The Reserve Navy students in the Elite Class could roughly be divided into three tiers. The first tier consisted of Zephyr's first batch of students: the three monsters, Sakazuki, Dragon, and Borsalino.
The second tier consisted of Kuzan, Gion, and Kaki.
Everyone else came after them.
Kuzan, Gion, and Kaki were no less talented than the three monsters, but they had joined the camp later and were younger.
Kuzan was from the third batch, and Gion from the fourth.
Zephyr's gaze swept across everyone in the classroom. He noticed that some people still hadn't arrived.
Sakazuki, Kaki, and Gion were away on missions and weren't at the Naval Academy. Besides them, Dragon and Kuzan were also missing.
"Are Dragon and Kuzan still not here?"
Just as Zephyr asked the others, footsteps sounded outside the door again.
Then the classroom door swung open.
A man walked in, wearing a dark green coat. A red, square-patterned tattoo marked the left side of his face, and his fierce expression was made all the more imposing by the lack of eyebrows.
Dragon!
Monkey D. Dragon, Vice Admiral Garp's own son!
One of the Elite Class's three monsters.
Dragon had inherited Garp's fine genes. A powerful warrior by nature, he was every bit as strong as Sakazuki or Borsalino.
His personality, however, was the complete opposite of Garp's. No one knew what he was thinking.
He was the strong, silent type.
"Kuzan's asleep."
Dragon answered Zephyr's question.
A hint of displeasure flickered in Zephyr's eyes. Kuzan's lazy nature gave him a headache. How could he still be sleeping at this hour?
But since Kuzan should have known about today's mission, Zephyr decided to set his absence aside for now.
"We'll deal with Kuzan later. Today is the newcomers' welcome day, and as usual, we've prepared their first lesson!"
The Elite Class was different from the ordinary Reserve Navy camp. The Reserve Navy only went out to sea once every three months, while the Elite Class returned to Marineford only once every three months.
For the Reserve Navy, naval battles were practical examinations.
For the Elite Class, naval battles were routine training.
According to Zephyr, the Elite Class was made up of future Navy officers, whose talents were worlds apart from those of the Reserve Navy.
Ordinary soldiers had their own training methods, and the elite had theirs.
The Elite Class couldn't follow the same schedule as the Reserve Navy.
New Reserve Navy recruits focused on intensive physical training.
New Elite Class recruits, on the other hand, trained in naval warfare!
This year's naval exercise would be a fixed-route patrol. They would sail out and back along a designated route, wipe out or capture any pirates they encountered, and rescue civilians.
The patrol was full of uncertainty and the unknown.
They might complete the entire trip without anything happening, or they might encounter a powerful Pirate Crew shortly after leaving the waters near Marine Headquarters.
For Morito, Doberman, and Kazan, this would be their first real naval battle.
For everyone else in the Elite Class, it was just another ordinary naval battle.
Zephyr continued, "I've decided to divide you into three teams. Dragon, you'll lead one."
Dragon nodded in acceptance.
Whenever the Elite Class held team-based naval exercises, Dragon, Sakazuki, and Borsalino almost always led the teams.
Zephyr turned to look at Borsalino, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
Zephyr disliked Borsalino, not because he looked sleazy, but because he focused too much on developing his Devil Fruit Ability and neglected physical training.
Zephyr believed the body was the foundation of everything.
Swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, the Marine Six Styles, Haki, and Devil Fruit Abilities all required a strong body.
Borsalino, however, believed that the power of his Logia Glint-Glint Fruit surpassed everything else. He devoted most of his energy to mastering his Devil Fruit Ability.
Only after that did he work on Taijutsu, swordsmanship, and Haki.
Borsalino kept ignoring Zephyr's advice, so Zephyr had little patience for him.
That was why Zephyr and Borsalino didn't get along.
But there was no question about Borsalino's strength. Zephyr wouldn't risk his students' lives just because he disliked Borsalino.
"Borsalino, you'll lead one."
"Yes!~ Teacher Zephyr."
Borsalino leisurely trimmed his nails, looking as though not even the sky falling could interrupt him.
Zephyr's expression darkened. He snorted, but said nothing more.
Everyone was used to this by now.
Borsalino was the only person in the entire Elite Class who dared speak to Zephyr that way.
The strong had privileges wherever they went.
"The last team. Morito!"
Zephyr suddenly called out his name, and Morito froze.
Everyone turned to look at him in unison.
"You've got to be kidding! You're letting Ōtsutsuki Morito lead a team? He's a newcomer! Today's lesson is supposed to accommodate the three new students!"
"Teacher Zephyr, you can't be serious, can you?"
"I refuse to accept this! Why should a newcomer get to lead a team?"
The classroom instantly erupted into a clamor, like a marketplace.
Quite a few people simply watched coldly from the sidelines.
Dragon knew Zephyr wouldn't act carelessly, so he gave Morito a searching look. Since returning to the Naval Academy, he'd heard people talking about Morito almost constantly.
Nine years in hiding, then fame in a single battle.
That alone was enough to earn anyone's respect.
And he'd managed to give Onigumo, one of the Training Camp's three strongest, such a crushing defeat.
Morito was definitely not as harmless as he looked.
A moment later,
Morito's expression settled back into calm. He'd only been surprised because Zephyr had called on him out of the blue.
"Everyone, shut up!"
Zephyr slammed his fist down on the table with a thud. The desk shattered into pieces.
The classroom fell silent. The chatterers choked on their words and shrank into their seats like quails.
"Once you leave this academy, you'll be officers of Marine Headquarters and the Navy's future pillars. Take a good look at yourselves!"
"Are you a bunch of market brawlers?"
"Making all that noise—what do you think this place is?!"
"*%*%*%*"
After giving them a thorough dressing-down, Zephyr felt much better.
The others had been chewed out from head to toe. They were furious, but didn't dare raise their voices. All they could do was glare viciously at Morito.
That guy had gotten them yelled at!
What made him so special?
Was it because he had connections to Vice Admiral Garp? Was that why Instructor Zephyr was giving him special treatment?
Zephyr turned his gaze back to Morito and asked in a stern voice, "If I put you in charge of a team on patrol, can you handle it?"
Morito found the question rather amusing.
No one had ever asked him anything like that before!
"There's no such thing as 'can't' in my dictionary!"
"Answer me directly. Can you handle it or not?"
Zephyr's roar cut Morito off.
Their gazes collided, and sparks seemed to fly between them.
The Reserve Navy students in the classroom looked from one man to the other, then finally fixed their eyes on Morito.
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