“Yes, my brother - Akura D. Satoru. You probably don’t know him by that name. Perhaps he calls himself Grandpa where he raised you?” Vice Admiral Garp’s eyes twinkled as he thought back to his detached sibling.
“Grandpa Satoru!?” Explosions went off in my head, my thoughts racing at incredible speed. I thought back to Grandpa Satoru, the mysterious kind old man who neighbored with Aunt Anari. Looking back at it, he did look awfully similar to Garp; except a few big differences.
He was nowhere near as big or vigorous as Garp - rather he looked more like a peaceful old man who was reaching the end of his years. He had silver-white hair and a frail and thin body that highlighted his old age. But despite their obvious physical differences, they both shared the same wide smile and distant eyes.
“Bahaha! So you do remember him, eh? Though I don’t think he was the one who mainly raised you. Probably left that up to Anari.” Garp, after seeing the lightbulb go off in my head, started laughing. I guess he was really happy about this whole family situation.
“Well, I’m sure you want to hear the history of this Grandpa of yours, eh? You two can leave.” Garp smile spread from ear to ear, nodding at Captain Oka and Instructor Hotaru to leave. The two gave a friendly smile and then left.
But wait! Grandpa!? He really is my Grandpa? My whole brain was thrown into a chaotic mess, memories of Satoru flooding into my head. I remembered how every day he would do the countdown of our races and help us whenever we needed it. But I never considered him to be my biological Grandpa! And then what about my Dad?
“Yes! Please explain to me, I’m listening!” He motioned for me to sit down on the chair and I opened my ears as far as I could. This was the story of my family...at least partially.
“Well, yes, Satoru really is your Grandpa and my brother. Guess that makes you my great nephew?” I nodded in response, attempting to control my thoughts and astonishment. He was right: I was related to the famous Vice Admiral Garp! I wonder how the rest of my squad would react if they heard this!
“Satoru happens to be my older brother by roughly a year. I’ll never be as close to someone as I was with him. Unfortunately, he was born with a rare disease that made him weaker than the standard civilian. His strength was limited beyond understanding, being outmatched by most common twenty-year-olds. In a world like ours, this kind of setback was devasting. Forget being a Marine or even a pirate!"
“But he didn’t let that stop him. In fact, despite such a crippling sickness, his intelligence and wisdom were heavenly. His mind worked like no other, he was a strategic genius in everything he did. Weak in body, perfect in mind.”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Wait? Is that disease hereditary?” I was intently listening to the story of this mysterious Grandpa, but that disease also peaked my interest. Where could such a strange disease come from? And how ironic was it that it would attack someone with such an ingenious mind? Fate works in strange ways.
“We’re not sure. That disease is extremely rare, and despite going to hospitals across the world there seemed to be no cure. But besides that, Satoru eventually joined the World Government. He more or less wanted to lead the world, but mainly kill his boredom.
“He ranked up extremely quickly, his strategic mind was unmatched, and he found himself leading the entire Cipher Pol - the intelligence agency of the World Government. Even the Commander-in-Chief of the Marines took his words seriously.” Garp’s voice was filled with heavy admiration, as he praised this brother of his without shame.
“All of this yet he could be killed with a single bullet. Not to mention, he was the one who taught me Haki. He had unlocked it long ago, but it served no use under his extremely frail body, and instead, he decided to teach it to me. His one-on-one teachings were the reason for my famous Haki abilities.”
“Wait, what’s Haki?” While I didn’t know what Haki was, I could still tell that what Satoru did was amazing
“Bahaha! I forgot, you didn’t know Haki yet. But it isn’t the time to teach you yet. Just remember his achievement and then once you learn Haki you’ll be able to truly appreciate what he did.” I could only take the unsatisfactory answer and continue to listen.
“Anyways, he was the only reason I was able to come so close to capturing Gol D. Roger. He was behind the scenes of every step, predicting the Roger Pirate’s next move and informing me of their closest location. He once told me he even planted spies within the crew.”
“I honestly credit all my achievements to your grandfather. Not to mention an unmatched intellect, he always had a kind heart.”
“But he never wanted credit for what he did, and on the day your Father was born he decided to break off from his position as Head of the Cipher Pol. But the government wasn’t willing to lose such a crucial man: after all, if he joined the wrong side he couldn’t be incredibly dangerous to the future of the World Government.”
“And so they gave him three options. He could become a World Noble, an entity you will discover later, became one of the King’s of the World Government, or possibly become one of the Gorosei - the leaders of the World Government. But he declined all three, claiming he would become a reclusive sage - traveling from kingdom to kingdom to give advice to various rulers. And so he did, becoming an almost untouchable existence within the Grand Line. He was known as the ‘Great Sage of the Sea’.”
“That was until you, Akura D. Kenji, were born. He left the Grand Line and decided to watch over you in the East Blue. And thus the legend of the Great Sage mysteriously vanished from the Grand Line. That is who your Grandfather is.”
Kenji’s mind was working on overdrive, attempting to process all the information given to him at once. His mind sprung forth several questions: Who was his Father? His mom? Aunt Anari? They were all frothing at the edge of his mouth, ready to explode forth.
“And wait, that’s all I can tell you about your family. Any more would cause you more damage than good; so become stronger first.” Garp’s gaze left Kenji and then went to the blue sky, as if looking for something. Kenji kept silent, still digesting what just happened.
His grandfather was a terrifying existence!