Time passed swiftly.
One year later
Ever since Nerona Mihawk became the top-ranked student in his class, his life at the Ninja Academy had grown increasingly dull.
Aside from the theoretical knowledge taught during lessons, the Academy could no longer offer him anything useful.
He had already thoroughly mastered the Three Basic Techniques and shurikenjutsu.
The same applied to nearly everything else included in the first-year curriculum.
Three months ago, once his shadow clone became capable of remaining active for four hours, Mihawk’s real body had stopped attending the Academy entirely.
From then on, he left his school life to his shadow clone.
Mihawk remained at home each day, leaving only to eat his three daily meals. He dedicated the rest of his time to physical conditioning, sword training, and meditation as he explored his own path of swordsmanship.
Over the course of the year, Hawkeye’s template had reached an unlock rate of 9.22 percent.
Within the spiritual world, Hawkeye had grown from a child into a young teenager.
As he matured, the amount of time Hawkeye spent practicing and contemplating the sword far exceeded the time he spent fighting.
In fact, Mihawk had not witnessed a genuine battle within the spiritual world for quite some time.
However, compared to ordinary combat experience, Hawkeye’s daily training and moments of comprehension were far more valuable in Mihawk’s eyes.
Even without witnessing any battles, Mihawk could clearly feel Hawkeye’s strength rising at an astonishing pace.
Then, on that particular day
"...It’s so quiet."
Inside the dojo, Mihawk had just returned from the spiritual world when he suddenly noticed that something was different.
The dojo...
No, the entire world around him seemed to have fallen silent.
It was so quiet that Mihawk could hear nothing except the steady beating of his own heart.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Alongside it, another faint sound reached his ears.
A slow, almost imperceptible rhythm.
The sound of something breathing.
Mihawk’s crimson eyes turned toward the source.
It came from a wooden training post that he had commissioned from a carpenter.
"This is..."
Mihawk stared at the wooden post, his eyes widening with disbelief.
There was no mistaking it.
The breathing he heard truly came from the wood.
Ten seconds passed.
The strange sensation showed no sign of disappearing.
Mihawk immediately rose to his feet and walked toward the sword stand nearby.
Resting upon it was the katana he had purchased six months earlier.
His hand closed around the hilt.
Shing!
The sound of the blade leaving its sheath rang sharply through the silent dojo.
A silver-white arc flashed through the air.
Mihawk raised the katana and brought it down.
Slash!
The cold blade passed through the wooden training post without encountering the slightest resistance.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then a perfectly smooth line appeared across the post.
The upper half slid away from the lower half before crashing heavily against the floor.
Thud!
Mihawk remained motionless, staring at the cleanly severed wood.
A familiar mechanical voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.
[Ding! You have successfully taken your first step onto the path of a master swordsman.]
[Reward obtained: Beginner Pack.]
[Ding! You have obtained a Beginner Pack. Would you like to open it?]
The wooden post lying in two pieces before him, combined with the system’s notification, confirmed Mihawk’s suspicion.
He had truly done it.
The shock was so overwhelming that he failed to respond immediately.
Only when the second notification sounded did Mihawk finally return to his senses.
"...Yes."
[Ding! Beginner Pack opened.]
[You have obtained the clothing item: Men’s Kimono.]
[You have obtained the weapon: Shigure Kintoki.]
The instant the notification ended, two objects appeared out of thin air and landed upon the tatami in front of him.
The first was a small black kimono.
The second was an ordinary-looking shinai.
Mihawk stared at the two items.
"The system has no personality, and its notifications resemble something from a game. In that sense, it seems almost entirely digitized."
He slowly crouched down.
"However, there’s no personal status screen, no inventory, and no other functions commonly associated with such systems..."
Mihawk picked up the kimono and shinai.
"Hm?"
The instant his hands touched them, he paused.
Information concerning both objects flowed directly into his mind.
The black kimono was not an ordinary piece of clothing.
It possessed several special properties.
The kimono would automatically adjust its size and shape according to its owner’s body, ensuring that it would continue fitting him even as he grew older.
It also possessed an automatic cleaning function.
Even if the fabric was damaged, Mihawk could channel chakra into it and gradually repair it.
The kimono was not armor and offered no defensive protection whatsoever.
However, its other abilities would be extremely useful during prolonged travel or war.
He would never have to worry about cleanliness, washing his clothes, or frequently purchasing replacements.
It was practically made for someone who disliked unnecessary chores.
However, compared to the kimono, Mihawk was far more interested in the second reward.
Shigure Kintoki.
It was the weapon wielded by Takeshi Yamamoto, the Rain Guardian of the Tenth-Generation Vongola Family from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Its normal appearance was that of an ordinary shinai.
However, Shigure Kintoki was no simple bamboo practice sword.
The original weapon transformed into a genuine katana when used alongside the authentic Shigure Sōen Style. The version granted by the system appeared to have been altered slightly, allowing it to respond to a wielder with sufficient talent and compatibility.
