Although the "universal" maps in the world of pirates vary in scale, they’re generally reliable when it cos to basic directions.
So even though the journey took longer than expected, Sherwin and his group finally arrived at the uninhabited island marked on the map.
"I have no experience in teaching. Lord Sherwin, why don’t you have Sanji ow spar with instead? That way, you can directly experience my Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School, ow."
After landing, Seijuro ow had been swinging his katana around for quite a while before turning to Sherwin with a slightly awkward expression.
"Sounds like you just want to get a good al out of fighting the cook."
Sherwin joked with a grin. Back on the ship, Seijuro ow had finally tasted Sanji ow cooking, and he had showered it with praise at the ti.
Faced with Sherwin teasing, the uptight Seijuro ow could only let out an embarrassed chuckle. He still hadn’t quite loosened up.
That little rascal Sanji ow, on the other hand, crossed his arms with a scowl, tilted his head, and muttered, "Why should I spar with you on Sherwin behalf, ow? I’m a chef—I’m not good at fighting, ow!"
"Sanji right. So it should be the two of us sparring instead," Sherwin said as he pinched the little yellow cat cheek, then walked to the clearing ahead and waved to Seijuro ow.
"Don’t overthink it. Even a samurai should be able to act as a training partner, right?"
Seijuro ow tilted his head and thought for a mont. Sherwin words made sense...
"Then, pardon my offense, ow." Seijuro ow stepped in front of Sherwin, drew his Kikyo Sendōgetsu from his waist, and took a basic middle stance.
Clearly, this cat samurai had no intention of making the first move against his "lord."
Sherwin smiled and didn’t bother with formalities. He drew his Longsword and charged in.
"Go, Brother Sherwin, ow! You too, Brother Seijuro, ow!" cheered the ever-enthusiastic Klee ow from the sidelines, waving her little paws as she rooted for both sides.
Amid Klee ow cheers, one large and one small longsword clashed together. After a brief mont of deadlock, Seijuro ow twisted his blade, guiding Sherwin sword to the side. At the sa ti, he shifted his body in the opposite direction, dodging the redirected slash.
Through that exchange, Sherwin got a rough sense of Seijuro ow current skill level...
In terms of raw strength, Seijuro ow was definitely weaker. Even in terms of speed, Sherwin didn’t think Seijuro ow had the upper hand. The cat real advantage—just like Sanji ow back then—was his small size and a feline innate agility.
However, under Sherwin Observation Haki, those advantages weren’t as pronounced as they had been when he first faced Sanji ow.
But this spar was primarily to see the Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School in action, so Sherwin had restrained his power from the start, attacking only with light, probing strikes.
Seijuro ow clearly understood this as well. After blocking the initial few strikes and fulfilling his "samurai duty," he didn’t wait for Sherwin signal—he took the initiative and launched his counterattack.
"Hmm?"
Sherwin blocked the first strike of Seijuro ow counterattack, but to his surprise, what looked like an ordinary swing carried unexpected force, pushing him back half a step.
That sensation...
"Spirit Blade Slash?"
"Exactly, ow! My Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School was developed by studying and adapting the Hunters combat techniques, ow!"
As Seijuro ow answered, he leapt into the air, twisted his body mid-spin, and swung his longsword in a wide arc, slashing at Sherwin side.
"Feline Sword Style – Rolling Flash, ow!"
"..."
That clearly Spirit Blade: True Roundslash! I know that one too!
And shouldn’t it be called Tornado Flash instead?! Sure, Rurouni Kenshin is an old manga, but Sherwin still rembered a few of the nad moves from it.
Then again... with a na like "Feline Sword Style," calling Tornado Flash "Rolling Cat Flash" kind of makes sense... right?
What followed was Seijuro ow ti to fully showcase his sword techniques, and Sherwin cooperatively shifted into a defensive stance.
"Cat Claw Flash!"
A flurry of slashes with a dual blade, demon mode style—if Sherwin wasn’t mistaken, this one corresponded to Spirit Helm Breaker.
