81 Feline Sword Style – Soaring Cat School!

Although the "universal" maps in the world of pirates vary in scale, they're generally reliable when it comes to basic directions.

So even though the journey took longer than expected, Sherwin and his group finally arrived at the uninhabited island marked on the map.

"I have no experience in teaching. Lord Sherwin, why don't you have Sanji Meow spar with me instead? That way, you can directly experience my Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School, meow."

After landing, Seijuro Meow had been swinging his katana around for quite a while before turning to Sherwin with a slightly awkward expression.

"Sounds like you just want to get a good meal out of fighting the cook."

Sherwin joked with a grin. Back on the ship, Seijuro Meow had finally tasted Sanji Meow cooking, and he had showered it with praise at the time.

Faced with Sherwin teasing, the uptight Seijuro Meow could only let out an embarrassed chuckle. He still hadn't quite loosened up.

That little rascal Sanji Meow, on the other hand, crossed his arms with a scowl, tilted his head, and muttered, "Why should I spar with you on Sherwin behalf, meow? I'm a chef—I'm not good at fighting, meow!"

"Sanji right. So it should be the two of us sparring instead," Sherwin said as he pinched the little yellow cat cheek, then walked to the clearing ahead and waved to Seijuro Meow.

"Don't overthink it. Even a samurai should be able to act as a training partner, right?"

Seijuro Meow tilted his head and thought for a moment. Sherwin words made sense...

"Then, pardon my offense, meow." Seijuro Meow stepped in front of Sherwin, drew his Kikyo Sendōgetsu from his waist, and took a basic middle stance.

Clearly, this cat samurai had no intention of making the first move against his "lord."

Sherwin smiled and didn't bother with formalities. He drew his Longsword and charged in.

"Go, Brother Sherwin, meow! You too, Brother Seijuro, meow!" cheered the ever-enthusiastic Klee Meow from the sidelines, waving her little paws as she rooted for both sides.

Amid Klee Meow cheers, one large and one small longsword clashed together. After a brief moment of deadlock, Seijuro Meow twisted his blade, guiding Sherwin sword to the side. At the same time, he shifted his body in the opposite direction, dodging the redirected slash.

Through that exchange, Sherwin got a rough sense of Seijuro Meow current skill level...

In terms of raw strength, Seijuro Meow was definitely weaker. Even in terms of speed, Sherwin didn't think Seijuro Meow had the upper hand. The cat real advantage—just like Sanji Meow back then—was his small size and a feline innate agility.

However, under Sherwin Observation Haki, those advantages weren't as pronounced as they had been when he first faced Sanji Meow.

But this spar was primarily to see the Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School in action, so Sherwin had restrained his power from the start, attacking only with light, probing strikes.

Seijuro Meow clearly understood this as well. After blocking the initial few strikes and fulfilling his "samurai duty," he didn't wait for Sherwin signal—he took the initiative and launched his counterattack.

"Hmm?"

Sherwin blocked the first strike of Seijuro Meow counterattack, but to his surprise, what looked like an ordinary swing carried unexpected force, pushing him back half a step.

That sensation...

"Spirit Blade Slash?"

"Exactly, meow! My Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School was developed by studying and adapting the Hunters combat techniques, meow!"

As Seijuro Meow answered, he leapt into the air, twisted his body mid-spin, and swung his longsword in a wide arc, slashing at Sherwin side.

"Feline Sword Style – Rolling Flash, meow!"

"..."

That clearly Spirit Blade: True Roundslash! I know that one too!

And shouldn't it be called Tornado Flash instead?! Sure, Rurouni Kenshin is an old manga, but Sherwin still remembered a few of the named moves from it.

Then again… with a name like "Feline Sword Style," calling Tornado Flash "Rolling Cat Flash" kind of makes sense... right?

What followed was Seijuro Meow time to fully showcase his sword techniques, and Sherwin cooperatively shifted into a defensive stance.

"Cat Claw Flash!"

A flurry of slashes with a dual blade, demon mode style—if Sherwin wasn't mistaken, this one corresponded to Spirit Helm Breaker.

