Cabaji vs. Zoro

Zoro's brow twitched. He quickly crossed his two iron swords in front of his chest, blocking a slash that had nearly caught him by surprise.

Clang!

Cabaji's attack was stopped. Only then did he truly feel the monstrous force coming from his opponent's blades. A swordsman's instincts told him this man was more terrifying than any opponent he had faced before.

Zoro's lips curled. "You've got some skill, but that's nowhere near enough."

"Is that so?" Cabaji grinned coldly. Sakura Blizzard spun wildly in his hand, making him look like an acrobat performing a trick.

"Spin! Snowstorm!"

A fierce gust surrounded the Great Grade Sword. As it moved rapidly, the blade seemed to drift down like a snowflake, tossed about by the wandering wind.

The sword in Cabaji's hand spun like a drill against the blades of the two great swords Zoro used to block. Cabaji was a swordsman who favored acrobatics and trickery, and using misdirection was one of his specialties.

As Zoro stared in surprise, Cabaji suddenly pulled Sakura Blizzard back and looked at him with a cold gaze. "This is the first time I've seen a swordsman who carries three swords. But now that you've only got one spare, what can you do?"

Zoro looked at the two iron swords in his hands. Their edges were curled, fine cracks had appeared along the blades, and they looked ready to break at any moment. He flew into a rage. "You bastard!"

Although Cabaji had obtained a Great Grade Sword, he wasn't gloating or letting it go to his head. From the start, he'd planned to use its superior sharpness against ordinary iron swords to weaken his opponent's fighting ability. Destroying a swordsman's weapons was like pulling the claws and fangs from a beast.

Buggy returned to his pirate ship with his underlings and watched the scene below from the deck, intrigued. In a sense, Cabaji was indeed despicable. To an enemy, a despicable opponent was also a headache, hateful, and troublesome. But from another perspective, such a person was better at spotting an opponent's weaknesses and choosing where to strike. In that sense, being despicable wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Even so, Buggy didn't think Cabaji would win. He told Mohji to wake the pirates aboard the ship and prepare to set sail.

"This isn't a spare sword..." Zoro held Wado Ichimonji, the Great Grade Sword at his waist, between his teeth. "You bastard, I'll show you Three-Sword Style!"

Cabaji sneered and stepped in to thrust and slash. The Great Grade Sword was sharp, but it was also half again as heavy as his old sword. Wielding it was still difficult and uncomfortable for him. He had no intention of dragging out the fight, so he put everything he had into every attack.

Zoro kept blocking and parrying.

"Clang! Clang! Clang—"

The clash of metal rang out across the battlefield. In a few short moments, Cabaji and Zoro exchanged dozens of blows.

Zoro, who was accustomed to attacking with three swords, struggled to withstand Cabaji's assault. In a duel between swordsmen, the quality of their blades went a long way toward determining victory or death. Since his two iron swords could break at any moment, Zoro, who relied on brute force, didn't dare channel all his strength into them. He feared they'd snap under the opposing force at any second. This held back most of his strength.

So it looked as if Cabaji was not only dominating Zoro, but that Zoro could lose at any moment.

But in truth, as the fight went on, Cabaji became more and more aware of his own shortcomings. This Great Grade Sword was nowhere near as easy to handle as his old one. It wore him out quickly, and he could feel his opponent gradually adapting to the rhythm of the fight. Zoro was practically born to fight—terrifying!

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

"Acrobatics: Murder by Steam!"

Cabaji feinted a thrust, then leaped backward as Zoro blocked. He spun rapidly around the hilt as an axis, kicking up dust from the ground.

The dust and haze quickly obscured the area. Zoro warily watched his surroundings, guarding against a sneak attack, and fumed inwardly. What's this guy up to?

To him, this was absolutely no way for swordsmen to duel!

Suddenly, his heart lurched as a powerful sense of danger welled up inside him. He looked up sharply. Beneath the blazing sunlight, a black figure plunged straight down, its blade gleaming with a cold, chilling light.

"Acrobatics: Cool Summer Fireworks, One-Character Slash!"

The voice and figure descended together. Cabaji used the immense force of gravity from his fall, along with all his own strength, to thrust down. The attack was fast and vicious.

Boom!!

A huge cloud of dust erupted from the ground. Around the blade embedded in the earth, the ground began to crack, sending out one fissure after another, each seven or eight meters long and dozens of centimeters wide.

Cabaji pulled the Great Grade Sword from the ground and rose from his crouch, gritting his teeth. "He got away!"

He'd expected that his finishing blow would take out his opponent, but it hadn't even touched his clothes. His opponent's speed and reflexes were far quicker than he'd imagined!

As the dust cleared, Zoro stood ten meters away, completely unharmed. The black-and-green bandanna that had been tied around his arm was now on his head. His lips curled into a smile. "What are you doing? Performing acrobatics?"

"Looks like you don't understand what it means to be a swordsman..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zoro's aura changed dramatically. A trace of coldness entered his gaze. "I'll show you the difference between us."

Cabaji's pupils contracted. He gripped Sakura Blizzard tightly. "You say I don't know what it means to be a swordsman? Then I'll use my real swordsmanship to show you! Die!"

Like a beast provoked into a frenzy, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Sakura Blizzard stabbed straight ahead with all his strength behind the attack. It seemed to pierce the invisible air, and even the sounds around them grew shrill.

"Three-Sword Style: Oni Giri!"

Three fierce flashes of sword light streaked through the air. The surroundings fell silent in an instant. In that moment, all Cabaji could see were those three blades of light as he and Zoro crossed paths.

Clang, clang, clang...

The two iron swords in Zoro's hands finally failed to withstand his full strength and broke apart piece by piece.

"Captain Buggy, Cabaji won..." Mohji began from the deck, but he abruptly swallowed the rest of his words. He'd seen something astonishing.

The sword flew out of Cabaji's hand, and several vivid sprays of blood burst from his chest. His eyes rolled back as he began to lose consciousness. With his last bit of strength, he said, "I can't believe I lost to an unknown bounty hunter like you..."

"I'm no unknown bounty hunter. My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman!" Zoro boldly declared, then slowly turned around. "You're next, Buggy the Immortal!"

As soon as he said that, Zoro's expression changed.

Two strange hands floated in the air. One grabbed Cabaji, the other grabbed Sakura Blizzard, and they quickly withdrew toward the pirate ship. The ship had already set sail without anyone noticing, and it was getting farther and farther from the shore.

Zoro flew into a rage. "You bastards! You tricked me!"

That Red Nose pirate had just sworn that he'd fight Zoro himself after Zoro defeated his underling. Now he was running faster than a hyena. The bastard had none of the dignity or self-awareness expected of a great pirate.

Zoro dashed to the small boat by the shore, untied it, grabbed the oars, and rowed as hard as he could, shouting, "Buggy, you're worth ten million! You're not getting away!"