"What the heck is going on here?!"
After the initial shock faded, Perona turned to Robin.
"Robin, let's go take a look!"
Robin said nothing and immediately rushed toward the eastern side of the island.
Meanwhile—
Arashi and Mihawk's battle had already shifted locations.
After both infused their swords with Armament Haki, every clash of their blades became even more tyrannical and devastating.
Each collision sent terrifying shockwaves rippling outward, shredding everything in the surrounding area.
As the battle continuously moved across the island—
The mountains and forests on Ohara's eastern side were inevitably dragged into the destruction.
Huge swaths of forest collapsed beneath their slashes before being pulverized into fragments by the violent sword energy.
BOOM—!!!
Once again, Arashi and Mihawk collided head-on.
Arashi was blasted backward—
While Mihawk was sent flying like a cannonball straight into a mountainside behind him.
"Again! Again! AGAIN!!!"
Arashi's fighting spirit had been completely ignited by Mihawk.
Watching Mihawk crash backward, Arashi suddenly kicked off the ground and shot forward like lightning.
At this moment—
Arashi was no longer the carefree traveler constantly claiming he disliked fighting and killing.
Having been fully drawn into battle by Mihawk, he had transformed into a complete battle maniac.
He discarded every flashy technique.
From beginning to end, all he did was charge forward and collide head-on.
Facing Arashi's utterly berserk combat style, Mihawk's battle intent climbed to unprecedented heights—
But the longer they fought, the more shocked he became.
Right now, Arashi resembled a pure combat machine.
Tireless.
Relentless.
The most terrifying part was—
Arashi never once chose to avoid Mihawk's attacks.
The instant Mihawk swung his sword, Arashi immediately closed in like a shadow and met the strike directly with brute force.
This was the first time Mihawk had ever seen such a crazy side of Arashi.
Yet—
The more Arashi fought without reservation, the more excited Mihawk became.
Because this was exactly the kind of battle he had always longed for.
Now that Arashi—the laid-back traveler—had finally entered a true battle frenzy—
Mihawk naturally intended to fight to the very end.
Their battlefield continued shifting.
By the time Perona and Robin arrived—
The two had already fought all the way to the summit of the eastern mountain.
Everything from the shoreline to the mountaintop had been completely destroyed by their battle.
Flowers.
Grass.
Trees.
All reduced to fragments.
Even the uneven hills along the way had been flattened clean.
"That's… Mihawk?!"
Standing at the shore and seeing the figure battling Arashi atop the mountain, Robin's eyes tightened slightly.
She hadn't expected Mihawk to arrive at Ohara too.
And even more unexpectedly—
Arashi had actually agreed to fight him seriously.
So even powerful people couldn't resist seeking worthy opponents after all?
"This is way too crazy!"
Perona stared at the massive path of destruction carved straight toward the mountain summit.
"If they keep fighting like this, the whole island's gonna get destroyed!"
"There's nothing we can do about it."
Robin shook her head with a smile.
"After all, Mihawk's been wanting to spar with Arashi ever since East Blue. Now that Arashi finally agreed to fight him seriously, there's no way Mihawk would let this chance go."
"Huh?"
Perona's eyes suddenly lit up.
"If Arashi beats Mihawk… doesn't that mean Arashi's the real World's Greatest Swordsman?!"
Robin blinked thoughtfully before nodding.
"You could say that."
"But Arashi definitely wouldn't care about titles like that."
Looking toward the distant battlefield, Robin smiled.
"It doesn't look like they'll stop anytime soon. Let's go back and cook."
—
On the mountaintop—
Mihawk raised his sword to block Arashi's slash.
Looking at the nearly crazed Arashi right before him, Mihawk slightly lifted his head.
"So you're actually the one who loves fighting the most."
"Really?"
Arashi tilted his head slightly.
Then both his hands tightened around the hilt.
In an instant—
The originally pitch-black blade suddenly transformed into a dark crimson color.
Like a blood-drinking demon sword.
Strange and terrifying.
Seeing the sword suddenly turn dark red, Mihawk's pupils contracted sharply.
The next second—
An overwhelmingly terrifying pressure erupted from the blade.
Then—
Mihawk completely lost control and was blasted backward.
Before he could recover—
Arashi appeared before him like a shadow.
The crimson blade descended once more from above, carrying terrifying sword energy.
"So fast!!!"
Mihawk's face changed dramatically.
He had barely stabilized himself after being blown away, and now it was already impossible to dodge.
In desperation, he could only hurriedly raise his Haki-coated sword to block.
BOOOOM—!!!
The two swords collided again with a deafening explosion.
Terrifying sword waves erupted outward once more.
After the clash—
Mihawk was blasted backward again.
Before his feet could even steady—
Cracks suddenly spread across his sword.
Then—
CLANG!
The blade shattered into pieces.
Seeing the Haki-infused sword in his hand destroyed by Arashi's strike, Mihawk stared upward in shock.
"How… is this possible?!"
After a brief moment of disbelief—
Understanding dawned on him.
"Armament Haki…"
That was the only explanation.
The moment Arashi's blade turned crimson, Mihawk had already sensed something wrong.
But Arashi gave him no time to think.
Everything happened in a flash.
By the time Mihawk realized what was happening—
His sword had already shattered.
In the world of swordsmen—
Armament Haki was essential.
The strength of one's Haki directly determined the strength of one's slashes.
Clearly—
Mihawk's Armament Haki was at least one level below Arashi's.
Because without overwhelming superiority in Haki, Arashi could never have shattered a Haki-coated blade so completely.
After realizing this, Mihawk tossed away the broken hilt in his hand.
"I lost."
"It's not that you lost."
Arashi sheathed his sword and spoke seriously.
"You just underestimated me."
"You didn't expect my Armament Haki to be stronger than yours."
"So in terms of swordsmanship, I didn't beat you."
"I beat your Haki."
Then Arashi suddenly grinned.
"Wow, I never thought you'd be lopsided too, Mihawk!"
"That won't do."
"You've gotta train your swordsmanship, but your Haki needs work too!"
What the hell do you mean 'lopsided'?!
Mihawk's mouth twitched.
He wanted to argue—
But felt strangely powerless to do so.
After all—
The winner could say whatever he wanted.
"A loss is a loss. No excuses."
Mihawk ignored Arashi's teasing.
Not only was he not discouraged by defeat—
His excitement burned even stronger.
"This is only the beginning of our sparring."
"When we meet again… we fight again!"
Seeing Mihawk getting fired up again, Arashi immediately waved him off.
"Forget that nonsense."
"Don't forget you promised to help me clear farmland and plant crops!"
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