Boom!
Despite his frantic attempt to block the incoming attack, Turi was still sent flying by the sheer force behind Seraphina's strike.
"Vice Admiral?!" Riva stared at Turi as he crashed down nearby, completely bewildered.
Why would their instructor suddenly attack them without warning?
However, Riva's reaction was incredibly fast.
The moment he sensed the danger, his entire body tensed, his feet firmly planted against the ground as he immediately assumed a defensive stance.
"I thought the best kind of training was real combat," Saint Roselith Seraphina said calmly as she adjusted the white gloves covering her hands.
Her expression was composed, but the fighting spirit burning within her was unmistakable.
Seraphina had always possessed an unusual fondness for battle.
Perhaps she herself didn't know when that instinct had begun, but whenever she encountered a powerful opponent, the desire to test herself naturally surfaced.
"Indeed…"
Riva adapted almost instantly.
His massive fist, roughly the size of a sandbag, swung toward Seraphina with tremendous force.
He had decided to attack first.
If he allowed Seraphina to maintain the initiative, he was afraid he might not even get another opportunity to retaliate.
Riva had no intention of holding back.
As Seraphina's former subordinate, he understood better than most just how terrifying the young Vice Admiral truly was.
Her physical strength was already extraordinary, but that was only one part of what made her frightening.
Her swordsmanship, Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and combat instincts made fighting her an entirely different matter from fighting an ordinary Marine officer.
Seraphina chuckled softly.
She liked Riva's straightforward attitude.
At least he wasn't the type to stand around hesitating when faced with an opponent stronger than himself.
In the next instant, their fists collided.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact.
The surrounding dust was blown outward, while the force of their clash sent sharp gusts of wind sweeping across the training ground.
Seraphina, of course, didn't use her full strength against Riva.
Doing so would have completely defeated the purpose of the training.
The difference between their actual combat power was simply too great.
Even while suppressing her strength, Seraphina's movements remained precise and overwhelmingly fast.
Riva's expression became increasingly serious.
He could clearly feel that his opponent was deliberately restraining herself.
Yet even with that restraint, every exchange pushed his body closer to its limit.
"Playing dead isn't part of today's training!"
Seraphina suddenly shifted her gaze toward Turi.
A moment later, her fist connected with Riva and sent him flying directly toward where Turi had landed.
Turi had been lying there motionless ever since Seraphina's first strike had knocked him away.
He had apparently decided that pretending to be unconscious might allow him to avoid further punishment.
Unfortunately for him, Seraphina had noticed everything.
To achieve her training objective, she wasn't about to let Turi escape so easily.
BOOM!
Riva crashed into the ground beside Turi.
Dust erupted into the air.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The continuous explosions caused by the battle were so violent that the surrounding structures of Marineford trembled.
The ground shook repeatedly.
"Is Marineford under attack?!"
"What's happening over there?!"
"Should we go and assist?!"
The trainees on the opposite side of the training grounds immediately became restless after sensing the tremendous disturbance.
Some instinctively reached for their weapons.
Others turned toward the source of the explosions.
"Zeff, should we go and investigate?"
Zeff adjusted his glasses and looked toward the distant cloud of dust.
His expression became somewhat awkward.
"Wait."
"Over there… isn't that the direction Riva and Turi went?"
One of the trainees suddenly recognized the location.
Zeff remained silent for a moment.
Then he calmly turned around.
"Continue training."
"But, Instructor Zephyr…"
"I said continue training."
Zeff's tone became slightly firmer.
There was no need for them to interfere.
He had already informed Fleet Admiral Sengoku about the combat exercise.
Besides, Saint Roselith Seraphina was responsible for supervising the two exceptional trainees.
If anything was damaged, she could deal with the consequences herself.
After all, the Roselith family possessed more than enough resources to repair a few damaged Marine facilities.
…
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.
"Sengoku, don't you think this has gone a little too far?"
Tsuru stared through the window at the enormous cloud of dust rising from the Marineford training grounds.
She had been informed that Zephyr and Seraphina intended to conduct a special combat exercise.
But this didn't look like a training exercise.
It looked as though someone was attempting to demolish Marineford.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Sengoku barely raised his head.
"If anything gets damaged, we can simply have Seraphina cover the repair costs."
He continued writing reports at his desk as though the violent explosions outside were completely unrelated to him.
Tsuru stared at him.
"Are you really that unconcerned?"
"Those training grounds were reinforced specifically because of the trainees."
"They're already showing cracks."
Sengoku glanced toward the window.
"Zephyr knows what he's doing."
"And Seraphina knows her own strength."
"As long as she doesn't destroy the entire headquarters, we'll leave them alone."
Tsuru sighed.
"That's exactly what worries me."
…
On the training grounds.
"Are you two even capable of fighting?"
Saint Roselith Seraphina's eyes gradually brightened as the battle continued.
The longer she fought, the more enjoyable she found the exchange.
Her movements became increasingly fluid.
She wasn't simply attacking.
She was observing.
She was analyzing their reactions, identifying their habits, and searching for the limits of their bodies.
"Instructor Hakutaku!"
"Shouldn't you be hitting that guy a few more times?!"
