Ohara, yes, the very same place where everyone dies at some point due to a Buster Call, except for you know who, and the other big burnt guy, Kaizo has the luck to live there now, though he's unaware of the dangers lurking on the island that will eventually arrive.
Now out of the hospital, Kaito was sent to an orphanage but he immediately left the place and rushed into the woods. Why? Because to him, too much interaction is a bother.
You'd call this idiotic but what's more idiotic? The fact that a kid just left on his own to live in the woods or the fact that adults couldn't give less fucks even after the Dr. Colman told him they would take care of him?
Answer: either and/or both of them!
Thankfully Kaizo has the imprinted survival guides that Wexof put in his mind. With just that he was capable of knowing most plants in the forest and prepared his training plan for survival. But that's somewhat irrelevant since he's not planning to leave the orphanage just yet, he's just organizing his thoughts alone.
'Ok, I need to find this "Luffy" guy and prevent him from dying or I'll die. Problem is: I have no clue where he is or if he's even been born yet. Regardless of that I can only rely on setting the foundations to have a good body for the future.'
'The good thing about being 4 is that is a good age to both train and not strain my body. Giving me enough time to build up strength, unless Luffy's already been around for a while, nobody would want to have a kid in a pirate crew.' Kaizo wrongfully assumes.
After considering his options, Kaizo opts to remain in the orphanage since it has a bathroom and kitchen. He could theoretically survive in the woods by himself but survival is all about necessity and Kaizo's necessities haven't reached that point.
As he walked around the small town in Ohara, Kaizo took notice that most of them were quite enthralled with books of all kind.
When asking a resident about it he was told that this is an island of archeologists and that most people tend to develop a liking to books of all kinds but mostly about history.
Kaizo asked if there was something he shouldn't do since he didn't want to piss off anyone after they saved his life. The resident was happy for Kaizo's thoughtfulness and told him that under no circumstances he should talk about the century void or even mention its name.
Kaizo didn't understood why but he didn't need to, if he was forced to be a pirate archeological and historical knowledge are the least of his priorities. Oh, how wrong he is.
After that whole debacle, Kaizo returned to the orphanage where he would take a bath before going to sleep. While he was asleep, various events were happening worldwide. For example: This very day The Roger Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates have a battle in an island that took 3 days and 3 nights. But everybody makes peace in the fourth day.
Kaizo awoke like a baby the next day and went to have breakfast. Ohara rarely has orphans since most of its residents are responsible but there are the exceptions to the rule, which is why the orphanage has less than 30 children living in it.
(A/N: The minimum is like 40 or so, I read.)
Which also meant that Kaizo was able to eat plenty enough to train for the day. Kaizo went into the woods alone once again and began to train.
He did some stretching to flex his small body and started his routine. He began to do some push-ups, jumping tracks, monkey bars and fast paced jogging. He did a hundred of those or at least he wanted to but barely managed to do 20 of each since his body's so weak.
As he tiredly laid on the ground, after a while of resting, Kaizo carefully pushed himself up and stood up once again and then he began to punch a tree with the strength he had left over and over again he didn't punch blindly, he was actually practicing his boxing technique.
Boxing, as a fighting style, is an art of controlled aggression and defensive mastery focused on delivering precise, powerful punches while maintaining a defensive stance. The style relies heavily on footwork, positioning, and well-timed strikes, using the fists as the only weapons.
For the training, Kaizo performed the traditional routine for boxing to get his body used to it.
Warm-Up: 10-15 minutes (dynamic stretching).
Boxing Drills:
2-3 sets of 10 reps for each basic punch.
2-3 sets of 10 reps for combinations.
Footwork Drills: 2-3 sets of 1 minute for each drill.
Defense Drills: 2-3 sets of 20 reps for each movement.
Bag Work: 3 rounds of 2-3 minutes (He used a tree instead of a bag).
Cool-Down: 5-10 minutes (light shadowboxing, stretching).
