A trace of genuine surprise flashed in Zephyr's eyes.
Ginny's punching rhythm was far steadier than he had anticipated, and her Armament Haki coverage was notably more uniform and dense than that of most children her age. As before, he smoothly raised his massive hand to meet the blow head-on, personally assessing the kinetic force behind Ginny's punch.
"Your fists are certainly hard enough, and your foundational Haki usage is good," Zephyr evaluated, pushing her fist back slightly. "But your raw physique is your absolute weakness; your physical strength is too low for close combat."
Ginny nodded slightly, accepting the harsh reality without complaint. She immediately stopped attempting further physical attacks and began utilizing her Devil Fruit ability.
She crossed her middle and index fingers, with her middle finger pressing tightly above her index finger.
A pale blue, completely transparent Barrier instantly unfolded with a sharp hum, acting like a rigid, impenetrable shield in front of her.
Not content with basic defense, Ginny focused her mind, and the flat Barrier suddenly extended violently forward, rapidly transforming into a sharp "Barrier Spear" aimed directly at Zephyr's chest. This was a new, creative application she had recently discovered, allowing for both absolute defense and lethal surprise attacks.
Zephyr watched the translucent Barrier Spear approach, still making absolutely no attempt to dodge. He simply raised his right hand, heavily covered it in Armament Haki, and gently pressed his palm against the absolute tip of the Barrier Spear.
Surprisingly, the seemingly unstoppable Barrier Spear stopped instantly.
Although Zephyr's Haki was nowhere near strong enough to physically destroy the conceptual Barrier, no matter how hard Ginny gritted her teeth and pushed, the Barrier Spear would absolutely not move an inch forward against the Admiral's rooted strength.
"The absolute advantage of the Bari Bari no Mi is exactly that: 'Absolute Defense.' It is fundamentally not well suited for raw offense, and your method of using it as a weapon is far too straightforward," Zephyr slowly withdrew his hand, analyzing the situation in a calm tone.
"While turning the flat Barrier into a spear certainly makes it sharp, once an enemy physically blocks or deflects it, you have no follow-up moves, and worse, you instantly lose the Barrier's 360-degree protection for yourself."
"Instead of wastefully studying how to use the Barrier for offense, you should aggressively consider how to use the Barrier to trap enemies."
Zephyr narrowed his eyes. "An indestructible Barrier... even an Admiral like me would have an incredibly difficult time destroying it. If you manage to form a box and physically trap a powerhouse inside, they will truly have nowhere to turn for help, allowing your allies to attack them through the gaps."
Zephyr gestured to the weapon on her back. "As for true offense... how about you show me your sniping technique."
Ginny nodded again, immediately retracting the concentrated Barrier Spear, and took the massive, custom-built Barrett Sniper Rifle off her back.
York had personally asked Queen the Plague to take time off from his biological research to build this specific weapon. York provided the structural idea and the blueprints from his memories, and Queen provided the advanced New World technology, allowing Ginny to become the very first person on the seas to wield a devastating anti-materiel sniper rifle in an era where most people still relied on crude flintlock guns.
Ginny, holding the massive rifle, instinctively felt the distance between her and Zephyr was far too close for a proper test. She quickly turned and ran, using Soru to scale a massive tree exactly one thousand meters away at the edge of the training ground.
She lay completely prone on a thick branch, set up the heavy bipod, chambered a massive armor-piercing round, and aimed through the scope. Flowing Armament Haki (Ryuo) streamed invisibly from her gripping hand, wrapping tightly around the conical bullet resting inside the chamber.
BANG!
With a deafening roar exactly like a naval cannon, the sharp bullet shot out of the heavy muzzle at several times the speed of sound, hurtling violently toward Zephyr one thousand meters away.
Zephyr's eyes narrowed slightly. He rapidly concentrated thick Armament Haki on his left arm and simultaneously activated his advanced Observation Haki, getting his defense flawlessly in place a microsecond before Ginny even pulled the trigger.
The exact instant the supersonic shot rang out, the massive bullet violently struck the arm he used for defense. The immense, concentrated kinetic impact slammed into his forearm, causing Zephyr to feel a sharp sting of pain for the first time that day.
Ginny, holding the heavy rifle, quickly ran back from the tree one thousand meters away, her breathing slightly ragged.
"How was it, Instructor Zephyr?!" Her eyes were filled with bright anticipation.
