"Hey." Zoro tightened his grip on his sword hilt, a flicker of fighting spirit igniting in his eyes despite the lingering ache in his right arm. "That Trejer guy... is he strong?"
"Strong?"
Lin Xuan looked back, a playful smile curling his lips. "He's a Paramecia-type Chain Chain Fruit user. In a beginner zone like the East Blue, he's pretty much a max-level character."
"What about you?" Nami couldn't help asking, a trace of hope in her eyes. "Can you beat him?"
Everyone's eyes settled on Lin Xuan.
The man who had split the sea with a single slash was their only hope right now.
Lin Xuan fell silent for two seconds.
He ran through the calculations in his head.
His current Kenpachi Zaraki template was formidable, but it was only 7.8% unlocked.
He could crush ordinary pirates, of course, but someone like Trejer wasn't an ant he could casually squash.
That bizarre chain ability, in particular, was a little troublesome for him at present.
"Fifty percent."
Lin Xuan held up five fingers and waved them beneath the light.
"Fifty percent?" Nami's and Carina's voices instantly rose, filled with panic. "You only have a fifty-fifty chance of winning?"
"No."
Lin Xuan lowered his hand, a red glint flashing through his eyes as Kenpachi Zaraki's urge to fight began to surge.
"There's a fifty-percent chance I'll get so carried away fighting that I'll accidentally tear this ship apart... with all of you on it."
Chapter 21: That teacher of yours can cut steel?
Nami's and Carina's faces immediately darkened.
"Fifty percent... because you're worried about wrecking the ship?" Nami clutched her wooden self-defense stick, her knuckles white. "Hey, you're joking, right? Trejer might be strong, but surely he isn't that..."
"Trejer is a Clank-Clank Fruit user."
Ignoring Nami's reaction, Lin Xuan sat back down, his fingers unconsciously stroking Murasame's scabbard. His gaze grew unfocused, as though he were recalling some information.
"That guy can make any part of his body, and even chains he touches, as hard as steel. He can also generate intense frictional heat." Lin Xuan yawned, his tone casual. "As I am now, cutting people is no problem. Cutting sea beasts is no problem either. But cutting a hunk of iron covered in a turtle shell like that... I have enough strength, but my sword might not hold up."
Brute strength could solve plenty of problems, but the Kenpachi Zaraki template was still in its early stages. Without that Soul Reaper's body, meeting force with force could easily leave his sword shattered and him dead.
He needed technique.
A technique that would let him cleave steel with brute strength.
"S-so?" Zoro asked with a frown. This was his first time hearing of a Devil Fruit like that. "Since you only have a fifty-percent chance of winning, are you planning to run away?"
"Run away? I usually call it a strategic withdrawal." Lin Xuan stood and walked over to the nautical chart, tapping a finger firmly on an island not far from their position. "We're going here."
Zoro leaned over for a look, and his expression turned odd. "Shimotsuki Village? You're going to my hometown?"
"To be precise, I'm going there for further training." Lin Xuan picked up the apple core on the table and tossed it neatly into the trash can in the corner. "I heard there's an Isshin Dojo there. I want to learn a few things. Like... how to cut steel."
Zoro froze, then scoffed, tugging at his wound and making him bare his teeth in pain. "Huh? Are you kidding? I spent years at that dojo, and even I can't cut steel. The teacher there is just an ordinary swordsmanship instructor. That squinty-eyed guy with glasses is strong, sure, but he's only an expert by East Blue standards. Cut steel? Give me a break."
As he remembered him, Master Koshiro was gentle and fond of smiling, always spouting incomprehensible wisdom and holding a cup of tea. He hardly seemed like a powerful swordsman who had mastered such advanced swordsmanship.
Lin Xuan turned and looked at Zoro as though he were an idiot.
"Moss Head, do you know how a frog at the bottom of a well dies?"
"From stupidity." Without waiting for Zoro to argue, Lin Xuan supplied the answer himself. "You thought he was ordinary because you were too weak back then. So weak you couldn't even recognize his strength."
Zoro was left speechless, his face flushing red. He wanted to argue but couldn't find a counterargument.
In front of this man who had split the sea with one slash, he really was weak right now.
"Set sail." Lin Xuan waved a hand and headed out of the cabin. "Let's meet your teacher and have him teach me how to make this sword a little more obedient while we're at it."
Three hours later, at Shimotsuki Village's simple dock.
Compared to the bustle of other ports, this place was almost excessively quiet.
The fresh scent of earth and bamboo leaves filled the air, with the occasional bark of a dog lending it a homey feel.
Lin Xuan jumped off the ship and landed on the packed dirt road. The solid ground beneath his feet eased his taut nerves a little.
Yet the blood in his body flowed faster. Kenpachi Zaraki's instincts told him-there was an opponent here who could make him stronger.
"Hey! Isn't that Zoro?"
Several passing villagers recognized the Moss Head following behind Lin Xuan and greeted him warmly. "Long time no see! We heard you became a Pirate Hunter. How did you end up looking like that?"
Wrapped in bandages, Zoro carried a heavy iron chest in one hand-the tuition money Lin Xuan had forced him to haul. His face was bright red, and he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Having people from his hometown see him in such a sorry state was nothing short of a public humiliation.
"S-shut up!" Zoro roared, his face dark. "I just... got a little hurt!"
Lin Xuan paid no attention to the farce behind him.
He stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
He wasn't smelling the flowers. He was sensing.
Although the system hadn't directly granted him high-level Observation Haki, a beastlike intuition was awakening as he integrated with the Kenpachi Zaraki template.
