Garp's warships stopped sailing after docking at the Nier Kingdom branch.
The Roger Pirates had been lost once again, and Garp still had no idea where they were. Therefore, Garp, Aokiji, and the others remained at the G-10 branch.
During this brief stopover, Garp wasn't idle, but led his crew in a massive crackdown on pirates in the Nier Kingdom.
With the death of the Nier Kingdom's king, his sons were killed in the invasion of the Newk Pirates.
The throne was inherited by King Nicola McCartney's daughter,
the same girl who had previously escaped through the secret passage and sought Aokiji's help. After such a dramatic change, the new king reversed Nicola McCartney's previous policies and fully aligned himself with the Navy and the World Government.
The Nier Kingdom was already entangled in both the legal and legal worlds, and with the king's apparent bias, the kingdom's hidden pirate hotspots were exposed. The port designated for the pirates by the Nier Kingdom was also under siege by the navy.
With Garp in command, the Nier Kingdom pirates were powerless. Furthermore, with the aid of Rear Admiral Roca's fruit power, the Nier Kingdom pirates had nowhere to hide.
In just a week, the Nier Kingdom's pirates were completely wiped out.
The branch prison simply couldn't hold the total number of captured pirates. Aokiji suggested that Garp execute them all, but Garp refused.
Ultimately, Rear Admiral Roca contacted Marine Headquarters, requesting a fleet to escort the pirates to Impel Down.
Both Yoriichi and Aokiji couldn't understand why the navy would bother to imprison these pirates. Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them all and bury them on the spot?
Garp offered no further explanation. Unable
to find an answer, Yoriichi remained secluded during his time at the Marine Branch, spending most of his time practicing Haki.
Aokiji seemed to want to know the answer, but Garp kept evading him, and Major General Roca didn't explain to Aokiji either, which made Aokiji furious.
What a passionate young man!
"Pah!"
Somewhere in an open space at the G-10 branch base, Tsugikuni Yoriichi was sparring with Aokiji with a bamboo sword in one hand. The bamboo sword in Yoriichi's hand collided with the "popsicle" in Aokiji's hand, and a strong airflow burst out from between the two of them, rapidly spreading in all directions.
Yoriichi changed his moves quickly, tilting the bamboo sword to dissipate Aokiji's force, and then he dodged to Aokiji's side, thrusting the bamboo sword in his hand fiercely, hitting Aokiji's lower abdomen directly, knocking Aokiji away. During
the time away from the Marine Headquarters, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's growth rate was very fast, and it can be said that he changed every day.
The initial stage of his Observation Haki, combined with Yoriichi's innate worldly insight, allowed Tsugikuni Yoriichi to easily determine the direction and force of his opponent's attacks during combat.
His mastery of the Six Marine Styles had become a complete integration into his combat, making Tsugikuni Yoriichi incredibly formidable even without swordsmanship. While
his Armament Haki was still quite weak, Yoriichi had already mastered integrating it into his attacks, and he wasn't foolishly using Haki constantly. After all
, Haki depleted. Against a shrew like Aokiji, Yoriichi would only apply Haki when he was certain his attacks would hit.
By now, Aokiji was no match for Yoriichi, relying solely on physical techniques without the power of the Nature Fruit.
"Bang!"
Aokiji's body slammed to the ground. As expected, the shrew's use of the Nature Fruit had transformed his body into a block of ice the moment he landed, rendering secondary impacts completely ineffective.
After a while, the ice reconstructed Aokiji's body. Holding a "popsicle" in his hand, Aokiji rubbed his abdomen, then looked at Yoriichi with some emotion and said,
"Your growth rate is truly terrifying!"
"Before, you couldn't even keep up with my movements, but now, you can easily exploit my weaknesses and counterattack me."
"How did you grow up?"
Yoriichi simply smiled at Aokiji's sigh.
He wasn't satisfied with his own growth rate. Compared to the Son of the Planes, Luffy, his growth was as slow as a turtle.
