Kuina launched the first attack, disappearing the instant she was enveloped in Armament Haki Wado Ichimonji.
With Vic's current understanding of speed, none of Kuina's movements escaped his eyes; Vic saw them directly.
Mihawk, on the other hand, used his Observation Haki to detect the attack. At this level of strength, the eyes can no longer keep up with each other's speed, so at this moment, he has to rely entirely on Observation Haki. He slightly moved his Black Blade to block Kuina's attack, and the two swords clashed together, producing a metallic clang.
Neither of them was injured and neither took a step back, but the ground beside them suffered, like tofu being sliced by a sharp blade, with cubes of earth and stone flying up under the powerful impact.
This was the result of the two people's sharp Sword Qi intertwining into a net that spread outwards, showing how dangerous this seemingly simple attack was. A single misstep could result in being torn to pieces, and only the patch of ground in front of Vic was spared.
Once the dust settled, the two tacitly stepped back. However, Kuina vanished instantly after her feet touched solid ground. Wado Ichimonji and Kuina's body formed a straight line, and she shot straight at Mihawk's heart like an arrow. The entire space was pierced by the man and his sword, leaving a vacuum passage.
Mihawk's lips curled into a smile, and he simply flipped his sword, using the blade to block his chest.
With Wado Ichimonji was blocked solidly. Mihawk exerted force, deflecting the Wado Ichimonji, and then swung his sword horizontally.
Instead of taking the blow head-on, Kuina ducked to avoid it. In that instant, she thrust out another blade, this time aimed directly at Mihawk's throat, but he dodged it by tilting his head.
However, a large tree ten feet behind Mihawk was instantly pierced through, leaving a hole the size of a fist. If you looked into the hole, you could see the blue ocean, because Kuina's slash had pierced through all the trees along that line, leaving a hole in every single one!
Missing her first strike, Kuina quickly sheathed her knife, gathered her strength, and thrust it out again. Mihawk took a step back and raised his knife to block. He no longer tried to dodge by tilting his head left or right, for fear of breaking his neck, because the knife in Kuina's hand was like a sewing machine needle, rapidly stabbing back and forth towards his head and throat.
Just as the two were exchanging blows, Mihawk's previous strike finally revealed its destructive power. The trees in the grove behind Kuina fell one after another. In a fan-shaped area behind her, all the trees were cut in half, leaving only countless man-high wooden stakes standing there. Mihawk's casual strike was indeed powerful.
"Ding ding ding ding..."
Every thrust from Kuina was precisely blocked by Mihawk's Black Blade. Perhaps finding it too jarring, Mihawk did not maintain the status quo.
As he blocked the attack, he applied additional force, causing the Wado Ichimonji in Kuina's hand to lose its original trajectory. Then, wielding his sword with both hands, he turned and slashed horizontally at Kuina.
Kuina didn't panic. She also held her knife with both hands, raised the blade, and turned to meet Mihawk's attack in the direction the Black Blade was coming from.
Another fierce collision occurred, the surrounding ground was cut open again, and dirt, rocks and dust flew up. Kuina's feet carved two shallow grooves in the ground before she was forced back more than two meters. Mihawk had clearly gained the upper hand in this attack, but Kuina did not suffer any real damage; she was simply forced back.
However, Kuina was not willing to give up. She leaped into the air, tilted her feet upwards, and slashed down at Mihawk with her sword in both hands.
Mihawk naturally blocked the attack, but was pushed backward by a tremendous force, his feet also beginning to plow the ground. This was Kuina's way of avenging the attack she had just suffered!
Mihawk only stopped after crashing his back into a large tree, which shows how much power Kuina used in that move, even borrowing the recoil from Geppo.
Mihawk's combat experience was immense. In the instant when Kuina was overwhelmed and had nowhere to turn for leverage, he directly deflected the Wado Ichimonji and thrust his sword at Kuina's face with one hand. At this moment, Mihawk only had eyes for his opponent, not for women; he had no intention of showing any mercy to a lady.
Kuina wasn't truly without leverage. Seeing the tip of the Black Blade Yoru piercing towards her, she immediately used Geppo and Shave, flashing away from Mihawk in the air in a few moments. It was truly a close call; she almost got stabbed.
Seeing that Kuina had instantly moved away from him, Mihawk did not chase after her. Instead, he repeatedly thrust at the Black Blade Yoru, sending several Flying Slash towards Kuina's location.
Seeing this, Kuina's eyes narrowed, and she swung her sword repeatedly, instantly dispersing the slashes flying towards her. Then, she swung her sword back and launched a Flying Slash in return!
Compared to Mihawk's numerous and small slashes, Kuina's slash, though only one, was no small matter, flying towards Mihawk like a crescent moon.
Mihawk shattered Kuina's attack with a single swing of his sword. The strike appeared casual, but it was by no means easy, as could be seen from Mihawk's slightly out-of-breath chest.
Of course, Kuina was also panting. She had already started when she received those Flying Slash. Fighting as a pure swordsman is very physically demanding. They can't fight like ability users who can stand still and rely on their abilities. Every move and every stance requires mobilizing the body's strength, speed, Sword Qi, and Haki, all of which consume a lot of physical strength.
The two stood there catching their breath for a moment, and as if they had reached some kind of tacit understanding, they unleashed a Flying Slash at the same time!
The two Flying Slash collided instantly, shattering into countless fragments that scattered in all directions. The ground and forest suffered immense destruction, leaving smooth cuts everywhere – a veritable disaster scene. Only the area within a five-meter radius around Vic remained completely unharmed.
The first attack did not result in a clear winner. The two then unleashed five or six more Flying Slash, each one stronger than the last. The ground of the entire island was scraped away by their attacks, more than a meter away. The entire forest was gone, and the trees were chopped into pieces and floated into the sea. Only Vic's small stage remained!
After they stopped fighting, their chests heaved rapidly, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of Kuina's mouth. She had been injured by Mihawk's Sword Qi during the clash.
Vic watched clearly from the sidelines. Kuina was slightly weaker in terms of strength; she had to use Geppo to force Mihawk back, while Mihawk could defeat Kuina with just his own strength.
In close combat, the two are about the same, but close combat is closely related to Observation Haki, so close combat is actually a contest of Observation Haki.
In Observation Haki, Kuina is definitely inferior to Mihawk. Her Observation Haki is currently only at a basic peak state, while Mihawk's Observation Haki can already Future Sight!
Otherwise, Mihawk wouldn't have lasted that long in his fight with Vic, let alone won his sword sparring match with Shanks.
However, Mihawk knew that Kuina's Observation Haki was inferior to his own, so he didn't use his Future Sight to bully the little girl. This allowed the two to fight evenly; otherwise, Kuina would have lost long ago. This is something Kuina needs to improve in the future.