Personal Training, Love's Iron Fists!

Personal Training, Love's Iron Fists!

Bogard found it hard to believe that Yoriichi had already learned Observation Haki. He immediately asked Yoriichi to take off the black cloth, put it on himself to test it, and confirmed that he truly could not see anything. Then he walked over to Yoriichi and personally tied the black cloth back over his eyes.

"Let's try again."

"Get ready."

For some reason, a competitive spirit rose within Bogard. After securing the black cloth over Yoriichi's eyes, he raised his bamboo sword.

Soru!

In the blink of an eye, Bogard vanished from in front of Yoriichi. When he reappeared, he had already flashed to Yoriichi's side, his bamboo sword silently chopping toward Yoriichi's shoulder.

He had not gone behind Yoriichi because Bogard knew that some powerful fighters were especially sensitive to what lay both in front of and behind them. Attacking from the side often caught them off guard.

"Tap!"

The instant Bogard used Soru, Yoriichi, who had been facing forward, reacted. His bamboo sword precisely caught Bogard's attack between its blade, and Yoriichi even counterattacked, raising a leg to kick Bogard in the waist while blocking the strike.

Not only had he accurately caught the attack, but Tsugikuni Yoriichi had also precisely located Bogard and launched a counterattack.

"Bang!" Bogard clearly had not expected the blindfolded Yoriichi to counterattack. Caught off guard, he took a direct kick to the waist and slid several meters before stopping.

Yoriichi frowned slightly. That kick had felt as though he had struck a thick iron plate. Bogard had reacted quickly, using Tekkai the moment the attack landed.

As expected! This kid can sense me!

Bogard was deeply shocked. He had confirmed it—Tsugikuni Yoriichi could sense his movements. Unable to contain his surprise any longer, he asked, "Had you learned Observation Haki before?"

Yoriichi shook his head and answered, "I felt your 'aura.'"

The "aura" Yoriichi spoke of referred to the battle aura of the Demon Slayer World. Of course, it was not that "third stage of battle power."

In the Demon Slayer World, everyone possessed battle aura. The stronger a person was, the more vigorous their battle aura became. Yoriichi, who had reached the realm of the Transparent World, could sense this battle aura. Only experts who had reached the Realm of Selflessness could erase their own battle aura.

When Yoriichi had once slain Muzan, Muzan had been unable to sense any battle aura from him and had mistaken Yoriichi for an ordinary person. He had said something remarkably similar to the Bandit King's words: "Hashira? I have no interest in opponents of this level anymore."

Yet only at the instant Yoriichi attacked did Muzan realize just how horribly wrong he had been.

Though the worlds were different, some things remained the same. Humans all needed to breathe, and the presence of powerful people was far stronger than that of ordinary people.

To Yoriichi, Bogard standing before him was like a bright star in the night sky—far too conspicuous aboard this warship. Even the pair of "sun and moon" atop the lookout tower stood out clearly in his senses.

He sensed my aura?

Although Bogard did not know exactly what Yoriichi meant by aura, he could tell from Yoriichi's words that Yoriichi was most likely able to sense something. That was why he could avoid Bogard's attacks and track his movements.

Though he did not know why, Bogard knew there was no need to continue this training.

He did not know whether Yoriichi's ability counted as mastering Observation Haki, but he knew that since Yoriichi could track his movements, this sort of training had already lost its meaning.

Bogard suddenly did not know what to do. Should he skip Observation Haki and teach Armament Haki instead? That felt like moving too quickly. In truth, Bogard had not yet planned how to teach Yoriichi Armament Haki.

"Hahahahaha!"

"You really are full of surprises!"

"Bogard, let me handle this."

At that moment, Garp's voice came from behind Bogard. Laughing loudly, Garp walked over to Yoriichi, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him.

Yoriichi took off the black cloth. Upon seeing Garp, he smiled shyly as well.

"Don't take it off, don't take it off."

"The training isn't over yet."

Garp patted Yoriichi's shoulder and laughed. Hearing that, Aokiji recalled some unpleasant memories, his eyelid twitching as he silently prayed for Yoriichi.

