"I only ever told you to mind the consequences before—that was called considering the overall situation!" Sengoku said, rolling his eyes.
"If it weren't for your high reputation and the fact that you were the strongest fighter in the Navy, with the way you used to behave and that attitude of yours, you'd have been thrown into Impel Down long ago."
"This is why I never liked the idea of becoming some Navy Admiral or Fleet Admiral," Garp muttered as he picked his nose, utterly unconcerned that it had just been punched bloody.
"There's simply too much to consider, too many misgivings. Sengoku, ever since you became Navy Fleet Admiral, your Haki has not improved in a long time, has it?"
Sengoku's expression stiffened. Indeed, aside from the rapid leap his Haki had made shortly after he became Fleet Admiral, it had remained stagnant throughout the past two years.
As for why, Sengoku knew perfectly well.
As Fleet Admiral, he had to take the interests of the entire Navy and the overall situation of the world into account. He could not simply act as he pleased.
Yet to improve one's Haki, in a sense, one had to let one's nature run free.
The more single-minded, simple-minded, stubbornly rigid a person was—or the more unruly, audacious, and willing to break conventional rules they were—the faster their Haki tended to improve.
The upper ranks of the Navy and the World Government rarely dealt with each other directly, precisely because they feared the Navy soldiers' faith in justice would waver.
But as Navy Fleet Admiral, Sengoku could not cut himself off from the World Government. It was precisely because he had dealt with them too much and swallowed his anger for too long that his Haki had stagnated.
"Perhaps. But I'm afraid there