Matsu blinked in confusion again, now with his mouth slightly open in surprise. It was clear that Zoro's explanation wasn't enough, and he still didn't understand. Zoro decided to add more. In any other situation, he would never condescend to explain anything to a shop owner, but this was a special case. Zoro could tell at a glance that Matsu wasn't a swordsman, yet he was definitely superior in understanding swords compared to any other swordsmen Zoro had ever encountered in East Blue. In fact, Matsu's understanding of swords was only slightly less than Zoro's own. This was surprising. Matsu wasn't a swordsman, but he loved swords more than many masters. Zoro couldn't leave such a person without an answer to his question.
"In East Blue, apart from me, there are no swordsmen who can be called masters," Zoro continued his explanation. "Even the best swordsmen in East Blue, whose names come right after mine, are actually no more than experienced novices, falling short of even the middle level in strength and skill."
The confusion vanished from Matsu's eyes, replaced by even greater astonishment as his mouth opened wider.
"Zoro-san… are you saying that Zakari 'Two Swords' and Void 'Lightning' are actually just experienced novices?" Matsu asked, swallowing loudly and moistening his suddenly dry throat. "They came from the Grand Line! And in just a few months, they have gained great fame for their incredible skills!"
"…Who are these people?" Zoro asked in turn.
"They are the Number Two and Number Three Swordsmen in all of East Blue," Luffy, who had been silent up to now, grinned. "People think they are almost equal to each other and only slightly inferior to you."
A cloud seemed to pass over Zoro's face, his gaze becoming steely.
"Luffy… why are these two idiots still alive?" The swordsman's gaze, more like the edge of a blade, shifted to the boy standing next to him.
"They're just marines, and we haven't killed marines before," Luffy shrugged.
"Fine… but why are they considered almost equal to me?"
Zoro's question was fair. The whole world knew about Zoro, without exaggeration. And even if his reputation meant little beyond East Blue, this fact remained true. However, Zoro had never heard of these Zakari and Void… or were they Zakari and Floyd? The swordsman was absolutely certain that neither Ryu nor Yosaku had mentioned them. And those guys loved discussing various 'cool dudes'… Or rather, they enjoyed comparing themselves to these 'cool dudes' and relishing the fact that they were still cooler. Luffy, being quite the narcissistic egoist, always encouraged egoism and vanity among the other members of the crew. The whole world was supposed to know how cool their crew was, without exception.
"If you don't know who the Number Two and Number Three Swordsmen are, let me call them Marine Idiot One and Marine Idiot Two."
Zoro's expression immediately brightened, and the bloodthirstiness was gone:
"So that's who you were talking about? Why didn't you just say that? You know I have a hard time remembering names."
Zoro knew the Marine Idiots. A couple of foolish lieutenants sent by the Marine Headquarters to 'reinforce' the local Marine forces. This was a result of Zoro's bias. To be fair, it was indeed a reinforcement, and a significant one at that. In total, over a thousand people arrived in East Blue under the command of these two lieutenants. Mostly ordinary soldiers, but among them were about a hundred Master Sergeants and a dozen Ensigns. If you didn't know the context, such a number of soldiers might seem insignificant compared to the vastness of East Blue. However, it should be remembered that this reinforcement came directly from the headquarters located on the Grand Line. A regular marine trained at the headquarters could compete in strength with many captains of East Blue, Master Sergeants equaled the best of them, Ensigns surpassed these top-tier individuals, and any lieutenant could easily kill someone like Arlong, though not without effort. So yes, despite their small number, with the arrival of a couple of lieutenants and their men, the overall strength of the Marines in East Blue almost doubled.
Now, about why the Marine Idiots were called Marine Idiots.
The lieutenants had arrived about three months before the Straw Hat crew dealt with Krieg. It was quite possible that this group arrived specifically to deal with Krieg and his men. With Krieg's defeat, East Blue would have entered a 'paradise on earth,' and the remaining active pirates could be counted on one hand. Of course, if they had really intended to take care of Krieg, they should have arrived earlier, as it would have given them a chance to beat Luffy… or at least that's what is commonly said, even if there was no real chance from the start.
Anyway, the main thing was that the arriving lieutenants considered themselves 'invincible super-tough guys,' as Johnny aptly put it. They had heard too often about the 'weakest sea of all,' while they themselves came from the 'strongest sea of all,' so they got a bit big-headed. To be fair, their arrogance was almost entirely justified. The lieutenants had mastered a couple of techniques from Rokushiki or Six Styles — a special superhuman martial art practiced by almost any reasonably experienced Marine. 'Geppo,' 'Tekkai,' 'Shigan,' 'Rankyaku,' 'Soru,' and 'Kamie.' However, few could truly master all six styles; most people practiced no more than two or three. The lieutenants had mastered 'Soru' and 'Tekkai.' The first technique allowed the user to move at speeds far beyond ordinary human capabilities, while the second provided protection, enabling the body to achieve iron-like toughness. When the lieutenants used 'Tekkai,' they were impervious to both swords and bullets. It's no wonder they got big-headed. In East Blue, they could easily pass as 'The Strongest in the World,' but they didn't.
Unfortunately for the two lieutenants, their main weapons were swords. And upon their first meeting with Zoro, they decided to show 'this frog in a well' what it means to be a true Grand Line swordsman. In reality, they couldn't even cut through iron, relying more on their Rokushiki techniques than on their sword skills. As a result, the outcome was predictably disastrous.
What is Zoro's favorite activity? Training. What does he do most of the time when he's not sleeping? Training. He carries tons of weight daily, doing each exercise thousands, even tens of thousands of times. And he started carrying these weights long before meeting Luffy — he had been doing it for his entire conscious life, constantly increasing the load. After meeting Luffy, his training intensity increased even more. Not to mention his even longer sword training sessions.
The two lieutenants could use their Soru technique until they were blue in the face, but their speed was still more than three times slower than Zoro's. They could use Tekkai all they wanted, making their bodies as tough as iron, but what's the point? Even if you disregard Zoro's ability to cut real iron, a simple punch from him could easily penetrate a five-centimeter steel plate. Zoro defeated the lieutenants without drawing his swords. In a duel of swordsmen, that was perhaps the greatest insult imaginable.
The 'duel' against the lieutenants happened out of sight of outsiders — the proud marines didn't want to destroy the local heroes' reputation, but neither could they accept it. Therefore, apart from the Straw Hat crew and the lieutenants themselves, no one else knew about the 'duel.' As for Zoro, having dubbed the lieutenants Marine Idiots — and no, Luffy had nothing to do with it — he promptly forgot about them. If Zoro were to keep track of every idiot who tried to measure their 'sword' against him, he would need a very thick journal. These days, suicidal challengers were extremely rare, but in the past, there were two or three a day. Sometimes there were days when the number of challenges exceeded twenty.