Koby vs the Marines

Jayr POV - Blue Star, East Blue, Polestar Island - 20 GAP

As the first sparring match between two random Petty Officers starts, I stand next to Koby and curious about my student's thoughts, I ask the same question that Smoker asked me a few minutes ago, "So, what do you think about this training experience with the Marines?"

Koby continues to stare at the two Petty Officers as they start to circle around with their blunted training swords pointing at each other, obviously thinking about how to explain his sensations and emotions in clear words. 

After some time, with a slight frown on his face, he says in a low tone, "I have to admit that it was a fun, frustrating, strange, and enlightening experience... One of the reasons for that is because many times I felt that the various exercises were way too easy and light, I even had to slow down a few times to keep their pace, and that while wearing my weighted clothes. It is strange, these men are supposed to be the ones who defend the people against the most common threats of our era, which are the evil and powerful pirates, the people whose simple presence causes the people to feel safe and protected. So why are they so weak that even someone like me can easily defeat them? Why don't they work harder to become more powerful?"

But without waiting for me to answer to his questions, Koby continues, "But then we moved to the combat situations and I understood everything. These men represent a different kind of strength of the Marines, they represent the Marine's unity and teamwork. They aren't meant to fight against the powerhouse able to level an island on their own, that's the job of the higher-ranked powerhouses. Sure they can defeat pirates on their own but that isn't their main duty, their job is to contain the threat, protect the civilians, keep them away from harm, use their lives as the last defense line, and capture or keep occupied the weaker pirates as the strong fight."

At this point, Smoker puts his hand on Koby's shoulder and says, "You got it right, kid. The main job of these men is exactly that. Not everyone is meant to become a powerful fighter, one of the strengths of the Marine is that every man or woman can make a difference while doing their job to the best of their abilities, and there are many roles that one can take to make that difference no matter of little it may be. Some fight on the front line, some focus on protecting, some focus on support from behind, unseen and many times even unappreciated, some lead the soldiers, and so on. All these men and women are all fighting for justice in their own way."

While we were talking the two random Petty Officers finished their fight, and soon the next one started, but these fights are very boring and dull as these men are truly the perfect representative of a random mob character, so much that I'm sure that even the current Usopp is able to defeat them with some cunning trick.

The only mildly interesting matches were those where Koby, Tashigi, and Smoker took part, as the way they dealt with the weaker marines gave some insight into their fighting style and character.

Tashigi is very brave and reckless when fighting her opponents, a trait typical of swordswomen and swordsmen, and this obviously ends with some very swift matches where she defeats her opponents in one single strike.

Smoker is an extremely serious and gruff man, he treats his underlings with the same respect as his peers and never abuses his position, and even during these matches he doesn't use his Devil Fruit's powers to instantly deal with them, but lets them attack him a few times as he carefully coaches them on what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong, but despite that, he always swiftly ends his fight after exactly 3 minutes passed knocking them out with his Jutte. 

And Koby, well, it seems that he is following my example a little, he is kinda like Smoker, he lets the opponent attack him but when he notices a mistake or an opening, he ruthlessly attacks with all kinds of painful grappling techniques while pointing out what his opponent did wrong, in the end, all his opponent ended up knocked out cold as he slams them into the ground, or pass out when held in a chokehold after a minute or so and those who don't end up giving up before Koby's lesson gets to painful. 

Finally, after a bunch of boring and meaningless matchups, an interesting pairing meets at the center of the field, they are Koby and Tashigi.

The two of them are now facing each other and are about to start their sparring match. 

On one side, Tashigi is armed with a blunt katana which is very similar in size and appearance to her own sword, Shigure. 

On the other side, there is Koby, who is approaching this fight unarmed, just like every other fight before this one.

Seeing that, I look at Smoker who is now standing beside me, and ask with a curious tone, "So, who do you think will win this?"

Smoker seriously thinks about it for a few seconds before he replies, "I think that Tashigi has a greater chance to win this match. She is usually absent-minded and clumsy and gets on my nerves all the time, but when things get serious she is the one I trust the most among all my men. Moreover, I'm very familiar with her fighting style, and from what I have seen, she is the worst match-up for someone like that kid, Koby, who is quite a bit slower than her, sure, he has great endurance, technique, and also a good amount of strength but all that is useless if he can't hit."

Hearing his answer, I nod with a smile on my face and say, "Indeed, it is a bad match-up, but it isn't for the reason you think of." which makes Smoker look at me with clear confusion on his face as he asks, "What do you mean with that?"

