One Piece Gunslinger

“Oh? But your junior brothers are just apprentices in the dojo. Beating them doesn’t really show any skill,” Li Ang continued with a smile.

Koushirou was completely baffled. Just moments ago, he was praising Zoro, saying things like he was sure to be very strong, but then his next sentence changed, and he started to doubt Zoro's strength. This change was too abrupt.

While Koushirou was completely bewildered and hadn't yet figured out the underlying principle, Zoro was already getting agitated by Leon's barrage of questions and was scratching his head, trying to figure out how to prove himself.

The truth is, scams and lies don't need to be sophisticated; they just need to be a tiny bit more sophisticated than the people being scammed. This is why we often see people in the news being fooled by what we consider to be very basic scams.

Zoro, unlike Koushirou, failed to see the problem in Leon's words. Just like those victims, he naively fell into Leon's trap.

Seeing that things were getting increasingly strange, Koushirou realized that this was a deliberate attempt to provoke Zoro.

Li Ang's original idea was very simple: to stimulate Zoro's senses and make him aware of the dangers of the outside world.

Koushirou, who had noticed something amiss, didn't stop him. It was good to let the child see the world; otherwise, if he stayed in this small village all the time, he might develop the illusion of being invincible and become a frog in a well.

Sure enough, after being provoked by Li Ang again and again, Zoro could no longer hold back: "Then do you dare to have a match with me? I also want to see how powerful people from overseas are."

Plans are in place!

Zoro is still too young. After two years of training, the Zoro in the New World is practically a Zen-like Zoro compared to this one, unlike his impulsive self now.

Originally, Li Ang had planned another set of schemes. If this one didn't work, he would try the next one. If that didn't work, there would be the next set waiting. It was all a set of schemes.

Although Zoro, in a fit of rage, challenged him to a duel, Leon still needed to consult his master's opinion. So he turned to look at Koushirou.

Koushirou was originally a Buddhist-like swordsman, and the most Buddhist of all. Otherwise, he wouldn't have possessed such great skills but instead of achieving something great, he would have chosen to run a small dojo in such a small village, living a life of tranquility and detachment from worldly affairs.

However, Koushirou's laid-back attitude doesn't mean everyone should follow suit. Sooner or later, Zoro will have to go out and make his own way in the world. If Koushirou hadn't been using Zoro's underage status as an excuse to keep him in check, Zoro would have disappeared long ago.

After much deliberation, Koushirou could only sigh helplessly and nod, thus agreeing to this farce.

"Well, that's good too. Let Zoro see the dangers of the outside world, so he won't always think he's the strongest. It will also give Zoro some motivation to train."

Zoro definitely needed some motivation to train properly. Hawkeye was the main source of motivation for Zoro's later rapid increase in strength. However, that was two years later, during his adventures with Luffy.

But Zoro has already shown signs of slacking off in his training, so Li Ang wouldn't mind helping him out since he's passing by. Let's set a small goal first, like surpassing Li Ang in two years.

Chapter 140 Trials and Tribulations

Some people will definitely say, "What the hell is this 'small goal'?" This is clearly on the same level as the "small goal" of "earning 100 million first," they're cut from the same mold.

Indeed, with Li Ang's current strength, defeating a hundred or so Zoros in an instant is no problem at all; it's like child's play. And believe it or not, Li Ang's improvement over the past four years has been considerable.

Putting everything else aside, just take this extra TMP submachine gun. Li Ang upgraded it several times, and the magazine capacity has been increased to one hundred rounds. With a stock attached to the back and resting it on his shoulder, plus Li Ang's strength, the muzzle barely shakes when firing one hundred rounds in a row.

So all he had to do was take out his TMP, sling it over his shoulder, unleash his full Observation Haki, and start firing away. With 100 bullets in a magazine, if the enemies were all at Zoro's level, Leon could guarantee every bullet would hit right between the eyebrows.

Of course, the Zoro mentioned here is the Zoro in front of Leon, not the great swordsman he will become in the future.

However, if that were the case, it wouldn't be very interesting. If Zoro were easily defeated with firearms, he probably wouldn't be convinced. And if Zoro were to come to believe that no matter how well he honed his swordsmanship, he couldn't beat guns and cannons, then he'd be doomed.

It's like in a boxing ring, a fighter suddenly pulls out a gun and kills his opponent. Does that mean he wins? Of course not, and he'd have to be taken to the police station.

Therefore, Li Ang could not do that, but instead had to have a fair and square sword fight with Zoro.

"Sigh." Looking at Zoro warming up in the production area, Leon sighed, "I actually have the leisure to do this kind of thing now. I never dared to dream of doing this before."

