Ash still could not determine the true requirements for awakening the Three Types of Haki.
When he first consumed his Devil Fruit, his mental power reached fifty seven points. At that moment, Observation Haki awakened naturally. Soon afterward, when his physique broke past one hundred points, Armament Haki also awakened automatically.
Because of this, Ash once believed that the threshold for Observation Haki was around fifty points of mental strength, while Armament Haki required at least one hundred points of physical strength.
However, that assumption did not last long.
After Pini and the others consumed their Devil Fruits, Ash quickly realized his guess was wrong.
Among the young adults of the original Diwen Village, Sali possessed the strongest physique. Even before gaining any Devil Fruit ability, he had already awakened Armament Haki naturally.
If Armament Haki truly required a physique of one hundred points, and Sali was just at that threshold, then Youki and Pini, whose physical strength ranked just below Sali, should have been somewhere around eighty to ninety points.
But something strange happened.
When Pini consumed his Devil Fruit, both his physical strength and mental power increased by fifty points. Despite that enormous boost, he only awakened Observation Haki and not Armament Haki.
That result made no sense.
At that time, Pini's physical strength had clearly surpassed Ash's normal state, excluding the temporary amplification from Ash's special abilities. Yet Pini still could not awaken Armament Haki.
This situation continued until Pini returned alone to the North Blue. After roughly ten days of extremely intense training, he finally awakened Armament Haki.
Youki's situation was the complete opposite.
Among the younger generation, Youki's physique should have been second only to Sali, even stronger than Pini. Yet according to Youki himself, the moment he used his Devil Fruit ability, Armament Haki awakened immediately.
His Observation Haki, however, did not awaken until more than a month later, shortly after they arrived at Jaya Island.
As for Sali, he had already awakened Armament Haki naturally before gaining his fruit. After consuming it, Observation Haki awakened immediately as well. Because of that, Sali could not serve as a reliable reference.
Dicken's case was quite similar to Youki's. His Armament Haki awakened immediately, while Observation Haki appeared about a month later after intense training.
Then there were the Daly Three Brothers.
The eldest brother Jason and the second brother Jella both awakened Armament Haki directly after using their Devil Fruits. However, neither of them had awakened Observation Haki by the time Ash and the others left Skypiea.
Only the youngest brother, Jack, awakened both types of Haki instantly due to the unique nature of his Devil Fruit.
The Kirk siblings and several other young adults from Diwen Village consumed fruits that greatly enhanced their physical strength. Strangely, most of them awakened both types of Haki immediately.
The whole situation was incredibly confusing.
Even now, Ash still had not figured out the true requirements for awakening the Three Types of Haki. In the end, he could only assume that each person awakened Haki differently depending on their natural attributes.
The reason Ash began thinking about this problem again was simple.
Two days had passed since his call with Vice Admiral Tsuru and Big News Morgans, and life on the ship had suddenly become boring.
The modification of the Dawn had nearly finished. The remaining supplies such as seeds for the orchard and vegetable garden, along with basic household items, would have to be purchased in a proper town.
At the same time, the pirate ships they used to encounter every few days had mysteriously disappeared.
Recently, every ship they encountered had been either a merchant vessel or a passenger ship. Once, they even ran into a Marine supply ship.
Because of this sudden lack of excitement, everyone was getting restless.
Saff spent most of his time experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen. Perona followed him around constantly, pestering him like a curious ghost.
Meanwhile, Ash, Kirk, Youki, and Tsuki were all growing bored.
Brook, however, felt completely different.
A skeleton who had spent more than forty years alone drifting across the sea did not get bored easily. Over the past few days, Brook had been happily lying on the deck and enjoying the sunlight.
With nothing else to do, the four bored men gathered together to think of a way to pass the time.
Youki suddenly turned toward Tsuki and grinned.
"Then let's train Tsuki, that lazy brat."
Tsuki froze in shock.
He immediately protested with all his strength.
Unfortunately, his protest was instantly overruled.
Ash and Brook admitted they had no idea how to train him, but they were perfectly willing to watch the entertainment.
After thinking about it, they realized something interesting.
Tsuki was the only person on the ship who still had not awakened either type of Haki after gaining his Devil Fruit ability.
His ability to use the Voice of All Things existed only because it was an innate ability of his fruit. Every time he used it, it consumed a large amount of his physical strength.
In a way, Tsuki had benefited greatly from the special Devil Fruit designed by Ash. It allowed him to experience an advanced Observation Haki ability long before he actually awakened the real thing.
Even so, after several days had passed, Tsuki was still what Ash jokingly called a "three nothing person."
No Armament Haki.
No Observation Haki.
And completely bored.
As for Conqueror's Haki, that was an entirely different story.
Ash himself was not even sure whether someone like him could ever awaken it.
After all, the requirement for Conqueror's Haki supposedly involved possessing the qualities of a king.
Ash did not consider himself that kind of person at all. His personality leaned heavily toward laziness. Over the past two months, he had worked so hard only to establish a stable foundation for everyone around him.
