Training Starts

Three days ago,

"Hey Usopp, where is Luffy?" Zoro asked while resting on a bed. His upper body was wrapped with white bandages. He looks a little better than a few hours ago.

"I don't. He said he will leave for three days. Until then, he asked me to take care of you. He also gave us a training plan. This is actually some breathing technique. You should've also practiced these, right?" Usopp shook his head and answered while looking at the paper Luffy gave him.

"Yeah, this is a basic technique to start. It will give help you channel the energy of your body into a single point. Most of the fighters start from this technique." Zoro nodded his head on the pillow and explained with a straight face.

"By the way, I have something to ask you. How big is the difference in strength between you and Luffy?" Usopp asked while clicking his tongue with curiosity in his eyes.

Zoro remained silent for a moment, and then explained "If Luffy is in a normal state, our differences are not very high. His attacks are blunt while mine are sharp. With my endurance, I can fight him for a long time unless he continuously uses Marine Six-Styles. If he uses those, I can't say how long can I hold on? As for his next stage, I am completely vulnerable in front of him. That state gives him powerful strength and extreme agility."

"I didn't expect such a huge gap." Usopp sighed while thinking of his own strength.

"But I'll catch up to him very soon. I won't let him surpass me by such a gap." Zoro made a determined face and muttered with a low voice though Usopp heard him.

"Then, how do you plan to increase your strength?" Usopp asked with great interest.

"Ahem, I haven't thought about it yet." Zoro made a shameful expression and looked sideways to avoid Usopp's gaze.

"How about I give you an advice?" Usopp patted his chest and asked with pride face.

"You...." Zoro looked at Usopp from top to bottom then, sighed and looked away.

"Hey, what do you mean by that? Although I may not have strength as you, I have observed Luffy for a while and noticed many things." Usopp shouted at Zoro with fury in his eyes for underestimating him so much.

"Oh, what do you noticed?" Zoro didn't care about Usopp's rage but he was indeed interested because Luffy told him Usopp was a genius. In fact, everyone Luffy chooses is a genius, except they are geniuses on their own terms.

Like Usopp begin very well at Marksmanship. In Zoro's thoughts, if Usopp would have used guns instead of using slingshot then he would have been the deadliest. He never thought of underestimating Usopp when it comes to Marksmanship but Usopp is rather an easy enemy if he uses his Slingshot every time.

"If you practice something increase your speed, and also practice more about sword, not sword styles." Usopp pointed his nose up, and proudly explained "Never would have guessed, right?"

But just after hearing him, Zoro self-realized his mistake. Suddenly he thought of something, and said: "Someone else told you this, and you don't know its meaning right?"

"Umm, how can you find out so quickly?" Usopp's proud expression fell, and he weakly asked but looking at Zoro's disdainful gaze, he obviously understood so he shouted at Zoro "Luffy only told me a second line, the first line is something I came up with."

"Haha" Seeing Usopp twisted expression; Zoro laughed and finally said "Thank you Usopp"

"Alright, you should rest. Nami and I will be getting stronger in three days." Usopp said while showing his thin biceps.

After Usopp left, Zoro remained in deep silence. He was thinking about his teacher's words. He kept remembering the sword realm where he can cut things that can want to cut and can't what he doesn't want. No matter how soft or hard the object is? Does it depend on whether he wants to cut it or not?

On another side,

"I won't leave until you acknowledge my food" Sanji shouted with a straight face while smoking

"Alas, I have already promised that brat, now I can't scold you anymore." Zeff slammed his in dismay. Finally, he sighed "Sanji, no one in the Baratie thinks your cooking is bad. We only acted this way, so that you can improve your cooking as well as leave the Baratie for fulfilling your dreams. But you hardheaded kid didn't even listen to us. Now, you have a chance, and don't let go of this chance. I believe this kid is also very hardheaded and takes you as his chef no matter the cost. That is also why he asked me to answer you honestly. This way, you can join them a lot easier otherwise with your hardhead, we don't know how long will it take?"

Hearing him, the cigarette fell from his mouth. He didn't cry but his mood was mixed with different emotions. Suddenly, Zeff shouted "Sanji, don't you want to find All-blue. Go, and fulfill a chef's dreams, find a sea where all kinds of ingredients could be found, find your All-blue."

Finally, some tears fall out of Sanji's eyes and he shuttered "You…. just want me to leave"

The next moment, he left the room at high speed. He went to another corner of the sea.

But he didn't expect to reach near the room where Zoro's staying. He sat near the door and folded his arms over his knees. He had tears falling from his eyes. After two minutes, a voice made his tears stop "I didn't expect a chef to be a crybaby."

Hearing his words, Sanji hurriedly sweep away his tears, and shouted: "Who are you calling crybaby?"

"If you can't even leave your home for your dreams, then what are you?" Zoro was standing at the door, he still had bandages over his upper chest.

"So, does giving up your life for your dream make you a hero or something?" Sanji glanced at his bandages and asked while putting another cigarette in his mouth.

"No it doesn't but it makes me realize our true gap. It makes me think how big is this world? It makes me go on adventures to get stronger." Zoro touched in bandages with emotions and explained.

"But he could've killed you," Sanji shouted in rage for a moment even though he didn't get why he was caring for Zoro.

"Then, I would've died with regret for not fulfilling my promise." Zoro explained while remembering his promise to her 'I would be the Greatest Swordsman in the World'

"So, in other words, you are nothing but an idiot," Sanji said while igniting up his cigarette.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Zoro shouted in rage, his face was like a chimpanzee.

