"East Blue? Is that somewhere beyond the New World—no, beyond the Grand Line?"
Yamato became even more interested when Luke said he came from the East Blue. "Can you tell me what the world outside is like?"
She had grown up in Wano Country and Onigashima, and especially after she began calling herself Kozuki Oden, her father had simply confined her. She had never gone out to sea and yearned deeply for the outside world.
More importantly, her idol Kozuki Oden had longed for the outside world and for freedom. She felt that she ought to be the same.
"That’s a long story."
Luke’s senses kept telling him that some kind of force was watching this place, so he remained cautious in his actions.
He did not particularly approve of Yamato’s absurdly filial treatment of her father, but Yamato herself was not a bad person. She had merely gone crazy from idol worship. The real problem was that her idol had been a questionable choice. Of all people to admire, she had picked the so-called heroic manly man, Kozuki Oden.
Still, Luke could not say he disliked Yamato. He was not going to kill someone just for a Devil Fruit. He already had his own plans for the Fruit Hunter mission.
Besides, laying a hand on the Beasts Pirates’ "Oni Princess" in Wano Country was obvious suicide.
"That’s fine. We can’t get out of here anyway, so tell me about the outside world."
Yamato’s eyes sparkled. She did not care in the slightest that it was a long story. On the contrary, the longer, the better.
Since he had decided not to make a move against his cellmate, Luke changed tactics. "I can tell you stories about the outside world, but you have to promise me one thing."
"What is it? Go ahead. I, Kozuki Oden, always keep my word!"
Yamato urged him on.
"I’m interested in the way Haki is used in this country. Can you teach me?"
Seeing Yamato had given Luke a new idea. There was no need to go out of his way to find old man Hyogoro and ask him to teach Ryuo. Besides, Luke could not be sure the man would be willing to teach him, given Luke’s Charm.
Wasn’t Yamato right in front of him the perfect teaching assistant? Trained by one of the Four Emperors, proficient in all three types of Haki, and not exactly the sharpest thinker. She would be much easier to persuade into teaching him Haki.
Besides, Yamato was Kaido’s daughter. Maybe she had inherited Instructor Kaido’s excellent teaching ability too.
"Haki? Sure. Even if you hadn’t asked, I was planning to teach you. You look kind of weak, and you’re also a comrade who’ll overthrow Kaido’s rule with me, Kozuki Oden. Leave it to me!"
Yamato declared, thumping her chest. The Will of D immediately surged like a stormy sea.
Yamato agreed so readily that Luke froze. Who would have thought starting out in prison came with benefits like this?
A free private tutor had delivered herself to his door—and a senior lecturer from the Beasts Pirates’ tutoring academy, no less.
"What do you mean, ‘kind of weak’... Never mind. I’ll tell you about the outside world first. Where do you want to start?"
Luke was a little annoyed by Yamato calling him weak. Though if he did not go all out, his attributes really were not all that impressive.
"Anything is fine. I’m interested in every adventure beyond these shores. I want freedom so badly."
Yamato spoke happily. She had not expected that being sent here for forced labor would let her meet such a like-minded companion. Better yet, he had come from outside and could tell her so many interesting stories.
After giving it some thought, Luke began telling Yamato about the strange islands and nations of the outside world, their customs and people. He was not particularly talented at telling stories, but Yamato listened with rapt attention. Mostly because she had no friends in Wano Country to talk to and lived a lonely, isolated life.
Since they had made an agreement, Luke was in no rush to begin learning. He would make Yamato happy first, so she would teach him properly afterward.
The two talked all night. Even by dawn, Yamato was still buzzing with excitement. "Wow, there are islands in the sky too? The outside world really is incredible! I want to go see it for myself."
"Didn’t you say you wanted to help Wano Country open its borders? Why are you always thinking about leaving?"
Luke asked.
Yamato was completely oblivious to the contradiction in her thinking. "Because I’m Kozuki Oden. I’m a man who longs for freedom, so of course I want to go out and have adventures. But precisely because I’m Kozuki Oden, I also have to help Wano Country open its borders and defeat Kaido."
Luke was utterly speechless at Yamato’s logic. Of all people to emulate, she had chosen the incomprehensible Kozuki Oden. The man had wanted to open Wano’s borders, yet abandoned his country to go adventuring while it was in danger. It was absurd beyond words.
Still, after talking face-to-face with her at close range, Luke felt that perhaps because of her age, Yamato had not yet been completely brainwashed. At the very least, her desire to go adventuring did not seem to come solely from Oden’s journal. It was a genuine longing for freedom from a girl her age.
Yamato herself could not see that. She normally only called herself Kozuki Oden, had drawn a clear line between herself and Kaido’s faction, and refused to acknowledge herself as the Oni’s daughter.
"We’ve been talking all night. My throat is dry. Let’s continue tonight—I want to train my Haki for a while."
Luke brought storytime to an end and prepared to learn Haki from Yamato.
"Time passed so fast. It’s already morning? In eight years, this is the first time I’ve talked to someone my age for this long."
Yamato’s happiness was written all over her face. "Since you said you’re tired, Luke, I’ll take over and teach you."
