Crippled, and I Did It On Purpose!

The battle in the forest was over.

The examiner in charge called for medical personnel, and several of them carefully placed Onigumo onto a stretcher.

Everyone watched with grim expressions as they carried Onigumo away.

The initial diagnosis was that Onigumo was finished.

From the second lumbar vertebra's spinous process downwards, he would likely lose sensation permanently.

When Examiner Spike heard this news, his face immediately turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Given Onigumo's potential, he was destined to become at least a Rear Admiral, or even a Vice Admiral-level elite Marine, a pillar of Marine Headquarters.

Such a genius had been crippled!

And crippled right in front of him!

"Do you even know what you've done? Onigumo might be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life!"

Examiner Spike reprimanded with a cold face.

Morito raised an eyebrow and retorted with a hint of amusement, "Oh? When he unleashed his ultimate move just now, you didn't say a single word?"

"If it weren't for me, that guy would be dead too!"

Morito's peripheral vision swept over the hostage lying unconscious not far away.

He had broken the Training Camp student's nose because the latter had spoken disrespectfully and deserved a lesson.

He had saved that student from Onigumo's attack because he didn't want to be responsible for a life for no reason.

The two actions were not contradictory.

"What did you say?"

Examiner Spike hadn't expected Morito to dare to talk back to him!

Morito glared at him coldly.

He had seen this kind of look too many times; when good students and bad students clashed, teachers always sided with the good ones.

It was human nature, and understandable.

But when this happened to him, he couldn't just brush it off. Morito, after all, was the most incorrigible 'bad student' who had been at the bottom for nine years!

Morito twitched the corner of his mouth. "Are you deaf?"

"???"

Examiner Spike almost thought his ears were malfunctioning.

Even Onigumo, Doberman, and Kazan, as Training Camp students, wouldn't dare speak to instructors with such a tone.

Pirates were a world that valued strength, but respecting teachers and elders was a fundamental quality of a person.

Examiner Spike's eyes darkened.

Morito flexed his wrists and turned to face Spike directly. His body bent slightly, like a leopard ready to pounce.

If Spike dared to make a move, he would face Morito's full counterattack.

"What? You want to hit me too?"

Spike growled menacingly.

Morito's readiness to fight only strengthened a fleeting thought in his mind.

Cruel and ruthless, disrespectful.

This guy harbored no justice in his heart!

If Morito were truly allowed to become a Marine, he would bring shame to the Marines in the future!

Morito met his gaze coldly, remaining silent.

Did someone expect him to offer his face to be hit?

He didn't have a masochistic streak.

Spike gathered power in his feet, his body sinking as he prepared to charge forward. He decided to apprehend Morito!

Just then, Zephyr and Garp arrived together.

"What are you doing, Spike!"

Zephyr growled. He didn't know what was happening here, but he noticed Spike gathering power under his feet, recognizing it as the starting move for Soru!

Only Spike and Morito were present. Why would Spike use Soru?

For fun? Ridiculous!

"Admiral Zephyr, Vice Admiral Garp, you've arrived at a good time."

Spike was an old subordinate of Zephyr's. Even after retiring to the Naval Academy, he still addressed Zephyr as Admiral.

Although he was only a Lieutenant, he had extensive combat experience and was a true elite Marine. He had retired to the rear lines after being injured in a battle with pirates and had come to the Naval Academy with Zephyr.

His combat prowess was fierce and formidable.

"I propose that Ōtsutsuki Morito be expelled from the Naval Academy. The Navy should be composed of righteous individuals, not someone so ruthless!"

Spike said with a stiff tone and an indignant expression.

Zephyr was unaware of Onigumo's situation.

During the broadcast from the monitor Den Den Mushi, he only saw Morito use Soru to flash behind Onigumo, after which Onigumo's body trembled slightly and he fell.

However, Zephyr's mind was sharp.

Something extremely serious must have happened to make his old subordinate so angry.

Considering the preceding events and Spike's words, a little thought was enough to understand that Onigumo had likely met with an accident during the previous battle.

"What happened to Onigumo?"

Zephyr asked in a deep voice.

Onigumo was a promising student in Zephyr's eyes, and he naturally didn't want anything to happen to him.

Spike didn't embellish the truth; he simply stated the facts.

"Just now, the medical personnel who took Onigumo away informed me that Onigumo sustained irreversible damage to the spinous process of his third lumbar vertebra! His lower body will be completely numb."

"In other words, Onigumo will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair!"

Onigumo is crippled?

Zephyr's expression changed drastically. This was not good news.

He turned to look at Morito.

Although Spike was his old subordinate and he trusted him, he couldn't completely believe it based solely on Spike's word.

He decided to hear Morito's side of the story.

"As expected, it is so."

Morito nodded, confirming Spike's statement. Onigumo's physical condition could be known with even a slight examination.

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell into silence.

The air became heavy and oppressive.

Even Garp, who was usually carefree, became serious.

Onigumo was not just a student Zephyr favored.

Onigumo's father, mother, and grandparents for three generations had all served in the Navy, and they were all very hard-line hawks!

Morito severely injuring Onigumo meant he had thoroughly offended the hawk faction of Navy generals!

The Naval Academy plaza. Today was a big day for Onigumo, and his father, Vice Admiral Tarantula, was personally present.

But what he saw was not Onigumo dominating the field as he had imagined, but Onigumo being defeated by a lazy, unmotivated good-for-nothing!

And he was defeated so miserably.

In just one move!

However, these were not what shocked Tarantula the most. What made him freeze on the spot was a piece of news from the Marine Headquarters Hospital.

Onigumo's third lumbar vertebra was severely injured, and with current medical technology, it was unlikely to be healed.

This was a very euphemistic way of putting it, but Tarantula understood.

His proud son was crippled!

The son he cherished was crippled!

The son who could have surpassed him in the future was crippled!

"Where is that brat?!"

Tarantula's eyes turned bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead.

The Marine who delivered the message instinctively thought Tarantula was asking about Onigumo. "Onigumo is currently in the intensive care unit. Does Vice Admiral Tarantula want to see him?"

A dangerous glint flashed in Tarantula's eyes. He recalled that the battle between Onigumo and Morito earlier had taken place in the forest behind the Naval Academy.

If he went now, he might still catch him!

He roughly pushed the Marine aside and strode towards the back mountain.

"Vice Admiral Tarantula, the hospital is this way!"