Aokiji had been away for months and knew nothing about what had happened at Headquarters, so it was only natural for him to find it strange when he saw who Ron's opponent was.
After all, in the year-end test, rather than arranging matches between recruits of the same class, having instructors step in to fight instead across all twenty-nine platforms had only happened twice in his memory!
The first time, he had only heard about it...
Back then, Garp and Zephyr had fought fiercely over the year-end evaluation platforms, while Sengoku sat alone on one of them among the trio. Before the absurd power of the Mythical Zoan Great Buddha Fruit, none of the recruits from his class had been a match for him—not even Tsuru. After careful consideration, Fleet Admiral Kong had the New Recruit Camp Chief Instructor at the time arrange for an instructor to fight Sengoku. If he held out for two hours, he would advance directly. That set a precedent.
The second time, he had witnessed it himself. In their own batch, he and Sakazuki had been placed in the same group beforehand, Borsalino had received a bye, and Zephyr had arranged for Shuzuo to fight Kizaru.
There was no need to mention what those people later achieved!
Every one of them had become a peak powerhouse!
Yet in the decades since, there had been no third example...
Because the overall strength of later recruits simply could not compare to that of the past. In the Marine Headquarters' New Recruit Camp, where geniuses and powerful fighters were everywhere, everyone could find an opponent of their own. There was no absolute ruler!
One could imagine how difficult and glorious it was to be invincible among one's peers, unable to find a single opponent! The value and meaning behind it were immeasurable!!
He had only come to observe the ceremony as usual, yet he encountered such a sight. Aokiji was immediately shocked.
"Is there something special about him? Why haven't I seen him before...?"
"Come on, let me tell you..."
And so on and so forth.
After hearing everything, Aokiji's gaze darkened as he looked at Ron seriously.
"I see. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?"
Thunder—lightning from the heavens.
Aokiji knew New World's Thunder God Island extremely well. Before Hell Island had been developed, it had been a training ground that every outstanding Marine recruit had to visit. Dark clouds covered the sky above the island, lightning serpents danced wildly, and what poured down from above was not rain, but terrifying violet-black thunderbolts! Before such vast heavenly might, anyone would feel powerless at their own insignificance. Even though he now had the power to destroy Thunder God Island, that inviolable majesty remained etched in Aokiji's heart.
"Interesting..."
The corner of his mouth rose slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "You've already picked the most likely times. Two hours is no different from winning, so I'll..."
Before he could finish, Kizaru's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, seriously? You want to bet on him winning?"
"No, I'm betting on one hour too..."
Smacking his lips, Aokiji wore a strange grin. "Admiral Akainu, you'd better be ready to take on two missions in a row!"
"Hmph! Utterly ridiculous!"
Akainu snorted, folding his arms as his gaze lowered.
The two exchanged a glance and paid him no mind. That was simply Akainu's personality. It would have been absurd if he had argued with them.
Besides... win?
How was that possible?!
Even Sengoku back then had not lasted two hours against an instructor. Before breaking through the limits of ordinary people, the accumulation forged through time was far more formidable than talent.
Still, there had later been one sole exception: Kizaru...
Relying on the world-class movement speed granted by the Glint-Glint Fruit, he had constantly restrained, evaded, and dodged, stubbornly finding chances to stall for two full hours.
Then, with his eternally slow manner of speaking and his lewd expression, he told Zephyr that even without being skilled in physical combat, one could stand at the pinnacle of the world through Fruit Ability alone.
It had nearly enraged Zephyr to death!
But when had that been?
Twenty years ago!
The Shuzuo of today was nothing like before. He had long since developed his own unique methods for dealing with people with astonishing movement speed. How could he possibly suffer the same loss twice?
Moreover, Kizaru had only accomplished that a year after joining the Marines. After extra training on Thunder God Island, his Doriki Value had reached fifteen hundred, allowing him to endure Shuzuo's fierce assault.
How long had Ron even been around?
At most, two and a half months!
His Doriki Value was only seven hundred!
Less than half of Kizaru's!
And...
The platform used for that match had been wooden as well. It did not conduct electricity!
Fighting Shuzuo, a standard Marine physical-combat powerhouse several times stronger than himself, in such a cramped area gave him no advantage to begin with. Now even the environment countered him, leaving him no room to exploit it. What Ron truly needed to consider was indeed how long he could last.
Marine Headquarters Plaza was deafeningly noisy and bustling with excitement!
The sounds of battle rang out endlessly from the other twenty-eight platforms. Flesh against flesh, blades and blood—the recruits seized this annual opportunity to unleash their hormones and display themselves before the entire Marine high command! A beautiful victory today might determine their futures!
Thus, even though they knew that taking the stage first meant being subjected to consecutive challenges and would harm their final results, some of them still charged forward without hesitation, determined to show their courage. Only moments after the fighting began, dozens had already been knocked from the platforms and declared defeated.
