What Exactly Is Haki?

Under the pitch-black sky, white snowflakes drifted down, settling on the single-masted sailboat and piling into a thick layer across its deck.

Since arriving in the world of Pirate King, Sephiroth had been busy nonstop. Only after dinner, when he finally had some free time, did he realize...

This world seemed a little boring!

No phones or computers was one thing.

But the worst part was that there was not even a single book on this ship to pass the time with...!?

Fine! He admitted that, deep down, he had overlooked one fact...

Although the technological level of the Pirate King world had undergone explosive leaps due to the intervention of the moon people—

The World Government, in order to erase all traces of the Ancient Kingdom's history, had discarded many things, including lunar technology.

As a result, they had pushed the entire world's development back to a medieval civilization!

Most countries in this world still practiced feudal monarchy, or even slavery...

Human rights? Freedom? Equality?

To the ruling class, such things were nothing but heretical rhetoric meant to mislead the people...

No wonder the Revolutionary Army founded by Dragon was such a thorn in the World Government's side!

This world is awful. I want to go home! Sephiroth groaned helplessly in his heart.

At Hancock's suggestion, the four of them went out onto the deck and began building snowmen...

Sephiroth crouched down and, with his hands covered in cotton gloves, scooped up a pile of snow from the deck and placed it onto the roughly shaped snowman. However, he looked rather distracted.

Hancock put a felt hat on the snowman she had built, then used a carrot and two potatoes for its nose and eyes. Only then did she nod in satisfaction.

"Sephiroth, what are you thinking about? You look so absorbed."

When Hancock saw Sephiroth's crooked, misshapen snowman, she could not help bursting into laughter.

"What exactly is Haki?

How can I use this power?" Sephiroth asked with a troubled expression.

Observation Haki, Armament Haki, Conqueror's Haki—of course, as a Pirate King fan, he knew a thing or two about them.

But...

Knowing about them and knowing how to use them were two entirely different things!

It was like grilling fish. You might know that someone had used fish to make the dish, but you would have no idea how they prepared the ingredients, added the seasoning, or controlled the heat...

In the end, what you made might be nothing more than a pile of kitchen waste, while theirs was a delicious delicacy!

That was more or less Sephiroth's current situation. He was standing before a treasure mountain but had no way in!

Upon hearing the boy's question, Hancock immediately nodded in realization.

That afternoon, Sephiroth had suddenly awakened Conqueror's Haki, allowing the four of them to escape death.

It was only natural that he wanted to learn how to wield such powerful strength.

With that in mind, Hancock folded her arms across her chest, a thoughtful look appearing on her face as she slowly explained to the boy:

"According to Captain Shakky of our Kuja Pirates, Haki can be divided into three types: Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki.

Conqueror's Haki is a one-in-a-million, inborn aptitude. Even those who possess the aptitude are not guaranteed to awaken it, so no one has ever worked out a specific training method for it.

However, the other two types of Haki are far more widespread. As long as one's physical qualities are sufficient, they can be learned through training.

That is why rough training methods have been developed for both Armament Haki and Observation Haki.

Armament Haki is a type of energy that every living creature is born with, hidden within the body.

Those who use Armament Haki can coat their bodies with it, forming a layer of transparent armor.

While greatly increasing their defense, it also allows the user to touch the true bodies of Logia-type Devil Fruit users.

Besides that, Armament Haki has even more advanced applications.

On our Nine Serpent Island, since all citizens are women, we need to maximize our combat power. That is why a method of coating weapons with Armament Haki to strengthen their attacks is commonly taught there.

Hmm...? I heard that among the very strongest people on the seas, a few can even coat their attacks with Conqueror's Haki, accurately knocking enemies unconscious from afar... I do not know whether Captain Shakky was telling the truth...

As for Observation Haki, it can be described as a kind of 'power of hearing.' As long as someone is alive, their body produces special sounds. By using those sounds, one can predict an opponent's next movement and location, and training can expand its range.

However, according to Captain Shakky, that is only a basic application of Observation Haki. If an enemy's attacks approach the speed of sound or surpass your own reaction speed, it becomes useless.

Advanced Observation Haki can even briefly foresee the future, but it relies more heavily on the sixth sense. It is a technique that can only be developed by those with a certain degree of talent.

This talent is not as rare as Conqueror's Haki, but it is still very uncommon."

Sephiroth hesitated for a while before cautiously asking:

"Hancock, can you teach me the Armament Haki training method from Nine Serpent Island?"

Somewhat to his surprise, the long-haired girl agreed immediately.

"Of course!"

As though to reassure him and keep him from feeling too burdened, she added:

"Actually... on the Grand Line, this training method is already considered a semi-public technique.

