The Return
Leo was still nursing his bruised ego and throbbing skull when a sharp thwack of wood on wood broke the silence. He looked up, not from the ground, but from where he was sitting slumped against the warm tree trunk.
Standing in the clearing, dusting wood shavings from his trousers, was Silvers Rayleigh. He hadn't approached from the jungle floor or the shoreline. He had simply dropped silently from the canopy above, looking rested and faintly amused.
"Rayleigh!" Luffy's voice was a burst of sunshine. He zipped over, all traces of the recent thrashing forgotten. "Where were you all these days? We were bored! There was nothing left to train against!"
Leo struggled to his feet, trying to appear less like a casualty of friendly fire and more like a diligent student. The instant relief of having his mentor back outweighed the embarrassment of his failure.
"Rayleigh," Leo said, nodding stiffly. "Welcome back. We were just trying to keep busy."
Rayleigh looked between the two, his eyes lingering for a moment on the faint, reddish abrasion across Leo's temple, then moving to the discarded blindfold and the wooden club lying haphazardly on the ground. A knowing smile touched the corner of his lips.
"Busy, yes, I can see that," Rayleigh drawled, his hand smoothing his silver hair. "Did you manage to hit anything, Luffy?"
"Of course not!" Luffy chirped proudly. "I learned Observation Haki! I dodged every single one of Leo's attacks, even when I was blindfolded! He taught me how!"
Rayleigh turned his full attention to Leo, a deep, assessing gaze that made Leo feel as though his entire System interface was being scanned.
"Oh, really, young man?" Rayleigh asked, his tone carrying a weight of silent judgment. "You possess knowledge of Observation Haki? How did you know the training method?"
Leo knew the truth—I saw it on a screen—was both impossible and deeply insulting to Rayleigh's legacy. He had to stick to the lie he'd given Luffy.
Leo shrugged casually, doing his best to sell the deception. "I remember seeing you do something similar at the beginning of our training, Mr. Rayleigh. I think I simply figured out the principle you demonstrated when we came here.
Rayleigh let out a low, appreciative hum. "Very clever". Then you truly are a very observant young man."
Luffy bounced on the balls of his feet. "Now I've learned both Armament and Observation Haki! Now, Rayleigh, can you show me how to control Conqueror's Haki? I want to knock out more people without even touching them!"
Rayleigh laughed—a rich, booming sound that echoed through the trees. "Not so fast, boy. You learned Armament Haki yesterday, and you think you've mastered Observation Haki today? You are fast, but even you must face reality."
Rayleigh picked up the discarded wooden club. His eyes, though still calm, sharpened significantly.
"I will teach you how to control it," Rayleigh announced. "But first, you must show me your mastery. Blindfold yourself, Luffy. And this time, be ready."
Luffy, bursting with confidence, tied the black cloth across his eyes instantly. "Ohk! I'll dodge everything! I'm a dodging master now!"
The Brutal Reassessment
Leo leaned forward, entirely convinced Luffy was about to deliver a perfect, effortless performance. He dodged my attacks easily. He's the protagonist. He must have a natural affinity for Haki. This is just a formality.
Rayleigh settled into a loose, almost casual stance, holding the club lightly.
The next few seconds were a masterclass in controlled, brutal reality.
Rayleigh moved. It wasn't fast, not like a Kizaru kick or a Shanks sword strike, but it was utterly unavoidable. His first swing, a slow feint to the left, caught Luffy flush across the cheek before Luffy's body had even registered the intent.
THWACK!
Luffy stumbled, the blindfold shifting. "W-wait! It came too fast!"
CRACK!
Rayleigh delivered a punishing, rapid strike to Luffy's shoulder. The sound of wood on rubber was surprisingly loud.
SMACK! WHUMP!
The attacks followed relentlessly—a quick jab to the stomach, a high swing that sent Luffy's head snapping back, and then a final, powerful upward thrust that caught Luffy under the chin and sent him flying several feet backward.
Luffy landed in a heap, ripping the blindfold off his face and staring at Rayleigh with wide, teary, comical shock.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Spare me!" Luffy scrambled back, holding his bruised head. "How did you do that?! I couldn't sense anything! I dodged Leo easily! Why can't I dodge you?"
Leo, who had been watching in stunned silence, finally understood the devastating difference between instinct and mastery.
"Yeah, Rayleigh, why couldn't he dodge now?" Leo asked, walking over to Luffy to help him up. "He was dodging my attacks easily just ten minutes ago."
Rayleigh dropped the club onto the ground, the sound strangely loud in the sudden silence. He looked at both of them with profound wisdom and a hint of necessary cruelty.
"He was dodging your attacks for two reasons," Rayleigh explained, closing his eyes briefly. "First, as I've seen, you are slow. Your attack speed is negligible in this world. A person with above-average reflexes could react to your intent and dodge without Haki."
He looked directly at Luffy, who was still rubbing his jaw. "Second, Luffy has monstrous instincts. His natural body, combined with the pure spirit of a king, allows him to unconsciously react to any blow that is slow or uncommitted. If a slow punch comes at him, even in his sleep, his body dodges it out of sheer natural talent."
He sighed, shaking his head. "Do you think Observation Haki is a one-day learning technique? It takes years of hardship and experience to fully master it, to quiet the mind enough to feel the opponent's intent. You, Leo, were asking him to master a technique he was only instinctually using."
"A-aah, I see," Leo muttered, his entire world knowledge shifting again.
He's right. That's why Luffy's Observation Haki was so inconsistent in the anime! Leo remembered the scene where Luffy, on this island, instinctively used Haki to find Rayleigh, mistaking the smell of food for a spiritual sense. He hasn't still mastered the fully advanced form in the latest episodes! I was judging him based on his final form, not his starting state! My plot knowledge is worthless against the true complexity of character progression.
Rayleigh clapped his hands together, bringing both boys out of their introspection.
"Enough fooling around," Rayleigh declared, the time for games officially over. "The lesson is clear. You both have the potential for all three forms of Haki, but you are years away from true mastery. Now that I have returned, I will teach you personally.
The Dark King stood ready, and for both the future King of the Pirates and the unwilling Gamer Pirate, the real, brutal grind had finally begun.
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