"You two want to be trained by me like Ian?"
Garp scratched his head, looking troubled. "To be honest, I don't really recommend that. The way that kid trains... It's not for everyone!"
"I'm not afraid, no matter how hard the training, I won't back down. Please accept my request!"
"Me too!"
"It's not about being tired or not, it's just... Ah, forget it. You'll understand when you go see it tomorrow."
Garp sighed helplessly, then returned to his usual cheerful smile. "Enough about that, it's time for a banquet!"
With a wave of his hand, he said, "Come on, drink with this old man to your heart's content!"
Hearing Vice-Admiral Garp's words, Ain and Binz both smiled happily.
Then they exchanged a glance, their faces filled with determination.
No matter how tiring it was, they would never give up!
...
However, the next day…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Watching the cannonballs in front of them explode like fireworks, Ain and Binz both fell silent, cold sweat trickling down their foreheads.
So this was the kind of training he meant!
Now they seemed to understand what Vice-Admiral Garp had said last night.
This kind of training... Certainly, it wasn't something they could participate in right now.
If they were hit by a few of these cannonballs, they would be killed instantly!
Binz looked at Ian, who was dodging continuously, and gave a bitter smile. "So this guy has gotten that strong already?"
No wonder he was able to defeat Vergo!
Thinking back to what he had said before in front of Zephyr-sensei, Binz couldn't help but look ashamed.
Standing by, Ain, though silent, was lost in a trance as she watched Ian and Vice-Admiral Garp train.
At that moment, Garp, who was happily throwing cannonballs, looked at the two silent people and said nonchalantly, "How about it? Want to go up there and give it a try? This not only trains your Armament Haki, but also your Observation Haki, which is quite effective."
"No, no thanks!"
Hearing Garp's words, Binz gave an awkward laugh while glancing at Garp's hands, which were moving so fast they almost left afterimages, and said: "I don't want to die yet!"
"Neither do I. Thank you, Vice-Admiral Garp, for your offer. But I'm not qualified yet."
Unlike Binz, who smiled wryly, Ain, who had come to her senses, had a determined expression on her face.
She looked seriously at Ian, who was immersed in training. "But sooner or later, I hope to receive Vice-Admiral Garp's guidance too!"
With that, she saluted Garp again and turned around without hesitation.
Ignoring Binz's cries for her to wait, she walked resolutely towards the foot of a nearby mountain, her sword drawn.
She would definitely catch up with Ian!
"Hahahaha! What interesting kids!"
Seeing Ain and Binz depart, especially Ain's look just now, Garp burst into a hearty laugh. He turned back to Ian: "As for you... I told you not to use brute force! Feel your Armament Haki. Didn't you say you would train with me all day?"
He grinned again: "I've decided. I'll stay with you all night. Kid, are you happy?"
Ian: "..."
…
For the next period of time, Ian immersed himself in Vice-Admiral Garp's training, and he could feel his strength rapidly growing.
As for the so-called day and night battle... After a full night, when the sun rose again and Ian, bathed in the sunlight, regained his spirits and stamina, it ended with a flurry of scolding from Garp.
He said he was now an old man and must rise late and go to bed early!
Time passed slowly, and under Garp's special guidance, Ian gradually mastered the Emission and the Internal Destruction of Armament Haki.
At this moment, Ian closed his eyes, feeling his Armament Haki and Observation Haki as Vice-Admiral Garp had previously described.
Suddenly, Ian, with his eyes closed, seemed to sense something.
Several cannonballs were hurtling towards him at an unimaginable speed.
But he didn't open his eyes, nor did he duck as he had done the last time. He kept his eyes shut and didn't even raise his axe to strike.
The cannonballs' speed was clearly immense, but time seemed to slow down at this moment. Ian could clearly sense the trajectory of the cannonballs.
He was confident that a single swing of his axe would destroy the cannonballs, but he still didn't swing down his axe.
This unusual scene caught the attention of Binz, who was diligently training nearby.
"Ain, Ain, look!"
Binz hurriedly urged Ain: "Look, what's Ian doing? Preparing to take the cannonball with his face?"
"...?"
This made Ain pause, and she turned to look at Ian in confusion. Then, as if noticing something, her pupils narrowed, and with a hint of excitement in her voice, she muttered to herself: "Did he... Succeed?"
As Ain finished her words, just as Binz had said, the cannonball was about to reach Ian's face.
At this moment, Ian, who had been silent, finally moved. His movements seemed quite slow, but in the blink of an eye, the axe in his hand had fallen.
A single slash emanated from his axe.
It was the same slash, but seemed different from the previous one.
It seemed more natural, and also... More effortless, a simple and effortless swing.
With one blow, the rapidly approaching cannonballs were instantly split in half. Unlike the previous ones, they didn't explode immediately after being split.
The perfectly bisected cannonballs continued to fly forward from either side of Ian until they crashed into the ground behind him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Then a series of crisp explosions echoed.
Garp, witnessing this, burst into laughter, not holding back his praise. "Hahaha, well done, kid!"
"Thank you for your guidance."
Ian rested his axe on his shoulder and glanced at the craters behind him before turning to look at Garp, who stood with his hands on his hips.
"Otherwise, I doubt I could've learned it this fast."
"My teachings were good, weren't they? Better than that guy, Zephyr. I think I'm more suited to the position of Chief Instructor at Marine Headquarters!"
Ian: "..."
This old guy... Really gets carried away too easily!
Ian smiled helplessly, but before he could say anything…
"Then that's the end of the training. From now on, just train on your own. I see you've been splitting mountains, and that's a pretty good training method."
Garp grinned. "It's time for me to go back. If I don't, that old guy, Sengoku, will come and arrest me."
He turned to look at the two people training nearby, waved, and shouted casually: "You two, stop training. We're having a banquet tonight to celebrate the end of this kid's special training and my return to Marine Headquarters... Ugh, what's there to celebrate?! Let's go, let's have the banquet!"