Over the years, Gion had grown considerably, and now her mastery of this technique was clearly far superior to what it had been before.
Not only had she increased the number of afterimages she could create, but they had also become more precise.
However, trying to gain an advantage over Wood using speed was a fundamental mistake.
"When I used this technique before, you always managed to dodge my attacks. At first, I didn't understand why, until I awakened this power as well.
Wood, can your Observation Haki still discern my position now?"
Gion's voice echoed from all around, indicating that even as she spoke, she was maintaining her high-speed movement, creating this phenomenon.
Over the years, with Gion's talent, it was impossible for her not to have mastered Haki. In fact, not only had she mastered Observation Haki, but she had even awakened Armament Haki slightly earlier than Wood.
However, compared to her Observation Haki, Gion's Armament Haki was still in its early stages and wasn't very effective in actual combat.
It was only after awakening Observation Haki that Gion finally understood why, during their previous sparring sessions, Wood could always predict her attacks.
For a Swordsman, Observation Haki was far more valuable than Armament Haki. Wood had awakened this power while still in the Navy Academy at the age of sixteen!
While Gion admired Wood's remarkable talent, she also felt a sense of dissatisfaction, which drove her to train even harder over the years in hopes of one day redeeming herself.
She hadn't expected the opportunity to come so quickly, though the circumstances of their battle were different from what she had envisioned.
Gion's refined technique, honed over years, had been tested on many opponents, and even those who had awakened Observation Haki found it difficult to evade her attacks completely.
What Gion didn't know was that while her speed might surpass the perception range of ordinary Observation Haki users, Wood's Observation Haki was far from ordinary.
To others, Gion's speed might seem unmatched, creating afterimages nearly indistinguishable from her real body.
But to Wood, with his fully activated Observation Haki, Gion's technique was riddled with flaws, and her movements were all too clear to him.
Naturally, despite her seemingly unstoppable flurry of dozens of slashes, Gion's attacks all missed their mark within moments.
Even her final, trump card move—a leaping slash known as Rabbit Leap—was effortlessly blocked by Wood, who casually held his long sword, Tenko, horizontally.
"You seem quite surprised, but this is reality. Over the years, I'm not the only one who has improved.
You may have undergone significant training, but I assure you, I haven't endured any less than anyone else.
Haki also varies in strength, and it just so happens that my Observation Haki recently experienced a major breakthrough."
While Gion might think that Wood's talent was extraordinary, only Wood himself knew that his talent was actually quite ordinary, at least compared to real monsters like Gion and Aokiji.
His growth was partly due to the cheat-like system he possessed, but the other half of it was purely his own hard work.
During his time at the Navy Academy, he trained every day, enduring far more than others, even sneaking off to the mountains for extra practice.
After being assigned to Impel Down, Wood continued to train day and night, constantly battling the world's most dangerous criminals.
His first mission after that was the life-threatening incident at Mary Geoise, where he faced hundreds of CP agents alone.
Although only a few years had passed, Wood had spent every moment either training or fighting. How could he not have grown stronger?
When the Straw Hat Pirates reunited after two years apart, each of them had become vastly stronger.
Wood knew he didn't have the protagonist's plot armor, but he had worked ten times, even a hundred times harder!
If talent alone wasn't enough, then hard work had to make up for it! Hard work alone might not surpass a genius, but doing nothing would leave you forever a small fry.
"Gion, this time I won't be holding back! If you want to defeat me, you'll need far more determination than this!"
As Wood spoke, he removed his shirt and the Justice cloak, tossing them aside.
Normally, the fabric should have been blown away by the sea breeze.
However, Wood's shirt and cloak didn't move at all. Instead, as soon as he tossed them, they were heavily affected by gravity and plummeted downward at an astonishing speed.
"Boom——!"
As soon as the cloak and shirt hit the sea, the previously calm surface exploded with a wave that shot a hundred meters high.
To those who saw Wood toss his clothes, they might think it was just clothing, but to those unaware, it looked like he had just thrown several tons of rock into the sea.
The reason the shirt and cloak acted this way was simple: Wood had sewn heavy lead weights into them, which was why his Justice cloak had never fluttered like others'.
During his battle with Golden Lion Shiki, Wood had worn this gear.
It wasn't that he was trying to show off, but rather that when he was at a disadvantage, Shiki hadn't given him the chance to take off his gear.
At the time, as Wood struggled in the water, barely able to draw his gun, there was no way he could have removed his heavy gear.
It was obvious—because he wasn't the protagonist, Shiki didn't bother with the usual villain's monologue before striking; he just went straight for the kill when he had the advantage.
"You were fighting me the whole time in that state?"
Seeing Wood toss his shirt and cloak into the sea, even Gion, who wasn't the sharpest, realized that Wood hadn't been using his full strength in their previous fight; in fact, he had been holding back significantly.
Judging by the splash, there was no way that gear was light, yet Wood had been fighting her while carrying that weight!
Gion was furious. She felt insulted, as she had given her all from the start, while Wood was only now getting serious.
"There's no need to be surprised. I usually carry that weight with me all the time.
Do you understand what that means, Gion? It means that even during our sparring sessions back at the Navy Academy, I was wearing that gear.
Of course, I couldn't carry as much weight back then because I wasn't as strong as I am now."
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 200+ at patreon.com/Betek.