The thing about One Piece Kaden knew, was that Haki grew stronger during stressful situations, especially in live combat. More especially in life or death combat.
And the same applied to other skills.
Mihawk's idea of training Zoro to reach heights far beyond what he was capable of, was tossing him into combat against massive sword wielding gorilla's.
Training was all well and good when it came to getting a technique down or increasing physical abilities, but true experience and ability, would shoot through the roof in the process of live, deathly combat.
Thankfully for Kaden in that regard, he was stationed at one of the few marine bases that heartedly came at each other with full strength with no regard for each others lives.
"You're open Kaden!" Commodore Yarisugu shouted with glee as he blitzed forward at blurring speeds, huge sword coming down in a diagonal swing meant to bisect Kaden from shoulder to hip from behind.
His sword locked against another large, bald and incredibly muscular behemoth of a man, Kaden tensed his muscles with all his might until they reached a hardness iron would be proud of.
A loud clanging sound reverberated through the air as the sword struck his shoulder, sliced his flesh, but did not go any further.
"Oh!?" Commodore Yarisugu's eyes widened and a noise of interest left his mouth, while the one Kaden was facing off against, gaped at the failed slash, allowing Kaden to overpower him and launch a front kick into his stomach and launch him flying back, and take the chance to spin, sword flashing out aimed at his superiors neck, only for his own larger blade to zip up with a jerk of his hand and block it easily, "That was Tekkai was it not? Another one already? You're doing quite well." the queerly dressed marine complimented, before slamming the palm of his other hand into the flat of his blade and completely overpowering Kaden and launching him back just like he did his previous opponent.
Unlike him though-
Flipping around mid air, Kaden slammed both of his feet through the air and the air itself rumbled as he kicked off of it and launched himself back towards Commodore Yarisugu.
A tingle in the back of his head had Kaden's eyes widening though and he quickly thrust his feet down and kicked off the air again, just in time for Commodore Yarisugu to swing his blade and launch a massive blade of air towards him that tore a massive trench through the ground.
Commodore Yarisugu stomped his feet on the ground and disappeared in a blur so fast Kaden barely saw it-
Clang!
He spun at the last moment, his sword coming out to clash against Commodore Yarisugu that struck at his neck from behind. He was the type that always liked to strike at blind spots.
"Tekkai isn't really my thing," the much taller man said conversationally, a massive grin on his fish-like lips, "I prefer Soru and Geppou, and some Rankyaku too! I'm all about cutting bastard pirates down you know?" he giggled.
"I'm aware!" Kaden bit out through gritted teeth, bouncing back through the air blocking a volley of lightning flash slashes from the man as he followed him, blade slicing out in dozens of slices with each breath.
Catching the taller mans blade with his own, Kaden slid his blade down the length of the bigger mans, bleeding the momentum behind the strike into himself, before using it to kick off the air and spin around aim mid-air, lashing out with his free hand, the air rippling as something invisible coated his fist.
One thing he'd learned about this man over the past two months of fighting him every single day and getting his shit kicked in for the vast majority of those days by him, was that, just as he said, he was all about offence.
Not so much defence.
His fist struck the man on the cheek and the queerly dressed commodore shot down through the air towards the ground like a cannonball, where he smashed into and through the ground creating a large crater.
A moment later, Kaden felt the invisible coating around his fist sputter and die out and grimaced.
He couldn't hold it for any more than a few seconds.
"It's my win this time, Commodore." Kaden declared as he landed. His marine uniform was torn with dozens of slashes and stained with his blood.
"Hehe, I suppose so." Commodore Yarisugu laughed as he pulled himself out of the crater his body had caused, a bit bloodied and bruised, but no worse for wear.
It was pretty much the only rule of sparring at G5, after one good powerful hit, they were out. At least as far as the free for all training went.
This made the ninetieth time he'd fought Commodore Yarisugu, and out of ninety fights, he'd lost eighty nine.
This one, he'd won, though it was more of a technicality than anything else.