Yet new challengers immediately rushed up, challenging the reigning fighters.
However, unlike the other platforms, Shuzuo had only just stepped onto Platform No. 29, where Ron stood. The instructor serving as referee there decisively slipped away, abandoning even his own duties.
Crack, crack...
Shuzuo's knuckles cracked continuously beneath his grip. Wearing a black off-shoulder T-shirt, he sneered.
"Yo, isn't this Ron? Why do you look so awful? Did seeing me fill you with despair?"
Ron's eyebrows rose at those words.
"What do you think?!!!"
"Should I be laughing instead of crying?!"
"This arena was one hundred percent Teacher Zephyr targeting me, wasn't it?"
"You came up here intending to beat me to death too, didn't you?!"
"Don't take me for an idiot!"
"You shameless bastards!"
Below the platform, Zephyr heard those words through Observation Haki, and his eyelids twitched rapidly. "Beat this bastard to death, Shuzuo!"
"Understood!"
Shuzuo answered loudly, then shrugged. "Don't put it so harshly. Wooden arenas are easier to make; they've always been used for year-end evaluations. And as for beating you to death or not... I'm your instructor. How could I possibly beat you to death? At most..."
Boom!
Before his words had even faded, Shuzuo erupted with his greatest speed. Under Ron's horrified gaze, his entire body turned into a black streak and shot straight at him.
"At most... I'll beat you half to death!"
Bang... boom!
The air exploded, sending a ring of dust rippling through the sky. An invisible pillar of force burst forth, pierced the clouds, and vanished into the blue heavens!
The serious Shuzuo was completely different from the Shuzuo who had restricted himself during the test and been disrupted by the Steel Tunnel! Every move contained years of hard training, without a single wasted motion, and carried terrifying power!
His defeat twenty years ago had taught him an unforgettable lesson. Today, no matter what, he would beat Ron flat!
"Hm?"
Having thrown such a fierce punch, Shuzuo smiled faintly, certain of victory. Yet suddenly, he let out a startled sound as he looked at the wrist that had passed through Ron's chest.
He was certain that he had coated his fist with Armament Haki. Ron should not have been able to evade this punch with Elementalization. But this bizarre sight made him realize that Ron had calculated the timing of his attack and Elementalized in advance!
Logia Elementalization could be either active or passive. Armament Haki did not nullify Elementalization; it merely allowed one to touch a physical body and counteracted its passive effect. But once an opponent actively Elementalized and dispersed their body, Armament Haki was useless. After all, if it still worked then, would that not be the same as shoving one's hand directly into the opponent's internal organs? Logias would be far too weak!
Faced with such a situation, Shuzuo's mouth twitched. He could only withdraw and retreat, avoiding the lightning blasting toward him from Ron's palm.
Boom!!
Crackle, crackle!
An Electric Net coiled into existence between them, only fading away several seconds later.
Watching Ron drift backward, open enough distance for safety, and reform his body, Shuzuo gritted his teeth unhappily.
"Tch, slippery little brat!"
Ron curled his lips, a strange smile appearing on his face. He clasped his hands together and glanced sideways at Shuzuo. "Same to you! Your sneak attack skills are pretty impressive too!"
Shuzuo's sneak attack had been incredibly swift. If Ron had not Elementalized in advance and dispersed his body, that punch would have knocked him flat!
For victory, Shuzuo had completely cast aside his dignity!
This showed just how terrifying Logias were. Even Ron had been able to evade the powerful attacks of a Marine combatant like Shuzuo.
But actively Elementalizing and dispersing one's body consumed a tremendous amount of stamina!
Ron could not possibly predict exactly where his attacks would land, so he must have Elementalized his entire body.
If that was the case, Shuzuo would willingly admit defeat if Ron lasted an hour!
"Hmph! You're still talking tough! Let's see how long you can hold out!"
With a cold snort, Shuzuo closed in again. Once such an elite fighter unleashed his full speed, combined with the Marine Six Powers ingrained almost into instinct—Soru—his speed was not the least bit inferior to Ron's lightning-assisted movement! Ron could only see an afterimage, and in the blink of an eye, Shuzuo's fist struck him again.
"So fast!"
But...
"Just what I wanted!"
With a cold smile on his lips, Ron allowed the explosive fist wind to scatter him into streaks of tiny lightning snakes, then struggled to catch the Electromagnetic Field in the air. The next second, his figure flashed!
Teleportation!
Thank you all for your recommendation votes!
Tomorrow was finally Friday. If nothing unexpected happened... this book would get its first recommendation in four days.
Sigh, you might not believe this, but I mailed my contract by express delivery on Monday morning, and its status was not updated until six-thirty Friday evening. Even accounting for processing time, it must have arrived at Qidian around four or five on Friday, over four days later. Yet the computer power supply I bought was shipped from Guangdong and only took two and a half days... This taught us that Shentong Express delivery speed was completely based on mood.
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