"Teacher Zephyr has raised yet another outstanding disciple… and you also seem to be Vice Admiral Garp's relative."
Strawberry looked at Roya with a calm expression, his tone relatively friendly. After stepping onto the arena, he smiled and spoke to him.
Roya nodded and returned a friendly smile.
It seemed that Strawberry was also one of Zephyr's students, which made him, in effect, Roya's senpai. Indeed, a large portion of the Marine high command had once been taught by Zephyr.
"No—you're far more outstanding than I was back then… but this is your assessment, and I won't be holding back. Are you ready?!"
Strawberry smiled slightly, drew a sword with each hand, and assumed a dual-blade stance in front of him as he spoke to Roya.
"Any time."
Roya's expression returned to calm as he nodded lightly.
"Good!"
Seeing this, Strawberry wasted no more words. His gaze sharpened, and as he gripped both swords, Armament Haki suddenly surged forth, forming jet-black hardening that gleamed with an oily sheen under the sunlight.
Immediately after, Strawberry swung both swords toward Roya.
Slash! Slash!!
Two azure sword waves burst forth, like drifting willow catkins, flying one after the other toward Roya.
In dual-sword style, a single sword wave is naturally inferior in power and speed to a two-handed single-sword slash. However, it excels in flexibility and variation, and releasing two slashes simultaneously still results in considerable power.
Facing Strawberry's long-range attack, Roya also activated Armament Haki. Gripping Engetsu, he swung his sword in response!
Hum!!
A silver-white sword wave shot forth, like half of a silver crescent moon, colliding head-on with Strawberry's sword waves in midair.
Roya's sword wave was clearly stronger than either of Strawberry's two slashes. After the three sword waves collided, a sharp explosive sound rang out, and all of them shattered.
"Impressive."
Strawberry had already praised Roya's slashing power from the sidelines. Now facing this "kouhai" directly and experiencing the force of Roya's swordsmanship firsthand, he could not help but praise him again.
Praise aside, this was not the time for mercy.
Soru!
In the next instant, Strawberry charged straight toward Roya—and at the same time, Roya also executed Soru, rushing toward Strawberry.
Clang!!
Their figures collided at the center of the arena. Three swords intertwined, producing a crisp metallic clash. Sparks flew as a visible shockwave rippled outward in all directions.
Clang, clang, clang!!
Once close combat began, it was like a violent storm, without the slightest pause.
The figures of Strawberry and Roya crossed constantly across the arena. Roya's strength, speed, swordsmanship, and Haki were all used with extreme flexibility, allowing him to barely maintain an even battle with Strawberry's dual-sword style.
Smoker, Shu, and the others watched in shock.
This time, they saw Roya's strength even more clearly. Even without using that flame ability, he was already able to fight a vice admiral to a standstill!
"His strength, speed, Haki, and swordsmanship have already reached this level? Even Strawberry can't defeat him… how scary."
Kizaru watched the battle, his tone carrying his usual hint of levity, yet beneath his words was a trace of seriousness.
When Kizaru himself had been a vice admiral, Strawberry had once served as a rear admiral under his command. Kizaru knew very well how strong Strawberry was.
And now—
Roya was actually able to fight him evenly. How could that not be shocking? Especially since Kizaru knew that Roya still had a flame-based ability he had yet to use!
Even for someone at Strawberry's level, that flame ability was a threat. Even if not overwhelming, it was still enough to influence the outcome of the battle.
In other words—
The ninth opponent could no longer stop Roya.
Not only Kizaru, but also Aokiji, and even Garp and Zephyr, all realized this as they watched.
Zephyr could not help but smile as he observed the battle.
This was his most outstanding student at present—Roya!
On the other side, a trace of pride flashed through Garp's eyes.
This was his nephew—Monkey D. Roya!
---
In the arena.
The battle between Roya and Strawberry was extremely intense. Strawberry's strength was roughly on par with Roya's. His swordsmanship and Haki were slightly superior, but his speed lagged behind Roya's.
The portion of base agility enhanced by Roya's Soul Sword, combined with his now perfectly mastered Soru and Geppo, gave Roya speed fully comparable to that of a Marine Headquarters vice admiral.
As for strength, Strawberry clearly excelled in arm power—otherwise he would not be using a dual-sword style.
This was a fiercely contested battle.
The figures of Roya and Strawberry flickered and crossed repeatedly across the arena. Sword waves burst forth in all directions, carving crisscrossing fissures into the hard, specially made stone floor!
As the fight gradually progressed, although Strawberry was slower than Roya, he relied on his slightly superior Haki and swordsmanship to begin slowly gaining the upper hand.
"Faster than me, but unfortunately your Haki and swordsmanship are still a bit weaker. I suppose this is as far as it goes…"
Watching Roya gradually fall into a disadvantage, Strawberry sighed inwardly. Roya's excellence had already exceeded his expectations.
When Strawberry had been selected as one of the graduation exam opponents, he had not thought he would even have a chance to take the field. Yet an astonishingly powerful Roya appeared, sweeping through the first eight matches and giving the ninth examiner a chance to fight.
But now, it seemed that Roya was still just a step short—unable to match admirals like Aokiji and Kizaru.
"It seems unlikely he'll pass the ninth match…"
"His talent is exceptional. His swordsmanship and Haki are indeed outstanding. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but he barely qualifies as having admiral potential."
"That's true, but only barely. Back then, the admirals all passed the ninth match outright."
The Marine Headquarters vice admirals in the audience could not help but discuss among themselves as they watched.
However—
Almost at the very moment when the vice admirals believed that this was more or less the end—
Roya suddenly flipped Engetsu in his hand. A faint glimmer flashed in his eyes as a strange power began to gather abruptly.
"So relying only on swordsmanship and Haki, without drawing on the Soul Sword's power, I already roughly possess strength comparable to a branch vice admiral? In that case, next…"
As he murmured inwardly, Roya tightened his grip on the hilt slightly and smiled at Strawberry, offering a brief warning.
"Be careful."
Boom!!
As Roya swung his sword again, blazing flames poured forth like crimson clouds.
Taimatsu!!
Hearing Roya's warning, Strawberry had not yet fully understood—but when the searing flames swept across the arena, his expression changed drastically.
He had no idea Roya possessed such flame-type abilities. This caught him completely off guard!
Strawberry was occupied defending against Roya's sword attacks head-on and had no chance to evade the raging flames. Moreover, the area covered by the flames was far too large—once the blazing inferno descended, there was simply no way to dodge!
Whoosh!!
The flames surged in all directions, unleashing a terrifying heatwave that swept across the entire arena. The crimson fire roared as it completely engulfed Strawberry!