"Are you jealous of me?"
There was a hint of confusion in Morito's voice. He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling deep down that this was the case.
Onigumo was angry because he was jealous of him.
"The Naval Academy Training Camp is the most sacred place of all. Someone like you doesn't belong here."
Onigumo's eyes narrowed as he spoke coldly.
"You're jealous of me."
This time, Morito sounded completely certain.
"I heard Vice Admiral Garp brought you here when you were six. You're always late and leave early every single day, and you've skipped the annual exams every year."
"What makes you think you have the right to stay here?"
Onigumo gritted his teeth and snarled.
After nine years of training, even a pig should've learned a thing or two!
Yet Ōtsutsuki Morito was no good at academics or combat.
He always handed in blank papers for written exams and skipped every practical test.
He had no talent and made no effort.
Aside from growing taller, he hadn't improved at all, yet he still did whatever he pleased, ignoring the Naval Academy's rules!
What right did a good-for-nothing like him have to stay at the Naval Academy?
Onigumo wasn't the only one. Many people probably hadn't even realized it themselves, but beneath their disdain and contempt for Morito, a sliver of jealousy was also at work.
How could such a good-for-nothing have earned Vice Admiral Garp's favor? How could Vice Admiral Garp have brought him here personally?
What had Vice Admiral Garp seen in Ōtsutsuki Morito?
Was he blind?
"Are you jealous because I'm better-looking than you?"
Morito narrowed his eyes. He could sense the change in Onigumo's emotions.
Anger. Seething fury.
"Do you have no shame at all? You're not just making a fool of yourself—you're making Mr. Garp look bad and bringing disgrace upon the Naval Academy!"
"You really are jealous because I'm better-looking than you!"
At those words, Onigumo's face cracked like a mirror. He could no longer keep up his haughty, aloof expression.
Was this really about whether he was handsome?
What good was being handsome?
Could it fill your stomach?
Before Onigumo could lash out, Morito looked at him with pity.
"Come to think of it, you're pretty pitiful. Those who know you think you've aged before your time. Those who don't probably think you're some creepy old man dressing up in a Training Camp uniform to look young!"
"Just like it's not my fault I'm handsome, I understand."
"It's not your fault you look old, either."
Morito patted Onigumo's stomach with his greasy paw. He'd meant to pat his shoulder, but the physical logistics wouldn't allow it.
Crack!
Onigumo clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles creaked.
So what if he looked old?
Was Morito paying for his food?
There was someone who looked even older, anyway!
"Bastard!"
The fury in Onigumo's heart erupted like a volcano. He rolled up his sleeves and lunged at Morito in a single stride.
His powerful punch tore through the air with a sharp whoosh.
Morito raised an eyebrow and toppled backward, stiff as a board.
Onigumo's punch cut through empty air. He was absolutely certain he hadn't hit Morito, yet Morito was lying on the ground and refusing to get up!
Was he trying to fake an injury?
The Naval Academy didn't allow students to fight. In serious cases, offenders could even be expelled!
Onigumo's face darkened as he snarled, "Get the hell up!"
Morito quickly finished the grilled meat skewers on his stick. "I'm injured."
The implication was clear: Onigumo could wait to be punished.
Onigumo's face was full of exasperation. "Get up and fight me!"
Morito folded his hands over his stomach and lay there like a corpse. "I'm injured."
Onigumo's brow twitched. "Get up if you're a man!"
Morito simply closed his eyes. "I'm injured."
Onigumo: "..."
Just as Onigumo was about to attack again and force Morito to his feet, a tall, slender figure approached from not far away.
Long legs, high heels, and a blue-and-white uniform!
Sexy and beautiful!
The newcomer was Gion, a student in the Naval Academy's Elite Class and a very beautiful older girl.
If the Training Camp was like a "middle school division," then the Elite Class was the top S-class in the "university division," personally taught by former Marine Admiral Zephyr.
Gion was a senior who had graduated from the Training Camp, combining strength and beauty.
She was both the person everyone aspired to catch up with and the goddess in their hearts!
Garp had brought Morito back, while Tsuru had brought Gion. Because of Garp and Tsuru's relationship, Morito had known Gion since he was very young.
"What are you doing?"
Gion glanced at Morito lying on the ground and furrowed her delicate brows.
Onigumo's expression stiffened, and a trace of apprehension flashed in his eyes. This woman was a genuine genius at the Naval Academy!
