At the Marineford Military Academy, precisely in the spacious classroom, thirty First Class Military School Students one by one found their seats and settled in. Considering they had all essentially run over a hundred kilometers that morning, the short lunch break was clearly not enough to dispel all their fatigue. Therefore, many yawned widely, looking lethargic, and quite a few had already collapsed with their heads on their desks, enjoying their brief dreamland.
According to the Marine Academy curriculum, they would undergo pure physical training every morning from now on, which would drain their energy to the very last drop. In the afternoons, classes would be filled with various more intellectually stimulating courses, such as military theory, navigation, swordsmanship, and so on.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling...!
As the class bell rang, Zephyr, with his neatly combed purple hair, and Shuzo, whose hair was tied into a long braid, walked into the classroom.
Wham!
Without a word, Zephyr slammed the podium hard, sending the whiteboard eraser and chalk box on the table jumping high, startling everyone.
"Don't you dare fall asleep! Otherwise, you'll have to run two hundred laps on the training grounds for this old man!" his voice boomed, filling the room.
As soon as he said this, the effect was immediate. Tokikake, Smoker, Maynard... the ones who had been sleeping with their heads on their desks, all immediately sat up straight, their eyes wide open, looking as spirited and energetic as if they had never been tired. The fear of extra running was far more effective than coffee.
"This afternoon's class will explain our Marine martial arts, the 'Six Styles', also the power of the two colors of Haki which you can only master after training them to proficiency," Zephyr began his explanation.
As he spoke, Zephyr took out a Den Den Mushi from his trouser pocket and placed it on the podium. He simply reached out and pressed the Den Den Mushi's shell, and two beams of light were projected onto the whiteboard, merging into a simple slideshow presentation.
Damn! Den Den Mushi in this world are truly used in incredibly creative ways... Sephiroth looked at the projection on the whiteboard and muttered to himself, feeling both amazed and amused.
Indeed, there were countless types of Den Den Mushi in this world: live broadcast Den Den Mushi, camera Den Den Mushi, wiretapping Den Den Mushi, anti-eavesdropping Den Den Mushi, recording Den Den Mushi... It could be said that there were many types, too many to count! Because of this, a dedicated subject for researching and developing Den Den Mushi had even been formed, showing how important these telecommunication snails were.
"The Six Styles of the Marines: Shigan (Finger Pistol), Rankyaku (Tempest Kick), Soru (Shave), Kami-e (Paper Art), Geppo (Moonwalk), Tekkai (Iron Body). These are techniques developed to surpass the limits of human physical ability," Zephyr explained seriously. "When you master the Six Styles, even if you face a Devil Fruit user, you will have the power to fight. All physical training programs at the Marine Academy are designed to help you master the Six Styles. For example, when you ran long distances this morning, you could try using the Soru technique to speed up..."
"The potential of the Marine Six Styles is immense. After fully mastering them, you can also derive various fighting techniques from them..." As he spoke, Zephyr pointed to Shuzo who was standing beside him. "Show them your Life Return."
Hearing this, the long-armed strongman nodded. He let out a soft shout, "Life Return!" Instantly, the long braid tied on Shuzo's head seemed to come alive, twirling in the air and forming a hand made of hair. The 'black-haired hand' quickly took a piece of chalk from the podium and rapidly wrote four large characters "Life Return" on the whiteboard.
Seeing this sight, below the podium, Domino, who had wavy golden long hair and a sweet, beautiful appearance, couldn't help but open her mouth slightly and exclaim, "Wow! This must be a Devil Fruit ability, right?" As if realizing her words had been somewhat sudden and foolish, the blonde girl immediately blushed and shyly lowered her head.
Hearing the students' question, Zephyr immediately chuckled and shook his head. "No! He simply injected his consciousness into his hair, thus gaining free control over his hair. In the same way, as long as you cultivate the Six Styles to a profound level, you can gain free control over your body's muscles, internal organs, skin, and other organs. When you can reach this step, for you, mastering Busoshoku Haki or Kenbunshoku Haki through analogy becomes a very easy matter."
"It can be said that the Marine Six Styles are meant to help you build a strong foundation in using Haki, allowing you to awaken and master the power of Haki more easily through systematic training. Of course, this does not mean that the Marine Six Styles are an inferior technique to Haki. The Six Styles can complement Haki, and combining the two can unleash incredible power," Zephyr explained in a serious tone, his eyes fixed keenly on his students.
