Skill Tree Chronicles: One Piece

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Vista clapped enthusiastically, drew his twin swords, and said solemnly:

"I would like to learn your swordsmanship."

Shen Yuan tilted his neck slightly, one hand resting on the hilt of his blade, the anticipation burning in his eyes.

Marco tried to step forward to intervene but was halted by Whitebeard's massive arm.

Puzzled, Marco looked to Whitebeard, but the Yonko gave no explanation. In the end, Marco withdrew silently.

Shen Yuan: A round-robin gauntlet, huh?

How dirty.

But—

I like it.

A grin curled at Shen Yuan's lips.

Across from him, Vista curled his mustache with his fingers, his expression grave.

"These past years, I've aspired to reach the realm of the Great Swordsman. But something was always missing."

"Today," he declared, "I want to learn what that last step is—from you."

Shen Yuan nodded silently.

Honestly, the difference between you and a Great Swordsman... is just a system.

With that thought, he unsheathed his sword.

The Heaven-Swallowing Sword (Tuntian) let out a deep metallic cry, and an oppressive black mist surged out with its release!

"Want to know the gap between you and a Great Swordsman?" Shen Yuan smirked. "Come. Attack me—and I'll show you."

Vista froze momentarily, then flushed with battle-hunger.

"A demon sword… a genuine demon sword!"

His fighting spirit ignited. Petals whirled around his blade as he slashed forward!

"Hanauta Sanka—Petal Cut!"

Shen Yuan was momentarily dazed. The flurry of flower petals was almost dreamlike.

A paradise.

But it didn't throw him off.

He brought Tuntian up in a horizontal block, absorbing the slashes.

Pivoting smoothly, he aimed a fierce blow directly at Vista's jaw!

A sinister wind screamed forth!

"Bang!"

Shen Yuan's fist struck cleanly!

Vista's mind reeled, his balance lost.

"Whoosh!"

Tuntian skimmed past his cheek like a guillotine!

Had he not twisted at the last second, the result would've been... ugly.

As it was, his mustache—half gone.

The attack didn't stop.

Shen Yuan raised his sword again.

The overwhelming pressure shook Vista to his core, goosebumps erupting across his skin.

"Clang!"

Vista met the blow with crossed blades. A shockwave of armament Haki crackled from the impact!

"Rose Petals—Rose Waltz!"

Petal-shaped sword energy rained down from above, shimmering and deadly.

Each strike rang out—ting, ting, ting—but none could break through Shen Yuan's aura.

He smiled lightly.

"Pretty slashes. But in the end, you're just a clown juggling swords."

Vista's face darkened with rage.

Both of his swords lit up with Busoshoku Haki, two obsidian trails extending toward Shen Yuan.

"Voooom!"

Twin slashes howled through the air!

But then—

A blinding aura exploded from Shen Yuan!

An intricate fusion of Observation Haki and Advanced Armament Haki, bordered by a thin film of black-and-white electrostatic energy—a sign of awakened combat focus.

In that split second, time seemed to stand still.

Shen Yuan casually walked forward, shaking his head.

Then—SLAP!

A wide-arc slap crashed into Vista's cheek!

Most of his teeth shattered midair, blood frozen in the stilled time before gravity took it.

No time to defend, no time to retaliate.

"You lack both speed and finesse," Shen Yuan said flatly. "A swordsman isn't someone who just swings a blade."

"The sword should move as if it's part of your body—alive."

As his words ended—

A gaping wound split open across Vista's chest. He was sent flying over ten meters before crashing into the sea.

"Pfft!"

No one saw how it happened.

The match had ended before it had even begun.

> [Plot character Vista defeated. Level increased to 84!]

Shen Yuan stood still, hands in his pockets.

As if the duel never happened.

"Next."

"Hiiisss…"

A collective gasp rang out.

"I'll go."

Marco stepped forward, blue flames rising over his body, his Mythical Zoan Awakening shifting his skin to phoenix feathers.

"Another day," Shen Yuan said lazily.

"No. Today."

"Another day," he insisted. "I'm feeling a little off. Allergies. Maybe flu. Really sorry."

"No. Now!"

Marco lunged.

But halfway through his leap, Shen Yuan's fist—now glowing with black lightning entwined with Conqueror's Haki—slammed into his chest.

"BOOM!"

Marco shot backward, flaming wings flickering erratically, before splashing into the sea beside Vista.

"In battle, there's no such thing as fairness! Dirty tricks? Only the strong write the rules!"

Silence. Again.

Three veteran commanders—defeated.

The other captains were frozen, none daring to move.

"Gurarara! Well said!"

Whitebeard embedded his Bisento into the deck, the wood cracking beneath it.

"You've injured three of my sons. As their father—how can I stand by?"

Without another word, Shen Yuan and Whitebeard leapt skyward, headed toward a small island nearby.

The captains blinked, hesitated, then scrambled to follow.

Vista, being carried back aboard by his crewmates, looked up in confusion.

Only to find Marco beside him, lying on the deck like a broken puppet.

"You too…?"

Marco gave a bitter nod.

Vista looked down at the slash on his chest—and shivered.

Truth was,

Vista knew Shen Yuan could've killed him with a single strike.

He hadn't.

Instead, he fought with restraint, mixing taunts with live lessons.

A deliberate test.

Was this Shen Yuan's concept of swordsmanship?

Vista took a deep breath, watching the two figures now standing on the island.

"…How many blows did you take before you dropped?" he asked.

Marco raised a single finger with a pained smile.

"One move?"

He nodded.

Marco could still feel that residual shockwave pulsing faintly in his chest.

If he'd used that same strength he used to kill Spandam, I'd be bedridden for a month…

"Becoming one with the sword… is that what it means to be a true swordsman?"

Vista stared at his blades, now lying cold on the deck, lost in thought.

Marco, too, had begun to reflect.

Shen Yuan's casual line had struck a deep chord.

All our past fights—were they too kind? Too… noble?

"We always challenged with fairness," Marco murmured.

"But on the battlefield… fairness is a luxury."

Thatch suddenly appeared in front of them, grinning.

"Yo, what happened? Why'd you two get flattened like that?"

He snorted, clearly holding back laughter.

"What the—"

Both Marco and Vista wanted to pin Thatch down and smash him.

But their bodies were still recovering.

"Thatch… just you wait!"

Two groans of fury echoed as Thatch scurried away toward the railing.

"Time to watch Dad crush that monster!"

Marco and Vista blinked.

Right. Their father was going to fight next.

"Yeah!"

They supported each other and hobbled toward the ship's edge.

"…How're we supposed to get over there?" Vista muttered.

"You want to swim? You do realize we're both Devil Fruit users, right?"

Marco's face darkened. He turned to their younger crewmen.

"Get us a boat."

"Yes, Captain!"

Their subordinates quickly mobilized.

"Easy! Watch the wound, damn it!"

"Ahh! Don't grab my chest muscles, you idiot!"