Chapter 12 (Patreon)

The morning sun rose over Konoha, marking the beginning of another bright day.

The alarm clock rang beside the bed, pulling Nerona Mihawk from his sleep.

As he slowly opened his eyes and sat up, the world around him suddenly fell silent.

It was not merely the silence of his bedroom or even his house.

The usual noise coming from the streets had vanished as well. The voices of villagers, footsteps, opening doors—everything had disappeared.

Instead, Mihawk heard breathing.

Countless faint breaths drifted toward him like a gentle breeze.

An invisible web of perception spread out from his body, covering most of Konoha. For a brief moment, it felt as though the entire village had stopped moving.

Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the sensation vanished.

Mihawk closed his eyes and tried to find it again, but no matter how much he focused, the feeling did not return.

Still, he knew it had not been an illusion.

“Was that a glimpse of the Great Swordsman realm?”

Mihawk raised a hand to his forehead.

The battle between Hawkeye and Red-Haired Shanks flashed through his mind once again.

“That power was ridiculous. It hardly seemed human.”

Of all the scenes Mihawk had witnessed since coming to this world, none had shaken him as deeply as that duel.

It was no wonder Whitebeard had said the legendary battles between Hawkeye and Red-Hair were still fresh in his memory.

Witnessing the fight had not only widened Mihawk’s view of swordsmanship. It had also allowed him to understand the enormous gap between a top-level swordsman and a Great Swordsman.

At that point in the battle, Hawkeye and Red-Hair had still been standing at the peak of ordinary swordsmanship.

However, Mihawk believed neither of them would remain there for long.

Experiencing the duel through Hawkeye’s senses had allowed him to see the limit that stood ahead of him.

If even Mihawk could sense it, then Hawkeye—whose swordsmanship was far beyond his current level—had undoubtedly seen it as well.

That brief realization alone had benefited him immensely.

[Your “Hawkeye” Template has been unlocked to 47.86%.]

Seeing the new progress, Mihawk immediately got out of bed.

After washing up in the bathroom, he created a Shadow Clone and sent it to the Academy to take the graduation exam in his place.

Mihawk himself entered the dōjō as usual.

He sat down with his sword and began his sword meditation, focusing his mind on the Breath of All Things.

After stepping into the realm of a true swordsman and mastering the ability to cut only what he wished to cut, there was no longer any need for him to spend most of his time repeating basic sword forms.

From now on, his main goal was to improve his ability to sense and capture the breathing of everything around him.

Sword meditation was extremely dull.

Someone without patience would never be able to endure sitting still for such long periods of time.

However, meditation also had its advantages.

It calmed the mind, strengthened a swordsman’s focus, and allowed them to examine their own path.

Many swordsmen used sword meditation to search for the swordsmanship that truly belonged to them.

Mihawk had also grown to enjoy it, especially now that he was training himself to hear the Breath of All Things.

The calmer his mind became, the clearer those breaths sounded.

While immersed in meditation, Mihawk could distinctly feel his understanding of swordsmanship improving little by little.

Time passed quietly as he remained seated.

Before long, the entire morning was gone.

The doors of the dōjō eventually opened, and Mihawk’s Shadow Clone walked inside.

It carried the bento Hinata had prepared for him in one hand and a new forehead protector in the other.

Only then did Mihawk open his eyes and leave his meditative state.

He accepted the bento and the forehead protector from the clone.

After briefly looking at the metal plate bearing Konoha’s symbol, Mihawk released the Shadow Clone Technique.

The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and all of its memories immediately returned to him.

Mihawk carried the bento into the dining room.

Once he finished eating, he carefully washed the empty box and waited at home.

From the memories left by his clone, he already knew that Hinata would be coming to meet him later.

Mihawk leaned back in his seat, idly turning the forehead protector over in his hand. His eyes gradually closed, making it seem as though he had fallen asleep.

“Mihawk-kun…”

It was not long before Hinata’s gentle voice reached his ears.

Mihawk opened his eyes.

Hinata was leaning slightly toward him, a set of keys held in one hand. Her soft lavender-white eyes looked directly into his, filled with their usual warmth.

Mihawk smiled.

“Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

Hinata gave him a small smile and nodded.

The two left the house and walked side by side through the streets toward the Academy.

Now that the graduation exam was over, the students who had passed still needed to have photographs taken for their official shinobi records.

Mihawk had not allowed his Shadow Clone to handle that part.

For one thing, receiving his official registration as a shinobi held a certain meaning for him.

More importantly, he needed something to distract his mind.

Ever since witnessing the duel between Hawkeye and Red-Haired Shanks, Mihawk had been unable to completely calm the excitement inside him.

A new level of swordsmanship had appeared before him.

From tomorrow onward, everything would change.

It would mark the beginning of his life as an official shinobi.

It would also be the moment when the butterfly known as Nerona Mihawk finally began disturbing the course of history.

As that thought crossed his mind, Mihawk suddenly reached out and took Hinata’s hand.

“M-Mihawk-kun…”

Hinata’s body trembled slightly.

A faint blush quickly spread across her cheeks. She glanced at Mihawk from the corner of her eye, and a clear trace of happiness appeared in her expression.

Mihawk continued looking ahead as though he had not noticed her reaction.

Hinata lowered her head.

After hesitating for a moment, her fingers gently tightened around his palm.

Sensing the quiet determination behind that gesture, the corner of Mihawk’s mouth rose slightly.

He shifted his hand, slipping his fingers between hers.

Their fingers interlocked.

Walking beside each other like that, the two of them looked no different from a young couple.

“Mihawk-kun? Hinata? You two…”

Just as they reached the entrance of the Academy, someone suddenly stepped in front of them.

Yamanaka Ino stared at the pair with wide eyes.

Her gaze first dropped to their interlocked hands before moving toward Hinata’s bright-red face.

Ino quickly covered her mouth, unable to hold back an amused laugh.

“Oh, so that’s how it is. No wonder Mihawk-kun never paid attention to any of the other girls. Someone already got there before the rest of us.”

“I-Ino-san…”

Hinata’s face became even redder under Ino’s teasing.

Her head began to spin, and a faint cloud of steam seemed ready to rise from it.

Embarrassed beyond words, Hinata instinctively tried to pull her hand away.

Mihawk did not let go.

He calmly tightened his grip, gave Ino a small nod in greeting, and led Hinata into the Academy.

Ino remained at the entrance, watching their retreating figures.

A gentle smile appeared on her face.

“They really kept that hidden,” she murmured. “Still, looking at them from behind, they suit each other surprisingly well.”

There was no envy or jealousy in her voice.

When they were younger, many of the girls in their class had followed Mihawk around for a while, with Ino usually taking the lead.

However, that period had not lasted very long.

Mihawk never hid his lack of interest, and his constant rejection gradually discouraged them.

His reputation as the top student in their year also made it difficult for anyone to approach him casually.

Even girls who secretly liked him eventually lost the courage to speak to him.

Ino had held on longer than the others.

At that age, however, it had been little more than a child’s desire to become friends with someone impressive.

After being rejected repeatedly—and after her friendship with Haruno Sakura broke down—Ino’s attention gradually shifted away from Mihawk.

For the past five years, she had been far more focused on competing with Sakura.

Ino had always believed that someone as distant as Mihawk would never become interested in any girl from their class.

She had never expected that while everyone else was too intimidated to approach him, Hinata—the quietest girl in the class, whose presence was often overlooked—had already reached his side without anyone noticing.

Hinata Hyūga was far more capable than she appeared.