Six Powers (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

(This is my first time writing a web novel, so I lack experience. The word counts for each chapter are a little inconsistent—as few as 000, and sometimes even 760. I'll try to keep them fixed in the future. There will be another chapter at 7 PM tonight.)

Blue seas, white clouds, and circling gulls.

They had been at sea for two days. According to Bogart, at the warship's speed, it would still take another half month to reach Marine Headquarters.

Zhong Hao entered Garp's office. In one corner, another man was hunched over a desk, writing something. He was the assistant responsible for Garp's paperwork.

He walked straight over to Garp and asked, "Teacher, with my current physical abilities, can't I learn the Six Powers yet?"

Garp picked his nose, flicked the booger into his assistant's cup, then said with seemingly concerned but thoroughly malicious intent, "Klem, your coffee will get cold if you don't drink it soon."

The assistant, who was busily writing away at the desk, did not see what he had done. After thanking him, he drained the coffee in one gulp.

Garp, who had been watching from the side, revealed a sly grin at the success of his prank.

Zhong Hao could barely stand to watch. He silently mourned for the clerk named Klem, having to follow an officer like this, and grew a little more wary of Garp. "Teacher, did you even hear what I said?"

Only then did Garp answer, "You can, but you haven't joined the Marines yet, so I can't teach you."

Zhong Hao frowned. "What does that have to do with anything? Aren't I the disciple of the Marine Hero?"

"No." Garp refused flatly. He was still a man of principle. He had not taught even Luffy or Ace—though it was also possible that he had simply forgotten.

Zhong Hao was not disappointed. He said casually, "I see. Then forget it. I'll head out first."

Garp grinned in satisfaction. "That's my good disciple."

As Zhong Hao walked outside, he muttered loudly, "Since I can't learn the Six Powers, I'll go eat donuts to pass the time. But a whole roomful of donuts probably won't be enough. Oh, right, there are also rice crackers. If I eat them all, it should be enough to fill my stomach."

The smile on Garp's face instantly froze. Thinking of Zhong Hao's appetite, he shuddered and rushed out in an instant.

Zhong Hao had barely taken a few steps outside when a gust of wind swept past him. Garp suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path.

Zhong Hao pretended to be puzzled. "Is something wrong, Teacher?"

Garp said righteously, "I've changed my mind. As my disciple, how can you not know the Six Powers? Come on, I'll teach you right now."

A teasing look appeared on Zhong Hao's face. "But I still think eating donuts sounds better."

Garp's eyes widened. He raised his huge fist and knocked Zhong Hao on the head, raising a lump at once. "Still want to eat?"

Zhong Hao bared his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath, hurriedly shaking his head.

Garp nodded smugly and headed for the deck, with Zhong Hao immediately following behind.

On the deck, Garp wore a rare serious expression. "Bogart should have already told you what techniques the Six Powers include. Today, I'll teach you the specific training methods and points to watch out for."

Zhong Hao nodded and listened intently.

(Everyone should already know the Six Powers, but since they will be an important skill for the protagonist in the future, I'll still explain them.)

"Finger Pistol: A technique said to possess the power of a bullet fired from a gun. Gather all the strength in your body into your index finger, then strike in a flash with a hardened finger."

"Iron Body: A defensive technique. Force power into a rigorously trained body, giving it the hardness of iron, making even bullets, blades, and swords unable to penetrate it. The principle is to accelerate blood flow and make the muscles move faster."

"Soru: Stomp the ground more than ten times in an instant, using the explosive speed generated by the recoil to move too fast for the naked eye to see."

"Geppo: An application of Soru. Kick through the air while jumping, changing your movement trajectory before you fall."

"Rankyaku: Slash using the vacuum created by an ultra-high-speed kick."

"Kami-e: A defensive technique. Relax your entire body and use the changes in airflow caused by your opponent's movements to evade attacks aimed at you at the very last instant."

After introducing them, Garp went on to explain every detail of the Six Powers. Zhong Hao gradually came to understand.

Seeing that Zhong Hao understood, Garp added, "Training Iron Body also trains your strength. Through repeated Iron Body training, your muscle strength and physical power will increase accordingly."

Zhong Hao asked, "So Iron Body is also a physical training technique. Does that mean I should spend more time on Iron Body?"

Garp shook his head. "You're half right. Iron Body does more than strengthen your body. It also has a fatal side effect."

