I know that's a cool line and all, but that means nothing when, IN MARINEFORD he says "I wanna measure our distance to that man" while targetting WB and being clocked by Jozu.
He acknowledges Vista's notoriety as a strong swordsman.
Gets blocked by Crocodile.
None of those were "east blue zoro".
0 reasons why this "rabbit" line of his should apply in Marineford.
And Zoro's feats that replicated Mihawk's were right after post-TS, when he cut that ship clean in Sabaody, and when he cut Mountain-Golem Pica.
Even in PH he cut some big rock as well.
So Mihawk's best feats put him, at best, at Dressrosa Zoro level.
He NEEDS to show a bit more. That's all.
Idk if "escaping the navy" is all that impressive when probably Weevil did it as well, even though Oda tried to sell some Weevil Hype with that Kizaru line of Weevil being as strong as young WB.
[automerge]1659326255[/automerge]
If the OPM author draws it, maybe.
If not, I don't think it will.
That's because you guys don't understand Mihawk at all
He is bored, the only thing he enjoys in life is fighting strong opponents
being a strong opponent doesn't mean they are stronger than Mihawk, it means that Mihawk has seen something in you he finds interesting or of value
so when he finds someone like that, and he fights them, Mihawk doesn't have the goal of winning
his goal is enjoying the battle
Think about it, you're an extremely bored man who doesn't get to fight that many strong people
then when you get a chance to fight people who are at least close to your level
do you just one shot them?
no, you enjoy it, you play with it for a while, you analyze the opponent and his power, you make sure to take everything you can get out of it
think about a fanboy of a video game series that has been waiting for years for a new game, instead of devouring it in a few days when it comes out, this fanboy decides to slowly enjoy it and appreciate it
that's how Mihawk fights
because he doesn't give a shit about winning
he enjoys the fight and analyzing people and their strengths
he saw that during Marineford Vista had other priorities, and told him they should go on their own ways since they can't truly enjoy their fight
also, during the "measurement" of Mihawk and Whitebeard
Mihawk once again unleashes a slash without a name and without haki, because he has no rush to end the fight, he would like to try out to fight against Whitebeard, slowly, and graudally increasing power
but he isn't getting that in the middle of the war