Reprimand

At six in the morning, the sky gradually began to brighten.

A white mist hung over the earth, hazy and indistinct, like a veil of silver-gray gauze.

Marineford Military Academy, training grounds.

Three hundred cadets gradually assembled into formation.

In a corner of the training grounds, Sephiroth sheathed his sword and hung it back at his waist. He let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Whew! Only ten thousand swings in two hours. I'm still short three thousand... I'll have to make them up tonight."

When Sephiroth reached his class's formation, he saw Tokikake wearing a broad grin as he walked toward Gion.

"Good morning, Gion! I like you. Go out with me!"

Looking at the exceedingly sleazy grin before her, the long-legged beauty's eye twitched slightly as she blurted out instinctively:

"Sorry, I refuse!"

Class One: "..."

"Yo! Good morning, everyone!"

Zephyr appeared on the training grounds with a harmless smile on his face, but all three hundred cadets instinctively felt a chill run down their backs.

"Now... all of you, run two hundred laps around the training grounds! Anyone who can't finish within an hour gets another hundred laps!"

"..." × n

Though the cadets were cursing Zephyr like mad in their hearts, they obediently took off running at full speed.

After yesterday's theoretical explanation of the Six Powers, quite a few cadets began trying to use Soru to accelerate while running...

As a result, the scene was somewhat chaotic. People often failed to stop in time and crashed into one another...

However, the medical team was standing by nearby. Whenever someone was injured or could no longer keep going, they would be taken away for treatment.

That made Sephiroth wonder whether this long-distance endurance training was also intended to build resistance to beatings and assist with training Iron Body.

After the long run, they were given an hour to eat breakfast and rest.

Then...

"Two thousand push-ups!"

"Climb the single rope back and forth one hundred times!"

"One hundred laps of frog jumps!"

In short, that old bastard Zephyr wasn't treating the three hundred cadets like human beings at all. The overloaded training constantly squeezed every last bit of potential from their bodies.

During this time, Zephyr kept shouting that anyone who didn't want to continue could choose to quit, pack their bags, and get lost. He guaranteed he wouldn't stop them.

Most of the cadets chose not to quit, even when they trained until they passed out and had to be carried away by the medical team.

After all, as long as they endured this year, they would be set for life and rise rapidly through the ranks of the Marines.

But there were always people who couldn't grit their teeth and endure!

"Instructor Zephyr, I protest! Your training methods are too cruel and completely unreasonable!"

A two-meter-tall burly man collapsed to the ground with a thud. The prolonged frog jumps had left his legs weak and trembling slightly.

His voice was dry and hoarse as he spoke, but he still did his best to voice what was in his heart.

"A protest?... Cruel?... Unreasonable?"

Hearing that, Zephyr strolled toward the burly man without haste. Lowering his head, he looked down at him.

"A frog in a well. Do you know how many monsters there are among the pirates of the New World?

Some of them possess all kinds of unimaginable Devil Fruit powers. Slaughtering cities and destroying nations would be nothing to them.

Some are born destroyers, born with Armament Haki. Their strength is so absurdly powerful that guns, cannons, and explosives cannot harm them in the slightest.

Those monsters are inherently unreasonable beings!

If I don't make you train desperately and push beyond human limits, who among you can pat your chest and honestly say that you can defeat those monstrous pirates?"

Zephyr raised his head and swept his sunglasses-covered gaze across the cadets.

"Do you know where this is?

This is Marine Headquarters, the symbol of justice!

The Military Academy you have entered is where the Marines train their super elites. You are the future hope of the Marines!

Do you expect me to coddle you like ancestors, train every one of you into useless trash, and ruin the future of the Marines?

Then who will uphold justice in the future?

A bunch of cowards who can't even persist through training?"

Zephyr's blistering reprimand left the burly man lying on the ground utterly ashamed.

"I was wrong, Instructor Zephyr!"

As he spoke, the burly man gritted his teeth and climbed back to his feet, resuming his unfinished frog jumps.

"I said it already. Anyone who can't endure can leave!

But... you are not allowed to question my training plan!

Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

Hearing the scattered, uneven responses, Zephyr's face showed dissatisfaction as he shouted:

"Louder! I can't hear you!"

At that, all the cadets shouted at the top of their lungs:

"UNDERSTOOD!!!"

No matter how fired up their shouts had been, when training ended at noon, most of them still trudged toward the cafeteria like dead dogs.

"Sephiroth, aren't you tired?"

A somewhat familiar female voice reached his ears.

"Huh?"

Sephiroth was slightly surprised before turning to look at Gion, who had walked up beside him.

"With such a terrifying amount of training, my body is practically falling apart. How could I not be tired?"

"But in my Observation Haki, your breathing hasn't become disordered at all..."

Gion looked Sephiroth up and down, her expression somewhat suspicious.

"..."

Sephiroth tugged at the corner of his mouth, unsure how to explain it.

Was he supposed to tell her that I use my lifespan to rapidly restore my stamina and heal my injuries...?

In the end, he could only casually brush it off.

"I'm a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user."

"I see..."

The long-legged beauty immediately nodded in understanding.

Zoan-type users often possessed extraordinarily powerful recovery abilities and vitality. After awakening their Devil Fruits, no matter how severe their injuries were, as long as they did not die, they could recover completely after some time and soon be bouncing around again.

Therefore, many Physical Prowess experts chose to eat a Zoan-type Devil Fruit in order to break through the limits of their natural talent.

After a brief midday break, the cadets dragged their exhausted bodies into the classroom.

Ring, ring, ring...!

As the class bell rang, Vice Admiral Tsuru entered with a textbook in hand, a white Justice cape draped over her shoulders. She walked to the podium.

After glancing at the listless students below the podium, she spoke in a calm tone.

"Today, I'll be teaching your military theory class.

When you become warship commanders in the future, this course will be extremely useful to you.

If strategy and tactics are employed properly, you may even defeat enemies far stronger than yourselves at sea.

This is a course that requires deep thought and careful study. I hope you will listen attentively..."

Vice Admiral Tsuru's military theory lessons were excellent, explaining profound concepts in simple terms while incorporating many real naval battle examples. Sephiroth even heard her analyze Garp's absurd feat of using Fist Bone Meteor Shower to fight one against twenty in a naval battle and sink the entire enemy pirate fleet.

Of course, Garp was the negative example, though the battle itself was a successful case...

Snore, snore...!

(.-ω-)zzz (∪｡∪)｡｡｡zzz

(--)zzZ...

At some point, aside from Sephiroth, Komei, Hina, and a few other students who were still listening attentively, the rest had fallen asleep in large numbers. Even among those who had not fallen asleep, many had already let their minds wander.

Vice Admiral Tsuru said nothing about it and simply continued teaching the few students who were listening seriously.

Tactics and strategy were not especially valued in this era, where strength reigned supreme and education levels were low. Many people fought wars through sheer reckless courage, charging at the front in one great burst of momentum, believing in crushing everything with absolute strength. Garp was the best example of this...

The original purpose of offering military strategy courses to cadets was merely to give them a general understanding of conventional tactics and strategy, so they would not be completely ignorant of such matters.

When they truly encountered war, the formulation of specific plans would be handed over to specially trained staff officers.