"Kid, I'll be attacking you next. Make sure you dodge properly!"

As Garp spoke, his aura changed. In Yoriichi's senses, the "battle aura" around Garp abruptly vanished.

"!!!" As Yoriichi stared in shock, a fierce gust rushed at his face.

The next second, Garp's fist came straight down onto Yoriichi's head, knocking him stumbling and nearly sending him face-first onto the ground.

As expected, he wasn't predicting his opponent's attacks through Observation Haki. He was merely judging their attacks through their aura.

Is it a swordsman's instinct?!

Garp grinned, understanding dawning on him. On these seas, there were swordsmen who could judge their opponents' positions and attacks through killing intent, aura, and other signs.

But that was not the same thing as Observation Haki, which predicted an enemy's actions. At its peak, Observation Haki could instantly spread across an entire island like Rayleigh's, or predict an opponent's attacks several seconds in advance like Katakuri's.

The "sensing" Tsugikuni Yoriichi possessed was clearly different from Observation Haki.

"Hehehe, I think I know how you've been noticing your opponents' attacks."

"But it won't work against me."

"If you don't quickly master Observation Haki, you're going to suffer a little!"

Garp grinned. The moment he finished speaking, he closed in on Yoriichi and punched toward his chest. The howling wind from the fist allowed Yoriichi to catch the direction of Garp's attack. He shifted his bamboo sword sideways and raised it before himself.

"Crack!" The next second, the bamboo sword snapped, and Garp's fist smashed heavily into Yoriichi's chest, sending him flying.

"Bang!"

Yoriichi flew several meters before crashing onto the deck. The loud impact caused the surrounding Marines to look over curiously.

Yoriichi quickly climbed to his feet. Though he had used Tekkai when the attack struck, Garp's fist still left his chest in agonizing pain. Every breath brought a heavy, burning sensation from his chest.

"Oh, right."

"While you're training Observation Haki, you'll train Armament Haki as well."

"Infusing Armament Haki into your body can strengthen your ability to withstand attacks."

"Now then, use your senses to find traces of Armament Haki on me. Learn from it and awaken your own Haki."

"Then endure my fists!"

"If you don't master it quickly, you won't last long!"

Garp grinned, clenching both fists.

Tsugikuni Yoriichi knew that Garp had held back, but being struck by those fists hurt terribly. It had been a long time since he had experienced pain like this. It might have been easier if Garp had simply knocked him unconscious with one punch. Feeling the pain while remaining fully conscious was truly unpleasant.

As expected of one of the sea's strongest fighters. He has reached the Realm of Selflessness and can conceal his aura while attacking.

In that case, if I want to evade Vice Admiral Garp's attacks, I'll need to rely on other methods.

Observation Haki and Armament Haki...

I will master them!

Yoriichi casually tossed aside his broken bamboo sword and rose into a defensive stance. In this kind of training, having a sword or not made no difference!

"Bang!"

"Thud!!"

"Hahahahaha! Not yet, brat!"

"Are those attacks supposed to scratch an itch?!"

Garp's booming laughter and the sound of Yoriichi being slammed into the deck frequently echoed across the deck.

Garp greatly enjoyed this feeling of beating up children to nurture the next generation, grinning from ear to ear as he trained Yoriichi. Aokiji watched for a while before he could no longer bear it. Shaking his head, he went into the cabin to find the ship's doctor and had him prepare some medicine.

After watching for a while, Bogard silently headed to the engine room and took up command, allowing Garp to focus wholeheartedly on "guiding" the young man.

Under the threat of Garp's iron fists of love, by afternoon, Yoriichi was finally able to dodge some of Garp's attacks. At the same time, he vaguely sensed the existence of Armament Haki.

Though it was weak, he could genuinely feel it. Yoriichi also began trying to use Armament Haki for defense.

As for attacking? Yoriichi could only take hits while blindfolded. For now, he had no ability to counterattack Garp.

Garp had clearly sensed the changes in Yoriichi. His smile grew rougher and brighter.

"Terrifying talent! What terrifying talent!"

"Hahahahaha!"

(End of Chapter)