Once everything was stable, he planned to live a peaceful life doing absolutely nothing.
Tsuki, on the other hand, was even lazier.
All day long, he simply wandered around the ship looking for excitement. He barely put any effort into mastering his Devil Fruit ability.
As far as Armament Haki was concerned, Ash doubted Tsuki failed to awaken it due to weakness or age.
Tsuki grew up under the care of his older brother Sali.
Since childhood, he had eaten countless meals made from roasted Sea Beast meat and even Sea King meat.
In the world of pirates, what you eat directly influences your strength.
Because of that diet, Tsuki's physical strength had always been impressive.
Among the youths of Diwen Village, Tsuki's physique likely ranked just below the Daly Three Brothers. He was comparable to the members of the hunting and fishing teams and far stronger than a normal Marine soldier.
Even at his young age, his physical attributes easily exceeded fifty points.
Compared to the young Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, and Sabo when they were still fighting wild beasts in the forests, Tsuki's upbringing had been far more comfortable.
That was the advantage of having a responsible guardian.
Sali was far more attentive than Luffy's absent father or the grandfather who left him with mountain bandits.
He did not just provide food.
He provided excellent food.
After consuming his Devil Fruit, Tsuki's physique had definitely surpassed one hundred points.
Yet despite possessing such strength, he still had not awakened Armament Haki, just like Pini once failed to do.
Being useless was unacceptable.
Ash still could not determine the true conditions for awakening Armament Haki. Kirk was curious about the mystery as well, but Youki took a far simpler view.
In Youki's opinion, the reason Tsuki had not awakened Armament Haki was obvious.
The brat was lazy.
He refused to train seriously and wasted the powerful body he had gained from eating so many high quality meals.
And so Tsuki's nightmare began.
Every morning, he had to carry a gigantic rock weighing nearly fifty tons while running twenty laps around the Dawn.
After lunch, he had to spar with Youki and Kirk in turns.
During these battles he was forbidden from using his Devil Fruit ability.
Only after he was beaten so badly that he could no longer stand was he allowed to activate his healing ability. After that, he would eat meals made from Sea King meat to recover his strength before starting the entire process again.
Just watching this training routine made Ash feel tired.
It also made him look forward even more to the training manual for the Six Powers and Life Return that Vice Admiral Tsuru had promised.
In the world of pirates, aside from the brutal training methods of Kaido's forces, the Six Powers remained one of the most systematic ways to strengthen both the body and Haki.
Unfortunately, Ash had not yet obtained that method.
For now, little Tsuki would simply have to continue suffering.
"It will be fine once you awaken Armament Haki," Ash said calmly. "Or when we reach the Sabaody Archipelago."
During this time, the News Coo arrived again.
After collecting fifty Berries from Ash, the bird dropped off a fresh newspaper and flew away.
The article described the recent rise of the Dawn Pirate Hunters and detailed Ash's recent accomplishments.
Older reports mentioned the defeat of the Wolf Guzzling Pirates captain Kamberna in the North Blue.
More sensational news covered the destruction of Mock Town in Paradise.
The most shocking report described the fall of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria.
The article even mentioned the defeat of the Giant Warrior Pirates captain.
The coverage was extremely detailed.
However, one embarrassing incident was completely omitted.
There was no mention of the time Ash had been issued a bounty of eight hundred Berries simply for touching a mysterious explosive treasure chest.
Just as Vice Admiral Tsuru predicted, Morgans understood perfectly how to create dramatic headlines.
Ash did not mind the publicity.
Unfortunately for Tsuki, none of that news helped him escape training.
Two days later, Tsuki deeply regretted choosing the power of the One Legged Rain Spirit.
If that cursed wood element had not given him such powerful regenerative abilities, Youki and Kirk would not have dared to beat him so mercilessly.
Still, the brutal training produced results.
After two miserable days, Tsuki finally awakened Armament Haki.
However, the process felt like digging a canal through solid rock.
It was incredibly painful.
With tears streaming down his face, Tsuki called Bro Sali to complain about the abuse he suffered from the two older brothers.
To his horror, Sali did not comfort him.
Instead, Sali asked Ash and the others to take the phone and began discussing whether this training method could be applied to everyone else.
Tsuki howled in despair.
Before ending the call, Sali made another suggestion.
He recommended that they encourage Tsuki to use the Voice of All Things more frequently. Experiencing such a high level Observation Haki ability ahead of time might accelerate the awakening of his real Observation Haki.
Ash and the others felt the idea sounded reasonable.
Tsuki cried even louder.
The following day, Tsuki lazily sat by the ship's railing while using the Voice of All Things to chat with the flying fish swimming beneath the waves.
Suddenly, Youki shouted from the mainmast where he stood watch.
"The Red Line is visible!"
Ash raised his head and looked toward the horizon.
He immediately understood what that meant.
They were very close to the Sabaody Archipelago.
Ash turned toward Tsuki.
"Tsuki, ask your new fish friends which direction the Sabaody Archipelago is."
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