35. Bursts Forth

Cold sweat started to pour out when Izumi saw how Mihawk was fighting to overcome his teleportation magic.

"This bastard! So all this time he was deliberately luring me to teleport to where he wanted?" Izumi said inwardly while parrying Mihawk's attacks.

Mihawk didn't use his full strength, he neither used Kenbunshoku Haki nor Busoshoku Haki. Even so, Izumi was still overwhelmed by Mihawk whose physical strength and experience are far above Izumi's. He thought Izumi was too weak. So, he never thought of using Kenbunshoku Haki to predict Izumi's movements. It was an instinct he had honed through years of experience.

Izumi was getting more and more overwhelmed because the longer Mihawk attacks, the faster his attacks would be. He even got a few cuts after Mihawk's quick attacks.

Izumi decided to teleport some distance away from Mihawk to catch a breath. However, Mihawk instead released an unexpected slash which created a slash of energy in the direction where Izumi teleported.

Izumi only realized it when the energy slash was already in front of him.

"Shit!"

He teleported once again. But just before he teleported, the attack had already hit his body. So, he teleported after being hit by Mihawk's attack.

"Aghhh!!" Izumi groaned in pain and fell on his knee. He didn't expect the attack to still hit him even though he used magic to teleport.

Izumi tried to calm himself down. If only by looking at Mihawk's attack speed, Izumi won't be able to learn anything. He had to be able to feel, feel the flow of attacks beyond his sense of sight.

"Hufft!"

After Izumi calmed down, he ignored the pain he was receiving and focused on Mihawk.

The atmosphere around him suddenly changed as his gaze fell on Mihawk. Besides, Izumi seemed to be a different person with his aura which suddenly overflowed.

"I must feel it! I must feel it! I must feel it!" Izumi mumbled while repeating his words over and over.

Suddenly, Mihawk dashed toward him while swinging his sword. Izumi thought it would be over once he got hit by Mihawk's sword that was filled with energy.

The sword is swung horizontally. Spontaneously, Izumi jumped up and did a spinning kick. Mihawk blocked the kick with his left hand even though he received an electric shock from Izumi's body. Then, Izumi tried to stab Mihawk with his kunais.

Mihawk, who thought that Izumi teleported behind him, swung his sword backward. However, it was surprising to him that Izumi remained in his position. Mihawk finally let go of Izumi's leg which he was holding with his left hand and tried to hit him to counterattack.

*Bang*

Izumi was slammed into the ship wreckage.

Izumi stood up. Even though he was standing, his head was lowered as if he was exhausted. However, his body was still coated in lightning. His hands also looked weak but still gripped the kunai in each hand.

"What's wrong? Have you given up? Is this all you have?" Even though Mihawk said those words, he knew that the current Izumi was the exact opposite of what he said.

"Pinch is a chance! The more you drive it to the limit, the more your life and soul will burn! Then, the power will burst forth." Izumi murmured and kept repeating those words in his mind.

*Swoosh*

Suddenly, he dashed toward Mihawk at twice the speed from before. And the higher the speed he had, the sharper his attack would be. Moreover, Izumi was able to move freely due to his magic and attack precisely.

*Clank*

*Clank*

*Clank*

*Clank*

Izumi's blind attack that was launched was able to be blocked by Mihawk easily even though Izumi attacked his vital points from various directions. He even threw several shurikens while attacking with both of his kunais, though Mihawk was able to block them.

"This brat, he can still increase his strength. His attacks also become more unpredictable. He seems to be growing in battle." Mihawk looked at Izumi in amazement. "Let's get a little serious."

With Mihawk starting to get a little serious. Izumi started to be pushed back.

*Clank*

*Clank*

*Clank*

*Clank*

Izumi was still able to withstand several attacks, but Mihawk's attack speed exceeded his expectations even when his speed was faster than before. Even so, Izumi was slowly able to guess the direction of Mihawk's attacks.

Mihawk let out a smile.

Suddenly, Mihawk unleashed his Busoshoku Haki and imbued it into his weapon. Then, he swung his sword at Izumi.

At that time, Izumi's vision had started to blur a bit from forcing himself to his limit. When Izumi saw Mihawk's sword swing at him, he wanted to parry it using the kunais in his hands.

