Hody's Move, a Concept for Martial Arts

Hody walked out of Arlong's house with a dark expression, silently heading forward.

Just after rounding a corner, several fish-men came up to meet him.

"How did it go, Hody? What did Brother Arlong say?"

One fish-man said excitedly, "How many men can he send? This time, we have to kill that bastard Bright!"

Though he had become a soldier of Ryugu Palace, Hody had not cut off his ties with the Fish-Man District. Like Arlong, he had several companions he had grown up with.

Hody said nothing.

Someone noticed something was off about him. "What's wrong, Hody? You seem a little strange."

"How tragic!"

Hody covered his face with both hands. His shoulders began to shake, his muscular body trembling continuously. "Brother Arlong, the Brother Arlong I respected most—sob—"

"He actually said he wanted to wait and see, to see whether Bright could change everything! He actually said something like that!!! Waaaaah!!!"

The surrounding fish-men were all stunned. Hody was crying?? And bawling his eyes out at that.

"Damn it!! Damn it!! Bright! You bastard!!"

Tears streamed through Hody's fingers, and he looked utterly heartbroken. "You actually made Brother Arlong, that Brother Arlong, become like this!!"

"Doesn't that mean the dream of building an unprecedented Fishman Empire together with Brother Arlong has been shattered? Waaaah!"

"Hody, hey—"

The fish-men suddenly felt parched, their hearts tightening. Before they could voice their concern, Hody's wailing had already stopped.

He lowered his hands from his face. Tears had soaked his cheeks, but his expression was incomparably calm as he murmured, "What a pity, Brother Arlong. I trusted you so much."

"Hody? Are you okay?"

One fish-man cautiously called his name.

Terrifying.

The Hody before them was terrifying.

It sent chills down their spines.

"Jahahahaha!"

Hody suddenly began to laugh. "In that case, I'll just have to make this dream come true myself."

The fish-men grew excited as well. Having followed Hody since childhood, they thought exactly as he did. "Hody, what are you going to do?"

"Bright and Jinbe are too much of an eyesore. They've even turned Brother Arlong into this. If this keeps up, perhaps the entire Fish-Man District will be assimilated by them."

"Bright is one thing, but Hody, Jinbe is terrifyingly strong!" one fish-man exclaimed.

"Jahahahaha, it doesn't matter. I've more or less found where the Tamate Box is hidden. Although it's not the safest time yet, we can't worry about that now. We just need an opportunity."

Hody laughed loudly. "Come on, we need more companions!!"

Life on Fish-Man Island was far from peaceful.

On Bright's side, training continued.

The day after Hody went to see Arlong, Jinbe told Bright about it.

Though he felt Arlong might have changed a little, Jinbe had not relaxed his surveillance over him. What if his previous reaction had only been an act?

Hody's actions bothered Bright somewhat.

That guy was an even more radical extremist than Arlong.

He really should find a chance to get rid of him.

But the guy had been working within Ryugu Palace's military and hardly ever returned to the Fish-Man District, making it impossible to confirm his whereabouts.

Was he supposed to storm Ryugu Palace?

That was obviously impossible.

So Bright could only say, "Brother Jinbe, have someone keep an eye on Hody. He's even more radical than Brother Arlong. He might make a move."

Jinbe's answer was straightforward as well. "If that's the case, I'll ask some old friends from the military to keep an eye on him."

Within Ryugu Palace's military, Jinbe had far more seniority than Hody. Many of his old friends had already risen to high positions in the army.

For now, that was all they could do. They would see whether any opportunities arose later.

Though Hody had not done anything yet, based on the resentment he had built up over the years, Bright felt that killing him ten times over would still be more than justified.

During breaks in his daily training, Bright would go to the Mermaid Cafe to eat. Before long, he had become very familiar with Shyarly's employees.

The mermaid girls always liked to tease him, but each of them was a wonderful girl—warmhearted, kind, lively, and adorable.

They were just a little too clingy.

They were incredibly curious about the world above the sea and always pestered Bright with questions.

"Is the sun really dazzling?"

"What does a real forest look like?"

"What is rain like?"

Even human children a few years old could have answered their question fluently, but Bright did not find it childish.

He merely saw their longing.

They longed for it, yet could never reach it.

The unfortunate truth was that although Bright told the mermaid girls stories, he repeatedly emphasized that they must never go to the surface on their own.

"Why?"

Little Nana asked curiously.

"Because humans are dangerous."

That was how Shyarly answered her. "They'll capture you, and then you'll never see your Mother again."

Nana immediately burst into tears.

Although it was not ideal to overly exaggerate how terrifying humans were—after all, there were many good people among them—it was not a bad approach for children who lacked the ability to judge for themselves.

The days passed one after another. Bright's life was highly repetitive, and the only memorable thing was that Brother Jinbe's training intensity slowly increased every day.

However, there was still no sign of results from his Armament Haki and Observation Haki training.

Bright was not too disappointed. If Haki were really that easy to cultivate, it would not have become such an advanced power capable of rivaling Devil Fruit abilities.

On the other hand, his Fishman Karate improved rapidly under Jinbe's guidance.

Compared to the mystical Haki, Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu truly had techniques and forms passed down through generations, and Jinbe was an expert in that field.

In the blink of an eye, Bright had been back on Fish-Man Island for more than a month.

One day, during training.

"You've more or less mastered the basics."

After knocking Bright back with a punch, Jinbe crossed his arms and commented, "But your control over water is still far too crude."

"No matter how impressive your stance looks, it is meaningless if you cannot precisely control water. You will never be able to unleash your greatest power."

Manipulating water was the essence of Fishman Karate.

Especially Fish-Man Karate. Fish-Man Jujutsu manipulated water outside the body, while Fish-Man Karate controlled the water within one's body.

By controlling water, one could transform the water in their body into energy and unleash tremendous power in an instant, even striking barehanded shockwaves powerful enough to pierce gigantic monsters.

Bright was still not particularly skilled at that.

Controlling water was such a hassle.

Couldn't he use something else instead—

Hm?

A flash of inspiration struck Bright.

He asked tentatively, "Brother Jinbe, can Fish-Man Karate only be performed through controlling water?"

Jinbe said with some surprise, "Without water, what else could be used to amplify one's power?"

"For example, this?"

Bright raised his right hand, and electricity suddenly flickered at his fingertips.

Over the past month, the Ancient Electric Eel's ability to generate and store electricity had continued to grow.

"Hmm? Electricity?"

Jinbe stroked his chin. "Bright, are you suggesting using electricity in place of water?"

"That is an idea no one has ever had before, but it does sound interesting."

"So we can give it a try, right?"

Bright said with a smile.

If it really worked, should it be called Lightning Release Mode or Current Drive?