“Now that you’ve snuck out, what else wouldn’t you dare to dream of?” Koushirou laughed. “But this time, we also owe you a lot. Zoro has become somewhat lax in his training ever since he couldn’t find any opponents at the dojo. Hopefully, this will reignite his fighting spirit.”

"To be honest, why didn't you handle this yourself? You should have noticed the problem long ago," Li Ang asked, puzzled.

But Koushirou shook his head and said, "My strength is too great; I'm afraid it will have the opposite effect."

Well, Li Ang was completely speechless. What do you mean by "you're too strong"? If you don't show off, we can still be good friends.

That's true. If someone is too strong, it can easily make people feel powerless, thinking that no matter how hard they try, they can't reach that level, and no matter how hard they fight, it's all in vain. Gradually, they lose their fighting spirit.

If it weren't a last resort, Koushirou wouldn't dare take such a gamble; who knows if the consequences would be motivation or depression? If it were to hurt Zoro, he'd have a hard time recovering.

When Zoro later faced Mihawk, he didn't become discouraged but instead became even more motivated, which is nothing short of a miracle. No wonder Mihawk was impressed by him.

A swordsman can lack strength, but he cannot lack fighting spirit. Without fighting spirit, his life will remain the same, and he may even become worse and worse.

Li Ang's arrival is an opportunity. From Koushirou's perspective, Li Ang's physical abilities are inferior to Koushirou's, so the possibility of him possessing Armament Haki is very low. Judging from his movements, he knows a little swordsmanship, but isn't very proficient. He also knows some hand-to-hand combat techniques, probably Fish-Man Karate.

This kind of person is just right for Zoro. There's a significant gap in skill, but it doesn't feel like an insurmountable difference.

Li Ang was unaware that, in the eyes of a true martial artist, his true strength and weaknesses had already been observed quite thoroughly. The veteran was indeed a veteran; he could discern Li Ang's cultivation path and approximate combat strength simply by observing his demeanor and physical characteristics.

If Li Ang knew he had been "seen through," he probably wouldn't care much. Conversely, this is also a unique form of disguise for Li Ang. Just when you think I'm nothing special, I can pull out something big and scare you to death. Swordsmanship and karate are just appearances; the real skill lies in the gun.

"By the way, don't you need to warm up?"

Just as Li Ang and Koushirou were chatting and laughing, Zoro, who was warming up in the middle of the field, said with dissatisfaction, "If you don't warm up first, I won't be responsible if something happens."

"Hey kid, I was just thinking about how to deal with you when you walked right into my trap. Don't blame me for that."

Li Ang immediately adopted a matter-of-fact attitude and said sarcastically, "Haha, if we really go to sea, every battle will be a life-or-death struggle. So when will we have time to warm up? You don't think those people will wait for you to finish warming up before they start fighting you, do you?"

These words abruptly halted Zoro's movements. Zoro was like a broken tape; one second he was smoothly performing his warm-up exercises, the next he was frozen in place.

I almost got a cramp just because I got stuck for a moment.

Zoro had to admit that it was true; besides training in the dojo, one also had to be careful to protect their body. So, in addition to warming up before matches, they sometimes had to wear protective gear.

Once you leave the dojo and venture into the outside world, you'll inevitably face many unexpected situations and various dangers.

Thinking of this, Zoro threw away the wooden sword in his hand, found three real swords, and got into a fighting stance, waiting for Li Ang to come up.

“That’s more like it. What’s the point of using a wooden sword?” Li Ang said, taking out his tactical knife and stepping forward. “Come on, let me see the skill you’ve gained with three knives.”

Because Zoro had a knife in his mouth, he couldn't speak easily, so he could only nod slightly, then crossed his two swords in the middle and ran towards Leon.

"Ghost Slayer!"

Zoro unleashed the power of all three swords simultaneously, and then shouted.

They unleashed their ultimate move right from the start! That's just unfair. What happened to the rule that you only use your ultimate when you're low on health?

Although Zoro hasn't set sail yet, the power of his Three-Sword Style is already beginning to show, and he has already created a powerful technique like Oni-giri.

“I said, if you have trouble speaking, don’t always shout out the names of your moves. It feels awkward.”

Li Ang, with his eyes wide open, used his 30-centimeter-long knife to block Zoro's three 1-meter-long samurai swords, and then couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

Zoro took Leon seriously from the moment he entered the arena; otherwise, he wouldn't have used Oni-giri right away.

Seeing that the Demon Slash had no effect, Zoro withdrew and moved his hands over his head, placing the two swords behind his back instead.

When Leon saw Zoro assume his stance again, he changed his sword-holding posture, switching from a forward grip to a defensive grip.

"Come on, bring on all your special moves, I'll be waiting for you right here."