Don't let Gion's beauty fool you. Everyone admitted to the Elite Class was a monster!
"Nothing. We were just sparring," Onigumo explained stiffly.
"Don't you know that the Naval Academy forbids fighting? Especially among Training Camp students!" Gion stared at Onigumo and asked coldly.
"That's all you're good for, hiding behind a woman, you good-for-nothing!"
Onigumo didn't want to get into it with Gion. He snorted and turned to leave.
Just then, Morito's voice rang out.
"Stop!"
Morito hadn't planned on bothering with Onigumo.
Good-for-nothing, trash, blind, cataracts, connections, what would he be without Mr. Garp...
Hadn't he heard those things enough over the past nine years?
How could those words affect his mood in the slightest?
If no one envied you, you were mediocre. Picking a fight with a bunch of nameless extras would be the real way to invite trouble.
But at that moment, Morito changed his mind.
The sea was beginning to bare its fangs. Roger would soon rise to become Pirate King and usher in the Great Pirate Era. The Golden Lion would attack Marine Headquarters, and who knew when that lunatic Kaido might get some crazy idea and come to Marine Headquarters to try to kill himself.
Was Marine Headquarters really safe?
How much longer could it remain peaceful?
Before all that, the Rocks Pirates had disbanded, plunging the sea into its darkest and most chaotic era. Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru had emerged as new stars in the Navy.
But how many Navy soldiers had died at the hands of pirates?
Without strength, you couldn't survive.
Morito felt he couldn't go on like this.
He needed to show potential worth investing in, to make the Naval Academy take notice—and Zephyr, too.
The Training Camp's top three fighters were Onigumo, Doberman, and Kazan. They were the ones most qualified to enter the Elite Class and become Zephyr's students.
Any one of the three could be Morito's target.
Since Onigumo had walked right into his sights...
Why not go with the flow?
At Morito's shout, Onigumo paused and glanced back at him with a contemptuous look from the corner of his eye.
"What?"
"Take back what you said."
Morito put on the air of an angry hothead and snarled, his face cold.
He looked like a little lion ready to pounce.
If Onigumo didn't back down, he'd leap at him in an instant!
"You want me to take back what I said? Then beat me!" A glint flashed in Onigumo's eyes. So he didn't want to admit he was hiding behind a woman?
Good. If he was angry, this would be easy!
Anger made people reckless!
"You really want to fight me?"
Morito asked, pretending to hold back.
Gion's eyelid twitched. She seemed to realize what Morito was planning and hurriedly warned him, "Don't do anything reckless. You're no match for him!"
A private brawl and a duel were two different things.
A private brawl was a one-sided, forced fight, with the other party dragged into it against their will.
A duel was a fair match that both parties agreed to.
One brought punishment, and could even get you expelled from the Naval Academy. The other was encouraged: competition was what made students stronger.
"Do you dare?"
Onigumo taunted him contemptuously.
Morito stepped around Gion and stood face-to-face with Onigumo.
"Better today than tomorrow. We'll fight at the exams. If you lose, you'll take back what you said, and I'll give you a new name!"
The air fell silent. The students in the plaza stared blankly at the boy standing in their midst.
His delicate face had sharply defined features, and his clear, pure eyes were bright. At fifteen, he was like a flower just beginning to bloom.
In a few years, he would surely be a dashing young man.
The girls' hearts weren't the only ones pounding at the sight. Even the boys were dumbstruck.
Too bad...
The guy had bad eyesight and something wrong with his head.
Onigumo was one of the Training Camp's top three fighters.
He was practically guaranteed to pass the exams and become a Reserve Navy soldier, with a very good chance of entering the Elite Class and becoming one of Zephyr's students!
But Ōtsutsuki Morito?
If he still failed to pass the Training Camp exams and become a Reserve Navy soldier this time, then even with Garp's connections, he'd be kicked out of the Naval Academy.
"As you wish," Onigumo said coldly.
He didn't care at all about Morito's condition. He wouldn't lose. During the practical exam, he'd beat Morito until he was truly blind!
Surely the Naval Academy wouldn't keep someone who was truly blind...
After Onigumo turned and left, Morito instantly dropped his angry act and returned to his calm, unbothered self.
Gion, standing beside him, looked utterly bewildered by how quickly he'd changed.
"You—"
"I'm fine."
Before you continue