One Piece : From Slave to Fleet Admiral

"Huh?!" x2

Monet and Kizaru now stared at Jake as if he were a monster.

"Mastering Observation Haki at a glance too? How terrifying~" Kizaru drawled. "You're sure you've never secretly trained in Haki before? Your talent makes even this old man feel inadequate. Compared to you, taking nearly three months to learn Observation makes me seem like a hopeless fool!"

Monet slumped in defeat, puffing her cheeks as she glared at Jake.

She hadn't even grasped Armament Haki yet, let alone begun understanding Observation Haki.

How could anyone learn these things just by looking?

Jake had no proper response to their reactions.

"Call it luck, I guess," he deflected.

But Kizaru's gaze held pure astonishment.

Unlike Armament Haki—where Jake's one-day mastery could be considered one-in-a-million talent, perhaps even surpassing Garp—mastering Observation Haki instantly wasn't just unprecedented.

It defied belief.

Armament Haki's difficulty lies not in initial comprehension but in advancing it to higher levels.

On a scale, learning basic Armament might rank at 2, while mastering it reaches 8.

Observation Haki operates inversely.

The initial breakthrough is the true challenge.

During Kizaru's elite Marine training days, the average recruit took six months to awaken Observation—and these were future Vice admirals, the Marine's pillars, not common sea riffraff.

Some ordinary people never achieve it in their lifetime.

Of course, the training process for Observation Haki is even more complex and obscure compared to Armament Haki.

As someone about to be promoted to Marine Admiral, he could certainly discern whether Jake had previously possessed any Haki in his body.

Precisely because he could clearly see that Jake had not a trace of Haki in him before, he was all the more astonished by the man's almost outrageous speed of learning.

"What a genuine monster~"

While thinking this, he continued trimming his nails.

After observing the two for a while longer, he suddenly asked Jake and Monet.

"You two agreed to Sakazuki's request to join this term's elite class at Marine Headquarters, right? Do you know who your fellow trainees will be?"

Jake and Monet exchanged a glance before answering simultaneously:

"No."

"Ah~ Is that so~ How strange~ Sakazuki didn't tell you?"

Kizaru blew away the nail filings from his clipper, then pulled out a stack of documents from his pocket and handed them to the pair.

"These are your classmates for this term~ There are some truly terrifying monsters among them~ Aside from you, there's Smoker with the Smoke-Smoke Fruit and Hina with the Cage-Cage Fruit—both quite strong~"

"Additionally, this training camp includes two personally selected disciples of Instructor Zephyr~ One has the power of the Return-Return Fruit, capable of reverting anything by twelve years, while the other wields the Grow-Grow Fruit to accelerate plant growth around them~ Both are dreadful monsters~"

As Kizaru spoke, Jake studied the documents in his hands, looking at faces that matched his memories of the original story, feeling a flicker of anticipation.

But more than that, from these materials, Jake could deduce some events that would unfold later.

If he wasn't mistaken, the tragedy involving Whitebeard Jr. would occur during their term.

Though the original story never mentioned Smoker or Hina in this context, according to Akainu, participants in this elite Marine training program could leave midway.

After all, the training period was long and most would be given two choices upon completing their trainings: either continue training at the base or be directly assigned by Headquarters to various branches for garrison duty.

Most would choose to leave—compared to extended training, the real thrill of hunting pirates was far more appealing to young Marines.

Ain and the others likely stayed out of loyalty to Zephyr, which was why they ended up caught in that tragic incident.

Quickly organizing these plot points in his mind, Jake looked up at Kizaru and said earnestly.

"Thank you, Borsalino-sensei! I won't let you or Vice Admiral Sakazuki down!"

"Same here!"

Hearing their words, Kizaru merely chuckled softly before speaking slowly.

"Tomorrow I'll be leaving here. Although Sakazuki has handled quite a few matters for me, there are still some tasks on my end that even Sakazuki can't resolve.

Recently, because of that Fisher Tiger incident, the fish-men across the seas have become restless. Those guys are particularly sensitive about racial issues, so we can't send someone like Sakazuki to deal with them—otherwise, those fishman might be cooked~"

Kizaru's dark humor left Jake momentarily unsure whether to laugh or not, while Monet seemed not to fully grasp it.

Fortunately, Kizaru didn't dwell on the topic.

He then instructed the two of them.

"The ship to pick you up will likely arrive around mid-next month. Make your preparations accordingly. Today is April 27th and the naval vessel will come on June 15th. I hope you'll have grown strong enough to handle any trouble by then."

"Then, Borsalino-sensei, will you come to see us?"

In response to Jake's question, Kizaru stroked his chin and flashed a slightly lecherous grin before replying.

"If work permits, I'll definitely come to check on you~ As for the period when neither Sakazuki nor I are around, your usual training will be overseen by Lieutenant Commander T-Bone. Oh, one more thing—there have been reports of unruly pirates in the nearby waters recently. From what I've seen, they seem to be affiliated with Totto Land. Be careful."

Kizaru's words reminded Jake of something.

Near Water Seven, there was a small island called Pucci Island, known as "Gourmet Town."

And Charlotte Linlin of the Big Mom Pirates loved nothing more than cake!