The commodore shook the debris covering him off, before he stepped forward, and disappeared in a blur, appearing at Kaden's side a split moment later, "I wasn't expecting you to have Tekkai down, I figured I was actually gonna kill ya there for a minute," he laughed, "Not bad, I mean it took ya' a near full three full months to get to this point where most would have only taken half that amount with someone to get an example of, but hey, who's counting."
He was.
…He'd only found out Commodore Yarisugu could use three of the six powers when he attempted to use Soru in a fight against him the very day after he'd found out how he ended up here.
Only for the man to laugh at him, do it in return and kick his ass all over the training field.
"Screw you." Kaden shot back with a dry glare. Seriously, fuck this guy as well. Fuck everyone here.
"Not my type blondie, I prefer giant tits," Commodore Yarisugu shrugged him off, before nodding as he looked him over, "You know, you're way too good to leave sitting as a lame petty officer, why don't you just get promoted? You don't even go out solo hunting like a ton of us, you just sit around here training and reading, you're so lame."
….He said lame twice.
"That's not up to me." Kaden replied once more, drily. He could put his name in for promotion when he thought he was ready, but it was up to his superiors to decide if he was worthy of a promotion.
And he honestly wasn't really sure what to think about being a marine at this point. He would really rather not be one, he was, so he should aim for higher. But then if he did leave, it would mean he'd be given a much higher bounty.
…But that could be to his advantage as well depending on what he wanted to go for.
"Well we're missing a Commander now after the idiot went and got himself killed by that bitch Whitey Bay," Commodore Yarisugu nodded, to himself, "I think you're stronger than him now though so you should be able to handle it!"
Oh right….Whitey Bay had apparently been making a trip to go meet up with Whitebeard or something two weeks ago, and one of the Commander's who had some kind of boner, possibly of the hate version, but perhaps just lustful sailed out with a bunch of others in the base to hunt her down, and got killed by her.
Apparently it wasn't even a fight, she slaughtered him like a pig.
"…I'm literally a petty officer," Kaden gave the man a deadpan look, "That's multiple rank jumps. And being an officer of that level takes more than just strength."
Seriously what about knowledge, experience and leadership ability? A lack of those traits is probably what got the last moron Commander killed.
"And the fact you know that, puts you way above the other shmucks around here," Commodore Yarisugu laughed clapping him on the shoulder, "I'll go let Vice Admiral Vergo know you've got my backing to get the promotion." he said, and turned around and walked away with a whistle on his lips.
"I fucking hate this place." Kaden nodded.
Literally every single person around him, was a freaking moron. Led by incredibly stupid and incompetent morons.
Yes stupid and moron was an oxymoron in of itself that should have cancelled each other out, but they were so fucking retarded both needed to be used to describe them.
What were Sengoku and the other higher ups thinking allowing morons like this to be part of the marines? And worse, allowing idiots like Commodore Yarisugu to even recommend and push for others to get promotions.
…Honestly, he already knew, it just made him feel better to gripe.
Strength, that was really it. The marines were spread thin due to the great pirate age, so much so that even a trash base like G5 was allowed to operate.
'I suppose in that case, it was actually smart of them to stick all the problematic idiots in the one base where they couldn't fuck up everyone else's work.' he thought, shaking his head.
…Maybe it was time to get a move on? With a thought, Kaden brought up his status to look over.
Name: Kaden D. Freeman
Strength: 100.5/500
Endurance: 97.7/500
Durability: 99/500
Agility: 86/500
Hand To Hand Combat: 256/1000
Swordsmanship: 240/1000
Gunmanship: 26/1000
Rokushiki: (4/7)
Haki:
Colour Of Armament: 100/1000
Colour Of Observation: 120/1000
Colour Of The Conqueror: 1/1000
Devils Fruit: -
His status as always, was kind of pitiful to look at. It was a massive difference compared to what it was two months ago, and looked a hell of a lot more impressive.
But it was still kind of pitiful. His armament haki for instance, had been stuck at one hundred where he could finally feel it and coat his hands in it two weeks ago and hadn't risen at all since then, and his Observation had dwindled massively, to the point that in the last week it only had risen two points.
