Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 295 The 16th Xia Zuo is a blonde girl with silver eyes.

Xia Zuo asked curiously, "Knowing that Shanks has a connection with the Celestial Dragons, do you still consider him a friend?"

Hawkeye had recovered considerably. He sat up and answered decisively, "Shanks is my friend because I like him, and it has nothing to do with who he is."

Then he turned the question around and asked, "And you?"

Shaza thought for a moment and replied, "The future Celestial Dragons are my enemies, but until Shanks officially chooses his side, he is my friend."

Then the two looked at each other, confirmed that the other was not being insincere, and couldn't help but smile at each other.

[Great, Hawkeye/Shazo can become a best friend.]

Xia Zuo chuckled twice, then said, "The Five Elders always plan carefully before acting. They like to arrange something for a long time before suddenly launching it, often catching the Navy off guard."

He looked at Hawkeye and asked, "Based on my understanding of the Five Elders, they wouldn't appoint just you. Do you know anyone else who has become a Shichibukai?"

Hawkeye replied, "I saw two other great pirates who were also members of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

"Bartholomew Kuma, the tyrant king of the Sorbet Kingdom, is the strongest fighter closest to me in terms of power; he must have eaten some kind of Devil Fruit."

Xia Zuo nodded, realizing that this was the strongest member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

Bartholomew Kuma is a flesh-puff person who ate the Paw-Paw Fruit. He has cat-like paw-like paws on his palms, which can deflect various attacks and defenses.

Kuma has developed the Paw Paw Fruit to a whole new level, elevating the ability to "bounce away" to a conceptual level, capable of bouncing away pain and fatigue, which are concepts without any physical form.

Of course, although Kuma has mastered the Paw-Paw Fruit, his strength is still far inferior to Hawkeye Mihawk, and he is not the strongest among the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

However, Kuma is actually controlled by the World Government, which makes him very easy to command. Therefore, most of the future achievements of the Seven Warlords of the Sea are due to Kuma's battles.

Hawkeye continued, "The second is Donquixote Doflamingo, the Heavenly Demon. I've heard he's also the King of Dressrosa."

"However, this guy doesn't seem like a pirate, at least not an ordinary pirate."

"As far as I know, he is famous because he robbed the Celestial Dragons of the Heavenly Gold, which is something even the Pirate Emperor wouldn't dare to do."

"Moreover, his position as King of Dressrosa was likely obtained through illegitimate means, but neither the World Government nor the Navy has made any statement about it."

Xia Zuo, seemingly unconcerned, revealed Doflamingo's biggest secret: "Doflamingo, this flamingo, is a Celestial Dragon."

""

Hawkeye's pupils contracted slightly: "A Celestial Dragon?"

Xia Zuo nodded: "The surname Don Quixote was Don Quixote Saint a few years ago."

"To be precise, Doflamingo is a Celestial Dragon who has been stripped of his privileges. Although he no longer has privileges, he is still a Celestial Dragon, and no one dares to take his life."

"This is why he can rob the heavenly gold with impunity and plot to seize a country without being punished."

Hawkeye snorted coldly: "I see. Then I'm relieved."

"If he dares to provoke me next time, I can confidently chop him up."

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "Just cut him down however you want. As long as you don't kill him in public, it won't provoke the general anger of the Celestial Dragons, and there won't be any consequences."

Having shared the important information about the new world, Hawkeye asked, "My second question, which I've wanted to ask for a while, is: how is your sword energy shaped?"

Xia Zuo's eyes widened, and he feigned surprise, saying, "Good heavens, it's coming straight for my core technique."

Hawkeye was startled by Xia Zuo and asked, "Can't I answer this question?"

Xia Zuo replied, "Just kidding, there's really nothing that can't be said in the way of the sword."

He then explained to Hawkeye the techniques for mastering the flying slash and reshaping the sword energy, even detailing how he had mastered them step by step.

Xia Zuo's technique originates from Nanto Seiken Mizuchoken. Although the power level of this externally destructive fist is not high, its control technique has been honed to near perfection.

Years ago, Xia Zuo used the Water Bird Fist to control the freezing air, creating many combat techniques that combined the power of cutting and freezing.

