"All right, rookies—listen up! You've been studying at the Marine Academy for a year and a half now. Starting today, I'll be teaching you something that truly sets Marines apart… the Six Powers of the Marines!"
"The Six Powers?!"
At the mention of that name, every cadet's eyes lit up. No Marine worth their salt was unfamiliar with the Six Powers—legendary techniques passed down within the Navy, said to grant a fighter the power to rival Devil Fruit users even without any abilities of their own.
Nowadays, almost every officer-ranked Marine knew at least a few of the Six Powers. They'd become a symbol of elite Marine combat training.
But these weren't the kind of skills you could just learn anywhere. In the lower ranks of the Marines, access to these techniques required extensive battlefield merit. Yet here, at the Academy they were learning them for free.
"That's right, the Six Powers." Z continued. "I assume you've all heard about them before, so I won't waste time on the history. I'll just show you directly."
"Watch carefully, rookies. There are six techniques. The first: Shave! The trick is to stomp the ground dozens of times within 0.36 seconds, generating explosive reactive force that lets you move at near-teleportation speed, like this…"
"Shave!"
With that word, Z vanished from where he stood.
His speed was so immense that most of the cadets couldn't even track his movement.
"Oh my~, that's quite the speed." Borsalino said lazily, eyes half-lidded. "But not really useful for me… no matter how fast Shave is, it can't outrun the speed of light."
The others were visibly stunned by the demonstration, but not Borsalino. Though he muttered "so scary" as usual, the condescending glint in his eyes betrayed his indifference.
Shave? Boosting speed? Hah… I am light.
Z ignored him.
"Next, Iron Body!"
"Akainu, Kizaru—I want the two of you to hit me with your strongest attacks."
Z's voice boomed across the field. Akainu and Kizaru exchanged a brief glance. Then, with a shout, Akainu's right arm transformed into molten magma.
"Great Eruption!"
"Whoa, whoa—is Akainu crazy?!" gasped one of the cadets.
The others were just as stunned. That wasn't a spar—that was a full-force, deadly move.
Was he trying to kill Master-Z?!
"Oh my~, scary magma~" Borsalino drawled in his usual tone. "Yasakani no Magatama."
His tone was relaxed, but his actions weren't. In an instant, Kizaru flew into the air and launched his signature technique—Yasakani no Magatama—a flurry of deadly light projectiles.
It was the same move that had been notoriously ineffective against Luffy during the Summit War, but devastating when used against Z in the film adaptation. Whether by plot or precision, this was the most accurate Kizaru had ever been.
And today was no different. Once again, Kizaru displayed pinpoint precision, launching a relentless storm of light toward Z. The instructor's face darkened.
I told them to go all out, but I meant physically. Who told you to use Devil Fruit powers?! This is cheating!
Fortunately, both Akainu and Kizaru were still young. Their mastery over their Fruits was nowhere near what it would be in their Admiral years. And Z, just past forty was still at the peak of his physical prime, not the broken old warrior he'd become decades later at age seventy-two.
So, while annoyed, Z didn't panic. He activated Iron Body, a technique that accelerates blood flow to harden the muscles to extreme levels, like a form of iron-clad inner strength.
"Iron Body!"
Z called out the technique, but as the searing magma and lasers bore down on him, he took it one step further: activating Armament Haki, hardening his entire body to withstand the impact.
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!
Akainu's magma fist and Kizaru's barrage of light blasts struck him in rapid succession. Off to the side, Rosinante—blending into the crowd—broke into a cold sweat.
Those two definitely unlocked some kind of kill-the-teacher instinct… They're trying to take out Z right here in the middle of the Academy!
Rosinante couldn't take his eyes off the elemental spectacle.
Man, those Logia powers are insane. I want one so bad… He grit his teeth. Damn you, Garp! If it weren't for you, I might've had the chance to eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit one day… That one's on par with magma and light!
"Master-Z!"
The impact of Great Eruption and Yasakani no Magatama left the training ground engulfed in a thick cloud of dust and smoke. The cadets were frantic.
"Damn it… Did they just kill Master-Z?!"
"No way, he's a former Admiral! He can't go down that easily, right?!"
"Still… Akainu and Kizaru hit him with a surprise combo. If Master-Z let his guard down, he might actually be…"
"Stop it, don't jinx it like that! You think he's really dead?!"
"Master-Z!!"
"Master!!"
A chorus of panicked voices echoed across the field.
"Oi, oi… rookies, what're you shouting for? I'm not dead yet."
A familiar voice emerged from the smoke.
Z stepped out of the dust cloud. His uniform was completely shredded from the waist up, but not a scratch marked his skin.
"Whew, he's alive! Master-Z's alive!"
The cadets cheered, overwhelmed with relief.
But Akainu and Kizaru fell silent.
This man… This man had taken direct hits from magma and light. No Devil Fruit of his own. Just brute strength and mastery of the Six Powers.
This… is the strength of a Marine Admiral.
"All right, quit the noise." Z said calmly. "That was Iron Body. It hardens your entire body against blades and projectiles. The only drawback is you can't move while using it."
"Pfft. So, it's a sitting duck skill." Borsalino muttered under his breath.
Z heard him, but didn't respond. Instead, he continued, "Let's move on. The third technique: Paper Art. By relaxing every muscle in your body, you move like a sheet of paper, flowing with the wind. It allows you to dodge enemy attacks with ease."
He turned to Borsalino. "Kizaru. You're up again. Use the same move."
"…Got it."
Borsalino sighed and floated back into the air. "Yasakani no Magatama!"
Pew pew pew pew—!
A volley of laser shots rained down. But this time, Z didn't block. He flowed through the air like drifting paper, each blast narrowly missing, his body gliding between them with effortless grace.
The cadets stared in disbelief. Not a single beam had touched him.
"This is insane…"
"Paper Art is that good?!"
Off to the side, Borsalino just sighed again. "Hmph. What's so great about it? I can dodge even more easily when I'm in my elemental form~"
His voice was low but of course, nothing slipped past Z's ears.
(End of Chapter)
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