"That's not impossible either..." Rayleigh's mouth twitched. "After all, that woman Charlotte Linlin..."
At that thought, Rayleigh looked at Jin with a trace of pity in his eyes. How had this kid ended up being targeted by that crazy woman?
"Not to that extent."
Shakky shook her head and said, "At her age, even if she wanted to, she probably can't have any more children."
At that point, Shakky paused, then continued, "At most, she'd be looking for a son-in-law."
"Mm, true enough."
Watching the two of them go back and forth, Jin's mouth twitched. "So what exactly are you two talking about?"
What do you mean she can't have children anymore? What do you mean, son-in-law?
"In the New World, there's one of the Four Emperors called Charlotte Linlin. She's always looking for husbands to have children with, building up a giant pirate family that way."
"You could say that most of the officers in the Charlotte Pirates are basically her sons and daughters."
Jin: ???
"How old is she?"
"Hmm... probably in her sixties." Shakky thought for a moment before answering.
She belonged to the same era as Shakky, so she should be over sixty by now.
Jin: ...
Jin opened his mouth, only to find himself at a complete loss for words.
Seeing the dazed look on his face, Shakky comforted him, "We're only guessing, anyway. It doesn't necessarily have to be that."
"Relax, little Jin~"
After a moment of silence, Jin shook his head and said, "Forget it. I'll deal with that if it actually happens."
Just as Sister Shakky had said, they might not necessarily be looking for him, so there was no point in getting hung up on it.
The priority right now was to first get a clear understanding of Haki.
Thinking that, Jin said, "Uncle Rayleigh, let's talk about Haki first."
"Uncle..."
Rayleigh shook his head helplessly. He had wanted to complain about this earlier already. Why was Shakky "big sister," while he was "uncle"?
When clearly the two of them...
"Hehe, do you have a problem with that?" Shakky asked with a beaming smile.
Rayleigh rolled his eyes. What exactly was he supposed to say?
"We've already talked about Observation Haki, so now let's talk about Armament Haki." Once the topic returned to something serious, Rayleigh's expression gradually became more solemn.
"In the past, you've been using seawater to attack ability users, right?"
"More or less."
When he had fought Moria before, he really had used seawater to purify Oars.
So saying that wasn't wrong.
"Against ordinary ability users, the sea is indeed an extremely useful weapon. But... for some powerful people, seawater doesn't amount to much."
"Aokiji, huh..."
The moment he heard Rayleigh say that, Aokiji was the first person Jin thought of.
Against that kind of ability user, seawater's usefulness really was minimal.
You could say that Aokiji was a perfect counter to Water Release.
"Something like that." Rayleigh said. "Many strong people have ways to deal with giant waves, so... relying on Water Release alone won't necessarily let you defeat your enemies."
"And when you're on land, you also might not have the chance to summon seawater."
Jin nodded and didn't argue.
After all... when he used Water Release on land, it really was just ordinary water.
"This is where Armament Haki shows its value." Rayleigh raised one finger and said, "This kind of Haki is more like an invisible suit of armor. It can be wrapped around your body to increase defense or boost attack power."
"It's also one of the most effective methods for dealing with ability users."
"For example, those Logia users. Their bodies are in a constantly flowing elemental state. Even if they're struck, their bodies will automatically transform into their element and evade the attack."
"If you want to hit their true bodies, the first thing you need to do is find a way to seize hold of them. Armament Haki can force their bodies into a tangible state."
"And Paramecia abilities are even stranger and more varied. Some of them even belong to rule-type abilities, making them very hard to guard against."
"At times like that, you need to use Armament Haki to block the other side's ability and protect yourself."
"Of course, if your Haki is strong enough, you can even force a Devil Fruit ability that has invaded your body back out."
As he spoke, Rayleigh thought of a particularly unusual Devil Fruit user they had met back in the day. That person's ability had been extremely bizarre—they could manipulate viruses.
One of their crewmates had been caught off guard and infected. In the end, it was only by relying on Haki that they managed to drive the virus back out.
Which was why Haki was truly important.
"A hard counter to Devil Fruit users, huh..." Jin stroked his chin and said, "That really is a pretty good ability."
Once he mastered that kind of power, there would be no need to fear so-called Devil Fruit users anymore.
Even Logia users could be defeated this way.
And Kuma... was most likely the same kind of rule-based type.
As long as he learned Armament Haki, he should be able to counter that Paw-Paw power.
"To learn this kind of Haki, the first thing you need is a sufficiently strong physique." Rayleigh said. "Only with sufficiently vigorous blood and vitality can you draw out the body's potential."
"Once you can draw out the body's potential, you can release your spirit and wrap it around yourself."
"And that is Armament Haki."
"You could say that the stronger your physique and your will, the stronger your Armament Haki will be."
"The combination of spiritual will and physical strength?" Jin asked in surprise.
