Tsuru and Momousagi

Grand Line, first half, Marineford

The warship docked. Garp led Senga and a group of Marine soldiers off the ship.

Waving his hand to dismiss the soldiers, Garp turned to Senga and said, "Follow me. I'll take you to see Sengoku. He's the one who specifically asked for you."

Senga acknowledged with a grunt and followed behind Garp toward the Fleet Admiral's office.

Along the way, Senga mused—he hadn't expected his performance at the East Blue Marine branch to cause such a stir. This treatment was honestly more than he'd anticipated.

When they reached the door to Sengoku's office, Garp didn't bother knocking. He slammed the door open with a bang and bellowed, "Sengoku! I brought your man back. Got any senbei? I'm starving!"

"..." Senga watched the scatterbrained Garp with some speechlessness, thinking to himself that this guy really was just like how he'd been portrayed in the manga back on Blue Star—a straight shooter.

But Senga didn't dislike it. In fact, people like this were the easiest to get along with—no hidden agendas. Back in the Naruto world, every high-ranking Leaf official and clan head he'd dealt with had a thousand schemes up their sleeves. The constant scheming was exhausting, and as an Uchiha, he wasn't exactly favored by the higher-ups anyway. One wrong move and he'd lose his life.

With someone like Garp, as long as you treated him sincerely, he'd treat you well in return. And it wasn't just him—many of the high-ranking officers at Marine Headquarters were easy to get along with. No matter how skewed their sense of justice might be, they still leaned toward the side of "right." That was a major reason Senga preferred the Marines over pirates.

Behind his desk, a vein bulged on Sengoku's forehead. He'd wanted to leave Senga with an image of a wise, dignified old leader on their first meeting, but that was completely ruined now.

Struggling to control his emotions, Sengoku irritably waved Garp off to sit in the corner.

But Garp wasn't having it. He picked a booger, flicked it with his finger, and a shiny black speck landed right on the face of the little goat beside Sengoku. Instantly, the goat's pristine white face gained a flamboyant beauty mark.

"Garp!" Seeing his little pet abused, Sengoku finally lost it. Just as he was about to explode, a calm female voice rang out, "Alright, you two. You're both grown men. Calm down and stop making a fool of yourselves in front of Brother Senga here."

Senga peeked out and saw an old woman with graying hair sitting on the sofa. Beside her stood a tall, elegant woman.

That woman had long black hair casually tied up behind her head, peach-blossom eyes with reddish pupils, a delicate nose, and a small cherry mouth with a perfectly placed mole that amplified her allure to the extreme.

"Beautiful." Senga silently gave her a five-star rating in his mind, then realized these two must be Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Tsuru and her sworn sister, the future Admiral candidate, Momousagi. Both were heavy hitters in the Marines.

As Senga observed them, Tsuru and Momousagi also noticed him poking his head out.

One look, and both were immediately drawn to Senga's eyes. What kind of eyes were those? Rings of black ripples swirled within them like whirlpools, and from time to time, a purple light flickered through.

Simultaneously, they released their Observation Haki. From those eyes, they sensed a powerful energy fluctuation and a pressure comparable to Conqueror's Haki.

"A terrifying rookie." Both gave Senga the same assessment in their minds.

Worth noting, Momousagi's gaze lingered on Senga's face for a moment longer before she gave a slight nod and looked away.

Senga naturally noticed their scrutiny but didn't mind. He stepped out from behind Garp, walked up to Sengoku's desk, and reported in. A soldier should act like a soldier—that was the mindset he'd absorbed back on Blue Star.

"Good, very good!" Sengoku was thoroughly pleased. What was a model Marine? This was a model Marine! Strong talent, solid strength, polite, respectful to superiors, and he knew how to kill pirates! Compared to that, what was that booger-flicking piece of trash over there? Sengoku declared he didn't know such a degenerate.

"So, recruit Senga. Given your strength, I plan to make an exception and place you directly into the Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp. There, you'll receive the most brutal and elite education the Marines have to offer!"

At this, Sengoku paused, staring straight into Senga's eyes, and asked word by word, "So, are you ready? Uchiha Senga!"

Senga was in a good mood. Coming here, he'd intended to get in touch with the Pirate World's power system anyway. The Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp was perfect for that goal, and becoming an officer would be a nice experience too.

"Yes, I'm ready, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!" Without hesitation, Senga gave his answer.

"Good. Then I'll arrange for someone to show you around Headquarters first."

"I'll do it, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. I don't have anything going on anyway." To Sengoku's surprise, Momousagi suddenly volunteered for the task.

Sengoku gave her a surprised look. To be honest, Momousagi's status at Headquarters wasn't low—she was Tsuru's sister. Having Garp pick up Senga under the pretense of giving him leave was already stretching things. Sengoku had originally planned to send a mid-level officer familiar with the area.

Tsuru shot her sworn sister a meaningful glance, thinking, "The old maiden's finally getting restless." Garp kept picking his nose, lounging indifferently—what did this have to do with him?

Ignoring the stares in the room, Momousagi said openly, "I feel like Brother Senga here has a good vibe. I'd like to get to know him better. We'll probably work together in the future anyway."

"Uh, since you've volunteered, go ahead. It's no big deal." Sengoku approved.

Momousagi walked gracefully up to Senga in her heels, one hand on her hip. She gave him a pursed-lip smile and teased, "Well then, let's go. First meeting—my name's Gion. Looking forward to working with you, little brother Senga~"

"This Momousagi is such a vixen. Forget Momousagi—call her Pink Fox instead." Senga ranted internally, but kept a polite smile on his face.

"Then I'll trouble you, Sister Gion."