Luffy went from being instantly killed by Kaido's stick to instantly killing Kaido with a counterattack in just one day, and
was sent to Impel Down by Luffy in just one day. If Doflamingo had the chance to read the newspaper and see that Luffy, who just a few months ago was locked in a birdcage and manipulated at will, had in just a few months been able to join forces with others to defeat the Four Emperors, his jaw would probably drop.
Kaido, the world's strongest being, has become Kaido, the master teacher. Before the battle of Wano Country, no one could have foreseen this outcome.
Aokiji, who had previously been able to suppress Yoriichi Tsugakuni with his taijutsu, was completely overwhelmed by Yoriichi Tsugakuni just a week later.
Yoriichi Tsugakuni responded, "That's normal."
Aokiji's taijutsu skills were only mediocre to begin with. Although he was an elite marine and had mastered the Six Styles of the Marines, his taijutsu skills were only on par with CP9's Lucci at best.
Aokiji had always relied on his fruit powers in battle. Haki? Taijutsu? Swordsmanship? What the hell are those? Would ice time be useful? He
was currently training with Yoriichi; if they were facing an enemy, he would have given Yoriichi a lesson with a single ice time.
Yoriichi admitted that if Aokiji used his fruit power, he could instantly kill him. His current Haki wasn't strong enough to bypass the effects of Aokiji's fruit.
But then again, regarding Yoriichi's evaluation of Aokiji's taijutsu,
he still advised Aokiji to never use taijutsu in combat, otherwise, he'd be killed.
Yoriichi's swordsmanship was already top-notch, his strikes flowing seamlessly. After mastering the shave and practicing for so long, Yoriichi was now able to match Aokiji's speed.
Given Yoriichi's taijutsu experience, if Aokiji couldn't outmatch him with his speed, he wouldn't be a match for Yoriichi.
While Tsugikuni Yoriichi's dōri might not have significantly improved, Yoriichi knew his combat prowess was vastly improved.
"Kuzan, it's not that I'm growing fast, it's that your taijutsu is too poor."
"I think you'd better not rely too much on your fruit power."
"Your fruit has already developed to perfection. I think if you practice taijutsu, you'll become even stronger."
After sending Aokiji flying with a single blow, Yoriichi showed no sign of stopping the sparring session. He held the bamboo sword in both hands and stared at Aokiji.
"I'm trying my best!"
"Honestly, losing to a boy your age in taijutsu is a bit embarrassing!"
Aokiji said, clutching his popsicles in both hands and charging at Yoriichi.
"Tap!" Yoriichi swung his sword at an angle, blocking Aokiji's attack. Then, with a dash, he swept his bamboo sword across Aokiji's abdomen. In one blow, Aokiji was once again sent flying by Tsugikoku Yoriichi.
But this time, before he even hit the ground, Aokiji's body turned to icy powder in mid-air, then quickly recondensed on the ground. Aokiji, regaining his physical form, frowned slightly and lifted his clothes, revealing a bright red mark on his abdomen.
Although he had used a metal block before being hit, it still hurt.
"Come on, Kuzan, keep going!"
Yoriichi said excitedly, a smile on his face.
Aokiji's taijutsu skills were just enough to make him a competent punching bag, allowing Yoriichi to test some of his fighting techniques on him.
Aokiji nodded and rushed towards Yoriichi once again, chopping Yoriichi's head with the popsicle in his hand from top to bottom.
Yoriichi looked at Aokiji's attack and completely predicted the direction of Aokiji's attack. He raised his bamboo sword and directly blocked the opponent's attack. Just as he was about to kick Aokiji in the lower abdomen, he suddenly felt a chill on his hand.
Looking up, he found that his arm had been frozen by Aokiji's power. In an instant, a surge of coldness also came from the soles of Yoriichi's feet. Looking down, Yoriichi found that his legs were now frozen to the ground.
"..."
"Hey, Kuzan! Taijutsu training! You agreed not to use the power of the devil fruit. You kid, you have no martial ethics!"
"You sneak attack me, an old man... Bah, you sneak attack me, a child!"
After blocking Yoriichi's movement, Aokiji fell to the ground with his legs spread out, smiling and said:
"Rest for a while, just a while."
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(End of this chapter)