As the powerful ninjutsu "Nativity of a World of Trees" was unleashed, a lush forest rapidly sprang up. It seemed like a masterpiece of nature, its dense trees and flourishing branches and leaves intertwining to form a battlefield.
From deep within that forest, Liu Qing's voice traveled through layer upon layer of leaves and reached Dracule Mihawk's ears aboard the Baratie.
"Mihawk, the battlefield is ready." A hint of excitement colored Liu Qing's voice. Clearly, he was full of anticipation at the chance to pit himself against a powerhouse of the pirate world.
Hearing Liu Qing's words, Mihawk did not hesitate. Moving like lightning, he took a few great leaps and appeared before Liu Qing like a phantom.
"What astonishing power," Mihawk said, gazing at Hashirama with a flicker of admiration in his eyes. "Are you a Woods-Woods Fruit user?"
Liu Qing smiled and shook his head. "No, I don't know exactly what fruit it is." Of course, how could he know? After all, he was not a Devil Fruit user at all.
"All right, enough talk. Let's have a real fight!" Liu Qing's voice brimmed with fighting spirit. Before he had finished speaking, he clapped his hands together and called out, "Wood Release: Wood Dragon!"
In an instant, a massive wooden dragon a hundred meters long soared out of the forest. Brandishing its claws and baring its fangs, it roared and lunged at Mihawk. Its body was formed from countless thick trees, and every scale gleamed emerald green, as though it were alive.
Mihawk's eyes shone with excitement. He had never imagined that a trip to the East Blue made out of sheer boredom would bring him face-to-face with such a powerful opponent. Yet, to his regret, the man before him was not a pure swordsman.
Without the slightest hesitation, Mihawk swiftly drew his renowned black blade, Yoru, from his back. In a flash, a green sword wave streaked with black shot out like lightning, slashing straight at the wooden dragon.
The instant he released the sword wave, Mihawk appeared before Hashirama like a phantom. Without hesitation, he swung Yoru with overwhelming force, cutting straight at Liu Qing's neck.
Faced with this sudden attack, Liu Qing remained exceptionally calm. With a slight movement of his right hand, a powerful surge of chakra instantly gathered into a sharp Chakra Sword. It collided with Mihawk's Yoru with a crisp clang.
Looking at the Chakra Sword in Liu Qing's hand, Mihawk could not help saying regretfully, "What a shame. You aren't a pure swordsman." Before his words had faded, he leaped backward, dissipating the force of their clash.
Yet even as he jumped back, several small sword waves shot toward Liu Qing from every direction like raindrops. Though small, they were extremely fast, catching their target off guard.
Seeing this, Liu Qing immediately stamped hard on the ground. With a thunderous bang, a powerful surge of chakra erupted beneath his foot, forming a sturdy shield that blocked every sword wave.
Immediately afterward, Liu Qing unleashed the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique without hesitation. However, just as he had expected, it was almost useless against Mihawk, who possessed Observation Haki.
As Liu Qing fought him at close quarters, Mihawk could always sense his attacks accurately and react swiftly, whether by blocking or dodging.
Seeing that the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique was useless, Liu Qing dispelled it.
Then he told Mihawk, "I'm going to get serious."
Mihawk nodded as well. "All right."
Liu Qing clapped his hands together. "Wood Release: Wood Human Technique!"
At Liu Qing's sharp call, a powerful surge of chakra suddenly welled up beneath his feet. Then, with a thunderous roar, a gigantic wooden figure three hundred meters tall rose from the ground like a mountain!
Not only was this wooden figure enormous, but it also held a massive wooden club, likewise three hundred meters long and thirty meters wide. As it swung the club, fierce winds howled around it, as though it would tear the entire space apart!
At the sight, Mihawk's heart tightened. His eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the enormous wooden figure, and a thin sheen of sweat even appeared on his forehead.
"Holy shit... How the hell am I supposed to fight this?" Mihawk muttered to himself.
He knew very well that, against such an enormous wooden figure, his attacks would probably struggle to inflict any substantial damage. Moreover, judging from their earlier exchanges, the wood Liu Qing created with his ability was exceptionally hard. Although his earlier sword waves had managed to break through its defenses, doing so had taken some effort.
