After the first day, the instructor requested for a team of medics to be on standby. Today the apprentice arrived at the training ground with great difficulty, the rest of the academy had heard of the devilish “pass-out” training the yellow scarves elite had to complete. A few placed bets on which of the students would collapse first today.

Instructor Q was once again sitting on the same crate as yesterday in front of the boys who could barely stand from how much their bodies ached. The academy had arranged for a massage session for each person to release the tension in their muscles, if not then they probably would still have been bedridden today.

“For the first part of the day, I will show you a breathing exercise that will help improve the circulation of blood in your body. Don’t look down on this exercise as it will help you in regulating the pain you are feeling. After that, we will start with sandbag kicks until Limit Break” Instructor Q said with a smile on his face.

Ezra and the others could not believe their ears, it seems there will be limit breaking exercises every day for the next 6 months. ‘Was this not too much!’ they thought.

“Sit down where you stand, cross your legs, close your eyes. Simple as that. Forget about everything else, free your mind and listen to my instructions.” Instructor Q was now sitting cross-legged on the same crate.

“Inhale until your lungs are full, hold it for 2 seconds, exhale slowly. Repeat this process. Feel the oxygen in the air flowing through your blood, circulating in your legs.”

The trance-like state did make enduring the pain a lot easier.

After an hour of meditating, Instructor Q ended the session. Apparently, it was only effective an hour every day and right before training.

The kicking session started and ended up with 4 collapsed apprentices. So did the jumping, stepping, running, lunges and horse stance sessions.

At the end of the month, the boys could no longer remember what their bodies felt like without aching. No matter the amount of meditation or massages, their bodies all cried in pain for some rest.

Arms training started with shadow boxing, followed by sandbag punching, push-ups, pull-ups and handstand sessions, this felt almost like a holiday for the legs. But soon quickly brought about a sense of déjà vu.

With every completed daily training the boys noticed an increase in appetite, it was as if their bodies were drowning out the pain with food. It got to the stage where the yellow scarves were placed on a high energy diet.

…

6 months later

4 apprentices who looked like mummies wrapped in bandages were standing in front of Instructor Q.

“Congratulation boys, you made it. I had my doubts that all of you will be standing here today in one piece, but you proved me wrong. You will have a few more days to relax, the academy has organised medicinal baths for each of you to help with the healing process. Report back to me in a week! You are dismissed”.

The boys were absent-mindedly led to the bath. The water was dark green and gave out a strong medicinal smell as steam covered the entire room. The half-conscious boys were laid gently in the bath to recover.

Visions of the last 6 months ran through Ezra’s mind making him shudder. ‘Body training, more like they signed up to be punching bags for petty officers for a month. Finger training was simply finger handstands, a different finger every day. Neck training was resistance training, metal weights were hung on each person’s neck until limit break. Core training was pushing the flexibility of their bodies.’

Thinking about all this made Ezra blackout once again in the bath.

After a week of recovery, each yellow scarf apprentice looked physically different. Ezra had grown a few inches taller, his lean muscles looked more defined. The aura he realised made others uncomfortable, it was not just Ezra the same could be said for the other 3 members of the yellow scarf.

Ezra had grown daily by breaking his limit each time, his willpower improved and so did his strength. He could only imagine how strong those marines trained at the Marine HQ Marineford were.

Everyone was standing in the training area, waiting for Instructor Q to arrive with their placement assignment papers.

“Warhead: Admiral Sengoku, Dalmatian: Vice Admiral Kizaru, Poseidon: Vice Admiral Aokiji, Hothead: Vice Admiral Akainu,” he said as he handed out the dispatch papers.