Near dusk, Taro finally returned to the port of Nanohana with the documents personally signed by King Nefeltari Cobra of Alabasta.
Seeing Taro return, Zephyr came forward to meet him, "Is it done?"
Taro waved the documents in his hand, "Although some unexpected situations arose, overall it went quite smoothly."
Then he said apologetically to Zephyr, "Teacher Zephyr, for the next period of time, I might need you to take on more of the burden!"
Zephyr frowned, "What are you planning to do?"
Taro held Zephyr's arm and glanced at Binz and Ain.
"I want to borrow Binz and Ain for a while. During this time, I hope you can stay in Elmar and temporarily stop hunting pirates!"
"What did you say?" Zephyr pulled his arm away from Taro's hand and gave a muffled shout.
However, seeing Taro's pleading expression, his tone softened again, "Binz and Ain can stay, as for me..."
Taro grabbed Zephyr's arm once more while winking at Ain and Binz, "Teacher Zephyr, please stay and keep an eye on things for me. At most 20 days—no, 15 days—and I will definitely be back!"
He knew it was impossible to get Zephyr to give up hunting pirates entirely, so he could only settle for the next best thing.
"You also need to see if what I said is actually true, don't you?"
Ain and Binz were somewhat moved. After all, Teacher Zephyr was already quite old, and his plan to take the fleet to hunt pirates alone was truly dangerous. If they could use this time to rest, it would be very beneficial.
Zephyr stopped them before they could speak, his gaze fixed on Taro.
"Is what you're going to do very dangerous?"
Taro was stunned for a moment. If Ace was still captured and the Marineford War broke out, that should be considered dangerous, right?
Taro nodded gently, then quickly smiled, "But you don't need to worry, I have no problem protecting myself."
"I understand, follow me!"
Zephyr jumped down from the bow and walked toward the desert.
Taro followed quickly. Ain and Binz hesitated, looking at each other before ultimately deciding not to follow; Teacher Zephyr clearly had private words for Taro.
"Taro, the last time we met, you asked me about Haki. I want to know how much you understand about Haki?"
Zephyr sat down on a sand dune. During the walk from the pier to the dune, his heavy Sea Stone right arm had left him somewhat out of breath.
Hearing this, Taro's heart jolted with intense excitement. Was this opening a sign that he was going to be taught Haki?
"I only know that Haki is divided into three types: Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and Conqueror's Haki." Taro suppressed his inner excitement and spoke in as calm a tone as possible.
"Also, there are differences in Cultivation Ranks for Haki, and high-level Haki has many variations."
Zephyr nodded after listening, "Knowing this much is already quite a lot."
"I can teach you Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Haoshoku is an innate power; only the best among humans possess this Aptitude, and there is no method to Cultivate it."
Taro had expected this, and he didn't have a desperate need for Haoshoku anyway.
Firstly, Taro possessed the Minor Formless Skill. According to the System's theory of 'Internal Skill cultivating the mind,' he should already have strong resistance against methods like Haoshoku that rely on spirit to intimidate opponents.
Secondly, as Taro learned more and more Moves, he would have enough large-scale AOE skills to clear the field.
Finally, as an ordinary youth from Earth, Taro didn't even believe himself if someone said he had the 'air of a king.'
Therefore, what Taro needed more were Observation and Armament Haki to improve his solo combat capabilities.
"Thank you, Teacher Zephyr. Two types of Haki are already enough," Taro said respectfully.
After resting for a while, Zephyr stood up again and closed his eyes, "Now, attack me!"
Taro remembered that when Rayleigh trained Luffy, it was similar to this. He no longer hesitated, drew his sword, and slashed toward Zephyr's shoulder while focusing intently on observing Zephyr's changes.
With Taro's movement, Zephyr seemed to change in his eyes. Every bit of force in the surroundings seemed to have a sound; not just Taro's sword swing, but even the sound of the wind blowing sand became distinct.
[Observation Haki successfully learned]
[Detected a Move that can operate automatically. Start automatic operation?]
This was the first time Taro had received such a System prompt. His expression froze.
"Yes."
[Observation Haki automatic operation initiated]
[Host can enable/disable the automatic operation state at any time]
After Taro's silent thought, the abundant Internal Energy in his body quickly split off a branch, flowed out of his body, enveloped his entire being, and instantly dispersed outward, only stopping once it reached a 5-meter radius.
Is this the range of my Observation Haki?
Taro could clearly sense that within this 5-meter radius, he could 'hear' many sounds.
After Zephyr dodged Taro's strike with his eyes closed, he waited for a while but did not receive a second attack, so he couldn't help but open his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
As soon as he spoke, he saw Taro swing his sword and slash at the nearby sand.
Thump
With a muffled sound, a Desert Scorpion tumbled out from the sand. Dragging its broken body, it fled stumbling away.
Zephyr's eyes widened. He had naturally discovered a Desert Scorpion lurking in the nearby sand, but with their strength, such a thing wasn't worth paying attention to.
What surprised him was that with just that one Move, Taro had awakened Observation Haki. He couldn't help but exclaim:
"You... you really are a freak!"
Taro breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Zephyr's Observation Haki could not sense the presence of his Internal Energy, nor did he notice anything unusual about his Observation Haki.
Then he put on a smiling face, "Teacher Zephyr, that's no way to praise someone. I told you last time, my talent is very good."
Zephyr looked at the grinning Taro before him with infinite emotion. He had to admit he was getting old; the talent of the young man before him was truly terrifying.
"Since you have learned Observation Haki, you must practice it diligently."
After a long time, Zephyr withdrew his gaze and instructed.
'I'm cultivating it all the time!'
The ultimate cheater Taro laughed inwardly while repeatedly agreeing aloud, then watched Zephyr with an expectant gaze.
Zephyr took two deep breaths and then stepped back two paces, "Watch closely!"
As soon as he spoke, a powerful force suddenly enveloped Zephyr's entire body, eventually covering him like a layer of armor.
[Armament Haki successfully learned]
"Armament Haki can enhance your own defense and attack power. When contending with Logia users, it also allows you to touch their physical bodies. It requires long-term pra..."
As Zephyr was speaking, he saw Taro instantly enveloped by blue-black Armament Haki, and he was immediately choked into silence.
Taro constantly adjusted the body parts covered by Armament Haki—covering his whole body one moment, wrapping his arm the next—having a great time.
After a long while, Zephyr slowly squeezed out a sentence.
"You guy... you're not human at all!"
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