Junichi turned around, casually coating his fists with Armament Haki and knocking back the monkeys that lunged at him.
Bang bang bang!
His ordinary punches, now enhanced with Armament Haki, struck like heavy hammers. The monkeys he hit fell to the ground in pain, clutching their torn, bleeding wounds, faces twisted in agony.
Their eyes instantly cleared, and they backed away from him in fear.
---
Out of the forest, Junichi followed Rayleigh and walked to the shore.
The two sat down on the beach.
"To be honest, I'm starting to doubt my own judgment," Rayleigh said as he took off his glasses, cleaning them with a sigh. "My instincts just don't seem to work on you."
"Maybe it's because I'm different?" Junichi shrugged.
"You really are different."
Rayleigh put his glasses back on, looking at him in awe. "In terms of raw talent with the two types of Haki, you're one of the top-level prodigies on this sea!"
"Only top-level?" Junichi asked curiously.
"What, you expected more?" Rayleigh gave him a glance. "In the New World, there are guys who are born with Haki, and even some races whose bodies are as tough as steel without any Haki."
"Those are the real monsters."
"Compared to them, you're still far behind."
Junichi just smiled at that. His starting point indeed didn't compare to those monsters. There was no denying that. But someone with a cheat-like advantage… wasn't someone the natives could really match.
"Still, talent only represents potential. Whether someone becomes strong depends on their experiences," Rayleigh said slowly. "Originally, I thought your limit would be at the third-tier level."
"You could think of it as equivalent to a Vice Admiral in the Marines. But now… I'm not so sure."
He shook his head lightly. His predictions kept being proven wrong—he could no longer see Junichi's future clearly.
But there was one thing he was certain of: As long as this boy didn't die, he was bound to make a name for himself on the seas.
"Is that so?" Junichi listened with a smile, a spark of interest flickering in his heart. Once he dealt with the threat of Itachi, maybe he'd have time to sail across this world's vast oceans.
Speaking of Itachi... Junichi began to ponder.
Right now, his setup was: chunin level + Armament Haki + Observation Haki.
With that, he should be able to handle a regular jonin, right?
Against someone like Kakashi, an elite ninja, it was a bit uncertain.
And Itachi... He was even stronger than Kakashi.
Especially those Mangekyō Sharingan… Junichi thought, shaking his head. With my current strength, I'm still not ready to face Itachi. I'll only end up as Canon Fodder A.
With that thought in mind, he turned to ask Rayleigh, "How should I train going forward?"
"I was just about to tell you that," Rayleigh said, adjusting his glasses.
He began to explain slowly. "Armament Haki consists of four techniques, each representing progressively deeper stages of mastery. First is Hardening—covering your body with invisible armor and maintaining it for at least three minutes. Next comes Imbuement, where you extend this hardening to objects outside your body to enhance them."
He paused briefly before continuing. "The third stage is Emission, which allows you to project your power flow outward. Finally, there's Internal Destruction, the most advanced technique. Here, your Haki becomes penetrative, bypassing surface defenses to damage your opponent from within."
Most people stay at the Imbuement level.
Some imbued their hardening onto bullets for enhanced shooting. Others imbued onto blades, resulting in more powerful slashes.
Reaching the Imbuement stage already made you a core member of a major pirate crew.
But the Emission and Internal Destruction levels were extremely rare. Not only did they require a significant amount of Armament Haki, but also incredibly precise control.
Only top-tier powerhouses could master them.
Hardening, Imbuement, Emission, Internal Destruction... Feels like these could correspond to skill levels, Junichi thought to himself.
Hardening corresponded to Beginner level.
Infusing corresponded to Skilled level.
Emission corresponded to Mastery level.
Internal Destruction corresponded to Expert level.
So then… what would correspond to Transcendent level?
Could it be that no one on this sea has reached the level of Transcendence? It's not impossible.
A training path might have a high theoretical ceiling… But in reality, it was possible that no one had ever actually reached it.
"As for Observation Haki, there isn't really a strict way to classify its levels," Rayleigh continued. "We can only judge based on some rough indicators."
"At first, it's at the beginner stage—you can use it, but only if you're focused. Once you're skilled, you can use it anytime, anywhere. After that, it begins to reflect subtle personal traits and styles. Eventually, it's said that a qualitative change occurs—where you awaken the ability to 'see the future'… But I've only heard of that happening, I've never actually seen it."
He gave a simple breakdown of Observation Haki's progression.
Junichi nodded as he listened. That, too, lined up well with the Proficiency levels. And he knew for a fact that "seeing the future" was real.
In the coming decade or so, there would be two new users who reached that level: Luffy and Katakuri.
As for the stage where Observation Haki took on personalized traits, that was easier to understand.
Different people had different needs. So for some, their Observation Haki would become incredibly precise. For others, it expanded into wide-area perception. Some developed the ability to read emotions, especially from people of similar nature.
There were plenty of examples of this in the original story.
"Now that we've covered Armament and Observation Haki, let's talk about Conqueror's Haki," Rayleigh said, smoothly shifting the topic.
Junichi chuckled.
Rayleigh was a bit surprised. "You know about it?"
"I've heard of it," Junichi nodded directly. "It's said to be an innate ability—called the qualification of a king. Not even one in a million people can awaken it."
"That's correct," Rayleigh nodded.
He then briefly explained the levels of Conqueror's Haki:
Basic – Bursts out due to intense emotions.
Intermediate – Can be controlled freely through willpower.
Advanced – Can be unleashed in all directions, with its power taking on a tangible form.
Expert – Conqueror's Infusion!
In the original story, Conqueror's Haki often looked similar to Armament Haki. But through Rayleigh's explanation, Junichi now understood the real difference.
Conqueror's Haki also carried spiritual pressure.
In other words, it was a dual-type attack: physical plus mental/spiritual.
And Armament Haki's defense could only resist physical attacks, it couldn't block spiritual damage.
"That's totally unfair," Junichi couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Haha! That's just how unreasonable Conqueror's Haki is," Rayleigh laughed heartily. "Taking a punch from someone with Conqueror's infusion is like getting hit in the soul. It hurts like hell."
Junichi was speechless.
"Magic-type" fighters were too annoying—physical warriors were suffering.
I wonder if I have Conqueror's Haki…
---
That night, they chatted a lot. Junichi listened to many secrets and tales from the high seas.
The next day, he woke up at his usual time, thanks to his biological clock, and began his training in the two types of Haki.