The next day, Raiden woke up early in the morning and reached the training field with Smoker in tow, still grumbling about it. Both he and Smoker were really not morning people by nature.
They reached the training ground only to find dozens of Marines already assembled here, stretching or talking among themselves.
'It's 4 in the morning!! Do these people not sleep or something!' Raiden grumbled in his mind.
He didn't get a good look at these people yesterday, and he planned to find out if there were any future powerhouses here. If there were, he would recruit them in advance for his team. Whether anyone is willing to follow him or not is another subject, though.
"Ara~, is this 'Enemy of Womenkind' and Love Child between senior Sengoku and my grandma, my illegitimate half-brother?" A young voice sounded behind him, making Raiden falter in his steps and almost trip.
"Who?! Who spread those rumours?!! They are all false!!" He turned around to look at the speaker and found himself face-to-face with a young girl. She had strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and prominent lips. She wore a strapless pink dress with red blotch-like patterns on it and a pink cloche hat decorated with a seagull-flower accessory on the left side and an "M" on the front.
"You are just a little brat!! How dare you spread false rumours! Watch how I take care of you!" Not recognising the little brat from his memories, he grabbed her in a headlock and gave a hard noogie on her head, making her scream.
"Oww!! Oww!! Oww!! Let me go, you brute!! Pervert!! Hentai!! Enemy of Women!! I will tell my grandmother about this!!!" The girl was caught offguard, not expecting anyone to dare to harm her.
But Raiden was having none of it. If he let her go now, who knows what else this little brat will say to the rest of the world? Wouldn't his reputation go down the drain then?
"You little brat!! Still dare to say slander about me!! I'll teach you a lesson!! You want to complain about me to your grandmother, do you think she is Tsuru-san?!"
"Yes!! My grandmother is Tsuru!! Master Tactician Tsuru!! Why do you stop now?! Don't dare to do it anymore, do you!!" The girl yelled with a proud voice.
He also remembered who she was, Vice Admiral Kujaku, a future member of the SWORD group. It's just she looked super young, around 15, so he didn't recognise her immediately.
He faltered in his bullying. Tsuru was second in command of all Marines, but even Fleet Admiral was afraid of her, and nobody dared to offend her. But hearing her telling him he was afraid of her, he felt angry.
He gritted his teeth and restarted his bullying. "Who is afraid of you!! At most, I will have to spend some more time in the hospital. It's already my second home by now!! But I will make sure to teach you a lesson so that you won't dare to spread rumours like that."
Just as he finished speaking, he felt a strong kick on his arse, making him fly forward, and falling down on his face.
The girl, seeing her pink-haired saviour, jumped into her arms and started crying loudly. "Waah, sister Hina!! That bad man was bullying me!!"
Hina glared at the now fallen Raiden, before caressing the little girl's head and speaking softly. "There, there. Our little Kujaku is a strong girl. We don't cry. Watch how your sister Hina takes care of this bad man. He won't dare to bully you anymore!!"
"Raiden!! You have grown so bold after spending a month in the hospital, huh!! Daring to bully little girls now. Watch how Hina takes care of you!!" Hina spoke angrily, and dashing towards Raiden, who already stood up from his embarrassing fall, ready to punch the living daylights out of him.
Raiden hurriedly channelled his OFA, crossing his arms in front of his face, only to still go skidding a few meters.
"You are blaming me?! That brat is speaking slander and spreading rumours about me!! She says that I am a love child between Fleet Admiral and Lady Tsuru!! Also calling me 'Enemy of Womenkind.'"
Hina paused a bit, after hearing the first line, but soon charged towards him again, doing a low sweep towards his legs.
"So what if she speaks about a little rumour. She is just a kid, who is going to believe her? As for the 'Enemy of Womenkind,' That part is completely true. How dare you bully her because of it?!!"
Raiden jumped up to avoid her sweep before swinging his legs towards her face, making her take a defensive stance and driving her backwards.
Just as he was about to press his advantage. A loud shout rang out in the distance.
"Enough playing around, you brats!! Gather up!! The Training starts now!!" Both Hina and Raiden stopped for now, both walking towards Zephyr, who arrived.
"Alright, you lot. For the next month, you all will work on forging iron-like bodies. I want everyone to be able to withstand a punch from me. If you can't do that, scram out of my camp for me next month!! Now follow me."
All the Marines followed after the Admiral. He came to a stop in a shed, a little distance away. Inside it were numerous tyres, ranging from small bike tyres to large tractor and monster truck-sized tyres.
"All of you, pick up one which you can carry, and start running. If I find anyone slacking off, you will be in world of pain, got it?!"
"Yes, sensei!!" All Marines replied.
"As much fun as it was watching you bully a young girl and getting your arse kicked, let's get training now. I want to see how your Devil Fruit compares to mine in the future." Smoker said as he passed by him.
"Hina is not done with you yet, just wait. Next time, Hina will kick your arse for sure." She also went in, picking up a tyre bigger than herself.
"You big bad pervert. I am not done with you yet. Just wait for the future, bleh!!" Kujaku made a face at him as she passed by, making sure to mock him.
"So you are the guy who got in through nepotism, huh? It doesn't matter, you will never beat me anyways!!" A really tall guy with green hair came through, mocking him, leaving Raiden speechless.
Even unknown people were mocking him now.
[It seems your future is in for a rough ride, host. But at least that little girl sees you for what you are. A big bad pervert.]
'Shut it, system.' Raiden felt his future was particularly bleak.