"Why are all your attacks aimed at me?!"
Turi finally couldn't hold back his complaint.
Although he was considerably stronger than Riva in raw physical ability, he was now the one suffering the most.
Seraphina's attacks seemed to be constantly finding him.
She wasn't simply overpowering him.
She was deliberately controlling the intensity of the battle so that he remained conscious enough to continue fighting.
Turi gritted his teeth.
He had finally understood what was happening.
Seraphina was holding back considerably against Riva.
But against him…
She was barely holding back at all.
Her physical strength was already extremely high for a Vice Admiral, and when combined with her mastery of Armament Haki, her attacks became extraordinarily difficult to withstand.
Turi's arms were beginning to ache.
His breathing had become heavier.
Yet Seraphina still showed no intention of stopping.
"Oh?"
Seraphina tilted her head slightly.
"You still have enough energy to complain?"
"That means my training is still too easy."
Turi's expression froze.
"Wait…"
He had only intended to protest.
Before he could finish speaking, Seraphina's white-gloved fist was already directly in front of him.
BOOM!
Turi hurriedly raised his arms to defend himself.
The impact sent him sliding backward across the ground.
"Mr. Turi!"
Riva watched the exchange from nearby.
His expression gradually became strange.
He had served under Seraphina for a long time.
Because of that, he knew her temperament better than most people.
Something about her behavior felt unusual.
"Mr. Turi…"
Riva narrowed his eyes.
"Don't you think Vice Admiral Hakutaku is acting strangely?"
Turi wiped the dust from the corner of his mouth.
"What do you mean?"
Riva hesitated.
"I can't quite explain it."
"But her fighting style feels different."
"Different?"
"Yes."
Riva stared at Seraphina.
"It's almost as if she's enjoying herself more than usual."
Before Turi could respond, another voice suddenly interrupted the battle.
"Excuse me."
"Could the two of you pause for a moment and allow me to say something?"
A Marine wearing a white coat and a justice-marked cloak approached the training grounds.
The newcomer was a tall man with a thick brown beard covering his chin.
A cigar rested between his fingers.
His eyes were calm as he looked toward the three Marines before him.
Seraphina immediately recognized his rank.
"Vice Admiral Hound?"
The Marine was none other than Vice Admiral Hound, a veteran officer of Marine Headquarters.
Seraphina had never personally fought him before, but she had heard his name from Garp and several other senior officers.
Her memory was exceptionally sharp.
Once she had seen the appearance and rank of a high-ranking Marine officer, she could usually remember them without difficulty.
Vice Admiral Hound glanced at the petite white-haired woman standing before him.
Her Marine uniform was immaculate.
Her posture was relaxed.
Yet the pressure surrounding her was unmistakable.
He immediately connected her appearance with the famous Marine officer whose reputation had spread through the Grand Line.
"Could you be Vice Admiral Hakutaku?"
Vice Admiral Hound wasn't an ordinary officer.
As a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, he had naturally heard about the young Marine who had become famous after her clashes with powerful pirates.
"Vice Admiral Hound, I've heard that your combat ability is among the strongest within the Marines."
Seraphina's eyes suddenly lit up.
"How about having a spar with me?"
"…" Hound stared at her.
He had come here to mediate.
How had the situation suddenly turned into another invitation to fight?
"Wait a moment."
"I only came here to ask you to stop destroying the training grounds."
"I have no intention of sparring."
Hound understood the difference between their strengths.
He had no desire to test whether the rumors about Saint Roselith Seraphina were true.
Unfortunately, Seraphina had already become interested.
"That's settled, then."
"Wait, that's not what I said…"
Seraphina didn't give him another opportunity to object.
She stepped forward.
BOOM!
Her fist shot toward him.
Hound's expression changed.
He immediately raised his arms to block.
CLANG!
The impact produced a thunderous sound.
His feet were dragged backward across the ground.
"What tremendous strength!"
Hound's eyes narrowed.
He had expected Seraphina to be powerful.
He hadn't expected her physical strength to be this overwhelming.
"Hey! Hey!"
Hound struggled to stabilize himself.
Seraphina continued pressing forward.
She still hadn't drawn the swords at her waist.
She wasn't using any Devil Fruit ability.
She wasn't even releasing her full Haki.
Yet her physical strength alone was enough to force a veteran Vice Admiral backward.
"Vice Admiral Hakutaku…"
Riva stared at the battle.
After serving beneath Seraphina for so long, he finally noticed something that had been bothering him from the beginning.
There was something different about her.
Not her appearance.
Not her strength.
Not even her fighting ability.
It was her temperament.
The woman fighting before him possessed the same overwhelming power he remembered.
But her attitude toward battle felt subtly different.
Riva's expression gradually became serious.
"It feels as if…"
"The Saint Roselith Seraphina standing before us isn't quite the same person I remember."
✦ [SYSTEM] ✦
[Observation Detected.]
[The host has noticed an abnormal change in Saint Roselith Seraphina's combat behavior.]
[Current status: Unknown.]
[Recommendation: Continue observing.]
Riva's pupils contracted.
"What exactly happened to Vice Admiral Hakutaku?"
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