Zephyr lowered his blocking arm, his massive fingertips lightly tracing the spot on his forearm where the heavy bullet had struck. The dense Armament Haki there had actually been shaken into a subtle, dissipating ripple, and a faint, stinging numbness lingered on his hardened skin.
He looked up at Ginny, his eyes showing genuine, profound approval.
"At a distance of one thousand meters, to make me actually feel pain... your sniping technique is far, far superior to others in your age group. You are already significantly more accurate than some specialized Marine sniper divisions."
Ginny's eyes instantly lit up, and the hand gripping the heavy sniper rifle tightened slightly; she was clearly heavily encouraged by this high praise.
But Zephyr immediately changed the subject, his tone returning to absolute calm as he pointed out the fatal issues.
"However, your sniping still has three distinct, highly fatal weaknesses. If you don't resolve them, this advanced rifle will heavily struggle to play its proper role when you encounter true Emperor-level powerhouses in the future."
He extended one thick finger and slowly said, "First, the fusion between your Haki and the bullet is far too shallow."
"You are only externally 'wrapping' the Haki around the surface of the bullet; you haven't allowed the Haki to fundamentally penetrate inside the metal. When the bullet hit me just now, your Haki coating was scattered first upon impact, and the remaining kinetic force relied entirely on the bullet's inherent steel hardness. If you encounter an enemy with significantly stronger Haki than yours, the bullet won't even break through their outer defense."
As he spoke, Zephyr pointed a finger directly at Ginny's sniper rifle.
"Next time you load a bullet, use your Haki to violently saturate it beforehand. Allow your Haki to fully penetrate along the microscopic metal grain of the bullet to form a dense 'Haki Core.'"
"This way, you retain the bullet's aerodynamic penetrating power while maximizing Haki's internal defensive-breaking capability. Even if you face an Armament Haki master, you can still tear open a bloody gap."
Ginny's eyes widened in realization. She immediately nodded, pulled out a spare, massive bullet, and attempted to slowly, deliberately saturate it with Haki.
She could feel that as the invisible Haki slowly penetrated inward along the bullet's surface grain, the bullet seemed to gain a terrifying layer of density—a feeling entirely different from simply wrapping Haki around the outside like armor.
"Second, you haven't utilized the defensive capabilities of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit properly in conjunction with your sniping."
Zephyr extended his second finger and continued his critique.
"With the mastery of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, you shouldn't necessarily need both hands to deploy a Barrier, should you?"
"A single-handed, or even fingerless, Barrier deployment might indeed be incredibly difficult to master, but if you can manage it, you can passively protect yourself with an absolute shield while shooting with both hands, completely preventing fast enemies from launching close-range surprise attacks while you are scoped in."
Ginny nodded emphatically, storing the Haki-infused bullet.
In fact, York had casually discussed this exact, overpowered application with her before, and she was currently practicing it. However, she simply hadn't mastered it yet and couldn't cognitively divide her attention to maintain the complex Barrier shape while accurately calculating windage and hitting the target.
"Third, your Observation Haki needs significantly further, hellish training."
Zephyr extended his third finger, his tone far more serious than before. "Real combat is not stationary target practice!"
"If your role on this crew is a sniper, you need to maintain the ability to shoot accurately during chaotic, high-speed combat. At that time, you will completely lose the luxury and chance to aim calmly through a scope. That is precisely why advanced Observation Haki is an absolute, crucial power for every top-tier sniper!"
Zephyr stared her down. "You absolutely must achieve the terrifying effect of raising your rifle and firing instantly from the hip or mid-air, hitting the lethal target every single time using only your 'mind's eye'!"
At this point, Zephyr's harsh tone softened slightly. "As long as you can perfectly, flawlessly achieve these three points... you are absolutely guaranteed a permanent place among the world's strongest snipers!"
Ginny's small head bobbed up and down excitedly.
"Thank you for your invaluable guidance, Instructor Zephyr!!"
After a deep, solemn bow, Ginny excitedly walked to the side, already mentally visualizing her Haki fusion.
The next two people in line were Olga and young Teach.
Just exactly like with Enel before, Zephyr also firmly advised them to focus primarily on physical training rather than Devil Fruit tricks or advanced techniques.
There was no choice; they were physically far too young and could only focus on building a solid, indestructible foundation. Learning miscellaneous, flashy things now, even if mastered quickly, would be a complete waste of their vital developmental time. Once their physical foundation is solid, future learning will be much more effective, several times faster than their current rate of study.
Olga expressed incredibly strong, vocal dissatisfaction with this assessment.