It is just that the version on Nine Serpent Island is more detailed."

"Then how exactly do I train?" Sephiroth pressed.

"Well...? Let me demonstrate!

Watch carefully. The amount of Armament Haki I have right now is not very large, and I am not very skilled at using it either..."

As she spoke, Hancock bent down and shaped a snowball with her hands on the deck.

Then, the long-haired girl seemed to be holding her breath—or perhaps exerting force throughout her entire body—as she clenched her teeth tightly.

A few seconds later, a trace of grayish-black appeared on the white snowball.

"Ha!"

Hancock gave a sharp cry and hurled the snowball in her hand at the snowman she had built.

The others only heard a boom! The snowman was instantly blasted apart by the snowball.

"Phew!"

Hancock let out a long breath. Gathering all the Armament Haki in her body and coating the snowball with it was not an easy task for her yet.

Having expended too much Haki, she even felt a wave of weakness wash over her body.

"Did you see that faint black aura?

That is the effect produced by coating an object with Armament Haki.

Of course! If the amount of Armament Haki used for the coating is too small, there will be no visible change in color...

I heard that some powerful swordsmen can even use Armament Haki to temper their blades into incomparably sturdy black blades..."

"Mm-hm, mm-hm, mm-hm! Teacher Hancock, please continue. I will remember every word...!"

Sephiroth nodded repeatedly, his face full of curiosity.

Based on its manifestations, Armament Haki could be divided into three stages: hardening, coating, and emission.

In fact, if the quality of Hancock's coated Armament Haki were higher and she unleashed it in a directional burst, it would become Armament Haki emission, capable of creating shockwaves and causing internal destruction.

However, this advanced Armament Haki technique required extremely high-quality Haki. If one's Haki was not strong enough, its effects would be unsatisfactory. It might not even harm a single hair on the enemy's body...

"Armament Haki is actually a type of energy produced by the body's muscle cells. It has always been hidden within the human body.

We can sense its existence through rhythmic breathing combined with meditation.

Once you can clearly sense the existence of this energy, you must try to mobilize it with your will while moving your body, rather than using brute force..."

"Eh!?"

As Sephiroth listened to the long-haired girl's explanation, he was inexplicably reminded of the concept of "qi" in traditional Chinese medicine...

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. Please continue!"

"Oh! Everyone's talent for Armament Haki differs, so the difficulty of sensing and using it also varies.

Some people have good comprehension. Even if they are not physically strong, they can gradually master it through long-term meditation...

If you cannot sense the existence of Armament Haki through breathing and meditation,

then you need to undergo long-term, extreme physical training. Only after your physical abilities improve to a certain level will you be able to perceive it and gradually learn to use it..."

After Hancock's explanation, Sephiroth learned that Armament Haki was trained and used by people everywhere, whether in the first half of the Grand Line, the second half, or even the Four Seas.

Even many pirates with a bit of a reputation might know how to use Observation Haki and Armament Haki...

After all, Haki was a power hidden within the human body. Even people who were not particularly strong had a chance of awakening it if they mastered the proper method of guidance.

Not to mention freaks like Big Mom Charlotte Linlin, who had been born with Armament Haki—there were also quite a few people like Ace, who somehow awakened Armament Haki for no apparent reason...

On Nine Serpent Island, even more people had mastered Armament Haki through training. Every female warrior of the Kuja Pirates who was allowed to board a ship and sail knew how to use Armament Haki.

But...

Someone without Haki would not necessarily lose against someone who had it. If their raw strength was insufficient, then they simply could not win...

At the end of the day, Haki was like a buff in a game. A buff could enhance one's strength, but that did not mean having one would let you defeat an enemy who utterly crushed you in raw power!

Those who knew Haki were not necessarily top-tier powerhouses, but every top-tier powerhouse definitely knew Haki!

Sephiroth estimated that seventeen years later, when Luffy set sail, there would be very few pirates in the first half of the Grand Line who knew Haki, while even elite fodder in the second half would know it...

The more reasonable explanation was that the Marines had wiped out the stronger pirates who knew Haki, leaving only the forces in the second half of the Grand Line, which were too difficult to eradicate completely. Thus, more complete Haki training methods had survived among those pirate forces.

After all, before Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Era, pirates simply drifted around aimlessly. No one went searching for any Great Treasure. It was only natural that those unwilling to fight for supremacy in the second half of the Grand Line chose to lie low in the first half or the Four Seas...

For example, Trebol and Vergo of the North Blue Donquixote Family only chose to bow their heads and become Doflamingo's underlings after learning, when he was still a child, that he possessed Conqueror's Haki...

That showed that even in the Four Seas, there were people who knew about Haki. There were probably just fewer of them...