Luffy and his crew have been sailing on the Grand Line for about a day since they left Whisky Peak. They sailed in calm waters for most of the journey, but they had not travelled as far as they would have liked. And that happened because the wind often didn't blow for a while, thus delaying their journey.
Luffy was currently sitting on his throne, sipping a glass of whisky, and watching everyone move around the ship. Sanji, Usopp, and Yosaku are fishing from the side of the boat, Zoro is sleeping right next to them, Nami and Vivi are standing on the top deck, in front of Luffy, watching the others fish, and Johnny is standing in the watchtower, looking for any island or ship that's headed towards them.
Nojiko is behind Luffy, practising with her three-section staff, and the duck Vivi Karoo is standing to Luffy's right, looking out over the ocean. Luffy never thought he would admit this, but he really liked the duck. He was fun to have around.
While Luffy was watching everyone do their thing, the wind suddenly stopped again, causing the sails to drop and their ship to come to a halt. Luffy sighed as he felt the ship stop.
"When we get to Water 7, I really need to get a boat with oars or propellers under the boat because this is so ridiculous," thought Luffy before turning his attention to Nami and Vivi, who were walking towards him.
"Luffy," said Nami, drawing his attention to Nami. "The wind stopped again," she said, causing Luffy to look at her with a funny look.
"There's nothing I can do about this wind," said Luffy before he took a sip of his drink.
"But if we continue sailing at this rate, when we reach Alabasta it will be too late," Vivi said sullenly. Luffy got up from his throne and put his hand on Vivi's shoulder, causing her to look at him.
"You worry too much; everything will be fine," said Luffy with a warm smile on his face before he turned towards Nami. "Why don't you help her divert his mind by teaching her a bit of haki?" said Luffy to Nami.
Vivi heard that and looked confused, wondering what Haki was. When Vivi looked at Nami, she saw an evil expression on Nami's face, which made her sweat a little. Before she could react, she was pulled by Nami, who led her to the ladies' room. Luffy just smiled when he saw Nami tugging on Vivi, then sat back on his throne. As he sat on his throne, Luffy gave the mental order to turn around so he could see what Nojiko was doing. As his throne spun, he saw Nojiko sweating and panting as she made various moves at impressive speed.
"He's training so hard," Luffy thought to himself when he saw her attack an invisible opponent with her staff.
"What caused this intensity?" Luffy asked, getting his attention. As soon as Nojiko heard Luffy's voice, she stopped what she was doing and took a few seconds to catch her breath before answering.
"What are you talking about?" Nojiko asked breathlessly. Luffy smiled before taking out a second glass and pouring some whisky before handing it to her.
"Why are you suddenly training so hard?" Luffy asked while looking at Nojiko, who swallowed the whisky in one gulp.
"I've always been like this," she said before she returned the glass to Luffy, who took it and filled it up and laid it on Nojiko again.
"No, you're not like this," said Luffy as he got up from his throne and walked back and looked at the sea before he continued speaking. "Ever since we left Whisky Peak, you've been training yourself non-stop." "Why?" Luffy asked while looking at the ocean.
Nojiko tightened her grip on her three-section staff before she answered.
"Because I could easily have died at Whisky Peak if it wasn't for you, Nami, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku," she said, causing Luffy to understand what was going on, but he didn't say anything and he let Nojiko continue.
"And the people at Whisky Peak are nothing but petty enemies compared to the enemies we will face in the future." "I let my guard down easily against a group of weaklings and had to be rescued by my little sister... again," said Nojiko, who is sad.
Luffy then turned around and put his hand on her shoulder before he spoke.
"Hey, you're not alone in this." "You're not the only one to let your guard down there, and Nami hasn't done anything significant," Luffy said, causing Nojiko to look at him with tears in her eyes.
"She didn't fight anyone; all she did was look around for anything of value to steal." Well, they didn't really have anything of value to steal, but that's not the point. The point is that you made a mistake in your judgement and learned from it. No need to blame yourself too much for what happened at Whisky Peak. "This is a new life for you; I've been a pirate my whole life; Nami was a thief since she was little; and Zoro and the two of them have been bounty hunters since We've been in this life for a long time, and we developed the necessary skills to survive over time, and you can definitely do that," said Luffy, trying to relax her a bit.
Nojiko then wiped the tears from her eyes before she smiled and replied to Luffy.
"Thanks, Luffy!" She said it with a smile, causing Luffy to smile too.
"Good, now show me what you're capable of," said Luffy before he took off his captain's coat and threw it onto his throne. Nojiko looked at him in confusion for a moment before she spoke.
"What do you mean?" She asked when he saw Luffy moving a few metres away from her.
"You don't want to die when you face a stronger enemy, and you don't want to be protected by your little sister anymore; instead, you want to protect her." So you've trained yourself hard ever since we left Whisky Peak, and now I want to see the result of all this. "Your training," said Luffy as he took a defensive stance.
Nojiko's eyes widened at what Luffy just said. Luffy had managed to advise her on her feelings, and now she wanted to fight him.