To that question, I simply explain, "Koby is quite used to fighting with faster opponents, after all, on our way here he fought with Kuro every single day, but he is totally clueless about what to do when fighting against someone armed. But even with that, Koby should still be able to do something, after all, he isn't as slow as he currently seems... Besides, what you have seen until now isn't Koby's true capabilities at all..." 

At this point, Smoker finally remembers something I told him and Tashigi before and realizes what I mean, his eyes open wide in shock as he exclaims, "Wait! Don't tell me that he has been wearing those weighted clothes that you talked about before until now!?"

I simply smile and nod, making Smoker stare at Koby once more, as he seriously asks, "How much is he currently carrying?" to which I reply, "Not much, overall, just some 250 kg! Something that I forgot to tell you guys, is that as a part of his training, he has to carry that weight all the time." 

Just as Smoker is about to say anything else, the fight between Koby and Tashigi finally starts.

Tashigi doesn't hesitate and rushes toward Koby and attacks with a horizontal slash aiming to swiftly end this fight just like all the others before, but to her and everyone else surprise, Koby is able to react in time and dodge by throwing himself on the ground and rolling forward, making Tashigi's sword pass over his head.

Tashigi too shocked that her slash was dodged this way, was too slow to recover and turn around, so, she wasn't able to take advantage of that slight moment where Koby was slightly disoriented as he slowly got up. 

Meanwhile, Koby once again showed his inexperience in dealing with armed opponents as he threw himself on the ground with too much strength, clumsily rolling way too much and leaving himself open to another possible attack.

Such a clumsy display makes both me and Smoker click our tongues at the same time, Smoker even comments, "That girl... she is truly the shame of the Marine HQ! I told her many times to be more careful when she attacks, but she always rushes and gets really reckless when fighting her opponents."

I nod agreeing with him and add, "And Koby isn't any better! True, he doesn't have much experience and tends to get way too nervous at times, but that was a perfect opportunity to counterattack, but he overshot his dodge by a mile." 

Soon the two regain their bearing and they once more face each other, this time they are more careful as they slowly start to circle around waiting for the perfect moment to attack. 

Tashigi is once again the one that makes the first move as she runs toward Koby and starts to attack him with a flurry of quick but weak slashes which force Koby to dodge and continuously retreat.

Seeing this scene, Smoker once again comments, "You are right. Koby can keep up with Tashigi's speed even if he is burdened by all that weight. But I think it is way too soon for him to fight with someone like Tashigi. He still doesn't know how to use a weapon, and it is almost impossible to defeat a swordsman or swordswoman unarmed, one needs some kind of weapon to defend himself or at the very least some armor, that is why I have this Jitte despite the fact that my Devil Fruit is a Logia Type." 

But I shake my head and declare, "That is not always true. You see, since young I was trained in using all kinds of weapons but at the same time, I was forbidden to fight using weapons, except in a few exceptional cases. There are two reasons for that, one is that the people I trained with believe that weapons are able to corrupt men and spread senseless death, and so, we are taught to be very wary of using them. The other is that the best way to know how to defend and counter a weapon is by knowing how to use it. Following that belief, I almost never used a weapon unless the situation truly called for it, but despite that, I have never lost a fight against an armed opponent."

I focus back on Koby and see that he is still panicking a little as he continues to dodge Tashigi's flurry of attacks, and at the same time, I add, "Moreover, if I remember well, Mr.Garp also doesn't use any weapons nor does he wear some armor, but he still mainly fights with his fists... After all, he is known as Garp the Fist. But it is true that I haven't taught Koby anything yet about how to fight against an armed opponent, and this is one of the reasons I asked to let him join your training so that he can personally experience it on his skin."

Meanwhile, Koby continues to be pushed back unable to find an opening, but despite that, he is still able to dodge every single one of Tashigi's attacks making her spend a lot more energy than usual, especially as the fight continues to stretch, something that makes her more anxious, frustrated, and reckless.

Suddenly, Tashigi stops her attacks and jumps back creating a lot of distance between her and a surprised Koby, at the same time, she sheathes her blunt sword into its saya (scabbard), and takes an Iaido stance, clearly indicating her intent to use a quick draw technique.

At the same time, seeing this scene, Smoker comments, "She is serious now, Tashigi is about to use her strongest technique, she calls it Kiri Shigure. A quick-draw technique named after her treasured katana Shigure where Tashigi passes and cuts her enemy in one single motion."

Indeed, soon after Smoker says that Tashigi dashes forward and so fast that Koby can't even react, she draws her sword and diagonally slashes Koby's torso with an upward swing. 

