"East Blue? That's… outside the New World—no, outside the Grand Line, right?"
After hearing that Kurosaki Rei was from the East Blue, Yamato became even more interested.
"Can you tell me what the outside world is like?"
She had grown up in Wano and Onigashima since childhood. Especially after she began calling herself Kozuki Oden, her father had directly confined her, so she had never gone out to sea. She longed deeply for the world beyond.
Of course, more importantly, her idol Kozuki Oden had yearned for the outside world and for freedom. She felt she should be the same.
"Well… that's a long story."
Kurosaki Rei remained cautious. In his perception, he always felt as if some kind of power was watching this place.
He didn't like Yamato's whole "filial daughter" act, but Yamato herself wasn't a bad person—she'd just gone too far chasing her idol. The real issue was that her idol choice was questionable. Of all people, why idolize "heroic good man" Kozuki Oden?
Still, Kurosaki Rei couldn't say he disliked her either—certainly not to the point of killing her just for a Devil Fruit. He had his own plans for the Fruit Hunter quest.
Besides, making a move against the Beast Pirates' "Oni Princess" in Wano was practically suicide.
"It's fine. We can't get out anyway. Just tell me about the outside world."
Yamato's eyes sparkled. She didn't mind that it was "a long story"—on the contrary, the longer the better.
Since he wasn't planning to make a move on his cellmate, Kurosaki Rei changed tactics.
"I can tell you stories about the outside world, but you have to agree to one thing."
"What is it? Say it—I, Kozuki Oden, always keep my word!"
Yamato urged.
"I'm very interested in Wano's way of using Haki. Can you teach me?"
Seeing Yamato gave Kurosaki Rei a new idea. There was no need to go out of his way to find Old Man Hyogoro to learn Ryuo—he couldn't even be sure Hyogoro would be willing to teach him.
Wasn't Yamato right here the perfect teaching tool?
Trained by Emperor Kaido himself, proficient in all three types of Haki, and… not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed—easy to coax. Clearly much easier to learn from.
And since she was Kaido's daughter, maybe she'd inherited Teacher Kaido's excellent teaching skills too?
"Haki? Sure! Even if you hadn't asked, I was planning to teach you anyway."
Yamato slapped her chest, her aura surging with unmistakable Will of D energy.
"You look kind of weak, after all—and you're a comrade fighting alongside me, Kozuki Oden, to overthrow Kaido! Leave it to me!"
Her agreement came so easily that Kurosaki Rei froze for a moment.
He hadn't expected such benefits from starting out in prison.
Free private tutoring—delivered straight to his cell. And not just any tutor, but a senior lecturer from the Hundred-Beasts Cram School.
"What do you mean 'kind of weak'… Forget it. I'll tell you about the outside world first. Where do you want me to start?"
Kurosaki Rei felt a bit resentful at being called weak, though to be fair, if he didn't go all out, his raw stats really weren't that impressive.
"Anything is fine! I'm interested in all adventures outside. I really yearn for freedom."
Yamato said happily. She hadn't expected that being sent here for labor reform would lead her to meet such a like-minded companion—an outsider, no less, who could tell her so many fascinating stories.
Kurosaki Rei thought for a moment, then began talking about the strange islands, nations, customs, and peoples of the outside world.
He wasn't particularly gifted at storytelling, but Yamato listened with rapt attention. Mostly because she'd never had anyone to talk to in Wano—her life had been lonely and isolated.
Since they had an agreement, Kurosaki Rei wasn't in a rush to start learning right away. First, he'd make Yamato happy; then she'd be more earnest in teaching him.
They talked all night.
By dawn, Yamato was still buzzing with excitement.
"Wow… there are even islands in the sky? The outside world is amazing. I really want to go out and see it."
"Didn't you say you wanted to help Wano open its borders? Why are you always thinking about leaving?"
Kurosaki Rei asked in return.
Yamato didn't notice the contradiction at all.
"Because I'm Kozuki Oden! I'm a man who yearns for freedom, so of course I want to go on adventures. But precisely because I'm Kozuki Oden, I also have to help Wano open its borders and defeat Kaido!"
Kurosaki Rei was utterly speechless at her thought process.
Of all people to imitate, she had to pick such an abstract figure as Kozuki Oden—wanting to open the country, yet also wanting to abandon it during its darkest hour to go adventuring. It was absurd to the extreme.
Still, after spending time face-to-face with her, Kurosaki Rei felt that perhaps due to her age, Yamato hadn't been completely brainwashed yet. At the very least, her desire to go adventuring didn't seem to come purely from Oden's journal—it felt like a genuine yearning for freedom from the heart of a teenage girl.
Yamato herself didn't realize this. She habitually called herself Kozuki Oden, cut ties with Kaido's faction, and refused to acknowledge herself as the Oni Princess.
"Talking all night dried out my throat. Let's continue tonight. I want to train my Haki for now."
Kurosaki Rei ended the storytime—now it was time to learn.
"Time flew by… it's already morning? In eight years, this is the first time I've talked this long with someone my age."
Yamato's joy was written all over her face.
"Since you're tired, Rei-bro, let me teach you instead."
