Doriki Test

Senga spent three days in his little building, and during that time, he even had dinner with Gion once.

By coincidence, they ran into Tokikake at the restaurant again. Seeing his goddess with another man, acting intimately—at least, that was how he saw it—the miserable fellow lost his appetite entirely and burst out the door in tears.

Naturally, Senga was already used to it. Since Gion had nothing to say about it, he cared even less.

On the morning of the fourth day, just after Senga finished breakfast, Gion came to notify him that his enrollment date had arrived and told him to follow her to the Training Camp immediately to register.

When Senga and Gion arrived at the Training Camp, they found quite a few new recruits there to register. A machine stood in the center of an open area, resembling Blue Star's punching-strength testers. In One Piece, it was used to measure Doriki Value.

The officer in charge of testing had not arrived yet. The recruits who had come to register stood around in small groups, discussing the upcoming test.

Everyone looked somewhat nervous. After all, they had worked hard to reach Marine Headquarters and earned the chance to join the elite Training Camp. No one wanted to fall at the very first Doriki test.

Still, the machine was fair. It did not care about connections; as long as someone reached the passing mark, they could enter the Training Camp. At the same time, it was cruel. Many of the people here were not attending for the first time. No matter how hard they trained, they simply could not meet the standard. To them, that line was like an impassable chasm.

At that moment, Gion was explaining the test to Senga.

"When it's your turn, hit the padded target on that machine with all your strength. If the number on the display reaches 300 or above, you pass."

Senga said he would definitely reach that number, but Gion shook her head. Looking seriously into his eyes, she emphasized,

"The Training Camp's Head Instructor is the former admiral, Black Arm Zephyr. The current three admirals and many Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals were once his students. Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already recommended you to him, so you must give it everything you have this time. Don't disappoint him."

Hearing that, Senga was somewhat moved. Since arriving at headquarters, Sengoku had truly taken good care of him. Senga was not some ungrateful wretch, so this time, he would do his best to show what he could do.

"Don't worry, Sister Gion. Just wait and see." Senga smiled confidently and made his promise.

Gion said nothing more. She bent slightly and helped straighten Senga's clothes, making him a little embarrassed. He waved his hand and said there was no need.

Gion covered her mouth and smiled.

"You know how to be embarrassed, huh? When you steal the spotlight later, you can't look all messy. So many people will be watching you."

Senga rolled his eyes, then suddenly pinched Gion's hand where it rested on his clothes. While she was still stunned, he vanished from the spot with the Body Flicker Technique.

"You brat! If you've got the nerve to touch me, don't run!" Coming back to her senses, Gion swung a fist at the air and scolded him with a smile. "If you embarrass yourself later, I'm settling the score with you!"

Having "escaped" from Gion, Senga appeared among the crowd waiting for the test and waited for it to begin.

Before long, the testing officer arrived at the testing grounds. He briefly explained a few precautions, then announced the start of the test. Those whose names he called would step forward.

The first recruit to test was a little nervous and only scored a Doriki Value of 280. Fortunately, he had a second chance. After steadying himself, he scored 318 on his second attempt and passed successfully.

The test started off on a high note, giving the recruits behind him a much-needed boost of confidence. After that, more people passed one after another.

Among them, a man and a woman caught Senga's attention slightly.

The man was called Binz, and the woman was Ain. Both were quite strong, scoring 410 and 520 respectively. Compared to most people who barely reached the passing line, those were already outstanding results.

Yet their strength alone was not enough for Senga to remember their names. What truly interested him was that their names reminded him of a One Piece movie: Movie Z.

This movie mainly told of Zephyr's mad actions after leaving the Marines, with Binz and Ain following at his side.

At the same time, the two of them were Zephyr's final class of students. That meant the event that began Zephyr's disappointment with the Marines—Whitebeard Jr.'s massacre of a ship—would occur during this class's sea training.

Naturally, Senga was not afraid of Whitebeard Jr. He was confident that once his training was complete, stopping it from happening would be easy. Still, it was always good to be mentally prepared in advance.

Gradually, everyone around him finished their tests, and Senga unexpectedly became the last one.

The testing officer glanced at Senga, who stood alone in the testing area. Everyone knew that among those who took the stage, the first and last were generally the ones most likely to catch the audience's attention, and were also more likely to become nervous.

However, seeing Senga's calm expression without the slightest hint of nervousness, the testing officer nodded inwardly. As expected of someone Fleet Admiral Sengoku personally asked us to keep a close eye on.

It had been Sengoku's idea to arrange for Uchiha Senga to go last. The Marines were currently short on military strength, and naturally wanted a promising talent like Senga to grow as quickly as possible. This would draw more attention to him and build a greater reputation, benefiting future arrangements for his position and avoiding meaningless procedures. It had to be said that the current extraordinary circumstances had made Sengoku somewhat anxious.

"Uchiha Senga!" the testing officer loudly read out the final name on the list in his hand.

"Here!"