c3: The conversation between father and daughter, Dongze who is crazy about brushing proficiency
The sun was setting and the shadows of the two were getting longer and longer.
"Dongze, do you think girls in the world can't reach the top? Just like my father said, I will never be the strongest in my life!"
Although Dongze had said so much to her before, she was still very unconfident in her heart.
Looking at the Yixin Dojo that could be blurred in front of him, Dongze hesitated again and again, remembering that Kuina had an accident because he couldn't let go of his heart, and finally he sighed softly!
"Hey! Kuina! I heard a few names inadvertently in the village! I heard that they are rare peak powerhouses in the sea! If you are really still confused about the future, you can ask the master!"
Kuina replied with some hesitation, "Are they all women?"
This time Dongze didn't explain much, but said directly: "Charlotte Linlin!"
"Tsuru!"
"Gion!"
"Amazon Lily!"
"…"
"Did you really hear it in the village??"
"Kuina! Girls can become the strongest, but they have to pay more. You have to firmly believe that the road is at your feet, and the future can be expected!"
…
The next day, at the Yixin Dojo, when Kuina reappeared, her energy seemed to be different.
It seems that the mind has suddenly completed its transformation.
Koshiro sat kneeling in the middle of the dojo, while the others were practicing the most basic swordsmanship belt, lift, guard, strike, stab, point, collapse, stir, press, chop, cut, and sweep.
Recalling what happened last night, he was shocked!
The Shimotsuki family, who originated from Wano Country in the second half of the Grand Line, was not ordinary to begin with. While they may not compare with the world's strongest swordsman Dracule Mihawk they are still considered to be part of the great swordsman class.
He had heard about those people.
"Charlotte Linlin, once a core member of the Rocks Pirates, possesses monstrous strength, and now rules over Totto Land in the New World as a Yonko!"
"Her combat power is nearly on par with that man Kaido of the Beasts!"
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! This woman is even more terrifying. A veteran of the Navy from the era of Gol D. Roger, she's not only a strategic genius and chief staff officer of the Marines, but also the wielder of the Wash-Wash Fruit a Paramecia that can 'cleanse' people of their will to fight!"
"The other two are also sea-shaking figures. He knows Gion also called 'Momousagi' a swordswoman of incredible talent and a former Admiral candidate, feared even among high-ranking Marines!"
"As for the last Amazon Lily, the island ruled by Boa Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a warrior whose Haki and strength make even Vice Admirals think twice. She's from a land where every warrior is a woman, and they've stood undefeated in their jungle kingdom!"
When Kuina said these names, his scalp was numb not just his scalp, his whole body felt electric he nearly broke out in a cold sweat.
But when he heard Kuina say she only wanted to know who these people were and had never seen them in person, he was relieved.
Of course, as a great swordsman himself, Koshiro couldn't just lie to her. So when the truth about these legendary women was revealed to Kuina, her mindset was completely transformed.
But afterwards, when Koshiro quietly reflected on the whole event again, he slowly realized something was off.
Although these women were all legends on the seas, in the East Blue the most peaceful of the four oceans news like that wouldn't just be floating around in a village.
What Kuina claimed about hearing these names in the village was clearly a cover-up. So after some gentle but persistent questioning, Kuina finally spoke the name that stunned him.
"Dongze!"
Koshiro didn't have much impression of Dongze. In his memory, he only knew that the child seemed to be very diligent, but there was nothing outstanding about it. He had always been quite satisfactory.
Just a few days ago, he lost to Zoro, who had just entered the dojo for less than a year. Dongze's name was still remembered by him because he lost to Zoro.
But this time, he could see that the other party seemed to be closer to Kuina.
Others don't know what those names represent, but it doesn't mean he doesn't know. In other words, if Dongze also knows the meaning of these names names like Charlotte Linlin, Vice Admiral Tsuru, and Gion Momousagi it means that this child has an extraordinary background or insight far beyond the ordinary East Blue knowledge.
The round mirror reflected a bright light. When Koshiro looked at Dongze, an ordinary disciple, again, he still didn't find anything outstanding.
Ordinary basic moves were dull and devoid of spirituality, and they didn't have any insights of their own.
Unlike Kuina and Zoro, both of whom had already started to form their own sword styles Kuina had taken a deft, technical path, refining her swordplay into swift, fluid precision; while Zoro, driven by fierce ambition and physical dominance, followed a relentless and powerful route, even developing his own dual-sword style early on. With his innate talent and resolve, his future was also promising!
"Could it be that I was thinking wrong?"
Koshiro looked at the little guy in front of him and couldn't help but fall into deep thought but what about those names?
At the moment when Koshiro was in a trance, Dongze's eyes suddenly lit up slightly. He didn't practice the thirteen sword forms alternately like the others, but focused solely on the stab technique. At this very moment, as Koshiro's attention returned, the nature of the stab changed in an instant.
When Koshiro came back to his senses, seeing Dongze's stab, his eyes nearly popped out.
"Impossible!"
"How could such a thing happen?"
Although this technique still looked rigid on the surface, it was fundamentally different from before. If the previous strikes were lifeless and mechanical, then this stab now had awakened something as though a dead object had suddenly been given life!
This kind of awakened spirituality was distinct from Kuina and Zoro. Normally, after reaching 10% mastery in basic moves, one needs to build upon it with personal understanding and style some refine force and timing, some use footwork and rhythm, others harness breathing, muscle memory, and even spinal motion to connect the entire body into a single motion. They sharpen through trial and error, millimeter by millimeter.
But Dongze's stab had skipped that entire middle phase he had leapt straight from mechanical repetition to spiritual mastery.
For a swordsman, this is the leap from a mortal to a warrior enlightened one step to the sky. That's why Koshiro was so shocked.
However, he didn't know what had just happened to Dongze!
Although proficiency can be improved, not every repetition adds to it. Repeating poor form is meaningless Dongze had noticed this yesterday. So once his stab reached a bottleneck, he stopped wasting time and began to study how to improve his swordplay with deliberate adjustment.
He combined everything he knew fine-tuning his breathing, adjusting his stance and angle, controlling his power, and focusing his mental state.
That last strike was his breakthrough. A stab that shattered the bottleneck a moment of true sublimation. In the wider world, someone who can elevate basic forms to this level is already worthy of being called a swordsman.
At that moment, a faint red system-like notification hovered in the invisible light screen before his eyes:
"Basic Swordsmanship – Stab 1000/1000"
But that was the only message. Nothing else.
Dongze sighed softly in his heart. After several years, he had finally practiced the stab form of the basic sword technique to perfection.
According to his speculation, perhaps only after mastering all thirteen basic moves to this level could he unlock the next realm perhaps even awaken another evolution in his swordsmanship system.
But there were also shortcuts.
There was Koshiro the master of the dojo whose strength Dongze couldn't read at all. If he humbled himself and got beaten by him every day, maybe he could force open the next stage early. But he also knew a tall tower must rise from solid ground. Without a firm foundation, the path above would collapse.
So in the end, he gave up the risky idea.
The thirteen moves must be mastered one by one that's the correct path, and that's why he made that decision.
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