Rokushiki: A Choice

The New Recruit Camp building, in Zephyr's office.

With a cigar in his hand, Zephyr sat in his seat and asked, "Have you chosen? What do you want to learn..."

Across from him, Ron sat on the sofa.

This was the third day after the year-end test concluded, and for these three days, Ron had been racking his brain over one question. The source of his distress was a document he held in his hands, a general introduction to Rokushiki.

Being the first place winner of the New Recruit Camp's year-end test meant a guaranteed high position within the Marines. Therefore, even without any achievements to his name, Ron, as the top scorer, was qualified to learn the legendary ultimate martial art, Marine Six Powers!

Rokushiki was a set of martial arts that the Marines had spent a century developing, synthesizing the strengths of various schools. It was the foundation for the Marines' generally superior combat power compared to pirates!

As the name "Rokushiki" suggests, there were six techniques.

The first three were foundational: Tekkai, a defensive technique that accelerated blood and muscle movement, hardening the body like steel; Soru, which involved stomping the ground more than ten times in an instant to achieve rapid movement through explosive force; and Kami-e, which involved releasing all bodily strength and evading based on the airflow changes caused by the opponent's movements.

The latter three were derived techniques, building upon the first three to further enhance control over bodily strength. They included Geppo, which utilized the explosive recoil from instant ground stomps to move through the air; Shigan, an extension of Tekkai where all bodily strength was concentrated in the finger, delivering a lightning-fast strike with a hardened digit; and Rankyaku, which used the keen perception of airflow changes gained from Kami-e to perform a cutting strike with an ultra-high-speed kick that generated a vacuum.

Although there appeared to be only six techniques, each person could derive their own unique moves from the basic ones, making them incredibly significant in actual combat! Just like Shuzuo's Shigan: Consecutive Stars, which unleashed dozens of Shigan attacks in a single second, possessing astonishing destructive power!

Furthermore, after mastering all six techniques, one could even develop the ultimate secret art, Life Return!

This technique allowed for perfect control over every ounce of strength within the body, even enabling the user to use their hair as a murder weapon when necessary. Additionally, it was an amplification skill that grew stronger against stronger opponents!

Once Life Return was learned and mastered, the user would no longer waste any strength on futile actions. Every move and every technique would be as precise as the gears of a machine, clearly assessing the body's current condition and preparing for the next move.

In this profound state, even if the user's Power Level did not change, their actual combat power would significantly increase!

Moreover, besides active application, the effects of Life Return were not hidden but were always present!!

Most importantly, this effect was valid for anyone!

If the strength increase Rob Lucci gained after learning Life Return was 1.0, then even someone as powerful as Garp would still gain an increase of 1.0 after learning Life Return!

But one-tenth of 100 and one-tenth of 10000 were not the same!

Therefore, as the foundation, Marine Six Powers was something Ron absolutely had to learn!

However...

"It's so hard to choose!"

Ron rubbed his temples in frustration and sighed, "Why do I have to choose?"

As a new recruit, teaching Ron all six techniques was not only against regulations but also inevitably led to issues with proficiency; one couldn't master too many things at once. Thus, the first place winner only had the right to choose two techniques from Rokushiki. These two techniques were originally designated by Zephyr, the head instructor, based on the physical differences of his disciples. But Ron was different from previous first-place winners; he was well-rounded, so much so that he had no discernible weaknesses. Zephyr couldn't decide, so he handed the choice over to Ron himself.

Hearing Ron's complaint, Zephyr snorted impatiently, "Others would give anything for the chance, so stop whining! Make your decision quickly. According to the rules, if you pass today, it will be automatically considered that you've forfeited your Rokushiki training!"

Of course, Zephyr was bluffing to scare Ron. As his teacher, he would never allow anyone to take away what belonged to his disciple!

However, Ron didn't know this. Upon hearing that he would be considered to have forfeited if he didn't decide today, he anxiously scanned the document, then took a deep breath. "I've decided! I choose Soru and Tekkai!"

"It would have been better if you decided sooner, what a waste of time!"

Zephyr chuckled inwardly but maintained his stern expression. He flicked his cigar and asked curiously, "But why Soru and Tekkai? Tell me your reasons."

"First, the fact that these two are the most basic of the basics goes without saying; learning the fundamentals first will make subsequent learning easier..."

"Furthermore, Soru requires the user to stomp the ground more than ten times in an instant (0.36 seconds) to generate enough recoil for rapid movement. Among those who master it, the difference between the exceptional and the average, besides inherent coordination, ultimately comes down to the speed of their ground stomps!"

As Ron spoke, he raised his arm.

Zzzzt!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In that instant, Ron threw three punches. Lightning followed his fists, leaving clearly visible sky-blue afterimages.

"When it comes to speed, as a Rumble-Rumble Fruit user, I am inherently invincible!"

"Not bad!"

Zephyr's eyes lit up. This was something he hadn't considered.

He also favored Soru, not just because it was foundational, but because for short-distance movement, Soru was more energy-efficient than Teleportation. If combined with the special acceleration of ground stomps by a Lightning Person, it could even be faster and more practical than Teleportation!

Of course, the main reason was that Ron was still weak. The speed of lightning was already fast, comparable to the Glint-Glint Fruit. However, at that speed, Ron couldn't react without awakened Observation Haki, making it difficult to use in actual combat!

For example... the lightning-themed 100-meter dash where he lost 20 points for slowing down to confirm his position.

Seeing his disciple's sharp insight, Zephyr nodded with satisfaction and continued, "And what about Tekkai?"

"Heh heh..."

Ron blinked, contorted his facial muscles exaggeratedly, and winked at Zephyr, "Do you believe me if I say I'm afraid of dying, teacher?"

Zephyr: "..."

Three seconds later.

Bang!!

Watching Ron fly over a hundred meters and crash to the ground, Zephyr called out to the approaching soldiers, "Arrange for someone to fix the window tomorrow, understand?"

Looking at the broken window frame, several soldiers' mouths twitched as they kept their eyes straight ahead.

"Uh... Yes!"

After the soldiers left, Zephyr tossed the broken cigar in his hand into the ashtray and looked out the window, suddenly chuckling to himself.

"What a good kid!"

Afraid of death?

Indeed.

To become strong, one must not fear death, but one also cannot ignore it!

Ron possesses a terrifying self-healing ability, making ordinary injuries insignificant! This power, which strengthens in sync with his physique, gave Zephyr the illusion of facing Kaido on Rocks' ship, the "Overlord of the New World," during his time as an Admiral.

But even so, he couldn't let his guard down!

Once he learns Tekkai, the damage Ron receives will undoubtedly be greatly reduced. Combined with his terrifying self-healing ability, perhaps the future Marines will have a "Strongest Creature" just like Kaido!

However...

That's no excuse for you to keep talking about being afraid of death!!!

The story in the Headquarters' New Recruit Camp reaches a temporary conclusion. From here, Ron can head out to sea to roam. Please recommend, please collect!

I can't anymore, I have to go to sleep. My stomach is churning, and I feel like my fingers are going numb.