You Brat, You Have No Martial Virtue!

You Brat, You Have No Martial Virtue!

After Garp's warship docked at the branch in the Neil Kingdom, it did not set sail again.

The Roger Pirates' trail had gone cold once more, and Garp still had no grasp of their whereabouts. Thus, Garp, Aokiji, Yoriichi, and the others all remained at the G-10 Branch.

Even during this brief stopover, Garp did not idle around. Instead, he led his men in a thorough purge of the pirates within the Neil Kingdom.

With the death of the Neil Kingdom's king, his sons had all lost their lives during the Nyuk Pirates' invasion.

The one who inherited the throne was King Nicholas McCartney's daughter.

She was the young girl who had escaped through the secret passage and eventually sought Aokiji's help. After suffering such a drastic upheaval, the newly crowned king completely changed Nicholas McCartney's former policies and began openly aligning herself with the Marines and the World Government.

The Neil Kingdom itself had dealings in both the underworld and the legitimate world. Once the king's stance became clear, the hidden pirate gathering places throughout the country were exposed one after another. The ports in the Neil Kingdom that had specifically been provided for pirates to dock at were also surrounded and wiped out by the Marines.

With Garp overseeing things, the pirates of the Neil Kingdom could not stir up any trouble at all. Coupled with Major General Rocca's Devil Fruit ability, they had nowhere to hide.

In just one week, the pirates of the Neil Kingdom had been completely swept away.

The branch prison simply could not hold so many captured pirates. Aokiji suggested that Garp execute them all, but Garp refused.

In the end, Major General Rocca contacted Marine Headquarters and had them dispatch a fleet to escort the pirates to Impel Down.

Neither Yoriichi nor Aokiji truly understood why the Marines had to spend so much time and effort locking these people up. Wouldn't killing them all and burying them on the spot solve everything!?

Faced with their confusion, Garp did not explain much.

Unable to get an answer, Yoriichi did not dwell on it. During his time at the Marine Branch, he became rather reclusive and spent most of his time training his Haki.

Aokiji, however, seemed determined to find out the answer. Garp brushed him off, and Major General Rocca would not explain either, leaving Aokiji simmering with anger.

He really was a hot-blooded young man!

Smack!!

In an open area somewhere within the G-10 Branch base, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was sparring with Aokiji, bamboo sword in hand. Yoriichi's bamboo sword met the "ice club" in Aokiji's hand, and a fierce blast of air erupted between them, rapidly spreading in all directions.

Yoriichi changed moves swiftly. With a tilt of his bamboo sword, he redirected Aokiji's force, then flashed to Aokiji's side and thrust his bamboo sword forward. It struck Aokiji squarely in the abdomen and sent him flying.

Since leaving Marine Headquarters, Tsugikuni Yoriichi had been growing at an astonishing pace. He was practically changing by the day.

His beginner-level Observation Haki, combined with the Transparent World he had been born with, allowed Tsugikuni Yoriichi to easily determine the direction and strength of an opponent's attacks in battle.

His mastery of the Marine Six Styles had also completely integrated into his fighting style. Even without using sword techniques, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was already extremely formidable.

Although his Armament Haki was still weak, Yoriichi could already incorporate it into his attacks. Moreover, he was not foolish enough to keep using Haki nonstop when attacking.

After all, Haki could be exhausted. Against a slippery fellow like Aokiji, Yoriichi would only coat his attacks in Haki when he was certain they would hit.

By now, if Aokiji did not use his Logia Devil Fruit ability, he was no longer Yoriichi's match through hand-to-hand combat alone.

Bang!!

Aokiji's body slammed into the ground. Sure enough, this slippery bastard had used his Logia Devil Fruit ability. The instant he landed, his body had already turned to ice, and the secondary impact could not affect him at all.

A moment later, the ice reconstructed Aokiji's body. Holding an "ice club," Aokiji rubbed his abdomen and looked at Yoriichi with a sigh.

"Your growth rate is truly terrifying!"

"You clearly couldn't even keep up with my movements before, yet now you can easily catch my openings and counterattack me."

"Just what kind of monster are you?!"

Yoriichi merely smiled at Aokiji's remarks.

He was not satisfied with his own growth rate. Compared to the child of destiny, Monkey D. Luffy, his growth was slow as a turtle's.

Monkey D. Luffy had gone from being one-shot by Kaido's club to one-shotting Kaido in return in just a single day.

