Chapter 4 : Idiots learn Hokuto Shinken

Luffy and gang came back with some wild game they threw very jauntily to Dadan. They always had to be patched up with plasters after each of one of their reckless raids inside the forest. Luffy especially as he was the youngest and weakest of the bunch.

He discovered a tribe of mountain monkeys recently and was totally infatuated and absorbed at the prospect of defeating the primitive animals. In a way, he had met his natural rivals…

I saw them once while following in secret, they were provocative clowns and had heads to slap.

I would probably teach them a good lesson if I was at the receiving end of those taunts.

Although I planned to protect Luffy, I would certainly not act like a motherly figure to him. He’s the older brother after all, and I will just watch from the sides, preventing calamities, while he fights his own battles. He is his own man...Just a bit reckless one is all…

“Aniki, I need to teach you something fun!” I instantly came and grabbed his attention. I knew how to push his buttons after all.

Ace and Sabo looked surprised to hear me talk since I did not do so very often. Luffy who was tired from the excursion felt instantly invigorated and asked me what was up.

“What’s up Raoh? Don’t tell me you found a new way to make barbecue meat?”

“...”

Food was his priority after becoming the pirate king.

“You’ll see soon enough, just come Aniki!” I smiled.

I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him outside. Ace and Sabo followed from behind trying to hide, but I could tell their positions. I had ears as sharp as those of a deer and their sneaky behavior seemed to be like kid’s play for me.

Every leaf of grass or rock they stepped on alerted my senses.

I was planning to teach them too so I did not mind, however.

Once they witnessed the destructive nature and horror of “Hokuto Shinken” they would jump in and beg for me to teach them. The four of us were all hungry for strength for different reasons at the end of the day. I was sure that they would never feel okay to be left behind by “Baka Luffy”.

“Hokuto Shinken” was a destructive martial art founded by Shuken, an ancient master from China during the era of “Yellow turbans”. It harnesses power to perform killing techniques by condensing energy at its maximum inside a single strike. Hokuto especially centers around the mastery of pressure and vital points, either to enhance the body, heal it, or destroy the enemy.

Each Hokuto disciple is more or less suited towards one path, and among us, I was the one with the heaviest fists and most destructive techniques. My body was akin to a bomb while exerting strength and as resistant as lead even when I did not defend myself.

Toki was the fastest learner, but since he did not like to kill he focused his mastery towards healing and evasive arts. But even while doing so, he was the strongest among the three of us. If he did not suffer from atomic radiations while protecting some children...He would probably be the strongest man in the long history of Hokuto.

Kenshiro as the heir designed by our master Ryuken was the most well-rounded.

However we all shared one special trait, once we had a small mastery of Hokuto, other forms of martial arts did not hold any secrets for us. “Hokuto Shinken” was the paroxysm of killing arts and once mastered we became natural murdering machines. If Hokuto was the most futuristic hardware, other arts were essentially software…

All in all, it was difficult to understand for someone who did not practice it. Hokuto touched upon the very secrets of Life and Death as well as energy control…

The most fearful aspect of it was the enhancement of the body. People only used 30% of their potential while fighting, and this applied to anyone. “Hokuto Shinken” gave access to the remaining 70%.

I stopped walking once we arrived near a giant rock. I turned around and asked Luffy to look attentively at my actions. He was not sure what I was going to do. I started to reawaken the memories from my past life and touched some of my vital points.

It was not too long before I recalled everything properly. Five minutes later I was beaming with Lifeforce since I had already reached the peak in a past life and my soul was linked with Hokuto's mysteries. The Big Dipper star of this world started to shine brightly even in daylight.

“Ding!”

A sound resounded in my mind.

“You have learned a new martial art while meditating!!!”

“Hokuto Shinken style will be added to your skill list, every other skill related to it will also be dropped inside the subcategory.” The system said.

“Accept-YES/NO?”

“Yes!” I did not even think about it.

“Hokuto Shinken (An utter destructive martial art linked with the energy of stars) has been added to your skill list.”

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“Inherent passive boosts : (+STR+HP+DEF+END+REC+HAKI).”

I gained a +2 in each of these categories while the system enumerated the enhancements. I immediately felt stronger. I also was sensing some weird energy coursing through my veins. Before I could make a conclusion I was interrupted once again by the system.

“Ding! Congratulations Hardening Haki (Busoshoku) has been learned by the host…”

“Hmm...I guess this is the Ki of this world.” I thought.

“Hardening Haki (Busoshoku): A mysterious energy contained inside every person. Host has awakened one of its three forms…”

“Hardening Haki passive boosts : (+DEF+END+HAKI).”

“The skill also gives the host astonishing penetrative power and other marvelous abilities.”

“Host can grab Logia devil fruit users.” The system finished with its tutorial.

“...Logia?” I was not sure what the system meant. While I heard about devil fruits, the encyclopedia I received from Makino did not include information on them. Devil fruits were very mysterious and information was not made public for some odd reason…

I got up after accepting the new skills and looked at my older brother.

He was singing a song and relaxed on the ground. His focus instantly came back when he saw me standing up.

Two identical kids were looking at each other in the woods. If Luffy looked like a mischievous kid with bangs on his forehead, I was totally the opposite.

I was always wearing long sleeves and pants, with naturally spiky hair and closed shoes. It was very easy to tell which twin was the most carefree among us…

To be honest I could not imitate Luffy’s dressing style even if I wanted to…

“Look at this, Aniki!” I went to the giant rock and concentrated energy inside my right hand.

“Aaaah!” Luffy realized the meaning behind my stance. He was worried I was going to get injured.

But before he could prevent me from acting crazy and punch the immovable block in front, a shattering sound reverberated.

“Kaca..Krr!” Wide cracks spread from the center of the rock and reached the sides.

“What? Oi Raoh did you do that just now?” Luffy was shocked, stars lit up inside his eyes and he looked at me like the most awesome thing.

“Hi…!” The two forms hidden in the background let out aghast cries. They almost fell from the tree…

“You two can come out now!” I said.

Ace and Sabo jumped down from the tree and appeared before Luffy and I. They stared at me as if they were looking at some kind of monster. The two of them did not know what to say for a short time before Sabo decided to take the initiative and break the silence.

“Raoh...How did you do that? I mean, since when were you so strong?”

“...” Ace still stayed silent but he was not less curious. He had his arms crossed on his metal pipe and opened one eye to listen for my answer.

“It’s because I eat vegetables contrary to you three…”

“Ahh?!” Ace was at a loss and Sabo was frowning.

Even the usually laid-back Luffy did not appreciate my joke. I guess my level 1 Charisma was hindering me at this time…

“...I guess you reap what you sow.” I shrugged.

“Reap what?” Luffy was confused by the proverb.

“Ne? Can you teach us?” Sabo as the most logical person here took the lead and proposed.

“Um! That was my goal from the start.” I replied with a smile.

Luffy jumped from joy not asking where I had learned such a strange martial technique. Ace and Sabo were trying to hide their excitement and stared at each other with an “I will not lose against you" look. Those two even cared less for the origin of my secret. As long as they got stronger they did not give a shit.

“So, Listen. This is called Hokuto…” I started to teach them the basics.

The crazy trio went home that day with headaches from all the information I dumped on them.

I stayed in the forest that night and continued to train at the spot they had left me. Dadan was worried for me but after they explained how strong I really was she relaxed.

A year went by in this way,

Grandfather Garp came four times and was surprised to find out that we got considerably stronger each time he returned. What surprised him most was that by the end of the year we had all awakened Haki without his help.

Even Luffy who had difficulty comprehending theoretical knowledge reached the threshold for Hardening Haki. He could maintain it for two minutes without breaking a sweat while it took him thirty seconds to recover a quarter of the energy.

During this year the hierarchy of strength got twisted between the four of us. I, who was supposed to be at the bottom before they discovered my prowess had become the natural leader of the gang.

I tortured the three of them with inhumane training methods during the day, and they only ate their meals early in the morning because all they could do once they got home was fall asleep from fatigue and high stress.

Soon their bodies had become familiar with the killing techniques. Luffy adopted my own style, the “Go No Ken” which was essentially slaughterous. Due to him being my twin he learned whatever I was talented in faster. I was glad but found it strange how our souls were interlinked…

Ace was now the weakest among us but the most polyvalent in Hokuto Style beside me. He was like a young Kenshiro so I was not worried. Sabo was very similar to Toki and his style was suited for defense and evasion.

I was happy the two of them were developing so fast since Luffy and I did not plan to set sail with them. They had their own goals. I was still going to make sure that If Ace decided to leave earlier, Sabo would set sail with him. He was as reckless as Luffy, and Sabo had the same restraining effect on him I had on my brother.

Seeing how strong the three of us had become, Grandfather was planning to take us back to “Marineford” in advance and register us as his apprentices so we could be under his command.

I was not very enthusiastic at the idea of becoming a marine and even less sailing with Grandfather...He gave us two years before he would take us back not caring for our opinions.

I asked Grandfather how he evaluated my strength and he said I could face a “rear Admiral” in two years.

He was shocked because I was just 6 and saw me as his successor. In his mind, he had already identified me as the next “Marine Hero” and started to talk about marine duties and stuff…

A week later after the nagging old man left, news of pirates coming to town started to spread and reached Dadan’s ears. Makino had served them drinks at her bar and liked to talk about how they were different from the rumors.

She had become friends with their Captain Shanks and when I heard the name, I made a connection with a big-time pirate “Red hair Shanks”. I needed to see if it was the same person.

Luffy and I were headed to town to meet him today. Luffy, of course, was shaking with anticipation at the prospect of finally meeting with real pirates.

As we were heading down from the mountain I was in deep thought.

“What is that monster from the new world coming to weak East Blue for?...” I wondered.

Raoh's status Screen heading for Foosha Village :

General Information Attributes Job Information Name Monkey D Raoh Name Value Name Value Name Level Advancement Race Human STR 26 SENS 49       Sex Male END 29 INT 54       Age 6 AGI 16 WIS 77       Organisation Pirate Kid Alliance REC 45 LUCK 5       HP 400/400(19%/minute)  DEF 18 CHAR 1       Haki 68/68(165%/minute) DEX 15 FUN 4                         Skill List Name Level Advancement Observe (+Sens+wis+int) 35 89% Nerd Kit (+wis+int) 19 41% Move Kit (+Agi+Dex) 7 14% Savage Kit (+Str+End) 5 25% Tools Mastery Kit (+Dex) 2 12% Hokuto Shinken (+Str+Def+End+Rec+Haki) 14 96% Hardening Haki (+Def+End+Haki) 5 17%