novelraw Chapter 213 213: Zoro's 3D2Y (5)
Chapter 213 213: Zoro's 3D2Y (5)
One fine, clear day.
I was visiting a certain Summer Island, one of the Golden Lion Pirates' Territories.
I wasn't the only one. Along with the trio of girls, Suzu, Leona, and Alice, the close aide duo of Blume and Beauty had come too.
And on top of them, the two guys, Zoro and Saga.
So basically, the usual crew that trains together on Lubots Island had all come here.
As for why this particular group was visiting this Summer Island... well.
"For training, obviously."
"You sure about that?"
Zoro shot me a look of blatant disbelief. Saga, standing next to him, wore pretty much the same expression.
A moment later, both shifted their gazes to the side. Over there, Suzu, Leona, and Alice had just finished changing.
Seeing that, the suspicion in their eyes only deepened.
"...No matter how I look at it, this just looks like a family outing to the beach."
As for the three girls in their line of sight... all three were in swimsuits.
Suzu in a one-piece.
Leona in a tankini.
Alice in a halter-neck.
Yep, all three looked great. Very cute.
Oh, and by the way, I'd already changed into my swimsuit too, along with the two aides.
Mine was a cross-design bikini.
Beauty was wearing... what do you call it, a monokini? The kind that's wide open on the sides.
Blume was in... a school swimsuit. Seriously?
And Zoro and Saga, who hadn't brought swimsuits of their own, had changed into the loose-fit type we'd prepared for them. You know, the relaxed kind that don't cling to your skin, more like shorts.
So there we all were, everyone changed into swimsuits, gathered on the beach complete with a beach umbrella and a fully stocked cooler box and everything.
...Yeah, well... this really does just look like we came here to play. Can't blame Zoro for giving us that look.
But listen, we really did come to this island for training purposes.
If this were a leisure trip, I'd have gathered other people too, like Aisa and Maya-san and the rest of our close friends, and we'd be having a grand old time.
Besides, of the eight of us here, more than half, five of us, are Ability Users.
Even if we put on swimsuits, it's not like we can actually swim in the ocean, right?
"True... now that you mention it, good point. But then why'd you bother changing into all that?"
"Well, partly because it's a Summer Island and it's hot. And also... some of the training we're about to do will probably work better with as much skin exposed as possible."
That was my answer to Saga's question.
Then a voice cut in with a rapid-fire "Ooh! Ooh ooh ooh!"
The source: our youngest daughter, hand raised vigorously with a dead-serious expression.
"What is it, Alice?"
"I don't know what kind of training this is, but if having more skin exposed is better, I'm pretty sure there were way better swimsuits available! I propose we go change into those right now!"
"Proposal denied."
Alice's face crumpled in shock at my instant rejection.
As you could tell from Suzu's flat stare boring into Alice's back, that proposal was motivated by the usual pervy agenda. ...Goes without saying at this point.
In fact, this girl had already tried to hand us swimsuits she'd brought herself, going "Wear these!" And what she'd brought was... well, calling them "clothes" would be generous. They were basically just strings.
Apparently they were called "slingshots" or something, but I could see a future where the slightest vigorous movement would absolutely guarantee a wardrobe malfunction. No need to use Observation Haki for that prediction.
...Though from Alice's perspective, that was precisely the goal.
And it didn't stop there. This little pervert had even prepared swimsuits for Zoro and Saga.
Skin-tight with aggressively deep and steep cuts. Unmistakable Boomerang briefs.
Does this child have no sense of shame or restraint? And will she ever develop any going forward? ...Probably not.
The more her skills grew, and the higher her position and standing within the crew, the less she bothered hiding her desires, and the less she held back...
Well, enough about our resident pervy kid. Time for training!
"So... what kind of training are we doing dressed like this?"
"Heh heh heh, well you see..."
***
Training Exercise No. 1... Beach Volleyball.
Simple enough. Exactly what the name says. Beach volleyball.
Set up a net on the sand, hit around a ball pumped rock-hard with air, smack it with your hands and arms to drop it into the opposing team's court, defend against the same... that kind of game.
Currently underway: Zoro-Saga Team vs. Leona-Alice Team.
"Take this!"
WHAM!!
"It's headed your way, Zoro!"
"I know... dammit, the angle... haaah!"
"Ooh, I got to that one in time... but... nice setup!"
Leona spiked, Zoro barely managed a receive... but the ball went straight up.
Alice, who'd been waiting for exactly that, dove in for a spike... but this time Saga read it and received it cleanly.
