Just as Kasper Lyman was feeling smug for having intercepted two cannonballs, he suddenly noticed a lone figure appear on the bow of the fast-approaching Doghead warship.
It was a young man.
At his waist hung a longsword sheathed in black. His robe fluttered lightly, and his long red hair danced wildly in the sea breeze.
As the warship surged closer, the red-haired youth wordlessly drew his blade in one smooth, deliberate motion. Expressionless, he raised the sword in front of him, eyes locked on the pirate ship ahead.
"Huh?!"
"Who's that kid supposed to be? Another Marine?"
Kasper squinted at the silhouette aboard the warship, confusion etched across his face. But in the very next instant, that confusion turned to dread.
The red-haired youth suddenly swung his blade in the empty air between the two ships still nearly twenty meters apart. And then, without warning, the sea in front of the Doghead warship parted violently to either side.
A formless slash screamed across the surface of the water, raising a towering wave in its wake as it surged toward the pirate ship at blinding speed.
Whoosh!!!
In the blink of an eye, the ferocious slash struck the pirate ship. It landed with a sound so soft it was almost inaudible.
But its impact was anything but.
The attack pierced through the vessel, entering from the stern and exiting from the bow, cleanly bisecting the entire ship from end to end.
"What the?!" Kasper couldn't see the slash itself. All he saw was the sea calming in its wake. Bewildered, he stared in disbelief.
But a heartbeat later, his eyes widened in horror.
The massive pirate ship, built to house several hundred men, began to split apart from the middle slowly but unmistakably. In less than ten seconds, it broke cleanly in two. Seawater poured into the gaping cracks, and the sundered halves began to sink into the depths.
"Wha-WHAT?!"
In Kasper's terror-stricken gaze, the Doghead warship plowed forward without slowing. Its reinforced ram slammed directly into the rear half of the shattered pirate vessel and pierced straight through, unstoppable, unbothered, and unrelenting.
It didn't even pause.
To Kasper Lyman and his crew, it was as if their ship were nothing more than trash in the way, kicked aside without a second glance. From start to finish, not a single soul aboard the warship so much as turned to look at them.
And just like that, the warship vanished from Kasper's line of sight.
The sinking wreckage, now fully engulfed in a massive whirlpool, dragged Kasper and his crew into the sea's merciless embrace. Against such overwhelming force, none of them could even begin to resist.
Above the waves, the sea pirates' screams of terror echoed for a long, long time.
Minutes passed. Dozens of them.
The sea breeze eventually returned to a soft whisper. On the tranquil surface, only a few scattered planks drifted, telling silent tales of despair to any traveler who might pass by this place.
"Oh-ho~~"
"What a terrifying slash! It went clean through that enormous ship in a single blow."
"Brother Yoriichi really is something else! With that kind of strength, if you don't end up as a Marine officer, I'll be the first to object!"
"Totally! Even the Vice Admirals back at headquarters couldn't pull off something like that!"
Aboard Garp's Doghead warship, Marines surrounded Yoriichi Tsugikuni on the deck, shouting their praise with admiration and awe. Kuzan stood off to the side, watching Yoriichi amid the crowd, a trace of emotion flickering in his eyes.
Who would've thought, barely over a month ago, when Garp had set sail from Marineford with Yoriichi in tow, this boy hadn't even been able to unleash an airborne slash.
Yet now, just a month later, Yoriichi's blade could cleave a massive pirate ship in half.
On the voyage from the G-10 branch to Dressrosa, they'd encountered plenty of pirates along the way. But each time, Garp didn't even have to lift a finger, Kuzan and Yoriichi handled them effortlessly.
At the start, whenever they came across a pirate vessel, Kuzan would use his powers to freeze the surrounding waters, immobilizing the enemy ship. Then, after a barrage of cannon fire, Yoriichi and the Marines would disembark, charging across the ice Kuzan had created to engage in close combat.
But that strategy only lasted about a week before it began to evolve.
Soon, Kuzan stopped freezing the sea entirely. Now, when they spotted a pirate ship, Yoriichi would leap directly into the air using Geppo(Moonwalk) and charge the enemy head-on.
Another week passed, and the tactics shifted once more. Now, instead of rushing in, Yoriichi would have the warship approach first. Then, with a good ten meters still between them, he would unleash a flying slash.
