"I never thought…"
"That monster… actually did it!"
"Most people need a year or more just to barely touch the doorway to Armament and Observation. But on that monster's body—he only needed a few short hours!"
"In just a few hours, he mastered the two colors of Haki…"
"A monster like this… unprecedented, unheard of!"
Smoker lay pinned to the ground, laughing bitterly.
At first, he couldn't believe such a terrifying possibility.
Only now did he wake up—
He had tried to judge a monster using a normal person's standards.
"No one has ever done something like this."
"In just a few hours… mastering Armament and Observation."
"And Kai… actually did it."
"He opened a brand-new chapter in history."
"He created a brand-new record."
"Four years old—only a few hours to master the two colors of Haki. A record that's never existed before!"
Smoker's throat went dry.
In his heart, a powerful premonition rose—
A monster like Kai…
Might truly be one of a kind.
For the next thousand years, no one would be able to compare.
No one would be able to do what he did—
Master both colors of Haki in a few hours.
Only Kai.
The only example in hundreds of years.
And a peak no one in later generations could surpass.
"All right." Kai finally withdrew the Armament-coated right hand pressing Smoker down. "That's enough. Shame washed clean."
The Armament and Observation receded. His hands returned to normal.
As Kai stood up, Smoker dragged his battered body out of the cracked ground and forced himself upright.
"That duel just now was absolutely the worst decision I've ever made."
"I actually believed your bullshit!"
"You never told me…"
"You'd already mastered Armament Haki!"
Smoker brushed the dirt off his clothes, glaring at Kai with pure resentment.
Earlier, he'd actually dared to doubt a monster—
He really was asking for death.
Kai only laughed.
"But you didn't ask."
He hadn't lied.
From start to finish, he truly hadn't used any Seastone.
What Smoker didn't know was—
Kai had already mastered Armament Haki.
Smoker's heart filled with shock… and then a heavy, bitter helplessness.
Facing a monster like Kai, even he—the former number one of the camp—couldn't muster the slightest desire to compete.
At that moment—
The entire training field fell silent.
Deathly silent.
All eyes were fixed on Kai—
Then on Smoker's miserable, dirt-covered state.
Everyone looked as if they'd been struck stupid.
After a long beat, someone finally shattered the eerie quiet.
"W-What the hell?!"
"What did I just see?!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Smoker… got one-shot again by that monster Kai?!"
"Is this real? Am I dreaming?!"
"Where was his elemental transformation?! That 'unsolvable' intangibility?! What was Smoker doing—why didn't he transform to avoid the attack?"
"A Logia Fruit with Smoker is honestly an insult. Give it to me—at least I wouldn't lose this badly!"
"He has invincible intangibility and still got crushed—can someone explain what just happened?!"
The trainees stood there dumbfounded, eyes wide.
They were completely broken.
Wasn't elemental transformation supposed to be unbeatable?
So why did Smoker still lose—
And lose so brutally?
"I never saw Kai use Seastone."
"So here's the question."
"How did Smoker—who has intangibility—get wrecked like that?"
"Kai didn't use Seastone to suppress a Devil Fruit at all!"
"This is insane!"
"That monster… one-shot Smoker without Seastone?!"
"My god… that's terrifying!"
Throats went dry. Faces went pale.
Then a trembling voice rose from the crowd.
"If I'm not mistaken… the black armor covering that monster Kai's hands just now—was the legendary power called Haki."
"Armament Haki!"
"It's a force that completely surpasses Rokushiki."
"There's a saying on this sea…"
"Only someone who masters Haki can truly be called strong."
"Before you have Haki, you're just a low-tier nobody."
"Haki comes in three types: Observation, Armament, and Conqueror's."
"What we just saw was Armament Haki."
"And it's said that once you have Armament, you don't need to fear Logia users."
"Because a Logia's elemental transformation becomes meaningless before Armament!"
"It works just like Seastone—negates intangibility and lets you strike the user's true body!"
The moment that explanation landed—
The entire field exploded into an uproar.
Everyone finally understood.
Why Smoker, despite having intangibility…
Still got crushed by Kai.
Because what Kai used—
Was Armament Haki.
"Wait—then how does that make sense?!"
"A few hours ago, that monster still needed Seastone to defeat Smoker!"
"But now, only a few hours later… he's mastered Armament Haki?!"
"Is he insane?! What kind of freak is this?!"
The trainees stared at Kai like he was a walking nightmare.
"In just a few hours…"
"Are you telling me he used that time to master the legendary power called Haki?!"
"That power that's above Rokushiki!"
"The power only true monsters of the sea can control!"
"Kai is four years old, and he already has it… and in only a few hours?!"
At this moment—
Every single trainee present, without exception, began to question their entire existence.
One of them swallowed hard and spoke shakily.
"I heard that to train the two colors of Haki, you need an extremely strong body."
"And you need Rokushiki at a certain level, to build your foundation."
"Even then…"
"Even if you're talented, truly mastering Armament and Observation still takes years."
Silence.
Then a wave of cold dread swept over them.
They looked at the four-year-old Kai as if he were a natural disaster.
"Never heard of anyone mastering it in a few hours."
"Kai created a new record."
"Unprecedented. Unrepeatable."
"Historically unheard-of."
"In hundreds of years… no similar example exists."
Lips trembled. Bodies shook.
Fear fully took over.
Only now did they truly understand—
Besides Seastone…
There was another way to break elemental transformation.
Today, Kai had carved that lesson into every one of them.
And the result was something none of them could have predicted.
A four-year-old mastering Haki in a few hours…
Then, without Seastone—
Crushing Smoker with one hand.
It flipped their common sense upside down.
It shattered their worldview.
"So Instructor Zephyr took Kai away three days ago…"
"It was to teach him how to train Armament and Observation?"
"And even Zephyr probably never imagined…"
"That Kai would master it in only a few hours!"
"No wonder we haven't seen Instructor Zephyr since."
"Even a teacher who's trained countless geniuses…"
"Got scared off by Kai's talent."
The trainees murmured in awe.
In the crowd, Tina's eyes were wide and vacant with shock. Her delicate face was filled with disbelief as she stared at the tiny figure of Kai.
"S-So strong…"
"He's mastered the two colors of Haki…"
"Kai… is even more terrifying than I imagined."
Her expression turned dazed.
For a moment, she simply… stared, entranced.
And as she felt his overwhelming strength, beyond reverence and worship—
A faint, uncontrollable affection sprouted in her heart.
Maybe even Tina didn't realize it.
But in that moment, she had been completely conquered by Kai's presence.
"Kai…"
"He's… too charming."
Her eyes lost focus. Her mind went hazy—like her soul had wandered off.
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