Swordsmen and Flying Slashes

Xi Yan paid no attention to what the others thought and instead pondered a few questions on his own.

Using this method to gradually wipe out the enemy's living forces? Xi Yan thought to himself.

Sanji probably knew that the people left behind would be dealt with by those following behind them. It really was a good plan.

But there was one prerequisite: there could be no one among the enemy stronger than Sanji. Yet from what Zoro said, that did not seem to be the case.

At that thought, a trace of concern appeared in Xi Yan's eyes.

"Tell me about your deployment this time," Xi Yan said. "Also, what are Judicial Island's forces like?"

Whether by luck or something else, this man in a suit happened to know quite a lot.

"Other than a large number of Taxi Soldiers..."

"You don't need to tell me about the Taxi Soldiers on the train," Xi Yan interrupted.

"..."

"This escort mission is mainly handled by five members of CP9, while Judicial Island has a permanent force of around ten thousand."

"Is that so..."

Xi Yan did not know how strong CP9 was, but since even Zoro called them formidable, they were probably not opponents Sanji could handle.

At the very least, Sanji could not take on five of them at once. Hopefully, that guy would not recklessly charge in.

As for Judicial Island's so-called ten thousand troops, Xi Yan did not take them seriously. Without powerful people stationed there, no number of ordinary Taxi Soldiers would matter.

After thinking for a moment, Xi Yan asked, "Are there any other members of CP9 on Judicial Island?"

"I don't know," the man in a suit said. "But CP9's duty is to guard Judicial Island, so I think there should be some others."

As for how many there were and who they were, he had no idea.

Xi Yan considered it. Since the CP9 members involved this time had left Water Seven, there had to be others remaining on Judicial Island.

Otherwise, if they came under attack, there would be no time to send reinforcements.

As for whether anyone would dare attack Judicial Island?

Tsk, it was not as if no one would. Were they not planning to take on Judicial Island this time?

As he thought, Xi Yan released his control over the man in a suit.

Now that he had gotten the answers he wanted, the man was useless.

When the man in a suit finally came back to his senses and realized what he had just done, his face instantly changed.

"I..."

What had he just done?!!

He had actually told the enemy so much crucial intelligence?

It was over. He was completely finished.

Even if he somehow survived this time, he would probably be purged afterward.

As an old hand, he knew all too well how those above handled things.

"Before these eyes, no secret can remain hidden," Xi Yan said calmly.

After saying that, he ignored the devastated man, walked past everyone, and entered another carriage. "Luffy, we've figured everything out. We can leave now."

"Sanji isn't here..."

"Hmm, he isn't."

Through the window in the back door, Xi Yan looked out at the distant sea. "Sanji is still on the train ahead. Whether we can catch him before they enter Judicial Island is still a question."

If Sanji charged into Judicial Island alone, he would have to face a large number of experts and ten thousand Marine soldiers.

At that thought, a trace of worry appeared in Xi Yan's eyes.

"Then let's go. We need to catch up with him quickly," Luffy said.

He trusted that Sanji could survive, but being able to catch up sooner and help his companion would naturally be better.

After reaching the roof, Xi Yan looked at the approaching train cars and said, "We need to deal with those cars, or Rocket Man will have problems."

Crashing straight into the detached cars would not end well either.

"Leave it to Zoro." Luffy grinned.

It was as though those were not two train cars, but two pieces of cake.

"Oh, all right."

Xi Yan had been about to draw swords, but upon hearing that, he lowered his hand and calmly watched the approaching cars. "Then leave it to Zoro."

He was rather curious about Zoro's slashes as well.

Soon, at Luffy's call, Zoro stood at the front of Rocket Man and calmly watched the approaching cars.

The moment they drew close, Zoro moved.

"Two-Sword Style—Iai: Rashomon!"

A Flying Slash shot out at high speed, instantly cutting the two train cars in half!!

This scene left the people still awake inside the cars utterly dumbfounded.

"Th-the cars were cut apart!!"

What miserable lives were they living? They had only just escaped one demon, and now someone had cut their train cars apart.

"Too strong!!"

Zanbai and the others stared at this scene in shock. Was this the true strength of the Pirate Hunter?!

"But someone this powerful isn't even the captain..." Zanbai swallowed and said.

No, that was not right. This was even better!

That meant their chances of rescuing their big brother were even greater!

At that thought, Zanbai became so excited that he started trembling.

"So this is a swordsman's slash."

Back aboard Rocket Man, Xi Yan curiously looked at the two swords in Zoro's hands.

His Sharinggan had caught Zoro's Flying Slash just now. It was somewhat similar to the Wind Release he unleashed with the Kusanagi Sword.

But if he had to put it precisely, there were still major differences.

Zoro's slash had no attribute and was extremely pure, while Xi Yan's did.

Zoro calmly sheathed his two swords without even looking at the train cars flying off to either side, as if he had merely done something insignificant.

Then he looked at Xi Yan. "You have a sword too..."

"I'm not a pure swordsman." Xi Yan shook his head. "Don't forget, I'm a Ninja."

To him, whether it was a saber or a sword, it was merely a tool for killing. There was not much difference.

If there was anything special, it was that the Kusanagi Sword in his hand could channel Chakra.

"True." Zoro nodded in understanding.

After all, Xi Yan was different from him. He was not a pure swordsman, so it was only natural that he did not know much about swordsmen.

"This is a swordsman's slash," Zoro explained. "After reaching the Iron-Cutting Realm, taking another step forward lets you unleash Flying Slashes."

"Once you reach that point, you can basically be called a swordsman."

Beyond that were Great Swordsmen. For example, Hawkeye Mihawk, whom Zoro had encountered before, was the genuine World's Greatest Swordsman.

One day, he would surpass him!

"Flying Slashes..." Xi Yan stroked his chin and nodded. "I understand."

Then in a sense, could he also be considered a swordsman?

The Wind Blades he cut out could slice through steel without any problem.

"Strange, why is there the corpse of such a massive Sea King here?" Barry asked in confusion.

Rocket Man was moving quickly, and it soon left the train cars that had just been cut apart far behind.

But ahead of them appeared the corpse of a Sea King that had been cut in half!

"Looks like there's another expert ahead." Xi Yan glanced at the Sea King's corpse and said, "At the very least, it would take a swordsman to do this."

"Leave it to me." Zoro nodded.

Naturally, a swordsman had to deal with another swordsman.