The road leading to Marine Headquarters stretched long under the soft, golden light of early morning. The spring breeze drifted gently through the air, barely stirring the treetops.
Kuzan woke up as usual — same time, same place. His injuries had fully healed, and today marked the day of his second report to training.
After a quick wash, he closed the door behind him and made his way to the cafeteria for breakfast.
He didn't run into Gion today. Instead, he ate quietly by himself.
From time to time, he felt glances of admiration from other recruits, but Kuzan didn't pay them any attention. Once he finished eating, he headed straight for class.
This time, he didn't sit behind Gion like before. Instead, he deliberately took the seat beside her.
Her best friend, understanding immediately, moved to the back row without a word.
The morning began with a lecture on military strategy and regulations. Kuzan quickly found himself fighting off sleep — the instructor's monotone voice was almost hypnotic. Every time he started nodding off, Gion would pinch him under the table to keep him awake.
The instructor didn't scold Kuzan for his lack of enthusiasm. He understood very well — in the end, strength spoke loudest in this world. As long as Kuzan grew powerful enough, classroom performance meant little.
After the lecture came the combat drills, led by Major General Dave. However, he didn't bother instructing Kuzan. To him, trying to "teach" someone who had already bested him would've been a humiliation.
The other recruits were sweating hard — running laps, carrying weights, and practicing the Six Powers under Dave's watchful eye.
Kuzan, however, sat quietly to the side, lost in thought. He was analyzing his weaknesses, thinking deeply about how to improve.
No one dared complain. Everyone already knew Kuzan was destined to stand far above them one day — perhaps even as a future Admiral. He had fought Zephyr head-on and managed to wound him; that alone demanded respect.
Eventually, Kuzan stood up and exhaled slowly. His figure flickered, becoming hazy for an instant before reappearing several meters away.
Since the last battle with Zephyr, he had been trying to solve a problem — how to improve his Water Clone and find a way to evade high-level Armament Haki attacks.
He had finally found a clue. By manipulating the density of water vapor in the air and combining it with his Devil Fruit's elemental transformation, he could shift positions almost instantly.
Though it had a limited range, it allowed him to dodge Haki perception briefly — a potentially life-saving move.
He also noted that his Ice Seal technique was too slow. Against average opponents, it worked fine, but against strong pirates — future foes he'd face as a Marine Admiral — it needed to be faster, stronger, and absolute.
Recalling the moves of his future self — Admiral Aokiji — Kuzan realized he had already mastered most of those techniques. Still, he refined them further.
His "Instant Freeze" was adjusted to cause the ice to twist and expand, thickening its hold and encasing enemies completely.
Then came a new idea: using a "Freezing Orb" to immobilize an opponent instantly before layering an Ice Seal to reinforce it — a double-layered freeze.
He didn't modify the other standard moves — they were already devastating enough.
Kuzan had also experimented with move concepts inspired by memories from his past life — attacks like Absolute Zero, Ice Beam, Ice Pillar, and Blizzard. He'd even adapted techniques reminiscent of old-world ninjutsu: Ice Demon Doll, Water Clone, Rashomon, Ice Burst, Ice Mirror Reflection, Ice Giant, and Water Giant.
His arsenal was complete. Any more additions would just scatter his focus. From here on, his priority would be mastering Haki and the Six Powers.
He began with those. Among the Six Powers, he decided he only needed to perfect two — Soru and Geppo. The others, in his view, offered little he didn't already possess through his own powers.
Soru was simple enough — using explosive bursts of leg strength to move faster than the eye could follow. He could already perform it with ease.
Geppo, however, demanded more — using pure leg power to kick off the air itself, stepping upward into the sky as if climbing invisible stairs.
Kuzan practiced both relentlessly. His Soru blended seamlessly with his water-body form, allowing him to move even faster through the mist and moisture in the air.
He also worked hard on Geppo. Against sky-bound enemies like Kaido or the Golden Lion, flight would be essential.
At one point, he tried forming "Water Wings" — shaping wings of condensed water through his Devil Fruit awakening to propel himself into the air. But water was heavy and dense; flight worked, but the speed was abysmal.
So, he gave up on that and returned to mastering Geppo the proper way.
After all, no technique could be perfect.
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