A cannon shot rang out, interrupting the love-hate brawl between Breach and Glefos—the year-end assessment had officially begun.
The host appeared at the center of the arena, and Kaito was shocked to discover that the host was none other than Tokikake, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Tokikake had finally ditched his eternally unchanged brown casual outfit and put on a black suit. Unfortunately, thanks to his body shape and less-than-handsome face, he looked a bit like an oversized black pig.
Striking what he clearly thought was a dashing pose, Tokikake flamboyantly read out the tournament rules. At the end, he even sneaked a glance up at the high platform where Gion was seated.
But the audience below wasn't having it. Seeing him dawdle on stage without announcing the start of the match—and forgetting he was at least a Vice Admiral—they started shouting for him to get off the stage.
Tokikake's face stiffened with embarrassment. He hastily declared the match officially started, then slunk off the stage.
The rules were simple. Since there weren't many recruits in the training camp, participants were divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Each group would compete in one-on-one matches, with the arena divided into four quadrants. One winner would emerge from each group, and the four winners would draw lots for the next round of matches.
The winners of the semifinals would enter the final, and the losers would compete for third place.
Kaito, Breach, and the others were conveniently split into different groups, avoiding the awkwardness of knocking each other out in the first round.
Kaito was in Group A's first match, meaning he would be the very first contestant on stage. After the announcement, a staff member came to notify him it was time to go up.
Breach and the others also headed to their respective arenas.
Kaito walked up to the stage at a calm pace. Once at the center, he stood firm. Under the sunlight, his Rinnegan eyes glowed brilliantly. He looked up toward the high platform and gave a subtle hand gesture to reassure someone.
The senior officers on the platform all turned their attention to Gion.
With their strength, they naturally noticed that Kaito had just looked in her direction.
Gion didn't care about the gazes around her. The moment Kaito appeared on the stage, her eyes lit up and she instinctively leaned forward. Tsuru, sitting beside her, glanced over and thought,
Looks like she is serious. Just the other day, she came asking for a few Devil Fruits for Uchiha Kaito.
Good grief. Preparing Devil Fruits? A few of them? Do you even hear yourself? What, are Devil Fruits now?
Still, since it was someone her own sister had taken a liking to, what could she do? She had no choice but to agree. Consider it a wedding gift.
That said, Tsuru wasn't going to let it go so easily. She intended to carefully observe this Uchiha Kaito—both his strength and his character.
...
Kaito withdrew his gaze and turned to face his opponent.
Kuris looked miserable. As someone from the same training class, how could he not know Kaito's strength? The memory of Smoker's disaster in the cafeteria was still vivid.
How did I end up against this kind of monster?! Kuris thought miserably.
Kaito, of course, had no idea what was going through Kuris's head. He simply stood there quietly, waiting for the signal to begin.
At last, the gunshot fired. The match had begun.
At the exact moment the shot sounded, Kaito didn't move an inch. He merely raised his eyes slightly and released a low-powered Almighty Push.
The next instant, Kuris was already embedded in the wall beneath the spectators' seats.
The match had lasted a grand total of one second. The other participants hadn't even thrown their first punch.
The audience had no idea what had just happened. The match was over before they could even react. Some people were still blankly looking around, trying to spot where Kuris had gone.
Gion, up on the platform, was overjoyed by how swiftly and decisively Kaito had ended the match. She was the first to start clapping.
One person's applause led to another, and soon the sound of clapping filled the air over the entire arena.
There hadn't been any flashy exchange of blows, but this overwhelming display of strength had left an even deeper impression. Kaito's first appearance had made one thing clear to everyone: his power absolutely lived up to his reputation.
Kaito didn't hurry to leave the stage. Instead, he used Universal Pull to extract Kuris from the wall and gently set him down on the ground.
Kuris wasn't seriously hurt—just stunned from the repulsive force. Now that he had recovered a bit, seeing that Kaito had taken the trouble to bring him down safely made him feel that he'd been treated with dignity. Whatever resentment he'd held quietly dissipated, and before leaving, he gave Kaito a grateful look.
Tsuru, watching from the platform, nodded slightly. No matter how big the difference in strength, respecting your own people was something she, as someone who leaned toward the pacifist faction, highly approved of.
The others were more focused on Kaito's strength.
Sengoku stroked his goatee with a broad smile. The more dazzling Kaito's performance, the more it proved that his judgment and decisions were absolutely correct.
Kizaru paused his nail-trimming and said in his usual strange tone,
"Kowai ne~ This rookie, Uchiha Kaito, I heard he hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit, yet he has multiple abilities. What a little monster~"
Gion shot Kizaru a glare.
You're the real monster here, you creepy glowing... with your Weirdo-Weirdo Fruit!
Akainu lowered the brim of his cap. He wasn't particularly interested in Kaito's attack style. In his eyes, the means didn't matter—only strength did. And as far as he was concerned, Kaito had strength.
Even though Kuris had gone down in one hit, that didn't mean he was weak. Kuris was from the Elite Training Camp. Akainu had trained there too, and he knew that even the weakest in that camp were at least Colonel level.
The fact that Kaito had taken him out in a single move said a lot. This Uchiha Kaito had at least Rear Admiral-level combat strength—and he wasn't even eighteen yet!
Akainu was determined to recruit Kaito and have him embrace his vision of Justice. At the very least, he couldn't let him fall under Aokiji's influence. That kind of indecisiveness could never eliminate evil.
Aokiji, for his part, stayed seated, expressionless, but he quietly glanced at Akainu.
He already knew that Akainu had set his sights on Kaito and wanted to bring him under his command.
Before the Ohara incident, Aokiji wouldn't have cared. But ever since that day, he could no longer agree with Akainu's brand of Justice.
If Akainu made a move, Aokiji wouldn't sit back and do nothing. A seedling like Kaito, if handed over to Akainu, would only grow into a second Akainu—and that couldn't be allowed.
...
With their own thoughts and agendas, the Marine top brass fell silent, quietly observing the remainder of the tournament.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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