There is a saying: a teacher's skill is the student's treasure.
Among pirates, the Marines stood as the greatest force in the world. Their system, their structure, their organized method of building power—these were precisely the experiences Jin lacked, yet desperately needed, if he wished to grow his own force.
He would take the essence. Absorb their strengths. And in doing so—he would rise higher.
The crew Jin brought with him to G-3 were carefully chosen from Aska Island, Drum Island, and Hannabal.
Some had raw potential in strength.
Some possessed sharp intellect.
And among them… was Maya.
The mushrooms Jin had gifted the base gave him leverage. Garp agreed. A rear admiral made the arrangements, assigning several officers specifically to drill Jin's men. Even the Marines Hina had brought were added to the training group.
As for Jin and Hina, they were to train directly under Vice Admiral Garp himself.
…
On the mountainside behind the base, the air was sharp with salt and iron.
"Let's get one thing straight," Garp said, shrugging off his coat of Justice. His iron-hard fists gleamed in the light. "Once training begins, I don't care if you're a king or a woman. If you get hurt, don't come crying to me!"
"No problem!" Jin grinned.
"Hina can endure it!" the Marine officer added firmly, steeling herself.
"Good," Garp said, lifting his fist. "Now then—both of you, come at me together. With everything you've got."
"Eh?" Hina blinked.
"I need to see where you stand before I decide how to train you," Garp explained.
"Oh!"
Hina inhaled deeply, her eyes sharpening with resolve. She charged, leg snapping out with a Tempest Kick that sliced the air.
"Rokushiki, is it?" Garp muttered. He raised an arm, shattered the air blade with a single punch, then twisted, his elbow smashing into Hina before she could dodge.
She went flying, tumbling across the ground, grimacing in pain. "Ahh! That hurt!"
She pushed herself up, biting back the ache, and summoned her Devil Fruit power—only to be swatted aside again with one iron fist.
That fist of Garp's, his infamous "Fist of Love"—its offensive power was absurd. His defense might be low, but all his stats were funneled into sheer destructive strength. Few could take even one blow.
"Rokushiki, and you only know Tempest Kick?" Garp shook his head. "Your fruit's use is mediocre at best. After you were promoted to officer, you busied yourself chasing pirates instead of training, didn't you? That won't do!"
"Your potential is far greater than this. Wasted!"
His sharp eyes cut her down with merciless accuracy. His verdict was simple—weak, and worse, negligent.
Hina bowed her head, ashamed. "Hina is… deeply ashamed."
Garp turned his gaze to Jin. "Now you."
Jin stepped forward. Dark Haki rippled along his arm, coating it like black iron. As he moved, the very pebbles at his feet trembled and lifted.
Facing Garp, he summoned his full power.
"Haki?" Garp's eyes flickered with interest. No wonder he defeated that Candy-Candy bastard, Gasparde.
This young man…
Bogard and Hina both looked on in shock.
Whoosh!
Jin leapt, his body taut like a drawn bow, his fist the arrow, wrapped in glistening Haki. He hurled himself forward, the blow cracking the air.
Boom!
The strike broke the sound barrier, a comet trailing force and light, aimed straight for Garp.
Since it was training, he would hold nothing back. Only by fighting at his limit could he expose his flaws and improve.
Garp planted his feet. His frame became a mountain, his fist a hammer. He threw it forward, meeting Jin's head-on.
Thud!
The sound rolled like thunder. Garp did not budge, his strength rooting him in the earth. He had received Jin's strike squarely.
The shockwave burst outward, a gale flattening the trees around them.
Jin felt it—the terrifying, mountain-crushing power behind Garp's punch. Immovable like a mountain. Vast like the sea.
So this… was the power of the Navy's true elite!
"Ahhh!" Jin roared, his body releasing everything it held. From his waist, through his shoulders, into his fists—his energy erupted.
Since his Haki awakening, since the carrier's evolution, his body had undergone two metamorphoses. His stats had soared, his potential deepened.
Normal training no longer sufficed. Only clashing with giants could drive him further.
"What?" Garp raised a brow. This boy… was he even human? How could a human body contain such deep, endless reserves?
Like the sea, his power surged in waves, each one greater than the last.
Garp grinned. Strong. Yes. That was good!
He shifted, transferring weight, and swung his free fist. The blow tore toward Jin like a cannon.
Jin instinctively raised his other arm to block. But just then, Garp's first fist surged with new force.
Jin had pulled some strength back to defend—leaving a gap. Garp had pounced on it instantly.
One fist pressed him down. The other came crashing in.
Bang!
Boom!
Jin was flung dozens of meters, smashing through trees and boulders, carving a trench into the earth.
Bogard and Hina froze, their eyes wide.
Not because Jin had been sent flying—
But because he had withstood Garp's clash for five whole seconds!
"Cough, cough…"
Smoke cleared. Jin staggered upright, his clothes shredded, skin scraped, blood surging in his veins.
He inhaled deeply, forcing the turmoil down. His eyes burned with fighting spirit. He laughed aloud. "Hahaha! Again! Again!"
Bang!
He launched forward, dashing toward Garp once more.
"H-he's fine?" Hina gasped, her eyes wide.
She herself had tasted Garp's punches, and he hadn't even been serious with her. Yet those few blows had nearly broken her.
Jin was different. Garp had clearly put weight into that clash. Even if not his full power, such a punch could shatter a battleship.
And yet Jin had endured?
Stood up as if nothing?
Was his body… that strong?
Hina couldn't believe it. She had fought Jin before, and the gap hadn't been this wide. Had he been holding back then?
The thought was dizzying. Could he have grown this much in such a short time? Impossible. Inconceivable.
She did not know the truth—Jin had evolved with his carrier, his stats raised beyond mortal limits. He was not yet on the level of Kaido, Akainu, or Big Mom, those monstrous stat-beasts—but he was no longer far behind.
What he lacked was skill. For raw stats without mastery meant nothing against true veterans.
Boom, boom, boom…
The mountainside erupted. Trees toppled. Dust and stone billowed as Jin and Garp clashed again and again.
Jin was thrown, battered, broken—but he always stood back up. Always. His stamina seemed endless.
"This brat… no wonder Sengoku has his eye on him," Garp muttered, his blood heating. "Even my fists are starting to burn!"
Haki swirled around Garp's body, thick and heavy like armor. His fists glowed black-red, heat radiating off them.
"Bone-Flame Fist!"
His punch blazed with fire, friction igniting the air itself. Heat shimmered, oppressive, as it roared toward Jin.
Jin's body flushed red, skin burning. His heart pounded like a drum. Pushed to the brink, his limits cracked open.
Dormant power erupted.
Haki surged forth, brighter, fiercer, like wild flames. His whole body blazed with dazzling light.
"Limit Break—Crushing Fist!"
He roared, charging into the inferno.
The two blows met.
The sky dimmed.
The light of their fists grew unbearable, their clash shaking the heavens. Shockwaves ripped the ground, lifting whole sheets of earth, tearing at the mountain.
The entire G-3 base quaked. Marines stopped in their tracks, faces pale, staring toward the rear mountain as a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
"What's going on?"
"Are we under attack?"
"Vice Admiral Garp—who is he fighting?!"
"Quick, go see!"