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"Ikki? Interesting! So this is the man Hawkeye ntioned who actually defeated Crocodile," Doflamingo laughed. "This guy not only beat that Sand Crocodile, but he also took a Marine Admiral candidate's sword?!"
"How amusing! That man stole your sword. I wonder what you'll do about him, Vice Admiral Tsuru?" Doflamingo put his hand on his forehead, laughing.
He was clearly happy to hear that Gion's sword had been taken. Though he'd never t Ikki, Doflamingo was already interested in anyone who dared to take Gion's sword.
"Don't worry, Vice Admiral Tsuru," Gion said. "My sword wasn't taken by Ikki. I just lost a bet with him. That's why I left it with him temporarily, and agreed to challenge him for it after a year. Of course, I'll need to beat him in a sword fight to get it back."
"While I did give up my sword for now, it wasn't without rewards. Both Hina and I learned swordsmanship styles that suit us from Ikki. These techniques have helped us a lot."
Gion smiled as she explained, not wanting Tsuru to get the wrong idea about Ikki because of her sword.
"Is that man better than you with a sword?" Tsuru asked, holding her chin thoughtfully.
Swordsn at Gion's level admiring Ikki's skills and admitting his style had improved their strength - this made Tsuru more interested in him.
"Unfortunately, Ikki is clearly cautious around us," Gion said helplessly. "Although we each learned different sword styles from him, it's hard for us to teach these techniques to others."
Hearing this, Tsuru felt a bit disappointed.
"We can discuss this later," she said. "Let's have the Shichibukai eting first. Doflamingo, Mihawk, and Kuma, please follow ."
Tsuru led them toward the eting room.
Mihawk walked up to Gion and fixed his sharp eyes on her face.
"Is that man still in Alabasta now, Momousagi?"
"You an Ikki," Gion smiled. "Unfortunately, when we left, he had already sailed for the next island. If you want to find him, Hawkeye, you'll need to put in so effort."
"That's too bad," Mihawk nodded. "But you ntioned learning swordsmanship from him. I'm very interested in that crescent moon technique you just used. When you have ti, could you tell more about it?"
"Moon Breathing interests the great Hawkeye? Ikki would be happy to hear that," Gion replied. "I'm also very interested in your swordsmanship. If you have ti after the Shichibukai eting, we could have a friendly match."
"That works," Mihawk nodded slightly and walked quickly toward the eting room.
Behind Gion, Doflamingo watched Mihawk leave, growing even more curious about Ikki.
'A swordsman who can teach Momousagi and interest the world's greatest swordsman?' he thought. 'I've never heard of such a man before. Fufufu, I should get to know this person.'
Beside Doflamingo, Kuma closed the book in his hand, his eyes flashing with interest.
'Ikki, the swordsman from East Blue that the boss ntioned. To be better than Momousagi with a sword, and to teach skills she'd trade her own sword for... another person worth watching in this sea.'
An hour later.
Mariejois, training ground.
"Tsuru, what do you think of this Blackbeard that Lafitte ntioned?" Sengoku asked, arms crossed as he stood at the edge of the training ground.
"Blackbeard Marshall D. Teach, the only traitor from the Whitebeard Pirates," Tsuru replied. "I don't know why he wants to beco a Shichibukai, but a man who could hide in the Whitebeard Pirates for so many years must have big ambitions. He might be another Crocodile."
"Sengoku, even if you make him a Shichibukai, watch him closely," she added, looking at Mihawk and Gion fighting in the training ground.
"Let's see if he can bring in a pirate with a bounty over 100 million berries. But Tsuru, are you sure it's okay for Momousagi to fight Hawkeye?"
Sengoku looked worriedly at the duel. He had been surprised when he heard Gion and Mihawk planned to have a sword match. He'd thought Tsuru would stop it, but she seed to approve.
"Gion is a swordswoman after all," Tsuru said. "Of course she's curious about the world's greatest swordsman's strength. Let her have this. And with Hawkeye as her opponent, we can better evaluate the swordsmanship she learned from Ikki. If anything goes wrong, you and I can stop it."
Hearing this, Sengoku nodded reluctantly, then looked at Doflamingo and Kuma standing nearby.
"The Shichibukai eting is over. Don't you two have your own business to attend to?"
Doflamingo smiled. "What's the rush, Sengoku? Since we're all here, watching the fight for a while won't hurt. Besides, Vice Admiral Gion's swordsmanship has really changed. This Moon Breathing seems to have transford her fighting style."
Looking at Gion and Mihawk fighting, Doflamingo's eyes glead with interest. Though not a swordsman himself, he was impressed by Gion's continuous, sharp attacks. He understood that if he were fighting Gion instead of Mihawk, he might not lose, but he'd definitely have trouble.
Though Kuma didn't speak, he was clearly interested in the duel too.
Sengoku narrowed his eyes, knowing he couldn't make them leave...
"Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant!" Gion shouted, swinging several slashes carrying crescent-shaped energy at Mihawk.
'The sa move she used against Doflamingo?' Mihawk thought, swinging his black blade upward to create a massive green slash.
His powerful attack hit Gion's Moon Breathing slash, swallowing it and rushing toward Gion herself.
CLANG!
tal clashed as Gion was pushed back several ters by Mihawk's sword energy.
"You really are Hawkeye," Gion sighed, pointing her sword toward the ground. "The title of world's greatest swordsman isn't just for show."
"Moon Breathing is indeed an elegant style," Mihawk said, pointing his black sword at Gion. "But if that's all it offers, I'll be disappointed."
He clearly wasn't satisfied with what he'd seen.
"I agree," Gion smiled. "To face Hawkeye, I need to use the advanced forms of Moon Breathing."
She tightened her grip on her sword, pouring Armant Haki into the blade. The normally silver sword turned pitch black.
"Advanced Moon Breathing? Let see it," Mihawk raised his eyebrows, swinging another powerful slash at Gion.
Facing Mihawk's attack, Gion took a deep breath.
"Moon Breathing, Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail!"
Gion swung her Haki-coated sword, creating a huge horizontal slash.
BOOM!
Her crescent-shaped slash collided with Mihawk's green flying slash, creating a massive explosion. The training ground floor cracked instantly.
"Now it's getting interesting," Mihawk said with a faint smile, feeling the power of Gion's attack.
Gion's lips curved slightly as she held her sword horizontally.
"Ikki once told that Moon Breathing was created by a sword demon," she explained. "The Eighth Form marks the beginning of the true demonic techniques. To perform these moves, he would first make his sword larger with his power."
"I can't do what Kokushibo did, so I use Armant Haki instead. Luckily, Ikki helped adapt the advanced Moon Breathing forms."
"Get ready, world's greatest swordsman. The real fight begins now."
As soon as she finished speaking, Gion pushed off the ground and appeared in front of Mihawk almost like she'd teleported.
"Moon Breathing, Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Bamboo Leaves!"
Gion swung her Haki-infused sword, unleashing three giant wheel-shaped crescent moon slashes that spun forward, surrounding Mihawk.
"Excellent technique!" Mihawk's lips curved into a smile. "Now I want to et Ikki even more."
His black blade danced to et Gion's attack.
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