Supreme Swordsman Zoro

Zoro walked inside the dojo as everyone was having their breakfast with the quilt in his arms, he left the quilt on the porch of the dojo and sat cross-legged on the ground as there was an empty place for him with a bowl of steaming hot buns, the dojo didn't have much food even with the support of the parents so they could eat only buns and rice, sometimes Koshiro would go hunting and they would eat meat.

Zoro wasn't a picky eater so he ate his buns and bowed afterward then he looked around for Kuina but he didn't spot her at all, it seemed Kuina didn't eat with the others. As Zoro walked outside in the backyard he could hear Kuina shouting as she did her katas with a wooden sword. She was already sweating as it seemed she had been training since earlier in the morning.

Zoro decided to train with her as he picked up a sword from the rack of swords that stood near the exit of the dojo and he started doing his own katas at a moderate pace, he started with one sword then he took another one, he slashed with them left right up down sometimes he would stay in a stance for a few minutes and afterward he would slash down with a high amount of strength, his muscles bulging a bit while doing so.

Kuina was observing his katas while she was doing her own and she tried to imitate him but Koshiro who was observing both of them came near her and whispered:

"Kuina, don't follow the path of others as your potential can't be truly fulfilled, you need to create your own path, taking inspiration from Zoro is alright but you cannot copy his techniques."

Kuina blushed awkwardly at her father's words and nodded her head then she continued her own katas while also observing Zoro but not copying him like before. Zoro was oblivious to what happened as he was thoroughly entranced in his training.

After he finished warming up with katas Zoro started his normal body training as he strapped ropes towards all parts of his body then he used those parts to lift the boulders that they were tied to.

Kuina's eyes widened and her shoulders sagged as she saw how Zoro already tripled his training compared to yesterday, and she was supposed to train like that every day?

Kuina shuddered and finished her own set of katas it was time to take Zoro's advice but Koshiro approached her again and said:

"You do not have to train as Zoro does, Zoro is a man while you are a woman, you will have different fighting styles, from what I saw, his fighting style is based on pure strength and domination of his opponent, you are different than him, even though he is more skillful than you currently it isn't sure that he will remain the same forever, while strength is important you do not have to train as hard as he does to catch up to him, you can still train like him but not at the same intensity."

Kuina nodded her head as her father explained to her how she is supposed to train to increase her flexibility and strength, it was a different type of training compared to Zoro's which was supposedly training every muscle but at a higher chance of self-injury during the training. Kuina wondered if Zoro pulled any muscles already but it seemed Zoro knew no exhaustion as he actually increased the speed he was lifting the boulders.

He was a little freak! Koshiro himself was surprised at Zoro's tenacity and training capabilities it seemed less and less surprising that Kuina lost to him. Zoro stopped training after five hours passed by and Kuina did the same, unlike Zoro who was only panting lightly Kuina was sweating intensely and she could barely stay on her feet, she did the training that her father gave her and the one Zoro did but lighter so she was pretty much exhausted.

Zoro started taking in deep breaths, in and out, in and out then he took a wooden sword and threw another one at Kuina, Kuina being as exhausted as she was barely caught the sword, it almost hitting her on the forehead, Zoro smiled at her and said:

"Maybe you would have been enlightened on swordsmanship as well if that sword hit your forehead." Kuina scoffed at Zoro's words then took a stance, Zoro's smile stood on his face as he attacked her at fast speeds, even though he didn't leave after images behind it was still pretty close.

Kuina started defending herself with her sword creating a protecting dome around her but her exhaustion coupled with the difference in skill and strength made this fight a sure win for Zoro. After a few minutes, Kuina plopped on the ground and gasped for air while Zoro stopped attacking her and nodded:

"Better than before you are improving very fast, as expected of someone with similar talent to me!" Zoro wanted Kuina to get stronger faster so he could have a challenge, which technically could increase his skill and technique even further!

Strength wasn't going to increase overnight but gradually while training, only intense fights at similar power levels would give you enlightenment. Kuina looked at Zoro with fire-filled eyes it seemed even though she was discouraged at first due to the way Zoro trained himself she quickly overcame her discouragement and her will came back faster and stronger than before!

Zoro nodded his head at those eyes he was seeing, those were the eyes he had every time he thought about becoming the worlds strongest swordsman, his dream also supra imposed with Miyamoto's dream which was practically the same increasing his will by a bit, even though Miyamoto already accomplished his dream, he was still sad and unfulfilled at the end of his life thus his will wasn't complete, now that it combined with Zoro's it created a resonance that enhanced Zoro's will by quite a bit.

Zoro offered Kuina a hand that she accepted but she couldn't actually get up due to her exhaustion, Zoro shook his head and grabbed her then put her on his back, Kuina struggled at first as she was taller than Zoro and she didn't want to stay in such an embarrassing position but she accepted it, he just left her in her room then left.

Zoro knew that at the pace he was going he couldn't make much progress due to no opponents being his match, he needed someone strong to fight against but he had no one! He didn't know if it was ok to leave the island yet he was still a bit too young as he just turned ten this year.

Koshiro looked at Zoro and chuckled to himself, he recognized the look on the youth's face it was the same look he had after he had defeated his whole island in duels in the grand line, he decided to approach Zoro and talk to him. Zoro was startled by Koshiro's approach as he couldn't sense him coming at him at all but then he remembered his 'breath' technique and he realized that Koshiro could be the one he had been looking for!

