Hawk-Eyes, on the other hand, was a little baffled. Having sailed the seas for years, he could naturally tell that Xia Chen was using the Six Powers.
And he had mastered them to an exceptionally high level.
But...
Wasn't it a little inappropriate for a pirate to be so proficient in the Navy's techniques?
Could... this man be a Navy spy?
With that thought in mind, Hawk-Eyes voiced his question.
"Oh, you mean this!" Xia Chen once again began making things up out of thin air.
"Like I said before, see that Straw Hat Boy over there?"
"His grandfather is Garp, so I learned all my Six Powers from Garp!"
"The Navy hero... Garp's grandson?"
Hawk-Eyes was stunned to hear that. He hadn't expected Straw Hat Boy to have that kind of background.
But then another question occurred to him.
"Why would the grandson become a pirate when his grandfather is in the Navy?"
"Who knows!" Xia Chen shrugged.
Then he launched another relentless series of attacks at Hawk-Eyes.
Every clash between them produced an enormous shock wave, sending wave after wave surging across the sea.
Suddenly, Xia Chen narrowed his eyes, used Soru to appear before Hawk-Eyes in an instant, and tossed his staff high into the air.
He clenched both hands into fists and aimed them at Hawk-Eyes.
"Rokuogan!"
An immensely powerful impact burst from Xia Chen's fists and hurtled toward Hawk-Eyes.
Hawk-Eyes held his blade horizontally before himself, blocking the devastating blow. Even so, its force pushed his feet back more than ten meters.
A trace of excitement entered his eyes as he looked at Xia Chen. Opponents this strong were rare!
Then Hawk-Eyes held his blade upright before himself and slashed down hard.
An enormous green flying slash shot toward Xia Chen.
"Holy crap!"
The sight nearly scared Xia Chen's brains out of him, and he hurriedly dodged aside.
The flying slash plunged straight into the sea. Nothing happened.
A second later, the sea began splitting down the middle, revealing an empty stretch thousands of meters long and hundreds of meters deep.
Even after more than ten seconds, the water hadn't flowed back. Only after several dozen seconds did it surge violently inward.
This created several small whirlpools and another powerful surge of waves, pushing the Baratie even farther away.
"Awesome! Xia Chen's so strong!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with stars.
At the same time, quite a few others were reacting just like Luffy.
Everyone stared, dumbstruck, at the battle between the two.
"Th-this..."
"How can monsters like these exist in the world?"
Even Zoro, who knew Xia Chen better, was staring wide-eyed.
The power Hawk-Eyes was using now was who knew how many times greater than what he had used against him.
Yet Xia Chen could still trade blows evenly with him under these circumstances.
Had he been hiding this much strength all along?
Poor Zoro had thought Xia Chen was only a little stronger than him. Now it seemed...
The world really was so far beyond him!
Nami was also staring blankly at the scene, unable to calm down for a long time.
She hadn't expected Xia Chen, who spent every day with her, to possess such strength either. With power like this, even...
Suddenly, Nami seemed to think of something, and her expression darkened.
After a long while, she gritted her teeth and made a decision.
Her own problems were hers to solve!
Then, while no one was paying attention to her, she sneaked around and boarded the Going Merry...
Meanwhile, Don Krieg and his men were also filled with horror.
After experiencing such godlike power, a flicker of lingering fear rose in his heart.
Had he... been thinking of killing Hawk-Eyes just now?
Hiss... what kind of suicidal idea was that?
In an instant, all he wanted was to escape this place as quickly as possible, or he'd be done for.
With that thought, he turned his gaze toward the nearby Baratie.
He needed that ship!
And so, Don Krieg waved his hand and addressed the pirate underlings behind him:
"Men, while those two monsters are still fighting, let's hurry and seize that ship!"
"Charge!"
In the air, Xia Chen looked down at the churning sea below, still shaken.
Luckily, he'd dodged fast enough. Otherwise, taking that hit would have left him in a world of pain!
While he was still reeling from the power of Hawk-Eyes's attack, Hawk-Eyes's voice came from below.
"Boy, don't get distracted!"
Xia Chen turned his head, only to see another enormous flying slash hurtling toward him.
At this distance, he no longer had time to dodge.
In that case... Xia Chen narrowed his eyes. Gripping his staff tightly with both hands, he roared:
"Thunder... Bagua!"
Xia Chen swung his staff violently, meeting the flying slash head-on.
"Hah!"
After several seconds of deadlock, Xia Chen let out a roar and knocked the flying slash straight up into the sky.
As for why Xia Chen used the name of Teacher Kaido's move?
All he could say was... he had no choice!
He was hopeless at naming things. Any name he came up with could never sound as badass as Teacher Kaido's moves.
Besides, a spiked club and an iron staff were both sticks. He could perform all of Teacher Kaido's moves with an iron staff.
So...
Teacher Kaido had better not accuse him of pirating his moves in the future.
Without hesitation, Xia Chen charged at Hawk-Eyes again, and the two resumed their fierce battle.
Some time later...
After another clash, the two stood facing each other. Even Hawk-Eyes was showing some signs of exertion, panting slightly.
Xia Chen, on the other hand, looked rather miserable. Countless blade wounds covered his body, and his clothes were in tatters. Blood kept seeping from him, leaving him drenched in red.
His stamina was also exhausted, and he gulped down air in great, heaving breaths.
Hawk-Eyes looked at Xia Chen and said, "You're covered in wounds, and you have little stamina left. Do you still want to keep fighting?"
"Covered in wounds?" Xia Chen chuckled.
"Are you sure?"
As his words fell, the wounds on Xia Chen's body began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before long, the smaller wounds had vanished, while the larger ones had been reduced to pale marks.
Zoan Devil Fruits generally granted strong recovery abilities, let alone a Zoan Devil Fruit with mythological qualities like his.
To put it bluntly, as long as the damage wasn't particularly severe, he might recover from it while still fighting.
And as his Devil Fruit abilities grew stronger in the future, his recovery would become even more powerful.
Even regrowing severed limbs wasn't out of the question!
His was the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, after all!
But there was still one very real problem: he truly didn't have much stamina left.
That wouldn't recover with the passage of time. It would only keep dwindling.
Hawk-Eyes also looked surprised at the sight.
"Is that... a Devil Fruit ability?"
"You could say that!" Xia Chen nodded, then continued:
"I have one final move. I'd like you to give me some pointers!"