Inside Zephyr's office in the New Recruit Camp building.
Holding a cigar between his fingers, Zephyr sat in his chair and asked, "Have you chosen? What do you want to learn...?"
Ron sat on the sofa across from him.
Today was the third day after the year-end test. Over those three days, Ron had racked his brains over a single question. The source of it was the document in his hands, a general introduction to the Six Powers.
The first-place winner of the New Recruit Camp's year-end test could practically be considered a future Marine higher-up. So even without any achievements to his name, Ron, as the top-ranked recruit, was qualified to learn the legendary ultimate martial arts—the Marine Six Powers!
The Six Powers were a set of martial arts the Marines had spent a century compiling, gathering the strengths of countless schools. They were the foundation of why the Marines' core combat strength generally surpassed that of pirates!
Called the "Six Powers," they consisted of six techniques.
The first three were the basics: Iron Body, a defensive technique that accelerated the movement of blood and muscles to make the body as hard as steel; Soru, which involved stomping the ground more than ten times in an instant to move at high speed through explosive force; and Paper Art, which loosened the body's strength and evaded by sensing changes in airflow caused by an opponent's movements.
The latter three were derivatives that further strengthened control over the body's power based on the first three. They were Geppo, which used the explosive recoil gained from an instantaneous stomp to move through the air; Finger Pistol, an extension of Iron Body that concentrated the body's strength into a finger and unleashed a blow in a flash with a hardened fingertip; and Tempest Kick, which used the keen perception of airflow changes gained from Paper Art to launch slashing attacks through vacuums created by high-speed kicks.
They looked like only six techniques, but everyone could develop their own unique moves from the basics, making them immensely valuable in real combat! Just like Shuzuo's Finger Pistol: Consecutive Stars, which unleashed dozens of Finger Pistol attacks in a single second. Its destructive power was astonishing!
And after mastering all six techniques, one could even develop the ultimate secret art—Life Return!
Not only did it grant perfect control over every shred of strength in the body, but when necessary, it even allowed one to use their hair as a killing weapon. Furthermore, it was a strengthening skill that grew stronger against stronger opponents!
Once someone learned and mastered Life Return, they would no longer waste even a trace of strength on useless actions. Every move and technique would become as precise as the gears of a machine, clearly judging the body's current condition and preparing in advance for the next move.
In this mysterious state, even if the user's Doriki Value remained unchanged, their actual combat strength would increase dramatically!
Moreover, aside from being actively used, the effects of Life Return were never hidden—they were always present!!
Most importantly, this effect worked for anyone!
If the increase in strength 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 it!
But one-tenth of 100 and one-tenth of 10,000 could not possibly be treated as the same thing!
That was why the foundational Marine Six Powers were something Ron absolutely had to learn!
Except...
"This is so hard to choose!"
Ron rubbed his temples with a headache and sighed. "Why do I have to choose?"
As a new recruit, teaching Ron all six techniques would be problematic regardless of whether it followed the rules. There was also the unavoidable issue of proficiency—trying to learn too much at once meant mastering nothing. Therefore, the first-place winner of the year-end test only had the right to choose two techniques from the Six Powers to learn. Normally, Zephyr, as the chief instructor, would assign those two techniques according to each disciple's physical differences. But Ron was unlike previous first-place winners. He was well-rounded, so well-rounded that he did not have the slightest weakness. Zephyr could not make up his mind, so he handed the choice to Ron himself.
Hearing him complain, Zephyr snorted irritably. "Other people don't even have the qualifications to choose, so stop whining! Make your decision already. According to the rules, if today passes, it'll automatically be considered that you've given up on training in the Six Powers!"
Of course, Zephyr was only trying to scare Ron. If anyone tried to take something away from his own disciple, he would be the first to object!
But Ron did not know that. The moment he heard that he would be considered to have given up after today, he anxiously scanned the document again, then took a deep breath. "I've decided! I choose Soru and Iron Body!"
"Why couldn't you have done that earlier? What a waste of time!"
Zephyr secretly chuckled, still refusing to show him a pleasant expression. He shook the ash from his cigar, then asked curiously, "But why Soru and Iron Body? Tell me your reasons."
"First of all, they're the most basic of the basic techniques. Learning the fundamentals first will also make future training easier..."
"Besides, 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. The difference between an expert and an ordinary user, aside from the body's innate coordination, ultimately comes down to only one thing: the speed of their stomps!"
As Ron spoke, he raised his arm.
Zzt, zzt, zzt!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In that instant, Ron threw three punches in rapid succession. Lightning followed the movement of his fists, leaving clear azure afterimages behind.
"When it comes to speed, as a Rumble-Rumble Fruit Devil Fruit User, I have an innate advantage!"
"Not bad!"
Zephyr's eyes lit up. That was something he had not noticed.
He had also been leaning toward Soru. Aside from it being a fundamental technique, Soru consumed less energy than Teleportation for short-distance movement. If it were combined with the Lightning Person's special ability to accelerate ground stomps, it might even become faster and more practical than Teleportation!
Of course, the main reason was that Ron was still weak. Lightning itself was not slow and could even contend with the Glint-Glint Fruit's speed to some extent. But before awakening Observation Haki, Ron simply could not react to that kind of speed, making it difficult to use in actual combat!
For example... the Lightning 100-Meter Dash, where he had lost twenty points because he had to slow down to determine his position.
Seeing his disciple's sharp insight, Zephyr nodded in satisfaction and continued, "What about Iron Body?"
"Hehe..."
Ron blinked, exaggeratedly twisting his facial muscles as he made faces at Zephyr. "What if I said I'm afraid of dying, Teacher? Would you believe me?"
Zephyr: "..."
Three seconds later.
Bang!!
Watching Ron fly more than a hundred meters before crashing onto the ground, Zephyr called out to the soldiers who had rushed over at the noise. "Arrange for someone to repair the window tomorrow, understand?"
Looking at the battered windowsill, the corners of several soldiers' mouths twitched, but they kept their eyes straight ahead.
"Uh... yes!"
After the soldiers left, Zephyr tossed the broken cigar in his hand into the ashtray. Looking out the window, he suddenly laughed to himself.
"What a good kid!"
Afraid of death?
Indeed.
Wanting to become stronger required one to not fear death, but that did not mean one should fail to face death seriously!
Ron possessed a terrifying Self-Healing Ability. Ordinary injuries were nothing to him! That ability, which grew stronger in tandem with his physique, gave Zephyr the illusion that he was still an admiral, facing Kaido aboard the ship of Rocks, the "Overlord of the New World."
But even so, he could not let his guard down!
Once Ron learned Iron Body, the damage he suffered would undoubtedly be reduced drastically. Combined with his terrifying Self-Healing Ability, perhaps the Marines of the future would also possess a strongest creature just like Kaido!
Still...
That was no reason to keep saying you were afraid of dying!!!
The New Recruit Camp arc at headquarters had come to an end. Next, Ron could finally go wild out on the seas. Please recommend and bookmark!
I can't take it anymore. I need to sleep. My stomach keeps coming in waves, and I feel like my fingers are about to go numb.
Before you continue