In the outskirts, deep within the forest.
Hundreds of vigorous young faces were locked in chaotic combat. This was one of the training exercises; only the one who remained until the end would be the true victor.
Although there were clearly stronger individuals among these recruits, such as Lono, ranked fourth, he obviously did not possess the overwhelming strength of Longinus or Gion. Instead, because he stood out too much, he was the first to be eliminated.
Seeing the melee grow increasingly intense, Dragon nodded in satisfaction. This was also why he had wanted to send Longinus and the other two away early. With monsters of that overwhelming caliber around, a free-for-all had no meaning at all.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just then, continuous rumbling came from the distance.
Dragon frowned slightly as his powerful Observation Haki spread outward like radar.
Ordinary Observation Haki naturally could not cover such a vast range, but Dragon, known as a monster, could easily sense more than half the island.
Very quickly, Dragon had already "seen" the answer.
"That's... Teacher Zephyr's presence?" A trace of amusement appeared in Dragon's cold eyes. "Is he personally teaching them the Six Powers? It seems Teacher Zephyr truly thinks highly of them—or rather, of him..."
By then, the battle in the forest had reached its final stages.
"Ha ha ha ha! Sure enough, the one who laughs last laughs best!"
The final victor somewhat surprised Dragon. It was Gregory, the guy who had hidden and played it safe from beginning to end.
"Still, it wasn't entirely luck. His own strength ranked in the top twenty, and with all his dodging and hiding, along with the connections he had made beforehand, there was some logic to him lasting until the end."
"However, that goes against the original purpose of a