Underlying Suspicion

"Do you really believe that he was able to kill Tiberius, Zephyr?"

There was a moment of silence, before someone spoke. "Sir, while I do not know much of Venator's power, I sense that his power is far above the other cadets, with the exception of Sakazuki and Borsalino, who, will be surpassed soon if they keep relying on their devil fruit."

The other man exhaled, "While that is indeed impressive, my question remains; Do you really believe a cadet could kill Tiberius while getting away with minor injuries?"

"The injuries could hardly be called minor, sir."

"The injuries were minor compared to what was shown on your other cadet, Pabulum's body."

Zephyr hesitated, remembering the gruesome state of Pabulum's body.

"Now that presents my question; is your cadet a spy, or just abnormally strong?"

Zephyr finally replied to his superior, "I believe that Venator is abnormally strong. You know it too, sir. We both sensed it. He, along with Sakazuki and Borsalino, belongs with the Rear Admirals, and once they learn Haki, they will easily exceed most Rear Admirals. Pardon my words, but sir, you may be a little rash in your conclusion."

Zephyr's superior, Kong, sighed before replying, "Please understand my rashness, Zephyr. We must root out the traitors within the Marines."

"I understand, sir."

"You can go now, old friend."

Zephyr nodded at Kong's dismissal, before exiting the room.

'Don't disappoint me, Venator.', Zephyr mumbled as he thought about his enigmatic recruit.

...

"What will you exchange for with your contributions, Venator?", Zephyr asked Venator in his office.

Venator did not hesitate and replied, "Training."

Zephyr nodded in approval, expecting this answer from him. "Good. Read this before you attend the training session in the afternoon."

Zephyr rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a book and throwing it towards Venator.

"Oh, and, if you lose that, you have to hunt it down and destroy it."

Venator nodded, catching the book before reading the title, 'The Basics of Rokushiki'.

"I'm serious. You can very well be considered a traitor for leaking any of this to outsiders."

"I understand, instructor."

"Good. Then you are dismissed."

Venator left Zephyr's office, opening the book to its first chapter.

'Introduction to the arts of Rokushiki'

'Rokushiki is a series of 6 techniques that has been created and honed through generations. The techniques are as follow;'

[Geppo], a technique that allows one to soar the sky through superhumanly powerful kicks, propelling its user into the air. Should one master this ability, that person can effectively fly for long periods of time.

[Tekkai], hardening the user's muscles to iron, making them insusceptible to attacks. Although, should one be hit by great enough force, this ability may break. One is also immobile while using this ability.

[Rankyaku], slicing through the air with a Wind Sickle, the user creates this technique through kicking at very high speeds and strength.

[Soru], vanishing from enemies' sight, the user moves at an extremely fast speed, allowing repositioning and enhanced attacks.

[Shigan], piercing the enemies with bullet-like holes, Shigan requires its users to push their fingers into an enemy at extremely high speeds, leaving holes in the enemies.

[Kami-e], turning as thin as paper, the ability allows its user superhuman flexibility, avoiding any attacks and even floating for short periods of time.

Venator absorbed the information provided by the book like a sponge, mentally noting down the techniques that would fit with his fighting style the most.

[Geppo] and [Soru] would be a perfect match for him, as they would provide more angles to shoot from.

[Tekkai] and [Shigan], in his opinion, would be essential for close combat against superior opponents. They would make up for his lack of close-combat prowess.

As for [Rankyaku] and [Kami-e], Venator believes that they are situational abilities, but would be useful to know in case of emergencies.

Venator then flipped the book onto its second chapter; [Geppo].

'As mentioned before, [Geppo] is an ability that would allow its user to soar through the air for different purposes, such as repositioning. The training method for this ability is quite simple; propel yourself through the air using as strong kicks as you can manage. Be careful to not break your legs when kicking the ground.'

'It's a simple training method.', thought Venator, as he prepared to try it.

Venator first kicked himself off the ground into the air, then attempted to propel himself through the air using strong kicks.

It was not as simple as it sounded. Venator found that out the hard way, as he fell onto the ground after pushing himself a measly inch in the air.

"Haaaa... this will be repetitive."

Venator knew that he wouldn't be there for a long time, but he would definitely get bored of repeating the same thing over and over.

...

Venator was right, he did eventually get bored of repeating the same thing over and over.

That was also the reason for his extra effort; he wanted to get the technique down as fast as he can.

Eventually, after a few hours of kicking himself off the ground and into the air, he managed to propel himself through the air a few times before falling down.

On his fall, he landed on a tree, using it as a foothold to continue [Geppo], and at that moment, inspiration came to him, like a river breaking a dam.

If he needed a foothold to continue [Geppo], why couldn't he just use his devil fruit to do so?

The answer was, as he expected, he could.

He jumped into the air, and this time, rather than using [Geppo], he used his devil fruit to create a platform for him to land on.

He could already think of multiple advantages; he wouldn't need to constantly use [Geppo] if he wanted to stay in the air.

This ability effectively allowed him to fly in a different manner to [Geppo.]

He thought to himself, 'Why would I need Geppo if I could just use this?'

The answer was; 'More diversity = More victories.'

He then decided to continue his Geppo training, but this time, he would use his devil fruit to create footholds, rather than landing on the ground.

He hoped that it wouldn't be a long day.

...

Mastering Geppo, to Venator, shouldn't take a long time. After all, the basic principle of it was to kick and move yourself through the air using strong kicks.

That much was easy to practice for Venator, and it also provided him fitness training.

By sunset, he was able to proficiently use it, although not at the masters' levels, he would be able to weave it in during combat. The same went for his footholds.

That much was enough to Venator.

After eating a silent dinner with Stes, he decided to go back out and get started on his second technique; Soru.

Soru, to him, would be a vital aspect to his fighting style. In the case that his position was revealed to the enemies, he would be able to escape instantly.

Now that he thought about it, Soru in conjunction with Geppo would make for an extremely effective repositioning tool, being able to sail through the air with Geppo, at an extremely fast speed using Soru.

The thought of that only encouraged him.

The basic principle of Soru was to dash/run at an extremely fast rate, and that much was understandable to Venator. He already had an idea on how to train it, and he confirmed it using the book.

Venator stretched his leg to get rid of the soreness from his earlier training, and started on his next technique.

This time, due to his good leg foundation from the Geppo training, he was able to perform Soru relatively quickly.

Although, since this was his first time, he crashed into a tree, and dislocated his shoulder.

*Pop!*

He popped his shoulder back into place, groaning at the sudden pain, before getting up and continuing his training, but this time, he would try to stop.

That shouldn't be too hard, right?

...

Stopping in the middle of a dash was surprisingly hard. That was something that Venator thought he'd get down relatively quickly.

Although he DID eventually learn to stop, the momentum sometimes carried him further than his intended destination, often causing him to fall over or crash into objects.

He knew that he would need more training in order to be called proficient at Soru, but he was happy with his progress for the day.

He decided to go for a quick shower, before heading back to his room for the night.

As he entered the room, he noticed that Sakazuki and Borsalino were still awake doing their own things, although Stes was already sleeping.

He said his greetings and goodnights to Sakazuki and Borsalino, before falling on his bed, passing out from exhaustion.

It sure was a long day for Venator.