Kisame and Rayleigh were sitting in a bar filled with an excited crowd. All the men and women were drinking, dancing, and flirting. All except for Kisame. The young fish-man was glaring at his 'teacher' who had each of his arms around a different woman.

"I thought you said you were training me, old man."

Rayleigh looked at Kisame and shook his head. This look pissed Kisame off.

'Is this bastard looking down on me? I really wanna kill him!'

Kisame continued to glare at his teacher. The dup had been traveling for 3 weeks now and they had not done any training the whole time. They just went from island to island as they changed ships. For some reason, 6 of the 7 ships they had sailed on had sunk. Even if he was a fish-man, Kisame still got annoyed with constantly having to find his belongings when each ship sunk.

Rayleigh shook his head at his young student as he continued to indulge himself. With his hands running up and down both women's bodies as they poured liquor in his mouth, the former pirate couldn't be any happier.

Kisame left the bar and made his way back to their boat no longer wanting to stick around. It was set to take off early in the morning and it was already midnight. He wanted to get some rest before they departed.

Just as Kisame was making his way down another street, he was stopped.

"Hey! Fish freak! I'm talking to you!"

Hearing the insult, Kisame wanted to ignore it but the person kept calling out to him. Not only the initial person but a few others as well. Kisame turned and saw that it was a group of marines who had been calling for him.

'Just great' he thought to himself sarcastically

While some humans were alright, many hated fish-men. And marines were the worst of the bunch. Even with a fish-man's strong body, the marines still would not allow the few willing to join. Fish-men were still looked down on and enslaved in many parts of the world after all.

Kisame looked at the approaching figures with wariness in his eyes. He reached for the sword on his back but felt air. It was just then that he remembered Rayleigh said for him to leave it on the ship so that chances of him causing trouble were lessened.

'So much for that plan'

The group of marines made their way towards Kisame but did not get too close to him. Instead, they surrounded Kisame with their hands on either their guns or blades. Seeing this, Kisame let out a snort in disdain at their actions.

"Oi! You should be up here on land unless you're servicing us. So either get back into the water or go fight some prisoners of ours fo..."

Not letting him finish his sentence, Kisame made the first move. Kicking off, he landed his fist inside of the speaker's chest, instantly destroying his heart. The other marines were in shock when they saw their comrade die so fast. Before any of them could react, Kisame continued to move and killed them each in a single blow. Seeing the mess he made, Kisame shrugged his shoulders and began making his way back to his ship.

'Not like I started. And I'm sure that old man can take care of any local marines.'

On a rooftop not far away, Rayleigh was shaking his head as he saw Kisame's actions. With all his years on the seas, he could easily tell what the boy was thinking.

'This kid is really wild. But... it's not like I dislike that in a kid. Just means there is more for me to beat out of him.'

Rayleigh then went to clean up the bodies before heading back to the bar to continue in his drunken partying.

The next morning, Rayleigh was hanging over the rails of the ship as he constantly vomited the few contents of his stomach into the ocean. Seeing how he was acting, Kisame could not help but feel a bit of disdain for the pirate. Just as he was about to speak his mind, Rayleigh spoke it first.

"I know you're feeling anxious Kid but relax. We need to get to a certain island before we can really start your training. Trust me, during these four years, you're going to suffer under my hand.

As for why we haven't done even the slightest training yet, it is because I needed to have you get used to me. Now, you can at least look at me without passing out. Would hate for you to die just because you are even more scared of me while we train."

Kisame wanted to say something but all of the man's words seemed logical. Kisame was used to training even underwater but remembered that Rayleigh was a human and could not do that. He still felt the need to say something.

"You could have at least given me some information. You're supposed to be this well-traveled pirate but you have barely told me anything. Not even about my senses."

Rayleigh laughed at Kisame's antics. Even if Kisame thought he was being logical, the man knew that it was just the boy not wanting to take a loss. He relented and began speaking to him.

"Fine. I admit you are correct about that. I can start with what most of your training will be over and also about your senses since they are related. Have you ever heard of Haki?

Haki is a power that lies dormant in all the world's creatures... "Presence", "fighting spirit" and "intimidation"... It is not different from the things that humans can naturally sense such as these... 'The act of not doubting. That is strength!" Rayleigh then began to explain Haki, its uses, and its various forms.

Observation Haki was a form of Haki that granted the user a sixth sense that allowed them to sense the presence, strength, and emotions of others and gain limited precognitive abilities. These abilities are great assets on most occasions, especially in combat. Unlike the other types of Haki, Observation Haki has hardly any visible indication when being used except for rare occasions where red light could be seen in the users' eyes.

Armament Haki was a form of Haki that allowed the user to use their own spiritual energy to create, in essence, black armor around themself or their weapons, providing incredible offensive and defensive capabilities. Notably, this form of Haki was used to injure Devil Fruit users that were otherwise immune to ordinary physical attacks, such as Logia users.

Conqueror's Haki was a rare form of Haki that allowed the user to exert their own willpower over others. This type of Haki could be attained through training and only one in several million people are born with this ability. It is said that whoever possesses this type of Haki has the qualities of a king, and are known as Supreme Rulers.

Additionally, Conqueror's Haki could not be strengthened through direct use as the other two forms of Haki. Rather, the user could increase their force of will by becoming physically stronger. Thus, although the ability could manifest at a young age, Conqueror's users generally do not consciously manifest and make full use of their abilities until adulthood.

Observation Haki was the type of Haki that Kisame was innately born with since he was a child. Most people take countless hours or even years to awaken Observation Haki but Kisame was one of the rare few born with it. This was even rarer than someone who possesses Conqueror's Haki.

His innate awakened Observation Haki was not the only reason Rayleigh chose to train him though. Rayleigh had sensed that before Kisame passed out when they first met, the boy had unconsciously unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, even though it was only a small amount.

With these things in mind, Rayleigh decided to take Kisame under his wing to see just how strong the young fish-man could get with his training.

Over the next week, Rayleigh also explained various things about the marines, pirates, Devil Fruits, and many other things he was sure that Kisame had never heard of before. With each new piece of information, the passion in Kisame's eyes grew.

Just as the boy was about to let all his passion out on the few marines on board, the ship landed at port. When Kisame was ready to go to another bar to listen to a drunk Rayleigh flirt with more women, he was pulled back. Kisame turned around and looked confused at the old man who just pointed at a rowboat and then in a certain direction.

"20 miles that way is an island filled with savage creatures that you have never seen before. Head on over on that little boat there and I will come to check on you in a month or so."

Kisame looked at Rayleigh with confusion but decided to obey and got in the boat even though swimming would be much faster for him. He had learned that although the man was strange, he was rarely wrong. Kisame started to push the paddles as he made his way to his training location. Rayleigh waved him off until he could no longer see Kisame.

"I hope that kid lives through this month. His mother is scary."

Turning away from the sea, Rayleigh made his way into town to find an inn that he could afford to stay in for a month. After he found one... he made his way to the bars.