Ryu was sitting on the beach, looking out to the sea, his hand resting on his chest where a cattle brand, the hoof of the flying dragon was branded on him under his shirt. That's right, he had been reborn in the world of One piece and was just in the process of digesting his new memories, those of a slave, branded by the celestial dragons. The horrors that happened to him… he was beaten half to death, water boarded, raped, chained to barbed wire so that every movement, even if miniscule, resulted in the wire cutting his flesh. He had many scars all over his body and the psychological scars ran deep. This body's previous owner had broken under the pressure and thrown himself off of the ship, which was sailing in the east blue and he had drowned. The first thing that had happened when Ryu took over this body was him puking out the water filling his lungs.

He sighed and got up. A god had visited him in the afterlife after he died and told him some things, for one, he was now a two souled human, meaning he could eat two devil fruits without dying and secondly, the god had sent a devil fruit of his choosing to the island he would wake up on. The devil fruit he chose was the Hito Hito no mi, model: Zeus, a mythical zoan type devil fruit. He had to search for it, before some dumb animal ate it. 

He found the devil fruit rather easily, it was not even two meters away from the beach where he woke up. It was a blue apple with white swirls and it had a grey stem. He bit into it and to no surprise, it tasted horrible, like shit mixed with a rotting corpse and the essence of puss but he decided to power through it and swallow the bite. One piece of the fruit was enough to get the power, so he just threw the rest into the jungle, now it was just a bad tasting, weird looking fruit. He could feel the power rushing through his body, as lightning arced between his fingers, "oh yeah, this is what I'm talking about", he focused and slowly began to transform, first his stone turned to marble, his hair became a dark shade of brown and he grew a beard. He was now in his hybrid form. Wherein his normal form he was 2 meters(6 feet 6 inches) tall, now he was 3 meters(9 feet 10 inches) tall. He focused once again and transformed into his full beast form, nearly 9 meters(nearly 30 feet) tall with black hair and beard with red streaks and green eyes. He felt the power humming within his muscles. He raised his hand and storm clouds formed up above him, lightning flashed and struck the discarded devil fruit, turning it to ash. It began raining and he threw a few more lightning bolts(both from the sky and from his hands), before he felt his energy getting dangerously low and he transformed back into his normal form. Taking that form and throwing lightning like that depleted his energy and fast. He hunted a boar within the forest and grilled it up, starting a fire with a small lightning bolt. The food he ate seemed to almost immediately be converted to energy and he ate lots of it.

Over the next year, he trained on that deserted island, building his strength and getting familiar with his new powers. He also cultivated armament and observation haki. He awakened observation haki after three months and armament after six months. Though he wasn't advanced by any means, he now had a pretty good grasp on basic armament and observation haki, which included intention sensing. He had no future sight or internal destruction though, which was sad but in the future, he was sure he could get them. He had also worked out a goal to strive for, becoming the world's strongest man. Now, he had briefly considered joining Luffy but decided against it. He would create his own crew and one day become a Yonko, able to stand on equal grounds with the likes of Kaido or Big Mom. He would be the strongest!

After getting used to his new powers, Ryu finally decided to leave this deserted island. He took on his hybrid form and let the wind carry him, effectively flying towards a random direction at high speeds. After an hour, he spotted the nearest island and landed on it. He transformed back into his human form and walked across the landscape. He had seen a village a little walk away. He would've flown directly to the village but that would've caused a panic most likely. So, he walked the distance. As he got closer, he noticed a very familiar building in the distance… that was it wasn't it… Arlong park. Huh- yes, that would be the perfect first stepping stone for his journey as a pirate, taking down Arlong Park. But first, he walked past the villagers in cocoyashi village, they were looking at him strangely. He was big, not as big as Arlong, not in his normal form but he was still a head taller than the next tallest villager. He was also dressed in rags, the same ones he had been reincarnated in one year ago. They were loose back then but now, they were not as roomy anymore, as he had gained a lot of muscle.

"Hey, you there, you have to pay the fee to be allowed on this island", one of the fishmen under arlong called. Looking at him, it was Hatchan. Ryu scoffed, delivering a heavy punch to his gut, which send him flying backwards, "You go and tell Arlong that his time has come, Kaminari D. Ryu, the future strongest man alive has come for his head"

Hatchan coughed up blood as he stood back up. He looked at Ryu in fear and began running towards Arlong Park. Ryu simply walked calmly towards the large structure.

"Did he just?", "You saw that too, right?", "One punch-?", "What kind of monster can punch that hard?", "Has he come here to liberate us?" the villagers murmured as he walked past them.

"What are you doing, you Idiot, you just attacked one of Arlong's men! He has a 20 million berry bounty on his head!", a girl said besides him. She looked around 15, maybe 16 years old and it was clearly Nami, with that tattoo on her arm of the Arlong pirates' flag, "You have to flee, now. If you stay here, he will kill you"

"Let him come, I will not be stopped by some pirate in the weakest of the seas, Rarararara", Ryu laughed.

