Mihoko bit her red lips, a mixture of joy and shame on her face. Her sudden breakthrough into a new realm of strength made her feel like a fish in water, her power soaring to a new level. But the act that triggered it—the embarrassing gasp—was not something she could easily forget. Seizing the moment, she gathered her momentum and launched her fiercest attack.
"Hiru Shadow!" she cried out. A brilliant white light erupted from her blade, so dazzling that it briefly outshone the sun itself. It was a pure force of destruction, and Hawkeye's senses flared with alarm.
As the world's greatest swordsman, he quickly recovered from his momentary lapse, tightening his grip on his black blade. The hats of both combatants were torn away by the sheer force of their power. With her hair now flowing freely, Mihoko looked like a beautiful queen of swords, her momentum unyielding.
The space between them began to warp and collapse before their blades even touched. Then, with a sound like thunder, blue and white energy exploded outward. The sky, the sea, and the land were all affected, with cracks splitting the ground and a massive tidal wave surging toward Loguetown. It was a cataclysm.
The two separated with a deafening "boom," landing back to back on the shattered ground.
On the warship, Rodin's eyes were fixed on a virtual panel that only he could see. Mihoko's strength rating had changed from three-and-a-half stars to a full four stars, though it flickered with some instability. He now had a great swordsman as a subordinate.
Crocodile watched the scene, her knuckles turning white. The gap between her and the two great swordsmen was now painfully clear, and her goal of defeating Hawkeye seemed more distant than ever. Tashigi stared at the chaos, her heart a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. "Is... is it over?" she stammered.
In the distance, a cameraman, who had been documenting the battle, was overcome with glee. "Hawkeye must have won!" he muttered, a common belief among the spectators. But a moment later, a spray of blood erupted from Hawkeye's chest. He sealed the wound with his Haki, but the internal sword energy continued to wreak havoc, forcing him to his knee.
Mihoko, aside from a few stray strands of hair, appeared unharmed. However, her cheeks were slightly puffed out, as if she was holding something back.
"How is it possible... the world's greatest swordsman lost?!" the cameraman screamed, his disbelief turning into pure ecstasy. He grabbed his camera and ran, a nude backside bouncing with every step. "This is it! This is the news that will shake the world!"
Tashigi's mouth was agape. A female swordsman had defeated the legendary Hawkeye! Her admiration for Mihoko was now boundless.
Rodin, ever readt, rushed to Mihoko's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping her up.
"Something's wrong," Mihoko said, a trickle of blood escaping her lips. The injury was internal, not external. "I'll get you out of here. The Marines are coming," Rodin said, scooping her up in a princess carry. The feel of her body was strangely soft yet incredibly strong. Rodin found himself wondering at the unique physiology of this gender-bent world.
"Captain... I'm a woman, and you're holding me like this?" Mihoko's voice was filled with a mix of surprise and a strange sense of propriety. In her world, it would be the other way around.
"Are you suggesting I carry you on my back?" Rodin asked with a grin. "I know," he said, reading her mind. He valued her loyalty, so he became transparent, making it seem as though she were floating in the air. "With her by my side, the first half of the Grand Line will be a breeze," he thought.
The cameraman, running with his prized footage, caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Mihoko floating in mid-air. He raised his camera, bewildered.
Mihawk, meanwhile, silently sheathed his black blade. He looked in the direction Rodin and Mihoko had vanished, a sense of awe and frustration in his eyes. "That was... a suffocating experience with a strong woman," he murmured to himself. The fight had reinvigorated him, but the strange circumstances would require some time to process.