The Darkened Momousagi?

Before his Devil Fruit Awakening, Luffy's Rubber Fruit had a glaring weakness: it made him highly resistant to physical blows, but left him exceptionally vulnerable to swords.

Although Armament Haki could make up for this weakness later on, Haki itself came in varying degrees of strength.

There was no doubt that Luffy had mastered Armament Haki to a high level. He could even clash head-on with Doflamingo and Katana.

However, his Armament Haki was still nowhere near Momousagi's.

Momousagi had mastered Ryuo-level Armament Haki many years ago. Add to that a Great Swordsman's ability to cut through anything, and Zoro saw Luffy trying to meet her blade with his fists as nothing short of suicide.

That was why Zoro had stepped in at the last moment to block the blow for Luffy.

And the truth was, even though they were both Swordsmen and had coated their blades in Armament Haki to make them Black Blades, the gap between their strength was still like heaven and earth.

His strongest technique had been shattered in an instant in that clash, and he had been left with a terrifying wound across his chest.

"I think I understand now why those two think so highly of you. As a swordsman, you really are an extraordinary man.

"Roronoa Zoro, I, Gion, acknowledge you as an excellent swordsman."

Seeing Zoro block her slash—and, despite knowing he was outmatched, still choose to meet her with his own ultimate technique—Momousagi looked at him differently.

After so many years in the Marines, Momousagi had met all kinds of people. But she could say with certainty that someone like Zoro was bound to grow stronger still.

"There's a trace of Hawkeye in your swordsmanship, and your so-called 'Oni Haki' bears the mark of Wood's Conqueror's Haki. Does that mean you're