Chapter 379: A Battle of Swords and Will in the Forest

With a swift lunge, Zoro’s blades danced in his hands, their arcs sharp and precise as he launched a counterattack.

“Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Worlds!”

This was Zoro’s most powerful move to date.

His three swords spun like a cyclone, shredding anything in their path before the opponent could even react.

Since growing stronger, Zoro had honed this technique even further. The blades now spun so fast, they were almost invisible.

“One Sword Style – Dragon’s Roar!”

But Batonaal was no pushover. A year ago, he’d challenged Hawk Eyes and walked away alive, and since then, he’d refined his techniques even more.

With a slash, a massive azure dragon seemed to surge from thin air, wind howling as its force erupted like a hurricane.

The earth split, jagged black cracks zigzagging across the ground like lightning, all racing toward the charging Zoro.

But Zoro had already gotten what he wanted. From over a dozen meters away, he flung his attack right at Batonaal.

The moment the two sword techniques collided, a blinding flash exploded, forcing both men to squeeze their eyes shut.

Boom!! Whoosh!!!

A tidal wave of energy surged out from the impact, hurling the two fighters aside in a violent gale.

“What the heck is that mosshead up to now?”

“That’s way too loud. I need to check this out.”

Sanji’s attention snapped to the booming noises coming from the distant woods.

If even Zoro was having a tough time, this enemy had to be no joke.

He stood, strolled over to Luffy, and popped the huge snot bubble on the captain’s nose with one finger, then raced off towards the forest without a word.

“Huh? Is it morning already?”

Luffy blinked in confusion as the bubble burst, getting to his feet.

But as he looked around, it was still pitch dark out.

Boom!!!

Another deafening blast rumbled from the forest. Luffy’s eyes snapped clear, all traces of drowsiness gone.

“Zoro? Sanji?”

He was surprised to see that both Zoro and Sanji were missing from their resting spot, so he turned toward the ruckus in the distance.

Tugging down his hat, he started heading into the woods too—he wasn’t letting his friends face danger alone.

The second boom wasn’t from Zoro’s fight, though—it was from Sanji’s side.

Sanji had just entered the forest and was sprinting toward the commotion when he was suddenly blasted hundreds of meters by an unexpected attack from behind.

Bartolomeo, sporting his wild rooster-head hairdo, strolled up to stand in front of Sanji.

“Sanji-san, your bounty’s not bad either.”

“Who are you? Some kind of Pirate Hunter?”

Sanji got up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and fixed the bizarre man with a cold stare.

Bartolomeo studied Sanji’s wanted poster before folding it and tucking it into his pocket. “Something like that.”

Before the words faded, he suddenly moved in, launching a heavy kick at Sanji’s chest.

That kick packed enough force to do real damage if it landed.

“If you’re an enemy, this just got easier.”

Sanji just sneered, refusing to budge. He answered with a fierce, sweeping kick of his own.

Clang!

It sounded like two pieces of steel crashing together.

Both of them had, almost unconsciously, covered their legs with Armament Haki.

“Man, everyone really does have Haki on the Grand Line!”

Sanji was genuinely shocked—this was his first time in the Grand Line, and he’d already run into someone who could wield Armament Haki.

He knew the Grand Line was tough, but this was a new level. It was hard to believe everybody here already had this kind of power.

“You’re way stronger than your bounty suggests. Looks like the Navy underestimated you.”

Bartolomeo spoke up, a mix of doubt and intrigue in his voice.

On paper, Black Leg Sanji’s bounty was only fifteen million Berries, but his real strength was closer to pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions.

What Bartolomeo didn’t know was that Sanji had been getting stronger at lightning speed. Compared to back in Cocoyasi Village, he was on a whole different level now.

With Ye Fan’s secret help, his improvement even outstripped the tales of Wu Xia A’meng’s progress.

Normally, unless you’d eaten a Devil Fruit or taken some kind of Gene Serum, there’s a limit to how strong a person could get.

Even the world’s top pirates relied on years of hard training, or innate talent honed from childhood and then relentless effort after that.

No one simply leaps so many tiers in strength overnight.

That reminded Bartolomeo of something he’d eaten as a kid.

But considering Luffy’s crew had just entered the Grand Line from East Blue, how could they possibly have something like that?

“首肉 Shoot!”

Catching Bartolomeo dazed, Sanji wouldn’t let the opportunity slip by. He sprang forward, aiming a lightning-fast kick straight for Bartolomeo’s neck—no frills, just ruthless efficiency.

Feeling the wind on his face, Bartolomeo snapped out of it and dodged in a blur, just in time. When Sanji’s attack paused for a split second, Bartolomeo surged in close.

“Interrupting people like that, not a great habit.”

Bartolomeo balled his right hand into a fist and hammered at Sanji’s head, violent power radiating from every move.

Sanji ducked low, dodged the strike, then planted his hands on the ground and spun, his feet lashing out like a whirlwind.

Bang!

Caught off guard, Bartolomeo took a hard kick to the knee, sharp pain stabbing through him as he stumbled backward.

But Bartolomeo had taken a Gene Serum—though he could feel the bone in his knee fracture, it only took a moment for him to heal up completely.

Sanji, unable to see through Bartolomeo’s pants, didn’t notice how quickly his knee was mending.

“Leg Meat!”

But Sanji’s nature made him relentless. Since he created this opening, he wasn’t about to let go, pounding away at Bartolomeo’s injury, again and again.

Each kick slammed down on Bartolomeo’s battered knee.

Even if his healing was astonishing, it still took time. For now, Bartolomeo couldn’t risk taking more hits to that leg.

After all, regeneration had its limits—he had to burn energy to recover each time.

Still, his stamina and recovery far outclassed Sanji’s. Only his right leg’s pain kept him from using more kicks.

“Nine mountains, eight seas—make a world. Gather a thousand worlds, you get a ‘Small Thousand Worlds.’ Multiply that by three, and with unyielding spirit… Three-Sword Style Secret Technique… The Greatest Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds!”

A deep voice echoed through the silent forest.

Zoro, his body now marked with fresh sword wounds, had awakened a technique he wouldn’t have mastered for another two years—right in this critical moment.

A sweeping blue wave of Sword Aura, hundreds of meters long, sliced straight toward Batonaal.

“One Sword Style: Great Waterfall!”

Unwilling to lose, Batonaal unleashed his own ultimate move: a vast, pale-blue blade of energy, flowing like a wild river, crashing head-on against Zoro’s massive attack.