8 Chapter 8

A few hours later, Warren docked the ship at Karate Island and looked around admiring the sight before him. Karate Island was a beautiful tropical island with fighting everywhere. From the sweaty and tire student training, to the animals having fierce battles, to even the trees, as Warren saw a tree swings it's branches at an unaware old man walking towards him.

As Warren was about to warm the old man, and Shunshin to him if he had to, Warren was stunned to see the branch about to hit the old man explode, the tree shaking violently as if in pain. Just as Warren was trying to process what was happening, he felt an oppressive pressure wash over him, forcing him to his knees, his breathing becoming labored. 'Thats definitely a hidden master if I've ever seen one. Fuck, that old man is dangerous!' Warren thought to himself as he grew frustrated with the situation.

"Ronin, are you okay?!" Meli asked in a panic as she watched Warren struggle helplessly.

Warren was thankful and happy that Meli was affected like he was. Looking forward, Warren was shocked to see the old man cross that big distance in the blink of an eye, only to appear before them.

"Hmm, your Jolly Rogor tells me you may not be pirates, but this stench of blood on you suggests otherwise. Tell me, who are you exactly, and what are you doing here?" the deceivingly harmless looking old man asked, as the pressure on Warren increased, forcing him to use his hands to keep himself up, as he felt himself dangerously close to passing out.

"M-My name is Ronin, and I'm a Bounty Hunter! We're here to get training and hopefully find a new member to our crew!" Warren struggled to get out through his labored breaths. 'Damnit! I thought I grew strong, but we didn't even make it to the Grandline yet and here I am getting bitched out by a random old man in the South Blue!' Though Warren was frustrated, he'd realize that he was under the effects of Conquerors Haki, and that no simple person can use it, especially to this degree of control.

"Hmm, very few of you Bounty Hunters around, as most either become Pirates, Marines, or Revolutionaries. Hmm, okay then, you've peeked my interest. Follow me to my dojo where you and your wife will sleep for the night. In the morning, you'll show me what you can do." the old man said turning around, not bothering to ask Warren if that was okay.

Warren wanted to protest, but when he looked up, he saw the old man a distance away, walking, but the space between them was increasing rapidly. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Warren got up and pulled Meli into his arms, completely surprising her as she grew a deep blush, and he Shunshin'd after the old man, struggling to push passed the exhaustion that he felt.

Half an hour later, the finally stop in front of a large wooden dojo with paper doors. As he landed, Warren gently set Meli down before he collapsed on his back, panting heavily. Even is both lives, this was the most he had ever pushed himself.

"Oh get up, will you? You're embarrassing yourself in front of your wife. I can't believe a big guy like you let a little midnight stroll wear you out like this. Go out back and wash up and then come inside that you can eat dinner before you sleep." the old man said as he disappeared inside the dojo before the two could get a word in.

As Warren was trying to catch his breath, Meli was having an inner crisis, as not only was she called Warren's wife, Twice, she was also held tightly in his arms, which made her remember the events from the other night. 'Me, Warren's wife?! Kyaa it'd be so amazing! I could cook and clean for him, and he could have me whenever he wanted. What if we had kids?! Oh how I hope they get his beautiful hazel eyes!' Meli thought to herself as she grew a dopey grin.

After a few minutes, Warren finally collected himself and went to the back like instructed. Much to Meli's delight, Warren asked her to help clean him, but she was slightly disappointed when he didn't get fully undressed. Warren shook his head at his pervy navigator not bothering anymore to hide her ogling his body, but he didn't mind. He didn't workout hard to have a great body to NOT be looked at, he just wasn't used to the attention yet.

Walking inside the dojo, Warren was surprised to find the home to be a mix of japanese and western design. Following the smell of delicious food, Warren and Meli walk into the dining room to find the old man, a sweet looking older lady who is presumably his wife, and a few other adults and teens, leaving Ronin slightly stunned as the table and the room are far bigger than he expected.

But one that caught his immediate attention, was a teen that Ronin was sure was not human, and part of the race from the information that God left him called a, Fishman. The teen looked to be a killer whale Fishman that somewhat reminded him of Gang Orca from MHA, but this guy looked more human. Especially with his long black sleeves covered in chainmail, dark green armored vest, and hooded black and white cloak that shrouded most of his form. His outfit reminded him of Kakashi with a cloak on, which nearly made him fanboy.

Feeling someone looking at him, the Fishman teen looked up at Ronin and blew out a puff of smoke a pulled out the cigarette he was smoking. "Yo, it's not often that we see a new face. I'm Devon, Devon Lynch. Let me guess, you caught Gramp's eye and now you're part of the torture group with the rest of us?" the Fishman, Devon asked in a casual, almost lazy tone.

"Torture group?" Ronin asked, but was distracted by a grunt from the old man.

