" You! Yes, you! The one with those dead-fish eyes! Get your ass out here!"
A furious shout cracked like thunder across Marineford's sweltering training ground!
Yas snapped back to his senses, the instructor's contemptuous, impatient roar still ringing in his ears. The blazing sunlight stung his eyes.
He raised his head and saw a face steeped in spite and arrogance.
It belonged to a Marine instructor with scruffy stubble on his chin and the appraising, disdainful gaze peculiar to a jaded veteran.
"What are you staring at? I'm talking to you, Yas! Get to the front of the formation!" The instructor pointed his wooden stick at Yas, spittle nearly spraying his face.
Yas said nothing and silently stepped out of formation.
Around him, more than a hundred fellow recruits turned to look at him in unison. Some looked sympathetic, some delighted in his misfortune, but most looked afraid.
Damn it, here we go again.
Yas cursed inwardly.
He had been in this world for a month, spending every day under this kind of pressure and harassment.
He wasn't from this world.
A month ago, he had still been a corporate drone working nine to nine, six days a week. After waking from a night's sleep, he had found his soul transported into the body of a boy who had just joined the Marines.
What truly made his scalp crawl was that, through discreet inquiries and overheard information, he had established the current timeline with horror-
More than twenty years before the start of the Great Pirate Era, in an age when monsters ran rampant and mighty contenders rose everywhere!
Rocks D. Zebek, the great pirate who would become a legend, was at his peak!
Aboard his ship, future Four Emperors "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate, Kaido of the "Beasts," and even "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin might still have been nothing more than senior crew members!
And Roger, who would stand at the pinnacle of piracy, and his nemesis Garp were making names for themselves in this very era, leveling up like mad!
This was an age of titans clashing!
And he, Yas, was just an unremarkable Marine recruit at Marineford who hadn't even mastered the Six Powers!
This was a hellish starting point!
Being a Marine in this era meant a terrifying casualty rate. If they encountered even a slightly renowned pirate crew on patrol, recruits like them were nothing but cannon fodder!
"What? Got a problem?"
Seeing Yas remain silent, Instructor Moore's eyes grew even more mocking. "Do you think the Marines are somewhere for you little brats to play house? Look at you spineless weaklings! You can't even stand at attention properly! You think you can catch pirates? You'll be lucky if you don't hand them your heads!"
Moore's belligerent voice echoed across the entire training ground.
He particularly disliked Yas.
Ever since training began, this brat had always looked utterly unruffled, as if nothing mattered to him. To Moore, that was blatant contempt! It was disregard for him, a veteran instructor!
Yas took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions churning inside him.
He knew there was no point arguing with someone like this. In a world where strength ruled, without power, even breathing was a crime.
"Reporting, sir. I have no objections." Yas's voice was calm, devoid of any discernible emotion.
"No objections?" Moore sneered. With a crack, he lashed the wooden stick beside Yas's leg, whipping up a gust of wind.
"That look is what I hate most! Like a dead fish! Not a trace of youthful vigor! Tell me, why did you join the Marines?"
Why?
To survive!
Yas knew perfectly well that in this chaotic era of Rocks, joining the Marines at least offered a slim chance of survival. Wandering around outside alone, he could die without even knowing what had killed him.
But he couldn't say that.
"For justice." Yas uttered the words expressionlessly.
"Hahahahaha!"
As if he had heard the greatest joke in the world, Moore burst into exaggerated laughter, rocking back and forth.
The recruits around them let out muffled chuckles too.
"Justice?" Once Moore had finished laughing, he abruptly leaned close to Yas and lowered his voice, speaking sinisterly at a volume only the two of them could hear. "Kid, drop those ridiculous fantasies. Do you know what justice is? Let me tell you: on these seas, fists are justice! Strength is everything!"
"Trash like you, who doesn't even know what Haki is, will be the first to die on the battlefield!"
Moore's tone brimmed with malice. "I've seen too many rookies like you, spouting justice at every turn, only to cry harder than anyone when a pirate cuts their heads off!"
Yas remained silent.
To Moore, his silence was an even more blatant provocation.
"Not talking? Fine!" Moore's gaze turned cold. "Looks like words alone won't teach you! Today, I'll let you experience firsthand what strength means!"
The moment he finished speaking, Moore whipped his leg up, sweeping a powerful roundhouse kick viciously toward Yas's chest!
"It's Shave! Instructor Moore is using the Six Powers!"
"My God! Against a single recruit? Is that really necessary?"
"Yas is done for! Instructor Moore is a veteran who's taken part in several operations against major pirates!"
Cries of shock rose from the crowd.
