72. Academic talents meet soldiers(part2

"As you can see, the key to determining the strength or weakness of a technique ultimately depends on the individual." Sakazuki continued his summary. Even if Robin had now learned Garp's combat technique—the force-exerting method of Fist Bone—when used on others, it would amount to nothing more than tiny fists lightly pounding on someone's chest, completely ineffective and painless.

However, if it were Garp using joint techniques against a formidable fighter like Sakazuki in close combat, even someone as powerful as Sakazuki would be somewhat worried about whether his head would get twisted off.

Robin absorbed the information quickly. She nodded her little head, saying, "No matter how good a technique or move is, without the strength and speed to match it, it's just empty talk."

When a child's body has not yet fully developed, prolonged weight training and muscle-building exercises are not advisable. Sakazuki had no intention of forcing rapid growth just for the sake of a so-called competition in the future.

He pointed to the edges of the training ground, which were surrounded by stone walls. "Go for two laps of jogging to warm up."

This wasn't too difficult a requirement, so Robin let out a small sigh of relief. She nodded and started running along the boundary of the training ground.

Watching the child panting as she ran, Sakazuki lowered his head in thought for a moment, then took a small Den Den Mushi out of his pocket. After a long silence on the other end, just as Sakazuki was about to hang up, a sluggish voice finally came through:

"Mm...? Good morning, senior brother... Let me sleep a little longer..."

"Hey! Wait..." Before Sakazuki could finish speaking, the other party directly hung up the call.

...What kind of soldier is that supposed to be? Sakazuki found it both amusing and frustrating. But his next step in training did indeed require the assistance of a user of the Ice-Ice Fruit for a more structured and concrete demonstration.

With no other choice, Sakazuki had to persist in making calls.

"Kuzan! Get up..." The Ice-Ice Fruit user immediately hung up again.

"Junior brother!" The lazy bum ignored his senior brother's urging and continued to hang up.

"Stop sleeping!" Vice Admiral Kuzan stubbornly kept disconnecting the call.

"You bastard! Do you want me to burn down your barracks?"

Whether it was due to Sakazuki's relentless persistence or the threat of having his dorm set on fire, the most idle man in Marine Headquarters finally picked up.

"...Oh... Good morning, senior brother. What do you need?"

"Could I trouble you to come to Training Ground No. 103?" Sakazuki asked expressionlessly.

———

"So, senior brother, you dragged me out of bed for this?" Kuzan stood reluctantly in the middle of the training ground.

"Come, Robin, watch closely. I'll demonstrate it for you once. Striking techniques are powerful and best suited for mid-range close combat."

The two vice admirals were no more than five steps apart. Sakazuki took a small step forward to close in at the optimal attack distance. His rear foot twisted slightly for support, and in one fluid motion, he rotated his waist and threw a punch—delivering a direct blow to Kuzan's head, shattering it into ice shards.

Immediately after, the burly vice admiral unleashed a swift and fierce high roundhouse kick from the side, landing squarely on Kuzan's slowly reforming ice-formed neck.

"Distance is key—when and how you strike should never be rigid but should adapt to the situation." Sakazuki retracted his movements and turned to instruct Robin.

Crack crack crack! As the crisp sound of ice reforming echoed, Kuzan stood there with an exasperated look.

"Senior brother, you weren't just venting your frustration, were you?"

Sakazuki frowned slightly, his expression serious. "Of course not. I didn't even use my Devil Fruit powers or Haki, did I? What do you think sacred instruction is supposed to be?"

"...Is that really the case~?" Kuzan squinted his sleepy, half-lidded eyes even more.

"Beyond any doubt!" Sakazuki answered with unusual decisiveness.

He turned his gaze to the little girl who was observing attentively and began comparing the two distinctly different combat techniques.

"Joint locks are more suited for extreme close-range combat, where grappling happens within inches. Without that mid-range buffer, the force exerted from the waist to the arms is greatly restricted."

He moved in close to Kuzan and demonstrated force application movements with his arms.

"This is why I originally wanted you to learn joint techniques. They allow you to lock down an opponent's key joints with minimal force, preventing them from making any moves. The Hana-Hana no Mi can sprout arms from any angle within your line of sight, which gives it extremely high compatibility with joint locks."

Sakazuki reached out and twisted Kuzan's arm in the opposite direction of its natural bend.

Crack! Kuzan's icy right arm was directly snapped off.

"Hey! Sakazuki, why are you using me as a dummy?!" Kuzan shivered and wiped his tears away with his remaining left hand.

Sakazuki casually tossed aside the broken ice arm. "Mastering joint locks requires extensive repetition, and beginners often make mistakes that injure their training partners."

Among the Logia users, Borsalino was essentially made of light and had no real body. The only ones present who could serve as training partners were the two vice admirals here.

"For better mastery, huh? Well, that does make sense." Kuzan nodded after some thought, but then something felt off. "But you have a physical body too!"

"Oh? And should I be melting everything into lava and burning the kid's hands off?" Sakazuki countered.

"...Alright then, Robin, come at me." Kuzan wore a look of resignation as if accepting his fate.

By the time Lindemann arrived to deliver lunch, Training Ground No. 103 was already filled with piles of shattered ice chunks.

"Vice Admiral, this is..." Lindemann paused, momentarily confused by the scene before him.

"This is training." Sakazuki glanced at his subordinate, whose left eye still bore an unhealed black bruise, and shook his head in mild frustration.

"You're usually attentive enough, but your ability to react to emergencies is still lacking. Last night, if you hadn't immediately turned tail and ran the moment you saw Flying Dragon, she wouldn't have been suspicious and followed you."

Sakazuki pointed at the dark circles around Lindemann's eye and mercilessly continued his critique:

"And when Borsalino tried to steal your beer, you just handed him the cup? If you knew you couldn't beat him, why hold on to the mug like a fool? Did you think I wouldn't know he was upstairs when he offered you a matcha trade for the beer?"

"Vice Admiral, your insight is unparalleled!" Lindemann immediately flattered him with a well-timed compliment.

Sakazuki acted as if he hadn't heard it and tapped the serial number on the training ground's wall. "This afternoon, you'll stay here and train as well."

"Yes, sir! But… Vice Admiral Sakazuki, I wouldn't dare rough up Vice Admiral Kuzan like that." The commander smiled bitterly, pointing to the little girl in the distance, who was gripping Kuzan's head and trying to bend it backward with her arms.

"I'll personally teach you some behind-enemy-lines combat techniques." Sakazuki picked up a lunch box and gestured to the two who were enthusiastically training.

"Thank you! I greatly appreciate taking up your valuable time!" Lindemann naturally cherished this rare chance for personal instruction. Being guided by a vice admiral himself would help him avoid many unnecessary detours.

Sakazuki didn't look back. "I plan to leave port in a while to find a suitable island for training. I'll notify Onigumo when the time comes—you'll follow me for a while."

"Yes, sir!"

"And take care of the kid."

"...Huh?"

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