He could feel a presence deep within the bamboo grove north of the village.
It was faint, like an unremarkable pool of stagnant water.
But in Lin Xuan's perception, beneath that tranquil presence lurked a power capable of overturning rivers and seas.
"Found you."
Lin Xuan's eyes snapped open, a cold glint flashing in his dark golden pupils, while the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
Now that he had locked onto his target, he no longer needed a guide.
His figure vanished in an instant, leaving only a cracked footprint and drifting dust.
"Hey! Wait! That way is..." Zoro had barely tried to call him back before he realized Lin Xuan was already gone. He could only grit his teeth and shoulder the chest. "You damned bastard! The dojo is that way! Are you going there to challenge them?!"
Isshin Dojo.
Afternoon sunlight filtered through gaps in the bamboo grove and spilled across the training hall's wooden floor. The crisp clack of bamboo swords and the children's youthful shouts echoed through the air.
"Put your heart into your practice swings. The sword is an extension of the heart."
Dressed in his signature loose training robes, Koshiro wore a gentle smile as he corrected a young apprentice's grip.
Suddenly, he stopped.
His perpetually narrowed eyes opened a fraction, and a sharp light flashed behind his glasses.
The wind in the dojo had changed.
The once-gentle cross breeze suddenly grew wild, and the rustling of the bamboo grove seemed to become the low growl of a beast.
"Everyone, stop for a moment."
Koshiro straightened and gently clapped his hands. His voice remained mild, yet carried unquestionable authority. "That's all for today's practice. Everyone, go home immediately."
"Huh? But Master, it's not time yet..."
"Go."
Koshiro's tone grew a degree firmer.
Though confused, the children obediently packed their things and left.
Only after the last child disappeared through the doorway did Koshiro slowly turn to face the training hall's entrance.
A tall figure stood there, having arrived at some unknown point.
It was a young man wearing a Marine coat, but the presence he exuded had nothing whatsoever to do with justice.
His undisguised, savage fighting spirit carried an intense aggression that made Koshiro's skin prickle with pain.
What concerned Koshiro even more was the sword at the young man's waist.
Even through its scabbard, as a Great Swordsman, he could smell its unsettling stench of blood and cursed aura.
"The Demon Sword Murakumo?" Koshiro adjusted his glasses, the smile on his face fading somewhat. "I never expected that vicious blade, missing for so long, to turn up on a Marine."
"You recognize this sword too? Looks like I came to the right place."
Lin Xuan strode into the training hall, his boots thudding against the wooden floor.
He stopped ten meters from Koshiro and grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth.
"I'm Lin Xuan. That Moss Head's... or rather, Zoro's current creditor."
At the mention of Zoro, Koshiro paused. The wariness in his eyes eased slightly, replaced by a trace of surprise. "Zoro? Is he... doing well?"
"He won't die. He just got cut up pretty badly. He's hauling a chest back there." Lin Xuan answered offhandedly, then abruptly changed the subject, his gaze growing heated. "But I'm not here to catch up."
He pressed his hand to his sword hilt and leaned slightly forward, ready to spring.
"I heard someone here knows how to cut steel. What you call... the Breath of All Things?"
Koshiro was silent for a moment before putting on that harmless smile again. "You must be joking, sir. I'm merely a teacher at a country dojo. Such profound principles of swordsmanship..."
"Drop the act."
Lin Xuan interrupted him and pulled a half-finished bottle of rum from inside his coat.
"I can see right through that disguise of yours."
Crack.
Lin Xuan's fingers abruptly tightened, and the thick glass bottle shattered in his palm.
Liquor splashed, but he didn't loosen his grip, letting the glass shards pierce the skin of his palm.
Blood mixed with strong liquor dripped onto the floor.
The next second, a suffocating aura erupted from Lin Xuan's body.
It was Kenpachi Zaraki's pure Spiritual Pressure and killing intent.
The air in the training hall seemed to be sucked out in an instant, then rushed madly back in.
The calligraphy and paintings on the walls flapped violently against them, while bamboo swords clattered from their racks all over the floor.
The smile vanished completely from Koshiro's face.
He felt as though he was no longer facing a young man, but an ancient, savage beast that had broken free of its restraints.
If he didn't do something, this aura would not only destroy the dojo but even affect the entire village.
"You want to learn to cut steel?" Koshiro slowly rested his hand on the bamboo sword at his waist. Though it was only a bamboo sword, the instant he gripped it, it rang like a Famous Sword being drawn from its sheath.
"No."
Lin Xuan drew Murasame, and an eerie red glow instantly lit the dim training hall.
"I want to know whether your softness is tougher, or my hardness is stronger."
There were no more words.
The floor beneath Lin Xuan's feet shattered with a boom. He shot forward like a cannonball, gripping his sword with both hands and bringing it down overhead with the force to split mountains and crack stone.
"If it's to protect my students and the training hall..." A cold gleam flashed across Koshiro's glasses as the bamboo sword in his hand rose to meet the blow with seemingly slow movement. "Then I have no choice but to take this a little seriously."
Clang!
Though it was a clash between a bamboo sword and a steel blade, the resulting crash sounded like two warships colliding.
A visible shock wave swept outward from the two men.
The dojo had lost its roof!
Then, amid a piercing series of snapping timbers, a blast of air lifted the entire thick roof of Isshin Dojo into the sky.
Chapter 22: Blowing the roof off the training hall-now this is true power!
Wood splinters flew everywhere, and sunlight streamed through the opening left by the blown-off roof, illuminating the entire training hall.
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