Before Koshiro could even initiate the conversation Zoro said:

"Sensei, why don't we spar for a bit?"

Koshiro shook his head at Zoro's words and responded to him:

"I'm not fighting anymore, I have left my swordsmanship path behind me and took the role of a teacher, even though I can't fight you I can teach you a bit more after you learn the 'breath' technique, I came over cause I saw you hesitating on leaving the island earlier and I want to advise you against it."

Zoro widened his eyes as he never told anyone about his thoughts, Koshiro was a really amazing person if he deduced that from his expression alone, that's why he wanted to fight him even more than before, but he decided against it as Koshiro was unwilling then he asked:

"Why shouldn't I leave the island Sensei?" Koshiro chuckled at Zoro's words and he responded with just one word:

"Kuina." Zoro was oblivious as always and asked:

"What about her?" Koshiro realized that the child was actually quite thick-headed right now and he had to explain him things in more depth to learn them, while Zoro might be a prodigy at fighting and swordsmanship he wasn't really smart concerning relationsh.i.p.s:

"Well I don't think you have realized it but Kuina became quite attached to you recently, you would break her heart if you would leave now, she also sees you as a rival and friend, I'm not sure of what exact reaction she would have if you would leave the island already."

Zoro's eyes widened at Koshiro's words, they made quite a lot of sense, was he selfish only thinking about how to get stronger by himself without helping Kuina as well? He always thought that with just training like that and fighting other strong opponents he could get strong and he wasn't wrong, but another way to get stronger was having strong friendsh.i.p.s!

Fighting for the one you cared about ignited a strange power withing you that increased your strength by quite a high deal. Even though Zoro didn't realize this now he would in the future.

Zoro took a pondering expression and he said quickly afterward:

"Ok I won't leave the island, but at Most I will stay till I would be eighteen years old, I will have to leave the village afterward, I already feel like I can't grow as much as I'm supposed to here..."

Koshiro nodded his head and said:

"There won't be any problem with your growth I will make sure of that." Koshiro's glasses glinted in the sun as he said that.

Zoro shuddered for no reason afterward, he looked around but didn't spot anything that could make him feel cold it was a normal summer day after all.

As Zoro and Kuina trained day in and day night, Kuina started to catch up to Zoro slowly but Zoro also improved marginally, after one year he could already shoot compressed air out of his sword and he called it flying phoenix slash cannon, for now, he could only shoot one flying slash while using three swords simultaneously and it wasn't that strong but it was still a deadly ranged ability considered he was a swordsman this was quite the high accomplishment. Even Koshiro was surprised by Zoro's ability, he was basically starting to run before walking as he still didn't learn about the 'breath' technique that he needed to do first before he knew how to do flying slashes.

Learning the 'breath' technique would also enable him to cut steel which he couldn't yet. Kuina also improved a lot now being on equal terms as the past Zoro, but she was still quite a long way to being as strong as him, even with Koshiro's help Zoro's potential just kept going on and on, it wasn't that Kuina wasn't talented enough but Zoro was just a plain monster!

Koshiro now gave the two of them permission to spar with real swords so they could gain better fighting experience it would give them the feel of fighting true life and death battles, but Koshiro would always supervise these battles so no one would get hurt.

Kuina needed to sharpen her sword but the sharpening tools were inside the cellar, she decided to go in alone to get the sharpening tools but coincidentally Zoro's swords also needed some sharpening so he followed her inside.

The stairs that led down to the cellar were quite wet and slippery so Zoro said:

"Watch out for the stairs we could easily slip and fall off and there's quite the long way down."

Kuina nodded her head at Zoro's words and she started to slowly go down the stairs, but suddenly she slipped and started falling down!

Zoro's eyes widened as he jumped down the stairs quickly falling to the cellar, he fell on his legs as he grimaced due to the impact as the distance from where he jumped and where he landed was quite big.

Fortunately, his actions were fast enough as he caught Kuina just in time if he was any late it couldn't be said what would have happened to her!

Zoro caught her easily as his strength increase even more in the one year they trained together, but Kuina also grew by a bit, especially her assets were starting to develop as she reached thirteen years. Zoro coughed awkwardly and let her down. Kuina also blushed awkwardly as well and said quickly afterward:

"Ok let's just find the sharpening tools and go out, also I have to tell father to get these stairs fixed they are way too slippery! I could have died if you didn't save me in time."

Zoro nodded his head at her words then both of them took the sharpening tools from the cellar and left without any other incidents.

After they sharpened their swords a bit to have them at full potential to simulate a deadly fight Koshiro stood between the two of them and smiled while saying:

"Ok just like the first day when you two fought, I will count from ten to zero and you can start."

Koshiro opened his mouth and started to count down, ten nine eight..... zero!

Both Kuina and Zoro launched themselves at each other at high speeds while keeping their defenses up at all times, Zoro was using two swords while a third one he got from Koshiro was strapped on his back if he needed to he would unsheath the sword from his back and put in his mouth to use his newly invented three sword style, but he thought he could handle Kuina with only his two-sword style.

As they clashed sparks appeared between their swords and it could be seen Kuina was getting overpowered in the clash of swords. But suddenly...