Toji came home from work earlier than usual and hesitated when he heard a loud scream echoing through the air.
"Aaargh!"
Then, an even louder scream followed.
"Aaaargh!"
Rolling and crashing, Gojo tumbled from afar and sprawled in front of Toji. Although his school uniform was intact thanks to the protective Limitless he was wearing, Gojo was groaning while clutching the back of his head.
"Ugh, even with the Limitless, it hurts. Aaagh..."
"...What happened?"
"Gorilla!"
Gojo's face brightened as he jumped up from his spot. It was the first time Toji had seen Gojo smile so brightly at him.
"I want to learn Haki from you, not Zoro."
Hearing this, Toji understood why Gojo was in such a state.
"Did you ask Zoro to teach you Haki?"
"I thought wrong. He's terrible as a teacher."
It didn't seem that way to Toji. He thought to himself that learning Haki was just inherently tricky.
"I was wondering why you hadn't shown up."
"Yaaah!"
Upon seeing Zoro, Gojo screamed like a girl.
"Despicable teacher, step aside! Respect the rights of students!"
Zoro frowned.
"That's what I said. It's tough."
"I didn't know learning had to be this brutish and painful!"
Really? Is this the only way? Gojo protested.
"Gaining Haki isn't just about mental strength and experience. You need theory too."
"Are those nebulous talks about 'breathing' or whatever supposed to be theory?"
In everything, there is a breath: the breath of stone, the breath of the sword, the breath of wood, the breath of man. Every element has its own breath, and the swordsman who realizes this can cut through iron at will and not cut anything when he chooses not to.
This was nearly as absurd an explanation of theory as Eiri's reversal technique, which supposedly works by simply swinging your energy.
Before Gojo, Geto, who had also been flung away by Zoro's sword, staggered towards them. Having been hit by the flat of Zoro's sword and sent flying three times, Geto looked quite dazed.
"…Is this really how Haki is supposed to open up?"
"Up to a certain level, yes."
To reach higher levels, one must engage in life-threatening battles with powerful opponents. As often said, Haki develops further in extreme situations.
Gojo sat on the ground, raising his hands in surrender.
"Ah, forget it. I'd rather learn from the gorilla."
"Learning from father won't be much different."
Toji also learned Haki from Zoro. The teaching method would likely be similar.
Still, it might be somewhat beneficial for Toji to teach them Haki. As a sorcerer with a power level of zero, he usually relies on the movement of power to discern opponents, which can be difficult for other sorcerers to detect.
'It's more about relying on intuition than sorcery.'
As Zoro pondered, Gojo, feeling uneasy, changed his request to, "Then I'll just learn from you."
"But it's weird. If what you've taught so far is all there is to Haki, I don't understand how you could have cut me, even with my Limitless."
I understand that Armament Haki can be applied to weapons. But even so, shouldn't it be blocked by the Limitless?
Noticing Gojo's confusion, Zoro explained.
"Of course, ordinary Armament Haki couldn't possibly ignore your Limitless and strike."
As proof, even Toji's level of Armament Haki couldn't penetrate Gojo's Limitless. It would only be possible with a highly powerful version of Armament Haki capable of striking both externally and internally.
Gojo pouted.
"Aren't you going to teach that? I'm curious about it."
"Who teaches running to a baby who can't even walk."
That was akin to teaching domain expansion to a sorcery student who doesn't know how to handle power yet. Of course, Zoro didn't know domain expansion yet, so it was a moot analogy.
Teaching advanced applications of Haki prematurely would only be confusing.
"If there are no more questions, let's continue—"
"Wait, I have a question!"
Not wanting to be hit, Gojo grimaced as he thought of his next question.
Ah, got it.
"What's the third type of Haki, aside from Observation and Armament?"
Toji's eyebrows shot up, but Zoro's face remained calm, as he expected the question.
"That's still—"
"It's Conqueror's Haki."
Toji looked at Zoro in surprise. Zoro shrugged and explained.
"I just became able to use it recently."
Suguru seemed to realize something, "That time when…."
"Conqueror's Haki. Sounds like a really chuunibyou name."
But coming from Zoro, it didn't sound trivial at all. Both Observation and Armament Haki were simple in terms of abilities: detecting an opponent's presence and enhancing attack power and physical strikes.
However, when this simple ability combined with Zoro's swordsmanship, it exerted absolute power.
"Want to see?"
At Gojo's polite invitation, Zoro turned to Suguru.
