Chapter 26: Zoro: I Practiced for a Year, and You Mastered It in One Day?

Note: if You want to get access to 30+ advance chapters and get 7-days Free Trial Membership and unlock the full Story from the Shop join Patreon.com/flokixy

> Thank you for believing in our work—we couldn’t do it without you!



Trafalgar Law: "Red-Hat Boss is way too diligent! Just one day without training, and he’s already feeling guilty..."

Usopp: "Our Luffy would rather sleep all day."

Monkey D. Luffy: "Hey! I don’t sleep all day!"

Vinsmoke Sanji: "True, Luffy doesn’t sleep all day!"

Monkey D. Luffy: "Sanji really loves me!"

Vinsmoke Sanji: "But aside from sleeping all day, Luffy also eats meat nonstop!"

Nico Robin: "Ahahaha~~~"

Monkey D. Luffy: "Ahhhh! You two jerks, I’ll fight you both!!"

Shanks: "Hahaha!!"

[The Next Day - In the Forest]

Luffy and Zoro returned to the forest once again.

"Zoro, while you’re practicing Haki, I’ve got nothing to do. I can’t just waste time like this! Teach me swordsmanship! That way, when you're training your Haki, I can practice sword techniques!" Luffy said before they began their training.

"Swordsmanship?" Zoro asked, surprised by the request.

He frowned. "Swordsmanship has to be trained from a young age. Starting halfway through is going to make it hard for you to achieve anything significant. Besides, with your strength, you don’t even need swordsmanship to be powerful."

Luffy shook his head. "You don’t have to worry about that. I just don’t want to waste this month. If I’m going to sit around here doing nothing for an entire month, I’d rather leave you here to train on your own and continue my voyage!"

Wasting a whole day yesterday had been unbearable for him!!

For Luffy, it felt like a gamer being denied access to computers or phones for an entire day—pure torture!

If this went on for a month, he’d lose his mind!!!

Even if Zoro was right and his swordsmanship wouldn’t amount to much, learning something new wasn’t a bad thing!

Most importantly, as long as he could learn something, Luffy would feel satisfied.

"Alright! I’ll teach you swordsmanship!"

At the thought of Luffy leaving, Zoro immediately caved.

What a joke...

After finally meeting someone willing to guide him in Haki training, if Zoro drove him away, he’d probably wake up in the middle of the night and slap himself silly.

"But remember, there are no shortcuts in swordsmanship. We have to start from scratch. The beginning will be simple and boring. Are you sure you’re okay with that?"

"If you waste any more time talking nonsense, I’m leaving right now."

"Alright, alright! Let’s get started!"

Zoro unsheathed his sword and slashed down a pine tree with a single stroke!

Then, he carved a mark into the cross-section of the stump.

"From now on, your daily task is to slash at this mark. When you can hit it perfectly every time without damaging the rest of the trunk, we’ll move on to the next phase of training."

Handing over the sword to Luffy, Zoro quickly went back to practicing his Haki.

"Swordsmanship, huh..."

Luffy held the sword and examined the mark on the stump.

With a swift swing, he struck the mark—but missed by a small margin.

"Training precision and mastery, huh..."

Just one swing, and Luffy immediately understood the purpose of this exercise.

It was similar to the accuracy drills he used to practice as a child when developing control over his rubber powers.

The only difference was that instead of using his rubberized hands, he was now using a sword.

Usopp: "Luffy learning swords... This is ridiculous!"

Franky: "Given Luffy’s fighting style, if he uses a sword, it’ll definitely look hilarious!"

Monkey D. Luffy: "Hey, hey, hey! Don’t underestimate me! I’ve used swords before—it’s just inconvenient for me!"

Luffy had indeed used swords during his battle against Arlong in Cocoyasi Village and later against Moria in the Florian Triangle.

All things considered, he hadn’t done half-bad.

Trafalgar Law: "With Straw Hat Boss’s natural talent, if he had started practicing swordsmanship as a child, he’d surely become a legendary swordsman known across the seas. But starting halfway through? He’s probably just passing the time."

Dracule Mihawk: "While swordsmanship does require early training, prodigies are exceptions to the rule!"

Shanks: "Exactly! There are similarities between martial arts and swordsmanship. If a strong fighter has a knack for swords, transitioning isn’t that difficult."

Gol D. Roger: "Little Shanks, you seem quite fond of Luffy!"

Shanks: "Of course! Captain, haven’t you noticed yet?"

Gol D. Roger: "I realized it the moment I saw that thing."

When Roger saw the Gomu Gomu no Mi actively choosing Luffy, he understood that the person Shanks referred to was none other than Luffy!

And he agreed with Shanks’ assessment!

This Luffy might very well be the chosen one destined to fulfill great things!

Kozuki Oden: "Captain Roger, what did you discover?"

Gol D. Roger: "Haha, Oden, that’s a secret for now."

Shiki: "Damn you, Roger! Stop speaking in riddles! What are you and Shanks scheming?"

Gol D. Roger: "Just watch~ Watch~"

[A Day Passes Quickly]

When the first rays of dawn illuminated the world, two figures entered the forest once again.

"Luffy, today you’ll continue with your slashing practice, and I’ll focus on my Haki training," Zoro said, stretching lazily. He placed a pack of food nearby.

To save time, they brought lunch along with them.

Luffy immediately called out to Zoro. "Wait! I think I’m ready for the next stage of swordsmanship training."

With that, Luffy drew his sword and cleanly cut down another pine tree, revealing a smooth cross-section!

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

He followed up with dozens of rapid strikes.

Zoro stared at the single mark left on the cross-section, utterly stunned!

Monster!!

What kind of monster is this?!

"Wha-what?! Where did you come from, you freak of nature?!" Zoro exclaimed, his face pale with disbelief.

"This… this can’t be possible! It’s impossible!!"

"What’s impossible?" Luffy asked, confused. "I clearly did it. Why does he keep saying it’s impossible...?"

Is this guy missing a few screws?

"No, no, no..." Zoro stammered.

"I started learning the sword at five years old, and my master said I was a prodigy in swordsmanship!"

"And yet, even with that talent, it took me a full year to master the basics of this slashing technique—to reach the level you just demonstrated."

"How could you possibly master it in one day???"

Zoro couldn’t accept this at all.

"Uh..."

So that’s what he meant by “impossible”...

Luffy thought seriously for a moment.

Looking at Zoro, he said earnestly, "Could it be... that I’m actually the kind of prodigy your master was talking about?"

Chapter end