The annual Ranking Assessment had finally begun, and a slightly tense atmosphere enveloped the entire Training Camp.
The cadets competed in one-on-one elimination matches. The higher they ranked, the more matches they won, the higher their military rank became, and the greater their room for promotion.
For example, Drake's Cadet Lieutenant Colonel rank, Smoker's Cadet Captain rank, and Hina's Cadet Lieutenant rank had all basically been earned through this competition.
More than two hundred cadets were participating. They drew lots and were divided into over a hundred groups for one-on-one matches.
Because the Training Camp was the cradle of future Marine officers, the annual Ranking Assessment was extremely important, and the higher-ups placed great importance on it. As a result, Marine leaders came to watch every year.
On the elevated platform, in the viewing stands.
Sitting prominently in the very center was Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral known as "Black Arm." He had now retired to the second line and become the Chief Instructor of the entire Marine forces. Even after stepping down from the front line, he was still the teacher of many of the Marine leaders present.
Seated to Zephyr's right were Marine Headquarters Admiral Sakazuki Akainu, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral the Hero Garp, and Major General and Deputy Chief Instructor of the Training Camp Momousagi, among others. Seated to Zephyr's left were Marine Headquarters Admiral Borsalino Kizaru, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral and the Training Camp's swordsmanship instructor Mōzu, and Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral "Dalmatian" Dalmesia, among others.
Sakazuki Akainu, the current Marine Headquarters Admiral, was a user of the terrifying Logia Magma-Magma Fruit. Leiyin remembered that, years later, during the Summit War, Akainu had severely wounded the Whitebeard Pirates, the strongest of the Four Emperors, several times. His strength was incredibly formidable. Later, after Fleet Admiral Sengoku