The Upcoming Year-end Assessment

"Classmate Senga, this is the lunch I prepared for you!"

On the way from the dormitory to the training grounds, Senga was "intercepted."

With a smile, he accepted the lunch from a female trainee. Seeing that Senga had taken it, she covered her face and ran off before he could say anything.

After she left, Senga opened the Door-Door Space and placed the lunch inside. Looking at the various lunches and gifts taking up a large portion of the space, he rubbed his temples and estimated how much more Bridge and the other two could eat.

Just as he was about to close the Door-Door Space, another female trainee carrying a lunch walked toward him.

This time, it was someone he knew—Ain, whom he had met on the field.

Ain glanced at the still-open Door-Door Space, a trace of gloom flashing through her eyes. She hid her lunch behind her back and teased Senga, "You're really popular, Classmate Senga. Looks like I came too late?"

Seeing that it was Ain, the smile on Senga's face faded as well. He put on an aggrieved expression and looked at her. "I didn't want this either. Ever since I fought Smoker, I seem to have become famous."

After saying that, he held out his hand to Ain.

Ain looked at him strangely, unsure what he was trying to do this time.

"Your lunch looks pretty good. I haven't eaten yet, so why not give it to me?"

Of course, Ain's earlier expressions and actions had not escaped Senga's notice. He admired this strong-willed girl and naturally did not want to make her sad.

Ain was clearly at a loss. "Eh? But don't you already have so many lunches...?"

"I don't know any of those people, so I don't dare eat their food casually. I'll feel safer eating yours."

Seeing Ain still standing there in a daze, Senga snatched the lunch from her hand and dashed off. His voice drifted back from afar.

"I'll take it, then!"

Ain watched his figure disappear from sight, then broke into a radiant smile, like a white orchid in bloom.

After the day's training ended, Zephyr did not dismiss the trainees immediately. Instead, he kept everyone behind to announce some news.

"Your first year of training is about to end. Next month, we will conduct the year-end assessment. This year's assessment will be a practical combat test. The top three trainees will receive rewards such as Devil Fruits and Great Fast Swords."

The moment those words were spoken, the trainees below erupted into an uproar.

Everyone had expected a year-end assessment, so that was nothing unusual. The key was the rewards. The top three could actually obtain things like Devil Fruits or Great Fast Swords?

What were Devil Fruits? It could be said that eating a Devil Fruit was the fastest way for someone in this world to increase their strength. If one consumed a powerful Devil Fruit, even an ordinary soldier could rise to greatness in a single leap!

Then there were Great Fast Swords. For trainees specializing in swordsmanship, they were even more tempting rewards than Devil Fruits. What swordsman did not dream of possessing a Great Fast Sword as their weapon?

Everyone looked eager, silently swearing to claim second or third place. As for first place? Wasn't that reserved for Uchiha Senga? Every single one of them naturally assumed that first place already belonged to Senga, including Zephyr.

Zephyr had expected everyone's reaction. There had been rewards in previous years as well, but nothing this outrageous. Even for the Marines, treasures of the caliber of Devil Fruits and Great Fast Swords did not grow on trees.

After thinking it over, he could only come up with one possibility: Sengoku was trying to reward Uchiha Senga in a roundabout way. Over the past few months, Senga's stunning performances time and again had made that old man unable to sit still. Coupled with Gion's connection to Tsuru, Sengoku had completely begun grooming Senga as the next Admiral.

But that was fine. True talent should be valued and given as much help as possible during its growth. Waiting until someone had already matured to do these things would merely be icing on the cake.

Zephyr was undoubtedly a traditional, upright Marine, but that did not mean he was rigid. After the murder of his wife and child, Zephyr's views had gradually begun to change.

When Senga joined the Marines, after all, he had crushed every pirate from the Brand Pirate Group into a black sphere. That was completely at odds with Zephyr's belief in not killing.

In the past, he would certainly have harbored some prejudice against Senga. But now, he felt no emotional turmoil at all and even silently supported Senga's actions. He also taught Senga everything he knew without holding anything back.

Zephyr believed that Senga would one day become a Marine Admiral, perhaps even rise higher. Having already stepped back from the front lines, he felt a long-lost sense of accomplishment as he watched Senga continue to grow. By now, Zephyr had come to see Senga as a source of hope.

Senga was also extremely excited. He had no immediate need for a Great Fast Sword, but a Devil Fruit would greatly improve him.

Since absorbing the Door-Door Fruit, Senga had not encountered any new abilities that he could absorb. The Devil Fruit offered as this reward would most likely not be bad, and it would be enough to unlock the second tomoe of his Rinnegan.

Each tomoe he unlocked would increase the Pupil Power of his Rinnegan. Senga had a feeling that once it reached three tomoe, his Rinnegan would be able to awaken an exclusive ability like Madara's Limbo or Sasuke's Amenotejikara.

When Orochimaru had ambushed him, his newly awakened Rinnegan had exhausted its Pupil Power before it could develop an exclusive ability. That had always been Senga's regret. This time, he had to obtain that Devil Fruit!