Ruthless!

Some insignificant people could sneer at him or look down on him, and Morito could brush it off like a fart and let it go.

But when his family and friends did the same—especially people he respected—

Morito couldn't stay calm.

Naval Headquarters didn't give Morito much of a sense of belonging. He wasn't from this world. He knew the story of One Piece, and he knew what the Marines were really like.

The only reason Morito had joined the Marines was out of gratitude to Garp.

If he hadn't met Garp, he would've died on a deserted island nine years ago.

Of all the people at Marineford, there was only one and a half whom Morito respected and felt a sense of belonging with.

One was naturally Garp, who had saved him.

The half was Gion, the big sister who had protected him ever since he was little. Though what Gion was really protecting were the people who provoked him, so he wouldn't smash their heads in.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

Gion explained earnestly. Who would think their own kid was ugly?

Even if the kid was ugly, you still had to raise and protect them, didn't you?

Morito's gaze softened. "I won't get hurt."

Even before his Byakugan had awakened, Morito had never backed down. And now his cheat had finally arrived!

Morito sounded so confident that Gion hesitated.

Onigumo was one of the Training Camp's three strongest. You didn't need to go out of your way to learn about him.

He had the Zoan-type Bug-Bug Fruit, Spider form.

He followed the path of a swordsman.

It was unclear whether he had Observation Haki or had mastered the Marine Six Styles.

But he had probably already reached the threshold of Armament Haki. During the Doriki test, Morito had sensed the beginnings of it in Onigumo's Drawing Slash.

That afternoon, the Training Camp held its practical exam.

The draw placed Morito and Onigumo in the Back Mountain Forest. Morito would play a pirate holding a hostage, while Onigumo would play a Marine.

The scenario was as follows: the Marines had surrounded a pirate holding an important hostage. The pirate demanded a fast ship to escape, threatening the hostage. The ship would arrive in an hour.

The Marines won by rescuing the hostage.

The pirates won by escaping aboard the ship.

The hostage was the key to forcing the Marines to send a ship. The pirates' victory condition was to escape by sea, so killing the hostage wouldn't win them the exam.

Not only could he not kill the hostage, he had to keep them safe.

In the forest.

Morito studied the practical exam scenario with a blank expression and raised an eyebrow. "So I have to keep the hostage from being taken for an hour?"

"And after all that, I still have to cross the forest and reach the shore to board the ship?"

He'd noticed one crucial detail: the hostage couldn't die. If they did, the Marines wouldn't send a ship!

The pirates' victory condition wasn't killing the hostage or taking out the Marines. It was escaping by sea.

So he had to protect the hostage, too?

Which one of them was supposed to be the Marine?

What kind of weirdo had come up with such a messed-up practical exam?

Onigumo, by contrast, had it easy. He only had to rescue the hostage. Since the pirate couldn't risk harming them, the Marines' rescue operation was made infinitely simpler.

And they had a full hour to do it.

At first glance, that hour seemed like a restriction on the Marines. In reality, it meant the pirate couldn't leave the forest for an hour!

"Feels like they're targeting me."

But after a moment's thought, Morito decided it didn't matter.

In the end, he and Onigumo would have to fight. If Onigumo couldn't beat him, even the best conditions wouldn't help.

In the end, a fight came down to their actual skills.

The hostage was a Training Camp student.

Seeing Morito standing there in a daze, looking completely at a loss, the student sneered. "What? Only now getting scared? What were you thinking earlier?"

"I knew you must've cheated somehow, using some underhanded trick."

"First place should've gone to Big Brother Onigumo!"

Morito snapped out of his thoughts at that.

From the way he talked, was this guy one of Onigumo's lackeys?

It wasn't that Morito was obsessed with conspiracy theories. This world was one big conspiracy. He eyed the other boy suspiciously.

They'd arranged the location, assigned the roles, and even provided a hostage?

Could they at least have some shame? Which one of them was really cheating?

"Nothing to say, huh? Just wait. Big Brother Onigumo will beat you until you're crawling, and show everyone what you really are!"

"You only got into the Naval Academy because of connections. Sooner or later, you'll be kicked out."

"The Naval Academy isn't a place for blind, useless trash like you!"

When Morito kept quiet, the Training Camp student unleashed a string of insults, then looked at him with a smug, confident sneer.

His arrogant gaze made it seem as though he could already see Morito trampled under Onigumo's feet.

"Even if I can't beat Onigumo, what are you so pleased about?"

Morito raised an eyebrow and mocked him. "You're acting like I've beaten you senseless three or four times. Don't forget, you're the hostage in my hands right now!"

Morito tugged on the rope in his hand. The Training Camp student slipped and lost his footing, landing flat on his face.

Thud!

The student hit the ground face-first. His nose cracked against the earth with a sharp snap, enough to make anyone wince.

"You blabbering—"

Morito glanced at his junior, who was missing a front tooth, his face streaked with blood, tears, and dirt.

Tsk. What a pity.

He was disfigured now.

A little disfigurement was still disfigurement. A lot of it was still disfigurement.

With that in mind, Morito leaped up and stamped down hard, grinding the man's nose right into his face!

"To borrow your words: if you've got no ability, keep your tail between your legs."

"Why jump out and make a scene?"

"I'm not exactly sweet-tempered!"

Not taking you seriously didn't mean he was afraid of you. It just meant he couldn't be bothered to pick a fight with an extra whose name he didn't even know.

Morito picked up the unconscious hostage with one hand and tossed him onto a pile of dead leaves.

Each exam area had an examiner, in case anything went wrong.

There were also plenty of Den Den Mushi scattered around the forest. Their footage was projected onto one of the screens in the academy plaza.

But so what?

He was playing a ruthless pirate. Was a pirate supposed to treat a hostage like a grandfather and wait on them hand and foot?

The exam only required the hostage to stay alive. Morito had knocked him out to make things easier.

It was perfectly reasonable. The examiners had no right to interfere!

Top floor of the teaching building.

All the scenes from the different exam areas were being sent to Zephyr's office, then projected onto the plaza screens.

Zephyr was focused on only two arenas.

One was the team battle led by Kazan and Doberman. The other was the individual match between Morito and Onigumo.

Zephyr furrowed his brow. He clearly disapproved of what Morito had just done.

"That kid's way too ruthless! Garp, how exactly did you raise him?"

"Morito's got it right! If you've got no ability, keep your tail between your legs!"

Garp burst out laughing without a care in the world, as though he hadn't even noticed Zephyr's face darken.

Then Garp added, "If it were me, I'd beat that guy up, too!"