During this period, he combined the Six Meridian Divine Sword mastered by Xiao Ao Xia Zuo, completely getting rid of the ice as a medium, directly controlling the activated flying slash sword energy, and then restraining the explosive power of the slash through shaping, which led to the birth of the Ten-Finger Sword Energy Giant Sword.

Eagle Eye listened intently to Xia Zuo's explanations of various techniques for controlling sword energy, his mind constantly flashing with inspiration for combining different sword skills.

Although Hawkeye doesn't have ice as a transitional medium, he believes he can solve this problem. Even if he wants to directly control the sword energy in one step, he is absolutely confident that he can do it in a short time.

Mihawk was extremely satisfied with today's harvest.

After Xia Zuo explained all the techniques, Hawkeye asked a dozen detailed questions about the techniques, and he already had a clear training method in mind.

Hawkeye sighed, "Ah, this harvest is too great. I'll need at least six months to process it, maybe even longer."

"The gathering scheduled for three months later has to be postponed."

Xia Zuo asked, "If you start cultivating again, there will be a period of decline. Will you have to return to the new world?"

"Actually, you can find an uninhabited island in the East China Sea. I can help you with food, medicine, clothing, housing, and everything else."

Hawkeye shook his head and said, "No, I have my own cultivation habits. In the safe East Sea, I can't feel the danger of death at all, which greatly affects my concentration and cultivation progress."

"Don't worry about my safety. The Grand Line is where I was born, and that is my true home."

When animals encounter danger, they return to their dens, and when people encounter danger, they always feel safer when they return to their hometown.

Xia Zuo stopped trying to persuade Hawkeye, and the two chatted and laughed for a while before deciding to end the meeting.

Throughout the entire process, Xia Zuo never asked Hawkeye why he joined the Seven Warlords of the Sea, just as Hawkeye never asked Xia Zuo why he stayed in the East Blue.

However, when Xia Zuo saw his coffin boat when the two broke up, he couldn't help but laugh again.

Such a small boat, with only one mast and one sail, is not much bigger than a canoe and does not look like a vehicle capable of crossing the sea.

Every time Xia Zuo sees it, he can't help but conjure up a scene in his mind.

Hawkeye Mihawk took off his shirt, revealing his perfectly sculpted muscles, and used the Black Blade Night as an oar, rowing vigorously on the calm sea in the windless zone.

The contrast in this scene is so striking that Xia Zuo can't help but laugh.

Even though he knew that Hawkeye navigated by cleaving the sea with his sword and using the recoil from the flying strikes to propel the coffin boat forward, he still couldn't erase the comical image of Hawkeye struggling to row.

Because they had discussed this topic before, Hawkeye knew what Xia Zuo was laughing about, especially since his disheveled appearance was indeed embarrassing.

But Hawkeye was no match for Shazo. He could only express his dissatisfaction by rolling his eyes, then boarded his coffin boat, wielded the black sword "Night" to stir up towering waves, and propelled his small boat away from the island at high speed.

With Hawkeye gone, there was naturally no need for Shazo to stay on this active volcanic island; the pungent smell of sulfur was unpleasant.

He pushed off with his legs, creating a huge crater in the ground, and shot into the sky like an arrow, transforming into a not-so-bright meteor as he sped off to the north.

As Xia Zuo's absorption of air became faster and faster, he was able to control the intensity of air friction during flight, reducing the transition luminescence phenomenon caused by high-temperature ionization of air.

Hawkeye felt the immense impact behind him, turned around and saw the shooting star soaring into the sky. The envious glint in his eyes flashed only briefly before disappearing completely.

Jorah Mihawk's will was as firm as steel; he might envy Shazor's ability to fly, but it wouldn't affect his emotions.

With each strike of his sword against the sea, Mihawk's small boat accelerated, gradually making up for the shortcomings he had discovered during his sparring with Shazo.

He even began to try to control the sword energy he unleashed using the techniques Xia Zuo had described.

It was difficult and there was no progress, but Hawkeye believed that as long as he persisted, he would soon master the skill and create his own greatsword of sword energy.

At that time, he will definitely be able to force Xia Zuo to show his true abilities.

Hawkeye, relying on his intuition, determined that the swordsmanship that Shazo had displayed was not his true strength, and he was very curious about the brigadier general's real combat power.

The vastness of the East China Sea is incomparable to the Grand Line. Even with a fast enough flight speed, it was already the second day of the vacation when we returned to the 77th Branch.

