HGBW: Ch. 119

Tanaka raised his palm, his Byakugan activating to see through his own body.

He could see everything clearly—energy flowing within him, coiling like a gentle stream.

Unlike chakra, which had to flow through the chakra pathways, Haki was a product of willpower, moving freely without relying on chakra pathways.

Just like now.

With a single thought, his Armament Haki slowly surged toward his palm, invisible like flowing water, wrapping around his hand.

Tanaka clenched his fist. Without using chakra, he simply relied on the Armament Haki wrapped around his hand and punched directly at the wooden training post in front of him.

Boom!

The sturdy wooden post, meant for training kunai and shuriken throwing techniques, produced a thunderous explosion upon impact. The post caved inward, forming a crater covered in web-like cracks.

"I can see Haki. I can see its flow. As expected... Having the Byakugan seems to give me an advantage in mastering Haki."

He withdrew his fist, glancing at the shattered training post. His face was filled with satisfaction, but even more so with excitement.

In the One Piece world, whether it was an Emperor or an Admiral, they could not see internal organs, nor could they see the flow of Haki. To control Haki as if it were an extension of their body, they required relentless training and countless years of combat experience.

Even for Hardening, the technique of channeling Armament Haki to different body parts, it took repeated training, day and night, to master.

But Tanaka was different.

He could see his own body. He could see his Haki.

The existence of the Byakugan was like a guiding light, allowing him to precisely direct his Haki to any location of his body with a single thought.

While others would struggle with misdirection and inconsistency when using Haki, he could immediately correct any deviation. Even if some of his spiritual energy strayed off course, he could pull it back instantly.

Thus, after awakening Armament Haki, he was able to master Hardening in just a few attempts.

"So Hardening isn't that difficult after all."

With his experience in chakra training and control, combined with the assistance of the Byakugan, his mastery of Armament Haki was incredibly fast.

After just a few practice sessions, he could use Hardening with perfect precision.

"Let's try emission."

Tanaka "looked within," using his will to command his spiritual energy, gathering it into his right hand.

If the spiritual energy was like a car and the human body a network of roads, then his willpower would be the driver, and his Byakugan the eyes guiding him.

With that, he drove forward—gathering all his scattered spiritual energy into his right hand, the final destination.

The first step of emission.

Not difficult, but for strong Haki users in the One Piece world, who lacked the Byakugan and couldn't see their own spiritual energy, it would be extremely challenging.

After all, Tanaka was "driving with his eyes open," while other Haki users were "driving blindfolded."

Moreover, due to his chakra training and exceptionally powerful spiritual energy, his control over Haki was even more refined and effortless.

Once all the Haki had gathered in his right hand and wrapped around his palm, Tanaka extended his hand toward the wooden post but stopped about three centimeters away, without making direct contact.

The next second, with a thought, he unleashed all the Armament Haki surrounding his palm in an instant.

Boom!

Even though his palm never physically touched the wooden post, the moment his Armament Haki burst forth like a torrential river, it transformed into a tangible force. The impact struck the post as if an invisible shockwave had slammed into it.

Crack!

Previously, the post had already been damaged by his Haki-infused punch. Now, under the force of his emission, it was completely shattered, as if it had been crushed by a Rasengan, leaving a fist-sized hole in its center.

"Emission isn't hard either. Compared to chakra, using Haki is ridiculously easy."

A flicker of joy flashed in Tanaka's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

Because with his Byakugan, he could see it clearly. At the moment of releasing his spiritual energy, some of it had gone astray.

It was like a stream of cars at a green light, where all vehicles should move straight ahead, yet a few suddenly turned left or right, disobeying the intended path.

Clearly, Emission required even greater control than simple Hardening.

"Even with the Byakugan, my control still isn't enough."

Tanaka pondered for a moment before understanding the issue.

Just like how using chakra to climb trees or walk on water required precise chakra control, the same applied to mastering Haki.

The Byakugan's presence only reduced the difficulty of controlling Haki, making it significantly easier for him to wield.

For basic techniques like Hardening, he could grasp them instantly and use them fluently with just a few attempts.

However, when it came to advanced techniques like Emission, he needed a much stronger level of Haki control.

If Hardening was like tree climbing and water walking, then Emission was equivalent to the Rasengan—while Internal Destruction was on the level of the Rasenshuriken.

To control every bit of Haki with extreme precision while using Emission, even with the Byakugan, he would need at least two to three years of training.

Ultimately, Tanaka had only just awakened his Haki. Moreover, he hadn't forgotten about his goal—using Haki to neutralize the side effects of the Eight Gates.

To achieve this, it wasn't enough to simply coat his muscles, skin, and bones with Armament Haki.

He needed to cover his vital organs and even his chakra pathways and tenketsu with Haki. Only then could he fully negate the damage caused by opening the Eight Gates.

"One shadow clone will train Armament Haki."

"One shadow clone will train Observation Haki."

"One shadow clone will train Conqueror's Haki."

"One shadow clone will train White Fang swordsmanship."

"One shadow clone will train in chakra."

"And I will develop the Op-Op Fruit."

After finalizing his training plan for the afternoon, Tanaka turned to leave.

Training Haki with his main body plus five shadow clones would cause immense fatigue—there was no doubt about that.

For him, the best way to recover was to eat Sea King meat and then sleep.

Wait... The Op-Op Fruit allows me to sense and manipulate anything within the ROOM. Even someone like Doflamingo can still be freely repositioned within the ROOM.

Then what about Haki? Can I use the Op-Op Fruit to directly manipulate Haki?

Tanaka suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He recalled how he had previously used ROOM to manipulate chakra within his own chakra pathway.

With ROOM's microscopic control over chakra, he could not only disrupt enemy jutsu but also bypass the need for hand seals—just like Hashirama, who could activate jutsu with a single clap of his hands.

With further mastery, he might even reach the level of the Ōtsutsuki clan, using jutsu instantly. And after his training just now, Tanaka had realized something. Controlling Armament Haki was just like controlling chakra; both relied on willpower.

But what if he changed the method?

What if he used ROOM to control Armament Haki?

Compared to willpower alone, ROOM's precision in manipulating objects was undoubtedly far superior.

For example, spatial repositioning.

By using the Byakugan to see Haki, combining it with ROOM's sensing ability, he could instantly relocate all the Armament Haki scattered throughout his body to his desired location.

Just as chakra flowed through the chakra pathways and took time to move, using Haki also required time to circulate within the body.

However, with ROOM's spatial transfer, not only could he eliminate the time delay of the circulation, but he could also prevent any loss or dispersion during the process.

"Should I give it a try?"