Sounds like a fun game of beach volleyball, right? ...Not quite.
'There was a movie I saw in my past life kind of like this... Shaolin kung fu masters playing soccer with maneuver-gear-level acrobatics...'
Sitting in the spectator area watching the game, that was what crossed my mind.
Since this beach volleyball was being done as training, there was no way it was a normal match... and indeed, the spectacle unfolding before me was abnormal just from looking at it.
First of all, all four of them were airborne.
Not because they'd jumped. They were perpetually airborne. They never came down to the ground, or rather the sand. They were playing volleyball while flying through the air.
The reason was that a certain section of this Summer Island's beach, specifically the area where we were now, had sand that was absolutely scorching due to its mineral composition and the angle of the sunlight. Hot enough that trying to walk on it barefoot would guarantee instant burns, like stepping on a red-hot iron griddle.
So instead of touching down, they had to bounce through the air using Moonwalk or fly using their Powers.
Since neither Zoro nor Saga could do either, they were wearing the "shoes that let you walk on air" that Leona had mentioned before.
Playing beach volleyball with no stable footing... or rather, with no footing at all.
Naturally, all four were pulling off acrobatic, three-dimensional maneuvers straight out of Shaolin Soc... I mean, that movie.
On top of that, this beach volleyball match allowed Haki.
The attacking side naturally loaded their hits with Armament Haki, so the receiving side had to defend with their own Armament Haki or they couldn't handle the ball at all.
A failed receive could, worst case, send you crashing down onto the sand, which was scorching hot. In a swimsuit with all that exposed skin, the result would be... well, you can imagine, right?
What's more, if the ball hit the sand, the impact would blast the superheated grains outward like buckshot. That dealt serious damage too, so everyone was desperate not to fumble or drop it.
And the radiant heat reflecting off the sand pushed the ambient temperature well past 40 degrees Celsius, so the heat itself was another enemy.
To sum up: amid unstable footing conditions where you kick off the air to move, while being blasted by the blazing sun and radiant heat from the sand, you block Haki-infused balls and slam them back with your own Haki... over and over and over again.
See? Quite the grueling training exercise, right?
All four were drenched in sweat, desperately smacking the ball around while trying not to fall. But after a few minutes they'd gotten used to it, and the match grew increasingly intense and increasingly ridiculous.
"Swordless Style... Dragon Twister!!"
"Swordless Flash... Raho!!"
Zoro whipped up a whirlwind that swept up the scorching sand, and from beyond it, Saga launched a spike with a hand-chop.
Passing through the whirlwind, the ball curved wildly and flew trailing sand in its wake.
"You little...! Tempest Kick: Cruel Claw!!"
Leona unleashed a rapid barrage of kicks in midair, generating Sickle Winds that scattered the sand and killed the ball's momentum.
Alice received the now-normal-speed ball and popped it upward... and Leona went for an overhead kick.
But Saga had read it and deflected it upward with a hand-chop... and Zoro, who'd circled around to that spot, swung down.
"Swordless Style... Flying Dragon: Flame!!"
He smashed the ball away with a hand-chop strike.
Alice tried to receive it, but right in front of her eyes the ball caught fire and came hurtling in wreathed in flames... She visibly flinched at that one.
"But... I can handle this much!"
Alice blocked it with, of all things, the advanced technique of Emission Haki, blowing away the fire while receiving the ball... and it looked like the rally was far from over.
"Also, isn't it kinda amazing that ball hasn't broken with all that insane abuse? I mean, even with Haki reinforcing it."
"Oh, that's a special custom-made ball I had Mama make. It's woven with metallic fibers containing Wapometal, so apparently it's tougher than an iron ball of the same size."
"You're having them play beach volleyball with something that crazy... Also, they've clearly been using techniques way beyond what beach volleyball calls for, and Leona's been straight-up kicking the ball. Is that okay?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Don't sweat the details. It's good training."
***
Training Exercise No. 2... Beach Flags.
Same deal as before. The rules are the same as normal beach flags. You lie face-down on the sand, then at the signal you sprint to grab the flag that's been planted in the ground. Whoever grabs it wins.
But of course, this is no ordinary beach flags either.
The sand isn't scorching hot like before. We'd moved to a different spot.
However, the distance to the flag was about 200 meters... and everyone was waiting in position with their actual combat gear strapped to their waists and arms.
Why?
"Ready... set... GO!"
"Three-Sword Style... 108 Pound Phoenix!!"
