One Piece: Undying Dream

"We don't have time for this," Roku said, eyeing Salazar warily. "Let him go. You can still get to your ship."

Salazar ignored him and continued "You dodged Keller's attack before he committed to it," gesturing to the first fallen Handler. "Not a prediction based on stance or technique—you reacted to his intent before his muscles engaged." He tapped his pen against the notebook. "And that strike to Mercer's neck—you found the precise vulnerability in his protective gear without prior examination."

Roku shifted his weight, ready to move if Salazar approached. "I've been fighting to survive since I was six," he said, voice hoarse from smoke. "You learn to read people."

Salazar's laugh was soft, almost gentle—the sound entirely at odds with the cold calculation in his eyes. "No, my dear specimen. This is something quite different." He closed his notebook with a decisive snap. "You've awakened an ability that has fascinated me for decades. One that perhaps one in three thousand ever manifest, even under ideal conditions."

He stepped forward, and Roku tensed. But Salazar merely circled to the left, his movements unhurried despite the chaos of the burning island all around them.

"Tell me, Roku. In the pits, have you ever felt as though you knew what your opponent would do before they moved? Ever sensed danger from an angle you couldn't see? Ever felt the crowd's bloodlust as a physical pressure against your skin?"

Something flickered across Roku's face—recognition. Salazar noted it immediately, his smile widening.

"Of course you have. It's been building in you for years. The constant mortal danger, the repetitive combat stress, the survival instinct honed to a razor's edge." He gestured at the unconscious Handlers. "But this... this is different. A threshold crossed."

Roku's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"The electromagnetic field generated by living organisms," Salazar replied, his tone shifting to one of condescending instruction. "Most people never perceive it. Yet here you are, responding to bioelectrical data your conscious mind doesn't even comprehend."

He moved suddenly—a feint to test Roku's reaction. The boy shifted instantly, positioning himself to counter a strike that hadn't actually come. Salazar's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"Fascinating," he said, circling to Roku's left with measured steps. "You don't even realize what you're doing, do you?" He struck again, faster this time, yet Roku twisted away as if he'd seen it coming. "Like an animal sensing a storm before the clouds appear."

The jungle burned around them, trees collapsing in the distance as the island's destruction continued. Salazar composed himself after his disturbing outburst, straightening his coat with practiced precision despite the chaos surrounding them.

"What are you talking about?" Roku demanded, his stance ready as he positioned himself towards Salazar and Jiro. "What's happening to me?"

Salazar's lips curled into a thin smile. "What's happening to you? You're accessing abilities that most humans live and die without ever awakening." He gestured toward the fallen Handlers. "The precision of those strikes. Your anticipation of attacks before they're launched. All manifestations of the same phenomenon." Salazar continued "What you're feeling now—that heightened awareness, the ability to sense intent before it takes form, to see weaknesses hidden from the naked eye—that is the true awakening of power."

"You're not making any sense," Roku said, though uncertainty flickered across his face.

"Let me educate you, then," Salazar replied, his tone shifting to that of a professor addressing a particularly slow student.