"B-but, there's no way I can beat you," said Nojiko in a nervous voice. Luffy chuckled before answering.
"I never told you to beat me; I said show me the results of your training," he said before motioning for Nojiko to come over to him.
"Okay then," she said as she took a few seconds to calm her nerves before she took a few steps towards Luffy and began rotating his three-section staff.
Then, faster than normal human eyes could track, Nojiko launched an attack aimed at Luffy's head, which Luffy easily caught with his hands.
"Tsk tsk, with an attack like that, Nami might still need to protect you," said Luffy, shaking his head, which caused Nojiko to growl as she pulled part of her staff away from Luffy.
She then started rotating the three halves of her staff once more before she launched forward, aiming at Luffy's chest. Luffy saw the attack coming and simply raised his right hand and stopped it with his palm.
"Yes, you will definitely die against a stronger enemy," said Luffy, making Nojiko even more annoyed.
"Shut up!" Nojiko screamed as she pulled her staff back and swung it at Luffy's head, which Luffy easily dodged.
"With an attack like this, I think you're going to die," said Luffy as he continued to dodge and block his attacks. "Do you want to die, Nojiko?" Luffy asked a little louder.
"No," she said as he continued to attack.
"I can't hear it; do you want to die?" Luffy asked again, causing her to grunt.
"NO!" Nojiko screamed as her attacks got faster and stronger, causing Luffy to smile.
"Then attack me!" Luffy's shout caused a look of determination and anger to appear on Nojiko's face before she gathered all of her will into her staff and swung it with all her might towards the right side of Luffy's body.
Luffy saw her coming and raised his hand to block her. As the stick hit Luffy's arm, his eyes widened as he suddenly felt something.
He quickly looked at the staff and saw the black colour starting to fade from the silver staff. Upon seeing that, Luffy smiled and looked at Nojiko.
"Congratulations," said Luffy, confusing her. "You have awakened your armour, Haki," he said before walking to his throne and putting his mantle back on. Nojiko stared at Luffy as he put his coat back on, wide-eyed, for a few seconds before she managed to spit out a question while stuttering.
"W-what?" Nojiko asked in a confused voice. Luffy sat back on his throne and chuckled at her before he spoke.
"Like I just said," he said as he took out his glass and started pouring himself a drink. "That last attack of yours had Armament Haki in it," said Luffy before he took a sip of his drink.
Nojiko blinked a few times, trying to process what Luffy had just said, before she spoke.
"But what did I do to make it appear?" Nojiko asked as she sat down on the floor in front of Luffy, wanting to hear what he would have to say.
"That is your willpower," he replied, causing Nojiko to look at her confused but not say anything. She waited for him to continue. "If you remember from my explanation of what Haki is, I explained that armour Haki is a person's willpower or spirit that allows them to create armour around themselves.
"Just now, even though you weren't in any real danger, your will to live and your will to prove yourself stronger than your sister were strong enough that you subconsciously coated the bottom of your staff with armour haki," said Luffy before taking another sip of his drink and looking at Nojiko. see if she understands everything he's saying.
"So it was just my will?" Nojiko asked in a disbelieving voice.
"Yeah, I know it sounds hard to believe that someone's will would have that kind of power, but it's true," Luffy said, looking at her with a smile. "You're the first in the crew to awaken it, congratulations," Luffy said once again, causing Nojiko to blush slightly at the compliment she got from her captain.
"Umm, what should I do now?" Nojiko asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well, you need to learn how to use that power willingly any time you want, to the point where using it is like second nature," Luffy said in a serious voice, causing Nojiko to stare at him with a determined look on her face.
"In order to do that, you need to find a way to recapture the feelings you had before you attacked me and find a way to make it work for you," Luffy said, causing her to nod her head at him.
"I'll start right away," she said as she started to get up to continue her training. As she was about to turn around and return to her training, Luffy spoke, causing her to stop.
"Before you do that," said Luffy, drawing Nojiko's attention back to him. Luffy then reached into his coat and took out an eye patch, throwing it at him before he spoke again.
"All the practising you did with your staff before I reprimanded you, I want you to do all of that again, this time with your eyes closed," Luffy said, causing Nojiko's eyes to widen.
"But why?" Nojiko asked, not really understanding why she had to do something like that. Her control over her staff was perfect, and she didn't see how closing her eyes would help her.
There are two real reasons for this. First, if you can control your weapon with the same efficiency and skill with your eyes closed as when your sight was still there, then you can truly say that you have mastered it. And lastly, it is quite an act. It's normal for your enemies to try and attack any of your five senses; often they try to attack your ability to see. "And it's practise if you're going to be in that position," said Luffy before he took another sip of his drink.
"I understand," said Nojiko, finding logic in Luffy's words; then she walked back to her practise area, put her blindfold around her eyes, and started practising with her staff again. On the first attempt, Nojiko twirled her staff around her body, causing her to hit herself in the legs, head, and chest, thus making Luffy laugh, and then Luffy turned his throne around to see what the rest of his crew was doing.