Chapter 476: Unleashing Deeper Haki: Rayleigh’s Lesson

“Come at me with everything you’ve got.”

“Gum-Gum Pistol!”

“If you attack like this, you’ll never understand the true force of Conqueror’s Haki, kid.”

Rayleigh reached out, his finger wrapped in a pink energy, and tapped Luffy’s fist.

Usopp’s jaw dropped in shock. “Na… nani?”

Luffy hadn’t activated Second Gear or Third Gear—this was just a regular punch.

But even a normal punch from Luffy couldn’t be taken lightly.

Thanks to Ye Fan’s explanation of power ranks, everyone now knew their strength placed them at the mid-tier of the sea—Vice Admiral level. Sure, they lacked true battle experience against Admirals, but they believed that even if a Navy Admiral showed up, they wouldn’t lose quickly.

“He blocked Luffy’s attack with just a finger?”

“That’s insane!”

“Yohohohoho, this old-timer is way too strong!”

“Ow, that hurts!”

While everyone was left stunned at how easily this white-haired elder had stopped Luffy’s punch,

Luffy himself was hopping around, gripping his swollen right hand.

“So this is Conqueror’s Haki?”

“That’s the first time Luffy’s ever felt pain like that.”

“No, no, no! Kid, that was just a deeper use of Armament Haki.”

Everything requires a gradual process. Right now, Luffy and Zoro first need to master the final form of Armament Haki—Ryuo!

Only by getting this down can they perfectly wrap their attacks with Conqueror’s Haki.

“The deck isn’t exactly ideal for training, but we don’t have a better spot. At least you’ve all grasped the three types of Haki. However, you still haven’t unlocked the deeper potential of Armament or Conqueror’s Haki.”

“So what we’re doing now is unlocking that advanced Haki within you.”

“Roar!”

Rayleigh lured up a Sea King beneath the ship using his Conqueror’s Haki.

Splat!

A massive sea serpent, nearly a hundred meters long, shot up from the waves–its head looming over Luffy and the gang, casting a dark shadow over the Thousand Sunny.

“Habune!”

“Is that a Sea King?”

“Zoro, you go! I want roast meat!”

As that snake-like Sea King locked eyes on Luffy, Luffy couldn’t help drooling.

After all, they’d eaten plenty of Sea Kings along this journey. If not for the endless supply of monsters in the open sea, they’d be going hungry by now.

“So, so scary.”

Usopp’s mouth hung open as he shook his head frantically. He glanced at his sniper rifle, then at the massive sea serpent, and immediately fainted.

A snake that big? His gun wouldn’t even scratch it.

“Hey, Usopp!”

“Quick—doctor, doctor! Where’s the doctor?”

“Oh! Right, I am the doctor!”

As everyone clutched their heads in exasperation, Chopper suddenly remembered he was the ship’s doctor and scurried over to Usopp with his medical kit.

Clang!

Zoro was about to draw his sword to slice the serpent but Rayleigh stopped him with a raised left hand.

“I don’t know how you unlocked Observation and Armament Haki, but clearly you’ve just scratched the surface and haven’t gone deeper into Haki’s power.”

That much was obvious. Back then, Ye Fan just taught them the basics—he didn’t know much about unlocking the higher realms either.

Ye Fan’s own progress came from being poured with power until he reached the top. He lacked experience starting from nothing, so he avoided teaching them wrong.

Ye Fan did understand how to awaken Ryuo, but at the time, even he had barely grasped it, let alone teach it.

If not for time being short, Ye Fan would’ve invited Kaido over to do a demo—maybe a ten-thousand-meter drop and a few swings from his metal staff would teach Luffy something.

“Listen up, Luffy, Zoro, and everyone else.”

Rayleigh paid no mind to the Sea King behind him, which was already raising its tail from the sea.

Instead, he continued to teach the crew, speaking earnestly.

“Haki is a power hidden inside every human being.”

“Presence, intent, and intimidation!”

“Everyone’s born with these, but most people never notice them or make use of them, drifting through life unaware.”

“Absolute belief in yourself—that’s real strength!”

At that moment, the sea serpent’s tail shot straight at Rayleigh.

“Uncle! Behind you—it’s dangerous!”

“Ah, not again!”

“Special Attack—Exploding Star!”

Usopp, now conscious, instantly fired a shot. It did hurt the serpent, but compared to its thick tail, the bullet only left a tiny hole and barely made a difference.

“Watch closely. Haki is generally split into two main types.”

“Uncle, careful!”

Zoro didn’t know why Rayleigh stopped him from acting, but he could feel Rayleigh’s power was on another level from anyone here. He had no doubt this sea serpent was no threat to him.

“The serpent will swipe at my head from the right with its tail.”

Whoosh!

As predicted, Rayleigh tilted his head just so, and the Sea King’s tail brushed past, missing him by a mere centimeter.

“Amazing!”

“That kind of control over your own power… I can’t match that,” Zoro admitted. Ever since learning Observation Haki, he’d thought of it mainly as a way to sense opponents, never realizing that, at such close range, you could dodge with such precision.

As for the rest of the crew, they were completely stunned. It was the first time they’d seen Observation Haki used this way.

Usually, they used Observation Haki to sense enemies and incoming attacks.

Even in battle, they just used it to avoid wide-area attacks—not realizing they could dodge with hair’s breadth precision like this.

“Super cool!”

“Hey, can Observation Haki dodge bullets?”

Franky strutted up in his red underwear. He hadn’t been with the crew for long and most of his body was already mechanical. Armament Haki was tough for him, but Observation Haki was all about the mind—so there was still hope for him.

Rayleigh gave Franky a sharp once-over and quickly understood what he was made of. After all, cyborgs weren’t so rare in the New World.

Franky felt like Rayleigh had seen right through even his underwear. He shuddered. “D-did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all. Observation Haki can dodge most bullets, and once you master it, you can even see a few seconds into the future.”

“That ability’s called ‘Future Sight.’ In the New World, only a handful have managed to awaken Haki to that level.”