"Enough. Quiet."
Zephyr's brows twitched as the whispers swelled. His voice cracked like a whip across Training Ground No. 1.
In an instant—
All chatter died.
Every trainee snapped back into line. No one dared say another word.
But even if their mouths had shut, their eyes hadn't.
Dozens of gazes stayed glued to Kai.
Suspicious.
Doubtful.
Unconvinced.
Zephyr saw it all clearly.
He turned to Kai and sighed. "Looks like they don't really buy your strength."
"How about it?" he asked, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Want to show them a little something? Let these brats see for themselves…"
"How strong a four-year-old can really be?"
"In the training camp I founded—"
"Strength is everything."
"If you're strong enough, no one will dare question why you're here. If you're not strong enough, you'll drown in doubt and complaints."
Kai grinned. "In that case, I'll just randomly pick someone from the training camp and challenge them in front of everyone," he said. "That should be fair enough, right?"
Zephyr nodded. "That's fine."
Kai turned, sweeping his gaze across the crowd of young elites.
Every single one of them—
Was a "genius" among their peers.
To make it here at all meant they had the talent and drive to crush ordinary recruits.
Yet what caught Kai's attention most—
Were two familiar silhouettes.
The first was a young man, around nineteen, in a Marine uniform. His eyes were sharp and wild, his expression full of defiance and arrogance, like some untamed beast.
His hair was a pale, almost white silver, slicked back. His features weren't exactly handsome, but that grim, vicious aura around him was impossible to ignore.
Just one look at him made people instinctively tense.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"So that's…"
"Smoker, huh?"
He hadn't asked Zephyr which "generation" of the training camp this was.
But now—
Seeing that familiar foul-tempered face—
He understood.
If I'm right, Kai thought, that bastard should be Smoker, the Smoke Man.
At this point in time, if Smoker was already in the training camp, that meant he'd already eaten the Smoke–Smoke Fruit.
A full-fledged Logia user.
And right now—
In this training camp—
A Logia user basically meant "final boss."
Without Armament Haki, a Logia-type was essentially untouchable.
Kai could easily imagine:
Just existing was probably enough for nineteen-year-old Smoker to stomp on everyone else's confidence.
A Logia ability user…
Even Kai had to admit—
Was annoying.
Because he still hadn't learned Armament Haki yet.
Without Armament—
He had no way to properly hit a Logia.
His gaze slid away from Smoker.
And landed on another familiar figure.
A girl this time. Around seventeen, wearing a dark red outfit. She was slim and tall, her features still a little childish, but already very pretty.
Long, soft pink hair spilled down her shoulders.
"…Tina?" Kai guessed.
If he remembered right—
Tina and Smoker were in the same class under Zephyr.
So it wasn't a coincidence that they'd both appear here.
The Tina of this era still lacked the sharp, commanding aura she'd have in the future. Instead, she carried a softer, gentler vibe that made people want to protect her.
Seventeen-year-old Tina didn't smoke.
She was still just a pure, slightly awkward girl.
While Kai was looking at her—
Tina's eyes flicked up to meet his.
Their gazes brushed for half a second—
Then she quickly looked away, cheeks flushing pink, lashes trembling.
Her fair face turned rosy almost instantly.
Kai couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
What a cute, shy girl.
Nothing like the cool, decisive officer she'd become someday.
Totally different from that wild, abrasive Smoker.
"How is it? Picked your opponent?" Zephyr asked, thinking Kai had been sizing up potential targets this whole time.
Kai withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Who's the strongest in this training camp?"
"…Huh?"
Zephyr instantly understood what he was planning.
His expression turned serious as he pointed straight at Smoker.
"That one. His name's Smoker."
"Don't underestimate him."
"His strength isn't simple. And he's a Logia-type."
"At your current level, you cannot properly deal with a Logia."
"The most likely outcome is…"
"You won't even be able to touch him, and he'll wear you down until your stamina is gone."
"At this stage, a Logia user is still too much for you."
"My advice? Pick someone else."
He paused—
Then glanced toward Tina.
"The second-strongest in the camp is that girl over there. Her name is Tina."
"She's also a Devil Fruit user—Paramecia-type, the Cage–Cage Fruit."
"Compared to a Logia like Smoker, Tina is a much more reasonable opponent for your current stage."
"Simply put—I don't recommend you challenge Smoker."
"At least…"
"Not until you've learned Armament Haki."
He'd said everything that needed saying.
Now—
It was up to Kai.
"If that's how it is…"
"I've decided."
Kai's lips curled into a mischievous smile as he looked straight at Smoker.
As if feeling his gaze—
Smoker also turned.
Their eyes met in midair.
Smoker's gaze was still full of raw pride and provocation, clearly not putting a four-year-old in his eyes at all. The untamed look on his face was practically begging for a beating.
Kai looked away, then spoke calmly:
"Then I'll challenge Smoker."
"But I'll have to trouble Teacher Zephyr to lend me a seastone weapon—preferably a pair of seastone gauntlets."
To deal with a Logia—
You needed seastone.
Kai hated that fact.
He hated it.
To him, it was a stain.
An insult.
Until now, he'd never relied on external tools.
But against a Logia…
With no Armament Haki yet…
He had no choice but to use seastone to nullify the enemy's intangibility.
Otherwise—
He really had almost no way to beat Smoker.
Of course, even without seastone, Kai didn't think he'd lose.
If he wanted to run—
With Rokushiki in his arsenal, there was no way Smoker could catch him.
But if he wanted to win—
To actually beat the guy—
That was another story.
This—
Was the helplessness of facing a Logia before mastering Haki.
Right then—
Kai's desire for Haki sharpened to a razor's edge.
The feeling of being helpless in front of a Logia…
Today is the last time I ever want to feel this.
Once he learned Armament—
Even against a Logia user—
He'd stand tall and unafraid.
He'd never need seastone again for something this basic.
Having to borrow seastone just to deal with a single Smoker—
Was not something he was proud of.
A true powerhouse doesn't need external crutches, Kai thought.
Moments like this—
Made him fully realize how far he still was from the level he wanted.
"Looks like…"
"I'm still a long way from being truly strong."
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