"Seastone gauntlets, huh…"
Zephyr raised an eyebrow.
He thought for a moment.
If Kai had a seastone weapon in hand—
Then it wasn't like he'd have no chance.
A Logia's greatest strength was elementalization.
Right now—
For people without Armament Haki, that power was basically broken.
As long as they could turn into their element—
Normal attacks did nothing.
That was why, in the first half of the Grand Line—
A Logia user was often seen as practically invincible.
But—
Once seastone entered the equation…
The story changed.
If Kai could force Smoker's body back into a solid state, even for an instant—
Everything after that would come down to raw power and technique.
And earlier that morning—
Zephyr had already seen Kai's ridiculous physical ability for himself.
He quickly reached a conclusion.
With seastone, he thought, this kid absolutely has the capital to challenge Smoker.
"Fine," Zephyr said at last. "Since you've already made up your mind, I won't talk you out of it."
"As for the weapon you want…"
"We don't exactly have seastone gauntlets lying around."
"You know how rare seastone is. We can't just pound out a pair of gloves from it."
"The best I can do…"
"Is lend you a standard seastone dagger."
Kai nodded. "That works."
Any seastone weapon was enough.
He didn't need to rely on its cutting power.
He only needed it to break Smoker's elemental defense.
"Good, then…"
"I'll take care of it."
Zephyr turned back to the lined-up trainees and raised his voice.
"You've all been doubting whether this kid deserves to be here," he said.
"So we'll settle it with the simplest method."
"A duel."
"I've never been one for playing favorites. There are no 'back doors' in my training camp."
"In my world…"
"Strength is the only qualification that matters."
"As long as someone is strong enough, I don't care who they are."
"Today, this kid will show you his strength."
"And you can judge for yourselves whether he has the right to stand among you."
Then he pointed at Kai again.
"Pick your opponent," he said. "Use them to prove your strength. Let them see with their own eyes whether you belong here."
Kai stepped forward.
He took a deep breath, then looked straight at Smoker.
"Smoker," he said with a small, eager smile, "please don't turn down my challenge."
The words fell—
And the entire training ground fell silent.
Completely.
Every trainee who'd been whispering before—
Stared with eyes so wide they nearly fell out of their heads.
They'd all heard the same thing.
This four-year-old…
Was challenging Smoker.
Smoker—
The Logia user.
The undisputed number one in the training camp.
A monster whose power towered over everyone else's.
He was the student no one wanted to spar with.
Not because they were cowards—
But because they knew they couldn't win.
Even Tina, another Devil Fruit user, couldn't beat Smoker one-on-one.
And this four-year-old…
Wanted to challenge him?
"D-did I hear that right?" one trainee muttered, stunned.
"He just challenged Smoker?"
"Smoker. That Smoker?"
"The Logia user?!"
"Smoker is basically the strongest one in the camp!"
"He's in a totally different league!"
"Where does a four-year-old get the guts to go after him first?!"
"He must have no idea how strong Smoker actually is…"
"Isn't Teacher Zephyr going to stop this?"
They broke into frantic, hushed arguments.
In their minds—
It would've been fine if Kai had challenged anyone else.
Even if he lost, as long as he could last three minutes against one of them, they'd probably accept him.
But he'd gone straight for the final boss.
Straight for the guy everyone else avoided during group drills.
Their minds couldn't process it.
Among the trainees—
Tina's reaction was especially complicated.
She stared at Kai with wide eyes, lips parting slightly in shock.
Then—
She looked at Smoker.
Back and forth.
Is he crazy…? she thought, heart pounding.
Smoker is someone even I don't have the confidence to beat.
How is a four-year-old supposed to fight him?
Aloud, she blurted, "T-Teacher Zephyr… is this really okay?"
"Don't worry."
Zephyr waved a hand. "I know what I'm doing."
"You don't have to be so nervous."
He then turned to Smoker.
"Smoker," he called, "do you accept the challenge?"
Immediately—
All eyes snapped to Smoker.
Would he accept?
Would he refuse?
Fighting a child as a Logia user…
Even he knew how that sounded.
Smoker frowned, arms crossed.
"…Teacher," he said coolly, "can I refuse? It feels like bullying."
"Bullying?"
Zephyr snorted. "I'll tell you this much…"
"This four-year-old kid is not what you think he is."
"If you don't believe me, go feel it for yourself."
"See if he's really someone you can 'bully' that easily."
Smoker hesitated.
He glanced at Zephyr's serious face, then at Kai again.
Something about the way the old man spoke made him uneasy.
After a moment of silence—
He took a deep breath and nodded.
"Since Teacher says so…" he said slowly. "I'll accept."
A ripple ran through the trainees.
The duel—
Was officially on.
The training ground buzzed with excitement.
Every trainee was talking at once.
"That kid's going to get one-shot…"
"Can he even touch Smoker…?"
"This is insane."
"Seriously, why does Teacher Zephyr value him this much?"
"Does he really think that four-year-old can stand up to Smoker?"
"He's a Logia, for god's sake!"
In the crowd—
Tina quietly clenched her fists at her sides, still worried.
She wasn't afraid for Smoker.
She was afraid for the little boy standing in front of Zephyr.
Not long after—
The student Zephyr had sent to the armory came running back.
In his hands—
Was a black, cold-looking dagger.
He jogged up to Zephyr and saluted. "Teacher Zephyr, I got it. Old man Jack agreed. But he said the weapon absolutely can't be damaged. If it is, he'll refuse to take it back."
"I know."
Zephyr nodded, taking the dagger.
Then he turned and handed it to Kai.
As he passed it over—
His voice dropped a notch, tone serious.
"Listen," he said quietly. "Do not aim for fatal spots."
"Seastone is extremely dangerous to Devil Fruit users."
"If you shut off his elementalization and then stab a vital point, he might actually die on the spot."
"I won't allow that in my training camp."
"I won't let my students face lethal danger during a spar."
Kai smiled. "Don't worry, Teacher Zephyr. I know my limits."
"When I deal with Smoker, I'll be careful. I won't take his life."
He took the seastone dagger, tested its weight in his hand—
Then stepped out.
Toward the center of the training ground.
At the same time—
Smoker stepped out from the line of trainees, striding toward him.
Two figures—
One tall, one small—
Slowly closed the distance between them.
Under the blazing sun of Marineford.
In the heart of the training camp.
A Logia prodigy—
And a four-year-old monster—
Were about to collide.
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