"Cat Pounce Flash!"

A heavy slash delivered while leaping from midair—no doubt it was the longsword users signature move, the Soaring Kick. This one must be the equivalent of Spirit Thrust.

"Hunting Flash!"

The core of the Feline Sword Style: Soaring Cat School—iaijutsu, or the draw-and-slash technique.

This one seemed to be a standard Iai Slash, though Sherwin couldn't remember which specific manga move it corresponded to.

Although Seijuro Meow swordplay was impressive, all of it was clearly derived from Hunter combat techniques.

Even if they were tweaked with unique stylistic flair, Sherwin had already experienced similar things back on the starting island, so up to this point, none of the moves really dazzled him.

But Sherwin wasn't impatient. After all, from what he remembered, Seijuro Meow still hadn't used the two flashiest moves in his arsenal.

Sure enough, Seijuro Meow didn't let him down. After performing a few more standard techniques, he suddenly shouted,

"Lord Sherwin, be careful, meow! Feline Sword Style: Ultimate Technique – Nine Lives Cat Flash, meow!"

It was another demon-mode flurry attack, but this time, Seijuro Meow wasn't just wildly slashing like in the earlier versions.

He had refined the chaos into nine precise directions of sword strikes, each one aligned with proper swordsmanship fundamentals.

What more, the speed was several times faster than his earlier Spirit Helm Breaker—it almost looked like he was striking nine times at once.

Compared to the Nine-Headed Dragon Slash (or in this case, Nine Lives Cat Flash), Sasaki Kojirō famed "Swallow Reversal," which only landed three cuts in one stroke, suddenly seemed rather ordinary.

The fact that Sherwin still had the mental space to be sarcastic meant that Seijuro Meow Nine Lives Cat Flash didn't actually pose a threat to him.

Not only had he already sensed the incoming nine slashes thanks to his active Observation Haki, but with Seijuro Meow stubby little arms and the significantly downsized Kikyo Sendōgetsu,

Sherwin simply needed to use a small backstep—his usual evasive maneuver—to cleanly exit the range of the Nine Lives Cat Flash.

However, Seijuro Meow truly lived up to his title of swordsmanship genius. Sherwin evasion had been entirely within his expectations.

The moment the technique missed, Seijuro Meow sheathed his blade swiftly and maintained that stance.

With a sudden burst of speed, he lunged forward, closing the distance with Sherwin in a single step.

"Feline Sword Style Secret Technique: Soaring Cat Flash Meow!"

This strike was faster than the previous Nine Lives Cat Flash and Iai Slash—much faster. So fast that even with Observation Haki active, Sherwin nearly couldn't react in time.

But in the end, he still had the advantage in attributes. So although it was rushed, Sherwin managed to block the first slash of the Soaring Cat Flash...

That right—he only blocked the first slash. Whether it was the Soaring Dragon Flash or the Soaring Cat Flash, both had a second strike. In fact, the second strike was the real killing move of this sword technique.

Was this derived from the Divine Iai?

Having taken the second strike head-on with Armament Haki, Sherwin rubbed the spot where he'd been hit, grimacing in pain.

You have to know—even in the inherited memories of some fairly powerful Hunters, not many could perfectly execute the Divine Iai. Yet Seijuro Meow, just a single Felyne, not only pulled it off but even improved upon it.

Moreover, the original Divine Iai had a relatively long sheathing time. Seizing the right moment in battle to unleash a perfect Divine Iai wasn't such a simple task.

But Seijuro Meow Soaring Cat Flash not only shortened the sheathing time but also greatly boosted the draw speed. And the cost? It was merely reducing the three-stage attack of the perfect Divine Iai to two stages.

In Sherwin eyes, this didn't even count as a drawback. After all, the first rule of Monster Hunting was not to get greedy with your strikes. If you could reduce the number of attacks while increasing explosive burst damage, Seijuro Meow refinement was nothing short of perfection.

So, from every angle, this Soaring Cat Flash was far superior to the Divine Iai—an all-around improvement...

Turns out, learning swordsmanship from a cat really was the right choice!