Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
The sea breeze, carrying the scent of salt and metal, rushed to greet them. The towering white towers glinted coldly in the sunlight.
The wide, crescent-shaped harbor was docked with warships as massive as giant beasts. Rows of neatly lined-up Marines stood with resolute eyes, their gazes as intimidating as the light reflecting off cannon barrels.
The seagull flag fluttered in the wind, and the large characters for "Marines" on the tower were like an emblem suppressing the seas.
The pressure that permeated the air was a constant reminder to all...
This was the center of justice, the world's bulwark!
...
Upon truly setting foot here, even Lucci couldn't help but slow his pace, his gaze subconsciously avoiding the white tower.
That sense of justice was too immense, too heavy, crushing him to the point he could barely breathe.
...
He heard the shouts, gunshots, and clashes of swords from training on a nearby deck.
He saw officers in Justice Coats walk by, their steps steady, every pair of eyes as sharp as a hawk's.
No wonder...
The higher-ups were so wary of the Marines. This power was too terrifying!
...
"What are you thinking about? You're supposed to be my observer, aren't you? How can you keep getting distracted?"
It was Griffin's voice that pulled his thoughts back. Lucci quickened his pace to catch up.
He moved closer to Griffin and spoke in a low voice, "Compared to the royal fortresses I've seen, this place is a world apart... Griffin, aren't you amazed?"
The CP departments operated in the shadows. He had received the most advanced, scientific training since childhood, but the training grounds were simply incomparable to Marineford.
How could he not be astonished seeing such a massive complex for the first time?
...
Griffin looked up at the white tower, a faint smile on his lips. "The Marines don't intimidate the seas with massive buildings, but with people."
"Perhaps I'll be a little surprised when I meet the world's top powerhouses."
Griffin had seen Kizaru before. The first time was when Kizaru gave up his pursuit of Red Hair to rescue him.
At that time, Kizaru was still a Vice Admiral, and most importantly...
Given his demeanor, even knowing he was strong, it was hard to feel pressured by him if you weren't his enemy.
The second time they met was when he, as 'Kari,' took a Yasakani no Magatama head-on...
That terrifying, world-covering attack, from which there was absolutely no escape, made him deeply understand the immense chasm in power.
This gap felt even more intense than when he faced Red Hair.
Putting aside what might happen in ten years, there was one thing Griffin was sure of: the current Red Hair was definitely no match for Kizaru.
The 46-year-old Kizaru was in his prime!
...
The Shaped Magic Puppet only had six repair opportunities. Griffin had used one precious chance for a reason. One part was to leave the World Government with information about the Lunarian Tribe.
More importantly, he wanted to see the gap between himself and a top-tier powerhouse.
Unfortunately...
The gap was so vast that even the Eye Power of his Sharingan couldn't see it clearly.
...
In the ninja world, a Three Tomoe Uchiha was considered on par with an elite jonin. The highest conventional combat power in the ninja world was the Kage level.
No matter how you looked at it, the ninja world's conventional top combat power, the 'Kage,' could not be compared to the Marines' top combat power, the Admirals.
Of course, Hashirama Senju and the later-stage Naruto definitely didn't count as conventional Kage-level.
Griffin disliked cross-world power-level comparisons, but being in this situation, he had no choice but to compare.
Based on his experience and intelligence, his own strength should be at the Marine Rear Admiral level. It was unlikely he could defeat a Vice Admiral who was proficient in Two-Colored Haki.
This was his hard power. But if we were talking about the ability to escape...
His clone, Kari, had a track record of escaping from an Admiral!
The Shaped Magic Puppet had another very important function, one that Kizaru had mentioned, which was similar to spatial teleportation.
With a single thought, Griffin could leave the battlefield and teleport to a pre-set location.
However, there was a prerequisite for using the teleportation: it could only be used after a complete repair from total destruction. It involved knowledge of atomic-level reconstruction that Griffin didn't understand, but he knew that was how it worked.
...
