One day on Lubots Island.
In a certain open stretch of wilderness, the same island where Zoro and the others had been living and training.
Right at that very moment, Zoro and Sue were locked in combat, blades drawn.
Against Zoro's power-focused swordsmanship, each strike carrying devastating force, Sue deflected and redirected using speed and technique.
When Zoro tried to force a blade lock, Sue went limp and slipped away with a light pivot.
When Zoro brought his blade crashing down, Sue deflected it with minimal effort and transitioned into a counterattack.
Zoro was defending and evading too, but small wounds were gradually accumulating.
Even so, he pressed his attack without flinching, and when a tiny opening appeared in Sue's guard for just an instant, he didn't let it pass.
"Three-Sword Style..."
A large, sharp step forward. He knocked aside the sword Sue thrust in to defend, deflecting it wide, leaving her completely exposed.
And toward Sue, now stripped of any means to block, he unleashed everything he had.
"Ultimate... Tiger Hunt!!"
The released slash caught Sue's torso, cleaving deep into her body.
Sue's body scattered into countless sheets of paper and, without regenerating, the pieces fell limply and drifted away on the wind.
Then,
"Mm... Well done!"
Another Sue, the real one, watching from a rise above, said this with generous applause.
***
Zoro had successfully learned Armament Haki.
He'd magnificently slashed through the Proxy Doll I'd prepared and won.
He hadn't even been training in Haki for that long, and he could already cloak himself in it. That exceeded my expectations.
Sure, in terms of Mastery he still had a long way to go, beginner level at best, but still. The fact that he could consciously use Haki was enormous in itself.
Once he'd grasped the sensation, Zoro would only keep getting stronger from here.
By the way, what Zoro had been fighting just now was a Proxy Doll, a clone I'd created with my Powers.
Like Kirigami, it was a clone capable of a certain degree of autonomous action. Its combat ability was nothing special, but its major feature was that, like my main body, it could turn its body into paper to nullify physical attacks.
There was a limit to its regeneration, though, and it couldn't nullify attacks cloaked in Haki.
So to defeat the Proxy Doll, Zoro needed to attack while cloaked in Armament Haki. And that was exactly what he'd just pulled off.
"...I see. So this is... this feeling."
Zoro was gazing at the sword in his hand, or rather at the hand holding it, replaying and reflecting over and over on the sensation of that Armament Haki-infused attack.
Committing it to memory so he could use it freely from now on.
But... seriously impressive, Zoro. Something that would normally take months or even years of training, in this short a time... I was almost jealous.
In my own case, I'd awakened to it practically by accident, and training it up afterward, partly because I was self-taught, had been incredibly hard.
For the record, among everyone training here, Zoro was the very first to bloom.
The rest of the group watching from over there, the Three Girls plus Saga, were genuinely congratulating Zoro on his growth while looking just a tiny bit frustrated. Probably because they'd been working hard too, but he'd beaten them to it.
Well, from what I could see, those remaining four didn't seem far off either.
Saga and Alice felt like they were right on the doorstep.
Saga seemed to have caught fire from Zoro's breakthrough, a "can't let him outdo me" kind of drive. And Alice was her usual genius self. Once she observed the real thing and got a general feel for it, reproducing it came fast.
Suzu... well, her concentration was fine, but she seemed to be struggling with the mental image of "wearing invisible armor."
Still, she had good comprehension, so once she grasped the sensation, I thought her growth from that point would actually be fast.
Leona was also a bit weak on the visualization side, and her concentration wasn't quite at Suzu and the others' level either. But she was an instinct-driven type, and there were signs she was making decent progress through vague intuition, or maybe wild animal instinct. She might pick it up surprisingly quickly.
"...Sue, can I ask you for one more round?"
"Of course. Then... let's make this one a little stronger."
I produced another Proxy Doll as Zoro requested.
As I'd just said, this one was set a bit stronger than the last. Even so, since it was a fake, Zoro's swordsmanship was far superior, but...
"Just so you know, this one has a bit of Haki resistance too. You won't be able to take it down unless you cloak yourself in a reasonably strong Armament Haki when you cut. Heads up."
"! ...Bring it on!"
Flashing an aggressive, fierce grin, Zoro immediately began clashing with the Proxy Doll.
Oh my, look at him having the time of his life... He was going to improve fast at this rate. Haki, especially Armament Haki, depended above all on the user's fighting spirit, not just for destructive power but also during the process of training and improvement.
"Mama, Mama! Us too, us too, training!"
"Leona speaks true, we cannot afford to fall behind! Send a Proxy Doll our way as well!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Saga and Alice need one too, right?"
"Yeah, please."
"Of course!"
Right, four more coming up.
Unlike the one Zoro was facing, these had zero Haki resistance. First you need to be able to beat this one... or so I was thinking, when:
"Nngh, she's still so cute... As expected of Mom, even a fake makes my heart flutter. ...Hey, can you make one extra so I can take her back to my room?"
"Stop saying stupid things and fight already."
"Okaaay."
There went our resident little pervert, spouting her usual blissfully happy nonsense.
But after exchanging several blows with the Proxy Doll I'd assigned to her (today's weapon of choice: a rapier)...
"...! There!"
