Ok, I can sniff those comments from a mile away. "ohhh you're scared of Mihawk's strength" blah blah blah. No, I don't really care about Mihawk, I'm only talking as to why this is going to be good writing for Zoro.
This doesn't change Mihawk's PL in the slightest. Mihawk is still as strong as y'all want him to be. All it means is Shiryu will also surpass him(yeah yeah, shiryu will surpass shanks too). That's ironically better for Zoro agenda wise too since he's fighting a stronger character.
Ok, so now that is out of the way, let's dive in:
"However long it may take, I'll wait for you at the top". This was PEAK. Mihawk giving an open challenge to Zoro to do everything to surpass him.
I mean... just look at the whole sequence. There's so much emotional baggage.
It's similar to this Shanks/Luffy moment. Shanks telling Luffy to only give the hat back to him ONCE LUFFY HAS SURPASSED HIM. Once again, great writing since it sets up a clear barrier for the main characters to surpass and creates a symbolic distance that is only meant to be passed up at the end.
Now imagine this happened: In Marineford, instead of Shanks rejecting to meet Luffy because it violates the premise of their promise, he just went back on it to meet him and comfort him? Would the future meetup of those 2 hit anywhere NEAR the same? Ofc not. The fact Shanks was willing to not even meet Luffy when his life was being threatened despite having loads of care and love for him AND his crew insisting to meet with Luffy adds even more buildup to their future meetup because Oda has clearly established they won't be meeting before Luffy surpasses him NO MATTER WHAT. I mean Oda even gives a callback to their promise.
Same thing could have happened with Mihawk/Zoro but Mihawk just let it all go to train him.
Don't get me wrong now:
1) This is GREAT writing for Zoro since it's in contrast for what he said to Luffy when he was introduced. That he'd leave the crew if it came in the way of being WSS.
Now he's putting his captain's dream above all because he values Luffy immensely as both a friend and a captain.
2) This is also good writing for Mihawk. Since this is a contrast to chapter 96 when he childishly dropped his rivalry with Shanks cause he lost an arm.
Mihawk couldn't fathom Shanks valuing something above raw strength (which was the only thing Mihawk valued). He was taken back from Shanks having a greater goal than being WSS (Shanks prioritizing the future of the world where Luffy fulfils the Nika prophecy and MAYBE cutting ties with his family/WG as well). But this time, he has character development, instead of childishly rejecting Zoro, he offers to train him because he realises not everyone is like him and people have other things to work on other than strength.
However, while this character development development is narratively rich...
...It inadvertently kills the tension in their eventual showdown. Their rivalry was originally framed like Shanks and Luffy’s—rooted in a future promise, a symbolic distance that could only be crossed once one surpassed the other. The moment Mihawk agreed to train Zoro, that distance collapsed. Their future fight now lacks the emotional weight it once held; it feels less like a destined clash between equals and more like a graduation. The tension, the suspense, the idea of Zoro having to reach Mihawk's level through sheer will and journey—all of that dissolves into a more tempered, respectful dynamic. That’s why Shiryu killing Mihawk would restore the dramatic stakes. It reframes Zoro’s path not only as a journey to become the strongest, but also one of vengeance and legacy. Now, Zoro must not just fulfill a promise—he must carry on Mihawk’s will, making their bond and Zoro’s eventual triumph far more emotionally charged.
Js how badly did grandmaster fans piss him off 
