Settling the Dust, Fighting Over Senga

The referee's voice echoed throughout the entire arena, and after a brief silence, the audience erupted in a tsunami of cheers.

"Well done! That was amazing!"

"This is the kind of fight that's truly satisfying to watch!"

"Did Uchiha Senga really beat a Vice Admiral? Was that Vice Admiral even real?"

"Get lost! I know that Vice Admiral. He's one of the strongest among them!"

"Regardless, we've witnessed the birth of a legend."

"Senga, I want to have your babies!"

Compared to the crowd below, the high-ranking Marines on stage appeared calmer, though it was only an appearance.

Akainu slammed his hand on the armrest of his chair and said in an irrefutable tone, "I want this Uchiha Senga!"

Aokiji, however, didn't buy it at all. He continued to rest his chin on his hand and calmly uttered two words, "Reason?"

Akainu's right arm transformed into magma. The dripping magma hissed as it hit the ground, emitting thick black smoke. He said coldly, "Because I'm a Marine Admiral."

Aokiji let out a disdainful cold laugh. He also elementalized his arm, emitting a bone-chilling cold that showed no intention of indulging Akainu. He looked at Akainu and said word by word, "Then I'm also a Marine Admiral. You say you want someone, and I just give him to you?"

"So you're deliberately trying to cross me?"

"Heh, how could I dare oppose you? After all, you killed a boat full of civilians just because you wanted to, didn't you?"

"Childish. Sacrifices are unavoidable for the sake of Justice."

"Absurd! What kind of Justice is it to slaughter innocents?!"

The two argued more and more heatedly, and it looked like the situation was about to spiral out of control. Kizaru, who was closest, showed no intention of intervening. In fact, his body began to turn into light. If the two started fighting, he feared he'd be the first to leave the scene.

Sengoku, of course, couldn't let such a thing happen. If the cadets below saw this, what would they think? What would become of the Marines' reputation? His expression darkened, and he scolded in a low voice, "Enough! Are you going to shame the Marines!?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an aura mixed with black lightning erupted from Sengoku's body. To quell the situation in the shortest possible time, Sengoku unleashed Conqueror's Haki. As the supreme commander of the entire Marine force, Sengoku's Conqueror's Haki was naturally not weak. Akainu and Aokiji, as the primary targets of this aura, also had their expressions change drastically, falling silent once more.

Seeing that the two had quieted down, Sengoku retracted his Conqueror's Haki and said coldly, "Uchiha Senga's post-graduation placement is no one's business but his own. He will choose!"

Akainu wanted to say something more, but Tsuru, who had been silent until now, gave him a cold glance. Seeing this, he could only swallow his words. No matter how arrogant he was, he couldn't possibly contend with both Sengoku and Tsuru. The current Marine force was, after all, still dominated by the pacifist faction. He could only endure this for now. He clenched his fist and thought unwillingly, Damn it, if only I were the Fleet Admiral...

The near-clash between the two Marine Admirals did not affect Gion. At this moment, her eyes were only on Senga in the center of the arena. She wished she could rush down and embrace Senga tightly right now. Let alone one condition, even several conditions wouldn't matter. She had already set her heart on this younger brother, who was more than ten years her junior but always managed to surprise her and give her a sense of security. However, age was never an issue. Strictly speaking, Senga was not just 17 years old.

In the audience, Ain covered her mouth tightly with her hands, her eyes faintly glistening with tears. For her, Senga winning the final victory and creating a miracle for the Marines was more exciting than if she had achieved it herself. At this moment, she was only happy for the boy in her heart!

Senga, still standing on the stage, naturally sensed these two intense gazes coming from opposite directions. He knew who the owners of the gazes were. He had heard Ain's voice in the smoke earlier. Even a blockhead would have understood the girl's feelings. But the problem was, he already had Gion. Well, not yet, but wasn't it a sure thing?

Senga greatly admired Ain. This strong and aspiring girl who had bravely spoken up in the cafeteria had left an indelible impression on his heart.

What a shame! Senga sighed lightly, then looked up at the high platform and gave a thumbs-up. Gion on the platform smiled charmingly, her red lips parted slightly, and she mouthed, "The match is over. I'll wait for you at the dormitory entrance."

Hiss... She was definitely given the wrong title. She should be the Pink Fox! Senga yelled inwardly, but then he thought about quickly collecting his reward and returning to the dormitory! It turned out the real reward was yet to come.

He had to admit, the evaluation of that certain orange-haired little loli was indeed correct, pertinent, and insightful.

Ain, below the stage, naturally saw this scene. Her heart suddenly clenched as if she had lost something most important. Ain's face instantly turned pale. Her roommate, seeing this, quickly asked, "Ain, what's wrong? Did the old injury from that battle flare up? Should I help you back to rest?"

Ain forced a smile, waved her hand, and weakly said she was fine, telling her roommate not to worry. She then fell silent, staring blankly at Senga on the stage, his back to her. Two lines of tears traced down her cheeks as she murmured, I know now that you might not be my moon, but for a moment, the moonlight did shine upon me.

And so, this year's year-end assessment finally concluded with Sengoku delivering a speech.

After the match, Senga was brought to Sengoku's office by the referee.

The other high-ranking Marines had already been sent away by Sengoku, especially Akainu and Aokiji. Heaven knew if these two would start fighting again if they saw Senga in person.

Putting aside those two troublesome fellows, Sengoku looked at Senga, who had brought him so much surprise in less than a year, and liked him more and more.

I heard that Gion girl is quite fond of this kid. Why not make a move quickly? Can the person I fancy be bad?

Sengoku could only think these thoughts in his heart. He would never say them out loud, and it wasn't because of Tsuru, definitely not!

Senga, standing beside him, saw that Sengoku hadn't spoken for a long time and pretended to cough twice to remind him.

Sengoku also snapped back to reality, coughing twice himself to ease the awkwardness. He had to admit, coughing a couple of times when nothing was wrong was incredibly effective at breaking the ice.

Sengoku regained his usual stern expression and took out three exquisite boxes from his cabinet, pushing them in front of Senga.

These three boxes were the rewards prepared by Marine Headquarters for Senga: three powerful Devil Fruits to choose from!