"Ahh, don't listen to him, Devon and the others are just weak and don't like hard work! But enough about that, come sit and eat the beautiful meal my delicious wife made." said the old man as he gestured to the blushing old lady next to him.

Ronin wanted to correct the old man that he got his words mixed up, then realized he didn't want to really know if he did or not. Eating the meal with everyone was awkward at first, but between the good vibes and laughing at the different students bickering with each other, Ronin and Meli started to feel as though they were really apart of this makeshift family.

During the dinner, Ronin found out that the old man, who turned out to be named, Harada Genko, was somewhat of a leader of this Island. Though his title is Warlord, most on the island just call him Gramps or Grandpa Gen. Genko had trained many students over the years, some even making high ranking members of the government, but he stopped taking new students some years ago, but the reason blatantly avoided, and Ronin knew better than to pry where he didn't belong.

After the dinner, Ronin and Meli were shown a room where they realized they had to share a futon, since everyone thought they were married. Seeing no real issues with it, Ronin laid down and went to sleep, meanwhile, Meli laid next to him, fighting hard to get herself under control. Needless to say, Ronin woke up energized and refreshed, while Meli looked as though she barely slept a wink.

Walking downstairs, Ronin quickly cleaned himself in the bathroom he was shown the night before, and made his way out to the courtyard where he was told to meet Genko. "You're late! Do you think I have time to stand and wait for you all day?" Genko asked, but when Ronin looked up, the sun was not even up and he was sure it was just before 5 in the morning.

Choosing not to fail for the bait to an argument on punctuality, Ronin decided to move on. "Well, I'm here now. So, how are we going to do this? Do I just run some laps to start off with or-" Ronin said before his instincts screamed at him to dodge, which he Shunshin'd to the left, barely dodging the wrinkled fist of Genko. "What the hell old man, that could have killed me!" Ronin yelled, now far more alert and on edge than he was before. He wasn't exaggerating when he said he felt death coming with that attack.

"Pahh, so you're a baby just like the rest of them. I'm already holding back so much! Now less talk and show me what you can do, or you might truly meet your end!" Genko yelled as he threw another punch at Ronin, only this time he landed, his fist going through Ronin's chest, or so he thought. Just as Genko was worried he actually killed his new student, Ronin disappeared in a puff of smoke, in his place was a log with a hole punctured through it.

At the side of the courtyard, hiding using the Shinobi skills he trained, Ronin was doing his best to still his fast beating heart. This close, he was this close to truly dying because this crazy old man didn't know how to control his strength. 'He won't let me go untill I show him what I can do, huh? Then I better go balls to the walls then. I might actually get to go all out if I don't die right away!' Ronin excitedly thought to himself, as of yet he has yet to face an opponent to make him actually try his best.

As Genko used his senses to search the surrounding area, he suddenly moved to the right, barely dodging a Chidori Senbon, but the place where he landed had depressed into the ground, forming a deep trench that looked more like an earthen coffin. Kicking the air, Genko easily jumped over the trench and landed on the other side of it. Once he landed, Genko looked around to find himself surrounded by 6 different copies of Ronin, and before he could react, they all aimed their fingers at him as if they were pistols, and casually said at once, "Chidori Gatling".

Once those words were spoken, all of the Ronin's unleashed an almost neverending barrage of Chidori Bullets, some actually managing to hit Genko due to their fast speed, but did no damage at the end of the day. When the barrage was over, Genko stood their unscathed, looking somewhat disappointed.

As if sensing the disappointment, all of the Ronin charge at Genko and held on to him a various points, and at once, they yelled "Lightning Clone Explosion!" The next second, the blew up, causing a massive explosion that woke up half of the island, as they ran there to see if it was an enemy attack. When they arrived, they saw a massive crater in the middle of the once beautiful courtyard, Genko in the middle, completely unscathed.

"Fucking come on, are you serious? That attack can clearly take out half of a mountain, but you don't even get a scratch?!" Ronin asked in a state of disbelief, not sure what else he could do once Genko had already bested his most deadly attacks. Ronin wanted someone he could go all out against in a spar to see how far he's gotten in his two years of training, but it was starting to feel wasted when he saw that he could even put a scratch on an old man in the South Blue.

"Welcome to the club. I've been training here for years, and I haven't even seen Rear Admirals make this old demon sweat. It's just a blessing for this world that he didn't decide to become some filthy pirate, or I feared this whole world and government would be fucked." said Devon as he casually lit a cigarette and laid a sympathetic hand on Ronin's shoulder.

"Hey look, I know exactly how you're feeling. We all feel useless when we first fight Genko, so I'll do you this. I'll spar with you, but I only go for high stakes. If you win, I'll do whatever you want, if I win, you do whatever I want. How does that sound?" Devon asked as he let out a puff of smoke.

'Finally! He looks strong and not over powered like that damn old man. A chance to test my real skill!' Ronin nodded his head in agreement, excited for the upcoming battle.