"Cat Pounce Flash!"
A heavy slash delivered while leaping from midair—no doubt it was the longsword users signature move, the Soaring Kick. This one must be the equivalent of Spirit Thrust.
"Hunting Flash!"
The core of the Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School—iaijutsu, or the draw-and-slash technique.
This one seed to be a standard Iai Slash, though Sherwin couldn’t rember which specific manga move it corresponded to.
Although Seijuro ow swordplay was impressive, all of it was clearly derived from Hunter combat techniques.
Even if they were tweaked with unique stylistic flair, Sherwin had already experienced similar things back on the starting island, so up to this point, none of the moves really dazzled him.
But Sherwin wasn’t impatient. After all, from what he rembered, Seijuro ow still hadn’t used the two flashiest moves in his arsenal.
Sure enough, Seijuro ow didn’t let him down. After performing a few more standard techniques, he suddenly shouted,
"Lord Sherwin, be careful, ow! Feline Sword Style: Ultimate Technique – Nine Lives Cat Flash, ow!"
It was another demon-mode flurry attack, but this ti, Seijuro ow wasn’t just wildly slashing like in the earlier versions.
He had refined the chaos into nine precise directions of sword strikes, each one aligned with proper swordsmanship fundantals.
What more, the speed was several tis faster than his earlier Spirit Helm Breaker—it almost looked like he was striking nine tis at once.
Compared to the Nine-Headed Dragon Slash (or in this case, Nine Lives Cat Flash), Sasaki Kojirō fad "Swallow Reversal," which only landed three cuts in one stroke, suddenly seed rather ordinary.
The fact that Sherwin still had the ntal space to be sarcastic ant that Seijuro ow Nine Lives Cat Flash didn’t actually pose a threat to him.
Not only had he already sensed the incoming nine slashes thanks to his active Observation Haki, but with Seijuro ow stubby little arms and the significantly downsized Kikyo Sendōgetsu,
Sherwin simply needed to use a small backstep—his usual evasive maneuver—to cleanly exit the range of the Nine Lives Cat Flash.
However, Seijuro ow truly lived up to his title of swordsmanship genius. Sherwin evasion had been entirely within his expectations.
The mont the technique missed, Seijuro ow sheathed his blade swiftly and maintained that stance.
With a sudden burst of speed, he lunged forward, closing the distance with Sherwin in a single step.
"Feline Sword Style Secret Technique: Soaring Cat Flash ow!"
This strike was faster than the previous Nine Lives Cat Flash and Iai Slash—much faster. So fast that even with Observation Haki active, Sherwin nearly couldn’t react in ti.
But in the end, he still had the advantage in attributes. So although it was rushed, Sherwin managed to block the first slash of the Soaring Cat Flash...
That right—he only blocked the first slash. Whether it was the Soaring Dragon Flash or the Soaring Cat Flash, both had a second strike. In fact, the second strike was the real killing move of this sword technique.
Was this derived from the Divine Iai?
Having taken the second strike head-on with Armant Haki, Sherwin rubbed the spot where he’d been hit, grimacing in pain.
You have to know—even in the inherited mories of so fairly powerful Hunters, not many could perfectly execute the Divine Iai. Yet Seijuro ow, just a single Felyne, not only pulled it off but even improved upon it.
Moreover, the original Divine Iai had a relatively long sheathing ti. Seizing the right mont in battle to unleash a perfect Divine Iai wasn’t such a simple task.
But Seijuro ow Soaring Cat Flash not only shortened the sheathing ti but also greatly boosted the draw speed. And the cost? It was rely reducing the three-stage attack of the perfect Divine Iai to two stages.
In Sherwin eyes, this didn’t even count as a drawback. After all, the first rule of Monster Hunting was not to get greedy with your strikes. If you could reduce the number of attacks while increasing explosive burst damage, Seijuro ow refinent was nothing short of perfection.
So, from every angle, this Soaring Cat Flash was far superior to the Divine Iai—an all-around improvent...
Turns out, learning swordsmanship from a cat really was the right choice!
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