The next day.
Marine Headquarters Hospital.
Lying in his hospital bed, Lucci found himself questioning his very existence.
It wasn't because he had lost to Sean—he wasn't the type of person who couldn't handle a defeat. However...
Half an hour ago, the moment he woke up, he saw Fleet Admiral Sengoku sitting beside him with a beaming smile. The man had simply said:
"Lucci, starting today, you are a member of the Marines. Here are your transfer orders!"
"As for your rank... hmm, let's start you as a Captain. You don't have any military merits to your name yet, but with your strength, I'm sure you'll reach Commodore, Rear Admiral, or even Vice Admiral in no time!"
Sengoku didn't even give Lucci a chance to ask any questions. Once he finished speaking, he vanished in a flash.
Lucci was left completely bewildered.
He adhered to the philosophy of Dark Justice, and yet, he was being forced to step into the light?
This was utterly ridiculous.
'''
Mary Geoise.
The Chamber of Power.
"You're saying Rob Lucci of CP9 has been transferred to the Marines?"
"Yes!"
A man wearing a white suit and a mask nodded. He was the second-in-command of CP0, and Rob Lucci was one of the reserve members he had personally selected. If all had gone according to plan, Lucci would have been transferred into CP0 service once he hit his thirties and his strength met the required standards.
Instead, first thing this morning, his subordinates informed him that Lucci had been transferred to the Marines.
What on earth was going on?
Consequently, he had rushed to meet with the Five Elders.
"And the reason?"
"According to reports from Marine Headquarters, it seems Sengoku caught Spandine in some clandestine misconduct. He used the removal of three Marine Vice Admirals as a trade for Lucci, and Spandine was forced to agree."
"Three Vice Admirals... Does Sengoku value Rob Lucci that highly?"
The Five Elders were momentarily surprised. Trading three Vice Admirals for Lucci was an incredibly bold move.
"Uh... according to my investigation, those three Vice Admirals were all in league with Spandine, using their positions within the Marines to amass wealth for him."
The Five Elders immediately understood.
No wonder. They had wondered why Sengoku would be so generous; even if Lucci was talented, he wasn't worth three Vice Admirals. But this changed everything.
Sengoku had managed to purge the parasites from the upper ranks of the Marines while simultaneously poaching Lucci from CP9.
He had played a masterstroke.
"What do you think? Should we veto this transfer order?"
"No, there's no need to veto it. Let Lucci enter the Marines."
"But is that wise?"
"You need to look at this from a different perspective. Currently, the Marines are suffering from a severe shortage of capable successors. Once the current three Admirals retire, there will be no one to fill those positions. As for Lucci..."
"Indeed. While Lucci still has a long way to go, it is reasonable to expect him to reach the strength of an Admiral within ten years. Furthermore, his loyalty to the World Government is unquestionable."
"Exactly. If we let Lucci enter the Marines and eventually rise to become an Admiral or even the Fleet Admiral, the Marines will become much more compliant."
"Agreed."
The Five Elders quickly reached a consensus. They would use the Marines' generational gap to allow Lucci to enter and gradually climb to a position of high authority.
However, the man from CP0 was left stunned.
He had come here to ask them to stop the transfer, but instead...
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have come to them; he would have gone straight to Marine Headquarters to negotiate with Sengoku. Now that the decision was finalized, how could he possibly negotiate?
He felt like slapping himself in the face.
'''
One month later.
Elite Training Camp.
Two figures blurred across the field, the air filled with the constant clashing of blades.
This scene had long since become commonplace for the instructors and students of the camp.
Half a month ago, Gion had returned to Headquarters after completing a secret mission, and since then, she had been teaching Sean the way of the sword every single day.
However, after two weeks of instruction, Gion was feeling quite exasperated.
By all accounts, Sean's swordsmanship far exceeded the level of an ordinary swordsman. Cutting through steel was a trivial matter for him. In terms of actual combat ability, he was already stronger than many renowned swordsmen.
And yet...
