At The Peak of One Piece

Victor refrained from cutting flesh, using the flat of his blades instead. Had he used the edges, bodies would lie severed. Zephyr, seeing Victor draw his swords, had feared recklessness—but sensed no killing intent. Relieved, he focused on the spectacle. 

Victor vanished with Soru (Shave), reappearing amidst the trainees. His blades flashed horizontally, slapping faces with sharp cracks. Each strike sent a body flying. 

A rhinoceros Zoan user charged. Victor kicked its head, launching it like a cannonball. Dodging a giant flyswatter hand (another Paramecia user), he slapped its owner skyward—"WHOOSH!" 

He blurred before a hulking trainee shouting "Tekkai!"—only to be batted away. With the ground cleared, Victor activated Geppo (Moon Walk), soaring after airborne foes. He ignored Smoker's smoky form—elementals would wait. 

Victor's Geppo was honed by years of conditioning and the Swift-Swift Fruit. Against these rookies? Lambs to slaughter. They hovered like stationary targets. 

A bird Zoan user dove, faster than most. Useless. Victor's blade slapped feathers loose. 

"What kind of monster IS he?" 

"Does he even HAVE a limit?" 

"Thank the seas I didn't provoke him..."

Bodies littered the training ground. Conscious trainees stayed down—grateful Victor used flats, not edges. Bloodshed averted. 

Victor's blade shattered Hina's Ori Ori no Mi (kage-kage Fruit) bars. He appeared before her, sword resting on her shoulder. Sweat beaded her forehead; her hands fell. 

Victor offered a faint smile and withdrew. Only Smoker remained. 

'Ten minutes. Wiped out the Elite Camp.' Smoker grimaced. His attacks couldn't land. Victor's Observation Haki predicted his smoke-form assaults. Only stamina remained—and Victor showed zero fatigue. 

"Endurance contest, Smoker?" Victor taunted. 

Smoker's fists clenched... then relaxed. "I yield." 'Natural Logia... not invincible.' Defeat crystallized resolve. 

Victor felt no triumph. These were trainees. The summit lay far ahead. 

────── 

As morale cratered, Zephyr's voice cut through: 

"Brat! Bullying them while wearing weighted gear? Insulting my students?" He eyed the familiar wrist weights. "Garp's old set. Still mocking people, I see." 

The trainees despaired. 'We get it. You're a monster. Must you rub it in?' 

"See this?" Zephyr swept a hand at Victor. "Young. Yet he crushed you all without straining. You complain about hard training? You. Aren't. Strong. Enough. Remember this shame!" 

Zephyr turned lessons from humiliation. Victor bristled. 'Shame? My strength is glory.' 

"Allow me to discipline this upstart," Zephyr declared, stepping forward. "Watch closely. Learn." 

Victor's lips twitched. 'Beat the young, and the old come knocking. Classic.' 

"Kid, didn't you say you wanted to learn Armament Haki? Well, class starts now—hahaha!" Zephyr laughed heartily. 

Victor had no choice but to fight, but this was actually a good opportunity. If he could truly grasp Armament Haki, it'd be worth it. Since the battle was inevitable, he wouldn't back down. 

Drawing his twin blades, Victor's aura surged, his fighting spirit boiling over. 

Zephyr made no move to attack first—he simply stood there, waiting. 'Come at me if you dare.' Even if Victor tried to flee, it'd be futile. His presence was already locked onto by Zephyr's Observation Haki. 

Victor steadied himself, his focus reaching its peak. In an instant, he lunged forward, his blades spinning parallel to each other as his body whirled like a storm. The sheer centrifugal force amplified his slashes as he aimed for Zephyr's flank. 

Zephyr didn't underestimate the attack. He knew this kind of rapid rotation could multiply the striking power exponentially. Without hesitation, he activated Armament Haki—his forearms turning pitch-black—and raised them to block. 

'CLANG!' 

The impact forced Victor to halt, but the shockwaves from his blades shredded the stone ground beneath them, slicing it into countless fragments that scattered like snowflakes. 

Zephyr's eyes gleamed with excitement. Earlier, against the other recruits, Victor had only showcased raw speed and strength. But now? 'This' was skill. 

"Oh? Instructor Zephyr, I thought you wouldn't use Armament Haki to block. When I fought Vice Admiral Garp, he didn't bother with it. Seems your 'Black Arm' falls short of his 'Iron Fist,' huh?" Victor smirked, clearly needling him. 

Zephyr's eye twitched. 'This brat's trying to provoke me.' And sure, Victor wouldn't mind seeing how far he could push the legendary instructor. 

After all, the Marines had their titles for a reason—Garp the Fist, Zephyr the Black Arm, and Sengoku the Buddha (or more accurately, Sengoku the Strategist). And if they were compared? Well, the "Black Arm" might just lag behind the "Iron Fist." At the very least, Zephyr hadn't dared to block Victor's attack barehanded. 

"Whether it measures up or not doesn't matter right now. What 'does' matter is that it's more than enough to beat some sense into you. Show me everything you've got—or you won't get another chance." 

With that, Zephyr deflected Victor's blades and immediately followed up with a Haki-coated punch. A veteran like him didn't attack in single moves—he chained them seamlessly. 

Victor barely managed to cross his swords in defense, but the sheer force still sent him flying. Kicking off the air with Moon Step, he halted his momentum—only for Zephyr to appear above him, twisting mid-air to deliver a crushing downward strike. 

Though Victor's Observation Haki warned him of the attack, foreknowledge didn't guarantee evasion. His lack of real combat experience left him vulnerable to Zephyr's relentless assault. 

He barely blocked in time, but the impact still drove him into the ground, cratering the stone and burying him under rubble. 

Zephyr didn't press further. The fight was over. 

The surrounding recruits stared in awe. The entire exchange had lasted mere seconds. 

"Is… is this the same Victor who was untouchable earlier?" 

"Well, he 'is' fighting Zephyr. The man didn't become an admiral by sitting around." 

"Even so, holding his own at this level is insane!" 

"Zephyr's honed his skills in life-or-death battles. Victor's just not on that level yet." 

As the murmurs spread, Victor emerged from the rubble—unharmed, though a bit dazed. Crushing a few boulders with his body was nothing to him. His real disadvantage was his inexperience against Zephyr's relentless rhythm. 

"Listen, kid," Zephyr called out. "Armament Haki is a power that exists throughout your entire body. To awaken it, you need to focus your will and channel that energy. Start with the part of your body you control best—that'll make it easier to sense." 

He wasn't just here to beat Victor up. The lesson was real—even if the beating was too. 

Victor absorbed Zephyr's explanation, committing it to memory. But for now, he had a more immediate concern: surviving the next round. 

Meeting Zephyr's gaze, he nodded firmly. 

'Let's go.'

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