Both types of Haki awakened! Talent even the gods would envy!

"Observation Haki? He awakened that too?!"

Garp's roar of utter despair struck like a merciless sledgehammer, smashing the last shred of pride and common sense Zephyr possessed as an instructor!

Zephyr stood rooted to the spot. He looked at Yas, who seemed just as bewildered, then at his own left arm, still aching faintly where its Haki had been forcibly torn apart. The world felt utterly absurd and insane.

One afternoon.

Just one afternoon.

In his private training ground.

A recruit who had joined the Marines barely over a month ago had first invented a combat mode that fused his strange ability with Armament Haki, then broken through the top-tier defenses of a former Marine Admiral in a head-on clash.

Then, while sparring with Garp-or rather, being ambushed by him-he had awakened, without any warning, Observation Haki capable of "foreseeing the future," something even many Headquarters Vice Admirals had yet to fully master!

Two types of Haki, awakened on the same day!

And both had immediately reached the threshold of advanced applications!

What did that mean?

It meant that Zephyr had spent his entire life teaching countless top-tier powerhouses renowned across the seas, including Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru. He had seen more geniuses than ordinary people had seen pirates!

But even if all those so-called geniuses were bundled together and placed before this monster named Yas, they would not be worthy of carrying his shoes!

"No... I'm not teaching him anymore..." Suddenly seeming drained of all strength, Zephyr plopped down on the cold alloy floor. He took off his sunglasses, covered his face with his hands, and let out a despairing groan. "A monster like this doesn't need an instructor... I can't teach him... Whoever wants to can do it..."

A teacher's greatest achievement was to raise a student who surpassed him.

But the greatest blow was discovering that his student did not need him at all, and could evolve at light speed on his own into someone even he had to look up to.

The confidence Zephyr had built over decades of teaching had been utterly crushed by Yas that day.

"Hey, hey, hey! Zephyr! Pull yourself together!" Garp also recovered from his shock. He ran over, patted Zephyr on the back, and loudly consoled him. "Don't lose heart! Just think of it as raising a pet, only to discover it's actually an ancient savage beast. Isn't that fun too?"

"Get lost!" Zephyr slapped Garp's hand away.

Meanwhile, Yas paid no attention whatsoever to the two Marine heavyweights who had begun questioning their lives.

He was immersed in a wondrous sensation unlike anything he had ever experienced.

[Ding! Under extreme mental pressure, the host has successfully awakened "Observation Haki (beginner)"!]

[Ding! A high degree of compatibility has been detected between "Observation Haki" and the host's existing skill, "Chakra Sensing (beginner)"! Beginning automatic fusion...]

[Fusion successful! New skill generated: Mantra Haki (beginner)!]

[Observation Haki (beginner): Spread an invisible sensory net centered on yourself, clearly sensing the presence, strength, and emotional fluctuations of all living beings within a five-hundred-meter radius, with a certain chance of "foreseeing" an enemy's attacks!]

A five-hundred-meter radius!

Yas's pupils abruptly contracted!

He remembered Zephyr saying earlier that ordinary Observation Haki had an extremely limited sensory range and could only vaguely detect "presences."

Yet his Mantra not only covered an enormous range, it could even distinguish strength and emotions!

This was clearly a beneficial mutation produced by combining Chakra Sensing with Observation Haki!

"So that's how it works..." Yas closed his eyes and tried once more to activate that mysterious sensory power.

In an instant, the entire world appeared in his mind in a completely new way.

He could "see" a trace of frustration and bewilderment hidden beneath Zephyr's immense life presence fifty meters away.

He could "see" that Garp's life presence beside him, blazing like the sun, was filled with excitement, curiosity, and a hint of... wariness.

He could even "see" the crawling insects and flowing groundwater hundreds of meters underground beyond the training ground...

In his perception, the entire world became clearer and more three-dimensional than ever before!

"Interesting."

Yas opened his eyes, a satisfied smile curving his lips.

The feeling of having everything under his control utterly fascinated him.

"Kid! Stop grinning over there!" Garp's voice interrupted Yas's experience. "Now that you've awakened Observation Haki, let's test what it's really for!"