That slash alone was enough to disable the pirate ship in one devastating stroke.
And with each passing day, Yoriichi's airborne slashes grew more and more terrifying. Just a few days ago, he had already begun slicing through pirate ships hundreds of meters long with ease.
From then on, Garp's warship picked up speed significantly.
Whenever they encountered a pirate vessel again, Garp didn't even bother ordering the ship to stop for a cannon barrage, nor did he allow it to draw near for boarding combat. Instead, he simply gave the order to charge at full speed. As the warship closed in, Yoriichi Tsugikuni would calmly step forward and carve a path through the enemy.
Aboard the ship, Aokiji watched with his own eyes as Yoriichi grew stronger by the day. Over this period, not only could Yoriichi imbue his blade with Armament Haki—he could now channel it through his entire right arm as well.
It was this very advancement in Haki that made Yoriichi's strikes all the more terrifying.
As had been explained before: when Armament Haki coats the body, it enhances both strength and defense and more crucially, it allows the user to strike Logia-type Devil Fruit users by bypassing their elemental intangibility.
At first, Yoriichi could only infuse his weapon with Haki making it harder, sharper, and effective even against Aokiji.
But now, his Haki could envelop both blade and arm, amplifying muscle power and cutting force in unison. The combination created a synergy that elevated his slashes to a whole new level.
At this stage, Yoriichi had finally taken a firm step through the threshold of true mastery in Armament Haki.
And yet, from here on, improvement would not come so easily.
Even if he eventually reached the point of coating his entire body in Haki, the increase in raw attack power would be marginal.
If Yoriichi wanted a qualitative leap, he would need to find a way to amplify the intensity of his Haki. Merely expanding its coverage wasn't enough.
After all, even a full-body coating couldn't save someone like Vergo from being sliced apart by Law's ability.
True power in Haki... was the kind that could override the rules of Devil Fruits entirely.
Vergo's defeat had always been a sobering reminder to Yoriichi: without depth, range meant nothing. Quantity without quality was meaningless.
But enhancing the amplification of Armament Haki was far from easy.
Garp did know how to train that kind of strength. But seeing that Yoriichi still had room to improve in coverage, he decided not to rush things. For now, he simply instructed Yoriichi to keep training his body and increasing the reach of his Haki.
As for the next stage of training? The method was simple enough:
Flatten eight mountains. With your fists.
That was how Garp had trained back in the day just to bust open Don Chinjao's skull.
But there was no rush.
Yoriichi's rate of growth had already far exceeded Garp's expectations. When it came to Haki, there could be no shortcuts, each step must be taken with solid footing. That was the only way to reach the top.
Only once Yoriichi hit the limits of Haki coverage... would it be time for the second phase.
Garp, casually digging in his nose, sauntered over while listening to his subordinates praise Yoriichi.
He bellowed at the crowd, "You lot got nothing better to do? Standing around here yapping like hens?"
"This is it? This level? He's still got a long way to go!"
Shooing away the sailors gathered around Yoriichi, Garp turned to him with rare seriousness in his tone.
"Yoriichi, don't let those fools' flattery cloud your damn eyes."
"'Strong'? You're nowhere near that yet."
"You've got a solid foundation, sure. You just started learning the Six Styles and Haki, so it's natural for your strength to jump."
"But listen closely: this is not the end. Don't get smug. Don't get comfortable."
"The path ahead is long and what's more, it only gets rougher from here. Even someone like you... might not make it to the very top."
"This trip to Dressrosa... maybe, just maybe, you'll finally get to see what it really means to be strong."
Yoriichi listened quietly, then gave a small nod. He understood. He wasn't delusional.
In this world, true power was embodied by Conqueror's Haki infused into every strike.
As for swordsmanship? He already believed he'd climbed to the peak. To go any further, he would need a force that surpassed all, Haki that could dominate everything. That... was his new goal.
He knew better than anyone: on the path of Haki, he'd only taken his first few steps.
Turning, Yoriichi walked to the rail and gripped the edge with both hands, eyes scanning the sea.
The ocean breeze tugged at his crimson hair, sending it dancing in the wind. His gaze was filled with eager anticipation.
"I can't wait to see him…"
"The man who will become the next Pirate King, Roger."
*********
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