The pirates were finally up, and after eating, they eagerly dragged Jesus Burgess and the other newcomers into the woods. As Jesus Burgess spotted Luffy chatting with the soldier, he called out, eyes brimming with desperation, "Luffy! Please, save me!"
"Pirate boot camp!"
"Sounds fun—count me in!" Luffy shouted, rushing after them.
"Stop whining, Jesus Burgess. Look, even a kid is braver than you!" the pirates mocked as they hauled him deeper into the trees.
"Let's continue your Armament Haki awakening session!" they announced, tying a blindfold over Jesus Burgess's eyes. They held wooden clubs wrapped in Armament Haki, their faces set in grins.
"I… I can't see anything!" Jesus Burgess shouted, his muscles tense, already bracing for impact.
Luffy watched, quickly realizing how Jesus Burgess often ended up with a swollen face—this "training" was brutal, the true pirate way.
"Jesus Burgess, here comes your first hit!" one of the older pirates declared, striking him squarely with a Haki-coated club.
"Ahh! My bones—I'm done for!" Jesus Burgess cried out.
"Relax, it's only a bit of pain!" The pirates laughed, positioning themselves around him like a volleyball team, ready to hit him from different angles.
One pirate crouched down beside Luffy. "So, Luffy, which training are you going for? Sharpening your Armament Haki or taking on Observation Haki practice?"
Luffy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I want to work on Armament Haki. What should I do?"
"Perfect. Then, come at me with everything you've got!" the pirate said, getting ready.
"That's it?" Luffy asked.
"Of course! Nothing reveals what you lack like a real fight," the pirate replied.
"Alright, don't hold it against me!" Luffy grinned, drawing his pistol and immediately firing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots in rapid succession, each bullet infused with Armament Haki, left small craters in the ground.
The speed—it was almost too fast for Luffy to track. He felt his senses heighten, his awareness stretching to the impact points of each shot, where the dust kicked up from the ground.
"Coming out strong, aren't we?" The pirate smirked, narrowly dodging each shot with quick, slight movements.
"With Armament-coated bullets and a pistol, even I have to be cautious. Getting hit would be humiliating."
The pirate, his arm now sheathed in hardened Haki, flexed as his skin turned black, his muscles exuding an iron-like strength.
"You've only got a few bullets left, right? You'd better switch to that sword of yours!"
He taunted Luffy, who realized he was right—he didn't have enough stamina to maintain Haki on his pistol for long.
Switching to his longsword, Luffy faced his opponent, coating just the tip of the blade in Haki due to his limited reserves.
"A true warrior of the sea wields a blade, not a gun. You've heard of legendary swordsmen, but never of some gun-wielding hero." The pirate was clearly a sword enthusiast, seizing the opportunity to downplay the role of gunmen in front of Luffy.
But Luffy didn't let the words sway him; to him, weapons were only tools to reach victory.
"Let's go, then!" he replied simply, dropping into a defensive stance, mimicking what he had observed from swordsmen.
"Get ready!" His mind quickly ran through his arsenal: Iron Body, Paper Art, Armament.
With Armament concentrated in his right leg, Luffy launched forward, closing the gap in an instant. He swung his sword toward the pirate but held his form tense, bracing for a counterattack.
The pirate reacted smoothly, stepping back and angling his blade up.
Clang!
The clash of Haki-infused steel echoed through the air as sparks flew.
The pirate raised an eyebrow, surprised Luffy had managed to hold his weapon steady rather than lose it. He noticed that Luffy had entered the fight with a defensive mindset.
"Interesting," he thought. "But if you focus too much on defense, you won't get the training you need!"
The pirate continued his relentless assault, swinging blow after blow, each one heavier than the last. Luffy struggled to keep up, feeling his body strain under the weight of each impact.
"Why aren't you attacking back, Luffy? You're not a training dummy—move!" The pirate chided him, increasing the pressure.
Luffy gritted his teeth, feeling his arms grow numb. He had expected this—it was a high-level challenge, after all.
A voice in his head suggested a plan: Absorb the force by redirecting it downward, then pull back and disengage.
But his body refused. The pirate's constant, fast-paced strikes left no time to switch techniques or stances.
Use Paper Art! Just let the force flow through you! You're just a kid—there's no shame in trying!
Luffy's breath caught. He was already at his limit.
Bet everything on this Haki! Use Paper Art!
As the pirate's sword came down again, Luffy moved with the attack, redirecting its energy downward. His body felt featherlight as he was swept back with the pressure, landing on his feet but breathing hard, drenched in sweat.
"That's better," the pirate observed, impressed. "You disrupted my rhythm for a moment there."
He swung his sword in the air, watching Luffy.
"Can you still hold that sword, Luffy?"
"Of course!" Luffy answered, sword held steady in front of him.
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