Reclaiming Baroque Works
The world of One Piece was born with a streak of romance.
When Shanks faced the King of the Coast and chose to bet an arm on Luffy, that was romance.
When Noland's descendants spent decades salvaging the seafloor to clear his name, when Calgara's descendants rang the Golden Bell to answer the Noland they had wronged, that was romance.
When Whale Laboon spent decades smashing himself against the Red Line, waiting for the Rumbar pirate crew to return until he was covered in wounds, that was romance.
But no one would forget the first and most stirring romance of manhood—the sword Zoro had drawn in his duel against Hawk Eyes, that defeat, and those words: "To be wounded in the back is a swordsman's shame."
If Leo had tried to stop even this battle, he would have been far too insensitive.
And Hawk Eyes clearly understood Zoro better than Leo did. He completely ignored Zoro's physical condition. Unlike in the original story, where he had underestimated Zoro, he drew his Black Blade, one of the Supreme Grade Swords, and faced Zoro with the highest courtesy from the very beginning, asking for his name.
"Three Sword Style, Roronoa Zoro!" Zoro's condition was atrocious. Facing the world's greatest swordsman in such a state was practically a death sentence.
Hawk Eyes had lost count of how many poseurs he had cut down. But when facing this man, he knew clearly that Zoro did not harbor even the slightest fear. He had long since put life and death aside. He was challenging him with the resolve to die. This man... was worth fighting!
"Hawk Eyes, Mihawk." Mihawk pointed his blade at him without the slightest hint of contempt. Clearly, he intended to get serious as well. Against a swordsman like