Griffin looked down and saw a Marine Vice Admiral on a passing warship.
The Vice Admiral immediately reacted to his gaze, giving a nod before passing by.
This keen perception of gazes was a manifestation of Observation Haki.
Haki was a power that all humans were born with. Presence, killing intent, fighting spirit...
Manipulating these invisible feelings and turning them into a weapon with willpower—this power was called Haki.
The vast majority of people go their entire lives without realizing this power, unable to bring it forth.
Haki was divided into three types: Observation, Armament, and Conqueror's.
Observation Haki was the power to sense the presence of others, being particularly sensitive to killing intent, allowing for effective prediction and evasion of attacks.
Top-tier Observation Haki could even reach the point of predicting the future, reading minds, and altering thoughts and consciousness. This level of Observation Haki was extremely rare.
...
Armament Haki, as the name implied, was using one's will as armor, greatly enhancing attack and defense. Its strength varied from person to person.
The most famous user of Armament Haki was probably the Marine Hero, Garp.
He had once honed his Haki by shattering mountains and flattened the cone-head of the legendary Pirate Chin Jao with a single punch, earning him the name 'Garp the Fist.'
Armament Haki could bypass the defenses of Logia-type ability users. Without Armament Haki, one didn't even have the qualification to enter a top-tier battlefield.
...
The third type was also the rarest type of Haki.
Conqueror's Haki.
It could knock out enemies with one's own spirit alone, a kingly disposition found in only one in several million people.
It was rare to see a Conqueror's Haki user in the Four Seas; they were mostly concentrated in the latter half of the highly competitive Grand Line.
Those who possessed and could develop this Conqueror's Haki were bound to be ambitious and would not be content with a mediocre, peaceful life.
...
Griffin knew Observation Haki. To be precise, the perceptive ability of the Sharingan could be classified as a type of Observation Haki.
But as for Armament Haki, he still had no clue.
Smoker had been to the Officer Training Camp, but his foul temper had prevented him from being promoted to an officer after his advanced training.
He had taught Griffin about Armament Haki. Griffin had forgotten the theoretical knowledge, remembering only one point.
To put it simply...
It was an ability one could learn by taking enough solid beatings.
The same was true for Observation Haki.
Being constantly beaten by an overwhelmingly strong user of Armament Haki, combined with a perilous environment, was the best way to train Two-Colored Haki.
This was the optimal solution evolved through history.
...
Griffin didn't have the conditions to learn Armament Haki.
Relying on his Devil Fruit Ability and his own Bloodline Limit, he had no decent opponents at the 179th Branch.
Smoker...
The guy's own Armament Haki was only half-baked, nowhere near the stage of an 'overwhelmingly powerful Armament Haki user.'
Everyone's talent was different.
What Griffin had told Doll back then wasn't entirely an excuse he made up to be lazy.
Ordinary physical training had very little effect on Griffin.
Some people could build up strength through training, while others only improved in life-or-death battles.
Griffin was such a person.
Every time his strength improved, it was accompanied by brutal combat, a direct confrontation with life and death.
...
The battle where he awakened his Three Tomoe Sharingan was when he and Smoker were leading a team of Marines to hunt down Pirates who had massacred the residents of a town.
That group of Pirates was very strong. The Marine soldiers were sacrificed one after another, and Griffin was also severely wounded by a Pirate.
When the sniper among the Pirates aimed at him, he sensed it, but he had no strength left to dodge.
It was Smoker.
He used his body to block the shot that would have killed Griffin. He was a Logia-type, and that kind of attack couldn't have hurt him...
In the end, Griffin, having awakened his Three Tomoe Sharingan, killed the remaining Pirates and carried the heavily injured and unconscious Smoker back to the base.
...
Armament Haki...
Griffin had a faint premonition that this was the place where he would obtain this power.
The karmic entanglement between this place and himself was incredibly profound.
Thud—
As he walked past the port, a red light flashed from beneath his lowered black hair.
Marineford...
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