Chapter 14 - Marineford and The Fleet Admiral

Garp decided to tweak Raiden's training routine slightly. They still continued with back-breaking exercises, and Garp decided to put haki training on hold as Raiden's body was not matured enough to handle that power.

Instead Garp started training Raiden on battle tactics and general rules and regulations a marine is supposed to follow.

That was a breath of fresh air for Raiden who was more than happy to get a break from all the torture.

Just like that a week went by before they arrived at Marineford.

In Raiden's opinion, a 2-D depiction could never truly capture the majesty of the Marineford.

It was a collosal building with 4 watch towers on four sides of it. Raiden was bubbling with excitement. This is the place where one of the greatest arcs in the anime happened.

Garp's warship docked on the port, and they were immediately greeted by an over enthusiastic Vice Admiral.

________________________________________

Mozambia was a headquarters vice admiral.

He had dark skin and short brown hair with a scar on right side of his face.

And Mozambia was not in a good mood. Whenever Garp came, he always did something that would damage the serenity in Marineford. This time it was no different.

Apparently he found some brat in East Blue and wanted him to get enlisted.

He rushed out to greet Garp and his protegee.

Mozambia saw the white haired boy, who was chatting away with Bogard. He didn't really see anything special in the boy but decided to keep that thought to himself.

You never know when you're going to meet a monster on the sea.

"Oi brat, Bogard, stop wasting time and let's go meet Sengoku. Huh? Who are you?"

Mozambia was stunned. He wanted to cry but schooled his emotions and greeted Garp.

"Vice Admiral Garp, Sengoku-san wanted me escort you to his offic..."

"I know where his office is, why would he send you?"

"Ah! He's having meeting with the Admi..."

"Bah! Who cares! Oi brat let's go greet Sengoku, Bogard take care of things here."

Before Mozambia could say anything, Garp picked up Raiden and vanished.

Mozambia just sighed.

________________________________________

Raiden was staring at Garp with a deadpan experience. He almost had his skin ripped out, that is how fast Garp was.

Garp grinned as if he understood what Raiden said just by reading his expressions.

He put Raiden down and slammed the door to Sengoku's room open.

The five individuals sitting in the room didn't seem surprised by Garp's intrusion.

'They probably sensed us with observation haki.'

Sengoku was the first one to respond.

"Garp! How many time do I have to tell you to knock before entering. Can't you see we're having a serious discussion!"

The pirate activity near Sabaody was increasing at an alarming rate. The world government was increasing the pressure on Sengoku to increase marine activity there, given how frequently celestial dragons visited that place, but it was not possible without reducing the marine influence on other parts of the sea.

"How could I have known, I just entered the room. Bwahahaha!"

As Garp and Sengoku bickered, Raiden looked around at the characters present there in the room and had a single thought.

'These people are fucking massive.' The three admirals and Sengoku were nearly three times his height.

There was also Tsuru who was examining Raiden. That made him slightly uncomfortable.

"Anyway this..." Garp pushed Raiden to the front and continued "...is who I was talking about. I want him enlisted."

Sengoku nodded. He wouldn't mind enlisting a new recruit. Infact he was more than happy. And considering Garp scouted him there was no way the boy wasn't talented.

"It's fine. Raiden, you will start with the rank of Seaman Recruit. I'll send someone to take you to your room and give you a tour. You will live in the assigned quarters. And join the training camp from tomorrow."

"Work hard and become a protector of justice."

Garp was about to interrupt, but Sengoku sushed him to wait for a bit.

In no time a Seaman Recruit came and guided Raiden towards his living quarters.

When Raiden left the room, Sengoku gestured Garp, who was picking his nose to continue with what he was saying.

"Oh nothing, it's just that you should've given him a higher rank, at least a petty officer."

Sengoku frowned at that.

"Garp we can't give out special treatments like that, even if he's you apprentice."

"Yeah but that boy can use all six Rokushiki techniques."

"..."

"..."

"What did you say!?"

"Yeah he can use all of them. I think he'd be wasting his time at that rank."

Sengoku was seriously stunned. He never imagined an eleven year old boy can learn all the Rokushiki styles.

Even the three admirals were just as surprised. It was evident why Garp chose the boy as his apprentice.

"Arara, where did you find him Garp-san."

"Ohhhh! Why, are you sacred someone would take your place as Garp's favourite deciple?" Kizaru started teasing Kuzan, who promptly ignored and went back to sleep.

"Hmm, Sengoku-san give that boy to me. While I respect Vice Admiral Garp's strength, I don't think marines need another loose cannon." Sakazuki aka akainu commented, something Garp didn't appreciate.

Grap glared at Akainu who ignored him and kept looking at Sengoku.

Grap snorted, even if akainu was an admiral he didn't have much authority over Garp. That was the marine hero's reputation.

"Ah whatever. I'll be keeping the boy with me and that's final, Sengoku. He just need merit points for the promotion right? We'll collect enough of them in a few months." Garp was still picking his nose as he said that.

Sengoku nodded at that. He just wished the boy didn't learn Garp's bad habits.

________________________________________

Every Seaman had to share their room with 3 other recruits of their tier.

And well Raiden's roommates sure had a quirky personality.

"The fuck are you staring at huh!? You're the new roommate?"

"Yes. I'm Raiden, 11."

"So you're the same age at the nerd over there? Do me a favor and don't bother me like him. These fuckers, they think anyone can become a marine these days." Dax wishpered the last part.

"H..hello I'm Arthur. Nice to meet you."

His first roommate was a small boy named Arthur. He had bright blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. Raiden had no idea why every Arthur had the same build.

He and Raiden were of the same age while the later being significantly smaller in size.

His second roommate was called Dax. He was a brown skinned boy with long black hair that he kept in a pony tail.

He was a massive boy with rippling muscles, something Raiden was admittedly jealous of. He was also much older than the two, being 15 years old.

"Who is the fourth one? Are there just three of us."

"Yeah, it's just the three of us for now." Arthur replied.

Raiden nodded at that. Honestly the living arrangements weren't that bad. He and Arthur hit it off pretty much instantly. The boy was seriously knowledgeable and started telling him about a lot of how things happened here at Marineford, while Dax decided to keep his distance.

Raiden could tell he didn't think very highly of the them, but he knew Dax wasn't a bad person per say.

Overall he was satisfied with what he had. In three days the foundational classes for new recruits would start, and although he wasn't excited to go to school again, he decided he would enjoy his time here to the fullest.

_________________________________________