"You idiot! Fishmen are way stronger than humans, even if you are strong, you are nothing compared to Arlong!", she stood in his way, trying to block him. He simply brushed past her.

"What are you, 15? You have no idea of true strength. If you think someone like Arlong is truly strong, you are delusional"

"Hey, I'm 16, I'll have you know! And no amount of boasting will change the fact that Arlong is the strongest pirate in the east blue!", 16 huh? So 2 years until the start of canon, he could work with that…

"What's your name?"

"I'm Nami!"

"Well, Nami, tell you what, how about a wager. If I beat Arlong for you, you will join my crew as my first crew member, the first of many, do we have a deal?"

"If you want to throw your life away like that then sure, if you beat him, I'll join you but you will never beat him"

"Good, it's a deal", Ryu grinned, she was one of the best navigators in the story, having her on his crew would be great. So, he walked past her. She simply hung her head, thinking of him as if he were already dead.

"Rararara, Arlong, here I come!"

A group of fishman welcomed him at the gates to Arlong park, there had to be a dozen of them.

"Is that the guy that beat Hatchan? He looks strong but he is nothing compared to us, the superior race. It probably was just a lucky hit, he caught him off guard", the unnamed fishmen rushed at him.

Ryu clicked his tongue, "I don't want to waste my time with you lowlifes", he raised his arm to the heavens and storm clouds started brewing, sparking lightning between them. With a wicked grin, he shot his arm down, letting several lightning strikes hit the fodder, "Divine Wrath!"

They collapsed to the ground and Ryu kicked in the door, On his throne sat Arlong, Hatchan at his side, "it- it is him! That is the human with the terrifying strength!"

"He looks impressive alright but he is nothing compared to a true fishman warrior", Arlong snarled, raising his fingers, which he made wet from a bowl next to his throne, "Shoryu no mizu!"

The water shot at Ryu like bullets. It would hurt if it hit him but he dodged it, thanks to his observation haki.

"Lucky… Shoryu no mizu!"

Again, he dodged it, slowly inching closer to Arlong.

"Shoryu no mizu! Shoryu no mizu! Damn is that-?"

"Observation haki", Ryu nodded, "You can't throw an attack at me which I can't dodge. Nami, look at me defeating your former boss and watch closely"

He had sensed Nami watching from the gates.

"Eeep!"

"You damn brat!", Arlong growled at Nami, "it was you, wasn't it, who brought this monster to my domain! I will beat you after I beat him! A monument to what happens to those who disobey me! Shoryu no mizu!"

Ryu tilted his body, letting the water harmlessly shoot past him. He was now only two meters away from the fishman. He could beat him without ever transforming, he was that weak but he had to make a show out of it, for Nami was watching, so, he transformed into his hybrid form, now towering over the 2.6 meter tall Arlong.

"Akumi no mi… a devil fruit?"

"That's right", Ryu threw a punch, sending Arlong through a few walls behind him. Hatchan tried stabbing him in the side but he sensed it with his observation haki and so, dodged, sending another punch at Hatchan, knocking him out.

A bloodied Arlong climbed back through the holes in the walls, "You damn human, how can you beat me?! We are fishmen! We are better! The superior race!"

"Superior? Don't make me laugh, you wouldn't survive a day in the grand line, which is probably why you came here, wasn't it? Here, you are the biggest fish in the pond but no longer… I will present your corpse as a declaration that today was the birth of a new legend, Kaminari D. Ryu, the future strongest man alive!", he grabbed the bloodied fishman by the throat and twisted until there was a sickening snap at his neck and the world was free of him.

"Y- you actually did it…" whispered Nami, awestruck, "You actually defeated him! I must tell the others!"

As she ran away to her village, Ryu walked up into Arlong park and searched the building, he found a large amount of treasure, 100 million berry and an untold number of maps of the east blue, from which he pocketed a few. 

When he left the building, he was greeted by the villagers, "So, you are our new captor?" asked the mayor.

"New captor?"

"Well, you are a pirate aren't you? You said as much and now that Arlong is dead, you want to enslave us in his stead", Nami said, "All pirates are the same after all"

"No, no, no, I'm not that kind of pirate, I'm not gonna stay in the east blue and let my power stagnate, like Arlong, no, my aim is for the grandline, the place of great adventures beyond anything you could do in the east blue"

"The pirate graveyard? You want to go there?"

"Yes, after all, I am going to become the next strongest man alive, I'll become a Yonko and be as free as you can be. Rararara", Ryu laughed.

"The strongest man, huh-? That doesn't sound so bad… free as you can be..-"

"And Nami has agreed to be my first crewmate, right Nami?"

"I did agree to that, didn't I? Well, you freed my village, I owe it to you, I suppose"

"Great news! Arlong is dead! We are free!", the mayor called out, "let's have a feast to celebrate our hero, Kaminari D. Ryu!"