"
Xebec in terms of a combatant doesn't actually look all that impressive compared to Shanks, in fact he looks like a worse version of Shanks. If you look at his attacks he's just swinging his sword hard and amplifying it with CoC, and Shanks is doing something similar but Shanks has greater portrayal in terms of Haki and Swordsmanship. He's better on both fronts.
One in being compared to Joyboy's haki in any capacity, and the other with Oda glazing Shanks's innate talent and skill to where he can just pick up Roger's swordsmanship where Rayleigh can't for example.
Xebec has neither of these. The feats that would look the most impressive, Oda decided to offscreen, like destroying the Gates of Justice and killing a faceless, featless Admiral.
Let me remind you that gion and tokikake were admiral candidates, they could have very possibly become admirals and get devil fruit's if Fuji and GB weren't there in the draft. I bet you don't even remember what Tokikake looks like. How do we know the Admiral wasn't at this baseline of strength instead of a monster like Aokiji or Akainu which we have the story outright stating?. We don't, we just have to be amazed because they met the baseline level of strength.
Impressive, but nothing you couldn't imagine other characters doing. And the exact same with destroying the Gate of Justice. It's not hard to believe Loki could do it as well for example.
His swordsmanship relies on his brutish strength, but it has no grace whatsoever. Compare that to Mihawk who has both Strength and Technique, not just in sword play but haki utilisation within swordsmanship, it's easy to see why Mihawk would defeat Xebec in a 1v1.
And this would still be the case even if Xebec had more raw strength than Mihawk, as if that's everything to do with a 1v1. And how do you know the total output of Mihawk + Yoru isn't greater? you don't.
I've already seen just downplaying of Yoru already here in this post "it just increased a rank" yada yada, the fact of the matter is we don't know exactly what that sword in Mihawk's hands is truly capable of, we only saw a glimpse.
Even a fodder Rooftop Zoro with Enma cut the horn off the skull which in size scales greater than the iceberg, and that Zoro is nowhere near Mihawk.
No real point in rinse and repeating general arguments about why the story demands Mihawk be at a certain level of strength. The combination of the strongest swordsman and the strongest sword is a narrative necessity that enables it to be the case, in terms of portrayal.
You don't introduce swordsmen who don't match that kind of portrayal and have the sword guy be born too late to challenge them, you essentially have to say with a straight face "poor zoro was not born early enough to challenge the real monsters in swordsmanship like Xebec, even though he was born in the greatest pirate era where all the power houses are meant to be in, and greatest world events are meant to take place, and will become the strongest swordsman in history like Oda said, by fighting opponents weaker than Xebec."
Xebec is strong, Mihawk is stronger it's pretty straightforward. "
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