Rayleigh raised one arm as what appeared to be an air current spiraled upward. Then his entire arm turned pitch black.
Armament Haki!!!
"Kid Kai, you can think of Armament Haki as a form of physical energy manipulation—sensing this energy and projecting it outside your body!"
Rayleigh's words echoed in Kai's ears.
Kai gradually sank into contemplation:
A form of physical energy manipulation? Kai immediately thought of chakra's formation principles—the energy manifestation created by combining physical and spiritual energy.
However, that was an energy form unique to the Naruto world.
In the One Piece world, spiritual energy manifested as Observation Haki, while physical energy manifested as Armament Haki.
Understanding this principle, mastering Armament Haki became remarkably simple for Kai.
Kai slowly closed his eyes, holding his breath in concentration. Billions of cells throughout his body activated simultaneously, each releasing threads of energy.
This was the purest strand of energy from within the body's core. While each individual cell's energy output might be minuscule, when billions of these weak physical energies converged together...
The result was extraordinarily massive, surging through Kai's meridians before explosively bursting forth!
"Kid Kai, don't rush it. Physical energy isn't easily sensed—" Rayleigh's words cut off abruptly.
His eyes widened in shock as he stared at Kai.
A powerful aura suddenly erupted from Kai's entire being!
Then Kai's exposed arms, ankles, neck, and entire face turned pitch black while gleaming with metallic luster.
"This is... second-stage Armament Haki... and it's achieved full-body coverage! How is this possible?! Kid Kai... you really never learned Armament Haki before?"
Rayleigh was completely rattled. Reaching this level on the very first attempt at learning Armament Haki—what kind of joke was this? Did he think Rayleigh was an idiot?
If he wasn't certain that Kai had no reason to deceive him about this matter, Rayleigh would absolutely believe the kid was messing with him. Even knowing better, his heart refused to accept it.
Rayleigh vividly remembered his own journey from first learning Armament Haki to achieving full-body coverage—countless brutal battles and years of grueling training before finally succeeding.
How had it become so effortless for this kid?
Did such monstrous talent truly exist in the world?
"Of course it's my first time learning it." Kai smiled casually.
Kai felt no surprise whatsoever at directly entering second-stage Armament Haki with full-body coverage capability.
Simply put, Armament Haki was just one application of human physical energy.
The stronger one's physique, the more powerful their Armament Haki!
This explained why most Logia-type Devil Fruit users rarely employed Armament Haki. After Logia transformation, their bodies became more elementally oriented, making further physical enhancement extremely difficult. Naturally, Armament Haki became nearly impossible to utilize—even the three Marine Admirals weren't exceptions.
And how vast was the physical energy contained within Kai's body?
Even Kai himself couldn't say!
Ever since consuming the Divine Tree fruit, his body had undergone earth-shattering changes. What manifested externally was merely a fraction—far more lay dormant in his cellular depths, awaiting excavation!
Directly activating this level of Armament Haki was completely natural.
Swallowing hard to suppress his shock, Rayleigh finally spoke:
"Your Armament Haki level... you've already reached a... well... very impressive degree. From here, you just need to strengthen familiarity and control over your Armament Haki. I'll teach you the application techniques next."
"Understood."
Kai nodded, then looked at Rayleigh with sudden interest: "What about Conqueror's Haki?"
Hearing Kai's question, Rayleigh instinctively responded: "Conqueror's Haki can't be learned through training, it's actually—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Unlike Observation and Armament Haki, Conqueror's Haki was an innate ability impossible to acquire through training. It could only awaken when someone reached a certain realm. It represented the user's own willpower—unable to be enhanced through practice, growing stronger only as the individual themselves became more powerful!
This was a supreme ability possessed by only one person in a million!!!
While that was the established truth, when it came to Kai, Rayleigh wasn't so certain.
This kid had instantly mastered Armament Haki to a level matching his own—conventional wisdom clearly didn't apply.
Maybe... he really could self-train Conqueror's Haki?
But how exactly should one teach Conqueror's Haki?
For Rayleigh, this presented a significant challenge. His expression grew somewhat awkward at the thought.
Observing Rayleigh's silence, Kai initially looked puzzled, then understanding Conqueror's Haki's unique nature, he gained some insight. Smiling, he suggested:
"Senior Rayleigh, let me experience your Conqueror's Haki first. Maybe I'll pick it up."
Hearing Kai's words, Rayleigh was momentarily speechless. Learning it just by experiencing Conqueror's Haki? Then wouldn't the New World be crawling with Conqueror's Haki users?
Yet he couldn't figure out how to refute Kai. What if it actually worked?
"Alright then... Kid Kai... brace yourself!"
Without further discussion, Rayleigh's expression suddenly turned deadly serious as he locked eyes with Kai!
His entire presence shed every trace of age!
"HAAA!!!"
Rayleigh released a thunderous shout, eyes blazing fierce! An overwhelming aura exploded outward instantly!
Conqueror's Haki!!!
In that moment, the entire island fell under Rayleigh's Conqueror's Haki dominion!
Every savage beast across the island prostrated themselves, terror filling their eyes as if sensing incomprehensible dread!
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