The year-end assessment had arrived.
The venue was set at the central plaza of Marineford—destined to become the battlefield of the future Summit War.
On the morning of the assessment, the plaza was already bustling with noise. Up on the high platform sat numerous high-ranking officers of Marine Headquarters: Sengoku, Garp, Tsuru, and several Vice Admirals.
Even Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru had arrived at the site for today's assessment.
Akainu sat in his seat, coldly watching the noisy crowd below, seeming completely out of place in the lively atmosphere.
Logically speaking, someone of his rank and temperament wouldn't bother with a rookie assessment like this. Since becoming an Admiral, Akainu had gradually become the leader of the Navy's hawkish faction. His mind was fully committed to carrying out his version of justice. He had the highest deployment rate among the Admirals—an undisputed workhorse of the Navy.
But even someone as powerful as he was starting to feel stretched thin. There were simply too many pirates. He knew that no matter how strong he was, he couldn't purge them all on his own.
This group of rookies might very well be the last batch trained personally by Zephyr. And although Akainu didn't agree at all with Zephyr's "no-kill" version of justice, he absolutely acknowledged Zephyr's ability as an instructor. That's why he had come today—to pick out a few promising recruits for his own team.
Especially that new recruit named Kaito Uchiha. He'd already heard the name multiple times—from subordinates, from the top brass... it kept coming up.
Casting a glance at Kizaru and Aokiji on either side of him, Akainu spoke in a low voice.
"Didn't think you two would come as well. It's just a rookie assessment. That interesting to you?"
Kizaru sat with one leg crossed over the other, lazily trimming his nails with a nail clipper.
"Well, sitting in the office all day gets dull. Gotta come out and enjoy the noise once in a while."
The only one not crossing his legs was Aokiji, who rested his chin on his hand and responded in a detached tone.
"You two came, so why wouldn't I?"
Akainu snorted coldly and said no more, though the temperature around him steadily rose. Aokiji sat calmly on his right, completely ignoring the heat shift.
From afar, their respective areas looked like zones of red and blue.
Sengoku sat in the center. Of course he noticed the tension between the two and tapped the armrest of his chair a few times with a frown. Only then did the two calm down, pretending nothing had happened.
Sengoku let out a small sigh. He knew exactly why Akainu and Aokiji couldn't see eye to eye—because of the Buster Call on Ohara.
Originally, it hadn't been a big issue. Aokiji hadn't been thrilled about it, but he was just following orders. The problem was that Akainu had commanded the bombardment of a ship full of civilians. Aokiji had watched helplessly as the ship sank. With his personality, there was no way he could just let that slide.
On the way back, the two had been at each other's throats, nearly coming to blows. Sengoku had to personally step in to calm things down. That very incident had helped win Akainu the favor of the World Government and become a key part of his promotion to Admiral.
Later, Aokiji also became an Admiral. But with the two of them carrying very different ideals of justice, the rift only deepened. If left unaddressed, it was bound to erupt into a bigger problem eventually.
Still, repairing this kind of rift was easier said than done. Just thinking about it gave Sengoku a headache.
...
Despite the tension above, the crowd below was still hyped.
Today's crowd didn't just include cadets participating in the assessment—many Headquarters officers and soldiers had also shown up to watch. Discussions buzzed all around.
"Did you hear? The prizes this time include a Great Grade sword, and even a Devil Fruit!"
"Totally! Devil Fruits are ocean treasures. One alone is worth hundreds of millions of Belly! I could be a Marine for life and still couldn't afford one!"
"No kidding! If I'd known Devil Fruits were up for grabs, I would've joined the training camp too!"
"Yeah, right. You think you can just waltz into the camp? Only geniuses get accepted, and the elite camp's for the geniuses of geniuses."
"Okay, okay, enough daydreaming. Who's the favorite to win this year?"
"Kaito Uchiha, obviously. I've heard that name so much, my ears have calluses!"
"Don't be so sure. Because of the prizes, a bunch of senior cadets who've already had real battle experience returned to participate. Kaito might be strong, but he's still a flower raised in a greenhouse. Lacks real combat grit."
"Senior cadets are joining too? Isn't that a bit unfair to those who only joined a year ago?"
"Who knows? HQ approved it, so maybe this year's batch is just that good."
"Eh, whatever. It's not like the winner getting the prize has anything to do with us. Still, watching these geniuses go at it is a treat."
"For sure. This is gonna be one hell of a fight!"
"They've announced the matchups. The assessment's about to start. Let's focus!"
...
Today, Kaito was wearing his favorite black cloak embroidered with the Uchiha clan crest. For this assessment, cadets were allowed to wear whatever they felt most comfortable in.
He had already received the name of his first opponent. Glancing at the info sheet in his hand, Kaito casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.
Breach, standing nearby, noticed and leaned over curiously.
"Kaito, who's your opponent?"
Kaito shrugged.
"Never heard of him. Name's Kuris, that's all I know."
Seeing Kaito's nonchalant attitude, Breach instantly began flattering him.
"As expected of boss—totally unbothered by who he's up against!"
Glefos immediately chimed in with a jab.
"Yeah, right. Just earlier, someone was staring at that crappy info sheet for like ten minutes straight—probably knows what color underwear the guy's wearing today."
Breach turned red with steam practically rising from his forehead and snapped at Glefos.
"You know nothing! That's called being cautious. You get that? Cautious! You better hope we're not in the same group, or I'll show you why the flowers are red!"
Ever since Kaito had metaphorically force-fed him a big bowl of inspirational "truth" back in the dorms, Breach had been training like mad. Currently, he was in the overconfident newbie phase—wouldn't back down from anyone but Kaito.
Glefos raised an eyebrow and flashed a mocking grin on his rugged face.
"Great, I'll be waiting. But let's get this straight—if you lose, you're lighting my cigars for a whole year. And when you do, you gotta say, 'Boss, let me light that for you!'"
Breach wasn't about to back down either. He countered that if Glefos lost, he'd have to do the same—and provide the cigars too.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo