Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 27 Six Styles Advancement: Mastery of Observation Haki!

Bane had originally planned to recruit some sailors in Loguetown so that he could use his ship in a normal way.

However, since martial law is now in effect in Loguetown, his plan has naturally failed.

They didn't linger in Loguetown any longer. After purchasing some supplies, Bane and his group quickly left Loguetown.

It's worth mentioning that although Zoro didn't choose a good sword for Bane, he successfully acquired the Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri, much to Tashigi's envy.

As for Nami, she bought a whole bunch of designer clothes. And you know what? Nami is naturally beautiful, and with her excellent fashion sense, a change of clothes, coupled with the support of her wealth, elevated her overall aura considerably.

"The Log Pose Smoker found for us happens to be at Whiskey Peak, which is at the entrance to the Grand Line. Now that we have the direction right, the next issue is the navigation. If we want to bypass the Holy Land Mary Geoise and enter the Grand Line, we can only proceed from Reverse Mountain, there..." Bane sat on a bucket on the deck, explaining the situation they would encounter to Nami and Zoro.

Zoro got bored after listening for only a couple of sentences, then walked to the other side of the deck and started practicing his swordsmanship.

After Bane explained to Nami what she would encounter next, Nami confidently accepted the mission.

In the following days, the ship sailed normally, and Bane also entered a state of meditation.

His daily appetite is now astonishing. Zoro originally thought he could eat enough, but Bane can eat five times his amount and it's still increasing. Nami thinks this guy is simply a monster; he can eat a whole cow in one meal.

As Bane's appetite began to increase rapidly, his physical fitness also improved rapidly, and his weight could be felt changing almost every day.

It's important to understand that his physique hasn't changed much, and his height hasn't increased significantly. Under these circumstances, it's very strange that his weight is increasing every day.

But Bane knew why: his muscle density, bone density, and other physical attributes were increasing, so his weight was also increasing.

Meanwhile, as Bane's physical abilities steadily improved, he became more and more adept at developing the Six Styles. One of his milestones was his unexpected mastery of free movement in Iron Body Mode!

This is extremely difficult. Even Rob Lucci, the CP agency's so-called strongest agent in eight hundred years, has not mastered this skill. In Bane's memory, it seems that only the werewolf Jabra knows this trick.

Iron blocks are a technique that can train all the muscles in the body. Bane didn't intend to rely on iron blocks to withstand his opponent's attacks. In his memory, people who were superstitious about iron blocks usually didn't end up well.

He simply used the iron block as a breakthrough point in the Six Styles, and as it turned out, it was very effective.

In the days following his breakthrough in Iron Body, Bane could clearly feel that his control over his body had reached a new level. Some of the difficulties he had encountered in the Six Styles were easily resolved as he entered this new realm. For example, his Shave Step was faster, his Finger Pistol was sharper, and his Moon Step and Tempest Kick were also significantly enhanced.

What satisfied him most was that his thinking was correct. The Iron Body Technique was the one that could directly target the core of the entire Six Styles, while the others were all specialized in a certain part of the body!

When all six techniques reached a level of mastery, which was the moment when Bane and his crew successfully crossed the Reverse Mountain, standing on the deck, feeling the swiftness of the current below the ship and the gentleness of the sea breeze on his body, Bane finally mastered one of the six techniques' great secrets, namely, the return of life!

The moment the bow of the Shark Spab plunged down the rapids of Reverse Mountain and crashed into the sea, Bane felt as if he had entered a completely new environment.

He could hear his own heartbeat, feel his blood flowing through his body, and the rhythm of his breathing caused his muscles to move slightly, his bones to rub against each other. He could even feel a few strands of his hair falling out and his nails growing slowly.

Then, he sensed the sound and the breath!

That's him!

In that instant, Bane seemed to have realized something, so much so that the violent tremors caused by the ship hitting the sea did not affect him at all; his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground, gripping the deck tightly.

"Bane, we've reached the Great!" Nami excitedly tried to call out to Bane.

But Zoro was faster, covering Nami's mouth with his hand and staring intently at Bane, saying, "Don't make a sound."

After about five or six minutes, the ship gradually calmed down, and Zoro released Nami.

Then, to Nami's astonishment, Zoro drew his sword, Wado Ichimonji, from his waist. Zoro silently appeared behind Bane, and without a word, raised his hand and slashed at Bane's shoulder and neck from behind.

The slash was so powerful that Nami opened her mouth to scream in fright.

But the next second, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Bane shifted his left foot and slightly tilted his body to dodge the attack. Zoro did not stop either. While he stopped the force of his Wado Ichimonji, he slashed diagonally towards Bane's waist and abdomen.

Bane was also very agile. With his eyes closed and his body swift, he narrowly avoided Zoro's attack. Then, as if they were putting on a show, Zoro slashed at Bane one after another.

But Bane never opened his eyes, and he dodged every knife strike with precision, as if the two of them had planned it together.

After dozens of slashes, Zoro stopped, and Bane opened his eyes, a slightly excited smile on his lips.

"How did you find out?" Bane asked Zoro first.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"I don't know how to describe that feeling. It's like I suddenly heard your breathing, your voice. Actually, it's not just you, I can hear the ship, Nami, I can hear them all. This is what Master told me about before. The Realm of Cutting Iron!" Zoro said after thinking for a moment.

He could cut through iron before, but that was done by relying on the power of Haki and forcibly completing it. Now, Zoro feels that he can cut through steel with a casual strike. He doesn't know how he broke through this step.

Just now, when he saw Bane standing firmly in place amidst the rapids and impacts, he seemed to suddenly have an epiphany. He thought he heard Bane's voice, his breathing, his body breathing—a very mysterious sound.

Looking back now, Zoro thinks that perhaps it was Bane's change that spurred him on, and he happened to be at a bottleneck and juncture, so he naturally overcame this hurdle.

After briefly describing his situation, Zoro continued, "Then, I suddenly noticed that your breathing and your voice were different."

At this point, Zoro stared at Bane without saying anything more, but he was clearly waiting for an answer.

"Observation Haki." Bane didn't keep anyone in suspense, but grinned and said, "It's Observation Haki. I've mastered it. Although I'm not very proficient yet, I've finally gotten the hang of it."

There was no hint of jealousy in his expression, but Zoro asked with a hint of anticipation, "Is there some kind of technique?"

"I can't explain it in detail, but since you can hear your own breathing, you might be able to master Observation Haki in the next step. I heard breathing just now, as well as the Six Styles. Now I'm certain that both Observation Haki and Armament Haki are related to one's control over one's body. I first understood myself before I could hear the sounds of the outside world, and you can already hear the sounds of the outside world. So I estimate that as long as you can understand yourself and hear yourself, you will naturally master Observation Haki!" After thinking for a while, Bane offered some suggestions and opinions.

(End of this chapter)