"Whether it's me, Marine Hero Vice Admiral Garp, or the current Fleet Admiral Kong, we can all defeat most of the strong individuals and Devil Fruit users in this world with the combined power of the Six Styles and Haki. Furthermore, as long as Haki is strong enough, it can even achieve immunity to the effects of certain Devil Fruits."
Seeing the students below the podium still displaying indifferent expressions, some even looking sleepy, as if what went in one ear came out the other, Zephyr could only sigh helplessly. He actually found theoretical lectures quite annoying too!
The Military School Students from previous classes who were selected and chosen for the Admiral Candidate Class all had excellent strength and potential. However, their educational levels were uneven. Some of them had received good education, possessed clear logic, and were knowledgeable, while others had never even been to school and only knew a few words, limited to their own names. This was the gap caused by background, children of the wealthy received elite education, while children of the poor didn't even have the qualifications for education. The backdrop of that great era was indeed like this, and Zephyr was powerless to change anything. Therefore, the cultural courses proposed by Admiral Sengoku and thus included in the Marine Academy curriculum often showed polarization in terms of results. Consequently, the scores for cultural subjects could only be used as additional reference for talent and potential assessment and could not be used as a standard for graduation qualification.
"Shuzo, go to the equipment room and bring back a large, ten-centimeter-thick steel plate," Zephyr commanded.
"Yes, Sir!" The long-armed strongman nodded and immediately ran out of the classroom.
Soon after, Shuzo entered the classroom carrying a steel plate one and a half meters wide and three meters long.
Wham!
Shuzo directly released the heavy steel plate, weighing over three thousand kilograms, letting it fall loudly to the ground, causing the entire classroom to shake slightly. Some students gasped in surprise.
"This old man has the nickname 'Black Arm'," Zephyr said, his voice calm yet full of authority. "The reason I got this nickname is because I defeated many famous pirates using this arm, utilizing Tekkai and Haki."
As he spoke, Zephyr's entire right arm was instantly covered by a layer of pitch-black Busoshoku Haki, making it look like an invincible steel arm. He yelled loudly, swung his right hand, and struck forcefully towards the large steel plate Shuzo was holding.
Boom!
Amidst the stunned and shocked expressions of the Military School Students below the podium, Zephyr's entire right arm completely pierced through the large steel plate, as if it were merely a sheet of paper. His powerful fist stopped just a few millimeters from Shuzo's chest, demonstrating incredible control.
Gulp!
Is this guy truly human? This thought crossed the minds of all the Military School Students, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Looking at the large steel plate pierced by Zephyr without any bending or deformation, Sephiroth couldn't help but think further. How strong must the penetrating force be to directly pierce a steel plate without deforming it, and... his fist clearly stopped its forward momentum just before reaching Shuzo's chest! Could he achieve such precise control while possessing immensely destructive power? Admiration mixed with analytical thought filled Sephiroth's mind.
Zephyr gazed at the astonished expressions of his students, then with a calm demeanor, he retracted his entire right arm and said in a composed tone, "This is the combined power of the Six Styles and Haki. If you can reach this old man's level, you can be considered a strong individual in this vast ocean."
After hearing Zephyr's words, the Military School Students below the podium became excited and began to listen attentively to the lecture, imagining themselves possessing such power one day.
However, fifteen minutes later...
"Smoker, Tokikake... you rascals, how dare you sleep in this old man's class! Get out and run two hundred laps!!!" Zephyr slammed his fist hard onto the podium and roared loudly.
The Military School Students below the podium were already severely fatigued. When Zephyr explained the dry and difficult theoretical material, even if they weren't sound asleep, most of them were in a state where what went in one ear would come out the other, and not many people were listening carefully.
But... there was one exception!
While listening to Zephyr's theoretical material, Sephiroth recalled the Busoshoku Haki training methods from Nine Snake Island. Combined with his existing medical knowledge, a bold idea suddenly formed in his mind! This Busoshoku Haki was very similar to the True Qi and internal energy mentioned in Wuxia novels from his previous life. He felt he could research it by following this line of thought...
First, let's be more grounded. Don't think about creating divine techniques for now, but in developing the Haki training methods on Nine Snake Island, he felt there was still a lot of potential!