Not long after leaving Windmill Village, the map progress for the East Blue had reached 75%. As expected, the upload icon appeared again.
This time, however, Sherwin didn't act recklessly. Instead, he followed his plan—waiting until it reached 100% before uploading to see what difference it might make.
It had to be said, Zoro terrible sense of direction was truly something else. After leaving Windmill Village, Sherwin and his group ended up visiting more than a dozen islands before finally hearing news that "there a village nearby with a large swordsmanship dojo."
And this place was about half the East Blue distance away from Shells Town, where Zoro first appeared in the manga. Who knew how he managed to get lost that far.
With a clue in hand, finding the place wasn't difficult. Sherwin soon arrived at the island where Shimotsuki Village was located.
After disembarking, he casually asked a passerby for directions and led his Felynes toward the Isshin Dojo.
Before they even entered, they heard bursts of shouts coming from inside the walls. Judging from the voices, most were from children.
This was normal—ordinary civilians had to think about making a living once they grew up. They didn't have much time or energy to devote to swordsmanship training.
Only someone like Zoro, whose talent was exceptional, could be raised by Koshiro as a successor.
The dojo front gate was wide open, but Sherwin didn't walk straight in. He was here to seek guidance, not to cause trouble, so manners had to come first.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you."
Sherwin knocked on the dojo gate and called inside.
At the same time, he took the opportunity to observe the people training in the courtyard…
A group of kids holding wooden swords, two adults dressed in black kendo uniforms, and Shimotsuki Koshiro, who wore a light-colored outer robe over his black kendo attire.
Zoro, however, was nowhere to be seen—probably training alone, and getting lost as usual.
"Oh? We have a guest."
Koshiro, who had been instructing his students, turned his head toward Sherwin. His gaze lingered for a few seconds on the Longsword at Sherwin waist before he showed a warm smile."May I ask, what brings you here, guest?"
To be honest, with Koshiro build, appearance, and demeanor, he really didn't seem like a swordsman at all.
Even when Sherwin probed him with Observation Haki, the impression he got was simply that the man aura was strong—without that sharp, cutting presence most swordsmen had.
"Hello, I heard there a sword master here, so I came specifically to seek guidance," Sherwin explained his purpose.
"Ahhh! Someone here to challenge the dojo!"
Before Koshiro or the other two kendo instructors could say anything, the group of little brats started yelling.
"Quick, go find Senior Brother Zoro!"
"Idiot! At a time like this, Senior Brother Zoro definitely still lost—we won't be able to find him!"
"Don't panic! Master Koshiro is still here!"
"But Master Koshiro looks kinda weak… maybe it safer to find Senior Brother Zoro instead?"
"Hey, look! The cats with him are so cute!"
"So… he probably not a bad guy, right?"
"…"
Sherwin ignored the noisy kids. He glanced at Koshiro, who was giving a wry smile, and spread his hands in explanation.
"I'm not here to challenge the dojo. I just want you to take a look at my swordsmanship—see where I'm lacking, and what I should improve."
"I understand," Koshiro nodded, then gestured toward the interior. "Please, follow me."
Koshiro led Sherwin and his companions to a reception room and served them hot tea, clearly not intending to test Sherwin swordsmanship right away.
"The guest must be the recently well-known bounty hunter, the 'Cat Swordsman,' right?"
Koshiro took a light sip of hot tea as he spoke the nickname that left Sherwin feeling rather helpless.
Then, with a hint of puzzlement, he asked,"By rights, with strength like yours, you shouldn't still be uncertain about your swordsmanship."
"Well, in truth, my core sword techniques were never taught to me by anyone. Later on, I picked up a few moves from others, but when it comes to the essence of swordsmanship, I don't really have much understanding."
Sherwin explained to Koshiro, "Simply put, my sword techniques are just sword techniques—they can't be called a sword path."
Sherwin was completely unable to make sense of the mysterious concept of the "sword path." If it weren't for how the powers in the One Piece world were so often mind-over-matter, he wouldn't have believed in something like "swordsmanship as a path" at all, nor would he have come specifically to learn from Koshiro.
Still, after reading so many manga and novels, even if he couldn't understand it, expressing his needs wasn't difficult.
"I see…"
Koshiro nodded thoughtfully, then sat quietly with his teacup, seemingly lost in thought.
"Sherwin, is he really that powerful swordsman you mentioned, meow? Why does he look so dazed, meow?" Klee Meow, unable to sit still, tugged at Sherwin with her little paw and whispered the question.
"Doesn't Vice Admiral Garp also look like a fool? Yet none of us can beat him," Sherwin replied after a moment, using a slightly inappropriate comparison.
Still, Klee Meow immediately understood what he meant and nodded knowingly.
"I wouldn't dare compare myself to the famous hero of the Navy,"
Koshiro said with a smile as he came back to himself, waving a hand modestly. Then, he straightened his expression and asked Sherwin a question—
"To you, what is a sword? And what is swordsmanship?"
As expected, when it came to the so-called sword path, things inevitably turned philosophical in the end.
Sherwin had seen similar setups in many manga before, so he curled his lips but still answered honestly,"A sword is a weapon, and swordsmanship is the skill of using that weapon."
After pausing for a moment, Sherwin continued to explain himself,"Strictly speaking, I might not count as a true swordsman. I use a sword simply because it feels the most comfortable in my hands, and I'm at my strongest when I wield it.
If one day I become stronger with a hammer or a lance, I wouldn't hesitate to abandon the sword… But until then, I still want to make my swordsmanship—no, my sword art—stronger."
"Getting stronger, huh? That a pretty ordinary and simple reason," Koshiro replied.
He didn't get upset at Sherwin attitude toward the way of the sword. Instead, he maintained his gentle smile, slowly set down the cup in his hand, and continued,
"But there nothing wrong with simplicity. Besides, many great sword masters didn't set out to become sword masters when they first picked up a blade."
"So… what are you saying?"
Sherwin didn't quite understand what he meant. Was this supposed to be encouragement? Or an attempt to get him to change his mindset and walk the path of a swordsman?
"I have no right to interfere with your choices," Koshiro said as he stood up, still smiling,
"but teaching swordsmanship is my daily work. So, why don't we spar a little? Some things can only be understood through the sword."
Ah… this kind of cryptic talk again, and such a cliché line, too…
Sherwin scratched his hair helplessly, but he didn't refuse.
Although Koshiro words sounded a bit mysterious, in some ways, Sherwin actually agreed with them.
In the past, when he'd fought Uncle Buck and some sword-wielding pirates, he had sensed certain things—though those opponents were too weak.
The things he learned from them were far too limited and didn't help him much.
Now that it was someone like Koshiro, a great sword master, the situation would likely be very different.