Summary:
The swordsman starts from where Zoro threw a building at Mr. 1 and is frustrated by his inability to understand his old master’s words about the swordsman’s ability to cut steel or not. Zoro stubbornly continues to believe that his method of pushing with all his strength is the key to cutting steel.
As Mr. 1 destroys the thrown building with an Atomic Spar, Zoro leaps forward through the rubble and meets Mr. 1 face to face. Starting with a series of quick strikes, the swordsman turns and strikes the assassin in the jaw. Returning with a kick, Mr. 1’s attack is parried by Zoro, who moves again to land a punch to his opponent’s jaw, sending him backwards. Zoro uses his Three Sword Style: Gazami Dori technique for the third blow to the head, which blows up the assassin.
Completely unscathed, each fighter comments on the toughness of the other. Mr. 1 then gives Zoro a warning, not to think of him as a swordsman, but a proper assassin. They create circular blades that run down his forearms and begin to spin at high speed, both again clashing with the sparks that form from the spinning blades hitting Zoro’s swords. The assassin lands a devastating blow across Zoro’s chest and doesn’t stop as he follows up with a direct punch to Zoro’s guts that blasts the swordsman into a nearby pillar. Zoro doesn’t give up and tries to get back up, only for Mr. 1 to question his resolve. Deciding to end it, the assassin delivers a straight Spar Break to the critically wounded swordsman, as well as slicing through the support column behind the man.
Believing he is done, Mr. 1 begins to leave as the building above gives way without a support column; the debris seemingly falls directly on Zoro. However, against all odds, the swordsman rises again despite his serious injuries. Shocked by how none of the falling rocks hit him, Zoro mentally replies that he didn’t dodge all of them, but he knew none of them would hit him. Sensing one of his swords under a nearby rock, Zoro drew it out and began noticing the ‘breathing’ of the world around him, he cut a nearby tree branch, but the tree branch remained unharmed.
He finally understood his old sensei’s words; Zoro prepares for Mr. 1’s final attack with one of his own, the One Sword Style technique. The slayer asks if one sword would be enough before charging forward with Atomic Spurt, confident in his ability to finally kill Zoro. However, using his new technique, One Sword Style Iai: Shishi Sonson, Zoro successfully cuts through Mr. 1’s steel body for the first time and defeats the assassin.