Sengoku's voice came from the Den Den Mushi. Just as Chiga was about to speak, Garp's voice rang out again.
"Chiga, you're something else! To actually injure the Dark King Rayleigh—you truly live up to being someone I brought back, haha…"
The laughter abruptly stopped as Sengoku once again reclaimed the Den Den Mushi. He shot a glance at Garp, his eyes full of disdain.
You brought him back? Clearly, it was my discerning eye that spotted him, and I just happened to give you the opportunity. Now you want to take credit? What were you doing before? Go spend two more days with your grandson!
After silently despising Garp, Sengoku quieted down in front of the Den Den Mushi, awaiting Chiga's reply. In his opinion, Chiga always acted with composure and certainty; this sudden call surely meant something very important.
However, Chiga's next words instantly caused Sengoku's face to contort, and even Garp, standing behind him, looked grim.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, I am very disappointed in the Marines right now."
Hearing this, Sengoku felt as if he had plunged into an ice cellar. If anyone else had said such a thing, he would have immediately rebuked them. After all, for a Marine to say they were disappointed in the Marines—what was their intention?
But for these words to come from Chiga's mouth, it was different. Chiga was already subtly being seen by Sengoku as his successor, and even the Five Elders had a good impression of him. For such a person to now say he was disappointed in the Marines was truly an extremely terrifying matter.
This was not only a blow to the overall prestige and morale of the Marines, but losing Chiga would be an immeasurable loss to the current institution!
Thinking of this, Sengoku urgently asked,
"What happened? What's going on, Chiga? Don't rush—where are you now?"
"I'm at Marine Branch 16 in the East Blue."
"The East Blue? Weren't you at Sabaody? How did you end up there?"
It took several days to travel from Sabaody to the East Blue by warship. Not much time had passed since he received the news of Chiga's great battle with the Dark King at Sabaody, so how could Chiga already be in the East Blue?
Without explaining how he arrived in the East Blue, Chiga spoke in a cold tone,
"How I got here isn't important. What's important is that I saw the filth within the Marines here. Captain Nezumi, this rat, actually accepted bribes from the Arlong Pirates, allowing them to attack my village!"
"What did you say!?"
Hearing such a thing, Sengoku was also incredibly furious, golden light even emanating from his body. Garp, beside him, clenched his fist, a faint black aura subtly appearing on it.
Struggling to suppress his emotions, Sengoku spoke in an extremely repressed tone,
"I understand. Where is that Captain Nezumi now? I have something to ask him."
Before Chiga could speak, Captain Nezumi, who was being choked by Chiga, immediately shouted into the Den Den Mushi as if he had found a savior,
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! I'm here! Save me! This Uchiha Chiga attacked me without any evidence! Is this what a Marine should do? I'm a Marine too, after all!"
Hearing Captain Nezumi's words, Sengoku frowned. He had never doubted Chiga's words, but as the supreme commander of the Marines, he couldn't simply make judgments based on personal feelings when facing matters like this.
For example, when Akainu ordered the shelling of a civilian ship, although Sengoku, like Aokiji, felt angry, from the perspective of the Marines and the World Government, Akainu's actions were understandable.
Thinking of this, Sengoku couldn't help but sigh, feeling troubled for a moment.
Garp, beside him, didn't bother with such considerations. He directly slammed his hand onto the table with such force that the entire table shattered into a pile of fragments. Sengoku stared blankly at the "ruins" in front of him, and it took him a moment to regain composure before glaring at Garp.
Garp was truly enraged at this point. He retrieved the Den Den Mushi from the fragments and shouted,
"Chiga, don't listen to what this bastard says. You can do whatever you want with this scumbag. Whatever happens, it's on me! Damn it!"
Sengoku looked at the emotional Garp with a complex expression. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately held back. He tacitly approved of Garp's actions. However, for the consequences to be on Garp was impossible. This matter, he, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, would bear it!
It was just a branch captain. Even if he had some background, the impact of executing him without evidence—none of that mattered anymore.
This time, he chose to unconditionally trust Chiga and support him. After all, Sengoku himself was once a passionate young Marine.
Listening to the voices from the Den Den Mushi, Chiga's gloomy mood improved considerably. These two lovable old men trusted him so much, so he wouldn't make things difficult for them.
"Don't worry, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp—I'll make him talk."
With that, Chiga slowly turned his head, his Rinnegan locking onto Captain Nezumi in his hand. He spoke indifferently,
"Before these eyes, you have no secrets to hide."
Locked onto by Chiga's Rinnegan, Captain Nezumi was so terrified that he began to struggle desperately again, yelling that it was against regulations and urging the Marine soldiers present to save him.
However, no one responded to him. The only response he received was Chiga's icy words,
"Naraka Path: King of Hell's Judgment."
Captain Nezumi looked back in horror at Chiga. In his vision, a hole emitting a purple aura suddenly appeared there, and a terrifying large face emerged from it.
That face had a pair of eyes identical to Chiga's, which eerily rotated a few times before slowly looking at Captain Nezumi. This bizarre sight immediately caused Captain Nezumi to wet his pants—literally.
The surrounding Marine soldiers, however, looked at Captain Nezumi, who was scared stiff like a dead dog, with puzzled expressions. In their eyes, nothing had happened—yet Captain Nezumi was directly scared into wetting himself.
The King of Hell's face summoned by the technique could only be seen by the Rinnegan user and the target of the technique; others could not see it.
Chiga looked at Captain Nezumi expressionlessly and explained to him,
"What you see is the King of Hell. If you dare to lie, your tongue will be pulled out by him, and you will not survive. Do you understand?"
Captain Nezumi frantically shook his head, still clinging to a sliver of hope in his heart.
Chiga ignored the scoundrel and asked,
"I ask you, did you accept bribes from the Arlong Pirates and allow them to plunder villages?"
Captain Nezumi said nothing, only shook his head.
However, the King of Hell would not indulge such a man. A long purple tongue uncontrollably extended from Captain Nezumi's mouth, then was grasped by a tentacle-like hand extending from the King of Hell's mouth and slowly pulled inward.
Captain Nezumi's eyes widened. He had a premonition that as soon as his tongue was placed into the mouth of that terrifying face, his life would end—and even his soul would not find peace.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Everything was my doing! The treasures Arlong gave me are right there! What Uchiha Chiga said is true! I'm a disgrace to the Marines—I deserve to die! Please let me go—it's so scary, I don't want my tongue eaten by this thing!"
Hearing Captain Nezumi's confession, both the soldiers present and Sengoku and Garp on the Den Den Mushi involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief. No one wanted Chiga's future to be affected by this.
Captain Nezumi, who had spoken all at once, looked at Chiga with a hopeful expression and said fawningly,
"Lord Chiga, I've said everything. Can you let me go now?"
Chiga revealed a faint smile and said,
"Alright."
Captain Nezumi's face instantly showed wild joy. However, before he could celebrate for long, the King of Hell behind Chiga suddenly exerted force on its hand.
Snap! Captain Nezumi's tongue broke off in his despairing gaze.
Munch, munch. The King of Hell chewed vigorously in front of him, each chew gnawing at his soul. The pain was so intense, he couldn't even cry out.
Finally, with a gulp, the King of Hell swallowed Captain Nezumi's tongue. Captain Nezumi had already rolled his eyes, saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth—completely dead.
Releasing his grip, Captain Nezumi's corpse fell to the ground like trash. Chiga looked indifferently at the body and said faintly,
"I can let you go, but you have to die first."
With that, Chiga turned and left the office under the reverent gazes of the Marine soldiers.
---
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