Haoshoku Haki

Roughly having finalized the conferring of rank, Longinus followed Sengoku to his admiral's office.

"The use of Haoshoku?" Sengoku nodded and said, "Indeed, Haoshoku itself cannot be trained like Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku, it can only become stronger as it grows."

"But for a truly strong person who has reached the intermediate stage of Haoshoku that can send and receive, how to control and use this ability becomes especially important."

"Before I teach you, let me ask you what you think of Haoshoku Haki?"

"The most common theory circulating about Haoshoku is that it is an innate talent, a kingly qualification determined through one's destiny." Longinus said with a smile and a shake of his head, "But I don't believe that."

"Oh? What did you think of that?" Sengoku asked with interest.

"One of the simplest examples, it seems like the only one in our marine who has Haoshoku is you, Admiral Sengoku! If it's really some innate talent, doesn't that mean our Marines are all unqualified fools?"

"And I've seen quite a few pirates with Haoshoku in the Eternal Hell of Impel Down, and to be honest, the difference between them and the natural king I imagined them to be is too great."

"If that kind of product can be considered a born king, then the so-called king isn't really attractive to me."

"Hahahahaha!" Sengoku laughed, "How dare you say such a thing!"

"Actually, I suppose you could say that this story that's been circulating is half-true."

Sengoku smiled and explained. "Haoshoku is indeed innate, but it is not exclusive to the so-called King, but is the same as Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku, an innate talent that is potentially hidden within everyone!"

"If Kenbunshoku can increase comprehension by blinding the five senses, and Busoshoku can stimulate potential by beating the flesh, then Haoshoku has little to no way to actively trigger it out."

"After all, something like boldness tends to grow unconsciously, is related to one's environment and upbringing, and it's just too hard to deliberately nurture and sharpen it."

Longinus feels the same way.

The ambition he had, the ability he had, and boldness he had, but it still took ten years to nurture Haoshoku that belonged to him.

The fact that people like Ace and Doflamingo were able to show kingly aptitude at a very young age is mostly related to their upbringing.

One is the Pirate King's surviving son, who has hated the blood in his body since birth. The other is the traitor of Celestial Dragon, who has been reborn as Doflamingo in the fire of his karma after experiencing the agony of falling from heaven to hell.

However, his decade of gestation has not been unproductive.

Thanks to this, his Haoshoku reached the intermediate stage in one fell swoop, and even as he exploded with the aura that had been brewing for a decade, the incomparably mighty power was not something that could be achieved at the intermediate stage.

At that moment, he seemed to have entered a more profound realm.

Otherwise, it would never have been possible to defeat World that easily with the Intermediate Stage Haoshoku alone.

"So it's not because you're a natural born king that you have Haoshoku, but because you're considered a natural born king because you display it?" Longinus asked.

"That's right, the third Haki, Haoshoku was originally an underlying power of the human body. But it was only because Haoshoku was too difficult to activate, coupled with the spread and utilization of some people with an interest in spreading it, that the legend of Haoshoku being a proof of kings became more and more widespread."

"A person of interest?"

"It is not for no reason that the saying that Haoshoku will have the qualifications of a king is true, for, the excitation of Haoshoku is often inseparable from the bursting of high emotions, which in the outside world can easily be interpreted as ambition."

Longinus nodded his head slightly, and the best example of this was Garp.

Like Straw Hat, Luffy has the "ambition" to become the Pirate King, while Garp has no real desire.

Naturally, such a person would not have the so-called Haoshoku.

However, for Garp, he didn't need Haoshoku to prove that he was strong, and those iron fists were enough to get him to the top of the ocean.

"It's a good thing that a wise man like Gorosei isn't misled by rumors, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to go down as an admiral." Sengoku mocked himself.

"Ambition? How fitting!" Longinus smiled, "What are your ambitions, Admiral Sengoku?"

"Sovereign Justice." Sengoku put away his joking look and said solemnly, "Only justice should prevail in this world!"

"Is sovereign justice fair?" Longinus whispered, then voluntarily burst out, "My ambition is big or small, I just want, to make the world a better place."

Sengoku was startled and instantly laughed, "This ambition of yours is really too big to say too small, the key is which step you want to take."

"At the smallest level, capturing pirates will in itself move the world in a better direction, and at the larger level, it will change this monstrosity from its roots."

"It's not an easy thing to do."

Longinus laughed, "How can you call something easy ambition!"

"You're quite clear about it." Sengoku said righteous, "I'm actually saying this to tell you not to resist the power of Haoshoku because of those rumors."

"Any strength is important in holding the path of justice, and never give up the opportunity to make yourself strong because of some unnecessary rhetoric."

"I understand." Longinus replied with a nod.

"Next, I'll tell you more about the true power of Haoshoku!"

"The true power of Haoshoku?"

"Well! You've probably heard of it too. Haoshoku is the rarest and at the same time the most useless ability of the three abilities of Haki, and it's almost useless for anything other than clearing away the miscellaneous."

Longinus nodded, "Most people at sea are interested in the meaning of the king's qualifications represented by Haoshoku, not the increase in strength."

"It is true that at the primary stage, Haoshoku are far less effective than Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku, but at the very high stage of development, the situation will be different."

Sengoku asked, "Are you aware of the transformation that occurs when Trio Haki is developed to an extremely high stage?"

"Heard of some," Longinus replied with a nod, "Kenbunshoku are foretelling the future, Busoshoku are shockwaves, and Haoshoku are affecting reality."

"Not bad. But the human body's potential is something that can continue to be explored almost infinitely, and even if you develop Trio Haki to this stage, you'll still be able to continue to dig deeper."

"For example, predicting one second and predicting one minute into the future are two completely different concepts, or whether a shockwave outwardly radiates 10 meters or 100 meters is equally vastly different."

"And when Haoshoku is developed to the extreme, it is not just affecting reality, but King Frontier that can incorporate and even dominate all things!"

PS: King Frontier is a long-standing claim, said to have been made by Oda-san in an interview, and although there's no way to judge the authenticity of it, I prefer it. After all, it's just a bit unreasonable to use a skill as cool as Haoshoku for clearing skirmishers when both Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku have appeared with a high-level ability, plus Haoshoku is such a cool skill.