On the road to Ohara, beneath the tree of knowledge.
Under Rocks's death glare and the crushing aura of every powerhouse aboard, Maron—the Mafia boss of the West Blue—finally awakened two-color Haki.
At least Fang Huo's prophecy hadn't been proven wrong.
The guy's talent was still pretty impressive.
So Fang Huo and Newgate asked Fūgetsu Kisaburō for pointers on how Ryuo Haki is used.
After all, mastering one more Armament trick never hurts.
Out in the Blues, the only way for an Armament specialist to project Haki outward is brutal training—building up enough raw volume before it can be expelled.
External Armament is a major dividing line between top-tiers.
Just like Conquerors Haki Infusion leaves a chasm among those who've awakened Conqueror's Haki.
Many awaken the Conqueror's Haki, but only a handful ever master Conquerors Haki Infusion.
An Emperor-level pirate who can coat beats a Great Pirate who can't as easily as swatting kittens and puppies.
Doflamingo still breaks into a cold sweat at the mere mention of Beast Kaido.
The Fifth Emperor, Straw Hat Luffy, was one-shot by Beast Kaido—one swing and his eyes rolled back.
Likewise, far more people awaken Armament Haki—schools of fish in this sea—yet those who can externalize it are already top dogs in the New World.
Think of a person's Armament Haki as water: without technique it's just splashed out, winning by volume alone.
With technique it becomes a water gun, a water blade… the same amount of water, shaped into a jet or blade, hits harder and wastes less.
Average Armament users only know coating and hardening; external emission is a power reserved for bona-fide Great Pirates.
Yet in Wano Country's tradition, almost every yakuza boss or Red Scabbard wields Ryuo.
Their Armament may still lag behind the Blues' elites in quantity or quality, but they can already wield this flowing Haki.
Greater quantity, higher quality, plus finer technique and thriftier usage… all of it boosts combat strength and staying power.
After all, a person's Armament Haki can run dry.
Look at Straw Hat Luffy: when his tank's empty he can't even open Gear Fourth, needing allies to buy time while he recovers.
Whether facing Doflamingo or Beast Kaido, the protagonist Straw Hat Luffy's constant comebacks relied on friends and allies stalling while his Haki and stamina returned.
The Demon Heir, Bullet, thanks to his monstrous physique, possessed colossal Armament reserves.
He could fling out entire oceans of Armament just to show off.
Early in a fight, with Haki to spare, no one could scratch him.
Yet later he still activated his giant fusion form, scattering and wasting Armament until the mob finally brought him down.
A textbook case of poor Armament management and zero technique.
Had Bullet learned Amazon Lily's Armament Blast Coating plus Wano's Ryuo flow…
With his Armament pool he could've spammed Blast Coatings and internal-shatter strikes, one-shotting most foes.
But that's this world's style—brutal, head-on!
Any reincarnator knows: kill with the least effort to stay combat-ready longest.
Who knows how many hidden bosses or bush-campers are waiting to harvest your head once you're exhausted?
Only in this world can you go all-out, be helpless for hours or days, and still survive un-challenged.
A turn-based island world.
Well, only the Straw Hats enjoy protagonist armor; they never get picked off while weakened.
count red and Bullet both collapsed from exhaustion and were captured.
Going solo without keeping an escape plan or reserve strength is a deadly, reckless habit.
—"A trick to make Armament flow? Not bad."
Even Rocks studied the Ryuo trick; within hours he'd completely grasped the Armament technique.
At his level, mastery in one area becomes mastery in all—one principle unlocks a hundred.
The monster Rocks possessed Armament reserves so absurd he'd always splashed it around—swing with everything you've got.
Technique? Efficiency?
Never heard of them.
So Ryuo flow was of little use to him.
He simply didn't need to conserve Armament Haki.
Besides, he already wielded the stronger Conquerors Haki Infusion.
To him Ryuo was chicken ribs—nice but dispensable.
For the younger Executives, however, a trick that granted early external emission and stronger Internal Destruction was priceless.
Some of them still lacked the sheer volume or quality needed for standard external Armament.
They were still young.
Give them five or six more years and they'd stand at the pinnacle of the sea.
—Besides learning Ryuo Haki, Fang Huo also asked Fūgetsu Kisaburō—the smith who could forge supreme grade blades—to see if the seven star demon sword could be upgraded.
"Hiss~ first mate, your demon blade's will is insanely strong!"
The moment Fūgetsu Kisaburō gripped Fang Huo's seven star demon sword his hand sizzled and smoked; startled, he quickly coated it with Armament Haki.
Yet the sword still rejected him, its entire length vibrating.
"I thought Kozaburo's cursed blade, Enma, was freakish, but the first mate's seven star demon sword is equally terrifying."
Fūgetsu Kisaburō forced himself to hold the sword and study it for a while, then promptly returned it to Fang Huo.
"first mate, the instant a sword is forged it gains life and becomes an individual."
"I don't recommend remodelling or upgrading it."
"You could do what the dragon-slaying swordsman Shimotsuki Ryuma did—nurture your blade into a supreme black blade."
"Then it will become incomparably hard, utterly indestructible!"
Speaking as a professional smith, Fūgetsu Kisaburō offered his advice.
Besides, special ores compatible with the seven star demon sword were nearly impossible to find right now.
"Then I'll personally turn it into a Seven-Star Dragon-Pattern Black-Gold Sword."
Fang Huo studied the green-patterned seven-star blade; maybe a Dragon-Pattern black-gold version would look even cooler.
The seven star demon sword pulsed with an eerie red glow, as though responding to his wish.
"Someday the first mate's seven star demon sword won't be inferior to the shodai kitetsu!"
Fūgetsu Kisaburō thought of that famous cursed blade, the shodai kitetsu, lost from Wano countless years ago.
It seemed that after the war that closed Wano's borders, its wielder fell and the shodai kitetsu drifted out to sea, its whereabouts still unknown.
He and Kozaburo's friend—the mask-loving smith, Tenguyama Hitetsu—
that man's ancestor, Kōtetsu, forged the nidan kitetsu.
Tenguyama Hitetsu personally crafted the sandai kitetsu.