If Doflamingo, whom Monkey D. Luffy had sent to Impel Down, ever had the chance to read the papers and saw that Monkey D. Luffy—the same boy he had trapped inside the Birdcage and toyed with at will just a few months ago—had, in only a few short months, become capable of joining forces with others to defeat an alliance of Four Emperors, his jaw would probably hit the floor.

The world's strongest creature, Kaido, had become Teacher Kaido. Before the great battle in Wano Country, probably no one could have imagined such an outcome.

Meanwhile, Aokiji, who had been able to suppress Tsugikuni Yoriichi with hand-to-hand combat not long ago, had been completely suppressed by Tsugikuni Yoriichi after just one week.

As for that, Tsugikuni Yoriichi thought—it was perfectly normal.

Aokiji's hand-to-hand combat had always been mediocre. Though he was a Marine elite and had mastered the Marine Six Styles, his level was, at best, evenly matched with CP9's Lucci.

Aokiji had always relied on his Devil Fruit ability in battle. Haki? Hand-to-hand combat? Sword techniques? What the hell were those? Were they more useful than ice time?

It was only because he was sparring with Yoriichi. If this had been an actual fight against an enemy, he would have used ice time to teach Yoriichi a lesson long ago.

Yoriichi admitted that if Aokiji used his Devil Fruit ability, he could kill him in an instant. At his current stage, Yoriichi's Haki was not strong enough to ignore Aokiji's Devil Fruit effects.

But then again, regarding Yoriichi's evaluation of Aokiji's hand-to-hand combat—

He still advised Aokiji not to use hand-to-hand combat against enemies, or he would get beaten to death.

Yoriichi's swordsmanship was already top-tier. The transitions between his sword moves flowed like clouds and water. After mastering Soru, and with all this time spent training, Yoriichi could now keep up with Aokiji's speed.

Given Yoriichi's experience in hand-to-hand combat, if Aokiji could not overwhelm him with speed, then Aokiji could not possibly be Yoriichi's opponent.

Perhaps Tsugikuni Yoriichi's Doriki Value had not increased significantly, but Yoriichi knew that his combat strength was already nothing like before.

"Kuzan, it's not that I've grown quickly. Your hand-to-hand combat is just too lousy."

"I think you should stop relying so heavily on your Devil Fruit ability."

"Your Devil Fruit development is already very refined. If you improve your hand-to-hand combat, you'll become even stronger."

After sending Aokiji flying with one strike, Yoriichi had no intention of stopping the spar. He gripped his bamboo sword with both hands and looked at Aokiji.

"I'm working hard on it, aren't I?"

"To be honest, losing in hand-to-hand combat to a teenager your age is rather embarrassing for me!"

As Aokiji spoke, he gripped his ice club with both hands and charged at Yoriichi.

Tap! Yoriichi raised his sword at an angle and parried Aokiji's attack. Then he dashed forward and swept his bamboo sword across Aokiji's abdomen. In a single exchange, Aokiji was sent flying by Tsugikuni Yoriichi once again.

This time, however, before he could hit the ground, Aokiji's body turned into ice powder midair and rapidly reassembled on the ground. After returning to solid form, Aokiji frowned slightly, lifted his shirt, and saw a bright red mark across his abdomen.

Although he had used Tekkai before being hit, it still hurt badly.

"Come on, Kuzan, again!"

A smile appeared on Yoriichi's face as he spoke eagerly.

Aokiji's hand-to-hand combat was just enough to make him a qualified punching bag. Yoriichi could use Aokiji to test some of his combat techniques.

Aokiji nodded and charged at Yoriichi once more, swinging the ice club in his hand viciously down at Yoriichi's head.

Watching Aokiji's attack, Yoriichi perfectly predicted its direction. He raised his bamboo sword and directly blocked it, just as he was about to kick Aokiji in the abdomen, he suddenly felt a chill spread through his hand.

Looking up, he discovered that Aokiji had frozen his arm with his ability. In an instant, a surging chill rose from beneath Yoriichi's feet. Looking down, Yoriichi found that his legs had already frozen together with the ground.

"..."

"Hey, Kuzan! We're training hand-to-hand combat! You said no Devil Fruit abilities! You brat, you have no martial virtue!"

"You ambushed an old... pfft, you ambushed a child!"

After sealing Yoriichi's movements, Aokiji sprawled flat on the ground and said with a grin,

"Let's rest for a while. Just for a while."