The mud and water that were in front of Rayleigh parted and revealed the dirty figure of Kisame. Rayleigh looked the boy over and had a lazy smile on his face.

All of the boy's clothes had been pretty much destroyed so he had to put together some pants using some of the weaker animals he had killed. Kisame's body had been covered in wounds, some fresh and some old, but nothing that would leave a permanent scar. The scabbard he would usually carry on his back was nowhere to be seen. All in all, Kisame looked very pathetic. But all Rayleigh did was laugh at the boy's current state.

"Haha! I knew that they would put you in your place but did not expect anything this bad! When did you find about Lord of the Giant Coast?"

Kisame did not respond to the mocking. He was too physically and mentally exhausted from the previous month to come up with a retort.

" *pant* *pant* I-i found out about it on the first day."

Raising an eyebrow, Rayleigh was surprised.

'I figured he would be able to at least last until the second day with his body and combat ability. He must have killed a small group of them when he first landed which attracted even more than I had expected.'

"You look so pitiful, haha. Oh, well. Come. We need to start your Haki and combat training now."

Kisame wordlessly followed behind Rayleigh as they made their way toward a location on the island that Kisame had never been to before. He was constantly moving around or hiding on the island but the area that Rayleigh brought him to was a true paradise for Kisame.

It was a huge room that had small holes in the ceiling which prevented any creatures from entering but also allowed in plenty of sunlight. The entrance to the room was barely 3 meters tall which prevented any creatures from entering that way as well. It also had its own personal water supply as a small river running through it. If not for the few swords, clothes, and beds that were inside of it, Kisame would have thought this place was untouched by man.

Rayleigh grabbed the exhausted Kisame by his neck and threw him onto the bed on the other side of the large room. With a crash, the bed collapsed beneath Kisame's body and the boy lost consciousness.

"Ha. Way too weak if wishes to stand alongside the 3 emperors. Doesn't matter. I helped Captain put them in their place before so I should raise someone to keep them in their place since my body doesn't move as well as it used to.

Shanks might not be able to take on 3 by himself. As for Buggy..."

Thinking of the young man with the clown nose and blue hair, Rayleigh let out a large sigh. He could never understand why Gol D. Rogers had accepted the kid and brought him along with their crew.

Kisame woke up the next day to the smell of fresh meat being cook. As he sat up, he discovered that his body had been bandaged and could feel it healing at a faster rate than normal.

'This old man is not as heartless as I thought he would be.'

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Kisame grabbed the shorts next to his bed, put them on, and made his way over to the campfire where Rayleigh was cooking. Sitting down opposite of him, Kisame began digging into the meat that had already been cooked. Rayleigh did not stop the fish-man and let him do as he pleased before starting his own food. The pair ate in silence but Kisame constantly kept his eyes on Rayleigh.

"Currently, you can't survive in the new world. If I were to rank you among the marines based on your combat strength, you would be a captain, maybe even a commodore. But they all have crews of marines beneath them. You are all alone. So you wouldn't even be able to beat a captain or commodore if...no when their crew backs them up."

Kisame listened and did not deny that. He knew that among the fish-men, his fighting techniques were top-notch but he lacked the full physical abilities of an adult. When his body grew to its peak, he was confident that he could take on even rear admirals.

As for the part of the crew, this was something that Kisame knew he was lacking even more. But Kisame lacked two things: connections and his pride. With his potential, he could eventually be an emperor of the sea but his potential could only matter so much. Few people would be willing to work under a child.

Then there was his pride or some might say his arrogance. Kisame knew how great he was and how great he would be in the future. He did not want to let just anyone be a member of his crew. While he knew he would not have a crew of a thousand vice admiral-level people, he still did not want his core crew to be too weak.

He had thought about all of this during his one month in isolation. How he could only do so much by himself. How animals he knew he could beat would band together and suppress him.

"So how can I become an emperor then?"

Hearing the question, a bright smile appeared on Rayleigh's face. This question implied many things. The boy did not just want to survive but he wanted to stand at the very top which meant he also was unwilling to serve anyone else in order to get there.

"4 things. 1 of them comes naturally while the other 3, I can put you on the path for but how far you go will depend on you. The natural thing is time, as you know. You are still a kid so you are just too weak. After a few years, you will no longer have to worry about this.

The things you will need to figure on your own after I give you a bit of help are knowledge, Haki, and your crew. As for how you develop after I give you this starting help... that depends on you."

Kisame did not disagree with anything Rayleigh said but looked the man in the eyes with a bit of impatience.

'Stop taking so many breaks and just say everything at once, Old Man.'

Seeing Kisame wanting to get started with his training so fast, Rayleigh almost laughed again but a glare from Kisame stopped him from doing so. Shaking his head, Rayleigh walked over to the bag of supplies he brought with him. He pulled out several books before bringing them to the fire and passing them to Kisame.

"Each of these are books I have written for you over the past month. One of them covers the marines, another one for pirates, the third for Devil Fruits, another for islands in Paradise and the New World, and lastly one for Haki. Take a look."

Rayleigh threw the books over to Kisame who eagerly opened them. Living on Fish-Man Island meant the amount of information he got about the outside world was limited to what the adventurers, pirates, and newspapers told him. Each one of these books was pretty much a treasure for the young and ignorant boy.

As Kisame was reading, Rayleigh did not stop speaking about what needed to be done over the next 4 years during their time on the island.

"Our main focus, while we are here, is to help you learn Armament Haki, stabilize your Observation Haki, and improve all 3.

You have had Observation your entire life but it is more of a reaction. This can be considered a blessing but also a curse. Most others have to be in a calm state in order to use Observation which means that can get caught off guard easily. That rarely happens to you.

But you also have the problem of not being able to constantly do it. This is why I chose this island. Animals do not hide their intent which is what Observation Haki senses. Being surrounded by so many animals aiming for your life 24/7, you will naturally begin to learn how to use it consciously.

Conqueror's Haki is even easier but also harder to train. It improves as you get stronger both physically and mentally. So if you wish to be able to rule over this entire island without having to lift a hand, you need to get strong to the point where every creature on this island is weaker than you and won't dare to stand up to you.

The last and most fun to train is Armament Haki. This one awakens during combat and after long periods of training. It works best if you are fighting someone stronger than you as well to improve it.

So for the next 4 years, your training will consist of you getting your ass handed to you by me for 2 weeks before I leave for a month and let you train with your furry friends out there. Any questions, comments, or complaints?"

After what Kisame had gone through for the past month, any other kid his age would be begging to be left off the island. But Kisame didn't. He only had one goal in mind and after reading some information about the strongest people in the marines and the emperors, the passion burning inside of him began to burn even brighter.

"No. Let's begin."

Rayleigh knew the boy would answer like this so he was not even surprised. Kisame's desire for strength was strange to most but a veteran like Rayleigh could easily see why Kisame desired to be strong so much.

"Not yet. Take 3 days to recover and read through those books in the meantime. They will be useful to you."