"A side effect?" Zhong Hao asked in confusion.

"That's right," Garp explained. "The more deeply you train Iron Body, the stronger your muscles become. The consequence is that your body becomes increasingly stiff."

"What should I do, then? If my body becomes stiff, many swordsmanship movements will become difficult to perform."

"The other Six Powers techniques can ease that stiffness to a certain degree. Kami-e improves bodily coordination; Finger Pistol and kicking increase the speed of the hands and feet; Geppo improves balance. But your muscles will still become somewhat stiff."

"If that's the case, I'd rather not train Iron Body."

Garp slapped Zhong Hao on the shoulder. "There's one technique that can perfectly solve that problem."

Zhong Hao's heart stirred at those words. He recalled the P9 members from the original story. Of them, only Rob Lucci, Kaku, and Kalifa had normal body types. Kaku and Kalifa had never displayed Iron Body, while Rob Lucci—the only one who had—was undeniably tall, lean, and well-built. He showed no stiffness at all in battle, and he excelled in every one of the Six Powers.

Zhong Hao realized it at once and abruptly looked up. "Life Return?"

Garp nodded. "That's right. Life Return."

"Once the Six Powers are trained to a profound level, you can freely control your body, hair, and internal organs. As long as you pour your consciousness into them, you can control any part of your body at will. However, that is only the initial application. Once you comprehend Life Return to a higher level, you can control your body's cells to a certain extent."

"Life Return has no specific training method. Once your Six Powers reach a profound level, you'll naturally learn it. It's a feeling, a state. So don't fear failure, and don't specialize in any one technique merely for temporary progress."

After Garp finished speaking, he left the deck. He had said everything he needed to say. The rest depended on Zhong Hao's own choices.

It was a long while before Zhong Hao came back to his senses. He had gained a peculiar insight.

Relatively speaking, the Six Powers were merely combat skills. Though they could increase one's fighting strength, this world possessed countless physical techniques, and the Six Powers were not the best among them. Their only advantage was their versatility: Finger Pistol for close-range attacks, Rankyaku for long-range attacks, Iron Body for defense, Kami-e for evasion, Soru for movement, and Geppo for aerial mobility.

But their true essence was Life Return. That was the real pinnacle of physical arts.

Since Garp had already explained things to this extent, Zhong Hao no longer hesitated. At that moment, he set his sights on Life Return.

From then on, Zhong Hao added every aspect of the Six Powers to his training. In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.

"Soru!"

On the deck, Zhong Hao's figure blurred and instantly vanished from where he stood, appearing fifteen meters away. He was so fast that he nearly crashed into the railing.

Only after training it himself did he understand just how harsh the Six Powers' physical requirements were, and how complicated and difficult their techniques were to learn. They absolutely could not be mastered in a short time.

Take Soru, for example. Summed up, it was simply stomping the ground more than ten times in rapid succession. It sounded so simple. But in actual practice, every muscle contraction, every angle, force, and direction of each stomp had to change according to the surrounding environment.

Only after practicing and using it over and over until it became instinct could it be applied in battle.

Luffy being able to use it after seeing it once was entirely because he was cheating with his extraordinary combat talent and rubber body. Unlike a body of flesh and blood, he did not need to consider the limits of his bones, tendons, and muscles. Combined with rubber's elasticity, that was how he could perform it.

Even so, he could only use it after activating Second Gear.

In the end, he was merely imitating it, just as he had imitated Bellamy's springs. He did not truly know Soru at all.

After half a month of training, Zhong Hao had only barely gotten started with the Six Powers. It was just that...

He still did not dare use Iron Body to directly block a blade;

He could never completely evade attacks with Kami-e, often getting grazed at the edge;

Soru required several seconds of preparation, and after using it, he would also pause briefly;

Rankyaku could only kick up a gust of wind;

Finger Pistol could poke through a wooden board, rather than pierce through it, because his power was not concentrated enough;

And before Soru reached an initial level of proficiency, he could not even begin practicing Geppo.

This was completely different from what he had imagined—learning it in three days and using it freely after a month. After witnessing the difficulty of training the Six Powers, he helplessly lowered his expectations, hoping only to use them in battle before returning to Naruto.

He had a feeling that if he could apply the Six Powers in battle, he would dare fight a true jonin head-on. If he encountered those three Uchiha ninjas from before his transmigration again, he could completely wait for an opportunity to kill them instead of fleeing in such a sorry state.