Then she passes him over and takes her end stance as she uses both hands to position her sword overhead, with the blade parallel to her back.

Of course, even if Tashigi slashed Koby, she didn't actually cut him, for one the sword she used in that match is a training one, meaning its edge was blunted, and so the worst kind of damage that it can cause is some broken bone, but more important, Tashigi also finely controlled her sword so that all she did was lightly bruise Koby. 

Immediately after that, Smoker calls the match results and orders the next one to start, so, Tashigi and Koby leave the field and return to their position, next to us.

I look at Koby as he walks over still gently rubbing his chest to soothe the pain of Tashigi's last attack and ask, "So, what do you think about your first experience with a real sword expert?"

Koby fidgetted a little before replying, "It was very scary, she is way too different from all the other opponents I faced before... even if I knew that the blade was blunted every single swing made me feel like she was going to cut me. Moreover, even if she moved slower than Kuro, I could barely react and dodge the whole time as the speed of her swings was way faster than her movements. But the worst thing was that sensation of being powerless because of the distance, as she continued to attack me, I could not do anything because even when she attacked me, she was too far away from me to counterattack, and I couldn't find any opening to step in."

Hearing the recount of his personal experience, I nod with a calm smile on my face, and then I say, "That's right. This is exactly what I wanted you to experience. Usually, those who can really use a weapon have many advantages over those who are unarmed. First of all, is that obviously, weapons are by nature more lethal than fists, then there is the advantage of reach just like you experienced, a person with a sword has a longer reach than a person with only his arms and legs, a person with a spear even more so, and let's not talk about bow and arrows and guns."

I look at Koby in the eyes and continue with my lesson, "A weapon can give incredible advantages to its wielder especially if he or she knows how to use them, this is a universal truth. But that doesn't mean that an unarmed person can never defeat an armed one. Through training and effort, you can turn your own body into your weapon. Of course, that doesn't mean that you have to completely ignore them, to know how to best deal with them, you first have to learn how to use them. So starting tomorrow, I will start teaching you about the various kinds of weapons." 

After that, we continued to watch the other sparring matches as I continued to teach Koby what the people fighting were doing right, where they could be better, and the common mistakes and openings that he could take advantage of, after some time, it was finally time for Koby to enter the field once again, this time, his opponent will be Captain Smoker himself.

But just before Koby enters the field, I hold him back by putting my hand on his shoulder and say, "To experience this fight the best, you have to go all out, so remove your weighted clothes."

Hearing that, Koby replies embarrassed, "But Jayr-san that way I'll be almost naked having only my briefs on!"

I look at him and ask, "And what is so embarrassing about that? It is basically the same as when you go swimming..."

Finding no flaws in my logic, Koby shakes his head and starts undressing, making all the clothes fall on the ground with a loud sound which surprises the sailors around us who didn't know about Koby's weighted clothes so much that they all start to sport the iconic Enel's face.

At the same time, a curious Tashigi grabs Koby's shirt and tries to pull it up, but she is unable to do so, shocked she exclaims, "I knew that his clothes were heavy but this is too much! Wait! He was carrying all this while fighting me!?" 

Koby POV - Blue Star, East Blue, Polestar Island - 20 GAP

After my defeat at the hands of Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, a very strong swordswoman who was able to defeat me without giving me any chance to counterattack, I'm once again standing in the middle of the training field of Loguetown Marine Base to take part in another sparring match, and I never felt so nervous in my life, not even the first time, I faced a dangerous pirate like Kuro can be compared with what I'm feeling right now.

The reason for that is very simple, it isn't because I'm standing in front of many sailors half naked wearing only my briefs, no, the reason is because this time, my opponent is none other than Captain Smoker himself, a true high-ranking Marine officer.

I now stand in front of him, waiting for the match to start, at the same time, Captain Smoker looks at me and with both cigars still in his mouth he says, "Kid, I see that you finally got rid of those weighted clothes. But that won't change anything because just as your teacher asked, I'll make you experience what is like to fight against someone who ate a Devil Fruit."

Indeed, Captain Smoker is someone who ate one of the mythical Devil Fruits that Jayr-san told me about, and not a simple one at that, but one of the rarest and most powerful Devil Fruits, a Logia Type Devil Fruit, and what makes me even more nervous is that even knowing that, I still don't know exactly what is his Devil Fruit, as Jayr-san only told me that Captain Smoker ate one and what its type was, but he didn't tell me anything more.

So, to calm my nerves a little, I remember Jayr-san's lesson about the Devil Fruits, especially the part on the Logia Type.

