Comprehending Kenbunshoku Haki

The artillery assessment was over. Neither Wood nor Gion had any complaints about receiving a "below average" rating.

Even someone as strict as Gion knew that with how poor their skills were, getting such a score was already a rare achievement.

Especially that last shot, which landed ten meters from the target marker—it was Wood's exceptional performance.

Although the instructor in charge of scoring kept shaking his head and silently resolved to blacklist the two of them from the artillery unit from now on, the pair were ecstatic at the moment.

Because those shots they'd fired during the assessment were the best results they'd ever achieved so far...

In the mountain forest behind Marineford's Marine Academy.

A young man wearing nothing but a pair of shorts was currently dodging left and right in a muddy swamp, evading the charging attacks of several wild boars.

Ever since Wood had defeated the leader of the wild boar pack, this swamp had become one of his regular training grounds.

After thoroughly beating the boar leader into submission, it had now completely degenerated into his lackey... well, boar-ley.

With both feet planted in the muddy swamp, the terrain's sludgy consistency exerted a powerful suction on his entire soles, making it impossible for his body to move quickly.

Unlike humans, the wild boars seemed long accustomed to this kind of terrain, so their movements remained as agile as ever.

"Oink---!"

Several boars grunted as they charged at Wood from different directions. Strangely enough, not only did he dodge the attacks coming from the front, but even those from his blind spots were evaded as well.

"Alright, training ends here for today. Thank you all for your help. I'll snag some vegetables from the cafeteria tomorrow to reward you."

Under the moonlight, the young man picked up his clothes hanging from a tree branch and declared today's training over.

The boars that had been relentlessly chasing him moments ago now stopped their attacks upon hearing his words, as if they understood what he said, and responded with grunts.

Another year had passed since Wood began his training at the Marine Academy.

During this year, whenever he had free time, Wood would come to the mountains for special training.

Among the Navy Six Forms, "Soru" had been successfully mastered half a year ago, thanks to Wood constantly wearing weights while dodging the boar leader's attacks.

The training just now in the swamp was aimed at learning "Geppo," another of the Six Forms.

The Navy Six Forms are Soru, Tekkai, Geppo, Rankyaku, Kami-e, and Shigan.

Among the six forms, three focus on leg strength training. Once you master "Soru," learning "Geppo" and "Rankyaku" becomes significantly easier.

Having the boars attack him in the swamp served two purposes: first, to help him quickly adapt to his heavier steps, and second, to simultaneously train "Kami-e" from the Six Forms.

Kami-e, as the name suggests, involves making one's body as light as paper to more effectively dodge various attacks.

At first, Wood only had one boar attack him in the swamp. But even so, under the swamp's powerful suction, he ended up battered and bruised every single day.

However, as time passed, Wood gradually adapted to his heavier steps, and the number of boars attacking him kept increasing.

This devilish self-torture training left his body covered in scars of all sizes—some from other beasts in the mountains, but most from the boars' tusks.

Of course, hard work always pays off. After a year of hellish training, Wood's physique was now several times stronger than it had been a year ago.

Besides mastering "Soru" among the Six Forms, he was also close to mastering "Geppo."

And after days of facing the boars' surprise attacks, although he hadn't successfully mastered "Kami-e," he had unexpectedly awakened "Kenbunshoku Haki"!

At first, Wood found this ability to sense danger and dodge instinctively strange. But after some thought, he finally realized that he seemed to have grasped what was called "Kenbunshoku Haki."

The emergence of Kenbunshoku Haki was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for Wood. Unlike the "Navy Six Forms," which could be learned through hard work, Haki wasn't something just anyone could possess.

Setting aside the one-in-a-million "Conqueror's Haki" that stood at the pinnacle of humanity, the other two types—"Kenbunshoku Haki" and "Busoshoku Haki"—while not rare in the Grand Line, were definitely not common commodities either.

Both "Kenbunshoku Haki" and "Busoshoku Haki," like Devil Fruits, had multiple development paths.

Take "Kenbunshoku Haki" for example. As far as Wood knew, it had four types.

The first type was Katana... well, Katakuri's unique variant. When honed to its peak, it could even briefly predict the future!

The second type was area-based Kenbunshoku Haki, represented by Enel from Skypiea and what they called "Mantra." Enel's observation could even cover an entire island, practically like radar.

The third type was extended-range Kenbunshoku Haki, capable of detecting targets over long distances. Its representatives were snipers like Van Augur and Usopp.

The fourth type of Kenbunshoku Haki was also special, possessed only by a select few: the ability to hear the voice of all things, represented by the Pirate King, Roger.

Of course, the four types of "Kenbunshoku" mentioned above were all advanced versions. Ordinary Kenbunshoku Haki could only sense danger and prompt the body to react.

Wood had just awakened his Kenbunshoku Haki and didn't know which type his leaned toward, or even if he had a chance to become one of them.

But awakening Kenbunshoku Haki was undoubtedly an unexpected gain for him. For a swordsman, Kenbunshoku Haki was even more useful than Busoshoku Haki.

"Swordsman-level swordsmanship, plus Soru and Geppo from the Six Forms, and my awakened Kenbunshoku Haki.

With my current strength, being a captain at a Marine branch should be more than enough."

A year had passed, and the basic courses at the Marine Academy were all finished. Under normal circumstances, after completing these basic courses, ordinary recruits could be formally enlisted as Marines and become qualified extras.

Among these recruits, those with outstanding grades and exceptional skills in certain areas would be kept at the Marine Academy for advanced training.

These elite leftovers would undergo even stricter training and learn abilities like the "Six Forms."

Because they weren't being trained as cannon-fodder Marines, but as future junior officers.