And now, the giant Liu Qing had summoned stood three hundred meters tall. On top of that, it could repair its damaged parts on its own. It was simply an opponent with no answer!
Growing excited, Liu Qing controlled the wooden figure, swinging its club at Mihawk. Huge and seemingly cumbersome as it was, it was actually fast as hell and extremely agile, and its attacks were exceptionally quick.
Watching the massive wooden club come at him, Mihawk immediately applied Armament Haki Hardening to his entire body and gritted his teeth. "Fuck, what a damn trap... Getting hit by that would hurt like hell."
While dodging the wooden figure's rapid attacks, Mihawk secretly gathered his strength. After evading another attack, he finally unleashed his charged strike.
A cross-shaped slash more than a hundred meters across shot toward the wooden figure, sending wood chips flying, but it still failed to cut through.
"Hurricane Slash!" Seeing that he still could not breach its defenses, Mihawk immediately sent out another blade wave shaped like a tornado, temporarily halting the wooden figure's attacks as he leaped backward.
The instant he landed from his backward leap, Mihawk unleashed his presence. An astonishing sword aura coiled around Yoru in his right hand, continuing to grow stronger.
When the sword aura reached its limit, Mihawk unleashed his strongest slash: Deadly Blade Flash, a move capable of cutting through icebergs and other obstacles, suited to breaking defenses or finishing off opponents.
"Deadly Blade Flash!" Mihawk called in a low voice, swinging his right hand fiercely. A sword wave a thousand meters long, so dark green it was almost black, sliced toward Liu Qing atop the wooden figure.
The instant the sword wave was unleashed, Liu Qing's senses told him he could not take this slash head-on. Its range is too large. Dodging clearly isn't an option. I can only defend.
With that thought, Liu Qing pressed one hand against the wooden figure's head. "Summoning Technique: Fivefold Rashomon!" Five enormous iron gates appeared in front of the wooden figure to block the sword wave.
However, the Rashomon gates clearly failed to stop the attack. When the sword wave touched them, Liu Qing finally witnessed what true damage meant. Without holding it back for even a second, all the gates were sliced in two.
Seeing the attack about to reach him, Liu Qing finally unleashed his ultimate move.
Liu Qing pressed his palms together. Black markings appeared on his face, and his entire presence abruptly changed. He called out in a low voice, "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!" The wooden figure beneath his feet rapidly transformed. In an instant, a thousand-meter-tall Buddha statue with thousands of arms behind its back appeared on the battlefield.
Looking at the enormous thousand-meter Buddha statue, Mihawk decisively turned and left the battlefield Liu Qing had created with Wood Release. A few great leaps brought him back aboard the Baratie.
Watching Mihawk quit the fight, Liu Qing felt helpless. I've already unleashed my ultimate move. What do you mean by leaving? You can't just leave me standing here awkwardly. Whatever, I've already used it. Even if I have to smash the forest below to pieces, I'm going to finish this skill.
Having thought that, Liu Qing did not hesitate. "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!" he shouted, and the thousands of arms behind him attacked the Nativity of a World of Trees below in unison.
Watching this great battle, everyone aboard the Baratie exclaimed in amazement. They were especially stunned when the thousand-meter Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands appeared.
Just after the thousand-meter Buddha appeared, they saw Mihawk leap back aboard with a displeased expression. Before any of the diners could say anything, Sanji cried out, "Holy shit! That giant Buddha is moving!"
Hearing him, everyone stopped looking at Mihawk and turned toward Liu Qing together. They saw the thousands of arms behind the thousand-meter Buddha continuously attacking the forest below. In less than a few seconds, the entire forest had been beaten out of existence.
The remaining several hundred arms continued attacking the sea. Before anyone could marvel at it, they discovered that as Liu Qing's attacks struck the water, an enormous tsunami began forming beneath his feet and surged toward the Baratie restaurant.
"What do we do? A tsunami that big will swallow us all!" Despair began to rise in everyone's hearts.
Just as everyone was despairing, Liu Qing suddenly appeared on the Baratie's deck. Ignoring them, he formed a thousand-meter Chakra Sword in his right hand and slashed at the tsunami, continuously releasing chakra as he struck.
After Liu Qing's Chakra Sword struck the tsunami, everyone saw that it had been sliced in two and was no longer advancing toward them. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
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