Thunder God versus the Great Swordsman, the East Blue Was Split Apart

"Lei En?! How could a monster like you appear in a beginner sea like the East Blue?!"

Mihawk's shocked, horrified cry rang out especially clearly across the deathly silent Baratie.

The entire place fell into strange silence once more.

Everyone stared at Mihawk as if he were an idiot, then looked at the black-haired youth still picking his teeth with a toothpick. Their minds had completely crashed.

Wh... what was going on?

The world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords, actually knew this young man?

And from his tone, he even seemed to be carrying... a trace of... fear?!

"What the hell? A monster? Beginner village?"

Lei En spat out the toothpick and rose from his chair in obvious displeasure.

He dug at his ear, looked at the utterly dumbfounded Mihawk standing aboard that coffin-like boat, and curled his lip.

"I'm saying, Hawkeye, it's been years. Why do you still have that dead-man face? What if you scare the flowers and grass?"

Lei En's exceedingly familiar, snark-filled jab turned everyone present to stone once again.

The cigarette in Sanji's mouth burned right down to his fingers.

Zeff nearly lost his footing on the right leg that had only just grown back.

And on the other side of the restaurant, Roronoa Zoro, the moss-headed swordsman who had been brimming with fighting spirit moments ago, now stood frozen in place like a statue.

He... what had he just heard?

This guy, who looked even younger than him, had actually called the world's greatest swordsman by his nickname?

And judging by that tone, it was obvious the two had met before!

How... how was that possible?!

"So it really is you!"

Mihawk had also recovered from his initial shock.

His hawk-like eyes locked tightly onto Lei En. The terror in them was swiftly replaced by an even more fervent, even purer fighting spirit!

That crushing defeat in Shimotsuki Village years ago had been the only shame of his life!

It was also the sole driving force behind his years of frenzied training, his constant challenges against powerful opponents, and his eventual ascent to the pinnacle as the world's greatest!

He had dreamed of washing away that humiliation!

Yet today, in such a dramatic fashion, he had encountered once more the "childhood nightmare" that had haunted his dreams!

"Trash like Don Krieg doesn't matter anymore."

Mihawk slowly raised Black Blade Yoru, pointing its tip from afar at Lei En.

For the first time, a supremely excited smile appeared on his eternally icy face.

"Lei En! Fight me again!"

"This time, I won't lose!"

The fighting spirit Mihawk had suppressed for years erupted like a volcano at that moment!

A sharp sword pressure several times more terrifying than the one he had unleashed when cutting the ship instantly engulfed the entire Baratie!

"Wahahaha! Interesting! This is too interesting!"

Rather than becoming nervous at the sight of Mihawk's blazing fighting spirit, Lei En threw back his head and laughed in excitement.

"Sure! I've been itching for a fight too!"

He waved at Kuina and Kuro behind him.

"You two, get farther away. Don't get caught in the crossfire."

Before his words had even faded!

"Crackle—!"

Lei En's body instantly transformed into a dazzling bolt of blue lightning. Like a cannonball fired from a barrel, he shot skyward from Baratie's deck and streaked into the air!

"Good!"

Mihawk shouted, stomping hard on his coffin-like boat.

Like a black hawk, he launched himself into the sky. Black Blade Yoru let out a piercing howl as it tore through the air, slashing viciously at the blue lightning bolt!

"Boom—!!!"

High in the sky!

A battle of gods!

A black figure and a white figure collided and intertwined wildly several hundred meters overhead at a terrifying speed beyond the limits of human vision!

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Dense clashes of metal, like a violent storm, rang continuously from the clouds, sending fierce ripples racing across the sea below!

Every collision exploded into a dazzling burst of sparks and lightning!

Sharp sword energy shot in every direction, like a storm of blades descending from the heavens!

The sea below was shredded by the scattered sword energy, sending columns of water soaring into the sky!

"Is... is this still a human battle?!"

Watching the mythic scene in the sky, the restaurant's patrons collapsed to the floor in terror, muttering to themselves.

Sanji and Zeff were equally horrified. They prided themselves on their martial arts, but before a battle of this level, they felt they were not even qualified to serve as cannon fodder!

"Too... too strong..."

Zoro gripped the three swords at his waist tightly, his body trembling violently from extreme excitement and fear.

The Three-Sword Style he took such pride in was nothing more than children playing house before these two true monsters!

"Rumble!!!"

Another earth-shattering boom rang out in midair!

Black Blade Yoru collided head-on with Yubashiri, which was wrapped in billions of volts of violent lightning and pitch-black Armament Haki!

The terrifying shockwave swept madly outward in all directions from the two of them like a Category 12 hurricane!

The sea within several kilometers was forcibly pressed dozens of meters downward by that incomparably terrifying force!

The jagged reefs that had once been hidden deep beneath the water were exposed to the air as the seawater receded!

Like the wrath of a god, splitting the sea and severing its flow!

"Break for me!!!"

Lei En let out an arrogant roar, driving his Rumble-Rumble Fruit power to its limit!

He perfectly fused Roger's peak swordsmanship with his max-level lightning power, unleashing one of his strongest finishing moves!

"Supreme Thunder God Slash!"

"Crack!"

Black Blade Yoru, which could cut through an iceberg, let out an overloaded wail before this even more tyrannical, even more unreasonable power!

The Armament Haki coating Mihawk's blade was instantly pierced and shattered by the violent lightning!

"Pfft—!"

Mihawk suffered a heavy blow and threw back his head, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Like a kite with its string cut, he was violently blasted away by the lingering shockwave of that terrifying sword strike!

With a bang.

He crashed back onto his coffin-like boat in an utterly bedraggled state, cracking the fragile deck in several places.

He struggled to rise, only to spit out another mouthful of blood. His blood and energy churned violently within him; he had clearly suffered serious internal injuries.

He had lost.

Once again, he had lost completely and utterly.

Yet there was not the slightest hint of dejection in those sharp hawk eyes.

Instead, they burned with an even fiercer, more frenzied light!

He looked at Lei En, who was slowly descending from the sky without a scratch. His voice was hoarse, but filled with unprecedented excitement.

"Lei En... you really are a monster through and through!"

Lei En sheathed his sword and dramatically flicked away dust that did not exist.

"Not bad. I didn't even use my full strength."

Looking at Mihawk's blazing fighting spirit, he suddenly remembered something, and an exceptionally sinister smile curled across his lips.

"By the way, Hawkeye, who were you trying to cut down with that sword just now?"