Under the blazing sun, the training grounds were a haze of dust and sweat as hundreds of new recruits pushed through their grueling physical drills.
Garp strode forward with purpose, while Ace ambled along behind him, hands stuffed in his pockets, his eyes taking in the military precision with casual curiosity.
"Listen up, you maggots!" Garp's roar scattered the seagulls perched on the training ground fences. "We have a special observer with us today!"
The recruits snapped to a sharper attention, but their eyes inevitably drifted to the casually dressed young man trailing their Vice Admiral, who carried an aura of latent, dangerous energy.
Bogard materialized silently at the head of the formation, the sword at his hip glinting coldly. "Third Squad! Live combat drill! Begin!"
A team of elite recruits stepped forward in perfect unison.
Their muscles bulged with disciplined power. They moved as one, demonstrating the standard forms of the Rokushiki. The air blades of their Rankyaku sliced distant targets clean in half. Their Shigan thrusts punched neat, precise holes through steel plates.
"See that?" Garp nudged Ace's shoulder, his chest puffed with pride. "That's what real men look like! If you'd joined up when you should have, you'd be a Lieutenant Commander at least by now!"
*[Ding! New Sign-in Location Detected: Marineford Recruit Training Ground.]*
*[Sign-in Reward: Rokushiki - Intermediate Mastery!]*
The system's chime was a clarion call in Ace's mind. In an instant, a torrent of knowledge, technique, and instinct regarding the Six Powers flooded his consciousness.
The precise force application for Rankyaku, the total muscle control for Tekkai, the rhythmic footwork for Soru...
Skills that should have taken a lifetime of brutal practice to master were now his, perfectly integrated.
A slight, knowing smile touched Ace's lips as he looked at Garp. "Old man... this Rokushiki stuff... anyone with a pair of hands can do it."
He casually flexed his wrist. "I just watched them once. I think I've got the hang of it."
A wave of derisive laughter erupted across the training ground.
"Hahaha! Is this kid for real?"
"Learn it by watching? Does he think the Six Powers are a party trick?"
"As expected of Vice Admiral Garp's grandson—even the boasts are on another level!"
Garp's beard quivered with his own booming laugh. "Brat, you've got some nerve, I'll give you that!"
Ace calmly walked to the center of the training ground. "Let's test that theory, then." His gaze swept the ranks and landed on a nervous, pink-haired boy. "How about that one? He looks a little clumsy. I wonder how his Six Powers are."
"Koby! Front and center!"
Koby swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. At Bogard's signal, he stepped out of formation. His fingers trembled slightly, but his eyes held a fierce determination. "I... I will do my best!"
"**Shigan!**" Koby roared, his index finger shooting forward like a spear.
Ace didn't dodge. He simply extended his own index finger in a mirror image. "**Shigan.**"
***CRACK!***
A sickening crunch of breaking bone echoed across the suddenly silent field. Koby cried out, collapsing to the ground and clutching his grotesquely bent, shattered finger.
The training ground was tomb-silent.
Garp's jaw hung open. "Th-this... is impossible..."
Bogard's sword clattered to the ground, forgotten. "That's... textbook form. The kind that comes from *decades* of practice."
Ace shook out his finger, his eyes challenging the stunned recruits. "Anyone else care to try?"
The silence held for a beat longer, then shattered into an even louder cacophony of jeers.
"Tch! He only knows one move!"
"Yeah, he learned a single technique and thinks he's a master?"
"What an embarrassment!"
A grizzled, scar-faced veteran stood with his arms crossed, a sneer plastered on his face, his voice deliberately carrying. "Newbies. All talk."
Ace's head turned, his gaze locking onto the veteran. "Oh? You seem unconvinced." He crooked a finger. "Step out and prove it."
The veteran's eyes lit up, a predatory smile stretching his scarred face. "I was just looking for an excuse to teach a cocky rookie some respect. Since you're offering..." He glanced at Bogard, seeking permission.
Bogard considered for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "To submission only."
The veteran's grin widened. He strode to the center of the arena, cracking his neck loudly. "Kid, I'm gonna show you what the *real* Six Powers look like!"
Ace lazily stretched. "I'm done pretending. I'll lay my cards on the table." He paused for dramatic effect. "I know all of them. Not just one. All six."
"Big words!" the veteran roared. "**Soru!**"
His form vanished, reappearing behind Ace in an instant, his right leg already sweeping upward. "**Rankyaku!**"
With a sharp *whoosh*, a crescent-shaped air blade screamed toward Ace's back. Ace didn't even bother to turn around. He simply shifted his stance—
"**Tekkai.**"
***THWUMP!***
The air blade struck Ace squarely between the shoulder blades. It shredded his shirt, revealing the skin beneath—which now had the dull, metallic sheen of forged steel.
The veteran's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible!"
Ace's form suddenly blurred. "My turn. **Soru.**"
His speed was exponentially faster, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. "**Shigan!**"
***BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!***
His ten fingers became a storm of precise, devastating jabs, each one striking a critical weak point in the veteran's defense. The final thrust stopped a hair's breadth from the man's throat, the displaced wind making his beard flutter.
"**Kami-e,**" Ace murmured. His body went limp, flowing backward like a leaf on the wind, effortlessly evading a desperate, wild elbow strike from the veteran.
The training ground was utterly, deathly silent.
Ace brushed a speck of dust from his torn shirt, looking over at the utterly flabbergasted Garp. "Not bad. A decent warm-up."
***THUD.***
The veteran collapsed heavily onto the dusty ground. Not a single sound could be heard from the hundreds of Marines present. They all stared, slack-jawed.
Garp's mouth was agape. He turned his head mechanically, his eyes boring into Ace. "Brat... *when*... when did you learn the Rokushiki?!"
Ace casually dusted off his hands. "Just now."
He pointed a thumb at the dazed recruits. "I was watching them practice and started thinking about it. It's just a matter of physics and body control. Not that complicated."
Garp's face flushed a dangerous shade of red, his mustache quivering. "You figured it out by *WATCHING*?! Do you think the Six Powers are some cheap fitness program you buy off the street?!"
Bogard, who had been struck silent, finally found his voice. It trembled with sheer disbelief. "The Rokushiki requires... years of the most brutal, dedicated training... He actually..."
Ace tilted his head, the picture of innocence. "Is it supposed to be hard?" He lifted his foot idly, and a razor-sharp Rankyaku blade shot out, neatly bisecting a target fifty meters away. "Seems pretty straightforward to me."
Garp's hand shot out, clamping onto Ace's shoulder with enough force to make the younger man grunt. "**BRAT!** Why didn't you tell me you had this kind of talent?!"
His expression was a chaotic mix of fury, shock, and profound, gut-wrenching regret. "If you had just joined the Marines when you were supposed to... you'd be a Vice Admiral at *least* by now!"
....
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