"One Sword Style... One Flash: Army Breaker!!"
"Tempest Kick: Lion's Rend!!"
"Kurozumi Two-Sword Style... Kuchinawa!!"
The instant they took off, everyone unleashed techniques at the ground in front of them.
The surface sand was blasted away... revealing underneath a layer of sand in constant, violent flux, flowing like rapids. Scattered throughout it were several rock formations, like stepping stones.
The sand at this location was Quicksand. Try to walk normally and you'd get sucked down like a Bottomless Swamp. So once again, you either had to use Moonwalk or similar techniques to stay airborne and avoid sinking, or blast away the sand to expose the safe zones of rock beneath and hop across those.
In the latter case, the constantly flowing sand would bury the ground again almost immediately, so you'd have to keep firing off techniques to blast it away each time.
On top of that, the planted flag would also sink into the sand, so you had to grab it before that happened... or if you couldn't, blast the sand away again to find and retrieve the sunken flag.
One more thing: the island-like rock formations were ordinary rock, and if you used too powerful an attack to force the sand away, you'd destroy the rocks too and lose your footing. So controlling your power and range was crucial.
Oh... looks like Saga won this round.
His edge came from taking the shortest route with minimal movement and minimal technique usage.
***
Training Exercise No. 3... Watermelon Splitting.
Same concept as the previous two.
The activity itself is normal watermelon splitting, but the details are anything but.
The beach here is perfectly ordinary, nothing special about it... but the watermelon, though.
It's a watermelon that only grows on a certain island in the New World, and its rind is harder than iron. Try to cut it with an actual saber and the blade would chip.
Meanwhile, the weapon we were using was a plain wooden stick.
So hit it normally and your stick loses 100% of the time. You have to coat the stick with sufficiently strong Armament Haki before striking.
Well, that alone wouldn't be too difficult, honestly. Everyone's been getting better and better at using Armament Haki lately.
But when you actually try it, there's one more thing you have to watch out for.
Watermelon splitting, you know... you're blindfolded.
"Come on, Zoro, go straight! Straight ahead!"
"A little more to the right, I say! Right!"
"Hmm, I'd say a liiiittle more to the left, personally!"
"It might actually be behind you, you know!"
There it is.
The classic watermelon-splitting staple: friends shouting nonsense to confuse you.
As Zoro closed his eyes and tried to split the watermelon, the three girls plus one were having the time of their lives calling out whatever they pleased.
All four were saying completely different things, so there was no telling whose words to trust, and you could see the strain on Zoro's face.
The point wasn't to deduce which of them was telling the truth. This was training too. Observation Haki training.
Ignoring the voices of everyone around you, listening to their "voices" in the extrasensory sense... reading the thoughts and awareness of the girls who could actually see both the watermelon and his current position, and from that, discerning where the watermelon was and splitting it. That was the point of the exercise.
How well could you tune out the kids gleefully screaming and yelling for fun, and focus solely on those "voices" to extract the information you needed? That was what mattered.
Extracting as much information as possible from Observation Haki connected to the ultra-advanced skill of Future Sight, so this was actually quite an important exercise.
Zoro had the concentration for this sort of thing. He seemed frustrated at first, but gradually calmed himself and focused on "hearing the voices"... and before long, he began walking with confident, unhesitating steps.
No matter what anyone said to rile him up or trick him, he didn't waver once. ...Impressive.
......But then,
SPLAAAAAASH!!
"Ah... walked straight into the ocean."
"He was moving so confidently, I really thought he'd make it..."
"I mean, you know... Zoro's always had zero sense of direction. That's probably why, right?"
""Ahh...""
The man's sense of direction was so otherworldly that he'd get lost even when he knew where he was going, even with someone giving him real-time guidance. So the moment you blocked his vision, even at this distance, he was hopeless.
In terms of the training, the road ahead was going to be long... and the challenge substantial.
And so we spent the day doing training mixed with marine sports.
Making sure to hydrate properly throughout with sports drinks and other beverages from the cooler box we'd brought.
That night, to refresh ourselves, we put training out of our minds and had a barbecue.
In addition to the food we'd brought, Bobby and Pogo, the two Giants that Suzu had scouted and recruited, dropped off a huge haul of freshly caught fish, so it turned into a seafood barbecue.
We ate and drank and had a great time, with the feeling of "let's do our best again tomorrow."
By the way, we plan to continue training on this Summer Island for about a week. I hope everyone manages to pick up a thing or two during that time.
To be continued...