The more he listened, the more it felt exactly like that.
"Mm... you could say that." Rayleigh thought for a moment before answering.
After receiving a positive answer, Jin went completely silent.
Wasn't that just the way chakra was formed?
"But willpower accounts for a greater proportion." Rayleigh added.
Only after hearing that did Jin nod and say, "I see."
In that case, the difference became clear.
To refine chakra, one had to combine physical energy and spiritual energy in a one-to-one ratio, thereby producing chakra.
But Haki was different. Haki was clearly something in which spiritual energy held the greater proportion.
After thinking for a moment, Jin said, "Uncle Rayleigh, take a look at this and tell me how it differs from your Haki."
As he spoke, Jin raised his hand and used the technique behind his monstrous strength punch.
Rayleigh looked at Jin's hand and frowned. "Try hitting me with a punch."
As he spoke, Rayleigh raised one hand toward Jin.
"Alright, here I come."
Jin didn't waste any words and threw a punch straight at him.
"Monster Strength Punch!"
Bang!
His heavy fist smashed solidly into Rayleigh's palm, producing a dull thud.
Looking at Rayleigh, who had caught his punch without even taking a single step back, surprise flashed through Jin's eyes. This old man hadn't even budged. Was this the level of a peak powerhouse?
"This feels a little strange." Rayleigh frowned and said, "It resembles Haki a bit, but it doesn't feel quite the same..."
"Kid, what kind of ability is this?"
Looking at Jin, Rayleigh's eyes were full of confusion.
"This is one of my attack techniques." Jin explained. "I concentrate the energy inside my body into my fist, then release it in an explosive way. That gives it tremendous destructive power."
"So this is the sort of power your bloodline carries with it..."
"That's right."
Hearing Jin's explanation, Rayleigh fell silent in thought. This was also the first time he had ever seen something like this. In the short term, he really couldn't figure out its deeper workings.
After thinking for a moment, Rayleigh said, "Your physical condition should already be enough. What you lack now is drawing out your body's potential and releasing your spirit."
After saying that, he paused, then continued, "You can try attaching your willpower to the surface of your body. If you do that, you might be able to grasp Haki."
"Attach my will to the surface of my body..."
Jin nodded, then sat down cross-legged on the ground and began to think.
Spiritual will... should be pretty similar to the manifestation of Yin Release...
Thinking about it carefully, Yin Release represented spiritual power. It could create form from the intangible, which was somewhat similar to the "invisible armor" Uncle Rayleigh had described.
With that thought in mind, Jin began trying.
"This kid..." Rayleigh glanced at the Jin who had simply sat down on the floor and helplessly shook his head. "Don't tell me he's planning to master Armament Haki right now."
If this stuff were that easy to learn, then other people wouldn't need to spend so long training it.
"What if he can?" Shakky said with a smile. "Rayleigh, want to make a bet?"
"A bet on what?"
"On whether little Jin can learn Armament Haki."
"You're that confident you can beat me?"
Rayleigh looked at Shakky in surprise. Normally, she wouldn't suggest something like this unless she was certain of herself. But now... was she really that sure Jin could do it?
"Just a woman's intuition."
Hearing that, Rayleigh shook his head with a smile. "Honestly..."
"Even though I'm optimistic about this kid too, I've never seen anyone master Haki in a single day."
"This is a complete beginner who hadn't even heard of Haki before. You understand what that means, right?"
He had lived this long and never seen a genius like that. Even people like them had needed a period of training and life-or-death combat before they finally grasped Haki.
And now Shakky thought this kid could learn it in a single day?
That was way too absurd.
"Mm, I know."
"Then why are you still—"
"Oh, shut it. Just tell me whether you dare or not."
"Who's afraid of who?" Rayleigh said. "What's the stake?"
"This."
Shakky brought out that坛 of specially prepared liquor and said, "If I win, then you're not going anywhere for the rest of the month. Stay home and finish this."
Rayleigh: ...
T-this is playing for keeps, isn't it?
"Then what if I win?"
"I'll give you one hundred million Berries and let you go out and squander it."
"I'm in!"
Rayleigh agreed without the slightest hesitation, as though he had already decided Shakky had no chance of winning.
"Then let's wait and see." Shakky nodded.
Clearly, she was very confident in her intuition.
Just like that, Rayleigh sat on his stool, drinking while waiting for Jin to finish. But even after ten full minutes had passed, Jin still hadn't moved at all.
"What's going on? Why hasn't this kid moved in so long?"
Rayleigh looked at Jin in confusion. What exactly was he doing?
This wasn't Observation Haki training. There was no need for him to sit there meditating.
With that thought, Rayleigh used Observation Haki to scan Jin, intending to see what was going on with him.
But the moment his senses swept over Jin's body, his expression changed.
"This kid..."
Rayleigh stared at Jin in disbelief. Had he really learned Armament Haki?