Everyone's eyes widened. They could feel that Moore wasn't holding back at all with this kick! The wind pressure it generated made even the nearby recruits feel suffocated!
In their eyes, Yas's frail body looked about to fly away like a kite with its string cut beneath that kick. Even if he survived, he would be badly injured!
Yas's pupils abruptly contracted!
He wanted to dodge, but his body's reactions couldn't keep up!
Too fast!
Was this the strength of an elite instructor from Marine Headquarters? Was this the Six Powers?
The shadow of death instantly engulfed his heart!
He could clearly sense an invisible force coating that kick, hard and overbearing!
Armament Haki!
This bastard wanted to kill him!
No!
I can't die here!
I've only just arrived in this world! I haven't seen how vast it is, and I haven't had a chance to reach the top! How can I die at the hands of some petty bastard of an instructor abusing his power!
An intense desire to survive roared wildly in Yas's chest!
His eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the foot growing larger in his vision, every muscle in his body tensed to its limit!
At the critical instant when Moore's toes were about to touch Yas's chest!
[Ding!]
A cold, mechanical electronic voice sounded in Yas's mind without warning!
[Host's life detected to be under severe threat. Will to survive has reached the critical threshold...] [Strongest Template System officially activated!] [Randomly selecting the host's initial template...] [Drawing...] [Ding! Congratulations, host. Successfully drawn SSS-rank template-[Third Raikage] (Hokage world)!] [Template character: A] [Titles: Strongest Spear and Strongest Shield!] [Template introduction: The Third Raikage of Kumogakure possessed a lightning shield hailed as an "absolute defense" and the "Hell Stab," capable of piercing anything. His strength was such that he once single-handedly fought ten thousand ninja for three days and nights before dying of exhaustion! He also fought the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, to a draw!]
A torrent of information flooded into Yas's mind like a deluge of data!
The Third Raikage?!
That powerhouse wreathed in lightning, with a body as tough as steel, who could blast through anything with a single finger?!
Yas's heart began to pound wildly!
It's a cheat! My cheat has arrived!
[Template integration: 1%...] [Host detected to be under lethal attack. Automatically activating beginner protection!] [Temporarily activating skill-Lightning Release Chakra Mode (basic)!]
Boom!!!
At the very instant Moore's foot, wrapped in Armament Haki, was about to strike Yas's chest!
A dazzling burst of blue lightning erupted from Yas's body!
"Bzzzzzt-!"
Violent blue lightning instantly covered Yas's entire body with an ear-splitting roar! Every strand of his hair stood on end, lightning flickered in his pupils, and a terrifying, savage aura, like that of an ancient ferocious beast, swept across the entire training ground with him at its center!
"Bang!"
A deep, thunderous impact rang out!
Moore's kick, powerful enough to snap steel plating, struck Yas squarely in the chest!
And yet!
The expected sight of shattering bones and a body hurtling away never materialized!
Yas stood exactly where he was, utterly unmoving!
The thin layer of blue lightning armor over his chest had actually withstood Moore's full-powered blow!
"What?!"
The vicious grin on Moore's face froze instantly, replaced by boundless horror and disbelief!
He felt as though he hadn't kicked a person, but a piece of indestructible, ten-thousand-year-old black iron!
A terrifying recoil surged up through his ankle. At the same time, the blue lightning invaded his body in an instant, carrying a paralyzing force!
"Aah!!!"
Moore let out an agonized scream and flew backward as if electrocuted, crashing heavily to the ground more than ten meters away. His entire body convulsed, foam spilled from his mouth, and his hair was scorched black!
In an instant, the entire training ground fell deathly silent!
Every last one of the hundred-plus recruits stood rooted to the spot, as though immobilized by a spell.
Their mouths hung open, their eyes nearly bulging from their sockets as they stared fixedly at the figure wreathed in blue lightning, like a thunder god descended to earth!
What... just happened?
Instructor Moore... was taken down in one move?
No, it hadn't even been a move. Yas had just stood there doing nothing, and Instructor Moore had gone flying all by himself?!
Was this a fucking hallucination?!
Yas slowly lowered his head, watching the blue lightning crackling over his body and feeling an unprecedented, explosive power within him, as though it could tear anything apart.
He clenched his fists, and a series of sonic booms rang through the air as if it could no longer bear the strain.
So this was... the Third Raikage's power?
He raised his head, sweeping his icy gaze across the training ground before finally resting it on the figure still twitching on the ground in the distance.
"Instructor," Yas said, his voice quiet yet reaching everyone's ears clearly, carrying an unquestionable authority, "whose fists do you think... are harder now?"
Before you continue