Still Blood Armor, Haki Is Hard to Harm! Haki Coating, Long-Range Strike

"Teacher Zefa was telling the truth."

"Not only had he mastered Flowing Emission, he had even mastered an advanced Armament Haki technique like Internal Destruction."

Gion's pretty face changed slightly.

Although she had immediately hardened her abdomen with Armament Haki, it was useless.

Or rather, it could defend against attacks from outside the body, but not attacks aimed at the inside.

The instant Rosen's Haki shockwave touched her abdomen, she felt a force pierce through her Armament Haki-hardened abdomen, enter her body, and begin attacking and destroying it from within.

"Hmm!"

After taking a punch that combined both Flowing Emission and Internal Destruction, Gion let out a muffled groan. Her feet left the ground at once, and her body flew backward like an arrow released from a bow, landing dozens of meters away.

"Damn it!"

"It was all because of that Conqueror's Haki just now."

"If Rosen hadn't disrupted him with Conqueror's Haki for that moment, he would never have had the chance to use Emission Haki to attack Gion."

Seeing this, Tokikake cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. He could only grit his teeth and slam his Armament Haki Coating-covered fist into Rosen's neck.

If this punch landed squarely, then even if Rosen had learned all Three Colors of Haki, he definitely would not come out unscathed.

After all, just as Zefa had said, Haki techniques were not the same as Haki strength.

They had both only mastered Armament Haki on the first day. There might be an enormous difference in technique, but in terms of strength, he believed there was absolutely little difference between himself and Rosen.

He refused to believe that Rosen, after only two classes—and having spent both classes entirely learning Haki techniques—could still have had time to improve his Haki strength.

"What are you going to do?"

This Moment.

Zefa, standing at the edge of the Plaza, also stared intently at Rosen.

Was he too late to defend and could only take the blow passively?

Or would he use that Paramecia Ability he had never used before?

Rosen answered Zefa's speculation directly with his actions.

Faced with Tokikake's right fist, which was like a heavy cannon, Rosen neither dodged nor used the Weapon Fruit. Instead, he stood where he was, merely twisted his neck, and under Tokikake's astonished gaze, used the neck—one of the human body's more fragile parts—to forcibly take his Haki-hardened iron fist.

With a deafening boom like cannon fire, a violent blast of air erupted from the point where Rosen's neck collided with Tokikake's fist, kicking up clouds of sand and stones.

The ground beneath their feet could not bear the strain and split apart with one shocking crack after another.

However.

After taking Tokikake's heavy punch, Rosen's body did not even sway. Like a stabilizing pillar, he remained firmly rooted in place.

"Impossible."

Tokikake's pupils contracted at the sight, but then he saw lines glowing with Purple Light emerge where his fist had struck—on Rosen's neck.

"It isn't Armament Haki hardening, nor is it Flowing Emission or Internal Destruction."

"What is this?"

"Right, this should be the fifth Armament Haki technique Rosen created himself, the one Teacher Zefa mentioned. But that's not right. Technique is technique, strength is strength."

"Especially since he used most of his Haki in the punch he threw at Gion just now. In such a rush, how could he possibly mobilize so much Haki to form this kind of defense?"

Very quickly.

Tokikake reacted.

"Skin, muscles, and bones are strengthened with the two techniques of Coating and Hardening to improve defense."

"Armament Haki is injected into the blood vessels, using Still Blood Armor to create tangible defensive power."

"Inside and out as one—Haki can hardly harm him!"

Seeing this, Zefa was also amazed by the Still Blood Armor Rosen had comprehended.

He knew very well that whether it was Coating Hardening or Still Blood Armor, neither could block Tokikake's punch on its own.

Just as Tokikake had thought, Rosen also had to devote part of his Haki to attacking Gion at the same time.

But the problem was that Rosen's Haki techniques were simply far too advanced.

His skin, muscles, and bones could be enhanced through Armament Haki Coating Hardening.

His blood vessels could be injected with Armament Haki to create defensive power.

Inside and out as one.

He had pushed his body's internal and external defenses to the absolute limit.

If Tokikake's Haki strength had surpassed Rosen's by several times, he could still have relied on absolute Haki strength to forcefully hurt Rosen or even break through his defenses. But the problem was that he simply did not possess Haki of that strength.

Rosen, on the other hand, had Haki strength no weaker than Tokikake's, while his Haki techniques were vastly ahead of Tokikake's.

In particular, the three Armament Haki techniques of Coating, Hardening, and Still Blood Armor worked together to create defensive power, producing an effect where one plus one plus one was greater than three.

Skin, muscles, bones, and blood vessels.

Three techniques.

Four layers of defense.

What could Tokikake use to break through them?

Forget breaking through his defenses.

He could not even make Rosen feel pain.

"Unless Tokikake's Armament Haki strength exceeds Rosen's by more than double, and he has mastered both Flowing Emission and Internal Destruction, he cannot break through Rosen's defense at all."

Observing from the side, Zefa reached this conclusion.

This was the advantage brought by having one additional Armament Haki technique.

This was also why Admirals were generally inferior to the Four Emperors.

The Four Emperors not only had one more technique than Admirals, called Conqueror's Haki Coating, but also possessed an additional kind of Haki called Conqueror's Haki.

"As expected."

"Still Blood Armor, combined with Coating and Hardening, creates defensive power together."

"Armament Haki of equal strength simply cannot break my defense."

Taking Tokikake's punch head-on with his neck, such a vulnerable spot, Rosen not only stood motionless where he was, but did not feel the slightest pain at the spot that had been struck.

"Coating, Hardening, Emission, Internal Destruction, and Still Blood Armor."

"I've tested the five Armament Haki techniques, as well as Observation Haki."

"Only Conqueror's Haki remains."

As Rosen's thoughts turned, Conqueror's Haki surged out from within him like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss, transforming into streaks of black-red lightning that coiled around his right leg. Then he stepped forward with his left foot and raised his right leg from the ground.

His right leg, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, was like a black dragon baring its fangs and claws. Carrying overwhelming pressure that warped the air, it shot straight toward Tokikake.

"This definitely isn't Armament Haki."

The instant Tokikake saw Rosen's right leg wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, goosebumps rose all over his body.

Before Rosen even swung his leg, he reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His feet kicked off the ground in succession as he retreated backward with the agility of an ape, trying to widen the distance.

Indeed.

The distance was eventually opened.

Even after Rosen's Conqueror's Haki-wrapped right leg was fully extended, the difference between their heights—two meters and three meters—combined with Tokikake's swift retreat, kept the kick roughly half a meter away from Tokikake.

"He dodged it."

The thought had only just appeared in Tokikake's mind when terrifying power suddenly erupted from the tip of Rosen's right leg, wrapped in black-red lightning. An oppressive force so overwhelming it made him suffocate directly crossed the distance between them and struck his chest.

Tokikake's features twisted violently. He lowered his head in disbelief and saw that his chest—clothes and skin alike—had visibly distorted.

Not only that.

Streaks of black lightning that danced wildly like soaring dragons had somehow already swept from Rosen's right leg onto his body, before erupting with a devastating Haki shockwave.