"Humph, get rest since we'll be leaving after three days" Sanji didn't bother to continue his argument, instead walked away with a grudged smile on his face.

Zoro also had the same face and then walked opposite to each other.

Seeing everyone having dinner, he shouted with meat in his eyes "Hey, how can you eat without me? Sanji, make me food for two days."

"Luffy!" Hearing him, everyone turned their head towards Luffy and saw him laughing.

"Aye-aye captain" Sanji smiled and started making food. Zoro, Usopp, and Nami were sitting on the chair while waiting for him. He had spent three days inside the space of Supreme Artifact though he didn't felt hungry inside for some reason. But when he walked out, he felt heart-breaking hunger.

A guy who can't stop eating took the break from eating for three straight even if he wasn't the real Luffy, he was also a true foodie. He rushed to his sitting position and sneak at Usopp's food.

Their dinner began, and they eat while laughing and talking. They didn't ask why Luffy was gone, and he didn't tell them. It took them an hour to finish food; it was special Luffy who took so long.

After the food, Luffy cleaned his teeth while patting his stomach with another hand. After a while, he spoke, "Well now that food is finished and we got our cook, our training begins."

At this moment, Zoro was the most excited one. After seeing the power of the world's first swordsman, his thirst to get stronger increased a lot. Luffy made a serious expression and drank a cup of tea before explaining "Our next destination is Cocoyasi village. It is also the village where Nami lives."

"Well, I don't want to open the dark wound in her mind, so I won't go into many details. Our goal is to defeat Arlong Pirates. As for later, it would be decided by her. Arlong is a ferocious fish-man with a bounty of twenty million bellies. About his strength, I don't have much to comment but one thing is clear, our main unit to defeat Arlong pirate will be Nami and Usopp."

"What?" Nami and Usopp shouted at the same time in disbelieve. Even Sanji and Zoro frowned hearing him.

"L—uffy, we can't defeat such monster by our current training. That is a monster of twenty million bellies. We are just seeking death if we fight that monster by ourselves." Usopp shuttered and tried to convince Luffy.

"Yeah, Luffy we can't defeat him all by ourselves." Nami also nodded her head trying to support Usopp but Luffy remained unconvinced.

Luffy directly ignored Usopp and looked at Nami to explain "My goal is not to destroy Arlong Pirate in by your hands, but to relieve that hatred hidden inside of you. You need to let go of your hatred so that in the future we can go to the fish man island where mermaid and fish-man lives."

"Huh, fish man island!" Sanji's expression suddenly changed. He walked towards Luffy, patting his Luffy shoulder; he asked "Do they have mermaids?"

"Yep, if Nami can release her anger and hatred here then we can visit Fish-Man Island without any twists and turn. So I want to train Nami so that she defeated Arlong." Luffy spoke trying to convince Nami.

"Miss Nami, I'll make you the most nutrient food after training." Thinking of mermaids, Sanji had the love in his eyes screaming at Nami.

"Bam" "Idiot, food doesn't make me strong" Nami gave a solid punch in his face. Sanji could neither dodge nor wanted to dodge, as he gladly accepted that fist.

"Don't worry Nami; Fighting is not all about race and muscles, but willpower. As long as you have Will fight for something that you earned for, then you can win. Of course, strength matters, but strength is something other can help you to achieve but Willpower! You can only achieve it on your own." Luffy made a big smile looking at Nami as he explained.

At this moment, Nami clenched her fist hard. She felt a huge pressure on her shoulder. At this moment, Luffy patted her shoulder and spoke "Don't worry, until we reach your village, if you are not ready then I won't force you at all."

Then, he took few steps back and spoke "Now, let's start with our training resume. For Zoro and Sanji, you guys don't need to follow normal training, so I'll directly start with another kind of training. For Zoro and Sanji, we have the training in Observation Haki. For Usopp and Nami, we have the training of Six Styles of Marine."

"Alright, I will explain Observation Haki in front of everyone, so I don't have to explain it again. Observation Haki is about seeing your opponent's move before even he attacks. It is rather common for a swordsman, but true Observation Haki allows a person to view future for a moment."

"This is very amazing for logia users because, with this, they can manipulate their elemental body parts to avoid attacks with Armament Haki. For Observation Haki, you need to have a certain amount of perspective towards your surroundings, feel the spirit that everyone has, their spirit will tell you their next movement."

"Everyone has a spirit. It is the Will power of a person, every human or creature has some kind of Will, and with Observation Haki, you can see the intention of their Will. The best way for training this kind of Haki is by beating yourself. By this, I mean, two persons will work in pairs. One person will hold a strong stick, and beat another one."

"Since Zoro and Sanji got a perfect pair to practice, you two can do it together."

"Perfect pair! With him? This is impossible." Both spoke at the same time. Although they weren't that much into a fight, they still had some kind of previous life rivalry.

"While practicing, you are allowed to hit as hard as you can for hundred times, and the person who takes the beating will have a blindfold in his eyes so that he needs to use his instinct to dodge. Turning instinct permanent is about Observation Haki. After that, it will be the next person's turn. So be careful with revenge." Using their rivalry, Luffy planned to train them together as the best competitor so they can grow faster.

If you have a person who always forces you to push yourself to your limit, then it is your rival. Usopp and Nami snickered after hearing his words; they already got his intention to train.

"Alright, I'll fill you up with more details later. You two can go out for practice, as for the next, let's began with your training." Luffy looked at Zoro and Sanji to chase them away. Then, he looked at Nami and Usopp with little devilish eyes for training.

"We shall begin with Soru of Six Styles."