Mihawk vs. a boat
When Mihawk found the Krieg Pirates at the Baratie, he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t stop to introduce himself or formally issue a challenge (both of which occurred when he fought Zoro and Vista). He slashed them immediately without saying anything at all.
The water around the Baratie had been calm only a few panels previously:
That sfx is most likely him as well. His WOOOO precedes him wherever he goes^
Mihawk brought all this destruction and chaos within a millisecond. The pause between the strikes and the point at which the boat actually explodes is kind of a cliche, but it shows us just how crazy fast Mihawk really is!
HE SHEATHES HIS SWORD BEFORE THE BOAT EVEN COMES APART!
And then, he just sits? back? down? in his little boat and folds up his hands and keeps sailing.
The moment of silence after his strikes before the boat separates is kind of a Looney Toons gag (and we've seen that from Zoro before too!), but I think it tells us a lot about why Mihawk is considered to be so strong.
Mihawk’s draw-slash-and-resheath move here is a lot like Brook’s Humming Three Verse Arrow Notch Slash. Brook’s sword style is iaido, which focuses on the art of drawing and sheathing. It’s said that iaido masters can draw, slash, and resheath before you’ve even noticed they cut you.
Zoro also did some iaido in Wano recently, btw:
Anyway, the pause between the cuts and the reaction of the cut object symbolize the gap between action and reaction, alive and dead, past and present. A master swordfighter controls the speed at which their enemy even PERCEIVES TIME, and that power is a big reason why people fear and revere them. I'm gonna expand on this in later posts, but the Baratie has several other examples where Mihawk is just quicker than the eye can see.
[automerge]1595115604[/automerge]
p.s.
The boat wasn't cut into halves; it's in thirds. Do you think he cut it like this:
or like this?