"Fleet Admiral!!!"
"Sengoku!!"
When Sengoku the Buddha's tall body rolled back, his eyes turned white and foam coming out of his mouth, and he collapsed stiffly backward, the entire Marine Headquarters' highest conference room instantly exploded into chaos.
"Quick! Call the medics!!"
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! The Fleet Admiral, he… he… he… looks like he's not breathing!"
"Vice Admiral Garp! Stop laughing! The Fleet Admiral fainted from anger!!"
Garp finally managed to stop laughing and climbed to his feet. He walked over and poked Sengoku with a finger.
"Hey, Sengoku, playing dead? Heh, oh, he really fainted. How useless. Puhahaha!"
"GARP!!"
Tsuru shouted angrily, stopping Garp from delivering any further "finishing blows."
Meanwhile, one of the main culprits, Akainu, stood in the middle of the molten ruins.
He lowered his head, his chest rising and falling violently, hot magma still dripping from his fist.
The Den Den Mushi that had carried Renzo's "genius proposal" had already been turned into charcoal and scrap parts during that furious strike. The line was completely dead.
But Akainu's anger hadn't diminished. If anything, it had grown stronger because he had lost.
In the field of infuriating people, that lazy man stationed at G-5, across half the Grand Line, had completely defeated him in an instant.
"What a complete mess~."
Kizaru stood up as if none of this concerned him. He dusted off imaginary dirt from his clothes and slowly walked toward the door.
"Borsalino!"
Tsuru called out to him.
"Oh my Vice Admiral Tsuru~."
Kizaru turned around with an innocent look.
"Sengoku-san has fainted, so today's meeting should be over, right~?"
"I should probably go back and… catch up on some sleep~."
"Stop right there."
Tsuru's eyes became razor-sharp. The authority of the Marine's Great Staff Officer erupted completely at that moment.
"No one leaves."
Her voice wasn't loud, but every Vice Admiral present, including Aokiji and Kizaru, instinctively stopped walking.
Tsuru slowly walked to the unconscious Sengoku and checked his breathing. After confirming he had only fainted from rage, she finally relaxed slightly.
She straightened up and looked around the ruined conference room.
The fainted Fleet Admiral.
The laughing hero.
The nearly berserk Akainu.
The slacking Kizaru trying to escape.
The helpless Aokiji.
A group of terrified Vice Admirals.
And… the pile of smoking Den Den Mushi wreckage.
"Heh…"
Tsuru suddenly laughed at herself.
"The Marine's highest combat power… the future of the Marine… reduced to this situation for such ridiculous reasons."
She slowly walked between Akainu and Aokiji. Her aged figure now seemed to carry an even heavier pressure than the two admirals.
"Renzo's proposal was a farce."
Tsuru said calmly.
Akainu's expression relaxed slightly.
"But," Tsuru continued, changing tone while glancing at Akainu, "his twisted reasoning about avoiding overtime… gained Borsalino's support. It even… expressed Kuzan's inner thoughts."
"Sakazuki," Tsuru said, staring directly at him, "do you see it now?"
"In the eyes of your three strongest colleagues… your Absolute Justice is nothing but trouble, overtime, and noise."
"You still haven't earned their recognition."
"I don't need their recognition!!"
Akainu roared, "Justice doesn't compromise!"
"But the Marine does!"
Tsuru didn't back down at all.
"A Fleet Admiral who cannot unite the highest combat power will only lead the Marine to destruction!"
She then turned to Aokiji.
"Kuzan, the same applies to you."
"To Sakazuki, your compassion is nothing more than weakness and indulgence."
"Gentlemen," Tsuru said, her voice like a cold hammer striking everyone's hearts.
"Neither of your forms of justice is perfect."
"Neither of you has the authority to convince everyone."
"So…"
Tsuru slowly raised her hand and delivered a decision as the Great Staff Officer, one that surpassed even Sengoku's will.
"Sakazuki. Kuzan."
"Your duel is approved."
Both Admirals trembled slightly.
"But!"
Tsuru's gaze became extremely stern.
"This is not for the Fleet Admiral's position."
"It is so that you, and the entire Marine, can clearly see the terrible price that your respective forms of justice demand."
"This duel," Tsuru declared with absolute authority, "will take place on a deserted island far from shipping routes, Punk Hazard."
"It will last ten days."
"Regardless of victory or defeat. Regardless of life or death."
"After the duel… both of you will lose the qualification to inherit the position of Fleet Admiral."
"What?!"
"What?!"
This time, Akainu and Aokiji both shouted in shock.
Strip them both of the position?!
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! This is-!"
"I'm saving the Marine!"
Tsuru's presence even overwhelmed the two admirals.
"The Five Elders want a unified Marine, not a divided top command!"
"Your duel will only prove to the world that you… are both unfit!"
"Then who will become Fleet Admiral?!" Akainu roared.
"I have my own arrangement."
Tsuru's gaze slowly shifted toward the man who had been watching the chaos the whole time and trying to sneak away.
Kizaru.
"Bo… Borsalino."
"…What?"
Kizaru's body stiffened. For the first time, a bad expression appeared on his usually unchanged face.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru… you wouldn't be thinking of…"
"That's right."
Tsuru revealed a sly, fox-like smile.
"Since the radical one won't work, and the ambiguous one won't work…"
"Then the lazy one is the most suitable."
"After Sakazuki and Kuzan finish their duel, regardless of the result, both of them will lose eligibility!"
"And you, Borsalino…"
She said each word clearly, "You will be the only candidate for Acting Fleet Admiral."
"PFFT!!!"
Nearby, Garp, who had just recovered, spat again.
"Puhahahaha! Ki-Kizaru as Fleet Admiral?! It's over! The Marines are finished! Puhahaha!"
"I… I object!!"
Kizaru's face collapsed instantly, looking worse than crying.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! This is worse than killing me! Overtime?! Meetings?! I… I refuse!!"
"Objection denied."
Tsuru said coldly.
"That's an order."
She glanced at the pile of Den Den Mushi wreckage and added one final, and devastating, sentence.
"And I will also propose to the Five Elders…"
"That Renzo be appointed as the Chief Advisor and Discipline Inspector of Marine Headquarters."
"From now on, all overtime approvals and vacation policies in the Marine…"
"…will be decided by Renzo."
"!!!"
Kizaru's sunglasses shattered with a crack.
....
Meanwhile, at the G-5 Base
"ACHOO!!"
Renzo suddenly sat up from a lounge chair in the Mermaid Garden, looking annoyed.
"Which bastard… is scheming against me behind my back?"
....
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu