Chapter 28 – A New Power, Beaten Out of Him!
Garp's ship had been docked at the Marine G-10 branch of the Neil Kingdom for nearly half a month.
That morning, out on a wide training ground within the base, Garp stood off to the side, arms folded, watching as Yoriichi and Aokiji sparred in hand-to-hand combat.
Though there hadn't been any missions during this downtime, Garp wasn't one to waste it—he'd been diligently training both of them every day.
Over the course of these two weeks, Yoriichi's mastery of Observation and Armament Haki had both improved noticeably.
Half a month ago, his Observation Haki could only roughly sense the direction of an opponent's attacks. But now, even without using the Transparent World, Yoriichi could read every movement of his opponent with remarkable clarity.
He wasn't yet at the level of foreseeing the future, but when he combined Observation Haki with his Transparent World, predicting Aokiji's attacks became effortless.
His Armament Haki had also advanced at an astonishing pace.
If before, he could only coat the blade of his bamboo sword, now the Haki enveloped the entire weapon from hilt to tip.
The coverage had greatly expanded, and given time, it was clear that he'd be able to clad his entire body in Armament Haki.
As for the strength of his Haki—there was no standard way to measure it, but one thing was clear:
a solid steel pillar as thick as a man's arm—Yoriichi could slice clean through it in a single strike when coating his sword in Haki.
Garp had roughly estimated his current Douriki (Power Level) at around 7000.
In terms of pure Haki, Yoriichi might already surpass even Zoro as he appeared two years later at the Sabaody Archipelago.
On the open ground, the spar between Yoriichi and Aokiji was in full swing.
Ever since learning the Six Powers and awakening his dual-color Haki, Yoriichi's strength had leapt to an entirely new level.
When combined with his naturally supreme swordsmanship and the clarity of the Transparent World, he completely dominated Aokiji in their sparring matches.
At that moment, Aokiji—gripping a pair of ice pillars—was covered in bruises, patches of blue and purple marking his skin.
Yoriichi's Armament Haki had grown stronger day by day; once, Aokiji could rely on his Devil Fruit to remain unharmed, but now, even that icy armor couldn't stop Yoriichi's strikes. His injuries were piling up fast.
Of course, if Aokiji went all out, his combat strength still far exceeded Yoriichi's.
But every time he felt like he couldn't take it anymore, he'd "calm things down" by freezing Yoriichi for a moment—just long enough to catch his breath.
Crack!
Yoriichi leapt backward, avoiding an overhead swing, then immediately brought his bamboo sword down, pressing hard against Aokiji's ice club and forcing it downward. The sheer power behind the motion sent Aokiji stumbling forward.
Sensing danger, Aokiji's body instantly burst into icy mist, vanishing from sight, only to reform a meter away in a swirl of frost.
At that exact moment, Yoriichi's kick swept through where Aokiji had just been standing, scattering the ice fog with a sharp whoosh.
"Hey, hey, hey—Kuzan!" Yoriichi called out, landing lightly on his feet, his tone exasperated. "You're cheating again, aren't you?!"
It wasn't the first time.
They'd agreed to spar without using Devil Fruit powers—but that bastard Aokiji kept breaking the rule mid-fight.
Yoriichi's attack speed was blistering, his strikes flowing seamlessly from one to the next. Aokiji's half-baked mastery of Soru could no longer evade him.
However, while Soru wasn't fast enough, the power of a Logia-type Devil Fruit was another story entirely.
As long as Aokiji could sense where the attack was coming from, he could disperse his body into ice mist and reform elsewhere before Yoriichi's blow even landed.
About ten days ago, Aokiji had already lost the ability to best Yoriichi in pure close combat.
Since then, as Yoriichi grew stronger, Aokiji had given up trying to keep up—whenever he was about to be flattened, he'd simply use his Fruit.
And funnily enough, being repeatedly pounded by Yoriichi had led Aokiji to develop a new ability.
Before this, his fruit's powers focused mainly on freezing and solidifying ice.
But after enduring the constant battering of Yoriichi's ever-stronger Armament Haki, Aokiji had devised a new defensive technique—transforming his body into ice mist for instantaneous evasion.
And, well—
it worked way better than Soru!
"Hey, this isn't cheating," Aokiji said with a straight face. "I'm a Devil Fruit user—using my abilities is perfectly reasonable."
Yoriichi just stared at him, speechless.
"Besides," Aokiji said with a grin, "I'm only using it for movement. We're still training in hand-to-hand combat, after all. You could just think of this ability as an upgraded version of Soru."
As he spoke, his body once again dissolved into drifting ice mist, vanishing from sight.
A heartbeat later, the mist surged toward Yoriichi, enveloping him completely.
Suddenly—without warning—Aokiji's upper body reformed right beside him, his ice club swinging down hard toward Yoriichi's head.
Crack!
Just before the blow could land, Yoriichi twisted his body and, in one smooth motion, brought his bamboo sword up to deflect the strike.
In the same instant, his left hand flared with Armament Haki as he reached for Aokiji's face—
Whoosh!
—but before he could grab hold, Aokiji's form shattered into mist once more, slipping right through his grasp.
In the blink of an eye, Aokiji reappeared directly in front of him, slamming his ice club toward Yoriichi's midsection.
Iron Body!
There was no time to dodge. Yoriichi braced himself, channeling Tekkai to harden his body.
The impact rang out sharply—the soles of his shoes scraped hard against the ground as he slid several meters backward, the friction screeching like drawn steel before he finally stopped.
Pain flared across his abdomen, forcing him to grit his teeth.
From the sidelines, Garp watched with a wide grin.
Seeing Aokiji freely use his Devil Fruit powers against Yoriichi didn't bother him in the slightest.
By now, Yoriichi's close-quarters skill had completely surpassed Aokiji's.
If the latter didn't use his Fruit, he wouldn't last five exchanges before being utterly overwhelmed.
And a one-sided thrashing wouldn't help Yoriichi grow stronger—
but a Logia user employing his powers for mobility and counterattack? That made for a perfectly balanced opponent.
After all, Aokiji was still fighting with close-range technique, wasn't he?
Perfectly reasonable.
If Aokiji had truly attacked using his Fruit's full destructive power, Yoriichi would've lost the moment the ice mist closed around him.
Just as Yoriichi steadied himself, ready to draw on his Breathing Techniques to boost his speed—
a familiar voice rang out from across the training grounds.
"Vice Admiral Garp!"
Bogard came running at full speed, his voice sharp and urgent.
"Vice Admiral Garp! Major General Roka sent me—there's news! We've got word on the Roger Pirates!"
Garp's eyes snapped toward him instantly.
"Roger's been sighted?! Where?!" he demanded before Bogard even reached them.
"Zou Island!" Bogard replied breathlessly. "That legendary island said to be home to the Mink Tribe—Zou Island!"
Garp froze for a moment, blinking in confusion.
"Zou… Island?" he repeated, tilting his head with a puzzled look. "What the hell is that supposed to be?!"
Garp had sailed as a Marine for decades, leaving his mark across every sea—from the Four Blues to the Grand Line, even deep into the New World.
And yet, somehow… he'd never even heard of a place called Zou Island.
(End of Chapter)
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