The boy simply could not produce a Flying Slash. Gion had no idea where the problem lay. For the past few days, she had done nothing but spar with him repeatedly, hoping that he would naturally awaken the ability during combat.
"I've told you already! Condense your Sword Energy into a single point, then release it instantly the moment you swing!" Gion shouted, forcing Sean back seven or eight meters with a single strike.
Sean pursed his lips.
'Sword Energy... but what if I don't have any?'
After all, the way of the sword for a Shinigami relied on technique paired with Reiatsu, not "Sword Energy." He had tried repeatedly over the last few days, but he couldn't produce a single shred of Sword Energy.
'Could it be that I'm truly like the Shinigami, limited only to close-quarters combat?'
Sean began to doubt his own nature.
Wait...
Suddenly, Sean remembered that Shinigami weren't limited entirely to melee. Certain Zanpakutō, after achieving Shikai or Bankai, could perform long-range attacks similar to the Flying Slashes of this world.
For example, Ichigo Kurosaki's Zangetsu could fire a Getsuga Tenshō in Shikai, or a Black Getsuga Tenshō in Bankai.
The only difference was that they used Reiatsu instead of Sword Energy.
'So, if I use Reiatsu, I can substitute it for Sword Energy to create a long-range slash?'
'Right. I just need to compress the Reiatsu to its limit, gather that ultra-high-density Reiatsu on the blade, and then...'
As he thought this, Sean unconsciously raised Hekireki. A high-density, azure-blue Reiatsu began to coalesce at the tip of the blade.
"Slash!!!"
The moment Hekireki swung down, a crescent-shaped, azure-blue slash erupted.
The terrifying power of the attack made Gion's heart tremble. She immediately dodged, having no intention of attempting to block such a blow.
'BOOM!'
In that instant, every other student in the training camp stopped what they were doing, staring blankly at Sean and Gion.
A chasm several meters deep had been carved into the ground. Most shockingly, this trench extended for over a thousand meters, stretching all the way to an equipment room at the edge of the training grounds.
The equipment room had been sliced clean in half and was currently collapsing.
"Sean, what the hell are you doing?!"
In a blur, Zephyr appeared beside Sean.
He had been intending to head to the field to see if there had been any progress in Sean and Gion's sparring. However, the moment he reached the edge of the field, a terrifying blade of energy had nearly cleaved him in two.
Fortunately, Zephyr's reactions were fast enough for him to dodge. But when he looked back, he saw the camp's equipment room split in half and crumbling.
Zephyr was instantly furious.
Who was responsible for this disaster?
The Elite Training Camp was already struggling with a tight budget. Now, not only was the equipment room destroyed, but most of the machinery inside had been completely crushed in the collapse.
The losses were staggering—likely exceeding a hundred million Belly.
Following the massive trench carved into the ground, Zephyr used Soru to race toward the source, only to discover... Sean.
This was outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!
"I... I didn't know it would do that!"
"I just did exactly what Vice Admiral Gion taught me and swung my blade. How was I supposed to know this would happen?"
Sean, who wasn't even sixteen yet, spoke with a look of complete innocence.
To any observer, Sean looked genuinely innocent; it seemed the fault lay entirely with Gion. Zephyr froze for a moment before whipping around to glare at her.
Gion nearly snapped under Zephyr's gaze.
'Pitiful?' she thought. 'Can't you see he's acting?! That little brat is actually trying to pin this on me!'
A vivid image flashed through Gion's mind: Sean, stripped bare and suspended in the air, while she rained down blow after blow with a leather whip...
'''
The commotion was so great that even Sengoku arrived shortly after. After learning exactly what had happened, however, Sengoku didn't blow up as he usually would. Instead, he gazed thoughtfully at the trench, which stretched over a thousand meters.
"Zephyr, submit a report of the losses in a while. I'll approve a special expenditure for the repairs."
With that, Sengoku turned and left, leaving a bewildered Zephyr in his wake.
'Has Sengoku finally lost his mind?' Zephyr wondered. 'I haven't even asked, and he's already offering to foot the bill?'