clothes.

A long-lost respect rose within Hawk Eyes's heart.

In this Weakest Sea, he had actually seen such a powerful heart.

Would he rather die than be defeated?