As the blade swept toward him, Mihawk's sharp eyes moved from the edge of the sword to Don's face.
"Your strike missed."
"On purpose," Don replied with a calm smile, his left hand gripping Yoru's blade. "I wasn't planning to actually kill you."
He'd thought Mihawk would evade. Instead, the man chose a trade of blows—a fatal one, if Don had truly meant it.
Mihawk looked down at his sword caught in Don's hand, his expression tightening with a rare trace of disbelief.
Never in his life had anyone dared to stop his full-force slash barehanded.
He knew his own strength well. Even the current Emperors of the New World would never block such a strike head-on.
And yet this man—this unfathomable Don—had done it with his flesh alone.
What unsettled Mihawk more was that after over an hour of combat, Don's aura hadn't weakened in the slightest.
Of course, Mihawk didn't know Don was just as frustrated.
He hadn't planned to trigger [Unyielding] this time.
By his earlier calculations, he could maintain full Haki and Devil Fruit output for over ten hours.
But this duel with Mihawk shattered that assumption. Plans never survive contact with reality—especially when your opponent is the world's greatest swordsman.
Even while evading most slashes through Observation Haki and elemental transformation, several strikes had still landed—especially that last one, which reduced his HP from twenty percent to zero.
He wasn't at the stage where he could just "play around."
Someday, when he could fight these titans of the sea on equal footing without relying on special states—that would be the day he could afford to be reckless.
"I lost—"
Before Mihawk could finish, Don's hand struck his chest.
"Get back."
A thunderous impact followed. Mihawk was blasted into the sky, soaring far from the island.
Just as he steadied himself, his sharp eyes widened—above the barren island, a blazing sun was forming, flooding the world in searing light.
He was hiding his strength?!
Shock flickered across Mihawk's face. The same realization dawned miles away on Issho's ship.
Even from this distance, Issho's Observation Haki could sense the overwhelming energy churning on the island.
"This... is his true power?" Issho murmured.
Robin, unable to sense it with Observation, could still see the radiance from afar—like dawn itself breaking upon the sea.
Enel stood frozen, eyes wide. His Mantra covered nearly as far as Don's Observation, and what he sensed left him speechless.
A figure came hurtling back through the sky, boots striking the air before landing heavily on the ship.
Mihawk looked scorched and battered, half his cloak burned away, his hat missing a brim.
He said nothing, merely stared at the island where a miniature sun raged.
There, Don was struggling to contain his own power.
Now he was certain—his theory was correct.
The stronger his normal state, the greater the amplification after activating [Unyielding].
The result was a body brimming with impossible, boundless energy.
His Haki, stamina, and elemental force—all surging beyond his limits.
How strong was this strike?
Don glanced down. The island beneath had melted into magma. For a moment, he wanted to release another blow, but restrained himself.
If he let loose now, the resulting tsunami would engulf every island for hundreds of miles.
Still, such a rare chance shouldn't go to waste.
"Conqueror's Haki—activate!"
Don unleashed it without restraint.
The invisible shockwave spread in every direction.
The sea roared. Clouds split apart.
A storm of raw pressure swept across the horizon.
On Issho's distant ship, Robin and Enel—unprepared—collapsed unconscious under the overwhelming will.
Even Mihawk and Issho broke into cold sweat.
"Conqueror's Haki…" Mihawk breathed, his eyes reflecting the flickering black lightning tearing through the sky.
High above the molten island, Don sensed the Haki coursing within him.
Before, he could only release his Conqueror's Haki—never control it.
But now, he could feel its flow.
A chance!
In that instant, Don focused—and mastered it.
[Conqueror's Coating].
So easily, so naturally—it shocked even him.
"Is this… the leap from quantity to quality?" he murmured.
The effects of [Unyielding] were still stacking.
His Observation Haki flared, expanding to cover over a hundred kilometers.
Then—his Conqueror's Will swept through it.
Every pirate ship within that radius fell silent as their crews collapsed.
"Observation guiding Conqueror's…?" Don tried fine-tuning the control.
He remembered Red-Hair Shanks' demonstration—precisely channeling Conqueror's Haki across vast distances.
But this attempt failed.
Even with such power, his control was slipping.
The energy was beyond what his body could properly contain.
"Mihawk wasn't wrong," Don muttered.
At the start, Mihawk had said he couldn't control his power—and he was right.
In his normal state, mastering his strength perfectly would allow him to unleash it freely after activating [Unyielding].
Still, even in this uncontrolled storm—his strength was overwhelming.
END OF CHAPTER
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