We were sitting on the deck of the Athena's God Bidoof calmly fishing as Jayr-san taught me, "Logia is the rarest of the three Devil Fruit types. Those who have eaten a Logia fruit are granted the power to physically transform their very body into an element of nature, on top of creating said element from their body in nigh-endless quantities, to control as they please. The body-transforming aspect of Logias serves to distinguish them from other Devil Fruit types, particularly Paramecia abilities that allow for the generation of substances: such Paramecias only allows one to create, not become, one's respective substance."

Then he went over the more important characteristics, "If a Logia user transforms part of their body and that part is struck physically by a normal body part or object, the user's real body does not take any damage, and any effect of the attack on the user's elemental form is superficial and the body can be reformed with no issue. It is unclear how much conscious control is required to transform one's body to negate attacks. No Logia user has ever shown difficulty or inability to bypass normal attacks, although there have been instances outside of direct combat when forceful contact has been made with a Logia user's real body and it did not transform. Additionally, it appears as though Logia users can negate having parts of their body severed by normal attacks by simply transforming the severed part into their element and returning it to the rest of their body, this even applies to decapitation."

Remembering that last part already makes me realize that this is an almost hopeless fight, but I also remember that Jayr-san also told me about the Logia Type's weak points, "Of course, there are only a few ways to bypass this transformation and successfully injure a transformed Logia user, with the most common methods being the usage of Seastone and Busoshoku Haki. Additionally, if a Logia user's element can be overwhelmed or canceled out with a different element, that element can harm their physical bodies. Such instances include water canceling out sand, rubber canceling out lightning, and magma canceling out fire. And of course, one can't forget the major weakness that all Devil Fruit users share, seawater."

I still remember the last part of that lesson as Jayr-san fished out a huge Sea King while explaining, "Remember, despite the fearsome power of Logia users, they are not invincible. All users are required to transform into their respective element voluntarily therefore sneak attacks are more likely to work, as the user will not have enough time to shift into their elemental state and avoid the attacks so that is also an option. However, with training, most Logia users learn to transform by reflex, eliminating this particular weakness, but this can still be useful if you mix it with a few other methods." 

(AN: Sorry about this info dump, I'd like to avoid them but when I can't I'll try to keep them as brief as possible.)

I'm suddenly brought out of my reminiscing by Captain Smoker's voice as he asks, "Are you ready, kid?"

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves then I firmly reply, "Yes, Sir!" making Captain Smoker nod and say, "Good, let's start this then."

With his signal, I don't hesitate anymore, I rush forward at my top speed while thinking, 'The first and most important step. Take advantage of the element of surprise to hit him and learn what exactly is his element then find a way to counter it.' 

I close in on Captain Smoker and throw a punch aiming at his stomach, but my fist, and quickly after the rest of my body, easily pass through Captain Smoker's body as some kind of smoke takes the place of his flesh and disperses around me, giving me the same sensation when I go through my punching motions hitting only air. 

At the same time, I hear Captain Smoker's surprised voice as he comments, "Oh, you got a lot faster than before... but you aren't fast enough yet." 

Then, his body quickly reforms and he grabs my still-extended arm and throws me up in the air.

Only now my brain finally catches up with what exactly happened as I realize, 'Was that some kind of white fog or smoke? How can I counter something like that!? At the moment, I can't think of any elements that can counter that!'

While thinking that, I try to twist my body in mid-air to adjust my landing and at the same time keep an eye on Captain Smoker but as I turn, I see the figure of Captain Smoker quickly closing in as he turned his lower body in that white fog or smoke to propel himself like a rocket.

Soon Captain Smoker is in front of me, and without any hesitation, he yells, "White Blow!" turns his right arm into that white fog leaving only his fist solid, and then he shoots that cloud of dense smoke to launch the fist at me, hitting me right in the stomach and sending me crashing on the ground, knocking the air out of me for a few instants. 

I grit my teeth, endure the pain, and jump up and roll out of the way and just in time as a dense cloud of that white smoke just crashed on the spot I was lying a few moments ago, then the cloud quickly transforms back into Captain Smoke who looks at me and comments, "Not bad... Not bad at all. Most would have been knocked out by the first blow, or at the very least remain stunned long enough to allow me to capture them easily."

I rub my stomach as I still feel the pain of his last blow, which luckily didn't break anything as it was quite a lot lighter than what I'm used to, and reply, "Thanks for your compliment, Sir. But this is only because I'm quite used to this... After all, most of my sparrings with Jayr-san always end up with a few of my bones broken."