This brought an even more terrifying chain reaction for the Celestial Dragons. Just the day before, Kuzan, formerly still bearing the title of Marine Admiral "Aokiji," publicly announced his withdrawal from the Marines and accepted Monkey D. Dragon's invitation to join the Revolutionary Army!
"Aokiji's" departure was like the first domino to fall. Marine officers and soldiers, already deeply wary of the Celestial Dragons' brainwashing abilities, began leaving in droves. Most of them joined the Revolutionary Army as well, causing its strength to swell in a short time to the point where it could nearly stand on equal footing with Marine Headquarters!
But then again, in a sense, this was simply Marine Headquarters splitting in two:
Those who feared being brainwashed by the Celestial Dragons and turned into puppets more than they feared death left. Those with too strong a sense of justice to accept that the World Government used such evil means as mind control to stabilize its rule also left. And those who saw no future for the Celestial Dragons and the World Government naturally had even more reason to leave.
Those who overly feared the power of the Ancient Weapons and believed the Celestial Dragons could not possibly be completely defeated remained. Some were simply afraid of death, while others clung to the hope that they would not be brainwashed.
Then there were people like Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who truly could not bear to admit that the first half of their lives had been spent aiding evil. They could only deceive themselves into believing that the Celestial Dragons, who possessed the Ancient Weapons, could not be completely brought down, and that the longer the rebellion continued, the more destruction it would bring to the world. So they stayed as well, even convincing themselves that this was true