"Hey, Leo! I finally did it!!" Luffy's voice interrupted everyone who was in the grass field. In front of Luffy was his fist, which turned a dark iron color.
Luffy had grown taller these last two years, and he had that familiar wide smile on his face as he showed his three brothers his success with activating Armament Haki.
Sabo and Ace, exchanging attacks on each other blindfolded, also took down their blindfold as they looked over at Luffy, who was doing punches in the air with that familiar Haki pattern on his fists.
Ace and Sabo smiled as they looked at Leo, clapping for Luffy. Then, Ace said with brotherly affection, "Luffy, you're already three months late, haha. Sabo and I already mastered it a long time ago, haha."
"Haha, Ace, stop it," Sabo said as he came over to put his arms around Luffy and nodded his head with approval. "It is already quite impressive that Luffy has done it in such a short time."
Leo gave Luffy a thumbs up before saying, "The next step for you is to further control. You need to do it to the point that you can activate the Haki at every single point like an instinct."
"I will!" Luffy beamed a smile.
He had been training the three of them nonstop for the last five years. He put them under the most rigorous training every day.
They were able to snatch the bell from him after a year, and after that, he had been training them every day in various forms like strength training to develop their Haki. So every day, they would fight with him together to gain experience.
It was something he knew that he must learn to do if it could at the very least help them a little bit more as they continued on their journey out into the sea.
Training in Haki is not easy, especially when the three of them still need to improve on the basics. What they lack now is more experience in fighting as they perfect their mastery over Haki.
He looked over at the three who were eating lunch and discussing insights for Haki. Luffy and Ace had their face stuffed with food as they continued eating.
He made a bunch of sandwiches as appetizers before the meat. Nothing too complicated. He used the meat from the beasts and a bunch of bread to create a simple afternoon meal.
He also gathered some mushrooms, which he would cook to add to the sandwiches so they would taste even better when they eat them.
'Maybe it is time that I shall depart on the next step of my journey,' Leo thought as he smiled while watching the three of them having such a deep conversation about fighting. 'In these last five years, they have grown beyond my wildest imagination.'
The loud sound of their laughs resounded in the air, and Sabo, on the side, was blowing away the steam of the cooked meat Leo had made for him. They made jokes that made Leo smile as he joined in their conversation.
'I think I will miss these guys,' Leo thought to himself. One day all three of them will be in all the different corners of the world.' But he was sure they would meet up again and be able to drink and eat together like this as brothers.
And indeed, the four of them became infamous throughout the entire world. But that brothership never went away.
The following day when Sabo woke up, he found that Leo's bed was already empty. Through his hazy eyes, he immediately sensed that something was wrong since Leo would usually wake up at the same time as them.
"Luffy Ace, wake up!!" Sabo called out, pushing the both of them. Then, seeing that the two of them were still deeply asleep, he gave them a dozen slaps across the face.
Ace was the first to wake up after getting slapped so hard by Sabo that his cheeks became puffed up. He sat up from the futon with his hand and looked over at Sabo, "What's wrong? Argh, I'm so tired. I think I will go back to sleep again."
Luffy also yawned as he nudged his tired eyes, "What time is it? It still seems kind of early. You might as well catch some more sleep. I was eating a lot of meat in my dreams." Luffy was about to go back to sleeping when Sabo pulled on his ear and Ace's ear.
"Leo left," Sabo said and tossed the both of them a letter that Leo wrote before he left the base. This news immediately caught Ace's and Luffy's attention as their eyes shone with wakefulness. The two of them hold the letter to their face and read:
"Hey you guys, good morning!
It is time that I set out to explore the world that is out there now. By the time you read this letter, I'm already far away, so there is no need to search for me.
You three have already mastered everything that I can teach. What is next is some more fighting experience and training on the basics I have already taught you three.
One day, out in the sea somewhere, we shall meet again. And we will always remain brothers. So let's have a grand feast for ourselves when we see each other.
P.S. Make sure not to get defeated by some low-life pirates before we meet again. And hopefully, there will be some chefs onboard your ships to cook excellent meals.
Yours Sincerely,
Leo"
By the time they finished reading the letter, the three of them already had tears swelling down their eyes.
"I will never be defeated, nor will I give up," Luffy says with a smile as he wipes away the tears from the corner of his eyes.
"When I meet that jerk one day, I will give him a taste of my fist," Ace said as he jokes with Sabo and Luffy.