Inside the Sabaody Marine Headquarters training hall, the cold steel floor bore silent witness to unrelenting perseverance. Sephiroth, shirtless with black athletic pants clinging to his legs, performed push-ups balanced on ten fingertips. His body was inverted, while a gigantic barbell was strapped to his feet.
On both the left and right sides of the barbell, five weight plates, each 1.5 meters in diameter and 20 centimeters thick, were attached, each weighing as much as Seastone. This immense load was, however, no significant impediment.
As Sephiroth's physical strength continued to surge, he began to feel its limits. The existing training equipment now slowly lost its meaning. Even a weight of twenty or thirty tons was nothing more than a tool to maintain his peak physical fitness. He could no longer push the boundaries of his strength further! In a sense, he was caught in a stagnation—a unique period where his growth drastically slowed due to external factors.
Now, in his estimation, the only ways to increase Sephiroth's strength, besides condensing his Armament Haki with the Butcher's Blade, were to break through his limits in life-or-death combat within the most desperate situations! After all, the top powerhouses of this world could not possibly be forged from mere ordinary training.
Perhaps, this was also why Kaido enjoyed seeking death. He might have realized that his own strength could no longer be increased through conventional means. Only then could he rely on the terrifying resilience of his Mythical Zoan Beast species to repeatedly seek danger and challenge his limits, all to awaken greater physical potential!
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The light sound of high heels echoed. At the dojo gate, Sephiroth slightly lifted his eyes. He saw a pair of long, snow-white legs.
The woman spoke to him with a hint of playfulness, "Hehehe! Little brother Sephiroth, it's been a while since I've seen you. Did you miss me?"
Hearing that, Sephiroth did not answer the question. With his remarkably strong legs, he forcefully pushed the barbell and tossed it into the air. His figure moved swiftly, and as the barbell descended, he used his right hand to catch and gently place it back on the ground.
At this moment, he looked at Gion with a slight query, "What is it? What do you want from me?"
"Swordsmanship!"
"Oh~!"
The two did indeed often spar with swords once or twice a week, so Sephiroth was not surprised that Gion had come for this.
Sephiroth put on his shirt, picked up his Butcher's Blade, and led Gion to the Marine Headquarters kendo dojo. He glanced briefly and noticed what appeared to be a long-legged royal sister who had grown taller by her side. He asked casually, "How have you been these past three months?"
"I went sailing to the New World and completed a few missions, fought some very interesting strong enemies..."
"Oh~! So you had a grand time?"
"Yes! Of course! Compared to little brother Sephiroth, I'm very satisfied with their strength..."
Beyond the initial two sentences, their conversation quickly veered off track, as they exchanged lewd jokes that left those around them bewildered.
The two figures walked into the spacious swordsmanship dojo, which contained over a hundred Marines engaged in basic kendo training. Sephiroth casually glanced at the dojo, seeing so many people inside that it would be inconvenient for the two of them to practice.
So he led Gion to the counter and asked the dojo administrator for the key to a separate room. This was a privilege reserved only for officers of Colonel rank at headquarters! At Marine Headquarters, when military rank reached this level, they had certain special skills that not many people wanted to secretly learn while honing their swordsmanship movements.
Sephiroth took out the key and opened the separate room, about a hundred square meters in size. He took two bamboo swords from the sword rack on the wall and tossed one to Gion.
"Little brother Sephiroth, today is different from the past. This elder sister has become much stronger! If you can't take it, you can beg for mercy~!"
"Hah! Is that so, except for one of your mouths, which is relatively hard, the others are very soft."
The two first teased each other as usual, and then began a formal exchange of glances.
Whish!
Sephiroth shot forward and instantly appeared on the left side of Gion's body, thrusting at an incredibly tricky angle. As if she had anticipated it long ago, Gion waved her bamboo sword, cutting at a relatively good angle and posture, and successfully parried the attack.
However.
Sephiroth turned slightly sideways behind her, and the bamboo sword in his hand changed direction and attacked Gion again!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
They attacked each other, and the fight grew increasingly intense. The bamboo swords continually clashed, creating fast-moving shadows in the air. If not for the fact that both had wrapped a faint transparent layer of Armament Haki around their bamboo swords and reinforced their defense, the swords in their hands might have already shattered into pieces!
