9 Chapter 9

"Stop!"

I stop my hand from punching the man in front of me. It was just a few centimeters away from his face.

"Stand down!"

I nod my head and help a smoker who is panting on the ground. I help him get up and even heal the bruises on his body.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem."

I smile at him and look at the Commodore, who is training both of us.

"Smoker! Just like I said before, you cannot always rely on your Devil Fruit power in a fight. You need to break that habit of your to turn into smoke for every attack coming at you. If you want to turn into smoke, you need to dodge or run away."

"Yes, sir! I will do my best!"

"Good."

The Commodore then looked at me before saying.

"Yuuji! While Smoker is too dependent on his Devil Fruit, you are the opposite of him. You did not use your Devil Fruit power enough in the fight. You can split your body into five but you only make one?! Don't disrespect your opponent by not giving your all. I want both of you to grow and the first thing you need is to give your all."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry sir!"

"Don't apologize, do better. Other than that, both of you have grown in the past three days, good job. You have free time for the rest of the day."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes!"

Both of us salute the Commodore before we walk toward the cafeteria.

"Yuuji."

While walking together, I hear Smoker suddenly call my name.

"Hmmm?"

"Can you teach me how to use Haki?"

I look at him for a few seconds before saying.

"Sure. We can do Haki training in the first break. Two hours a day. Just remember to ask for extra food from the cook in the cafeteria."

"Thank you. I will not disappoint you."

"Hahahahaha! You don't need to be so stiff, Smoker. I'm not your higher-up or your boss. We are friends."

This is the first time I have seen smokers smile since I entered this course.

The next day, Smoker and I sat in the middle of the training ground after our first part of the training.

"Haki is spiritual energy all living beings possess but only a few can use it. To use this, you need to find and feel the spiritual energy within you. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and see inside your body, your soul."

Smoker closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. After a few minutes, I smile a little. I can feel a spark of Haki coming from inside his body. It was small, but it could grow just like mine.

"Good. I can feel you have found your Haki and even unlocked it. You can open your eyes as we enter the next stage of the training."

Smoker opens his eyes and looks at me.

"Now you already notice your Haki and even awaken it, we now train one of the three Haki. Armament Haki is the basic and must-have type of Haki all Marines should have. Do you know why?"

"Because they can hit the Devil Fruit user's real body."

"Exactly. However, other than that, Armament Haki also provides something else that is really useful. It increases the user's body durability passively. The stronger your Armament Haki is, the more durable your body is. Take Vice-Admiral Garp for example. He did not eat Devil Fruit but he is acknowledged as one of the strongest Marines in the world."

Garp is so strong that last month he came back from Grandline beating an entire Pirate Fleets alone. Yes, alone. He told his men to stand back while he was flying in the sky, wreaking havoc on the pirates.

"When you awaken it and use the Armament Haki, it has the same effect as the Tekkai of Rokushiki. Here, let me show you. Hit me as hard as you can. Tekkai!"

I take a deep breath and take a Tekkai stance. I nod my head and see Smoker punch my stomach with a force that can destroy concrete.

"What do you feel when you punch me?"

"It is like I'm punching a thick wall."

"Good, now try it again when I use my Armament Haki. Target the part that turns black."

I focus my Haki around my stomach, and a second later, part of my stomach turns pitch black. Seeing his target, Smoker threw his punch at my stomach.

"How is it?"

"It is even harder. It is like punching a boulder of Seastone."

"And that is the power of Armament Haki. Now, come on. Let's begin. However, I must tell you that the first week of training will be slow but once you manage to do it, we will have a constant sparring match."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Sengoku - Golden Buddha of Marine|

"Haki? Is that true?"

"Yes, sir. I monitor them every day and see them training in their first break time. Warrant Officer Yuuji is the one teaching how to use Haki to Petty Officer Smoker."

"And he managed to learn it in a matter of three months. So I don't know if this is good teaching or if Smoker is even more prodigy than we thought he is."

"It is the teacher, sir."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

The Commodore in front of me raises his hand, and suddenly his hand turns pitch black.

"Armament Haki is not my specialty and I can admit that it was my weakness. I have tried for a few years but I can only use it passively and cannot manifest it like this. However, after listening to Yuuji's teaching, I manage to manifest the Armament Haki within two months and I can hold it all day long when I reach the third month."

I smile a little at the bright future of the next generation. Now, the only thing I need to do is to make sure they are not as eccentric as my generation.

"Sengoku! I will take them under my wing!"

Oh no.

"Bwahahahaha! Today's youngsters are sure to be interesting! I will take them and train them myself! I will leave the paperwork to you! Bwahahaha!"

"Garp! Wait! Garp! Dammit!"