Eventually, Kaizo fell on the ground exhausted and gave a satisfactory smirk. Even though he's progressing slow, he's thankful that he can start this journey once again, the journey of getting stronger by his own means and making his body perfect for the over 20 fighting styles that reside in his mind.
Eventually, nightfall came and Kaizo was forced to move his still aching body towards the orphanage. There, the woman in charge, Rito, scolded him.
"Kaizo, why did you arrive so late today?" Rito.
"Sorry, Rito-san. I was playing in the woods." Kaizo.
"You shouldn't be there, young man, there's a good quantity of wild animals there. At the very least play as close to the town as you can." Rito.
"Ok, I will." Kaizo prepared to leave but Rito spoke once again.
"By the way, are you excited about tomorrow?" Rito.
"Tomorrow?" Kaizo asked confused.
"For school of course." Rito.
"School?! There's a school here?" Kaizo was taken aback.
He hasn't seen any building that looked even remotely familiar to a school, at least compared to the modern world.
"Well, it's not exactly a school like those fancy countries, but Professor Clover teaches the kids how to read and write and even teaches them how the world works in the plaza. As a town filled to the brim with scholars, it would be an insult to not share the knowledge with the kids." Rito.
"Hm..." Kaizo went into deep thought.
'Information is as good as any weapon; I may already know how to read and write but learning more about this world is surely a must. Specially since that jackass took all the information I had about this place.' Kaizo thought.
"It sounds interesting, I'll give it a shot." Kaizo.
"That's the attitude, also, I have to tell you about what you shouldn't say in this island." Rito began to whisper.
"Are you talking about that void thing? Someone already told me to never speak about it." Kaizo whispered back.
"You have good hindsight; I hope you can grow to be a great scholar." Rito.
'Not his son but already has such expectations, also, sorry but I'll be a pirate. BECAUSE I WAS FORCED TO!!' Kaizo cursed and apologized mentally.
And with that, Kaizo's second day at Ohara ended and the third one came.
After working through the pain form his aching body and doing some morning stretches, Kaizo was guided to the plaza where Prof. Clover was waiting patiently for the children with various books and a chalkboard.
Kaizo handed it to the man, it was 8 in the morning and it seemed that he's been there for at least an hour before everyone else.
"Ah, welcome. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor Clover and I will be the one that'll teach you as many lessons as you want." Clover.
"I'm Kazuto D Kaizo, nice to meet you." Kaizo greeted.
Clover widened his eyes for a moment when Kaizo said his name, something that he barely managed to notice, but recomposed himself almost immediately.
"Alright, you're lucky since I'm teaching the basics to everyone here. Just sit on one of these chairs and let's wait for the others, classes begin at 8:30 AM sharp." Clover.
As Kaizo sat down he wondered, why did Clover seem surprised when he heard his name? Did he know someone with his last name in the past or is it that D that just stands out like a sore finger?
Too many questions and not enough answers, Kaizo decided to just listen and learn what's being teached.
Meanwhile, Clover was brainstorming about Kaizo's origins.
'Many islands get pillaged by pirates, seems that he's too young for his parents to tell him where he lived. Also, the traumatic experience and reliving it is something I would rather avoid. But he's part of the D Clan, I hope this isn't a bad omen.' Clover thought.
As the whole group gathered, Clover began to explain to them everything about the seas and the political powers.
"Alright, listen up, take notes, and make questions once I'm finished talking. Ahem! The whole world constitutes mostly of a large body of water that is the sea, over 90% of the worlds' surface is covered in it and the remaining 10% are the islands we humans inhabit."
"The sea isn't all connected since its divided in seven different seas. These seas are divided by a vast ring-like continent which wraps around the entire world. It serves as a border separating the East and South Blues from the North and West Blues on both sides, as well as separating the two halves of the Grand Line." Clover.
"What are the blues and the Grand Line, Professor?"
