Observation Haki Trait (Part 1)

"Keep your horse stance steady, center your weight at your waist..."

"One... (Hah!)"

"Two... (Hah!)"

Dawn had barely broken when Sai was already leading a group of pirates in diligently practicing their punches on the Happo Navy's broad redwood deck.

Amid their synchronized shouts, hot sweat flew, and even the morning chill seemed to be driven away.

Jogo stood by the railing some distance away, silently watching the scene.

The sound of surging waves reached his ears. The sea breeze puffed up his loose clothes slightly, revealing the bandages wrapped all around his body beneath them.

He looked somewhat sickly.

It had been five days since his battle with Daz Bones.

After Sai had abducted him onto the ship, he had tossed the badly bloodied Jogo into the infirmary and never bothered with him again.

By the time Jogo woke from his coma, four days had already passed.

This was the first morning since he had awakened.

By all rights, he should have remained in the infirmary to recover.

But the Happo Navy pirates were simply too enthusiastic.

When they heard that their old acquaintance had woken up, a whole crowd of them packed into the infirmary before dawn, eagerly holding a shipboarding ceremony for him.

"Here's a mop, and here's a brush. Congratulations, you're now a glorious Happo Navy slave!"

"What are you standing around for? Get scrubbing the deck!"

And so, he spawned onto the deck.

The sea breeze stirred the loose strands over his forehead.

Jogo glanced at the pirates around him and, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, fiddled with the mop in his hands and began slacking off.

Having become a slave overnight, there was little misery on his face. Instead, his features were filled with ease.

As his mind sank deep into his consciousness, the [Haki Panel] appeared in Jogo's "vision."

[

Name: Jogo

Physique Level: 2 (80%)

Observation Haki (Awakened)

Trait Equipped: None

Armament Haki (Unawakened)

Conqueror's Haki (Awakened)

Trait Equipped: "Flower-Flower Fruit (Gold)" "Otherworldly Soul (Silver)"

Reserve Trait Pool: "Fishing Master (Silver)" "Fishmonger (Blue)" "Historian (Blue)" "Spy (Blue)" "Gangster Killer (Blue)" "Archaeologist (Blue)" "Strong (White)" "Blood Scent (White)" "Helpful (White)" "Hoodlum (White)" "Child King (White)" "Pirate Hunter (White)" "Leaving the Nest (White)" "Drunkard (White)" "Beheading Tactics (White)"

His battle against Daz Bones five days ago had been the closest he had come to death since setting sail.

He had almost truly died there.

Fortunately, that beating had not been for nothing.

After Hina's guidance and the stimulation of a life-and-death crisis, Jogo had finally awakened Observation Haki on the sixteenth day after setting sail!

Looking at the words "Awakened" after Observation Haki on the panel, he only wanted to laugh three times.

Once Haki awakened within my heart, I knew my fate was mine, not heaven's!

Before awakening Observation Haki, he could accept being called a slave.

After all, he was simply less skilled.

But now that he had awakened Observation Haki, they still called him a slave...

You've got some nerve!

What slave?

I'm experiencing life!

Forget this tiny Happo Navy pirate ship—he now felt the sea and sky were boundless, that there was nowhere under heaven he could not go!

Of course, he still could not get too cocky.

Jogo calmed himself and carefully explored how to use Observation Haki.

He steadied his mind, calmed his breathing, and released his senses.

In an instant, the whole world seemed to grow violent!

Countless chaotic streams of information flooded into his mind all at once!

The grime in a passing pirate's hair, whispers beneath the deck, damp moisture carried by the cold wind, the stink of Abu's socks that had not been washed in ages...

His five senses became more active than ever before.

Pieces of information that his brain should have ignored strummed bass guitars, twisted their waists, tossed their hair, and sang rock music as they barged into his train of thought!

More and more, spreading farther and farther...

As his sanity neared collapse, he also sensed as never before that every person around him existed in this world so vividly, so truly alive!

"Urgh!"

Jogo clutched his head, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

The overly complicated information nearly overloaded his brain in an instant.

This was not his first time using Observation Haki, but he still found it difficult to control.

He forcibly suppressed the mind that was about to explode beneath the noise and made himself focus on feeling it.

He tried to explain Observation Haki in a way he could understand, gathering those violent perceptions under control.

"Observation Haki is the power to sense 'presence.'"

"And so-called presence can be seen as the sense of existence produced when something interacts with this world!"

"Outwardly, it is all the information people receive through their five senses and their souls!"

"In the past, people received this information as well,

but because the brain's processing capacity was limited, it only selected a tiny amount of important information to retain, automatically ignoring the overwhelming majority of the rest."

"Observation Haki builds upon that foundation by forcibly increasing the brain's processing power, allowing it to process all information at once!"

"The so-called sixth sense, the ability to perceive a creature's emotions—both come from this!"

"At its peak, rather than foreseeing the future, it is more accurate to call it deducing the future!"

After holding on for a while, Jogo sensed that he had reached his limit.

He hurriedly switched Traits and equipped "Otherworldly Soul" onto his Observation Haki.

--[Trait Effect: Increases control over Observation Haki, increases the precision and range of Observation Haki, and greatly reduces the physical and mental drain of using Observation Haki.]

The next second, the entire world fell silent.

Jogo raised his head, staring blankly at the sky as he let out a long breath.

"That feels good~"

Unlike before, when everything had crashed about like an out-of-control carriage,

once "Otherworldly Soul" smoothed things out, all the information in his mind became docile and orderly.

Jogo felt that the world had never been so clear.

Without even turning his head, he could sense the vivid presences around him.

He could even distinguish each person's footsteps, judge the strength of every presence within his perception, and guess what everyone was doing at that moment.

"In actual combat, that means reaction speed close to precognition."

Jogo sighed inwardly.

"I don't even dare imagine how strong my martial arts are now!"

At that thought, his fists suddenly itched. He really wanted to find someone to spar with right now.

Um, um, Hina, right? Hadn't she once said, "With your martial arts, you're only a little stronger than elite Marine soldiers at Headquarters. Your physique is pretty average too—anyone above lieutenant junior grade could beat you up"?

Now Jogo felt that if they fought one-on-one using only martial arts, he could beat Hina until she lay in bed rolling her eyes.

Of course, none of that was what concerned him most.

Jogo turned his attention to the Trait pool on the [Haki Panel].

"The same Trait produces different effects when equipped to different types of Haki."

According to his tests,

"When equipped to Conqueror's Haki, Traits mostly display effects related to 'intimidation' and 'altering one's presence.'

But when equipped to Observation Haki, they produce effects more related to 'perception'!"