Test

Dawn was fighting in the training grounds.

Meanwhile, Aokiji, Garp, Sengoku, and the other big names of the Navy were watching the same battle from the Fleet Admiral's office alongside the other personnel at the training camp.

No, perhaps calling it a one-sided beating would have been more appropriate.

Well... because Dawn had been taking hits the entire time, completely unable to fight back...

After all, compared to his opponent, Dawn was far too inexperienced.

Dawn no longer had his previous composure. With a grave expression, he watched the fierce fist drawing closer, rapidly tapping his feet as he used Shave to widen the distance and dodge the blow.

Without any pause, Dawn swiftly returned to his original position. Before the owner of the fist could pull it back, a barrage of straight punches poured forth like a violent storm.

Yet even in the face of Dawn's carefully planned assault, the owner of that fist did not panic in the slightest. His right leg lashed out like a whip, sweeping directly toward Dawn!

"Bang!!"

Though Dawn did not fear the attack in the least, he lowered his stance and braced himself with his left leg. Then he raised his right foot, colliding with the other man's leg amid sharp gusts of wind and producing a heavy impact.

Dawn's counterattack then grew increasingly fierce. Every punch and kick targeted vital points, and his entire presence became more savage with the flow of battle.

Finally, after another clash of fists, both sides used the force of the collision to instantly retreat.

But before Dawn could relax, that figure stepped forward and used Shave, crossing the distance in an instant to appear before him. A fierce fist came crashing down!

Faced with that imposing downward strike, Dawn did not even have time to dodge. He could only grit his teeth, cross his arms before himself, and force the blood through his arms at full speed, hardening the muscles throughout his body to block the blow.

"Bang!!!"

The enormous sound of the collision echoed throughout the training grounds.

Dawn's arms trembled as he was hurled away by the tremendous force. After taking that blow, his arms went limp, unable to muster any strength at all.

Yet Dawn did not pause for even a moment. He repeatedly stomped the ground and used Shave, using the explosive speed of the recoil to close in on his opponent in an instant. Employing the force-generation technique of Rankyaku, he delivered a vicious kick toward the man's head!

"Paper Art."

Faced with that sharp attack, the figure merely tilted his head lightly to the side and dodged the swift blow.

But the attack Dawn had expected did not follow.

"Alright, that's enough for today. You managed to use Tekkai in the fight just now. Very good. Spend the next few days getting more familiar with it and solidifying your foundation.

"Your grasp of Rankyaku's techniques is a little weaker. Once you're proficient with Tekkai, focus on training Rankyaku next."

The burly man with purple hair wore a satisfied expression. Who else could he have been but Admiral Zephyr?

Judging from the battle just now, Dawn's improvement during combat had clearly been quite impressive.

"Yes, thank you, Instructor!" Dawn saluted and retreated to the edge of the training grounds.

The doctors at the side had long since prepared to tend to Dawn's wounds.

"Alright, next!"

Meanwhile, in the Fleet Admiral's office, Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, and Tsuru were watching the previous battle through a Den Den Mushi projector.

As for the office's original owner, Fleet Admiral Kong, now that a successor was handling Navy affairs, most of Kong's attention had shifted to his upcoming position as Commander-in-Chief of the World Government's armed forces.

After all, once Sengoku took over as Fleet Admiral, Kong would also assume the post of Commander-in-Chief. If he could not smoothly take over the highest-ranking position in the armed forces, it would become troublesome.

The Commander-in-Chief was responsible for even more affairs, so Kong could not afford to be careless.

"By the way, that's the kid Aokiji brought back, right? His aptitude is pretty good. I heard his Devil Fruit ability is also well-suited for the Navy?" Tsuru said with a warm smile after watching the footage.

Clearly, she was quite happy to see such an outstanding junior among the Navy.

"That's right. He's a little young, but he survived alone on Stomach Baron for a long time. Because of that island's unique nature, his willpower and foundation are both quite solid."

Aokiji smiled at Tsuru's words. "And the way he has developed his Fruit ability is exceptionally rare.

"According to my later investigation, the previous user of that Fruit was a pirate, but his ability could only be used on himself."

"Not only that, I had people investigate the records of this Fruit. That means he is its second user. Comparing the previous user with Dawn's current age, and comparing how the two developed it, that alone is enough to demonstrate the boy's talent."

Admiral Sengoku added from the side for Advisor Tsuru.

From this, it was clear that Sengoku thought highly of Dawn. Otherwise, he would not have known so much about a child.

Devil Fruit abilities were only the foundation. In terms of potential, every one of them could be developed into something immensely powerful.

But Fruit development mainly depended on the user. Only when the right person encountered the right Devil Fruit could an originally unremarkable Fruit be developed into something unbelievably powerful.

Just like this Aura Fruit Sengoku had mentioned. Its previous user had developed auras that only worked on himself, while Dawn had already developed the ability to apply them to others.

This was where the benefits of the information explosion from his previous life became apparent. Generally speaking, Devil Fruit abilities used on others were negative effects meant for killing enemies, while abilities used on oneself enhanced one's own strength.

That previous user had first developed the ability to strengthen himself, then either died on the island before he could develop it further or simply never considered that it could enhance others as well.

In Dawn's eyes, Devil Fruits were only as strong as one's imagination.

And Fruits did not always reappear after a user died. Aside from Fruits that were luckily found, most might only appear once before vanishing from the world.

Therefore, it was exceedingly rare to obtain a Fruit with the previous user's development experience, especially one from which one could properly benefit from that predecessor's knowledge. Only the Navy might have records of some.

To Sengoku and the others, this was Dawn's talent.

But to Dawn, this was just common-sense game logic.

If an aura couldn't be applied to allies, wouldn't it be better off as a passive skill?

It was precisely because he held to such fixed game-rule concepts that Dawn had developed enhancement auras that worked on others so early.

After all, Devil Fruits were incredibly flexible things. Even bizarre Fruits could develop powerful abilities if you firmly believed they could, sometimes even abilities that had no apparent connection to the Fruit at all.

And even a powerful Fruit was nothing but trash if it was not properly developed.

That's right! I'm talking about you! Silver Fox Foxy!

Such a powerful Slow-Slow Fruit, yet he had practically left it undeveloped. What a complete waste.