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UTBW: Ch. 19
🕑 Added 2025-04-16 20:01:53 +0000 UTCBack at the bar, Junichi and Mihawk enjoyed a grand feast of Sea King meat. Hancock also joined them at the table. Due to the traumatic experience of being kidnapped, she and her two sisters had requested special training.
They'd been training all morning and only returned around noon.
"Wow! That amazing? You already grasped Cutting Steel?"
As she listened to Mihawk talk about his morning lessons with Junichi, her gaze toward Junichi had turned into sparkling starry eyes.
Her admiration was so obvious that everyone could see it.
Junichi could only brace himself, pretending to be clueless, avoiding any response to 12-year-old Hancock's feelings.
He really wasn't into that.
---
After lunch, Junichi and Mihawk headed out again to continue training. Hancock, reluctant to part, was dragged off by the Kuja women for intense training as well.
Only Rayleigh and Shakky remained.
"Told you so," Rayleigh raised his eyebrows smugly at Shakky. "As long as he shows his talent, Mihawk's attitude would change immediately. Did you see how he was at lunch? That attitude—like he was dealing with his own personal disciple."
Shakky rolled her eyes but nodded helplessly. "Yes yes yes, you're the sharpest one here. No one else noticed, only you saw it coming."
"Hahaha." Rayleigh didn't mind the sass—he just laughed even more joyfully.
---
Back at the morning training ground, Junichi and Mihawk arrived.
"Let's start with your sword technique. Perfect for digestion and killing time," Mihawk said.
"Thanks?"
He laid out the details of the Uchiha-style sword techniques.
Very quickly, with Mihawk's guidance, a brand-new version of the swordsmanship was forged.
This new version retained the fierce, explosive feel of the original, but the core framework had been completely transformed.
Gone was the old crudeness, stiffness, and recklessness—replaced by something refined and flawless.
Not only could it pair with Fire Release techniques, but it could now be fine-tuned to sync with other ninjutsu types—like Lightning Release, genjutsu, shadow clones, and more.
If he wanted to, he could replicate moves from the Hatake or Konoha sword styles at any time.
---
[You are learning: New Uchiha-Style Swordsmanship. Proficiency +1]
[Your New Uchiha-Style Swordsmanship proficiency has met the requirement. It has advanced automatically.]
[New Uchiha-Style Swordsmanship — Skilled (678/1000)]
---
The skill's proficiency level jumped from 14 to a whopping 678, which wasn't surprising. After all, swordsmanship at its core is meant to help a swordsman wield their power more effectively.
And the ultimate expression of a swordsman's power was—Cutting Steel!
Now that he had mastered it, his power was focused and cohesive. Going back to learn swordsmanship with that as a foundation made everything click more easily.
His personal status panel now looked like this-
---
[Host: Uchiha Junichi]
[Age: 15]
[Skills:]
- New Uchiha-Style Swordsmanship — Skilled (678/1000)
...
- Armament Haki — Skilled (58/1000)
- Observation Haki — Skilled (39/1000)
- Basic Swordsmanship — (Max Level at Beginner)
- Cutting Steel — (Max Level at Beginner)
---
The ninjutsu techniques were temporarily hidden from the panel by Junichi. He was mainly focused on checking the skills he'd learned in the One Piece world.
Both forms of Haki had risen from single digits to solid double digits.
Soon, he would be able to fully grasp the "Coating" technique and advance to the next tier—Mastery.
At that moment, he and Mihawk had finished digesting as well.
"Let's continue training," Mihawk said.
"Alright." Junichi closed his status panel and stood up from the ground.
"You've already grasped Cutting Steel. That means you can imitate most sword techniques just by watching them a few times. But having a lot of sword styles is meaningless, what matters is whether they suit you."
"That revised sword technique suits your style very well, so there's no need to teach you any more sword techniques."
Mihawk paused for a moment, his expression contemplative.
"I'll teach you the training path of a Great Swordsman."
"Great Swordsman, huh…" Junichi nodded slightly, not surprised.
Once one masters Cutting Steel, they become a Swordsman. And beyond that, mastering flying slashes makes one a Great Swordsman!
"Great Swordsmen can unleash slashing waves that travel hundreds or even thousands of meters," Mihawk explained, drawing the black sword from his back.
Yoru, one of the remaining twelve Supreme Grade Blades known to the world.
Its hilt was shaped like a cross, the blade long and thick, with a bold, ornate cruciform pattern engraved down its center. The moment it was drawn, it exuded an invisible aura of intimidation.
Almost like a pressure emanating from the sword itself. Even the air around them grew slightly heavy.
"I'll show you once."
He casually swung the blade, his movement light and effortless.
Shhhhk!
Yet the air itself made a tearing sound, as if being ripped apart. A razor-sharp flying slash burst forth, crescent-shaped, streaking toward the sea ahead.
Junichi's eyes narrowed, and he instinctively activated his Sharingan.
Through the clarity of his eyes, a strange sense of harmony and unity radiated from the flying slash, something hard to describe.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The slash sliced through the air and landed on the sea, 800 meters away.
BOOM!
A towering wave, dozens of meters high, exploded from the sea, crashing down into a shower of water droplets.
"Your eyes…" Mihawk glanced back at Junichi's crimson irises. "A Devil Fruit?"
"No. It's a natural ability," Junichi shook his head. "It helps me improve my perception."
"Is that so?" Mihawk looked surprised, then nodded knowingly. "Seems like you're from some rare race. But this kind of ability, best not to reveal it. It'll attract unwanted attention."
"I understand." Junichi nodded, deactivating his Sharingan.
Explaining the Sharingan as a racial ability was perfectly reasonable. The One Piece world did, after all, contain various special races—Giants, Longleg tribe, Mink tribe, Dwarves, Fish-Men, Three-Eye Tribe, and many more.
"Back to flying slashes."
Mihawk wasn't fazed by the change in Junichi's eyes, and continued, "Flying slashes are different from Armament Haki. They don't fall under Emission either. They are a secret art, awakened when a Swordsman breaks through their limits—merging mind, intent, body, and spirit into one."
"It represents the ultimate realm of swordsmanship."
Junichi listened thoughtfully, at the same time, his panel gave a prompt.
[You are learning Flying Slash. Proficiency +1]
"The difficulty of learning the flying slash varies from person to person," Mihawk continued. "Some may grasp it in three to five years, others may never reach it in their entire lives."
"This realm requires the Swordsman to walk their path to the end—and then look back."
"To understand the opposite of their sword style. And when the positive and the negative are united, a new power is born — the flying slash."
As Junichi listened to these words, his panel suddenly pinged.
---
[You are learning Flying Slash. Proficiency +1]
[You are learning Flying Slash. Proficiency +1]
[You are learning Flying Slash. Proficiency +1]
---
He rubbed his chin, a sense of clarity forming in his heart.
He remembered from the original series, Mihawk's swordsmanship combined Strong Blade and Gentle Blade, perfectly balancing all styles into a cohesive whole.