But somehow, he saw an astonishing vision where blood spurted from his hand which was cut neatly from the slash of Mihawk's sword. Even the two kunais held in his hands were also split in two. It happened for a fraction of a second.

After that, his sight returned to where Mihawk was swinging his sword at him. Without thinking more, Izumi teleported some distance behind Mihawk while panting heavily. Even though he looked exhausted, the lightning that enveloped his body still hadn't been extinguished.

"W-what was that? Haah, haah. A future vision?"

He didn't see it wrong. What he had seen was a vision of the future. But he didn't feel that he was using the basic ability of Kenbunshoku Haki where he could predict the opponent's attack. It was quite strange that he was suddenly able to see the future, which was an advanced ability of Kenbunshoku Haki.

When Izumi was fixated on his thoughts, Mihawk had already dashed to Izumi.

"Izumi! Watch out!"

Suddenly, Izumi heard Luffy shout.

Suddenly, Izumi raised his head and looked at Mihawk who was already in front of him while swinging a sword.

There was no chance for Izumi to win, so…

*Bang*

Izumi destroyed the footing beneath him. As a result, Mihawk lost his balance and fell into the sea. Meanwhile, only Izumi himself was still there because only he was able to stand on the water.

In addition, because Izumi was quite tired, Lightning Chakra Mode could no longer be used. Izumi also thought that if Mihawk lost his footing, it meant he couldn't attack Izumi again from close range.

"Haah, haah. It can be said I won, right?"

Just when he finished those words, he glanced downward. He widened his eyes.

"Crap!"

*Slash*

A slash of energy suddenly appeared from the water and slashed at Izumi who couldn't dodge due to exhaustion. He was thrown in the air, then landed on the wreckage deck of Don Krieg's ship.

"Ghaahh." Izumi seemed to feel pain even though the energy slash from Mihawk wasn't that deep. He saw Mihawk who emerged from the water with a smirk on his face and then charged toward Izumi.

Izumi clenched his teeth. He tried to use half of his remaining energy.

*Slash*

Izumi disappeared from his place just as Mihawk's attack nearly hit him. However, the place where he appeared after teleporting was not far from where he was before.

"Damn it! My teleportation distance has decreased drastically." Izumi grumbled.

At that moment, Mihawk suddenly asked him.

"I can see you want to be strong. What for?"

Izumi didn't take his eyes off Mihawk. Izumi slightly lowered his head while holding his knees. His panting breaths were starting to get a little normal even though he barely had any energy left.

"A weakling will always be suppressed by a stronger one, and a weakling like me won't be able to achieve my dreams even if I wanted to. I want to find my own way to reach my dream. Therefore, I must become stronger. Both soul and body. That's what I thought."

"Hmmm. Make a sense. Your words are good. Tell me your name!"

"Izumi."

"I'll remember that."

Then, Mihawk prepared to attack Izumi again.

"This will be my last attack. Whether you survive or not is up to you!"

That was good news for Izumi. Even so, there was something more serious, he was already exhausted. Even his teleportation magic didn't work well. He just hoped that Mihawk's attack didn't reach him.

Mihawk dashed toward Izumi while preparing to swing the sword. The swing of his sword that almost hit Izumi suddenly changed direction because Izumi also disappeared. Then, he changed his attack pattern and performed a stab into the water.

*Stab*

*Blurb*

Bubbles of air and blood began to appear on the surface of the water. Because the sword was stuck in Izumi's stomach, Mihawk stretched out his left hand to pull Izumi to the surface.

The sword didn't leave Izumi's stomach because he was holding it with both hands.

"Izumi!!" Luffy cried out.

Suddenly, Mihawk felt something.

"HAAAAAAHHHH!"

Izumi's aura suddenly bursts forth. It was not an ordinary aura, but an aura caused by his spiritual power and willpower.

The surrounding people who were unable to withstand the burst of the aura immediately fainted. Only a few people were still able to stand up.

Meanwhile, the culprit just stood there pulling the sword from his stomach as if he wasn't aware of anything around him. After the sword was pulled from his stomach. He fell unconscious.