Chapter 15
“Do you… like the sea too?”
Hearing the voice, Yoriichi Tsugikuni turned his head and saw a tall man standing beside him.
The newcomer was nearly three meters tall and wore a pair of round sunglasses.
A blue round cap sat atop his head, with a snow-white seagull embroidered in the very center. He also wore a long black coat, and the same snow-white seagull was embroidered on the front of it.
Although the man’s entire outfit bore obvious Marine insignia, his attire was neither like the suits and Justice cloaks worn by officers such as Garp and Zephyr, nor like the sailor uniforms worn by ordinary lower-ranking Marines.
The man gave off an intense and serious aura.
Someone dressed like this appearing aboard a Marine warship was rather strange… just like Yoriichi, who was wearing a loose-fitting kimono.
“Aokiji!” Yoriichi immediately recognized the man and thought to himself.
Aokiji slightly turned his head. Seeing that Yoriichi had not answered, he did not press him. Instead, he rested both hands on the railing and continued gazing out at the sea, speaking casually.
“My codename is Aokiji.”
“I’m a Marine Headquarters Captain.”
Hearing this, Yoriichi was somewhat puzzled.
How could a Marine Headquarters Captain be aboard Vice Admiral Garp’s ship?
Normally speaking, a Marine Headquarters Captain was already qualified to command a warship and conduct missions independently. There was no reason for him to be following someone else’s ship.
“Hello. My name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Uh… I’m a civilian.”
Yoriichi responded.
Technically speaking, he wasn’t even a Marine yet.
“Haha, I know.”
“Vice Admiral Garp asked me to come.”
“Vice Admiral Garp asked me to teach you how to fight while we’re out at sea.”
Aokiji did not hide anything and simply answered with a smile.
Yoriichi looked at him strangely upon hearing this.
He had thought Garp had brought him aboard because he intended to train him personally.
Well, who would’ve thought that the old man would simply dump him on Aokiji instead?
Fortunately, Aokiji was an honest man. If he had been a little more devious, would he have simply found some lieutenant to teach him instead?
Still, Yoriichi had no objections to Garp’s arrangement.
He might have had an opinion if someone else had been sent over, but if that person was Aokiji, then it was perfectly acceptable.
After all, Aokiji would unquestionably become one of the top combatants in the Marines in the future. Even though he was only a Captain at the moment, he was more than qualified to guide Yoriichi at his current level.
Yoriichi was simply curious why a Marine Headquarters Captain like Aokiji wasn’t leading his own unit, but had instead been dragged aboard Garp’s ship.
“Captain Aokiji, why are you on Vice Admiral Garp’s ship?”
“I know a little about the Marine rank structure. If you’re a Captain, you should already be able to lead your own unit on missions, right?”
Faced with Yoriichi’s question, Aokiji did not hide anything. With a smile on his face, he replied,
“I received notice that I’ll be promoted to Commodore this year, so I’m being sent to study.”
“My teacher is Vice Admiral Garp.”
“Home” was the term Aokiji used to refer to Marine Headquarters.
He had previously spent some time rotating through a special unit within the Marines, and the Marines there referred to Headquarters as “home.” Because of that, Aokiji had developed the habit of using the term himself.
In that special unit, all the Marines concealed their real names and addressed one another solely by their codenames.
His codename was Aokiji, meaning “Blue Pheasant.”
It was rather amusing, actually. The members of that unit all had codenames based on things like dogs and monkeys. They didn’t sound intimidating in the slightest.
When Aokiji mentioned his upcoming promotion, the smile on his face grew even wider.
The young Aokiji still cared quite a lot about rank.
And he was especially happy about the opportunity to study under Vice Admiral Garp.
There weren’t many Captains in the entire Marine organization who were qualified to learn under Vice Admiral Garp.
Yoriichi had just been casually flexed on…
Aokiji was only in his early twenties and was still just a young man, yet he was already a Marine Headquarters Captain.
And this year, he would be promoted to Commodore.
Just look at Smoker. At thirty-four, he was only a Captain stationed in Loguetown.
Although Smoker later climbed from Captain to Vice Admiral in just two years, that was largely because he had benefited from some of the achievements associated with the Straw Hat Pirates.
Without those accomplishments, it would probably have taken Smoker until the age of forty to reach the rank of Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
Yet Aokiji was only in his early twenties and was already about to become a Commodore.
That promotion speed was unprecedented in the history of the Marines.
After a brief silence, the beautiful scenery before Yoriichi suddenly lost its appeal.
“Captain Aokiji, are you free right now?”
“Since Vice Admiral Garp asked you to guide me, I think we shouldn’t waste any time.”
