Learn Cleaving Wave in One Second! The Golden Lion Questions His Life

Could anyone really pass a test like this?

The officers present shook their heads, unable to believe it.

After all, this kind of talent was far too absurd. Learning someone else's move after seeing it just once was nothing short of a fantasy.

No human could have talent like that.

But then they thought back to Rono's reaction.

When Captain Golden Lion had proposed the test, Rono had answered casually, calmly and confidently, as if it were a trivial matter to him!

Could he really have such terrifying talent?

The pirates present, the officers, and even Rocks himself were all filled with anticipation, eager for the test to begin.

"That guy looks pretty relaxed." Golden Lion, Ochoku, Silver Axe, and the others were all holding their breath.

What if the rumors were true?

But the bet had already begun, and the stakes had been set. They had to see it through.

"Captain Golden Lion, or Captains Ochoku and Silver Axe, feel free to use any move you like to test me."

Rono then addressed the three of them, telling them to use whatever moves they wanted.

Golden Lion soon spotted a sword at Rono's waist.

He recognized it at once: Rono was carrying Kotetsu, one of the twenty-one Great Grade Swords.

Golden Lion's eyes lit up. Since Rono was a swordsman, he had an idea!

"Looks like Brother Rono is a swordsman, too," Golden Lion said at once, then shifted his tone languidly.

"Good thing I'm a swordsman as well. I'm a Two-Sword Style swordsman, so I'll set the test for you, Brother Rono."

With that, Golden Lion drew two Famous Swords from his waist: Oto and Kogarashi!

They looked like they should also belong among the twenty-one Great Grade Swords, though they were no match for a Supreme Grade Sword.

Of course, that was only Rono's guess. Golden Lion didn't look like someone who could wield two Supreme Grade Swords, after all.

"Watch closely, Brother Rono. This move is called Cleaving Wave. It took me ten years of training to refine it!"

"Even if I showed them every detail, a talented person would still need at least four or five years to learn it."

"This move can split the sea!"

A smile tugged at the corner of Golden Lion's mouth.

He used Two-Sword Style, while Rono was a One Sword Style swordsman.

Two-Sword Style might look like One Sword Style with an extra sword, but in reality, it was several times more difficult!

Even if Rono really did have the terrifying talent the rumors claimed, using One Sword Style to demonstrate Two-Sword Style would still take a lot of hard work!

Learn it in six or seven years? Dream on!

After he finished speaking, Golden Lion gripped Oto and Kogarashi in both hands and gave a powerful swing straight ahead.

Swish, swish!

Two waves of sword aura surged up from the ground and cleaved straight ahead along the earth!

"Lion's Cleaving Wave!"

The next moment, the two waves of sword aura carved two deep fissures into the ground!

And that wasn't all. The fissures kept spreading, stretching right beyond Hachinosu Island!

With a splash, before the sword aura had even dissipated, it split a stretch of sea in two!

A full half-minute passed before the sea drew together again, joining back into one.

Two deep fissures remained in the ground as well!

"Whoa!" Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath!

As expected of Captain Golden Lion! The sword aura from a casual swing had such terrifying power!

In the Rocks Pirates, Golden Lion's name was second only to Rocks himself, and he was slightly behind Whitebeard, making him the third strongest!

Moreover, Golden Lion and Whitebeard were extremely close in strength, about as far apart as Aokiji and Akainu.

If they really fought, it would probably take ten days and ten nights to decide the winner.

"Well, Rono, can you do this move?"

Golden Lion was very pleased with his demonstration. He was in excellent form today; normally, he couldn't manage something like that.

"Sure. I'll give it a try." At that, Rono suddenly grew excited.

Just now, a system notification had appeared in his mind.

[ Ding~ Congratulations, host, you picked up Great Swordmaster-level Sword Aura. Current Swordsmanship level: Advanced; progress: 69%! ]

[ Ding~ Congratulations, host, you successfully picked up the Swordsmanship technique: Lion's Cleaving Wave! ]

He'd successfully picked it up. Next, all the techniques and knowledge related to the swordsmanship flowed into Rono's mind.

Even the muscle memory was deeply imprinted in his arms.

The moves picked up through the pickup system had no levels. The move he picked up was the complete move, exactly the same as the original user's!

As for the power of the move when used, that depended on Rono's own strength.

Rono then took Kotetsu from his waist and gripped it in his hand.

Quite a few sword-wielding pirates in the crowd immediately recognized it as Kotetsu, a Famous Sword among the twenty-one Great Grade Swords.

"Captain Shiki uses Two-Sword Style, while I use One Sword Style, so there might be some differences. Please bear with me."

Rono quickly focused on the muscle memory and swung Kotetsu, imitating Golden Lion.

Swish, swish!

Rono swung twice in an instant, and two waves of sword aura surged up from the ground!

Splash, splash!

Just like Golden Lion's Cleaving Wave, the two waves of sword aura first left fissures in the ground, then passed beyond Hachinosu Island and split a stretch of sea in two!

The only difference was that the power of Rono's sword aura fell far short of Golden Lion's.

The fissures in the ground, the spray from the divided sea, and the range of the move were all inferior!

But the move itself was exactly the same, without the slightest difference!

"Captain Shiki, how was that? Did I pass?"

Rono smiled at the "masterpiece" he'd left behind. He still had to improve his mastery of Sword Aura.

The gap between him and Golden Lion was too great.

But that was all right. On a ship full of Monsters like this one, Rono believed he would improve very quickly!

"Captain Shiki?" When no one answered him, Rono turned around.

Only then did he notice that the pirates present all seemed to have been hit with a binding spell!

Every one of them had their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide, as if they'd seen a ghost. They'd turned into statues!

"He really... really learned it! My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they?"

"Captain Shi... Captain Shiki's secret technique, Lion... Lion's Cleaving Wave!"

"Even though it's One Sword Style, what he used is exactly the same as Captain Shiki's Two-Sword Style!"

"Sure, the power is quite a bit weaker, but that's definitely Cleaving Wave! There's no doubt about it!"

"My God, he really learned it!"

The pirates present clutched their heads, already questioning their lives!

Rono really had grasped Captain Shiki's secret technique, Cleaving Wave, in just one second!

What on earth had this guy grown up eating? How could he have such terrifying talent?!

"Th-this... it really is Cleaving Wave!"

Shiki, the creator of the move, took a long time to come back to his senses!

The difference in power was considerable, but the way Rono swung the sword and the sword aura were undoubtedly identical to Cleaving Wave!

It was as if Shiki himself had swung the swords!

And Rono had perfectly recreated Shiki's Two-Sword Style move using One Sword Style!