Buster Call

Beep beep beep beep.

The Den Den Mushi in Sengoku's office rang. It was quite a while before he startled awake from his sleep.

"Oh dear, my hearing seems to have gotten worse lately."

His head was now full of white hair, and he no longer possessed the heroic vigor of his younger days.

The last time he had requested to resign, the Five Elders had refused on the grounds that "there was no suitable successor for the position of Admiral."

He thought that was an absurd reason. In the end, it came down to Aokiji and Akainu's personalities. The Marines they had grown under were already a separate institution from the World Government.

Unlike during Sengoku's era, when the Marines had been entirely subordinate to the World Government and had been required to obey the Five Elders' orders unconditionally.

Aokiji and Akainu were different. Their personalities made it entirely possible for them to refuse the Five Elders' orders, preventing the Five Elders from wielding the Marines as easily as an arm.

Sengoku would never have done that.

So they rejected his resignation request again and again.

In a fit of anger, he simply threw down his responsibilities and quit, spending every day fishing with Garp, walking goats, and eating donuts.

Just as the heavens could not go a day without a ruler, the Marines could not go a day without a commander-in-chief.

The Five Elders also realized that Sengoku had made up his mind to leave, so they agreed to approve his resignation after another two years. He had no choice but to accept.

Sengoku picked up the receiver, and a lazy voice came through it. "Hello, hello. Is Fleet Admiral Sengoku there?"

"So it's you, Kuzan!" he said warmly.

He still thought highly of Aokiji, since many of