"So… Soru doesn't seem all that hard."
"Pretty nice technique."
Soru, one of the Navy's Rokushiki techniques, involved stepping dozens of times in the blink of an eye, generating explosive reactive force that allowed for lightning-fast movement. To an enemy's eyes, the user seemed to vanish completely.
There was no doubt that Soru was a highly advanced combat technique. The sudden burst of speed it offered left most opponents utterly unable to react.
At the same time, it was notoriously difficult to master. Across the entire sea, there were virtually no individuals in the first half of the Grand Line capable of using such a skill. Even within the Navy, only officers of Ensign rank or higher tended to possess the ability to perform Rokushiki.
And yet, to Yorichi Tsugikuni, this so-called high-level combat art seemed perfectly plain and straightforward.
Under his Transparent World, he could see every subtle movement of Aokiji's muscles as he performed Soru. To Yorichi, there were simply no secrets to the technique.
Besides, Yorichi was the kind of person who, in his past life, could slice Muzan Kibutsuji into over a thousand pieces in the blink of an eye. Though he'd reincarnated into this world at only twelve years old, his combat prowess hadn't diminished one bit. His physical condition easily supported the requirements of using Soru.
So the instant he witnessed Aokiji employ the technique, Yorichi was able to replicate it flawlessly and integrate it into battle.
With a flash, he appeared behind Aokiji, reversing his grip to swing his blade at Aokiji's back. There was a considerable height difference between the two. Yorichi's instinct was always to aim for the neck, but on someone as tall as Aokiji, he could barely reach the man's lower back.
"Well now."
"That's genuinely impressive!"
"Have you trained in Soru before?"
Aokiji turned his head slightly, glancing back at Yorichi as he spoke.
Yet, despite Yorichi's incoming slash, Aokiji neither dodged nor blocked. He simply let the blade strike him. The instant the sword touched Aokiji's back, however, his body transformed into solid ice. A wave of cold swept outward, instantly freezing Yorichi's katana and racing up the blade toward his arm.
Yorichi reacted swiftly, letting go of his sword and leaping backward to put distance between them.
He stared at his katana, now frozen and embedded in Aokiji's back, and felt utterly exasperated.
Weren't they supposed to be practicing the Navy's Rokushiki? What was the deal with this guy constantly using his Devil Fruit powers instead? Wasn't this just bullying someone trying to play fair?
"I've never trained in it before. This is my first time seeing it."
Yorichi lowered his blade, ready to call it quits. His weapon had already been confiscated or rather, frozen solid. The sparring match had barely begun, yet already felt finished. After all, a Logia-type Devil Fruit was simply too insurmountable for him at this stage. Even though Yorichi hadn't yet revealed the full extent of his breathing techniques, the result would ultimately be the same.
For someone who didn't possess Haki, facing a Logia user was practically hopeless. Not every Logia was like Crocodile, who could be smacked around with a bucket of water.
"This is your first time seeing it?" Aokiji repeated, momentarily stunned. Yet even as he exhaled, his composure returned. He casually pulled Yorichi's frozen sword out of his back and glanced toward the battleship's lookout tower.
Inside the tower, Garp was leaning forward with both hands braced on the windowsill, watching everything unfold on the deck below. Behind him, his adjutant Bogart noticed Aokiji's gaze and said:
"Vice Admiral Garp, looks like the sparring session can't continue."
"That kid Yorichi… he actually managed to use Soru. Could he possibly be…"
Garp merely chuckled and shook his head.
"Who'd believe a story like someone learning Soru just by watching it once?"
"But… that's exactly what happened. Before we set sail, I spoke to Zephyr. That kid had never been exposed to Soru."
"As for before joining the Navy… no way. There's no one in the East Blue who knows how to use Soru."
"Looks like I've underestimated that brat. It's not just his potential in Haki. In every other respect, his talent is extraordinary too."
"Seems like I'm going to have to tweak my training plans a bit."
Though Garp was conversing with his adjutant, he gave no direct response to Aokiji's glance from below.
After a moment, seeing that Garp wasn't reacting, Aokiji shifted his gaze back to Yorichi.
