Hearing this, Sabo’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Luffy, Ace, your grandpa is actually the Marine Hero Garp!
That’s amazing!”
“Huh?” Luffy tilted his head and exchanged a glance with Ace before they spoke in unison.
“Isn’t he just a stinky old man?
What’s so amazing about him?”
“You guys don’t know?” Sabo cast them another look of astonishment.
These two brothers really were sitting on a gold mine without realizing it.
Ace and Luffy shook their heads in sync.
Seeing this, Sabo couldn’t help but sigh.
The Marine Hero Garp!
As a child of the kingdom’s nobility, Sabo naturally knew of Garp’s reputation.
It was no exaggeration to say that as Garp’s grandsons, Luffy and Ace essentially had the ultimate backing in the entire world.
As long as they didn’t become pirates, they could do whatever they pleased anywhere in the world except Mary Geoise.
In comparison, his so-called status as a kingdom noble was hardly worth mentioning, not to mention he wouldn’t officially hold that noble title until he came of age.
At that moment, Raizen clapped his hands, drawing the trio’s attention.
“Luffy and Ace will understand these things later.
For now, as your teacher, let me get a feel for your strength.”
He had been observing for a while and hadn’t seen Luffy clamoring about going out to sea to become a pirate.
This meant that Shanks probably hadn’t visited Foosha Village yet.
‘Excellent.
Oh, you damn Shanks, I’m going to start pulling their futures into the Marines.’
Luffy and the other two turned to look at Raizen simultaneously, their expressions suddenly turning provocative.
Ace took the lead.
“Hey, you said you’re the old man’s disciple, right?
Are you strong?”
“Me?” Raizen chuckled.
He thought for a moment, then pinched his fingers together to indicate a tiny gap.
“Probably just a billion times stronger than you guys.”
“Cut the crap, we’ll know once we fight.”
Luffy looked excited.
If he couldn’t beat his stinky grandpa, beating up his grandpa’s disciple would do just fine!
He refused to believe that his grandpa’s disciple was just as ridiculously strong!
There were three of them.
Three against one—the advantage was theirs!
“My, my, brats really aren’t cute at all.”
Raizen stood up and looked back at Garp.
“Teacher Garp, you don’t mind if I teach your grandsons a little lesson, do you?”
Garp sat on a nearby rock, clutching a bag of rice crackers, a wide grin on his face.
“Do as you please, Raizen boy.”
He actually knew his own methods were flawed, but Garp was as stubborn as a mule and couldn’t change his ways overnight.
Then Garp figured, since he had a disciple, he might as well let his disciple do the teaching.
After all, Raizen frequently received instruction from Zephyr, Sengoku, and Bogard.
He was definitely better at teaching people than Garp was, which led to this exact situation.
“Then I’m relieved.”
Raizen then turned back to the trio and slowly closed his eyes.
“I’ll keep my eyes closed and fight you with only one hand.
If you can make me move even a single step, I lose.
How about it?”
Luffy and Ace both flushed red with anger, and even the usually even-tempered Sabo showed signs of irritation.
‘This bastard is so arrogant!’
Gripping his lead pipe, Sabo said in a low voice, “Luffy, Ace, let’s get him!”
“Yeah!”
The three brothers lunged at Raizen together.
Sabo swung his pipe in a wide arc aimed straight at Raizen’s head, while Ace and Luffy coordinated perfectly to attack his legs.
In response, the corners of Raizen’s mouth simply curled up.
“Iron Body!”
The next moment, Sabo’s pipe and Luffy and Ace’s fists landed on Raizen simultaneously.
With a loud bang, the intense recoil sent Sabo’s pipe bouncing back, while Luffy and Ace hopped around clutching their hands.
“So much pain!
You jerk, why is your body as hard as steel?”
Raizen opened his eyes, grinning playfully.
“This is the Marine Rokushiki, the most exquisite physical training method in the Marines.
This move, Iron Body, allows me to block your attacks without taking any damage.
Pretty amazing, right?”
Since he wanted to instill the idea of becoming the Marine King into Luffy and the others, he naturally had to show off the advantages of the Marines.
After mulling it over, Raizen decided to use the Marine Rokushiki as bait to spark their interest, eventually leading them to join the Marines step by step.
Sabo stepped forward and poked Raizen’s exposed skin.
“It’s pitch black, and it really is as hard as steel.
That’s incredible!”
Garp turned away, afraid he wouldn’t be able to hold back his laughter.
‘Raizen boy is actually using Armament Haki and tricking them into thinking it’s Iron Body!
Hahahaha!’
However, practically speaking, Iron Body and Armament Haki did have similar effects.
In fact, Iron Body could even be considered a prerequisite for Armament Haki.
‘This Raizen boy is so wicked.’
Hearing Sabo’s amazement, Luffy and Ace still refused to believe it.
Raizen merely kept a smile on his face, allowing Luffy and Ace’s fists to rain down on him.
A few minutes later, the two stared at their swollen fists, on the verge of tears.
“Ace, my hands hurt so much.”
“Luffy, my hands hurt too.”
Raizen maintained his smiling posture.
“How about it?
Want to learn?”
Hearing this, the three nodded in unison.
“We want to learn!”
At this, Raizen put on a troubled expression.
“But only Marines can learn the Marine Rokushiki.
Even Teacher Garp’s grandsons aren’t allowed to learn it before joining the Marines.”
“And, I’ll let you in on a little secret—Teacher Garp is only this strong because he trained in the Marine Rokushiki!”
Garp had already stopped eating his rice crackers and was now listening intently.
He had to admit, this Raizen boy really had a knack for this, showing quite a bit of Sengoku’s tactical flair.
With just a few words, he had showcased the advantages of the Marines and piqued the curiosity of these three brats.
Good, very good!
Sabo and the others fell silent for a moment.
Finally, Sabo waved his lead pipe.
“Then we just have to join the Marines!
We’ll join the Marines, learn the Marine Rokushiki, and then beat up that stinky old man!”
As soon as he said this, Luffy, who had been somewhat conflicted, instantly made up his mind.
Marines or pirates, what did it matter?
Having not yet met Shanks, Luffy hadn’t been poisoned by the idea that “the Pirate King is the freest man on the sea.” What did he know?
He only knew that in the eyes of most villagers, Marines were the good guys and pirates were the bad guys.
And by joining the Marines and learning the Marine Rokushiki, he could defeat his bastard grandpa!
Thus, Luffy’s gaze grew determined.
“I’m going to join the Marines, learn the Marine Rokushiki, beat up my bastard grandpa, and finally become the strongest Marine!”
A loud pop echoed through the air.
It was Garp, who had crushed his bag of rice crackers in his grip.
By now, Garp was crying tears of joy, laughing and weeping at the same time.
He poured the pulverized rice crackers into his mouth, stood up, and burst into roaring laughter.
“Luffy!
That’s exactly right!
You’re going to join the Marines, learn the Marine Rokushiki, beat up your bastard grandpa, and then…”
As if using every ounce of his strength, Garp bellowed at the top of his lungs:
“Become the strongest Marine!!!”