Before he finished speaking, Garp vanished from his spot again!

This time, he held nothing back, pushing Shave of the Six Powers to its limit. He became more than a dozen blurred afterimages, attacking Yas from every direction at once!

"Let me see whether your body can keep up with your 'eyes'!"

More than a dozen gusts from his punches rushed in at tricky angles, sealing off every avenue of escape!

Had this happened a few minutes earlier, Yas's only option against an attack of this level would have been to activate Raijin Armor and take it head-on!

But now...

In Yas's eyes, those dozen or so blindingly fast afterimages seemed to move in slow motion.

The trajectory, speed, and power of every fist were clearly captured and analyzed within his Mantra!

His body made the perfect response without even waiting for his brain to think!

Standing in place, Yas began making all sorts of incredible evasive movements, twisting into positions ordinary people could scarcely imagine, defying the laws of physics.

Turning sideways, bending backward, tilting his head, lifting a foot...

His movements were tiny, each dodge timed just right, allowing Garp's iron fists, powerful enough to shatter mountains, to narrowly brush past his clothes and hair!

He was like a feather amid raging waves, drifting with the current yet remaining untouched!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Garp unleashed over a hundred punches in succession. The gusts from his fists even dented and warped the surrounding alloy walls, yet he failed to touch a single hair on Yas's head!

"This... this... this..."

Zephyr, who had only just rebuilt a little of his confidence, fell into a daze again at the sight.

Someone who had awakened Observation Haki less than five minutes ago could already begin to keep pace with the attacks of Garp, a Taijutsu grandmaster?

"Talent" could no longer explain this!

This was a divine gift! An aptitude even the gods would envy!

"I'm done! I'm done!"

Garp abruptly stopped attacking and leaped out of the fray. Looking at Yas, whose breathing had not faltered in the slightest, as though he were a monster, he grimaced and shouted, "This is no fun! You're as slippery as an eel. My fists can't even hit you. There's no satisfaction in it at all!"

Despite his words, shock churned through Garp's heart like a raging sea!

He knew better than anyone how fast and fierce his attacks had just been!

No Headquarters Vice Admiral could possibly have dodged them all so easily without using Armament Haki to defend!

But Yas had done it.

And he even seemed to have plenty to spare!

"A monster... You're a monster born to overturn every rule of this world..." Garp muttered to himself.

Yas ignored his complaints.

At that moment, Yas was immersed in another, even bolder and crazier idea.

Observation Haki was the pinnacle of perception.

Armament Haki was the armor of will.

Lightning Release Armor was a shell of energy and flesh.

Since Armament Haki could combine with Lightning Release Armor to form the stronger offensive mode, Lightning Release Armament...

Then... what about defense?

What if... instead of concentrating Armament Haki on my fists, I spread it evenly over the surface of my Raijin Armor like flowing water...

What kind of terrifying "absolute defense" would that create?

The thought spread wildly through Yas's heart like a wildfire!

He had to try it!

Now! Right now! Immediately!

At that thought, Yas abruptly raised his head. His eyes, filled with blue lightning, locked onto Garp a short distance away.

"Vice Admiral Garp." For the first time, Yas's voice carried a tremor of excitement.

"Didn't you say it wasn't satisfying because you couldn't hit me?"

"Then..."

Yas's lips stretched into a crazed grin that made both Garp's and Zephyr's scalps prickle.

"Now, I'll give you a chance. With your strongest fist, with that Armament Haki of yours that can shatter anything, aim for my face..."

Boom!

Before he finished speaking, the brilliant Raijin Armor erupted again!

Immediately afterward, a layer of ink-black Armament Haki crept up Yas's body like a living creature, fusing perfectly with the leaping blue arcs of electricity!

Finally, it formed an unprecedented suit of blue-and-black, double-layered heavy armor around his entire body, radiating an ominous aura of destruction!

Yas slowly crooked a finger at Garp, his voice arrogant to the extreme.

"Come on. Hit me!"

"Let me see which is tougher: the fist of the so-called 'Hero of the Marines,' or this new armor of mine..."

"Which is tougher!"