Early morning on the deck of the Oro Jackson. Bucky was still sound asleep, snoring in bliss until...

"Splash!"

A bucket of icy seawater dumped straight onto his face!

Bucky shot up like a spring, soaking wet. "Aaaah! Who did that?!"

Ritter stood on the mast, grinning like a cat that got the cream. "Rise and shine, Bucky~ Time for special training~ Weren't you begging me for this yesterday?"

Bucky yelled, "It's not even sunrise yet! I'm still in my growth phase, okay?!"

Ritter rubbed his wrist, watching the scene with a nostalgic sigh. "I can help you grow a little faster if you'd like, Lil' Bucky~"

Bucky sprang up at once. Whenever Ritter called him that, it meant bad news. The best course of action at times like this was to cooperate unless you wanted to find out just how creative he could get.

"Ritter bro, don't say that. I'm up, I'm up, see?"

On the training field, Bucky and Shanks stood side by side. Ritter held a pitch-black wooden staff in his hand, smiling serenely.

He took a deep breath. "Ahhh... what a refreshing morning."

Then he said, "Today, I'll be teaching you Armament Haki~ It's super simple. Just concentrate your power into your skin~"

Bucky was fired up. "Hahaha! I'll master it in no time! Watch and learn!"

Ritter nodded. "Great. I didn't plan to teach you the theory anyway. Let's start with a practical demonstration~"

WHACK!

A stick smacked Bucky right on the butt.

"OWWWW—!! What was that for?!"

Ritter looked innocent. "Armament Haki is all about body toughness. I have a genius idea you get beat up, you run for your life, you build endurance, and boom! Haki awakened~"

Shanks took a cautious step back. "Uh… I just remembered I've got somewhere to be—"

Ritter grabbed him by the collar. "Nope. You're staying too~"

Smack! Smack!

Screams of agony echoed across the deck.

Rayleigh strolled by, shaking his head. "Kids sure are full of energy..."

"Ritter bro!" Shanks shouted while dodging. "If you keep this up, we're gonna start fighting back!"

Ritter gave him a shark-toothed grin. "Go ahead. I'd love to see you try."

The morning passed in chaos, and after lunch—

Bucky and Shanks lay collapsed on the deck, bruised and battered, questioning the meaning of life.

Afternoon training was for Observation Haki. And once again, Ritter had a brilliant plan.

He beamed at the two, their faces now decorated with colorful bruises. "Now, cover your eyes. I'll attack at random you'll need to sense and dodge~"

Bucky, ever confident despite the morning's beatdown, declared, "Piece of cake!"

But instead of a stick, Ritter pulled out… a fart dial a special shell that released gas when struck.

"Pfffft—!"

Bucky staggered back, choking. "GAAAH! RITTER! That's cheating!"

"In naval battles, you have to be ready for everything, even biochemical weapons. Awww, you're not even calling me 'Ritter bro' anymore... So sad... sniff sniff."

Shanks pinched his nose and backed away. "I request a new instructor..."

Just then, Roger passed by and casually said, "Just throw them to fight Sea Kings. That's how we trained Ritter life-or-death battles forge the strongest spirit! Hahaha!"

Shanks hesitated. Suddenly, Ritter's training didn't seem so bad anymore...

Days passed in grueling training.

And sometimes, talent really was a cruel thing. Shanks' growth was several times faster than Bucky's. Even though Bucky kept secretly practicing, there was a growing gap between them and of course, neither Roger nor Ritter missed that.

Roger would quietly retreat whenever Ritter showed up. He trusted Ritter to handle it.

Late at night, while Bucky was secretly training with his fruit ability, Ritter appeared beside him.

Feigning casualness, Ritter said, "You know, Bucky, your power can be much stronger~"

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "What are you plotting now?"

"Doesn't it suck to be left in the dust by Shanks?" Ritter asked with a smile.

Bucky tried to play tough, but the tears welling in his eyes betrayed him. He was only six or seven, after all.

"Ritter bro… do I not have talent? We've been training the same, but I'm falling behind… It makes me so angry angry at myself."

Ritter thought of the original story. Maybe Bucky had always lived in the shadow of giants. Even his peer, Shanks, was called a genius. No matter how hard Bucky tried, he couldn't catch up. Eventually, maybe he just gave up. When your standards are too high, they can either lift you skyward… or smash you into the ground.

Ritter pulled out a bunch of daggers. "Then try this!"

He sliced Bucky into several floating pieces thanks to his Chop-Chop Fruit and strapped a dagger to each limb, sending them flying at targets from all angles.

The Chop-Chop Fruit had massive potential. Each disassembled part of Bucky's body could move independently under his control. If he trained hard enough, he could evolve beyond just cloth bindings he could become something fluid and free, almost like a Logia user.

Just like how top fighters use partial elementalization to dodge attacks Bucky could split himself apart in advance to evade hits.

After a few tries, Bucky's eyes lit up. "Hahahaha! I'm invincible now!"

Ritter just nodded. "That's so very Bucky of you."

But then—

"Whoosh!" "Thud!"

A few daggers came loose and flew straight toward the sleeping Roger!

Roger rolled in his sleep, and the daggers embedded themselves in the wall behind him.

"Zzz..."

Bucky broke out in cold sweat. "D-Dead… I'm so dead…"

Ritter clapped him on the shoulder. "Looks like you need more practice. Didn't even hit him~"

Of course, he was teasing. There was no way something like that would hurt Roger. The man's strength was beyond human at this point.

After hellish training, both Bucky and Shanks had improved immensely.

Bucky could now control his body's split parts far more precisely. They could hold weapons and even maintain form. He'd even created a new move: "Bucky Bomb Clone Version!" Every floating hand held a bomb.

Roger watched them with pride. "Kuahahaha! Now that's what my crew should look like!"

Rayleigh adjusted his glasses. "The methods may be strange, and the approach unconventional but the results speak for themselves."

Ritter grinned, flashing his shark teeth. "Thank goodness I survived your training, or I'd be fertilizer by now."

Rayleigh laughed. "Well, what can we do? You were already a monster at age three. Ordinary training wouldn't cut it for you!"

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