"Akin."
The young man standing before Tsugikuni Yoriichi now looked vastly different from the boy Yoriichi remembered.
Who knew how long this kid had been in the Marines? The scrawny little brat from back then had now built himself a body of lean, sturdy muscle.
Akin stood around 185 centimeters tall and wore the standard sailor uniform issued to Marine Academy students. After giving him a brief once-over, Yoriichi noticed that compared to the other students, Akin's uniform looked far more "weathered." It was covered in small tears and far more worn than anyone else's.
It was clear that this kid's training intensity was probably much greater than that of the other students.
Who knew whether it was two hundred times that of his fellow Marines?
As Tsugikuni Yoriichi sized Akin up, Akin quietly withdrew his gaze under Yoriichi's scrutiny. He pulled himself together, determined to show Yoriichi his very best side.
Seeing once more the man who had saved his life, Akin forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart.
"This man—I imagine many of you already know him."
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Though he is no longer part of Marine Headquarters, he was once one of us."
"I invited him here to visit the academy today. An opportunity like this is rare."
"Those of you who are the most outstanding will have the chance to spar with the world's greatest swordsman!"
"Akin, you're first!"
Although Yoriichi had long since struck out on his own and was even a criminal wanted by the World Government and Marine Headquarters, Zephyr did not treat Tsugikuni Yoriichi as an outsider in front of these Marine students.
In Zephyr's heart, Yoriichi had always been his finest disciple.
"What? Spar with the world's greatest swordsman?"
"Hey, hey, are you kidding? The gap between us is way too