One Piece: Starting with Breathing Techniques

In a mere instant, the two peerless blades clashed.

At the moment of contact, all things in heaven and earth fell silent.

The next instant, a terrifying shockwave surged and erupted with a deafening roar.

The extreme wind pressure blew their clothes and hairstyles wildly, but it did not shake their sharp and resolute eyes in the slightest.

In an instant, a semi-transparent sound wave spread from the point where the blades clashed.

boom!!!

The towering waves surged and rolled outwards, and the fierce wind blew against my face, stinging my cheeks.

The Ryuga swayed precariously in the turbulent waves created by the attack, momentarily resembling a fragile little boat adrift in a storm.

Robin gripped the handrail tightly, his face filled with shock.

Looking at the catastrophic scene in the distance, she simply couldn't understand it:

"When did Kiro become so powerful?"

Capone Begi remained silent, gazing at the towering waves surging in the distance, and fell into a long silence.

Not long ago, Kilo's strength had not yet reached this level.

However, in just a short period of time, his strength improved by leaps and bounds, reaching such a terrifying level that he could fight on equal terms with such a great swordsman.

If before he could barely see Kilo's back, now he has been left far behind Kilo and can no longer even catch up with him.

The towering spray from this attack slowly fell, enveloping the figures of the two combatants at the center of the battle.

For a moment, the view of everyone on the Liuhua was obstructed, and they could not see what was happening inside at all.

"Kilo!" Robin exclaimed, her eyes filled with worry.

Saul gritted his teeth, about to leap into the center of the water curtain to help, when Capone Bege called him back.

"Don't go in, Saul!"

"I know you're strong, but..."

Looking around for miles, the entire sea area had fallen into chaos.

Capone Bege's expression was grave. "Given their strength, your rash intervention will only make things worse."

"This battle is beyond our control."

Saulo was about to retort, but when he thought of the earth-shattering blow he had just received, he could only remain silent.

"Does he really only have a bounty of 130 million Berries?" Saul murmured.

As a former vice admiral, he had seen countless pirates with bounties of hundreds of millions, but he had never seen anyone as powerful as Kiro.

When they first met, he thought Kilo's bounty was too high, and that he was likely being heavily targeted because of his status as an Ohara scholar.

But now it seems that Kilo is definitely worth far more than 130 million!

He'd believe it if you told him it was 300 million!

If Kiro wasn't deliberately hiding his true abilities, then there's only one possibility...

He grew to an exaggerated degree in a short period of time!

This rate of growth...

A look of shock flashed in Saul's eyes.

In this respect, even those three natural-type monster admirals are probably no match for Kiro.

"Wait, look! The water curtain is dissipating!" Robin exclaimed, causing everyone to gasp and turn their gazes to the center of the battlefield.

As the water curtain dissipated, Kiro's figure suddenly appeared before everyone.

He stood upright as before, showing no signs of injury, and his imposing presence remained undiminished.

He looked disheveled and his breathing was slightly disordered.

Hawkeye's figure had already vanished without a trace.

Therefore, it seems that Kilo has the upper hand!

The crew of the Ryuga immediately cheered with joy.

"That's great!!!" Robin breathed a sigh of relief, the worry fading from her face. "Kilo won!!!"

"Wow!!!" someone couldn't help but cheer.

However, before they could celebrate for long, Caponebeki suddenly and solemnly stopped the cheers.

"Wait, don't rush to judgment."

"Didn't you see Kiro's expression?"

"If he had won, things wouldn't be so tense!"

Everyone quickly observed carefully and found that Capone Bege was right.

Kilo, using moonwalking, stood in the air, staring solemnly at the sea in front of him.

Just as everyone expected, he seemed to have gained the upper hand in that exchange of blows.

Combining the powerful strikes of [Dragon's Light] and [Wildfire], he barely managed to overcome Hawkeye's counterattack and suppress his opponent.

However, the feedback from the slashes coming from my hand was extremely strange.

He sensed that Hawkeye had no intention of killing him, so he was only approaching the situation as a friendly spar.

That last strike was aimed at a spot half a meter in front of Hawkeye; it wouldn't actually hurt him.

Logically, he should have deflected Black Knife Night, then used the momentum to cut open Hawkeye's coat and win the sparring match.

However, the tactile sensation in his hand suddenly stopped responding after colliding with the black sword Yoru.

It seemed as if he had struck the air, leaving Kiro's power nowhere to be released.

Most importantly, no notification sound came from the mental panel.

He didn't beat Hawkeye!

This also means that Hawkeye is not as simple as he has just shown.

The next moment, right where Kilo was staring intently at the sea, a figure leaped onto the coffin boat.

It's Hawkeye, back on the battlefield!

Kilo carefully observed Hawkeye's condition.

Aside from being slightly disheveled after falling into the sea, Hawkeye was completely unharmed, without even a single wound!

Shaking off his wet sleeves, Hawkeye chuckled, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration.

"Is it really possible to achieve this level of skill?"

"Aside from Shanks, you are the most formidable opponent I have ever encountered since I set sail."

"I must say, among all the swordsmen I've ever seen, your talent is among the best, Kiro!"

"What a wonderful day!"

"only......"

Hawkeye abruptly changed the subject, frowning as he looked at Kiro.

"Your swordsmanship is too eclectic."

"I can sense that you just used more than one sword technique, and you've mastered each one very well."

"But haven't you noticed the drawbacks of this approach?"

"In high-intensity combat, a seemingly comprehensive and exquisite sword technique is clearly less powerful than one that specializes in a single skill."

"Especially in a duel with a swordsman, this weakness will be magnified infinitely!"

"I know you might not understand, so next..."

"I will do my best to let you experience it for yourself."

"I've only ever shown this state when I fought Shanks, which means..."

"What you are about to witness is a view beyond the realm of swordsmen!"

Before he could finish speaking, Hawkeye's aura suddenly changed, much to Kiro's astonishment.

That originally extremely fierce aura gradually subsided and became more restrained.

However, this small change made Kilo's pupils shrink.

In his perception, Hawkeye now exudes a sense of threat far greater than before.

The newly acquired Observation Haki was met with a barrage of needle-like danger warnings.

The next instant, Hawkeye's figure vanished from his spot, turning into a blur as he hurtled towards Kiro.

"So fast!"