It was a weapon capable of changing its form.
Mihawk placed the kimono aside and rose to his feet with Shigure Kintoki in hand.
He turned toward the remaining half of the wooden post.
Then he swung the shinai lightly.
Slash!
A pale arc flashed through the dojo.
The thick piece of wood split apart as easily as wet paper.
At the same time, the weapon in Mihawk’s hand changed.
The bamboo exterior had vanished.
In its place was a cold, gleaming katana blade. Even the simple hilt had transformed, becoming a solid black-and-white metal handle.
Mihawk examined the weapon for a moment.
With a slight movement of his thoughts, the blade transformed back into an ordinary shinai.
"Although it isn’t Yoru, one of the Supreme Grade Blades, it is still an excellent weapon."
That was Mihawk’s evaluation.
He sat upon the floor and placed Shigure Kintoki horizontally across his legs.
Then he slowly closed his eyes.
His breathing gradually became deep, calm, and even.
At a glance, he appeared to have fallen asleep.
This was sword meditation—a method swordsmen used to contemplate their path, refine their state of mind, and deepen their understanding of the sword.
While meditating, Mihawk’s heart became perfectly still.
The surrounding world once again fell silent.
Within that silence, faint breathing sounds reached him from every direction.
There was his own breathing.
There was the breathing of Shigure Kintoki resting across his legs.
There was the breathing of the tatami beneath him.
The wooden walls...
The floor...
The training posts...
Everything around him possessed its own faint rhythm.
The Breath of All Things.
After a long time, Mihawk opened his eyes.
A trace of awe appeared within them.
"As expected of Hawkeye. To perceive the Breath of All Things at such a young age..."
He looked down at Shigure Kintoki.
"He can’t be far from reaching the state of cutting steel."
For the first time, Mihawk had caught a glimpse of just how extraordinary Hawkeye’s swordsmanship truly was.
Only 9.22 percent of the template had been unlocked.
Not even one-tenth of Hawkeye’s complete experience had become available, yet the young Hawkeye within the spiritual world had already learned to perceive the Breath of All Things.
Of course, perceiving the Breath of All Things did not necessarily mean that a swordsman could immediately cut through steel.
However, it was the first and most important step toward reaching that state.
As Mihawk had already understood, an enormous difference existed between swordsmen who could perceive the Breath of All Things and those who could not.
The difference between the two was overwhelming.
Although Mihawk was not yet capable of cutting steel, he had officially stepped onto the path leading toward the realm of a master swordsman.
However, the road ahead would be far longer and more difficult than the journey that had brought him this far.
As for why perceiving the Breath of All Things did not instantly grant someone the ability to cut steel, the reason was simple.
"All Things" truly meant all things.
The world contained far more than ten thousand different substances, each possessing its own structure, hardness, rhythm, and unique breath.
Some objects were soft and fragile.
Others possessed astonishing durability.
The powerful swordsmen and great swordsmen of the pirate world could unleash ranged Slash Attacks capable of splitting mountains, cutting apart enormous structures, and even dividing the sea.
They accomplished such feats by perceiving the nature of their target and allowing their blades to follow its unique rhythm.
Once a swordsman captured that faint breath and fully aligned the blade with it, the object before them would cease to be an incomprehensible mass.
It became something their sword could reach.
Something their sword could sever.
However, merely learning to hear those breaths did not mean mastering every one of them.
At Marineford, Diamond Jozu had intercepted the ranged Slash Attack that Hawkeye launched toward Whitebeard.
That incident did not prove that Hawkeye was completely incapable of cutting diamond. The attack had not originally been aimed at Jozu, nor had Mihawk necessarily used his full strength.
Even so, it demonstrated that not every casual attack from a great swordsman could cut through every obstacle under all circumstances.
Perceiving a material’s breath was only one part of swordsmanship.
The swordsman’s strength, technique, focus, timing, and mastery of the blade were equally important.
If other accomplished swordsmen were also capable of perceiving the Breath of All Things, why had Dracule Mihawk alone become the World’s Strongest Swordsman?
The answer was simple.
His swordsmanship had reached a level that surpassed theirs.
His ability to perceive, understand, and sever the things before him stood above that of every other swordsman.
However, even the position of World’s Strongest Swordsman had not been granted to him overnight.
Hawkeye had reached that summit one step at a time.
He had not awakened the ability to perfectly perceive the Breath of All Things from the very beginning.
From the moment he first stepped onto the path of a master swordsman to the day he became the World’s Strongest Swordsman, Hawkeye must have travelled an unimaginably long road.
The fact that more than ninety percent of the template remained locked was the clearest proof of that.
Mihawk had only reached its beginning.
There was still a long way to go before he could casually swing his blade and cut apart a massive frozen tsunami, just as Hawkeye had done during the Summit War.
Support me at /Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters!
For every 100 Power Stones, there will be a Bonus Chapter!