And the same could be said for the likes of his hand to hand combat abilities and swordsmanship which he'd decided to work on fully over his gunmanship abilities. He'd taken to fighting constantly every day against Commodore Yarisugu, and then taking place in the free for all battle training every day as well.
In the process his swordsmanship and hand to hand combat abilities had spiked massively…for a time. But the better he got and the stronger he got, the less they increased by day no matter how hard he trained or how many of the other marines he fought.
In fact his swordsmanship hadn't increased at all in five days, and his hand to hand combat skill had creeped up a tiny bit when he began using the haki he'd began to grasp with it.
Honestly, what he was most proud of currently, was the Rokushiki listed as four out of seven on the status screen. He'd worked incredibly hard over the past few months to learn them.
Even now his arms were covered in bandages from the effort he'd put into it, he knew that beneath those bandages lay deeply bruised arms covered in prickly scabs.
It was not a pretty sight.
He glanced at the very bottom of the screen, barring the devil fruit part.
Colour Of The Conqueror: 1/1000
….That day, two months ago when he found out about his origin, the murderous rage he'd felt was so deep, he'd awakened his Conqueror's Haki.
Which was cool and all, but, he had no idea whatsoever how to bring it out, never mind train it.
Still, one thing bugged him.
"It changed back again." Kaden noted, looking at the name listed on the status screen.
It was a weird thing, but sometimes when he opened the status screen up, his name was changed to Kaden D. Topman. And then on a few rare occasions it had labelled him as Kaden. D TopFreeman, as if it couldn't decide what his last name was.
It was super fucking weird. But it had only begun after he'd learned of his origins and he'd thought about that…a lot.
What it meant for him. Was it a death sentence, or was it something he could use like Doflamingo? He knew after all of a certain treasure held by the World Government, and he knew who sat upon the empty throne.
He'd come to the simple conclusion that like everything else, it was a hazard to him while he lacked strength. So he'd think on it later once he had the might to protect himself.
'Less than a year now before Luffy sets out and things get really crazy in the world.' Kaden mused.
Yeah…it was probably time he got a move on, especially since he'd realised something.
He was early enough that Doflamingo shouldn't have anyone monitoring Caesar yet, and that clown was a literal moron just like everyone in the G5. Only he and a bunch of crippled ex pirates should be on Punk Hazard currently.
Which made things a whole lot easier for him.
That night, after he'd gained his first win over Commodore Yarisugu, Kaden was busy packing his bags.
All of two of them, and he just stuffed one inside the other. The smaller bag contained what little clothes he had that weren't torn to pieces through his training every day, his cash and some food.
Mostly fruit.
Specifically apples.
And a few other essentials. Honestly, most of his marine uniforms were totalled, so much so that currently, he found himself in just a pair of his uniform pants, black combat boots and a crimson red tank top.
And he stuffed the bag containing his essentials, into the big ol' sack containing the sea stone he'd scraped from the bottom of a few warships to put to better use.
What use he didn't quite know yet, since he didn't want to waste it on some common sword like the cutlass he had currently. Maybe he could coat a meito or two with it?
An easy pair to get his hands on was back in Logue Town.
He cast a look at his right wrist, where two different log pose sat innocently. One with a single compass and the other with three. One for Paradise and one for here in the New World.
Not that he planned on using them any time soon, but it was best he grabbed them now when he had the chance.
Not to mention a bunch of Eternal Poses he pilfered as a well. Beyond the one he needed to get to Punk Hazard, he wasn't sure where he'd head after he grabbed the item he was after.
He wasn't planning on sticking around there long. But, that wasn't to say he really had an ironclad goal right now for after he obtained the clone of the dragon devil fruit.
Dressrossa wasn't that far away from Punk Hazard and was one of the few places he could head to and know what to expect. But that was Doflamingo territory and despite how much he liked Rebecca, he really didn't want to deal with that guy until he was strong enough to do something about him.
But Punk Hazard was also at a point where he could skip over a few areas and come out in the East Blue.
Unlike others he wouldn't need to deal with most of the dangers of doing something like that.