The two had fought each other many times and were already familiar with each other's fighting styles. Moreover, neither side fought to the death, so they often got caught in prolonged offensive and defensive battles until one revealed a weakness and was defeated by the other!
However.
The fifty-sixth round!
Sreett!
With a sound of cutting through the air, the bamboo sword whipped Sephiroth's arm. He glanced at his left arm. With his current physical strength, being struck by a bamboo sword caused him no pain at all.
But his brows furrowed slightly, and something seemed to click in his mind.
Sephiroth was already familiar with Gion's routines and offensive moves, and when he fought Gion, he basically moved quickly so as not to give the opponent extra time and to devise the most advantageous offensive and defensive routes in his mind. Therefore, with his skill and experience, Gion was actually no longer able to stably suppress him as before. The result of their sword fights was usually balanced, 50-50, but because of physical strength, the longer the time dragged on, the more advantageous it became for him.
It was just that, in the fight just now, Sephiroth once again felt the sensation he experienced when he first fought Gion: the opponent seemed to have set an offensive and defensive route for him.
At the end of this path, his... defeat!
"You predicted the future," Sephiroth teased.
"Hehehe~! That's right, but I'm not very skilled yet."
Hearing this, Gion laughed heartily until her forehead creased and her ample chest trembled, quite conspicuously.
She seemed to have noticed her opponent's gaze, and she felt a slight sense, "Little brother Sephiroth, come on! Please me to your heart's content!"
"Hah!"
The silver-haired youth pursed his lips, feeling a little displeased. The other party was clearly treating him as a leveling experience!
"I'll make you cry later!" Sephiroth said viciously.
Gion narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a hint of provocation, "Come on! Who's afraid of whom!"
Immediately, the bamboo swords in their hands clashed again.
Observation Haki that can briefly foresee the future is fundamentally an essential skill for masters in this world. The meaning of their existence is to suppress lower-level Observation Haki! When both warring parties can glimpse into the future, those masters often like to directly confront each other and compete in the purest form of strength and Haki to quickly defeat one another!
Otherwise, both sides would be caught in a prolonged war of attrition, making it difficult to determine a winner for days and nights.
Of course, if one's speed is fast enough and combat experience rich enough, even without advanced Observation Haki, one can still contend with a future-predicting Observation Haki user for a short time! In battle, it doesn't mean that whoever knows advanced skills will necessarily be able to defeat the opponent. The final outcome of a battle will involve factors from all aspects!
If Sephiroth were to become a vampire, use Rokushiki: Kami-e, and significantly increase his speed, Gion's advantage in foreseeing the future through foresight would instantly vanish. When the battle is so fierce that the body's reaction speed can no longer keep up with thought reactions, foreseeing the future is actually not that powerful.
However, the second son of Yonko Charlotte Lingling's aunt, Charlotte Katakuri, whose Observation Haki could foresee the future in the long term, was an exception. With that level of Observation Haki, as long as the other party was calm and persistent enough, constantly foreseeing the future, and wanted to defeat him, even the Four Emperors would have to put in great effort for it!
The sun set in the west, its light fading from the horizon, and darkness began to envelop the earth. Only then did the two end their swordplay. Although Gion possessed future-predicting Observation Haki, it was a pity that this power was incredibly taxing on the mind and highly demanding on one's mental state. She was not yet very skilled in using this power.
So, after continuous use for about an hour to foresee the future, her performance began to decline, and she was gradually suppressed by Sephiroth. For the first hour, Gion harassed him, for the next hour, he harassed Gion.
After putting the bamboo swords back on the sword rack, Gion took out a pink handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She turned to the silver-haired youth beside her and said, "After fighting for so long, my stomach is hungry. I've come all this way, why don't you treat me to a meal?"
Hearing this, Sephiroth was stunned for a moment, waved his hand, and said with a bold smile, "Of course! ... Come on! Headquarters cafeteria, large portions and filling!"
Seeing Sephiroth walk out of the back room without looking back, Gion clenched the pink handkerchief in her right hand. A vein suddenly throbbed on her forehead, and she gritted her teeth, muttering, "You bastard."