Why Am I the Examiner?

Marineford had a seldom-visited area on its outskirts, with stones of all sizes scattered across the ground. Zhong Hao used it as his private training ground. He had never liked training in crowded places.

Two months had passed since the undersea treasure hunt, and Zhong Hao's soul had mostly recovered. That day, he received an invitation from Zephyr.

"You want me to be a stage boss and wait for them to come challenge me?" Zhong Hao looked at Zephyr in surprise, unable to understand why he had such an idea.

"A stage boss? 'Challenge'? Although I don't understand what that means, I think you misunderstood. It's a recruit assessment. You'll serve as a special examiner and fight the recruits," Zephyr explained.

"There are so many strong Marines. Why ask a half-grown kid like me to be an examiner?" Zhong Hao still did not understand.

"Precisely because you're young and strong. I want you to beat them up, so they won't become arrogant and complacent, then lose their lives when they face real pirates in battle. Especially since, after this assessment, they'll be heading to West Blue to hunt pirates and undergo a transformation through bloodshed." Zephyr was remarkably patient with Zhong Hao. If it had been anyone else, he would have raised his fists long ago—agree or get beaten.

"Hunting pirates... Can I go with them?" After five months of training, Zhong Hao urgently needed real combat to test his progress. He needed battle even more to build combat experience, so he asked.

"Of course. That was Garp's intention as well. The strong grow through constant battle." Zephyr burst into laughter.

"Then thank you, Mr. Zephyr. When is the assessment?" Zhong Hao agreed. The thrill of Kami-e improving rapidly during his last spar with Smoker was still fresh in his memory.

"Tomorrow morning. You'll fight the top ten recruits from the training camp. Smoker is first place. That brat has beaten everyone up just because he's a Logia user. Tomorrow, you need to crush his arrogance."

Smoker had much in common with the three Admirals. After obtaining the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, he had begun leaning toward developing his Fruit abilities while neglecting hand-to-hand combat, which displeased Zephyr greatly.

Zhong Hao nodded. "I'll do my best, Mr. Zephyr."

Zephyr left in satisfaction, while Zhong Hao remained where he was.

He muttered to himself, "Last time I fought Smoker, I only dodged his attacks. This time, I need to figure out how to defeat him. With Sea Fang, I won't be completely helpless, but his speed will definitely be troublesome. I was the one who reminded him about White Smoke Launcher. This really is like lifting a rock only to smash my own foot. My speed definitely isn't enough to catch him, so there's only..."

Soru

The ground exploded with a heavy bang. Zhong Hao gripped his sword with both hands and suddenly appeared on the far side of a massive boulder. A diagonal line split the stone in two, and its upper half slowly slid down, the cut smooth and even.

"Still not good enough. I can't use Soru as freely as I want. Before using it, I need a second to calculate, and after stopping, there's another half-second pause. That's too fatal. Besides, true Soru makes no sound. Otherwise, how could it be called a secret assassination technique?"

He was very fast, so fast that ordinary eyes could barely track his movements, but Zhong Hao was still dissatisfied. What he wanted was complete freedom—silent movement, able to start and stop at will.

Early the next morning, Zhong Hao rubbed his full stomach contentedly under the chef's murderous glare. Leaving behind plates piled as high as a wall, he headed toward the recruit training camp.

At the recruit training camp, every recruit of this class stood on the parade ground, whispering among themselves.

"Didn't Instructor Zephyr say to assemble at eight? Why isn't he here yet?"

"No idea, but I heard Smoker and the others say that the top ten in this assessment will undergo a special examination. I guess we're waiting for the instructor conducting it."

"That's strange. My brother was a recruit two classes ago, and I never heard him mention any special examination. Still, the chief examiner should be a high-ranking Marine officer, right? I really hope it's Vice Admiral Garp. I admire him most."

Smoker and the other top ten recruits did not join the discussion. Birds of a feather flocked together. Just as top students formed one circle and poor students another, they rarely mixed.

Still, they were curious. They were looking forward to seeing a Vice Admiral, or perhaps even an Admiral, witness their performance.

The sound of footsteps approached. The recruits who heard it quickly returned to formation, standing neatly in a square array with the top ten at the very front.

Zephyr led Zhong Hao to the front of the formation, with Zhong Hao half a step behind him.

When Smoker saw that there were only two of them, he immediately made a guess. His mouth fell open as he said in disbelief, "This... Don't tell me? What the hell is this?"

Zephyr looked over the recruits and announced loudly, "I believe everyone already knows about the special examination. Now, let me introduce this examination's examiner: Zhong Hao."

Zephyr stepped back, bringing Zhong Hao into full view. The crowd instantly erupted into discussion, their words filled with doubt.

