The training ground at the rear of the Western Naval Base was unlike any ordinary field. It was surrounded by half-meter-thick reinforced concrete walls, and the floor was made of hard, durable stone slabs.
The old Vice Admiral, whom Seven recognized from his nameplate as Komei, walked to the center of the field. He took off his white judge's robe, folded it neatly, and placed it on a wooden barrel at the edge of the field. Even in his twilight years, the muscles beneath Komei's shirt still looked as taut as steel wire.
"Listen, kid. A bounty of one hundred million Berry in this era is no joke," Komei said, cracking his neck. "I don't know what dirty tricks you used to kill Sparrow. But in this arena, there's only pure combat. Prove to me that you're worthy of wearing the Navy uniform."
Seven walked slowly into the arena. Instead of answering, the young man untied the straps across his chest, letting the giant sandbag that had been strapped to his back fall to the ground.
BOOOM!
The stone floor beneath Seven's feet immediately cracked into a spiderweb pattern. Dust billowed into the air from the impact of the tons-heavy load—the result of Shukaku's modifications.
Komei's eyes widened slightly at the small crater that had just formed. A load that heavy… and he carries it around so casually? What kind of monster is this kid? he thought, his alertness immediately spiking.
"You may attack first, Old Man," Seven said casually. The wind blew his black cloak, and in an instant, the color of his eyes changed. His black irises melted into blood red, revealing two black dots spinning slowly in each of his pupils.
Komei didn't ask about those strange eyes. In this sea, people with strange abilities were a dime a dozen. Vice Admiral Komei immediately assumed a low fighting stance.
Then, he vanished.
It wasn't a figure of speech; Komei truly vanished from plain sight.
But to Seven, the world seemed to slow down. His two-tomoe Sharingan captured the movement of Komei's feet as they struck the ground a dozen times in a fraction of a second. The old man manipulated the earth's repulsive force to create a burst of superhuman speed.
Soru!
Suddenly, Komei was already on Seven's right side. A sweeping kick coated in pitch-black Weapon Haki streaked toward his ribs.
Seven reacted reflexively. He coated his right arm with Haki and parried the kick.
BAM!
The collision of the two densely packed Haki created a shockwave that swept the dust across the field. Seven was pushed back, his feet scraping two meters across the stone floor, leaving deep gouges. His hand went numb. This old man's Haki was highly refined and well-trained, far surpassing that of a pirate like Sparrow.
"Nice reflexes! But how about this?!"
Komei gave him no time to rest. He leaped into the air, stepping on empty space as if there were a visible foothold there. Geppo, and positioned himself above Seven. The old man swung his leg in a lightning-fast curved kick.
Rankyaku!
A massive, sickle-shaped blade of wind streaked downward, slicing through the air with a terrifying whistling sound.
Seven performed a shunshin, blinking to the side just a few millimeters before the blade of wind split the stone floor where he had been standing a split second ago. The ground was split open a full meter deep.
The battle continued at breakneck speed. Komei kept attacking from various angles, utilizing the six martial arts techniques of the Navy. Rokushiki.
He used Kami-e to bend like paper and dodge Seven's counterattacks, used Shigan to force Seven to constantly thicken his Haki at vital points, and withstood physical impacts with Tekkai, which made Komei's muscles as hard as iron.
Seven was truly on the defensive. He could only block, parry, and dodge. His body wasn't yet accustomed to facing such an efficient barrage of physical techniques.
However, behind his seemingly overwhelmed defense, something terrifying was happening.
Seven's two red tomoe eyes were spinning at high speed. His brain, powered by the Bijuu's strength, was working like a supercomputer. He wasn't just seeing Komei's movements; he was dissecting them.
Every twitch of Komei's calf muscles as he prepared to use Soru, every breathing pattern and blood vessel contraction as he activated Tekkai, down to the way he channeled energy to his fingertips for Shigan. Seven's Sharingan copied, recorded, and analyzed every secret behind the Rokushiki martial arts without missing a single detail.
'Amazing,' Seven thought amidst the barrage of blows. 'This martial art purely exploits the limits of the human body. Perfect... this is the perfect foundation to strengthen my physique while my chakra is still weak!'
Komei, with his decades of experience as a veteran, realized something was wrong.
The young man's bloodshot eyes showed no sign of panic or despair, even as he was constantly being pushed back. Instead, his eyes radiated curiosity, like a student engrossed in a book.
"This kid… is he studying me?!" Komei snorted softly. His pride as a veteran was slightly stung.
"You have a solid defense, kid. But on the battlefield, passive defense will only lead you to your death!"
Komei took a deep breath. The muscles in his right arm bulged. He combined Soru to dart right in front of Seven's face in the blink of an eye, then activated Tekkai simultaneously to harden his entire body, and coated his right fist with the black Armament Haki he had mastered.
Seven's eyes widened. He crossed his arms, already coated in Haki, to block.
BOOM!!!
A dull explosion sounded as loud as a cannon being fired. Seven's Haki and Komei's Haki collided.
But this time, experience made the difference. Seven's Haki defense wasn't stable enough to withstand the full power of a Vice Admiral who was a master of Rokushiki. His defense crumbled. Komei's strike slammed directly into Seven's arms, sending them crashing into his own chest.
The immense force propelled Seven's body through the air like a cannonball.
CRAAAK!
Seven slammed into the thick concrete wall at the edge of the field at high speed. The wall cracked severely, leaving a human-shaped indentation in the center.
Seven's body slid down to the ground. He coughed violently.
"Ugh!"
A mouthful of fresh red blood spurted from his mouth, dripping and staining the stone floor. Intense pain radiated from his chest down to his ribs. This was the first time he had been truly injured since being stranded in this world.
Komei stood in the center of the arena, his chest rising and falling as he caught his breath. He stared at the young man lying at the far end of the arena.
"Enough. The test is over," Komei said firmly. "For a beginner, surviving my attacks this long is already…"
The old Vice Admiral's words caught in his throat.
At the far end of the field, beneath the shadow of a cracked wall, Quentin Seven slowly rose to his feet. He wiped the remaining blood from the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand.
The young man looked down at his own blood, then his shoulders shook slightly. He laughed.
It wasn't a laugh of despair, but one filled with satisfaction.
Seven slowly raised his face. Those red eyes with two tomoe now shone brighter than before; slowly, the red eyes transformed into three tomoe.
"Thank you for the lesson, Old Man," said Seven. He assumed a low, familiar fighting stance. His feet landed lightly on the stones, ready to deliver a series of thrusts.
Komei's eyes widened in horror. Cold sweat instantly trickled down the old Vice Admiral's temples.
That was the Soru stance.