Yoriichi placed his left hand on his sword and asked eagerly.
He suddenly felt that time had become incredibly precious.
There would be plenty of opportunities to admire the scenery in the future. For now, he needed to focus on improving his strength.
Yoriichi had a feeling that once Garp returned to Marine Headquarters with his fleet, he might not have many opportunities to fight other people.
“Oh? You’re in such a hurry?”
“That’s fine. Since you’re so motivated, there’s no problem with starting now.”
“Vice Admiral Garp asked me to teach you the Six Powers of the Navy.”
“To be honest, I’m not particularly good at mastering them myself.”
“But since Vice Admiral Garp asked me to do it, I’ll do my best.”
“Do you know about the Six Powers of the Navy?”
Aokiji asked seemingly casually, his gaze shifting slightly toward Yoriichi.
“No.”
Yoriichi answered bluntly, shaking his head.
Aokiji nodded and continued.
“I don’t think you’d understand if I simply explained the principles to you.”
“Let’s just use combat instead.”
“That’ll be the most direct way for you to experience the Six Powers of the Navy.”
Aokiji walked toward the center of the deck.
Garp’s dog-head warship was enormous, and the other Marines were all busy at their respective posts, leaving the deck unusually spacious.
“Okay!”
Yoriichi answered decisively.
As he spoke, he drew the long sword from his waist.
He was genuinely curious about the Six Powers of the Navy.
Although he vaguely remembered some of the principles behind the Six Powers, principles were ultimately just principles.
Trying to recreate the Six Powers simply from those principles would be no different from inventing the Six Powers all over again.
It was far too unrealistic.
If he wanted to learn them, he needed someone to teach him.
And Aokiji was an excellent choice for that role.
“Then I’ll begin.”
“Captain Aokiji, be careful.”
Yoriichi kindly gave him a warning.
He gripped his sword with both hands and held it upright in front of his chest, his expression serious.
Aokiji, however, merely waved his hand dismissively and said casually,
“Eh, don’t worry about it. Come on.”
It wasn’t that Aokiji was looking down on Yoriichi.
The problem was simply that Yoriichi looked far too young.
Moreover, Aokiji was a Logia user. In ordinary combat, he wouldn’t even be injured by conventional attacks.
Therefore, he paid little attention to Yoriichi’s warning.
Yoriichi nodded and stopped hesitating.
He pushed off the deck with both feet and shot toward Aokiji.
His speed was so fast that Aokiji’s expression changed in surprise.
In the next instant, Yoriichi’s sword point was already in front of Aokiji’s chest.
“Sun Breathing—Seventh Form—Beneficent Radiance!”
Yoriichi thrust his blade forward, precisely targeting Aokiji’s chest.
Aokiji clearly hadn’t expected Yoriichi to be this fast.
It was a burst of speed that simply shouldn’t have been possible for a teenager.
As the sword point approached, Aokiji instinctively activated his Devil Fruit ability.
His chest instantly transformed into ice.
The blade pierced into it, but there was none of the sensation of steel entering flesh.
In the next instant, Aokiji retreated.
When Yoriichi raised his eyes again, Aokiji had already disappeared from his original position.
“This is the Six Powers of the Navy—Soru.”
Aokiji’s voice suddenly came from behind Yoriichi.
Just as Aokiji was about to properly “introduce” his technique, however, a long sword suddenly swept toward his waist.
“He reacted?!”
“Not only that, he even counterattacked?!”
Aokiji stared at Yoriichi’s movement in astonishment.
He had never expected Yoriichi to react so quickly.
And while he was still speaking, the sword was already almost at his waist.
Although Yoriichi didn’t know the Six Powers of the Navy and wasn’t as fast as Aokiji, his combat instincts were exceptionally sharp.
He had predicted Aokiji’s movement.
“Clang!”
The sword struck Aokiji’s waist, producing a crisp sound.
Aokiji’s waist was covered in ice.
Yoriichi’s slash had been stopped by the ice, and the hardness of that ice far surpassed that of steel!
“Iron Body… yet it couldn’t completely block this kid’s slash.”
“My mastery of the Six Powers really is lacking.”
Aokiji lowered his head slightly and looked at his waist, sighing inwardly.
He raised his head and was just about to explain his “Iron Body” technique to Yoriichi when he suddenly realized something.
Yoriichi had already disappeared from in front of him.
“Hm?!”
Aokiji’s pupils contracted.
He quickly turned his head toward his back.
And at that very moment, Yoriichi’s voice came from behind him.
“Soru, huh…”
“It’s not that difficult.”
“That’s a pretty good technique.”
