The next day, in the conference hall at Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
Dozens of Marine officers had gathered there, along with the Three Admirals.
Numerous bounty posters and documents lay on the long table.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the bounty poster on top.
"Treasure Hunter Treasure, a pirate with a bounty of eighty-nine million, recently launched a surprise attack on the Goa Kingdom in the East Blue. After plundering over a hundred million Beli from its treasury, he vanished during the Marines' pursuit."
An adjutant read the report in a grave voice.
The expressions of quite a few Marine officers present shifted slightly.
They instinctively looked toward the Three Admirals at the head of the table.
"What's wrong? Why have you all gone quiet? You couldn't even keep track of a mere treasure hunter, and now an Affiliated Nation has been attacked. Even the Five Elders are putting pressure on me. Are you planning to make this old man chase him down personally before this little mess can be resolved?"
Sengoku spoke in a low voice.
"Everyone out there is treating our Marine Headquarters like a joke."
"If we can't even deal with a treasure hunter, how are we supposed to deal with the Four Emperors of the sea in the future?"
His thunderous words echoed through the conference hall, leaving most of the Marine officers present afraid to breathe too loudly.
Treasure Hunter Treasure was already quite formidable.
He also had Sec P, a Devil Fruit User skilled in disguise, aboard his ship.
Had they been in the New World, things would have been easier; Observation Haki could have been used to pinpoint their whereabouts.
But the East Blue and the first half of the Grand Line were places where both types of Haki were scarce.
Dealing with Treasure really was quite difficult.
As for dispatching the Three Admirals to the East Blue to hunt down a treasure hunter...
Wouldn't that be rather like firing a cannon at a mosquito, an unnecessary move?
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, there's no need to get worked up. Isn't Garp in the East Blue? I contacted him just now. Bogard said he would have Garp get in touch with us soon."
"When the time comes, we can just have him deal with Treasure while he's at it."
Seated to one side, Tsuru spoke up to smooth things over.
"These are the files on the recruits that Zephyr sent over not long ago. You should review them too. I hear quite a few promising seedlings have turned up lately."
"Garp?"
"That bastard Garp again! I wouldn't be so angry if you hadn't mentioned him. He didn't even request leave before running back to the East Blue again, claiming he would find me a successor there. How many years has it been?"
"Every year, he goes back to slack off, and every year, he uses that same rotten excuse. If he doesn't find Treasure and deal with him this time, he can forget about ever setting foot in Marineford again. He can pack his bags and get out!"
Sengoku's face darkened as he spoke in a furious fluster.
At the sight, even Tsuru wore a helpless expression.
Everyone knew Garp liked to slack off.
But after so many years, he could at least have found a better excuse.
It had remained unchanged for decades.
He was treating Sengoku, the master strategist, like an idiot, pinning him to the ground and grinding him into the dirt.
Still, after venting at length, Sengoku calmed down somewhat. He took the documents Tsuru handed him and looked them over.
"Over the years, the pirates in the New World have grown increasingly brazen. In particular, the rise of the fourth Emperor of the sea completely shattered the existing balance."
"If the Five Elders hadn't proposed recruiting pirates to form the Shichibukai to counter them, the New World would probably have run wild long ago."
"Zephyr has trained quite a few recruits during this time, too. He's kept them hidden all along, worried that pirates would target them. Now it seems it's time to let them out to undergo the tempering of blood and fire. Otherwise, given enough time, they'll only become flowers in a greenhouse."
Sengoku set down the personnel files in his hands.
As the Fleet Admiral of this generation of Marines, Sengoku had clearly shouldered the heavy burden of maintaining the Marines' strength.
Compared with the Great Pirate Era of figures like Rocks and Roger...
The Four Emperors held their separate territories, the Shichibukai stood firm, and together with Marine Headquarters, they formed three opposing powers.
Perhaps the terrifying blood and fire of the seas of old were gone.
But so were the newcomers who emerged from a sea of blood.
At the very least, compared with the powerful pirates continually appearing on the seas, the Marines distinctly gave the impression of having grown weaker.
"Rest assured, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Zephyr also intends to have the recruits take part in actual combat. Meanwhile, Marine Headquarters has been directing more resources toward training newcomers."
Tsuru opened the stack of recruit files in her hands.
"According to Zephyr, quite a few promising seedlings have emerged in this class. The recruits will also finish their studies in six months."
"They'll then be assigned to various seas to carry out missions against pirates. As long as they're strong enough, it's only a matter of time before they show their edge."
"Oh, just what I'd expect from Teacher Zephyr. Judging by the thickness of this stack of names, this class of recruits is probably much more outstanding than ours was."
"I hear he's also transferred quite a few promising seedlings from other branches over the years. Let me take a look and see what talented geniuses there are."
Kizaru spoke with his mouth crooked, looking somewhat sleazy.
"Ooh, Akainu, take a look. Devil Fruit abilities seem to account for a large portion of these. That seems a little different from Teacher's insistence on specializing in Taijutsu, doesn't it?"
"The Wheel-Wheel Fruit, the Rust-Rust Fruit, the Berry-Berry Fruit, and even an Ancient Zoan user. Now that's a rare breed. I didn't expect Teacher to have gathered talent like this, too."
"It looks like he's done quite well with this class of recruits!"
"Kizaru, shut your mouth. Nobody will think you're mute if you don't speak. If Zephyr hears you, he'll definitely come looking for trouble with you."
Sengoku shot Kizaru a glare.
The current Three Admirals were all students Zephyr had personally trained.
However, Kizaru and Akainu had always regarded Logia Devil Fruit abilities as the supreme path, completely neglecting Taijutsu training.
As a result, they had gone in the opposite direction from Zephyr's philosophy.
Zephyr had always considered the two of them problem students, and their relationship was not particularly good.
Sensing the atmosphere growing tense again, Tsuru hurriedly spoke up once more to defuse things.
"Sengoku, I've also looked through these recruit lists. Apart from the ability users Kizaru just mentioned, there are actually quite a few others who deserve our attention."
"Among the female soldiers in this class is Tashigi, who has considerable attainment in swordsmanship. There's also T-Bone Penn, the former commander of his kingdom's knight order, who joined Marine Headquarters after pirates destroyed his country."
"There are also two whom Zephyr values highly, hailed as the strongest newcomers of their class: Ain, the Return-Return Fruit user, and Binz, the Shove-Shove Fruit user."
"And Sentomaru, whom the World Government sent to the Marine recruit camp for training, known as a Haki prodigy."
"They're all standouts among the newcomers."