"I am already a full one hundred and seventy-four years old this year! I'm not a seven or eight-year-old child!!" Olga yelled, stomping her foot.
"One hundred and seventy-four years old?!"
Zephyr stared down at the small blonde girl in absolute astonishment, utterly unable to believe a word of it.
At this moment, York, who was silently observing from the sidelines, finally spoke up, his tone brooking no argument. "Even if your actual chronological age is 174, your current, biological body is still that of an eight-year-old child. Listen to the Instructor, Olga! No arguing!"
Olga pouted unhappily, crossing her small arms, but she knew this physical limitation couldn't be helped.
Her biological growth was incredibly slow and entirely beyond her control. If she had to blame someone, it could only be her scoundrel father. The misunderstanding caused by the Pure Gold ring aside, she was swallowed whole by the massive Anglerfish Lord for over 100 years, constantly bathed in the intense, time-stalling light of the pure gold in its stomach; her very cells were practically marinated by the light. If not for that, why would she have only physically aged two years in the five actual years since she was freed?!
Fortunately, despite her vocal dissatisfaction, Olga was fundamentally obedient, especially when it came to the words of York, her savior.
After effortlessly calming the grumbling Olga and the surprisingly agreeable young Teach, who had absolutely no complaints about building his strength, Zephyr's heavy gaze officially, finally shifted to the back of the line.
To Kuma.
After waiting for so agonizingly long, it was finally his turn!
The absolute key to whether his wife and child could be miraculously resurrected with their complete, loving memories lay entirely with this quiet, towering boy!
"Bartholomew Kuma... is that right?"
Zephyr's tone was notably not as flat and casually calm as it had been when addressing Ginny and the others; instead, it held a highly subtle, almost desperate trace of gentleness.
"Captain York also told me about your unique Devil Fruit ability."
Zephyr took a step closer. "The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi can actively repel all physical matter... including abstract energy, pain, and even conceptual things like fatigue... This ability is as terrifyingly powerful as a natural law of the universe."
Zephyr took a deep breath. "Could you physically demonstrate your Devil Fruit ability for me?"
Zephyr's sharp gaze shifted to the group of exhausted youths who had just demonstrated their intense abilities to him. The previous demonstration was only a brief warm-up, but since it consumed explosive physical strength, everyone had accumulated some degree of muscle fatigue.
"Just gently repel the fatigue from their bodies, Kuma. I want to witness this abstract, concept-level ability with my own eyes."
Kuma nodded slightly upon hearing this polite request.
This was not an unreasonable request for a teacher. Moreover, although he had a highly gentle nature, he also harbored the deep, burning desire to become stronger. He had never forgotten his horrific past experience as a tortured slave to the Celestial Dragons. Even though he still felt some ingrained, inner psychological reluctance to violently rebel against the World Government, he had York as an absolute, uncompromising example in this life, so he wanted to try to overcome his inner cowardice by gaining strength.
Thus, under Zephyr's intense, unblinking gaze, Kuma quietly walked up to each of the sweating interns in turn and gently patted their chests or shoulders with his unique, paw-pad-like hands.
Instantly, semi-transparent, pale red bubbles shaped exactly like bear paw prints were visibly repelled from their bodies, floating into the air.
These bubbles were not particularly large, as the group had not accumulated much severe fatigue from a short spar. However, when the smaller amounts accumulated together in the center of the field, the final volume was quite substantial, roughly the size of a human head.
Zephyr watched the separated, floating bubbles with wide eyes while closely observing the people Kuma had patted. He instantly noticed that as the red bubbles separated, the tense expressions and heavy breathing of those patted by the bear paws all relaxed considerably, as if some kind of massive, invisible pressure had been magically released from their muscles.
Kuma waited quietly for Zephyr to finish his observation.
After about a minute, Kuma kindly, softly reminded him, "Instructor Zephyr? Is that enough? If no one actively absorbs these bubbles, they will naturally, quickly return to their original owner's body soon."
Saying this, Kuma instinctively reached out to touch the aggregated pale red bubble to disperse it.
Unexpectedly, Zephyr was faster than him, violently plunging his massive, scarred hand directly into the semi-transparent, pale red bubble first.
The conceptual fatigue bubble didn't care in the slightest whether the person touching it was Kuma or an Admiral. Upon physical contact, it immediately began rapidly drilling into the body of the person who touched it.
In barely a second, all the accumulated fatigue bubbles had violently entered Zephyr's body.