Getting that far with Geppou would be a stretch…but with the ability to fly with the clone of Kaido's fruit, it would be much more manageable.
"I'd definitely be getting a bounty like that though." Kaden mused, collapsing onto his backside on his bed. He had no illusions towards his ability to stay out of sight for long.
Even if going to the East Blue sounded like a real vacation right about now. Head to East Blue, kick the shit out of Arlong and his little band of wimps that loved to pick on the weak, attain the gratitude of everyone on that island, especially Nami's, get her gratitude and affection…and profit with a hot orange haired babe of a cat burglar.
Sadly that life was not for him. Because a marine of the New World going rogue and turning up in the East Blue? And a known user of the Rokushiki?
He'd have some real heavy hitters sent after his ass if he stuck in one place for long.
The amusing idea of heading there and hanging around to get recruited by Luffy popped into his head, before he squashed it. Amusing as it would be to be a Straw Hat, something all fans of One Piece wanted to be at some point, him turning up with Joyboy himself was bound to make him an even bigger target once his grandfather realised he was still alive and kicking and Luffy had no interest in being the likes of a Shichibukai.
"…That wouldn't be a bad spot to be in." Kaden grinned faintly at the thought of the seven warlords of the sea. Too bad all seven spots were filled though.
A hard knock on his door stopped his thoughts from going down any deeper on that path.
Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Kaden got up and made his way over to the door and pulled it open…
To reveal a large queerly dressed fishy lipped annoyance beaming at him with a massive grin, "Kaden, good news!" Commodore Yarisugu laughed, "We got your promotion to Commander put through after I convinced Vice Admiral Vergo about your strength and potential, congratulations! Let's go hunt some pirates together to celebrate and use them to fish for giant sharks for dinner tomorrow!"
"…..Fuck you." After a long awkward silence, Kaden growled out a cuss and slammed the door shut in the mans face.
The next morning, around the time Kaden was originally supposed to have been leaving the shitty island G5 was stationed on behind and moving on with his quest to get good with the power of a dragon-
He was instead still there, and currently in a very bad mood. Right now, instead of moon walking his way across the sky towards Punk Hazard, he was instead smashing his bandaged fists over and over again into the front of a massive marine battleship.
His fists stung mightily and his bandages seeped with blood, but Kaden was too annoyed to pay it any attention and just kept hammering his bloody fists into the front of the giant ship over and over again.
'How do I use this?' his thoughts swirled around that one notion. His abrupt promotion that he hadn't been taking seriously at all when that queerly dressed fucker had brought it up, yet found foisted upon him within less than a literal day.
It made no fucking sense that it was approved of so fast. Unless Marineford HQ just had a standard of putting through promotions for G5 without putting much thought behind it.
…Which sounded depressingly on point.
The problem was, this promotion just massively increased the bounty he would get once he went rogue. He wasn't some Commander from one of the four blues, he was a full on Commander stationed in the New World.
That high of a rank here in the New World? He'd get slapped with a massive bounty to start with from that alone. Then taking into account everyone here basically already knew he trained in the Rokushiki, and Vergo knew he was training in Haki.
And then there was his age. He was only fourteen. A kid that young rising to Commander rank in the New World, with Rokushiki and Haki training? They may as well call him Rob Lucci 2.0 even if they were nothing alike, and he'd be lucky to be slapped with a just a bounty of a hundred million to start off with.
And then once it came out he had the clone of Kaido's fruit? Boom! That bounty would rise massively.
He would need time to master the fruits abilities and increase his strength with it to deal with anyone who came after him.
'If I knew Life Return this would be a whole lot easier.' he grimaced. With that, he could boost the results of at least his physical training massively.
Well at the very least, he supposed the enhanced recovery rate of a Zoan would be incredibly useful on that point as well.
As it was, no matter what excuse he gave for leaving G5, he'd have maybe two weeks at most before he was declared as either missing in action or a possible deserter, and then the second he was spotted-
Bam! Massive bounty on his head.
Sure he wouldn't have people combing the world for him, but the second anyone in the marines caught sight of him, he would have the true high ranks like Vice Admiral's deployed, especially once his devil fruit was revealed and he may as well just live with a sword hanging over his neck at that point.
