New Skill: Eye Sword!

Fleet Admiral's Office.

Outside the door.

After finishing lunch, Sengoku slowly made his way back, planning to take a nap in his office.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

"Kaji?"

Sengoku stared in astonishment at the man sitting outside his office with his hands folded over each other.

His head immediately began to ache.

He knew exactly what kind of person Kaji was.

Though he was quite talented and had the potential to become an admiral, his looks were rather... ordinary.

Yet Kaji had no self-awareness and wanted to pursue Gion.

How could that possibly work?!

Sengoku and many others had long since sentenced him to death.

They had deliberately avoided involving Kaji in the morning's honor guard affair and found someone else instead.

But it seemed he had already found out.

"...Tell me. What do you want?" Sengoku asked with a headache.

With his hands folded, Kaji said indignantly, "Who is that guy? Why does he deserve Miss Gion personally receiving him?"

"Talented people who want to join the Marines aren't exactly rare."

"Wouldn't it be enough to send just anyone?"

Sengoku fell silent for a moment.

He shook his head, opened the office door, and gestured for Kaji to enter.

"I'll show you his file."

Sengoku took a basic profile from a drawer and handed it to Kaji.

Kaji raised an eyebrow and accepted it, beginning to read.

Every few minutes,

his eyes widened in shock, and he looked up at Sengoku in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. A fifteen-year-old great swordsman?"

"I'm not kidding. Keep reading," Sengoku replied calmly.

"This..."

Kaji kept turning the pages, growing more astonished with every line as turbulent waves rose in his heart.

This fifteen-year-old youth was actually connected to Rayleigh, the Pirate King's right-hand man, Dracule Mihawk, and Amazon Lily.

His only verified achievement—the extermination of the Ten Thieves Rat Pirates—was also exceptionally impressive.

He had completed it alone without suffering a single injury.

Even Kaji himself could not accomplish that.

His mood sank, yet he stubbornly refused to yield. "There's no direct evidence for any of this."

"How could anyone be that strong at fifteen?"

"If he were really that powerful, he would've made a name for himself long ago and caught our attention."

"Now he suddenly pops up out of nowhere. There must be something wrong!"

Faced with his objections,

Sengoku remained calm. "I'll assume it's true for now."

"Even so, there's no need to send Gion, right?" Kaji protested.

"Then should I send you?" Sengoku shot back mercilessly, his face filled with disdain. "With that face of yours?"

"..." Kaji instantly fell silent, feeling as if a knife had been stabbed into his chest.

"Enough. Go back once you're done reading. Don't cause me any trouble." Sengoku waved his hand, ready to throw him out.

"No!"

Kaji suddenly gritted his teeth and said word by word, "I want to be a representative too, and receive this fifteen-year-old great swordsman!"

"Are you trying to scare him away?" Sengoku was shocked.

"If you don't agree, Fleet Admiral, I'm not leaving!" Kaji sat directly on the floor, hands folded, his eyes fixed intently on Sengoku.

"You..."

Sengoku was so angered that his head spun. He took several deep breaths before calming down.

He shook his head helplessly. "You can't be a representative, but I can let you join the honor guard."

"Fleet Admiral..." Kaji's face brightened as he tried to press his case further.

"Those are my final terms. If you don't agree, I'll smash you out with my fists!" Sengoku coldly clenched his fist.

Crack! Crack!

His knuckles snapped sharply.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Kaji's forehead, and he quickly accepted the compromise. "Thank you, Fleet Admiral!"

"Get lost!" Sengoku snorted.

"Goodbye, Fleet Admiral!" Kaji swiftly left the office.

Elsewhere.

Inside a room in the cabin of a warship heading for Marineford.

Whoosh!

Junichi summoned the system panel with a thought.

[Host: Junichi Uchiha]

[Age: 15]

[Skills: Chakra Refinement Technique · Mastery (240/10,000), New Uchiha Style Swordsmanship · Mastery (54/10,000), Ninja Tool Throwing Technique · Mastery (25/10,000), Clone Technique · Mastery (358/10,000), Transformation Technique · Mastery (454/10,000), Substitution Technique · Mastery (239/10,000), Fire Release - Great Fireball Technique · Mastery (307/10,000), Genjutsu - Hell Viewing Technique · Mastery (215/10,000), Genjutsu - Fox Mind Technique · Mastery (374/10,000), Genjutsu - Mist Servant Technique · Mastery (343/10,000)...

Armament Haki · Proficient (258/1000), Observation Haki · Proficient (203/100), Basic Swordsmanship · Special (Max Level upon Unlock), Cutting Steel · Special (Max Level upon Unlock), Flying Slash · Special (Max Level upon Unlock)]

"My ninjutsu has improved quite a bit."

Junichi murmured to himself.

As his Sharingan had advanced to the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, his talent for ninjutsu had also subtly increased.

Fire Release, Yin Release, swordsmanship, ninja tool throwing...

All of them had entered the "Mastery" level.

And their proficiency had all surpassed one hundred!

Meanwhile, the proficiency of his Armament Haki and Observation Haki had risen from just over a hundred to more than two hundred.

"Besides that, there's this new skill..."

Junichi's gaze settled on the bottom of the skill list.

A brand-new skill appeared.

[Unnamed · Beginner (5/100)]

[Effect: Using Yin Release as its foundation, unleash an invisible sword of spirit through one's gaze to slay the enemy's spirit.]

"The realm of a great swordsman is already the end of swordsmanship."

"Next, I need to integrate things that aren't swordsmanship into swordsmanship."

"At the end, I'll either use the sword to cut through all things, or use the sword to explain all principles."

Junichi wore a contemplative expression.

Once any "art" reached its end, it would shed its physical form and begin to expound upon the unseen "principles."

There were two paths to such exposition.

One sword to break ten thousand techniques, or one sword to birth ten thousand techniques.

In truth, the two paths led to the same destination. They were two sides of the same whole.

There was no need to deliberately choose one over the other.

During his training over this period, Junichi had instinctively integrated genjutsu into his swordsmanship and created a new skill.

This self-created skill had been recorded by the panel.

"Since it concerns the spirit... I'll call it 'Eye Sword.'" After some thought, he gave it a fitting name.

Immediately, the skill's name changed.

[Eye Sword · Beginner (5/100)]

"Not bad."

Junichi nodded and closed the panel.

He was growing increasingly confident about dealing with Weasel.

"My main goal in joining the Marines is to learn the complete Six Powers, and preferably comprehend Life Return as well," Junichi muttered.

"Once I've learned the Six Powers, it'll be about time."

"The rejection will reach 100% too."

That would be the time for him to return.

After considering things for a while,

Junichi confirmed his future plan of action, then closed his eyes and continued training.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Streams of violent power surged from his body, turning into invisible armor that wrapped around his clothes.

Armament Haki!

At the same time, he captured the positions, movements, auras, conditions, and everything else of every person inside and outside the warship with Observation Haki.

[You trained Armament Haki once. Proficiency +1]

[You trained Observation Haki once. Proficiency +1]

Amid the repeated notifications of increased proficiency,

the warship arrived at its destination.

Marineford!