Because of Wano customs, Yamato—who called herself Kozuki Oden—had originally addressed the slightly older Kurosaki Rei as Rei-kun. But Kurosaki Rei said he didn't like the local way of addressing people and asked her to use the term from his hometown instead. Yamato happily agreed, finding the outside world's forms of address interesting.
Once she switched into teaching mode, Yamato became unexpectedly serious and focused.
"Rei-bro, let me see your Haki first."
Kurosaki Rei immediately activated his passive Armament Haki, letting it cover his arms and visibly manifest.
Previously, since so many people here could use Haki, Kurosaki Rei had deliberately turned off his passive Armament to avoid standing out. As a result, Yamato hadn't noticed his Haki level.
"Good strength," Yamato praised after seeing it.
"What you're lacking is the advanced method of application."
She explained as she demonstrated, releasing Armament Haki using the Ryuo technique. A cherry-blossom-like hue spread over her hand, the Haki flowing like invisible air around it.
She extended her hand toward Kurosaki Rei's fist. Even though there was still some distance between them, Kurosaki Rei's fist was pushed back by an unseen force.
"So this is Ryuo…"
Watching the Armament Haki on Yamato's hand, Kurosaki Rei fell into thought. Seeing it with his own eyes—and feeling it through physical contact—was completely different from watching it in an anime.
Yamato's movements weren't fast, allowing Kurosaki Rei to sense the subtle mechanics of the power. He quickly understood why he'd failed before.
"Can we try clashing fists?"
Kurosaki Rei stood up and suggested it.
"Sure," Yamato said, giving a friendly warning.
"But be careful—I'm pretty strong."
Kurosaki Rei nodded.
Yamato stopped talking and threw a punch.
Because Kurosaki Rei's hands were bound by Sea-Prism Stone, he could only clench both fists together and swing them up to meet hers.
At the moment of impact, Kurosaki Rei was sent flying, crashing into the wall behind him and cracking it with spiderweb fissures.
After stabilizing himself, Kurosaki Rei broke into a grin.
He had clearly felt it—Ryuo and ordinary Armament Haki were on completely different levels.
Because of the Sea-Prism Stone, Yamato's raw strength wasn't higher than his, yet in that clash, he was the one blown away. That was the power of Ryuo.
Simply put, ordinary Armament Haki was just about hardness—boosting offense by toughening the body. To deal high damage that way required great strength and speed.
If your raw power was average, your damage output wouldn't be impressive.
Take Old Man Hyogoro in the original story, for example. Because of his advanced age and frailty, if he used ordinary Armament Haki, he probably couldn't hurt anyone in Udon Prison. But with Ryuo, he could even knock down prison guards.
Luffy was the same. In terms of raw stats, he was no match for Kaido, so using ordinary Armament on Kaido was like scratching an itch. But once he used Ryuo, he could actually injure Kaido.
In short, Ryuo was a powerful technique that massively enhanced offensive power while combining offense and defense—a qualitative leap in Armament Haki.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing Kurosaki Rei smiling instead of moving after being sent flying, Yamato thought she might have hurt him.
"I'm fine. A few more times—I feel like I've almost got it."
Kurosaki Rei realized that Yamato wasn't great at verbal explanations. For her, trying to explain theory was far less effective than just punching him. With her intentional guidance, it was easy for him to grasp the essentials.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Soon, the sound of bodies smashing into walls echoed repeatedly through the cell.
Prisoners in neighboring cells grew irritated and started cursing, shouting that the two of them must be insane—making so much noise first thing in the morning. If they had that much energy, they should go mine ore.
Kurosaki Rei and Yamato ignored the insults entirely, fully immersed in Haki practice and instruction.
Since both of them were still injured, and following the principle of sustainable development, the guards didn't call them out to work that day.
If only Kurosaki Rei had been lively on his own, the guards would definitely have dragged him out to mine. But from their perspective, it was Yamato who was "beating up" Kurosaki Rei.
They assumed Yamato was venting her frustration on him, so no one was foolish enough to disturb their "young master."
And because the sparring between Yamato and Kurosaki Rei was so loud, the guards even felt that Kurosaki Rei's injuries must have worsened. They actually felt a bit of "sympathy" for him and decided not to call him out to work for the next few days.
Kurosaki Rei, of course, had no idea what the guards were thinking.
As long as he wasn't forced to mine, he was more than happy to keep clashing with Yamato in the cell.
Boom—
Finally, during one exchange, Yamato herself was sent flying by Kurosaki Rei's punch, slamming into the wall behind her. Rubble flew everywhere, and the specially reinforced prison wall nearly collapsed.
Kurosaki Rei looked at the semi-transparent dark-red Haki swirling around his hand and smiled.
He walked over and pulled up Yamato, who was rubbing her head.
"Thanks. I've mastered Ryuo."
After a full day of practice, he had successfully grasped Ryuo, without the unstable, hit-or-miss feeling.
Since his Armament Haki was listed under the Seed of Origin interface, he could even adjust its "output." He could keep it in ordinary Armament mode by default, or switch to the Ryuo characteristic when needed.
This control meant he didn't have to worry about constantly being wrapped in a thick buffer layer that interfered with daily life.
Ryuo only needed to be activated during combat. In normal circumstances, ordinary Armament Haki covering the body was more than sufficient.
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