One Piece: Kaido's adopted son, starts with the Eight Gates Formation.

Hawkeye watched the rapidly approaching flame, pushed the scabbard with his thumb, and extended the Black Blade Night an inch.

Just then, he sensed movement from another direction.

On the island of the god-slaying.

Standing at the edge of the island, Jin also saw the white figures appearing from the direction of the Spirit King's Palace.

"Here we go again," he said softly.

Quinn and Jack walked up behind him.

"Those guys in white are back?" Quinn peered through his binoculars. "And there are more of them than before?"

"How many did I just hit?" Jack counted on his fingers. "Eight? Nine?"

"You took down three, all of them were weaklings," Jin corrected casually.

"What?! That's because you took all the good ones!"

"Noisy." Jin only said one word, then spread his wings, took off from the God-Slaying Island, and flew towards the Spirit King's Palace.

"Wait for me!" Jack shouted, carrying his spear as he chased after them.

Quinn hesitated for a moment, muttering "another war is coming," but still followed.

Above the Spirit King's Palace, Bazzby was already close to Hawkeye.

"Hey, you over there! You're Hawkeye?" Bazzby shouted, flames coalescing into a burning longsword in his hand. "I heard you're some kind of 'strongest swordsman'? I'm not bad with a sword either—let me see how you hold your own!"

Hawkeye did not answer.

He simply drew the black sword Night completely from its sheath.

The black blade reflected no light in the glow of the Spirit King's Palace. It was as if the light itself had been absorbed by it.

Bazzby rushed in front of Hawkeye, and the burning flaming sword slashed down from above.

Hawkeye raised his hand.

A knife.

It was a very light slash. There was no spiritual pressure or Haki added; it was just a simple swing of the sword.

But Bazzby's flaming sword broke in two.

Not just the Flaming Sword. His white military uniform was also slashed from his left shoulder to his right waist, with blood seeping through.

Bazzby's smile froze on his face.

He looked down at the wounds on his body, then looked up at the knife in Hawkeye's hand.

"you--"

Hawkeye had already sheathed his sword.

"Too weak," Hawkeye said calmly. "Bring another one."

Bazzby's face flushed red. He wanted to fight again, but Hasward was already beside him, grabbing his shoulder.

"Come back, Bazzby. This guy is not someone you can handle."

"Let me go! I haven't—"

"Your flames were cut off before they even touched the blade. Going up there again would only be suicide." Hasward's tone was cold.

Bazzby gritted his teeth and finally retreated.

Yhwach stood at a distance, his gaze fixed on Hawkeye.

"Interesting. The ultimate form of pure 'slash'—no spiritual pressure needed, no ki needed, just a sword and a pair of hands."

After saying that, he disappeared.

The next instant, he appeared three meters directly in front of Hawkeye.

Hawkeye's pupils contracted slightly—not out of fear, but because the opponent's speed exceeded his expectations.

"You use a sword?" Yhwach stretched out his hand, gathering spiritual particles to form a lightsaber.

"I use a knife," Hawkeye corrected.

"Then let's have a competition."

Yhwach and Hawkeye crossed paths above the Soul King's Palace.

The sound of metal clashing rang out three times.

After three times, the two stopped behind each other.

Two notches appeared on Yhwach's lightsaber. Hawkeye's black sword, Night, was intact, but he had a shallow scratch on his left shoulder.

"Your body isn't made of spirit particles, yet my spirit particle sword can still wound you," Yhwach said, his back to Hawkeye. "This shows that, on a purely swordsmanship level, the difference between us isn't that great."

"I accept your praise." Hawkeye's tone remained calm, but his left hand tightened slightly—he truly hadn't expected his opponent's swordsmanship to be so exquisite.

Just as the two were about to clash again, a tremendous roar came from the sky.

Jhin swooped down from the sky in battle form, his entire body covered in blue flames, and kicked Yhwach in the back of the head.

Without turning his head, Yhwach stretched out his left hand and caught Jin's foot. Blue flames burned on his palm, but could not penetrate his Soul King's shield.

"Another one?"

"More than one," Hawkeye said.

Yhwach turned his head—

Jack's spear was already at his face.