A month quietly passed.
During this time, Raizen stayed in Foosha Village.
Aside from teaching Luffy and the other two, he spent his days training and digesting his cultivation insights.
Garp had also stayed for a month, only reluctantly preparing to leave after Sengoku repeatedly called to rush him.
“Sengoku is such a pain.
Can’t he let an old man spend a little more time with his cute grandsons?”
Garp looked listless.
Raizen shrugged beside him and said, “Instructor Garp, you could just take Luffy and the others to Marine Headquarters.
Leaving them here like this doesn’t feel right, does it?”
Hearing this, Garp immediately grinned and patted Raizen’s shoulder.
“Isn’t that why you’re here, Raizen my boy?”
Raizen pointed at himself in confusion.
“Me?”
“Exactly!
You’re still a cadet in the training camp.
You have no rank and no official duties.
Isn’t it perfect for you to stay here and help me teach them?”
“Huh?
Instructor Garp, you’re just going to dump me here too?”
“How can you call it dumping?
You’re their teacher, aren’t you?
A teacher can’t just ignore his students, right?”
“Then just take them all to Marine Headquarters with you!”
Hearing this, Garp fell silent for a moment.
“Now is not the time.
The current Marine Headquarters is not a good place for Luffy and Ace.”
Raizen’s eyes narrowed.
“Instructor Garp, are you saying…”
“Yeah, you know about Zephyr’s situation.
Compared to Zephyr, I draw even more of their hatred.”
Raizen clenched his fists slightly.
‘Those damn Five Elders, always pulling dirty tricks behind the scenes.’
Zephyr’s wife and child used to live in the family district of Marineford.
However, this district, located at Marine Headquarters and hailed as the safest place in the world, was broken into by two unknown, no-name pirates who murdered them.
The wife and child of a dignified Admiral, killed by two lowly pirates right inside the Marine Headquarters’ family district!
Who would believe there wasn’t some World Government conspiracy behind that?
The same logic applied to Garp.
Luffy and Ace were Garp’s weaknesses.
Here, they could live safely and freely, but not at Marine Headquarters.
The people of Foosha Village could be trusted, but the Marines at Headquarters could not be fully trusted.
“I understand, Instructor Garp.”
Raizen rested one hand on the Nidai Onimaru at his waist.
“While you’re away, I’ll protect Luffy and the others.
But only for half a year.
I’ll be graduating in six months.”
The implication was clear: in six months, he would graduate and head out to fight pirates.
He couldn’t stay here and play babysitter forever.
Although the training here was just as effective as at the training camp, with graduation approaching, Raizen still preferred to return to Marineford.
“Hahaha!
Don’t worry, Raizen my boy.
It won’t take half a year, just two months!”
A sharp glint flashed in Garp’s eyes.
Sengoku had already begun cleaning house at Marine Headquarters.
In just two months, he was confident he could let Luffy and the others grow up safely and strongly at Headquarters!
Hearing this, Raizen breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good then.”
With his current strength, as long as it wasn’t a Four Emperors’ crew, he was confident.
Even if Shanks came, he could hold his own.
The current Shanks wasn’t the Emperor he would eventually become.
He was still four or five years away from claiming that title.
Judging by the growth rate required to become one of the Four Emperors in that timeframe, Shanks’s current strength was probably around that of a Vice Admiral who could use Advanced Conqueror’s Haki.
Yeah, he wasn’t stronger than Raizen.
“Then it’s settled.
I’ll be going now.
I leave Luffy and the boys in your hands for these two months.”
“Rest assured, Instructor Garp.”
Raizen led Luffy and the other two to watch Garp’s warship sail away.
Only when it disappeared over the horizon did Raizen wave his hand at the trio.
“Let’s go.
Back to training.”
“Yes, Instructor Raizen!”
Another month passed.
Today was a rare rest day.
Keeping the trio constantly tense wasn’t good for their growth; striking a balance between work and rest was the right path.
Raizen brought Luffy, Ace, and Sabo to the Foosha Village port.
A few merchant ships were unloading and selling goods while purchasing local specialties.
Raizen took the boys to see if there was anything they needed.
“Oranges from Cocoyasi Village.
Not bad, quite sweet.”
“Fabric from Loguetown.
Let’s take this.
Makino can make some new clothes for Luffy and the others when she has time.”
“Swords from Shimotsuki Village.
Ah, nowhere near as good as my Nidai Onimaru.
Pass.”
After some picking and choosing, Raizen and the boys had a bountiful harvest.
At the same time, Raizen gathered some intelligence from the merchants.
For example, there was a retired female Marine in Cocoyasi Village whose oranges were exceptionally sweet; Koushirou Shimotsuki of Shimotsuki Village had a very cute daughter; and the sea restaurant Baratie recently took in a ten-year-old kitchen helper.
To sum it up: Nami’s Cocoyasi Village hadn’t been invaded by the Arlong Pirates yet, and her adoptive mother Bell-mère was still alive; Zoro’s senior sister Kuina hadn’t been killed by the Supreme Grade Stairs yet; and Sanji had just arrived at Baratie to learn cooking.
These were all incredibly high-quality potential talents.
‘I see that these individuals are destined for our Marines!’
Looking out at the distant sea, Raizen suddenly toyed with the idea of taking Luffy and the boys out for a trip.
They could visit those islands, and he could even take them to the isolated island where he was born to check on the wolf pack and pay respects to the old wolf king.
Then they could visit the execution platform in Loguetown and imagine how Roger looked when he was executed there back in the day.
Suddenly, a commotion at the port interrupted Raizen’s thoughts.
Turning around, he saw that the merchants who had just been peddling their wares were now frantically packing up and rushing their goods back onto their ships in a complete panic.
Grabbing a passing merchant, Raizen asked, “What’s going on?”
“Pi…
Pirates!
A pirate ship is heading this way!”
After saying that, the merchant scrambled toward his ship as fast as his legs could carry him.
Just then, an old man wearing a hat hurried over to Raizen, his face etched with anxiety.
“Raizen, Raizen!
I heard from the merchants that a pirate crew is heading straight for Foosha Village!”
The newcomer was the mayor of Foosha Village—Woop Slap.
Looking as if the sky was falling, Woop Slap cast a pleading gaze at Raizen.
“What should we do now?”
Hearing this, Luffy and the other two immediately got fired up.
Sabo waved his lead pipe.
“Isn’t it obvious?
We’re Marines!
If we run into pirates, of course we have to defeat them and lock them up!”
Luffy and Ace nodded repeatedly.
Then, they each received a swift knock on the head from Raizen.
“You brats stay out of this.
These aren’t your average pirates,” Raizen said in an exasperated tone.
“Mayor Woop Slap, please take the entire village, along with Luffy and the boys, to the back and take shelter.
I’ll handle things here.”
He looked toward the approaching pirate ship in the distance, a red gleam of Observation Haki flashing in his eyes.
“After all, the pirate coming this time…”
“…is ‘Red-Haired’ Shanks.”