What had happened to Shirakawa was merely a minor incident before the competition. Only the people who had gathered around moments earlier knew about it, and they were just a small fraction of the thousands in the crowd. But everyone who had witnessed what happened was now afraid of Shirakawa, because none of them had noticed how those people had passed out.
There were a few powerful people in the crowd, but their strength was limited to the first half of the Grand Line. Someone like Shirakawa, who could hold his own even in the New World, was naturally on a completely different level.
Shirakawa followed the crowd into the arena. Since today was the final day of the swordsmen's competition, everyone wanted to see who would claim the championship, so the place was exceptionally crowded.
He glanced over the rules. Ten people had made it to the finals, divided into five groups to compete simultaneously. The five winners would advance, and one of them would get a bye. The remaining four would be split into two groups to compete at the same time, and the final three would proceed in the same manner.
Shirakawa took a brief look at the five matchups in the first round and saw that all the relatively weaker opponents had been eliminated. After a short break, the second round began, and a fairly lucky middle-aged man got a bye.
But the one who left the deepest impression on Shirakawa was a young man who used Two-sword style. Neither of the two opponents he faced had managed to last five moves against him.
Two-sword style was harder to master than One-sword style. To bring out its true essence required not only time but also talent. Without the talent for it, no amount of effort or