How long had it even been...? Only ten minutes, and he had already mastered it?
Was this kid really some once-in-a-century genius??
At that thought, Rayleigh's eyes filled with shock.
"Hehe, looks like I won~"
Sensing the Armament Haki gradually appearing on Jin's hand, a smile appeared on Shakky's face.
Sure enough, her intuition hadn't been wrong~
She reached out and tapped the wine jar with one hand. "Once you're done with work, remember to come home."
"I'm sure... Dark King Rayleigh wouldn't go back on his word, right~?"
Rayleigh: ...
Rayleigh looked at Shakky, who was smiling sweetly at him, then at Jin, and in the end, he silently let out a sigh.
If he had known this guy was such a monster, he never would have made that bet with Shakky.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Just then, Jin opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his fist. "So this... is Armament Haki?"
With his Sharingan activated, Jin could clearly see the energy on his hand. It looked more or less the same as the kind Moria had used.
Looks like my body really did undergo some sort of beneficial mutation... That's probably why I'm able to grasp this power. Jin murmured inwardly. What exactly was that mass of mist?
"You're a monster, aren't you?" Rayleigh said. "This is the first time I've ever seen something this outrageous."
Mastering Armament Haki in ten minutes—what kind of nonsense was that?
"You're amazing, little Jin~" Shakky said. "Congratulations on mastering Armament Haki!"
"Ah, I just got lucky." Jin said. "It just happened to touch on an area I'm already good at."
In order to verify whether his theory had been right, Jin had tried guiding his willpower the same way he controlled Yin Release, seeing whether he could release it that way and thereby achieve the effect of learning Armament Haki.
And it had really worked. Through repeated attempts, he had actually released that will, combined it with his body's strength, and wrapped it around his fist, forming an invisible suit of armor!
It could be said that he really had mastered Armament Haki now, and... because this power wasn't chakra, he could wrap Haki around other attacks as well.
For example... his Monster Strength Punch!
I wonder just how destructive a Monster Strength Punch coated with Haki would be? Jin thought to himself.
As he thought that, he raised his head and looked at their expressions, immediately noticing the change in Shakky's face.
Why is she smiling so happily, like she just picked up a fortune...
"You've really broadened my horizons." Rayleigh said with feeling.
Now he was actually starting to look forward to what would happen once this kid entered the New World.
"Ahahaha, it's mainly because Uncle Rayleigh taught so well." Jin said with a smile.
"Stop flattering me. All I did was explain some fundamentals. The main reason is that you're just that capable." Rayleigh shook his head.
He could tell exactly what was going on.
The real reason was that the boy's talent was simply that absurd.
Even if Rayleigh hadn't explained the theory to him today, once he reached the New World, he would still have grasped this power very quickly.
At the end of the day, all Rayleigh had done was let him come into contact with it ahead of time.
"No matter what, I still have to thank you, Uncle Rayleigh." Jin said. "Otherwise, there's no way I would've known any of this."
Maybe he would have mastered this power eventually in the New World, but who knew whether he might encounter a powerful Logia user before then?
So being able to learn it earlier was naturally for the best.
This time, Rayleigh said nothing, merely nodding.
"So now I can use Armament Haki to deal with ability users, right?" Jin said. "For example... grabbing hold of a Logia user's real body."
"You can." Rayleigh nodded. "Even if you've only just begun to grasp Haki, you can still seize a Logia's flowing body."
Hearing that answer, Jin immediately smiled. That meant that even if he ran into Logia users in the future, he could now grab their true bodies!
After thinking for a moment, Jin asked, "How do I improve my Armament Haki?"
"Battle!" Rayleigh said. "You improve the intensity of your Haki through constant fighting. That's how all of us did it."
"Battle, huh..."
Jin lowered his head and thought it over. In that case, he'd need to fight people more often.
Mm, that made sense. Battle really was the best way to improve one's strength.
"Once you become strong enough, you'll be able to master more advanced Armament Haki." Rayleigh said.
"More advanced?"
"Yes. What you have now is only the most basic level of Armament Haki. At the moment, you can only use it as an invisible suit of armor. You still have a very long road ahead of you."
"I see..."
Jin thought for a moment, then nodded. "I understand."
That made sense too. Even if he had quickly grasped this power, there was no way he could become a peak powerhouse in a single step.
You had to take your time and do things one step at a time. That much, he understood.
"Mm." Rayleigh nodded. "You only need to remember one thing: the highest level of Armament Haki can be driven directly into the enemy's body, destroying them from the inside."
"But that requires an extremely deep understanding of Haki. For now, it's enough that you simply know this exists."
At that point, Rayleigh paused, then said with emotion, "Still, I feel like you'll probably master that power very soon too."
A genius who could master Armament Haki in ten minutes would definitely be capable of reaching that level in the future.
The only question was... whether this kid possessed Conqueror's Haki at all.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/ZoroTL442