Wait-
Kaden's eyes widened and his next punch, halted immediately, a pressurized blast of air erupting from it regardless and slamming into the hull of the battleship he was in the process of punching silly.
SWORD!
The secret marine sub group made up of marines that gave up more or less their rights as marines so they could act where normal marines couldn't, like picking fights with Shichibukai or Yonkou crews.
If he joined up with SWORD, he could maybe use that as a way to work around deserting kind of like X-Drake and become a marine aligned pirate and-
"No, fuck that." Kaden scowled at the thought, utter revulsion filling him. Why in all that was holy, should he need to fucking pretend to keep his allegiance or actually stay aligned to the World Government? Something deep inside him, rebelled at the very idea of doing such a thing.
Honestly, the World Government disgusted him. They were pathetic lackeys that did as they were told like dogs by the Celestial Dragons, no not even dogs, at least dogs had worth.
And they were gutless cowards on top of that. They would take the chance to go after Whitebeard, one of two Yonkou who didn't actively harm others despite his station as a pirate, but only after they had leverage and the chance to lure him into a spot where they had the advantage.
Instead of going after the likes of Kaido who had enslaved an entire country and forced innocents to starve by the ten of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions!
Wano was a massive place after all.
And then after Kaido was defeated, only then did they have the balls to make a move on Wano and it was to go after the weakened Straw Hat pirates.
No way a group consisting of Sengoku, Garp, Aokiji, Kizaru and Akainu, with the ability to call upon the Shichibukai to aid them and all the Vice Admirals a and the likes of CP0 and Cp9 couldn't take down Kaido.
They were just too cowardly to do it and risk the losses that could come from such a battle, especially in the name of protecting people who did not pay the heavenly tribute and thus were not considered part of the World Government.
No, the idea of joining such a group for the benefit of the marines with them having the ability to cut him off at any point they deemed necessary?
Fuck that!
"Fuck the marines." Kaden decided right then and there. And there, it felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders and the fear that lingered of the bounty he'd get and the possibility of those sent after him before he was ready, disappeared.
He turned away from the battle ship, the front of it stained with his blood and eyed the towering G5 base with a speculative eye.
"Fuck the marines." he grinned and repeated.
If he was going to desert and get a bounty anyway, then he should do it properly and get the most out of it as he could.
That night, when most within the base were asleep and Vice Admiral Vergo had left on one of his routine 'pirate hunts', a figure sped away through the sky, fleeing the island.
A massive sack held over one shoulder as he streaked away into the stormy rumbling skies of the New World, not a single marine of the incompetent G5 noting anything was amiss at all, the marines on guard too absorbed in a game of poker to do their jobs
Until the next morning when Vice Admiral Vergo returned, to find the coffers containing all the beri the G5 marine base had in stock, completely empty, not a single beri to be found anywhere within sight.
And to make matters worse, it was payday.
And the newly promoted young prodigy and rising star of the G5 base, Commander Kaden D. Freeman, nowhere to be found.
And here we are back with chapter 4.
So, we got a little time skip with Kaden training his ass off, his heart out and crying bloody tears of vengeance against the other Kaden, just a usual Tuesday. But yeah, he broke through the thousand doriki mark and gotten a few of the Rokushiki down, so now he's blowing that popsicle stand. Of course, he got annoyed at his superior stupidly promoting him, not only because he surely doesn't have the qualifications for it, but also because it would make things more annoying for him. Of course, then Kaden showed off why even with all his knowledge, that in no way makes him wise and he yoinks all their money before splitting like the petty teenager he is. Well, beyond that if you wanna read ahead we're quite a few chapters ahead on the Pa-atreon. I think like 5 or 6 chapters ahead?
Anyway, shameless Pa-atreon plug. I've got one, go by the same username on there, easy to find and all that jazz. Support me if you want, it'd be swell, but don't feel pressured lads and ladies, I'll be uploading my stuff outside it regardless and not keeping it all behind a paywall or anything like that.
