By training his forces through continuous battles, the War Pirates of today—without even counting Kaito Arisawa himself—had already reached a top-tier level in West Blue in terms of both manpower and combat power.
Even if they entered the Grand Line, at least in the first half of the sea, they would not be considered weak.
However, being "not weak" was very different from sailing without obstacles.
Compared to a difficult and awkward voyage, Kaito naturally preferred a crushing journey.
Time was not limited, after all, so he had no problem letting his subordinates continue strengthening themselves.
Moreover, the crew had looted a large amount of resources along the way. These resources also required time to digest so that they could be transformed into real strength.
Time always passed quietly.
One month was neither particularly short nor especially long.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions echoed across the island again and again, causing the entire island to tremble faintly.
The sudden commotion frightened countless birds, which flapped wildly into the air above the forests of the deserted island.
"Break!!"
Deep in the island's interior, a violent shout rang out. In the next moment, astonishing power burst forth from a clenched fist, smashing fiercely into a massive boulder ahead.
Rubble exploded outward.
The rock shattered instantly.
With nothing left blocking his view, Kaito Arisawa slowly stopped punching.
"Finally finished another one. With this, that makes three mountains I've crushed."
The flowing Armament Haki that had wrapped around both fists dissipated.
Kaito stood there drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as he rested his hands on his knees.
Though exhausted, when he looked at the shattered stones covering the ground before him, his expression filled with satisfaction and pride.
If someone looked down from above, they would quickly notice something unusual.
A huge empty area stretched across the landscape before Kaito.
It was far larger than the boulder he had just destroyed. In fact, the empty area corresponded exactly to where a mountain peak should have been.
And that was indeed the case.
The rock he had just shattered had actually been the final remnant of a mountain that had been gradually destroyed under Kaito's relentless punches.
It was also worth mentioning that this was not the only empty area on the island.
Two other regions nearby also bore the same hollowed-out scars.
The explanation was simple.
The peak Kaito had just destroyed was the third mountain he had crushed.
Before this, he had already demolished two others.
Crushing mountains with bare fists might sound like madness.
But Kaito was not doing it for fun or to reshape the island.
He was following the training method of the famous Marine hero Garp—using the act of smashing mountains to temper his Armament Haki.
And it turned out that Garp's training method was extremely effective.
Even though Kaito had only destroyed three peaks—far fewer than the eight mountains Garp had once crushed—the process had still allowed him to achieve remarkable progress in Armament Haki during this period.
This progress was not limited to raw strength.
It also included technique.
For example, the form his Armament Haki had taken just now.
When he dispersed it from his fists, the Haki had been flowing like liquid.
The flow of Armament Haki was the prerequisite for advanced techniques such as external emission and internal destruction.
At present, Kaito had already advanced beyond simple hardening and coating.
He had begun to grasp the stage of external emission.
"…But my physical fitness is still lacking. Otherwise, after all these days, I should have been able to destroy more mountains."
To recover his stamina faster, Kaito shifted the focus of his internal "talent attribute" from Armament Haki back to his Constitution attribute.
In an instant, vitality surged through his exhausted body.
The change made him feel refreshed.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, casually flicking droplets away.
Looking at the empty land where the mountain had once stood, Kaito felt both satisfied and aware of his shortcomings.
The greatest weakness remained his physical condition.
Of course, this did not mean his physique was poor.
In fact, during this time he had trained his body relentlessly.
When he said his body was weak, he meant only in comparison to the state achieved when his Constitution attribute was fully concentrated.
In order to maximize the results of Haki training, he had focused his attributes primarily on Armament Haki.
Naturally, this caused his physical condition to drop somewhat.
The most direct result was that the amount of Armament Haki he could generate decreased.
This reduction affected both endurance and intensity.
The power of Armament Haki largely depended on the amount of Haki possessed by the user.
At equal levels of technique, the greater the Haki reserve, the greater the destructive power.
And the reverse was equally true.
"…Hmm?"
As Kaito reflected on his shortcomings, his ears twitched.
He suddenly turned around.
A figure resembling an angel flew gracefully through the forest before landing in front of him.
"Captain, the month is up. It's time for us to set sail again."
After landing, Nico Robin dismissed the Phantom Wings behind her back.
She glanced at the mountain wreckage behind Kaito before smiling gently.
"Has it already been a month?"
Kaito looked surprised for a moment before laughing.
"I didn't even notice. Time really flew."
Robin sighed.
"That's because you've been too focused. For the past month you've done nothing except train, eat, and sleep. It's no wonder you lost track of time."
"Well, if you're not strong enough, you have to work harder to become stronger," Kaito replied with a shrug.
Robin pressed a hand to her forehead helplessly.
"You're being far too modest. If someone as strong as you isn't strong enough, then what does that make the rest of us?"
Kaito brushed the dust from his clothes and began walking toward her.
"Strength always depends on what you compare yourself to. As captain, the standards I compare myself to are naturally higher."
"Like a Marine Admiral?" Robin joked.
From her perspective, only someone of that level could truly match the man before her.
"Exactly," Kaito said with a grin.
"I've always compared myself to Admirals or even the Four Emperors."
As he walked past Robin, he casually wrapped an arm around her slender waist and stole a quick kiss from her lips.
"Hey! You're covered in sweat. Now my clothes are dirty too."
"If they're dirty, they're dirty. We'll just take a bath together later."
"Are you sure it's just a bath? I feel like you'll end up tormenting me again."
"You're too smart. You figured me out."
After joking for a while, the two began walking toward the coastline.
"Robin, tell me how everyone else's training went."
During the past month, Kaito had not been the only one training.
The entire crew had been pushing themselves.
Since he had focused solely on his own cultivation, Robin had been responsible for overseeing the rest.
"Alright. I'll give you a summary."
Robin was clearly prepared.
She began speaking immediately.
"First, Haki. According to the latest statistics, excluding you, the ones who have mastered both Armament and Observation Haki are me, Mangu, Neferpitou, Law, and Lafayette."
Kaito nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good. Everyone's working hard."
Robin smiled.
"Of course. You're so powerful, Captain. If we don't work harder, we'll just become dead weight."
"Besides, even though we've mastered two types of Haki, we're still at a very early stage. For example, our Armament Haki is still limited to basic hardening."
"That's already impressive," Kaito replied.
"You've only been practicing Haki for a short time. Achieving this level already puts you far ahead of most."
Robin raised an eyebrow.
"What about you, Captain?"
"…I'm an exception. You shouldn't compare yourselves to me."
"By the way, what about Sandy?" Kaito asked.
"I remember one night he was practicing Armament Haki on the deck and seemed close to mastering it."
"He has mastered Armament Haki," Robin confirmed.
"But Observation Haki hasn't appeared yet."
"That's normal. Observation Haki is much harder to awaken than Armament."
Kaito nodded thoughtfully.
"It seems I'll need to give him some special training after we return to sea. As a cadre, not mastering both types of Haki would be a bit embarrassing."
"You can arrange that yourself," Robin said.
"Also, it's not just Sandy. Several captains have already learned Armament Haki as well."
Kaito smiled.
"That's excellent progress."
"At this rate, it won't be long before all the captains—and even the squadron leaders and junior captains—begin mastering Armament Haki as well."
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