Everyone was startled upon hearing this. Tsuru frowned and asked,
"Ran back using Geppo? How long did you run for?"
"About a day, I guess. Kuma could have just sent me back, but I wanted to take the opportunity to train."
Tsuru folded her arms and glanced at Zephyr, who was preparing to land above them. She said gravely,
"This is utter nonsense! You actually let an Ability User stay away from a warship over the sea for so long. What if you ran out of strength or encountered a storm?"
At the same time, she was once again stunned by Gigue's physical prowess. Geppo was not simply running; it consumed an enormous amount of stamina. Using it for travel was outrageously extravagant.
Yet Gigue had used Geppo to race across a long distance for an entire day, and after returning, he could still easily put Gion in her place. The more she thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
The trainees present were much calmer than Tsuru. At the Marine Academy, they had practically spent every day with Gigue, and they had already grown numb to his extraordinary displays.
Don't ask. If you asked, the answer was that he simply wasn't the same kind of person as them!
Zephyr landed steadily. Seeing that Tsuru was present and still relatively calm, he secretly breathed a small sigh of relief. Good thing Momonga sent word. It seems the situation has been brought under control.
A "little yellow man" landed behind Zephyr and gradually condensed into Kizaru's form. He craned his neck and looked around, muttering,
"Vice Admiral Tsuru already made it here, didn't she? The old man just loves worrying over nothing!"
Momonga, who had previously run to the office building to make a call, also came rushing back at that moment. Seeing that Zephyr and Kizaru had somehow returned before him, he was momentarily dumbfounded.
The moment Zephyr saw Momonga, he praised him in front of everyone.
"Momonga, you did very well this time. You handled the situation with great consideration!"
"But Teacher Zephyr, I only just finished making the call. How did you get back so quickly?"
"Oh, that was because Kuma used his ability to send Borsalino and me back. We were just slightly off target."
"I see!"
At that very moment, aboard Zephyr's warship,
Akainu and Kuma sat cross-legged on the deck. The Marine soldiers standing guard around them occasionally glanced furtively at the two and whispered among themselves.
"Hey, Instructor Zephyr and that Borsalino suddenly disappeared just now. What an amazing ability. Where do you think they went?"
"Maybe they returned to Headquarters ahead of time? The mission is already complete, and this place is so close to Headquarters. What Pirate Crew would dare cause trouble here?"
"Come to think of it, this mission was ridiculously easy. We barely had to do anything!"
"Hey! Take a look at who Instructor Zephyr brought along this time. Those four trainees were monsters, each more terrifying than the last! Are rookies really this strong now?"
"Tell me about it. Their Devil Fruit abilities were terrifying. Those Pirate Crews were truly unlucky to run into them! Especially Gigue and Sakazuki—when they started killing pirates, even Instructor Zephyr couldn't stop them!"
"In the past, when Instructor Zephyr led missions, he would capture pirates alive whenever possible. Afterward, we had to escort those scum back ourselves. Things are much easier now."
"Stop talking about it. I still shudder when I think about it. If every Ability User were like them, what would people like us do if we ran into them in the future?"
"What are you afraid of? With people like that in our Marines, doesn't that make you feel safer?"
"That's true... Hey, hey, look! Sakazuki stood up. I thought he was asleep!"
Akainu looked somewhat small beside Kuma. In truth, he was already over two meters tall, but Kuma's build was simply too massive. After all, he was from the Buccaneer Tribe.
Akainu lightly adjusted his Marine cap and slowly drew a katana from behind his back.
Only half of the katana's blade remained. The break was clearly melted away by high temperatures. Akainu rubbed the remaining half of the blade, looking somewhat dejected as he muttered,
"My Devil Fruit ability really isn't suited for using a sword. How many has this been already..."
Akainu suddenly found himself envying Kizaru's ability. He could craft a light sword with his bare hands, and its power was formidable. It sliced through pirates like tofu. Just watching it made Akainu feel secretly exhilarated.
He could do something similar, but honestly, making a sword out of magma was nowhere near as straightforward as blasting someone with a few Magma Fists.
When he practiced swordsmanship with Kizaru at school, he had not thought much of it. Only after heading out to sea and experiencing real combat did he realize that swordsmanship was indeed rather useless to him.
Yet asking him to give it up left him somewhat reluctant. After all, he had truly spent a lot of effort practicing it...
Kuma silently looked at him and said,
"Big Brother Gigue was right. You really aren't suited to using a sword."
Akainu froze for a moment. He took Gigue's words seriously and hurriedly asked,
"Gigue said that too? What exactly did he say?"
Kuma hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.
"He said you're like taking off your pants just to fart..."
"Hm? What does that mean?"
"Adding an unnecessary step!"
"..."
That classic saying from Blue Star left Akainu speechless. Still, he was not angry. It was an incisive assessment, though admittedly, it sounded rather harsh.
Looking again at the broken sword in his hand, Akainu found it more and more unpleasant to look at. He casually tossed it backward, throwing the broken blade off the deck and into the sea.
Oddly enough, after throwing away the sword, Akainu suddenly felt refreshed, as though he had cast off some burden. A faintly relieved smile appeared on his coffin-like face.
Kuma nodded when he saw this, then abruptly added,
"Mm. You finally put your pants back on."
With Gigue absent, Kuma revealed his hidden sharp tongue. Of course, he had not meant it that way.
Akainu's body stiffened. Fortunately, he knew Kuma was an honest man and meant no harm. Kuma had even helped him untie a knot in his heart, so he did not take it to heart.
If it had been that sarcastic bastard Kizaru, he would have made Kizaru understand why a monkey's ass was so red.
He habitually adjusted his cap again and asked,
"Kuma, Teacher Zephyr left in a hurry just now without saying what happened. Should we return to Headquarters early and take a look too?"
"Better not. If we leave too, who will protect this place?"
"That's true."
Akainu greatly agreed with Kuma's words. How could a qualified Marine abandon his post without permission?
Well, Gigue did not count. He had filed a report.
Thinking of this, Akainu gave Kuma an approving look, then sat cross-legged beside him once more. The two said nothing further, standing on the deck like two statues and giving anyone who looked at them a strong sense of security.
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