Chapter 9 – Douryoku Test: You've Got a Long Way to Go!
Douryoku—a numeric measure used to quantify a person's combat power, based purely on physical ability, without accounting for Haki or Devil Fruit skills.
For reference: an ordinary adult male, after some basic marine training, would have a Douryoku value of about 10.
Take, for example, the CP9 officer Spandam—the infamous "unit of measurement" himself—whose Douryoku is a pitiful 9.
Within the Marines, Douryoku serves as a simple gauge for evaluating the strength of lower-ranking personnel.
At Zephyr's Marine Academy, testing Douryoku was one of the core benchmarks for cadets.
A Douryoku of 80 was the minimum required to enter the academy, while 500 was the baseline for graduation—with no upper limit.
Of course, Douryoku alone wasn't everything. Graduation required proficiency in a variety of fields beyond combat.
Before long, Zephyr led Yoriichi to an open training field.
Standing before him was a massive five-meter cube of stone, solid and imposing. A small display panel was embedded into its side, currently showing a big red "0."
Zephyr stepped forward and tapped the stone wall lightly with his knuckles.
"Yoriichi," he said, smiling, "this is the machine we use to measure Douryoku."
"This entire block is made of seastone. It's incredibly tough. You attack it, and the force you deliver gets converted into a Douryoku value that shows up here on the screen."
"Like this."
He extended two fingers and gave the stone wall a casual tap—no more than a polite knock on a door.
Yet, with a deep thud, the massive block actually shifted backward a few centimeters, sending a dull vibration through the ground.
BOOM!
The display next to Zephyr began flashing wildly before freezing at 1213.
Zephyr looked pleased with himself, smiling in satisfaction.
After about ten seconds, the stone block began to creak and slide back into position, as if pulled by an invisible spring.
Yoriichi couldn't help but watch in fascination. He had never seen anything like this—a device that could directly measure the power of one's attacks.
Still, something about it puzzled him.
The block was enormous. For most people, even making it budge would be impossible. And if Zephyr's light tap of a few centimeters already registered over twelve hundred, then how could an ordinary person—whose strength was barely a fraction of his—get a reading at all?
"Go ahead, Yoriichi," Zephyr said, gesturing toward the stone with a grin. "Try it yourself. Give me your strongest attack."
Curiosity burning in his chest, Yoriichi stepped up to the block.
He planted his feet in a stable stance, drew in a sharp breath, and drove his fist straight into the seastone wall.
His punch landed with a solid impact—yet the wall didn't so much as tremble.
However, the numbers on the nearby display began to flicker rapidly before settling at 520.
"Heh, that's all?" Zephyr teased, though his tone was good-natured and his eyes betrayed amusement rather than disappointment.
But before he could say more, Yoriichi suddenly stepped back and drew his blade from his hip.
"Fuu…"
He exhaled slowly, adjusting his breathing. Then, flames ignited along the edge of his black sword, casting a crimson glow across his young face.
Sun Breathing – Third Form: Raging Sun!
CLANG!!!
The blade cut through the air in a brilliant arc. Unlike the dull impact from before, this strike rang out with a sharp metallic clang as the sword connected with the seastone wall.
The massive block actually lurched backward several meters before coming to a stop.
Zephyr's eyes flicked toward the display.
The numbers jumped wildly—4000, 4800, 5100—before finally settling at 5333.
For a moment, Zephyr's expression froze. His surprise was fleeting, but unmistakable.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he let out a soft hum and said with his usual calm,
"Hmm. Not bad, I suppose. Passable."
His voice was as even as ever, his face unreadable—but deep down, his thoughts were in turmoil.
This kid… really is something else.
Though he spoke with indifference, his mind was already roiling like a storm-tossed sea.
A Douryoku value exceeding five thousand—what did that even mean?
To put it simply, most vice admirals in the Navy—excluding those empowered by Devil Fruits—barely reached the 2,000 to 4,000 range. Only the very top among them could just barely hit five thousand, and that was without counting a monster like Garp.
For comparison, Luffy during the Enies Lobby incident, when using Second Gear, would've measured at just over five thousand Douryoku.
Even then, he was already considered a Great Pirate—having defeated not one, but two of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and later recognized as one of the "Worst Generation."
There was no doubt about it—a power level exceeding five thousand Douryoku was enough to make one a name known across the seas.
There was no doubt about it—
a Douryoku value exceeding five thousand was impressive by any standard. Even across the vast seas, such power would never belong to an ordinary man.
And yet here stood a boy, barely in his teens, picked up by that rascal Garp on a whim… already possessing strength on this level.
Even for Zephyr, the sight was hard to take in without astonishment.
Still, as a teacher, he had an image to uphold. His expression remained calm and collected.
"Yoriichi," Zephyr said with a serious air, "you've still got a long way to go."
"A mere five thousand Douryoku—hmph, that's nothing worth bragging about. Keep training."
"When you can hit as hard as I can, then you'll barely be ready to set sail."
With that, Zephyr walked back toward the massive seastone wall. He drew in a deep breath, his chest expanding like a mountain, and then—
BOOM!
His fist drove forward like a cannon.
The enormous seastone wall shot backward more than ten meters, slamming into the end of its tracks. The numbers on the display beside him flickered violently, spiking past 7000, before the entire readout glitched into a string of zeros—"00000."
A sharp crack echoed as the machinery anchoring the block to the ground finally gave way, and the massive slab tumbled backward, rolling further across the training ground.
"See that?" Zephyr said with a proud grin. "Takes at least a thousand Douryoku just to budge this thing."
"At my level, I'm around ten thousand, give or take."
He turned toward the still-stunned Yoriichi, laughing heartily.
"You've got a long road ahead of you, kid. But don't worry—stick with me, and I'll make a proper Marine out of you!"
Zephyr chuckled as he clapped Yoriichi on the shoulder.
"Come on, I'll show you around the rest of the place. Starting tomorrow, your real training begins!"
Without sparing a single glance for the smoking ruin of the testing apparatus behind them, Zephyr strode off cheerfully, Yoriichi following close behind.
A few minutes after they left, several Marine instructors arrived at the scene. They froze at the sight of the wrecked testing grounds—debris scattered everywhere, the giant seastone block lying halfway across the field. None of them could find the words to speak.
The rest of the day passed with Yoriichi trailing after Zephyr wherever he went.
The old admiral took great pleasure in personally introducing his new disciple to the Marine Academy—every facility, every division, every corner of Marineford itself.
Along the way, they ran into many people: former comrades, former students, and even a few high-ranking officers who idolized Zephyr.
And Zephyr, in high spirits, greeted everyone with his trademark booming laughter.
"Oh! You're back, old friend!"
"This kid? My new disciple."
"His strength? Eh, nothing much. His first test barely hit over five thousand Douryoku—still got a lot of growing to do!"
Yoriichi lost count of how many times Zephyr repeated that line throughout the day. But even as he sighed inwardly at his teacher's boundless energy, he couldn't help feeling impressed by how many people Zephyr knew—and how respected he was.
By nightfall, after a full day of walking through Marineford, Yoriichi finally returned to Zephyr's home.
He sat quietly on the wooden veranda outside his room, back resting against a pillar, gazing up at the night sky.
"The night sky in this world…" he murmured softly, "is deeper than the one before."
"And the stars… shine even brighter."
(End of Chapter)