East Blue,
Sakura Island
Marine Branch 155
The Marine recruit at the recruitment office yawned boredly. It was not the season for large-scale enlistment, and this was the East Blue, where not many people came to join the Marines.
Someone tapped on the desk in front of him. The interrupted Marine soldier looked up impatiently, about to speak, but the moment he saw those purple eyes with their strange patterns, fear rose in his heart, and he swallowed his words.
The newcomer was naturally Uchiha Senga. Seeing that the Marine before him had yet to speak, he took the initiative and asked,
"Hello, this is the Marine Recruitment Office, right? I'm here to enlist."
"Ah, y-yes."
Coming back to his senses, the Marine wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly responded, then began asking Senga for his information.
"Name?"
"Uchiha Senga."
"Age?"
"Sixteen."
The Marine soldier gave Uchiha Senga a surprised look, thinking that he was really young.
"Reason for joining the Marines?"
"Just an interest, I suppose."
"Uh, very honest!"
"Do you have any special abilities?"
"Hmm... I can fly, breathe fire, summon lightning, control gravity and repulsion, open spatial doors... quite a lot, I guess."
Hearing that long list of abilities, the Marine soldier eyed Uchiha Senga suspiciously. If it had been anyone else, his face would have darkened already, but the impact of Uchiha Senga's eyes earlier had been too great.
Seeing the Marine's expression, Senga knew that he probably thought he was talking nonsense. So he casually demonstrated several ninja techniques, then used Banshō Ten'in to pull the entire branch building into the sky before gently setting it back down.
"Can I join the Marines now?" Senga turned toward the Marine soldier, only to find him completely frozen in place, tongue hanging out like a ridiculous statue.
However, the Marine base had already descended into chaos.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"The enemy is an Ability User! Their ability is terrifying—get out there and take a look!"
"This is bad! An enemy of this level is beyond what we can handle!"
"For justice! We cannot retreat! Charge out and see!"
A rapid series of footsteps rang out as every Marine in the base rushed to the entrance, nervously looking around for the invading enemy.
At that moment, the Marine in charge of recruitment finally came to his senses. Seeing the commotion, he realized it was a misunderstanding caused by Senga's ability. Suppressing his shock, he hurried forward, stood at attention, and saluted a burly Marine as he explained,
"Reporting to Colonel Rhode! There was no enemy attack. The disturbance just now was caused by Uchiha Senga, who came to enlist!"
The moment his words fell, the Marines erupted into an uproar.
"What? It was caused by someone coming to enlist?"
"Are newcomers this terrifying now??"
"That scared me to death! Good thing he's not a pirate. I thought I was about to sacrifice myself for justice!"
Colonel Rhode looked at Uchiha Senga, who stood quietly off to one side. His face twitched as he spoke.
"I understand. You may leave."
Then he walked up to Uchiha Senga, controlled his emotions, and asked,
"Hello, I am the commanding officer here, Colonel Rhode. You are Uchiha Senga, the one here to enlist?"
Rhode's tone was cautious. Senga's casual display of lifting the entire building and setting it down gently had truly frightened him badly. He also knew that with that power alone, there was probably no one in the entire East Blue capable of opposing him.
"Yes, I'm Uchiha Senga. I came here because I want to join the Marines," Senga replied with a smile.
After receiving confirmation, and seeing that this Uchiha Senga seemed to have a decent attitude, Rhode's tense heart relaxed slightly. Then overwhelming joy filled him.
He knew he could not keep such a gifted newcomer. Senga was born for the Grand Line. A Marine branch in the East Blue like his did not deserve him!
But he could recommend him to Marine Headquarters! The credit for recommending someone of this caliber might even let him rise several ranks at once!
When he looked at Uchiha Senga again, Rhode's gaze was filled with fervor.
Uncomfortable under Rhode's gaze, Senga raised a hand and opened the Door-Door Space, tossing Brand's corpse, a pirate flag, and a massive black sphere onto the ground.
"What is this?" Rhode looked at Uchiha Senga in confusion.
"This black ball contains the corpses of the Brand Pirate Group. The one who still looks somewhat human is the captain. I dealt with them on the way here."
Rhode sucked in a sharp breath. He knew of the Brand Pirate Group. They were a pirate crew that had returned from the Grand Line. Headquarters had only sent out a warning a few days ago and had even planned to send additional manpower, because the destruction Brand could cause in the East Blue would be immense.
Yet now, Brand, who had escaped back from the Grand Line, had become a charred human-shaped corpse before him. The other underlings did not even deserve to retain human forms!
Truly terrifying! Brand gained an entirely new understanding of Uchiha Senga's strength.
"Then please enter the base first, and we can talk slowly. To be honest, someone with your strength probably will not stay here for long."
When Rhode spoke again, his tone had turned flattering. He knew that if Uchiha Senga went to Headquarters, he would surely enter its elite Training Camp. Once he graduated from that Training Camp, he would become a Headquarters officer, with a rank only higher than Rhode's! It would be a height Rhode could never reach in his lifetime, so he did not dare show the slightest neglect, whether in terms of strength or status.
Senga smiled and nodded, taking the lead as he entered the base.
Looking at Senga's back and then thinking of his young face, Rhode could not help but sigh inwardly. Why was the gap between people so enormous??
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