Chapter 29: Analysis Paralysis
After walking Kaguya and Josuke through the basic uses of Points, Ryū accepted the Group File Whitebeard had uploaded.
No file size indicator appeared in the corner. Kilobytes, megabytes — none of that. In the Dimensional Chat Group, such things were irrelevant. A file could be terabytes, exabytes, anything — it would upload in under half a second and download the same way. The laws of physics did not apply here.
He opened the file.
Dense text filled his mind's interface — several thousand characters at minimum, by rough count.
The Six Powers were the Marine Headquarters' classified combat system in the world of One Piece. 'Classified' was something of an overstatement — for anyone genuinely powerful enough, a single observation of the techniques in use was all it took to reverse-engineer them. Whitebeard was living proof of that.
The six techniques were: Soru, Geppo, Rankyaku, Shigan, Tekkai, and Kami-e.
Together they covered a wide range of physical combat disciplines. A practitioner who had fully mastered all six was, by One Piece standards, roughly at Marine Rear Admiral level. Add competent Observation Haki and skilled Armament Haki on top of that, and Vice Admiral was entirely within reach.
Ryū skimmed the contents and found it broadly matched his mental picture — with some differences in the finer details. More importantly, Whitebeard had appended his own analysis, observations, and recommendations throughout. That made this document more valuable than whatever the actual Marine curriculum said. On the open seas, this file would command attention comparable to a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.
Soru
In a single instant, the user kicks the ground dozens of times at high speed, generating explosive reactive force — accelerating to velocities approaching or exceeding a bullet. The limitation: Soru only moves in straight lines. No serpentine weaving, no curved trajectories. Even a sequence of direction changes resolves as a series of straight dashes.
Geppo
Geppo is an application of Soru's principle — imagine it as kicking off the air itself. Not the left-foot-on-right-foot trick, but a genuine aerial step on empty space. The user leaps, strikes in mid-air, and alters trajectory before landing. Whitebeard acknowledged he couldn't fully explain the mechanics. The practical summary: it lets you fly. That was sufficient.
Rankyaku
A high-speed kick generates a vacuum that propagates as a cutting air pressure wave — capable of slicing through steel. Functions as a ranged slashing technique. Think 'sword energy without a sword.'
Shigan
The user concentrates their full body force to a single point and drives a finger forward at lightning speed. Penetrating power comparable to a heavy sniper round — thick steel plate can be punctured. The technique can also be adapted into a finger-flick that projects an air bullet roughly the diameter of an index finger. Slightly reduced power compared to direct contact, but effective range extends from 100 to 200 meters depending on the user's level. Whitebeard's personal note: at his own level, such an air bullet would carry at minimum one kilometer of effective range.
Tekkai
The defensive technique of the Six Powers — hardens the body to the density of iron. A high-grade version of iron shirt training. The drawback: full-body Tekkai immobilizes the user completely. Partial application removes this limitation — harden one arm, and everything else moves freely.
Kami-e
Also defensive, though it functions more as a body movement art. By reading the subtle air currents produced by an opponent's movements, the user makes their body respond as fluid as ink on paper — slipping past attacks with unhurried ease at the last possible instant.
"Looks complicated at first glance — but thankfully Whitebeard didn't bury it in impenetrable classical language. Otherwise it'd be genuinely unreadable."
Ryū finished his skim and came away impressed by how much effort Whitebeard had clearly put into this. The document was thick with personal insight and breakdown — like a dense classical text that had been given a plain-language annotation alongside every passage. Far easier to follow than the raw original would have been.
That said, the Six Powers were techniques that demanded years of accumulated, daily practice. Mastery — genuine mastery — came slowly, through gradual layering of skill on top of skill.
Though, of course, Ryū and most of his Group members were essentially walking cheat codes.
If Group Points could be used to instantly enhance a person's understanding and execution of their Devil Fruit ability — then using Points to one-shot the learning curve of the Six Powers should theoretically work the same way.
The decision was made. Let's go.
He opened his Points balance. 502 Points.
The moment his attention moved toward spending them, a prompt appeared.
[ Spend 200 Points to master any single Six Powers technique — Soru, Geppo, Rankyaku, Shigan, Tekkai, or Kami-e — to Beginner proficiency, including foundational understanding and baseline execution capability? YES / NO ]
Ryū's brow furrowed slightly.
Two hundred Points per technique. One technique to Beginner level.
He didn't know exactly what 'Beginner' entailed in practice. But the literal meaning was clear enough: he'd be able to use it, but nowhere near fluent, nowhere near refined.
Points burned like water through a sieve. The sensation triggered a vivid memory of a certain penguin mascot.
And the chat interface itself did look rather a lot like that penguin's messaging app.
"Two hundred per technique. Which means my 502 Points can cover exactly two techniques to Beginner level."
He turned it over.
Rankyaku? Geppo? Kami-e?
Or Soru? Shigan? Tekkai?
He wanted all six. Obviously. But his balance had 502 Points, and his balance was not interested in his feelings about it.
For now, all six was not an option.