Due to Wano Country’s customs, Yamato, who called herself Kozuki Oden, had initially addressed the older Luke in the local manner. But Luke said he did not like the way people spoke here and asked her to call him as they did in his hometown. Yamato was happy to try an outside form of address and found it interesting.
Once she entered teaching mode, Yamato was unexpectedly serious and focused. "Luke, let me see your Haki first."
At her words, Luke activated his passive Armament Haki, covering his arms and allowing its color to manifest.
Previously, because so many people here could use Haki, Luke had deliberately disabled his passive Armament Haki to avoid standing out. As a result, Yamato had not realized what level his Haki had reached.
"That’s a respectable level of strength. What you lack now is simply an advanced method of using it."
After looking over Luke’s Armament Haki, Yamato praised him. "You need to project your Haki outward, forming a buffer zone around your body and making it flow like air."
As she explained, Yamato used Armament Haki herself, releasing it through the technique of Ryuo. At once, a sakura-colored sheen covered her hand, winding around it like flowing air.
She extended her hand toward Luke’s fist. Though there was still some distance between them, an invisible force pressed against Luke’s fist and forced it backward.
"So this is Ryuo..."
Luke watched the Armament Haki surrounding Yamato’s hand, deep in thought. Seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it through a physical clash felt completely different from watching anime.
Yamato’s release was not fast. It let Luke feel the subtle way its power operated, and he quickly understood why he had failed to make it work before.
"Can we exchange punches a few more times?"
Luke suggested, rising to his feet.
Yamato had no objection. She gave him a friendly warning. "Be careful, then. I’m pretty strong."
Luke nodded. Yamato did not waste any more words and threw a punch.
Because his hands were bound by Sea Prism Stone, Luke could only clench both fists, raise them together, and strike Yamato’s incoming fist.
When their strength collided, Luke was sent flying, crashing into the wall behind him and leaving spiderweb cracks across it.
After steadying himself, delight appeared on Luke’s face. He had discovered that Ryuo truly differed from ordinary Armament Haki on a qualitative level.
Yamato’s Sea Prism Stone restraints meant her strength was no higher than his, yet he had been blasted away in that clash. That was the power of Ryuo.
Put simply, ordinary Armament Haki had previously only enhanced attacks through hardness. To deal high damage with it, one needed tremendous strength, speed, and other physical qualities.
If one’s strength was average, their attack power would be average too.
Take old man Hyogoro from the original story. Because he was aged and frail, if he used ordinary Armament Haki to strike someone in Udon Prison, he probably could not hurt anyone. But with Ryuo, he could even knock down some of the guards.
Luffy was the same. In terms of raw attributes, he was naturally nowhere near Kaido. When he used ordinary Armament Haki against Kaido, it was like scratching an itch. But after using Ryuo, he could wound Kaido.
In short, Ryuo was a powerful technique that greatly enhanced offensive capability while combining attack and defense. It represented a qualitative transformation of Armament Haki.
"Are you okay?"
When Yamato saw Luke get knocked away, then simply stand there smiling without moving, she thought she had hit him too hard.
"I’m fine. Let’s do a few more. I feel like I’m about to grasp the key."
Luke had realized that Yamato was not particularly good at explaining things. Rather than having her lecture him on theory, it was far better to fight directly. With her deliberately guiding him, it was easy for him to seize the trick of it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thus, the sound of someone repeatedly being sent flying into the walls rang through the cell. The prisoners next door soon grew annoyed and began shouting curses, asking whether Luke and Yamato had some kind of problem. Why were they making such a racket first thing in the morning? If they had that much energy, they should go mine stone!
Luke and Yamato ignored the prisoners’ shouting, throwing themselves completely into Haki practice and instruction.
Since both Luke and Yamato were still injured, and the prison followed the principle of sustainable exploitation, the guards did not call them out to work that day.
If Luke alone had appeared so lively, Udon Prison’s guards would definitely have made him go out and mine. But from their perspective, Yamato was currently "beating up" Luke.
They assumed Yamato was upset and taking it out on Luke, so no one was foolish enough to interrupt their "young master."
On top of that, the sparring between Yamato and Luke was loud enough that the guards believed Luke’s injuries had worsened again. They even felt a trace of sympathy for him and decided not to call him out for work over the next few days.
Naturally, Luke had no idea what the Udon Prison guards were thinking. As long as they did not make him mine, he was more than happy to continue clashing with Yamato in the cell.
Boom!
Then, during one of their exchanges, Yamato was sent flying by Luke’s punch. She slammed into the wall behind her, scattering chunks of stone and nearly smashing straight through the specially reinforced prison wall.
Luke looked at the translucent dark-red Haki winding around his hand and smiled. He walked over, helped Yamato up as she rubbed her head, and said, "Thanks. I’ve mastered Ryuo."
After a full day of practice, he had successfully mastered Ryuo without the usual inconsistency of it working one moment and failing the next.
Because Armament Haki was listed under his Origin Seed, he could even regulate its "output," maintaining the normal properties of passive Armament Haki or activating its Ryuo properties.
This control function meant Luke did not need to worry about wrapping his entire body in a thick buffer layer and disrupting his daily life.
He only needed to activate Ryuo in battle. Normally, ordinary Armament Haki covering his entire body would be enough.
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