Kai began to run slowly.
He knew better than anyone that he was blind, and that only his mist allowed him to sense the world around him. But he also understood something else — relying on it too much would drain him far faster.
Sakazuki watched as Kai started running and silently nodded.
He approved of the boy's caution.
By the sixth lap, Kai began to feel the first signs of exhaustion.
On the eighth lap, his head started spinning and his breathing became uneven. At that moment, the mist reacted to his condition and spread uncontrollably, accelerating his fatigue.
Kai immediately focused.
He forced the mist to retreat. It was difficult — but he succeeded.
On the tenth lap, his strength finally gave out.
Kai collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. His legs trembled violently, his heart pounding.
— You have one minute to rest, — Sakazuki said coldly.
Kai knew this was only the beginning.
Exactly one minute later, he stood up and began doing push-ups.
By the fifteenth, his arms burned.
At the eighteenth, he heard:
— Mistake. Start over.
Kai said nothing. He simply began again.
When he reached twenty-five, the voice came once more:
— Another mistake. From the beginning.
His arms shook, pain tearing through his muscles, but Kai did not give up.
This was his chance to become stronger.
He started a third time.
And this time, he reached thirty.
As soon as he finished, he collapsed again. His arms screamed in pain.
Sakazuki stepped closer.
— Are you ready to continue… or will you give up?
Kai forced himself to stand. Every movement hurt.
At that moment, he sensed a wooden sword being handed to him.
He understood without words.
Kai grabbed the sword and waited.
Though Sakazuki had not trained with a sword in years, he remembered the fundamentals well. In his youth, he had been a skilled swordsman before relying fully on his Devil Fruit.
— Copy my stance. The correct one, — Sakazuki ordered.
Kai released a thin layer of mist to "see" Sakazuki's posture.
An image formed in his mind, and he mirrored it.
— Wrong, — Sakazuki corrected.
— Fix your legs. Square your shoulders.
Once Kai finally stood correctly, the next order came:
— Swing the sword. Until your arms stop responding.
Kai began.
His arms burned, his muscles begged him to stop — but he continued.
Five minutes passed.
He had already swung fifty times… and did not stop.
Sakazuki watched closely.
He saw Kai's arms shaking violently — yet the boy kept going.
After ten minutes, Kai had exceeded one hundred swings.
Sakazuki stepped closer and touched his shoulder.
At that instant, Kai collapsed.
Sakazuki realized — the boy had already lost consciousness, yet his body had continued to move on sheer willpower.
He lifted Kai and carried him back to the medical room so he could rest.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Sakazuki was not the only one watching.
Momonga and Onigumo had observed the training from afar.
— I still don't understand, — Onigumo said coldly. — Why Vice Admiral Sakazuki is training a blind child. He can't even endure such a basic routine.
Momonga said nothing.
He knew Onigumo's nature — cruel, merciless, intolerant of weakness.
When Kai collapsed after the push-ups, Onigumo merely clicked his tongue and turned away.
He left.
Momonga stayed.
He watched until the very end.
And when he saw Kai continue swinging the sword even after losing consciousness, he slowly nodded.
"Sakazuki is right…" he thought.
And at that moment, Momonga decided—
he would help train Kai in the art of the sword.