"So you're the one who wants to challenge me?"
Ren never expected that one day the original story's World's Greatest Swordsman would come to challenge him, but on reflection, it was perfectly reasonable.
After all, Mihawk was someone utterly devoted to swordsmanship. Without the drive to challenge stronger opponents, he wouldn't have become the World's Greatest Swordsman in the original story.
In fact, when Loska reported this to Yukiko, she hadn't wanted Ren to handle it personally.
If every challenger required Ren to step in, what use were subordinates like her?
They might as well disband this entire Inazuma.
But she still needed to report it to Ren. And once she mentioned it, Ren became interested and came to the island with Yukiko.
This was Mihawk's first time seeing the true Raiden Shogun.
The handsome man before him didn't seem to possess overwhelming power. If he closed his eyes, he couldn't even sense the other's presence. Yet Mihawk felt an immense pressure.
It was as if he wasn't facing a person, but the churning thunderstorm above his head!
And he, a mere hawk, still faced a tremendous trial to pierce through that storm.
For a moment, it felt like he was back fighting Big Mom years ago.
"My name is Dracule Mihawk. I've come to challenge the legendary World's Greatest Swordsman." His gaze hardened, his eagle-like eyes sharp enough to sting.
He opened his chest and shouted, as if declaring war through sheer volume. His right hand gripped the massive hilt on his back.
"The legendary Muken no Itto that none have ever reached — please, let me witness it!"
"No need to rush. I accept your challenge. But let's change venues."
Ren waved his right hand. Before Mihawk's astonished eyes, the space behind him tore open like shattered glass, revealing a dark, chaotic world within the crack.
"What is this…"
Mihawk instinctively stepped back, but the spreading space had already engulfed him. The solid world shattered like a reflection, revealing the desolate and barren "real world" before him!
Gray earth, spiraling dark-red torii gates rising into the sky, crimson mist, and a dark, empty sky above.
"Could this be the truth of the world? No — this is the false world." Mihawk was shaken by the small display of Genshin Impact Ren had brought him. But he quickly recovered.
"That's right. This is the Plane of Euthymia — my inner world."
At the center of this world, at the point where the three patterns converged, the legendary Raiden Shogun sat cross-legged in the void, slowly opening his eyes.
"Inner world? Can the Rumble-Rumble Fruit really do this?" Mihawk knew the Raiden Shogun was a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, but what he was seeing clearly exceeded his understanding.
If he couldn't understand it, then he'd stop trying.
He gripped Yoru with one hand and slowly swung it to the right.
He hadn't come here to probe the details of the Raiden Shogun's power — he'd come to challenge a stronger swordsman!
"Where's your sword?" Mihawk gripped the front of Yoru's hilt with one hand and the end with the other. He angled his body into a slashing stance.
But Ren stood empty-handed.
Ren pressed his palms together, then slowly opened them. In the center of his palms, a thunderous eye suddenly opened!
From within the thunder eye, a tachi slowly rose — Musou Isshin!
In the original Genshin, Musou Isshin should have been a uchigatana, but Ren's Musou Isshin, beyond sharing the name, had little connection to the original.
"This is the first time I've used this blade since it was forged." Ren's eyes flashed with lightning as he gripped Musou Isshin's hilt and drew it in one swift motion!
Lightning coiled around the blade. The moment Musou Isshin was drawn, white-purple lightning snakes struck the ground, spreading in all directions!
This blade had been forged by the finest craftsmen in all of Inazuma, using the finest materials.
It didn't just use Sake Iron Ore — it also incorporated an entirely new alloy!
Repeatedly tempered in the lava of Onigashima, it had finally become this single blade!
"A Supreme Grade Blade?" Mihawk wasn't particularly surprised. The lord of Inazuma wielding a Supreme Grade Blade was perfectly normal. Not to mention, the man was supposed to be the World's Greatest Swordsman.
"Perhaps even above a Supreme Grade Blade?" Ren said casually.
The blade was indeed excellent, but strength wasn't ultimately determined by the weapon.
"Incredible power!"
Mihawk praised. The onrushing lightning made every pore on his body feel like needles. He couldn't even keep his eyes open.
But at that moment, Ren retracted the massive lightning, and his entire presence seemed to dim.
"What does this mean?"
"Aren't you here to challenge my swordsmanship? I won't use my Devil Fruit abilities." Ren smiled. Swordsmanship and Haki were, to a certain extent, compatible.
But Devil Fruit abilities had nothing to do with it.
Hearing this, Mihawk was deeply impressed, and his fighting spirit burned even stronger!
Ren held his blade in one hand, standing relaxed and casual as he slowly paced.
This leisurely posture, yet Mihawk could find no opening.
He took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening. His feet kicked off the ground, and his black blade slashed toward Ren like half a dark moon!
Surprisingly, Mihawk didn't use a Flying Slash — he charged directly with his blade!
In fact, this attack method was the most damaging for a swordsman.
Flying Slashes looked cool, but releasing sword energy and Haki outward naturally reduced their power. Wrapping them around the blade, while seemingly plain, concentrated the force far more.
It was like Ichigo Kurosaki wrapping Getsuga Tensho around Tensa Zangetsu.
"Clang—"
Facing Mihawk's attack, Ren simply swung his blade forward. Musou Isshin, seemingly small and slender, stood like an immovable mountain before Yoru, stopping it from advancing even a fraction.
No — if it were a real mountain, under Mihawk's attack it would have been cleaved in two.
"Raiden Shogun — truly worthy of your name."
"It's too early for praise." Ren gave a light smile. Along Musou Isshin, his Haki rose like wisps of smoke.
"Prison Dragon Break!"
A black dragon formed from Haki was released at zero distance, instantly engulfing Mihawk completely.
[
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