Chapter 477: Revealing Haki’s Secrets: Lessons from Rayleigh

Rayleigh’s words had everyone staring, jaws nearly hitting the floor.

“What?”

“Seeing the future?”

“Incredible!”

“That’s insane! If we ever run into an enemy like that, how could you possibly beat them?”

Zoro’s mind flashed back to his first fight with Hawk Eyes back in East Blue. Hawk Eyes had dodged his attacks like he’d already seen them coming. Did that mean Hawk Eyes had mastered Observation Haki to the point he could glimpse the future too?

Rayleigh just smiled.

“Observation Haki with future sight isn’t unbeatable. Even if someone can predict what’s about to happen, it doesn’t guarantee they can stop the attack. Victory comes down to strength, speed, and Haki—a clash of raw power.”

Sanji couldn’t help picturing his father’s experiments.

If he remembered right from childhood, his father Judge had tried to make his children emotionless killers with skin tougher than steel. It was all about giving them cold hearts and a body built for battle from the moment they were born.

His father even wanted them to have superhuman senses—probably meaning he was trying to imprint Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and steel-hard skin into their genes. In the end, though, it was Sanji, the so-called biggest failure, who ended up gaining the most incredible power.

Sanji clenched his fist, hearing a faint scraping sound as his skin rubbed together.

“So if both people had mastered Observation Haki with future sight, would the winner just be the one with stronger Haki?”

As the ship’s sniper, Usopp’s gift for Observation Haki had always been a cut above everyone else.

On this whole ship, no one’s Observation Haki surpassed his. In fact, he’d started to develop a skill of his own that wasn’t even part of standard Observation Haki.

With extreme concentration, he could pick out the weak point of a person or object—something beyond even what Observation Haki offered.

“Of course, Observation Haki varies in strength. If two people are equal in Observation Haki, then the deciding factor becomes physical strength. The one with the tougher body wins in the end.”

Zoro let out a quiet sigh of relief. Ever since he’d set out to sea, he’d never stopped pushing his muscle training. On this ship, he might just be the strongest physically. Maybe even Luffy couldn’t beat him in that regard.

Time to train even harder. He needed to become even stronger.

“That ability—the power to truly sense another’s presence—that’s the essence of Observation Haki.”

“When it gets stronger, you can sense the position and number of enemies even outside your line of sight. Sometimes you can even predict what they’ll do next.”

Everyone drifted into deep thought as Rayleigh walked them through the basics—a kind of system refresher on exactly what Haki could do.

Meanwhile, under Rayleigh’s subtle pressure, the Sea King in the water barely dared to do more than smack Rayleigh on the head with its tail, and even then he dodged with ease.

“In Skypiea’s Land of the Gods, they call this ability ‘Mantra.'”

They’d visited Skypiea before. Hearing Rayleigh mention it, memories surfaced of their trials there—the gatekeepers had dodged their attacks with similar ease.

“Now, let’s talk about Armament Haki.”

“It lets you wear invisible armor. And when that armor grows strong enough, it turns into raw attack power.”

Bang!

As the snake’s tail lashed out again, Rayleigh spun and struck with his palm, sending the massive sea serpent flying before it crashed into the water with a splash.

“Amazing!”

Zoro said, “He didn’t even look like he used much power, but he sent that huge beast flying. That’s what Armament Haki can do?”

Sanji nodded. “Looks like we’ve only ever treated Armament Haki as a shield. Guess we’ve been missing something important all this time.”

“Hey, moss-head, weren’t you the first on the crew to awaken Armament Haki? Ever think of using it like that?”

“Shut it, curly-brow. You trying to pick a fight?”

“What, you think I’m scared of you?”

“Here’s another secret. This power is essential for dealing with Devil Fruit abilities.”

“Apart from targeting their weak points, Armament Haki is pretty much the only way to fight back against them.”

“When you face a Logia-type with an almost untouchable body, this is the key to landing a hit.”

“You can even channel it through your weapons—you’ve probably seen what the Navy Vice Admirals’ weapons can do.”

That made everyone recall their time at Enies Lobby. The Vice Admirals there had coated their swords with Armament Haki.

It didn’t just make the weapons tougher, it actually strengthened the sword itself, letting the Haki soak in and raise its durability permanently.

“Observation Haki and Armament Haki are both types of Haki, but there’s a rare few who can use one more.”

“Watch closely!”

Luffy and Zoro immediately focused on Rayleigh, unleashing powerful bursts of Observation Haki to track his every move. They knew Rayleigh was about to show off the very same Conqueror’s Haki they’d just awakened themselves.

The massive sea serpent, dazed from Rayleigh’s hit, started shaking its head and lunged for the crew with its jaws wide open.

Buzz!!!

Rayleigh turned, his right eye opening a sliver. A wave of Conqueror’s Haki blasted out. Under the crew’s Observation Haki, the air around him crackled with tiny black and red sparks.

But what shocked them all was that they couldn’t feel any pressure from this Conqueror’s Haki.

That was the mark of Conqueror’s Haki at a higher level—targeted so precisely it hit only one creature instead of blasting everyone around.

“That’s incredible!”

“So that means both Luffy and Zoro really have that kind of power now.” Nami’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she watched the enormous sea serpent slow down, huge sweat drops running down its head.

It was the first time they’d ever seen a Sea King actually look scared. Usually, they just took them out with brute force.

“Big bro really is something else.”

The more Rayleigh showed off his Conqueror’s Haki, the more respect Johnny and Yosaku felt for their captain. Power like that was way out of their league.

Splash!

To make the force of Conqueror’s Haki even clearer, Rayleigh deliberately kept his presence in check, letting the sea serpent reach the ship before making its eyes roll back as it collapsed beside the hull.

Waves rose high as Rayleigh turned back to the crew, salt spray pounding the deck.

“That’s the power to rule with presence—Conqueror’s Haki!”

“Most of the world’s legends all have this strength.”

“But no matter how well you control Conqueror’s Haki, you can’t improve it just by training.”

“It’s tied to your own spirit. You can only strengthen it by growing as a person.”

“You both know what it feels like firsthand—Luffy, Zoro, your Conqueror’s Haki has already awakened.”