Chapter 141 Starburst Abandoned Treatment

"Judging from this stance, it seems to be Tiger Hunt. I didn't expect Zoro to have figured out two techniques, Oni Slash and Tiger Hunt, before he even graduated. He's a real genius."

Now that Zoro has used all his strength, Leon must also get serious and decide to decide the outcome in this one strike.

"Tiger Hunt!"

With a roar, Zoro charged towards Li Ang again, wielding three swords.

"Wow, this ability to increase power just by shouting the name of a move? That's so fake." Li Ang complained as he swung his sword backhand, slashing at the three swords Zoro was slashing at.

"If you're calling out the names of the moves, wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't?" With this thought in mind, Li Ang also called out the name of the move.

"Starburst Abandoned Treatment Slash!"

Li Ang had no idea about that ridiculous "Abandon Healing Slash." It was just a regular swing, but this time it wasn't a parry; it was a slash, a slash against a slash.

"Oh? This slash..." Seeing Li Ang swing this slash, Koushirou, who had been squinting, opened his eyes slightly.

"clang!"

Although Li Ang's strike hit three swords, it happened so fast that it was almost as if he had struck all three swords simultaneously.

"Puff puff!"

The next three sounds were indeed the sounds of Zoro's three swords piercing the ground.

"This is impossible!"

Zoro stared at the three broken swords in his hands, incredulous.

“Nothing is impossible, Zoro,” Koushirou said. “I’ve told you before how to cut steel. For a good swordsman, this is something he must master.”

"So there really is a way to cut through steel. They weren't lying to me before."

Hearing Zoro's words, even the gentle and refined Koushirou couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. So, all along you thought I was lying to you.

However, Zoro can't be blamed for this. After all, Koushirou only taught Zoro in theory, while in terms of actual combat training, he was practically left to his own devices, letting Zoro train on his own.

Of course, theory is also important; otherwise, Zoro wouldn't have gotten stronger and stronger after setting sail. Having only theory without practical experience is insufficient. It's the combination of practical experience gained during adventures and the theory learned in the dojo that leads to a natural increase in strength.

"Want to fight again?" Li Ang asked with a smile after slicing away three samurai swords with a single stroke.

"I'm not fighting anymore, I can't win." Zoro knew his own limitations. His sword had already been knocked away, so what was the point of continuing? Continuing to fight would only make him suffer.

"But don't get too cocky. I'll definitely beat you next time I see you. My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman," Zoro said, tidying up his three broken swords.

"Oh?" Li Ang laughed. "Then you'd better work hard. I'm also waiting for the day you can beat me."

Li Ang was serious, not joking. With his mediocre swordsmanship, he might be able to bully beginners, but he'd definitely be defeated by a seasoned pro.

Not to mention Zoro, who had already mastered Armament Haki in the New World, even Zoro, who became one of the Supernovas in the Sabaody Archipelago, was able to defeat Leon.

That's why people say the protagonist's halo is so strong. Luffy and his crew's training and strength growth in the first few months of the Grand Line is more than Li Ang's in the past four years, and Li Ang only achieved this with the help of the system.

If he were to actually meet Zoro after he has grown up, Leon wouldn't mind getting beaten up by Zoro. Losing once isn't a big deal; if it can boost Zoro's confidence, then it's worth it.

"But the power of that strike of yours was truly terrifying. From now on, I'll set my goal as surpassing the 'Starburst Abandoned Healing Slash.' Until one day, I can unleash that same move." Zoro looked at the smooth cuts on the three broken swords in his hands, his fighting spirit rekindled.

"Damn." Seeing Zoro actually say "Starburst Slash" with a serious face, Li Ang felt a bit of a headache. "If I had known, I wouldn't have called it Starburst Slash. I might have just called it Serious Slash."

Just imagine, two years from now, if Zoro were to face Crocodile's first admiral, Mr. 1, the user of the Quick-Quick-Slash Fruit, he could unleash a "Starburst Slash" and finish off his opponent with a single strike.

Faced with such a beautiful scene, Li Ang didn't know what expression to wear.

"But why is it called the Starburst Abandoned Treatment Slash? What does this name mean?" Zoro, unaware that Leon was already regretting it terribly, asked with a learning mindset.

"Xi Ba, I don't even know what this lousy name means, how am I supposed to answer?" Although eight hundred mythical beasts were running through Li Ang's mind, he still had to pretend to be an expert and talk nonsense in a serious manner.

"This Starburst Abandoned Healing Slash, the Starburst refers to its power. Although everyone knows it is impossible to reach the height of a Starburst, it represents the spirit of swordsmen who dare to climb to the peak and pursue faster and stronger."