PapaSukuna: Now the story is going to be on pause until my semester exams are over. I will be continuing the story after 10th of September. But if my exams are over before that or maybe after that, then I'll update a notice regarding any delays or early updates. Thank you all for supporting me as we have finally reached 100k views. I hope you people keep supporting me like this. It keeps me motivated to write more. Thanks a lot once again... see you after the exams.
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ROBERT'S TRAINING ISLAND
The entire island resounded with the clash of steel and the roar of power. Winds howled like tempests, uprooting trees and tearing the ground apart. A distant mountain peak was cleaved cleanly in two by an unseen strike, while thunderous rumbling filled the air. Then came a sharp, slicing swish—the earth split open for kilometres, and the clouds above parted like fragile silk, as if a titanic blade had carved through heaven and earth alike.
"DARK SLASH—"
Rayleigh's voice cut through the chaos. A massive gust accompanied a dark, invisible arc of destruction, hurtling forward at frightening speed. It ripped through the surroundings with lethal precision, but Robert—calm and unshaken—stepped back. With his nodachi still sheathed in his left hand, he redirected the slash upward with a single motion, as if swatting away a mere inconvenience.
"Tch…" Rayleigh clicked his tongue, already leaping back. Gaban burst forward in his place, axes raised high, both weapons shrouded in the deadly glow of Advanced Armament and Conqueror's infusion. His grin widened as he unleashed his technique.
"CONQUEROR'S BARRAGE: HUNDREDFOLD ONSLAUGHT—"
An omnidirectional storm of slashes erupted. Haki-infused blades of energy carved apart everything within a 500-meter radius, shredding land and air alike. Yet Robert wove through the storm like a phantom, his movements flowing as if he were dancing upon water. Not a single slash touched him. He pressed into the storm's very heart, reached Gaban, and struck. The sheath of his nodachi slammed into the man's midsection, launching him across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
But there was no time to breathe.
Robert turned sharply, meeting the descending strike of none other than Gol D. Roger. Ace, his Supreme Grade blade, glowed with overwhelming Haki as the Future Pirate King grinned in exhilaration.
"A sneak attack? That's cheap coming from you, Captain," Robert taunted.
"Wahahahaha! Cheap or not, Bobby—I'm a pirate! I don't follow rules. I do whatever I damn well please!" Roger roared, his eyes flashing with predatory sharpness. A red glint shone as he raised his blade high with both hands.
"DIVINE DEPARTURE—"
The air screamed as Roger swung. But Robert, instead of evading, met the oncoming slash head-on. His lips curled into a smile. Reaching out with his bare hand, he caught the strike, spun mid-air, and hurled it back—effortlessly, with not even a fraction of his power.
Roger's pupils shrank. Instinct screamed at him. He dove to the ground just in time.
BOOOOM!
The repelled slash annihilated everything in its path. Trees vanished, mountains were split in half, and the attack continued unrelenting until it carved into the distant sea horizon and disappeared.
"Damn," Roger whistled, staring at the devastation. "That's some damage."
Rayleigh and Gaban regrouped, their eyes wide as they took in the sight of half the island cleaved horizontally.
"And we still don't know the true depth of his powers," Gaban muttered in disbelief.
Roger's grin only widened. "You've gotta teach me how you did that!"
Robert shrugged casually. "Not exactly that, but I can teach you how to refine your Haki—make it sharper, more controlled."
"Haki refinement, huh?" Rayleigh mused.
"What? You don't feel it?" Robert's voice deepened. "There's more to Haki than just the three major types." With a click of his neck, he unsheathed his nodachi at last. Its blade gleamed with an ominous crimson light. "Let me show you."
Advanced Armament and Conqueror's Haki bled into the sword; Robert's control honed to the same level as Roger's current output.
"Do you feel it? The precision—the perfection?"
The trio focused with their Observation Haki. What they sensed made their skin crawl: not a shred of Haki was wasted. Every ounce was compressed and under perfect command.
But Robert wasn't satisfied with them simply sensing it. "Feeling it isn't enough. Seeing is believing."
He snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, their vision shifted. The world sharpened into clarity, like lenses being swapped for those of impossibly high definition. Colours brightened, details sharpened, the very air vibrated with depth.
"Whoa… this is insane!" Gaban exclaimed, staring around like a child at a carnival.
Rayleigh blinked, pulling off his glasses in disbelief. His vision had never been clearer. And Roger—his eyes were locked on Robert's blade, transfixed.
The sword was pitch black, devouring all light, while golden Conqueror's Haki flowed over it like calm, controlled rivers of power.
"So this is Haki, huh?" Roger murmured, coating his own blade. But compared to Robert's, his was a tempest: violent, raw, uncontrolled, with scarlet energy and black lightning coiling chaotically.
Rayleigh and Gaban followed suit. Rayleigh's sword shone with a calm blue aura, while Gaban's axes burned with violet. Roger's was wild, Gaban's tamer, but only Rayleigh's bore faint resemblance to Robert's level of precision.
"Well, damn! This looks majestic!" Gaban grinned, inspecting his axes with childish excitement.
Rayleigh, more thoughtful, studied his sword. "So this is what Haki really looks like… but why the different colours?"
"Haki is the manifestation of one's spirit," Robert explained. "The essence of the self. Just as every soul is unique, so too is the flow of their Haki."
He raised his nodachi, the air around him vibrating under its presence. "Now that you can see it clearly… let's continue. And this time, I'll be the one attacking."
Before the words had even finished, Robert was already moving. His speed blurred him from sight. Roger barely evaded the upward strike, landing only to see the ground torn apart by a golden arc of destructive energy.
"Damn! You're not going to hold back, huh!?" Gaban cursed, leaping back with Rayleigh.
Robert's glowing golden eyes narrowed, his grip firm. "The truth is… I'm always holding back."
His body vanished like a phantom. Gaban's eyes widened an instant before Robert's brutal kick sent him hurtling away.
Rayleigh stepped forward without hesitation. His blade glowed.
"DARK SLASH: THOUSAND CUTS—"
His speed skyrocketed. He crossed Robert's position thousand times in a single second, filling the air with a storm of light-blue slashes. It was overwhelming, impossible for any man to endure.
But Robert wasn't just any man.
Each slash missed him by the width of a hair, his movements precise beyond reason. When the storm subsided, he stood untouched, smirking faintly.
"Impressive," he said, sliding his nodachi back into its sheath. His stance shifted—one Rayleigh knew well. But the aura it radiated was far more terrifying than anything he had ever faced. "But I have something better. Let's see if you can dodge this."
Roger's instincts screamed. His Observation Haki foresaw disaster, and his face paled.
"Rayleigh, move!" he shouted.
But it was already too late.
"JUDGEMENT CUT END—"
Robert blurred, vanished, and reappeared with his sword already sheathed.
The world shattered.
Black-and-blue distortions rippled across a hundred meters. Reality cracked like glass as countless slashes erupted in every direction, with Rayleigh at the centre of it all.
His body was torn open by innumerable cuts, though none fatal. Robert had pulled back at the last second. Still, the sheer pressure drove Rayleigh to his knees, coughing blood.
"Heh… cough… that was… something else…" he wheezed, collapsing unconscious.
Robert turned his glowing golden eyes toward Roger, his voice calm yet absolute.
"Two down, one to go. Shall we begin… Captain?"