Cabaji VS Zoro

Zoro's brow twitched. He quickly crossed his two iron blades in front of his chest, intercepting a strike that was little more than a sneak attack.

Clang!

Cabaji's momentum was halted, and only then did he truly feel the beast-like power radiating from his opponent's blades. His swordsman's intuition told him that this man was far more terrifying than any opponent he had encountered before.

Zoro curled his lip. "You've got some skill, but this isn't nearly enough."

"Is that so?" Cabaji bared his teeth in a cold, sinister grin. His Sakura Blizzard spun wildly in his hand, looking like a circus performance.

"Spinning, Heavy Snowfall!"

A fierce gust of wind swirled around the great blade. Amidst the illusion created by the rapid movement, the blade seemed to flutter down like snowflakes caught in a restless gale.

Cabaji's blade spun against the edges of Zoro's two iron swords like a drill. He was a swordsman who favored acrobatics and trickery, and using sleight of hand was his specialty.

To Zoro's astonishment, Cabaji suddenly retracted the Sakura Blizzard and stared at him coldly. "This is the first time I've seen a swordsman carry three blades, but now that you only have one spare, what else can you do?"

Zoro looked at the two iron blades in his hands; their edges were curled and fine cracks had appeared, threatening to shatter at any moment. He flew into a rage. "You bastard!"

Although Cabaji had obtained a great blade, he did not grow complacent or blindly arrogant. From the start of this fight, he had intended to use the superior sharpness of the great blade to wear down his opponent's combat power. By destroying a swordsman's weapons, he effectively turned his enemy into a beast stripped of its claws and fangs.

Buggy returned to his pirate ship with his lackeys in tow. Standing on the deck, he watched the situation below with growing interest. In a sense, Cabaji was indeed despicable. To an enemy, a despicable person meant someone troublesome, hateful, and difficult to deal with. But from another perspective, such a person was better at discerning an enemy's weaknesses and attacking selectively. In that sense, "despicable" was not necessarily a derogatory term.

Even so, Buggy did not like the look of this fight. He ordered Mohji to wake the rest of the crew and prepare to set sail.

"This isn't a spare blade..." Zoro clamped the Wado Ichimonji between his teeth. "You guy, I'll show you the Three-Sword Style."

Cabaji sneered and lunged forward with a series of stabs and slashes. Although the great blade was sharp, it was half again as heavy as his previous weapon. Wielding it was still strenuous and awkward for him, so he had no intention of dragging this into a war of attrition. He held nothing back with every strike.

Zoro parried and blocked repeatedly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of clashing metal rang out across the battlefield. Cabaji and Zoro exchanged dozens of blows in a matter of moments.

For Zoro, who was accustomed to fighting with three blades, Cabaji's onslaught left him feeling overwhelmed. In a duel between swordsmen, the quality of one's blade often determined victory or death. Because his two iron swords were on the verge of shattering, Zoro—who relied on raw power—dared not pour his full strength into them for fear they would snap under the pressure. In this situation, most of his true strength was being stifled.

Consequently, it looked as though Cabaji was not only suppressing Zoro but that the latter might fall at any moment.

In reality, however, Cabaji was increasingly feeling his own limitations. This great blade was far less intuitive than his previous one, causing his stamina to drain rapidly. Furthermore, he could feel his opponent constantly adapting to the rhythm of the fight. The man was a warrior born for battle—absolutely terrifying!

If this continued, he would definitely lose. If he couldn't finish his opponent head-on, then...

"Acrobatics: Steam Murder Incident." Cabaji feinted a thrust, and as Zoro moved to block, he leaped backward, using the hilt of his sword as a pivot to spin rapidly, kicking up dust from the ground.

The surrounding view was instantly shrouded in a fog of dust. Zoro watched his surroundings cautiously, guarding against a sneak attack, while feeling deeply annoyed. What kind of trick is this guy pulling?

In his eyes, this was certainly not a duel between swordsmen!

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. A sharp sense of crisis surged within him. He looked up abruptly to see a black figure descending straight toward him through the harsh sunlight, the cold, biting chill of a blade trailing behind it.

"Acrobatics: Summer Fireworks, One-Character Blade!"

The voice and the figure descended in unison. Cabaji utilized the massive gravitational bonus of his fall combined with his full strength to strike. The blow was fast and vicious.

BOOM!!

A massive cloud of dust rose from the ground. Centered on the point where the blade struck, the earth began to crack, with fissures seven or eight meters long and dozens of centimeters wide spreading outward.

Cabaji pulled the great blade from the ground and stood up from his half-crouched position, gritting his teeth. "Did he get away?!"

In his mind, this was a finishing blow that should have ended his opponent, yet it hadn't even touched the man's clothes. His opponent's speed and reflexes were far swifter than he had imagined!

As the smoke cleared, Zoro stood ten meters away, completely unscathed. He had already tied his black-and-green bandana around his head. A curve formed at the corner of his mouth. "What are you doing? Are you performing a circus act?"

"It seems you don't understand what it means to be a swordsman at all..."

After saying this, Zoro's aura underwent a drastic change. A cold, ruthless glint entered his eyes. "Let me show you the gap between you and me."

Cabaji's pupils constricted as he gripped the Sakura Blizzard tightly. "You dare say I don't know what a swordsman is? Then I'll show you my true sword technique! Die!"

Like an enraged beast, he charged forward like an arrow released from a bow. The Sakura Blizzard thrust straight ahead, carrying the weight of his full power. It seemed to pierce the invisible air, and even the surrounding sounds began to sharpen.

"Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri!"

Three frigid flashes of light cut through the air. The surroundings fell silent in an instant. In that moment, only those three flashes remained in Cabaji's vision as he crossed paths with Zoro.

Bang, bang, bang...

The two iron swords in Zoro's hands finally failed to withstand his full power and shattered, piece by piece.

"Captain Buggy, Cabaji won..." Mohji, standing on the deck, swallowed his words before he could finish. He had just witnessed a shocking scene.

The blade flew from Cabaji's hand, and several bright flowers of blood bloomed across his chest. His eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness, his final words barely a whisper: "I actually lost to a no-name bounty hunter like you..."

"I'm no no-name bounty hunter. My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman!" Zoro declared with dominance, then slowly turned around. "It's your turn, Buggy the Immortal!"

As he finished speaking, Zoro's expression changed.

Two strange wrists were floating in the air; one grabbed Cabaji, and the other snatched the Sakura Blizzard, retreating rapidly toward the pirate ship. The ship had already set sail, drifting further and further from the shore.

Zoro roared in anger, "You bastards, you played me!"

That red-nosed pirate had just been swearing that he would face him personally once his subordinate was defeated, yet now he was running faster than a hyena. This bastard had absolutely no shame or sense of honor as a great pirate.

Zoro sprinted to a small boat moored at the shore, untied the rope, grabbed the oars, and rowed with all his might, shouting, "Buggy, you ten-million-berry bounty! Don't think you can run!"