"Suguru, can you summon as many curses as possible?"
I also want to test something.
Hearing Zoro's request, Geto hesitated for a moment, then released as many curses as he could at once. From special class curses to Shikigami so weak they could hardly be classified.
The dense cluster of curses surrounded Zoro. Although it looked like he was encircled, Zoro was not tense at all.
Zoro took a moment to breathe and then released his Conqueror's Haki.
Boom!
"...!"
Feeling the overwhelming aura, Toji reflexively wrapped his hands around the curse weapon on his shoulder. However, the energy of the Conqueror's Haki was not obscured even by Toji's physical curse.
Whoom!
Toji activated his Observation Haki. Although invisible to the eye, some form of energy was radiating out from Zoro in a hemispherical spread. The grass at the training ground rustled and bent. Geto covered his face with his arm to block the blowing wind.
Gojo, feeling a tingling sensation in his hands and his heart beating fiercely, laughed.
"Ah, as expected."
Just like someone who had hurt me before.
The surge of aura ceased. Toji checked his body. There was no harm done to him. It was the same for Gojo and Geto. Only an eerie silence flowed.
Thud!
One of the flying Shikigami fell straight to the ground. Then another, and another. Shikigami, fourth class, third class, down to second class.
Watching his curses collapse, Geto's eyelids fluttered.
'Except for first class and special class,'
All the curses lay sprawled on the ground. They weren't exorcised, but they lay motionless as if knocked out.
"...What is this? Domain expansion?"
Despite feeling no power, Gojo had no choice but to say so.
Domain expansion. A technique called the pinnacle of sorcery, creating a barrier that cuts off the outside world and ensures fatal techniques hit their mark. Even Gojo Satoru could not yet perform domain expansion.
"No, domain expansion creates a barrier that separates from reality."
This 'Conqueror's Haki' didn't operate that way. However, it had similarities to domain expansion.
"Domain expansion?"
What's that? Zoro cocked his head then began to explain.
"Conqueror's Haki knocks out opponents who are overwhelmingly weaker than the user."
"How can I learn it?"
"You can't learn this. You have to be born with it. It's not something you can gain through training."
Unlike Observation and Armament Haki, which can be learned from others, Conqueror's Haki must be innate. The ratio of people born with it is one in millions.
'And that's based on the previous world standards, so it's uncertain if anyone here possesses it.'
Even if born with it, if the inherent power is weak, it will not manifest, and only grows gradually with the physical and mental growth of the person. In a world not focused on cultivating individual force, even if someone possessed Conqueror's Haki, its manifestation would be difficult.
Gojo seemed briefly disappointed, but then his eyes sparkled.
"So it can only be obtained if you're born with it, just like a Innate Technique."
"In that sense, yes."
Someone might want an Innate Technique, but if they're not born with it, they can't use it. The same goes for Conqueror's Haki. No matter how much you might want it, if you're not born with it, there's no way to use it.
Suddenly, Gojo perked up, raising his head.
"Wait, if you keep using this while moving around, could you catch all the curses without fighting?"
Zoro made a wry face. Of course, if he kept Conqueror's Haki activated continuously, he could knock out any curses he encountered. However,
"Ordinary people would collapse too."
Not just sorcerers but also considering the levels of the curses that had collapsed, even fourth and third-class sorcerers would be in danger.
Due to the high level of sorcerers Zoro associates with, many sorcerers find it hard to even reach second class. It wouldn't be right to recklessly emit Conqueror's Haki that could threaten both ordinary people and numerous sorcerers.
"...Ah. Can't you target specific ones?"
"It's possible with a few. But with too many, it's difficult."
Zoro was quite adept at controlling Conqueror's Haki, but even he couldn't specifically target just curses to knock out on the bustling streets of Tokyo filled with people and curses.
"And Conqueror's Haki only knocks out, not kills."
It's convenient to be non-lethal when dealing with people, but curses need to be killed. Even if curses are exposed to Conqueror's Haki, they eventually recover from being knocked out, so they must be found and killed before the effect wears off.
"Haki is not all-powerful. It has its limits."
Even if one possesses Observation and Armament Haki, or Conqueror's Haki, they can only be effectively utilized when the owner's physical abilities or unique talents supplement them.
Even if Observation Haki allows one to read all of an opponent's movements, without the agility to dodge, it's useless; Armament Haki, no matter how powerful, must still hit the target; and Conqueror's Haki, if weak, even if born with it, is impossible to use.
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