"Teach him swordsmanship?" Whitebeard's eyes lit up as he stared at Ares, who was currently imrsed in what looked like self-inflicted torture training.
He leaned over and spoke to Golden Lion in a low voice, "That kid's strength is already approaching that of an elite Rear Admiral. With his body and vitality, he could easily last over half an hour in battle against one."
"If Ares learns swordsmanship, his raw power alone would be overwhelming for most opponents."
"It might not be a bad idea to teach him the way of the sword."
Whitebeard had already ford his assessnt. Ares's strengths and weaknesses were obvious trendous physical power, but his techniques were primitive and wild.
Against masters of Armant Haki, his body wouldn't last long. But against those without mastery, they probably couldn't even pierce his defense.
"Gurararara... Newgate, he's already strong, isn't he?" Golden Lion tilted his head up toward the taller man beside him. "Don't forget, the kid's only fourteen or fifteen. I can't even see where his limit is..."
"Who knows, maybe Ares will beco a miracle. And I, Golden Lion, will be the one to forge that legend."
His grin widened. In his thirties and at the height of his power, Golden Lion Shiki was bursting with arrogance as he asked, "Isn't that exciting? Isn't that fun?"
"If one day Ares becos the world's greatest swordsman, then I, Golden Lion, will be the man who trained him."
With Ares's potential, his obsession with training, and his ferocious drive, Shiki didn't think it was impossible.
His blood surged with excitent as Ares's rhythmic strikes on his own body sounded like the pounding of Shiki's own heart.
Suddenly, Whitebeard frowned.
He growled, "You just want to make him your subordinate by teaching him swordsmanship, don't you?!"
"That's not happening!"
"I'll be his teacher too. I'll teach him close-combat techniques!"
A fierce sense of rivalry flared up inside Whitebeard. If Ares bonded too closely with Shiki, wouldn't that an the boy would beco part of Shiki's crew soday?
That was unacceptable!
If I can't have him, then Shiki sure as hell can't either!
"Hah?!" Shiki was dumbfounded at first. Then his eyes blazed with fire as he glared at Whitebeard.
He bit down hard on the cigar in his mouth and growled, "You wanna fight over Ares?!"
"I'm teaching him swordsmanship! He doesn't need hand-to-hand combat!"
"That kid was born for the sword!"
Whitebeard's sharp eyes narrowed. He raised his chin defiantly. "So what?! You got a problem with that?"
"You teach him swordplay, and I can't teach him hand-to-hand?!"
The two giants leaned forward until their faces were inches apart, glaring into each other's eyes.
Around them, the other pirates in the training room all turned to watch. This was nothing new. On the Rocks Pirates' ship, Whitebeard and Shiki clashed often.
Their philosophies, thods, and tempers were completely opposite. But they shared two things in common booze and parties.
Well, to be fair, that was 99.9% of all pirates.
Just then, Wang Zhi walked over.
He placed one hand on Shiki's chest, the other on Whitebeard's, pushing them apart.
"If you both want to teach Ares, how about this each of you gets one day at a ti. That way, you won't end up brawling."
Though Wang Zhi was no slouch with a sword, he knew better than to compete with Shiki. He had no hidden agendas, no ambitions to claim Ares for himself.
As far as he was concerned, Shiki likely wanted a powerful comrade, while Whitebeard wanted to make Ares part of his family.
But that had nothing to do with him.
Whitebeard and Shiki stayed silent.
Wang Zhi smiled. "Let's go with that. Better than fighting over it. If Captain Rocks disagrees, you two might be in trouble."
That settled it.
Whitebeard even took the initiative to concede a little. "Fine, Ares is yours today. But don't interrupt when it's my turn tomorrow."
Without waiting for Shiki's response, he turned and walked off, smirking.
He had just stolen half a day from Shiki and was feeling quite smug about it.
Shiki gritted his teeth but could only snort coldly. "Fine, half a day it is. There's always tomorrow."
He then looked toward Ares, who was training alone in the corner of the room.
"Hey, Ares!"
"Co with . I'll teach you swordsmanship!"
Jealous stares filled the training room. Being personally trained by one of the top brass what pirate wouldn't dream of that?
But Shiki's muscular thighs weren't sothing just anyone could cling to. Most pirates weren't even worth a second glance to him.
And no one dared to provoke Shiki. He was known to kill his own subordinates when he was in a bad mood.
Aside from Rocks himself, the two people no one dared ss with were Shiki and Big Mom.
That was an unspoken rule.
Ares stopped his training. His body was covered in red bruises from the iron rod he'd been striking himself with an alarming sight.
He turned to face Shiki and said sothing that left the entire training room stunned.
"I'm not interested in swordsmanship."
"I just want to forge my body until I surpass even the Supre Grade ito."
Every pirate's eyes bulged. Jaws hit the floor.
He refused!
He actually refused... Shiki, the Golden Lion!
The very thing they dread of, Ares had just turned down. Publicly.
Wasn't he afraid Shiki would get angry?
When Shiki got serious, only Whitebeard and Rocks could restrain him.
Shiki's face turned dark. Three black veins popped on his forehead.
Was he hearing things? Did Ares actually reject him?
He, Golden Lion Shiki of the Rocks Pirates?!
The infamous twin-blade swordsman, one of the world's greatest!
He took a deep breath and barked, "You brat... like it or not, you're learning swordsmanship!"
"When Golden Lion speaks, it happens! No exceptions!"
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