This time, he studied Yorichi from head to toe, scrutinizing him carefully. After a moment's examination, he tossed the frozen sword back to Yorichi and spoke:
"The move you used just now to appear behind me that was Soru, one of the Navy's Rokushiki."
"Earlier, when I blocked your horizontal slash, that was another technique called Tekkai. It's also part of the Rokushiki."
"Judging by how smoothly you used Soru, I assumed you'd already mastered it. So… what about Tekkai?"
Though Aokiji didn't finish his sentence, the eager look in his eyes made it very clear what he was hoping for. Meeting his gaze, Yorichi simply shook his head and spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
"Sorry, I didn't actually see you use Tekkai. All I know is that when I hit you, your body turned into ice."
"So… is transforming into ice your Tekkai? Because I honestly didn't catch on."
Yorichi feigned ignorance. He knew full well about Aokiji's Devil Fruit powers, but he deliberately pretended to confuse them with Tekkai to avoid drawing attention to himself.
And to be fair, Yorichi wasn't entirely lying. He truly hadn't noticed Aokiji using Tekkai. Even with the aid of his Transparent World, all he'd seen was Aokiji's body shifting into an elemental state. As for Tekkai… he hadn't detected it at all.
Turning flesh into ice was obvious enough. But Tekkai…
"Uh…"
"No. Turning into ice is my Devil Fruit ability."
"You know about Devil Fruits, right? Treasures of the sea. If you eat one, you gain special powers, but you lose the ability to swim."
"And me, I've eaten the Ice-Ice Fruit. I'm an ice human a Logia type. My body can freely turn into ice. What you saw just now… that was my Devil Fruit power."
"As for Tekkai…"
At that, Aokiji paused, suddenly realizing that the moment he'd tried to use Tekkai, it hadn't actually stopped Yorichi's strike. His body had instinctively shifted into ice instead. No wonder Yorichi hadn't noticed him using Tekkai at all.
But just as that thought hit him, Aokiji's eyes took on a slightly bewildered look as he stared at Yorichi.
If his intel was right, Yorichi was only twelve years old. And yet his slash had managed to break through Aokiji's Tekkai? Aokiji was well aware that his own Rokushiki wasn't exactly top-tier, and that his Tekkai was hardly anything to brag about but getting overpowered by a kid was still staggering.
During the fight itself, Aokiji hadn't fully realized it. Now that he was replaying it in his mind, he suddenly found Yorichi quite terrifying.
"Did your instructor Zephyr ever have you tested for your Doriki?"
Aokiji asked out of nowhere, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. He was silently calculating. "That kind of attack power… at least one or two thousand Doriki."
"In an all-out strike… over five thousand, I think? Can't remember the exact number."
"Teacher Zephyr said I'm really weak, not worth mentioning. If Vice Admiral Garp hadn't brought me along, I probably wouldn't even have been allowed to go to sea."
At Aokiji's question, Yorichi's face fell. He lowered his head, looking embarrassed.
"Only… only five thousand?!!!"
Aokiji leaned forward slightly, eyes wide with shock. He'd suspected Yorichi might be strong, but hearing the actual number left him speechless.
Back when Aokiji was Yorichi's age, he'd probably only had a fraction of that power.
In the Navy, a Doriki of five thousand would already rank someone among the elite. If not for Aokiji's Logia powers, he'd have had a hard time defeating Yorichi at all.
And now, Aokiji finally understood why Garp had assigned him to teach Yorichi the Navy's Rokushiki. On this entire ship, there were precious few people qualified to train someone like Yorichi Tsugikuni.
Sparring with Yorichi might even help Aokiji himself improve as a fighter who wasn't particularly skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
"Zephyr is really something else, huh…"
"Yorichi, don't listen to your teacher's nonsense. Your strength is already incredible. When you're sparring with other people, make sure you hold back."
"Thinking about it now… if I didn't have my Devil Fruit abilities, those two strikes just now… I'd probably have been sliced open by you."
"Go grab a bamboo sword. I'll stop using my Devil Fruit powers. Let's spar using pure martial arts instead. I'll show you the other Rokushiki techniques while we're at it."