"That's the kid who fought Smoker half a year ago. He's the examiner? Is this some kind of joke? Shouldn't a special examiner be a Marine higher-up?"

"Last time, he suddenly fainted for some reason. We don't even know how it ended. The kid may be fairly strong, but he isn't qualified to be an examiner, is he?"

Zephyr let out a roar. "Quiet." The murmuring vanished, and the training ground fell silent at once.

"Mr. Zephyr told me that you're all very proud. You believe yourselves to be strong. He dislikes arrogant people and hopes someone will beat you awake, beat that pride out of you." Zhong Hao took a step forward and said calmly, "So, I came."

The recruits immediately exploded into an uproar. Doubts, curses, provocations, and scorn were all directed at Zhong Hao.

"Also, since I'm serving as the examiner for this special assessment, and no Marine higher-ups are here to watch, there will be no results from the start. This cannot serve as a stepping stone for your future promotions. In other words, if you win, you gain nothing. But if you lose, then as people who can't even beat an eight-year-old child, you'll become the weakest class in history and be ridiculed by everyone."

Zhong Hao ignored their clamor and continued, "Now, the top ten, come up. The order is up to you. You can even come at me together. The sooner this ends, the sooner I can leave. I'm in a hurry."

It was another line designed to provoke them. Even Smoker and Hina, who were quite close, could no longer sit still. The others were even angrier, veins bulging on their foreheads. How could the best students in their ivory tower endure such mockery? They certainly could not accept the title of weakest class in history.

They all cared about their pride and could not bring themselves to gang up on him. The first nine all looked toward the tenth-ranked recruit. The other recruits in the back also shouted encouragement at him. "Doren, beat that kid senseless! Let him know the consequences of shooting his mouth off! Let him see what the training camp is made of!"

"That's right, Doren! Use your fists to beat him so badly he runs home crying for his mother!"

Seeing the agitated recruits, Zhong Hao nodded in satisfaction. "Looks like you've decided on a gauntlet. You weakest one, come on. The sooner I deal with you all, the sooner I can get back to training."

Watching all this, Zephyr thought strangely, Why would Zhong Hao say something like that? This isn't his personality.

What he did not know was that Zhong Hao merely wanted to anger them. That way, they could surpass their usual limits in their rage and help him improve his Six Powers.

There was only a little over a year left before the passage to the Naruto world opened. Unlike the One Piece world, where he had the Marines' protection, the moment he returned, he would have to face the Uchiha clan's pursuit. He was not someone who would take a beating without fighting back. He had not been before, and now that he possessed power, he certainly would not be.

Once he fought back and killed Uchiha ninja, stronger enemies would inevitably come for him. He would have to kill his way up, one level at a time. When the Uchiha had no stronger warriors left, they would likely disregard Konohagakure entirely and launch a large-scale siege against him.

As Konohagakure's largest clan, the Uchiha might not have Kage-level experts, but they definitely had quasi-Kage fighters. As for jonin and elite jonin, the Uchiha had them in abundance, especially with their Sharingan. To face so many powerful enemies head-on, he needed at least strength on the level of a Shichibukai.

Fortunately, the Uchiha could not send out their entire clan from the very beginning. He still had time to grow.

On the training ground, everyone formed a large circle. It was much like the scene from half a year ago, except Garp was not there this time.

In the center, the two stood facing each other. Zhong Hao planted Sea Fang into the ground. Since this was meant to improve his Six Powers, they would naturally fight barehanded.

Doren also specialized in hand-to-hand combat. With a furious shout, he charged forward empty-handed, and his speed was not bad.

Soru. Finger Pistol.

Zhong Hao's body flashed, and he appeared directly in front of his opponent, pressing a finger into Doren's right shoulder.

With a bang, Doren flew backward and crashed to the ground.

The people who had been cheering for Doren fell silent like ducks with their throats seized.

Zhong Hao's Finger Pistol could not yet pierce through the body of a martial artist with a single strike, but landing it on an opponent still dealt immense damage to their muscles and bones. He said calmly, "All right. Next."

"I haven't lost yet..." Doren roared and shakily climbed to his feet, clutching his shoulder in agony. His right arm was temporarily unusable.

His perseverance is admirable, but he had no ability to fight back even at full strength. After being injured, he has even less chance. He's too weak to help the Six Powers improve. I need someone with a higher ranking. Zhong Hao sighed inwardly, silently used Soru, and struck Doren on the back of the neck with the edge of his hand, knocking him unconscious.

A medic ran over, placed him on a stretcher, and carried him away.

Zhong Hao looked at the ninth-ranked recruit. "Next..."