Apart from the marines on duty, all the marines had a great time during this rare holiday.

The sun had barely risen when a new round of revelry began: dancing, barbecue, wheat juice, rum, laughter—everyone was awakened by the joy and joined in.

Xia Zuo checked the various posts and sentry posts responsible for duty, and only after confirming that his branch had not relaxed its basic vigilance did he feel at ease and return to his bedroom to go to sleep.

A full year later, he returned to the dream world of the dimension once again.

"A new person has joined, and it's a girl named Xia Zuo!"

Upon hearing this, the drowsy Xia Zuos were no longer sleepy. They opened their eyes wide and looked around intently, searching for the new Xia Zuo.

The first girl in Xia Zuo, Misaka Xia Zuo, had lightning flashing in her eyes, looking like a lightning mage, and a suspicious clear liquid was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

As expected, Xia Zuo and his friends were not disappointed. A newcomer had arrived, and she was a charming beauty with long, light blonde hair. In particular, her pair of silver eyes possessed a captivating and sharp beauty.

With her pale blonde hair and silver eyes, Xia Zuo felt a jolt in his heart, as if he were seeing a world filled with tragedy.

Marvel's Xia Zuo was the first to speak: "Thank goodness it wasn't a red-eyed girl, or we'd be in big trouble."

Before the others could guess, the silver-eyed Xia Zuo spoke up: "No need to guess anymore, I've transmigrated to the world of Claymore and become..."

A silver-eyed witch who hunts demons.

This is a rather old and somewhat niche anime. Even though Claymore Natsume gave the answer, the Natsume and his friends still had to rack their brains to remember for a long time before they could recall the basic settings of the Claymore world.

It was a bleak and hopeless world, even resembling a testing ground.

The demons are impossible to eradicate no matter how many times they are killed. The organization has the technology to transform humans into half-demons, but it cannot develop a fungus that targets demons, nor is it willing to create more half-demons to wipe out all the demons at once.

Despite spending hundreds or thousands of years, the progress in modification technology has been almost negligible, with no improvement in the success rate. The strength of a half-demon depends entirely on the quality of its original body.

Half-demons have an extremely short "shelf life," not only because they can go out of control and become awakened beings, but also because the organization does not allow half-demons to live for more than ten years.

However, what impressed Xia Zuo the most was the anime Claymore. The female lead was not as charming as the supporting characters who only appeared a few times, and the male lead was completely absent.

Xingji Xiazuo frowned and asked, "Why did you choose to become a half-demon? This is a path of no return."

Greatsword Xia Zuo sighed, "I can't help it, I'm hungry."

"I was born in a time when the Republic was just beginning to take off, and I never went hungry in my life. I really didn't know that hunger could be so terrifying."

She raised her hands and almost murmured, "At the worst point, I only ate 7 [units of food] in a whole month."

Each meal consisted of only a fist-sized piece of dark bread, so hard it could break your teeth.

"But I still bit into the bread, mixed with the blood from my gums, and swallowed it, but my stomach still felt like it was on fire, driving me crazy."

"I wish I could—I wish I could tear my own flesh apart."

Greatsword Xia Zuo took a deep breath and continued, "So, I sold myself to the organization, underwent training and surgery, and luckily became a half-demon."

"Training is tough, surgery is painful, and life seems hopeless, but at least I can eat my fill. Compared to the despair of hunger, I can endure all of that."

All the Natsukos sighed, and Misaka Natsuko even couldn't help but shed tears.

Hokage Natsu said, "Everything will be alright now that we've made it to this dream world alive."

"Once you share everyone's power, the so-called demon flesh and blood will no longer be able to threaten you, and may even be destroyed instead."

Greatsword Natsuko smiled. Her smile was beautiful, a blend of heroic spirit and sweetness: "This is the turning point I've been waiting for for ten years."

All the Xia Zuo placed their hands on the bronze table. The new Xia Zuo immediately understood the purpose of this and placed his hands on it as well.

Memory and power began to flow.

Unsurprisingly, Greatsword Shaza's output is weak, and his memory and strength are both quite poor.

Surprisingly, the Taoist Xia Zuo became the biggest source of power output. The God Space truly lives up to its reputation as the fastest way to increase combat power. Apart from dying quickly, it really has no other problems.