Chapter 593
Moreover, the force of that kick just now was clearly abnormal. If he hadn't concentrated his Armament Haki in his shoulder, Chen Fan's kick would have severely injured his shoulder. The shoulder determines the arm; if the shoulder is injured, it's uncertain whether the arm can still hold a sword, but it will definitely affect one's strength.
Chen Fan smiled and said, "I'm not Devil Fruit User, but it's still a superpower. In this world, it's not just eating Devil Fruit that gives you superpowers."
Chen Fan's words surprised Hawk Eyes slightly, but he knew that the world was full of Hawk Eyes, especially on this vast blue sea, where various races had their own special abilities;
After Chen Fan finished speaking, his body swayed slightly and disappeared from the spot. This was the advanced footwork that Kuro and Chen Fan used at the end of their duel Hawk Eyes Spoon to himself: Here we go again, his eyes scanning the surroundings, sensing the Haki with his Observation Haki.
Now he no longer underestimated the power of footwork. Chen Fan's footwork was completely silent, clearly an advanced technique, perhaps a lost art. Hawk Eyes's eyes could faintly see a trace of Chen Fan's afterimage. The footwork Chen Fan used was many times faster than Kuro's;
"Whoosh...!" A slash appeared out of nowhere in front of Hawk Eyes. Hawk Eyes's expression hardened, and he blocked it with his Black Blade. But soon another slash appeared out of nowhere. Hawk Eyes swung his Black Blade again, deflecting it. Then, five slashes appeared from different places, all attacking him. Hawk Eyes's expression changed. He jumped up from his spot to dodge and launched a slash downwards.
The earth was torn open once more. This attack was merely a gamble, an attempt to force Chen Fan out of his current state. This slash, appearing from who-knows-where, posed a significant threat to him, and he felt himself on the defensive, constantly being pressured by Chen Fan...
Chapter 142 Begins Here
(Chapter 142 begins here)
Hawk Eyes's wide-range attack was indeed effective. Chen Fan hadn't had this footwork technique for very long, so he hadn't practiced it much. Chen Fan took it out during the fight with Hawk Eyes as a way to practice. If he practiced it more deeply, Chen Fan could accurately control the movement speed and distance. Right now, he was just copying it verbatim, and the specific movement distances were fixed. That's the point of footwork; once it's figured out, it loses its power. The true mastery of footwork is achieved when you can move at will.
After Chen Fan appeared, he quickly attacked Hawk Eyes, "Bang! Bang...!..."
The two swords clashed repeatedly. Chen Fan's sword was merely Bone Blade. Although Chen Fan had been enhanced by some spiritual pressure from the Energy Token, it was still just an ordinary weapon and could not compare to Hawk Eyes's Black Blade, one of the Supreme Twelve Great Swords.
However, Chen Fan had covered the blade with a layer of killing intent protection. Chen Fan also sensed that Hawk Eyes's blade also possessed Haki, presumably to injure Devil Fruit User, and also to defend against Chen Fan's attacks.
The killing intent imbued with Chen Fan's blade could be sensed even through the Sword Hawk Eyes. In this world, the blade seemed to possess its own will, though it wouldn't invoke a name or unleash Bankai like Shinigami.
Every time it clashed with Chen Fan's sword, the blade would tremble involuntarily, but it stopped trembling only after he added Haki to the sword.
Hawk Eyes felt that Chen Fan's aura was both Haki and not quite Haki; if he had to give Chen Fan's aura a name, only "killing aura" would fit.
Hawk Eyes is now being relentlessly pursued by Chen Fan.
"Whoosh..." The broadsword slashed horizontally;
"Boom! Boom...!..."
All the trees on the island that Hawk Eyes had slashed were snapped in half and fell to the ground with a loud crash. Chen Fan leaped up and crossed over, tumbling a few times in the air before landing above the Root of the broken trees.
Then, with a light step, he swiftly attacked Hawk Eyes, his blade striking relentlessly at a speed that left Hawk Eyes with almost no chance to retaliate.
This is not in line with Hawk Eyes's character. He has never encountered an opponent who can compare to him before. Even with Shanks, he and Hawk Eyes are friends, and they always hold back when fighting.
The lack of comparable and threatening opponents contributed to his somewhat lazy personality. Even when facing Chen Fan, he only saw him as an ordinary young man. There was nothing he could do; Chen Fan looked only in his early twenties, and no one could imagine that Chen Fan was a monster over one or two hundred years old.
After their recent exchanges, Hawk Eyes noticed that Chen Fan's grip on the knife and his slashes appeared so casual; the knife seemed to dance in Chen Fan hands.
Hawk Eyes's knife, however, resembled a well-organized army in its hand. The two sides represented two extremes of the knife: one was free and versatile, while the other was strictly disciplined, much like the free mode and system mode in a virtual online game novel.
No one can say for sure which is better. "Let's fight!" Hawk Eyes, who had been constantly being pressured by Chen Fan, smiled slightly. How long had it been since he'd had such a satisfying battle?
It had been too long. He hadn't had such a satisfying battle since becoming the so-called World's Strongest Swordsman, because very few of the world's top fighters used swords.
Chen Fan saw the smile on Hawk Eyes's lips and was slightly taken aback. Uh... really? Could this be the legendary "halo"—the protagonist being constantly suppressed and then unleashing their inner power to successfully defeat their powerful enemy? Thinking about it carefully, the current situation really did seem somewhat similar.
But what's the protagonist's halo? Even Ichigo Kurosaki from Shinigami can't use his cheat codes in front of me. When will Oda give you a Hawk Eyes arc so you can use your cheat codes again? Chen Fan thought to himself, a slight smile playing on his lips.
Seeing Chen Fan smile again, Hawk Eyes became cautious. Chen Fan seemed a bit too wicked, but when this guy was up to no good, you couldn't detect it with your eyes. And as Chen Fan said, while Observation Haki could sense something, whether you could react was another matter entirely. Just look at Chen Fan's face.