She didn't miss the momentary opening and stepped in hard.
The Proxy Doll kicked at her to block it, but Alice swatted it aside with her hand, deflecting it (she activated her Powers at the same time), and thrust her sword into its chest... Wait, what!? It crumbled!?
"...Yes! Got it!"
"""Huh!?"""
No trick of the eyes. My Proxy Doll, pierced through the chest by Alice's thrust, dissolved into paper and collapsed. Never regenerated.
Meaning... Alice's attack just now had been cloaked in Armament Haki.
Following right after Zoro, Alice too... and just like that, so easily...
I was stunned, of course, and the remaining three were equally floored.
"You gotta be kidding me..."
"Whaaaaaat!? A-Alice, you, you, when did you..."
"Thou... thou could use it already!?"
"Hmm? No, that was my first success just now. It was more like... watching Zoro succeed earlier, I finally got a general sense of the feeling... I guess?"
Alice said it like it was nothing.
...Yep, this girl was a genius. When it came to combat skills, she'd always been the best among the Three Sisters, but... she might have just driven that point home all over again.
And seriously, between Zoro and this girl... even accounting for the fact that I was teaching them in the most optimized way I could, they were getting stronger at an incredible rate! I couldn't afford to rest on my laurels here. At this pace, they might actually catch up to me.
No, I wasn't trying to put myself down or say I was weak, but... that was the level of urgency their growth rate made me feel.
And the other three? They'd fired themselves up with a "no way we're losing" spirit and thrown themselves into their fights even harder...
"Mom! Next! Give me a stronger Mom like Zoro's got!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Here, one Proxy Doll with slightly stronger Haki resistance, coming right up.
Watching Alice charge at it with glee, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
'Come to think of it, Alice has her sights set on me, doesn't she... She's openly declared it and everything. Wait, hold on... I mean, it's still a long way off, I think, but if she actually does end up stronger than me... then maybe... in more ways than one... am I in trouble?'
It was probably just coincidence, but the moment that thought crossed my mind, my eyes met Alice's.
She was beaming.
...Right. Time to step up my own training...
***
In the end, Zoro and Alice were the only ones who managed to learn Armament Haki that day, but from what I'd seen, the remaining three looked like they were on the verge.
I could safely assume that within the next few days, a week at most, everyone would be standing at the starting line.
'Honestly... they're all so reliable, every single one of them.'
That night, alone in my room, I thought about my training plans going forward.
At this pace, though... I could probably ramp up the Haki training.
I'd expected them to struggle quite a bit with learning it, so I'd planned to have them settle in and practice Armament Haki first, then move on to Observation Haki once they could use it consistently, but...
'...Maybe introducing them to the basics would actually speed up their growth?'
All five of them had a tendency to learn through feel. A genius-type aptitude.
If I had to say, Suzu and Saga might lean more toward the analytical side, the type who need to properly understand something before they can use it, but even accounting for that, they were all quick to engage with something new, grasp it, and grow from there.
From what I'd observed today, after Zoro and Alice succeeded, the other three's progress had accelerated noticeably.
I didn't think that was just motivation from not wanting to lose. They'd been carefully observing the two who succeeded, absorbing at least some of what they saw and turning it into their own strength.
If that was the case, then actually trying it themselves might be the fastest path.
Right, starting tomorrow I'd add Observation Haki training alongside Armament Haki. Nobody would object... in fact, they'd probably jump at it. They were all hungry to improve.
...The thing was, starting tomorrow, I had some business to attend to. Shichibukai business.
I had to go to Mary Geoise. So I wouldn't be able to watch over everyone's training tomorrow.
Oh, and to clarify, when I say Mary Geoise, I don't mean the area where the Celestial Dragons live. I mean the general-access district where the Marine and other Facilities are located.
The area Doflamingo and Kuma visited when attending Marine conferences in the Original Work.
So there was no chance of running into those people. Rest easy.
Anyway, I wouldn't be able to oversee everyone's training tomorrow.
Training Proxy Dolls could be made in advance and pulled out for immediate use just like Kirigami, so that was fine, but... I couldn't provide detailed guidance.
So I'd need to ask others to help.
For Armament Haki instruction, I'd ask the Maid Squad.
They could all use Haki, so they'd be more than adequate as Instructors, and as sparring partners when needed. Yuri in particular seemed to have a knack for teaching, so she might actually be better suited for the role than me.
I'd check with her later, and depending on how it went, maybe even ask her to take charge of instructing everyone during my absences.
As for Observation Haki... of course the Maid Squad could teach that properly as well. They'd all learned it too.
But...
'While I'm at it... maybe I should ask the specialist. There's no doubt that person would be the right one for the job.'
Honestly, this was something I'd been thinking about for a while. That it might actually be more efficient to have that person teach it than for me to do it myself.
...Personal feelings aside, anyway.
I pulled a Den Den Mushi from my desk drawer and called that person.
A few rings... Good, it connected.
"Oh, hello? Yeah, it's me. Sorry to call so late. ...There's something I could use your help with. I know it's sudden, but are you free tomorrow? ...Yeah, that. You read my mind. Oh, it's okay? Great... Then I'm counting on you..."
"...Enel."
To be continued...