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After hearing what Ikki said, Zoro felt as if he had eaten food prepared by Luffy—his face twisted with disbelief.
Someone had actually learned his Three-Sword Style? Moreover, this person had developed new and more powerful moves based on his own creation. This was more than Zoro could stand, especially when the opponent was Ikki, whom he had been searching for specifically to defeat.
After a while, Zoro took a deep breath and recovered from his surprise.
"Ikki, I have to admire your learning ability," he admitted. "You only fought me once, but you were able to copy my Three-Sword Style. But that doesn't matter—I'm taking back Wado Ichimonji no matter what."
Saying this, Zoro prepared to challenge Ikki again. Although he was shocked that Ikki could perform flying slashes, his determination to avoid losing to Ikki prevented him from backing down.
"Wait!" Ikki raised his hand to stop Zoro.
"What, you don't want to fight?" Zoro frowned.
"It's not that I won't fight you, but look carefully—which sword in my hand is Wado Ichimonji?" Ikki smiled, showing the three swords in his hands to Zoro.
Zoro frowned slightly and looked carefully at the three swords in Ikki's possession. Only then did he realize that none of them was Wado Ichimonji.
"You... you've collected even more good swords," Zoro said with a fierce laugh. "With a famous sword hunter like you around, I bet many swordsmen feel uneasy."
He stood up straight and continued, "Tell me, where is my Wado Ichimonji? You couldn't possibly have thrown it away."
Ikki shrugged and walked over to Nojiko and Nami who were standing nearby. After returning Minazuki to Nojiko's scabbard, he put his hand on Nami's shoulder, pointed at the sword on her waist, and said:
"No, look—I gave your Wado Ichimonji to my partner to use. If you want to get it back, you'll have to defeat her."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sanji, who was standing nearby, immediately exclaimed, "What a beautiful lady! I didn't notice her before. How rude of me! To make up for my rudeness, please allow me to offer you this rose."
Sanji quickly knelt in front of Nami with a flourish.
Zoro twitched the corner of his mouth in annoyance. "What is this perverted cook doing? I'm in the middle of a duel here!"
"Huh?!" Sanji frowned and looked at Zoro. "Hey, Moss Head, are you trying to attack this lady?"
"Tch, I don't want to fight her," Zoro replied, looking at Ikki. "Hey Ikki, what's the meaning of this? You took my sword, but now you're hiding behind a woman?"
"That's right! A man like you is no man at all. What kind of coward hides behind a woman?" Sanji turned and pointed an accusing finger at Ikki.
'What is this? The love-cook and moss-head teaming up?' Ikki thought to himself. He shook his head, grabbed Sanji's hand holding the rose, and tossed him toward Zoro.
"I accepted the rose on your behalf," he said casually. "As for the duel, I've decided to let my partner Nami handle it. Zoro, I should warn you—this friend of mine is also a swordsman who can cut through steel. And she's stronger than you!"
"What?! A female swordsman?" Zoro frowned and looked at Nami properly for the first time, his attention having been focused on Ikki until now.
Looking at Nami carefully, he noticed that she did indeed have a sharp aura that was difficult to hide—the unique aura of an Iron-Cutting Realm swordsman. Not only Nami, but Zoro soon realized that Nojiko, standing on the other side of Ikki, had a similar aura.
"Both of these women are swordsmen who can cut through steel?" Zoro asked in disbelief. "Ikki, was your talk about forming a fleet of great swordsmen not a joke after all?"
"Haha, I was completely serious when I told you that, Zoro," Ikki laughed.
Zoro frowned slightly and stared directly at Nami. Although he never liked fighting women, he found himself quite interested in facing a female swordsman.
"Ikki, do you really want me to fight him?" Nami poked Ikki's waist and asked quietly.
"What, are you worried you can't defeat him?"
"That's not it. I just feel that if I defeat him, this man will definitely hold a grudge against me," Nami replied.
Now she finally understood where her sword had come from. Just as Nojiko's Minazuki had been transformed from the Shigure obtained from Tashigi, her own Gonryōmaru had been transformed from the Wado Ichimonji taken from Zoro.
"What's the problem? If he comes after you, can't you just defeat him again?" Ikki leaned close to Nami's ear and whispered. "With my help, are you really afraid of him catching up to you? Besides, don't you want to try the power of Gonryōmaru's Shikai?"
Feeling Ikki's breath in her ear, Nami's ear twitched, and finally she nodded and accepted his suggestion. As Ikki had said, she was indeed curious about the power of Shikai.
Under the watchful eyes of Zoro, Sanji, and the others, Nami walked to stand directly opposite Zoro. She drew Gonryōmaru from her waist and held it straight before her.
"Just as Captain Ikki said, I will be your opponent, Roronoa Zoro of the Three-Sword Style."
"Interesting!" Zoro grinned, taking a fighting stance. "In that case, I'll defeat you first, and then I'll take down that annoying guy Ikki."