Zephyr, who had been highly energetic and imposing until now, looked instantly dispirited and exhausted after absorbing the pale red bubbles. However, he quickly recovered his breath, and at the same time, he raised his hand to gently rub his right shoulder.
When Ginny used the heavy sniper rifle earlier, she correctly used her right shoulder to absorb the massive recoil. Given Zephyr's current, monstrous Admiral physique, enduring the recoil of the Barrett Sniper Rifle was as easy as eating and drinking. But through Kuma's repelled ability, he clearly, undeniably felt the exact, slight muscular pain Ginny had endured when she fired the rifle.
"This truly, undeniably is a concept-level ability!" Zephyr whispered in awe.
'This transferred fatigue and pain cannot be changed by the raw strength of one's physique, but the physical damage it represents can be endured based on that physique's strength.'
Zephyr's eyes gradually brightened with overwhelming, blinding hope.
It can be done!!
The Paw-Paw Fruit truly possessed the miraculous ability to repel abstract, intangible forces from the human body, exactly as York had described!
If it can perfectly repel pain and fatigue, there's absolutely no logical reason it can't repel a memory! At most, this is just a matter of conceptual adaptation, Haki mastery, and the cost of trial and error!
"Kuma! Your ability is incredibly, terrifyingly powerful!" Zephyr announced, his voice booming. "I might not be able to give you better Devil Fruit training advice in the immediate short term, so for now... can you demonstrate your martial arts and Haki?!"
"No problem."
Kuma still had no objection, merely scratching his head a little sheepishly. "I haven't fully learned how to use Haki yet, Instructor. Right now, I only know some basic martial arts."
"That's perfectly fine!" Zephyr shook his head understandingly, his excitement palpable. "You are still very young; it doesn't matter that you haven't learned Haki yet. Let me see your martial arts first."
"Okay!"
Kuma nodded gently, briefly retracted the soft paw pads in his palms, and began physically fighting Zephyr with his massive fists and feet.
The fighting process was entirely unremarkable.
Kuma was only fifteen after all; even though he had started learning martial arts under York, he was mostly still in the highly foundational stage. Even if York and the others wanted to aggressively teach him more, they couldn't force premature growth without ruining his potential. Without the literal 'Protagonist's Halo' brought by Monkey D. Luffy, and without a magical System to cheat reality, growth in strength in this world must be a slow, grueling, step-by-step process.
Zephyr easily pointed out some fundamental errors in Kuma's martial arts movements, correcting his posture and balance, and then eagerly continued to instruct the remaining individuals.
Hanafuda and Magha.
The former was twenty years old this year, and the latter was thirty. The former had the powerful, genetic inheritance of the Oni Clan. Although his technique might not be particularly grand or refined, his fundamentals were solid, and both his Haki and physical physique were well above the passing mark for the New World.
Zephyr expertly pointed out some basic, exploitable errors in his swinging movements before moving on to instruct Magha.
Compared to the others, Magha was a purely, brutally self-taught street fighter. His fighting style entirely lacked structure and was full of gaping flaws. However, self-taught styles have their unique advantages: they are highly erratic, difficult for orthodox fighters to learn, and incredibly hard to predict and defend against. Aside from overwhelming opponents with sheer, monstrous stats, at the exact same level, victory depends heavily on who makes fewer mistakes and who has better adaptability.
For Magha, Zephyr deliberately did not point out highly specific errors to correct his style, but instead instructed him to further ruthlessly train his fundamental physical attributes.
"When all is said and done in the New World, every battle ultimately comes down to fundamental attributes!" Zephyr preached to the cadres.
"As long as your core physical foundation is massively stronger than the enemy's, you can easily defeat over ninety percent of opponents even if you only know how to throw wild, uncoordinated punches. The remaining ten percent are extreme, Emperor-level individuals who have the exact same strong foundation as you, but are also significantly more proficient in combat techniques."
Zephyr briefly, eloquently summarized the first lesson.
Of course, today's initial lesson was mainly designed to gauge their raw abilities and provide high-level guidance on the general, strategic direction of their training. Highly specific, grueling teaching policies for the future would be formulated by him later in his office.
York had observed silently from the edge of the field until now. After confirming that the youngsters no longer resisted Zephyr's authority and that Zephyr had no intention of using the opportunity to violently escape, he stood up and returned through the mirror to the Mirro-World.
He still had a massive heap of miscellaneous, administrative tasks to attend to for the Empire.
Furthermore... according to the latest intelligence reports on his desk, it seemed something highly troublesome was happening in Elbaf again.