"I'll explain that right now. The blues are the four seas that are in one side of the Red Line. These being the East, West, North and South Blue. The Grand Line, however, is an ocean route which wraps around the entire world, south of the North and East Blues and north of the South and West Blues. It is separated from the Blues on both the north and south ends by the Calm Belt. The Grand Line is split into two sections by the Red Line: the first section is known as Paradise and the second is known as the New World. However, reaching the Grand Line is both dangerous and difficult." Clover.
"If the Grand Line is just a route that traverses the whole world? Why don't they just pass by the south of the North and East Blues and north of the South and West Blues?" Kaizo asked.
"This is where the Calm Belt comes into play. The Calm Belts are two areas of ocean that border the north and south of the Grand Line, they are essentially barriers for those trying to enter and exit the Grand Line; these areas are always completely calm, never having any ocean currents or winds blowing, making it impossible for non-self-propelled ships to travel through. They also happen to be the nesting grounds for the world's largest Sea Kings, which attack any ship attempting to cross over. For this reason, the safest method for any ship from the East, North, West or South Blue to enter the Grand Line, and vice-versa, is by traveling over Reverse Mountain, which is also risky in its own right." Clover.
Clover drew a makeshift map of the world and even drew some monsters in the area of the Calm Belt.
Kaizo began to understand the dynamic of the world once again, it's pure water with almost no land. Makes sense that piracy is common here, but it also seems that technology isn't that advanced despite the era.
Kaizo didn't even questioned about climbing the Red Line, he figured it was either impossible or illegal.
"Now, to explain what the New World is. The New World is the second half of the Grand Line, as I've explained, the Red Line goes around the world, and so does the Grand Line, once you enter from Reverse Mountain and follow the path, you're bound to arrive to the other side of the Red Line." Clover.
"But, how can someone cross the Red Line? Is there another Reverse Mountain?"
"No, there's only one. I'm not entirely sure about it myself since I'm not into shipwrights but I've heard that they've got a method that allows a ship to dive underwater, like a submarine." Clover.
'Transformers, Robots in Disguise.' Kaizo thought.
"OOH!" The kids were in awe.
Clover continued his lecture about everything relevant to the world.
"The World Government is a federation of over 170 affiliated nations that governs most of the world. These nations affiliated with them need to pay a tribute every month or else they'll no longer be recognized. The benefit of paying the tribute is that the Marines will definitely show up whenever pirates attack and will establish themselves in the island."
"However, no matter what, and this is very important, no one ABSOLUTELY NO ONE! Can go against the Celestial Dragons." Clover spoke with a menacing expression, scaring some children.
"Celestial Dragons? Are they literal dragons?" Kaizo.
"No, Celestial Dragons is the title given to the descendants of the creators of the World Government. As descendants of the creators of the World Government, the Celestial Dragons have the highest authority within the organization. They are free to do as they please without consequences, even commit heinous crimes, and if they are threatened in any way, they have the authority to summon a Marine Admiral to deal with the offending party. The Celestial Dragons each possess a government-issued identification chip to identify their statuses." Clover explained with a saddened expression.
'Bullshit! I don't remember anything about this world but even I know that no one is 100% free of punishment. And even if they are, someone will take matters into their own hands.' Kaizo thought.
"Although it is sad, we're fortunate that this scholar island isn't of their interest. They only tend to go to the most luxurious places they can find to presume their wealth. But again, remember, to NEVER MESS WITH THEM! They could kill you, your friends and family just for standing in front of them, no one's safe when a Celestial Dragon is around." Clover.
Many kids tremble at the thought and gulped.
The school lasted for a few hours with breaks in-between and lasted until 3 in the afternoon. Most kids stopped paying attention halfway except for both Kaizo and a girl with onyx hair and blue eyes.
Kaizo dedicated the rest of the day to his training but he couldn't shake the disgusting feelings the Nobles left in his head. He hasn't met them, sure, but he has a feeling in his gut that he shouldn't either.
With another sigh, Kaizo returned to the orphanage to rest for the day. And with that, 4 more months passed.