Akainu firmly disagreed with this statement, feeling that Aokiji was simply afraid of death. Coupled with losing to him, that's why he had chosen this extreme approach, preferring to become a pirate rather than return to the Navy.
Sengoku, however, suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Sakazuki, I don't know what kind of mindset Kuzan had when he made that decision, but if he hadn't done that, do you think you would have been able to save your life and return here?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru also said, "What I find strange is why Death God would agree to such an absurd thing. A Navy admiral joining his pirate crew seems ridiculous no matter how you look at it. And he even had to let you go, Sakazuki. Although he obtained Kuzan, is he not worried that this is just Kuzan's delaying tactic?"
Akainu said angrily, "Because he saw that guy was sincerely defecting, that's why he agreed."
Sengoku said, "Impossible. That's not like Death God's personality. When encountering you two seriously injured, according to his personality, he would definitely kill you regardless of everything, rather than choose to negotiate terms with you. The most unbelievable thing is that in the end, he actually agreed to Kuzan, and took Kuzan into the Whitebeard Pirates. Is he just confident, or does he have other preparations?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru said, "In my opinion, there's another possibility, and that is that he feels the Whitebeard Pirates are currently in dire need of combat power, and Kuzan's strength is beyond doubt. He will definitely be able to play a very crucial role in his fight with the Blackbeard Pirates for the position of Yonko. So, even if he knows Kuzan isn't sincerely defecting, he still decided to take in Kuzan."
As soon as these words came out, Sengoku and the others' eyes lit up, because this was indeed possible. Although they were now focusing their energy on rebuilding Navy Headquarters, they had never given up on the situation in the New World. In today's New World, the conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates had already become a hot topic. Akira was very likely just trying to increase the Whitebeard Pirates' strength, which is why he had taken in Kuzan.
"No matter what Death God's purpose is, and no matter what that guy is planning, the fact remains that he defected from the Navy. Then he's a traitor to the Navy, and should have his position as Navy admiral stripped from him," Akainu said loudly.
This time, Sengoku didn't say anything. Indeed, regardless of what Aokiji's true thoughts were, he had now joined the Whitebeard Pirates, becoming a pirate in name and in fact. A pirate naturally couldn't be a Navy admiral anymore. However, if this was the case, the Navy's prestige would be swept away. A Navy admiral defecting to the pirates was shocking and unbelievable just to hear about. More importantly, this would also cause a huge uproar within the Navy.
While everyone was pondering, Vice Admiral Tsuru suddenly spoke, saying, "I think it's best not to publicize this matter for the time being. After all, this is a disgrace to our Navy no matter how you look at it, and this is a crucial moment. We can't let this matter cause everyone to doubt the Navy again."
Akainu said with dissatisfaction, "Why hide it? Since he could do it, we're not afraid to announce it."
Seeing Akainu's appearance, Sengoku said in a deep voice, "Sakazuki, you're about to become the Navy Fleet Admiral. What you need to think about now is for the future of Navy Headquarters, and not just focus on your own thoughts. You need to be responsible for more people. So, you must never act recklessly like you did in the past."
Vice Admiral Tsuru also nodded, saying, "That's right, Sakazuki. If the news of Kuzan leaving the Navy spreads at this time, everyone's first thought might be to spit on Kuzan, but they will definitely also think that you forced him to leave, thereby creating distrust towards you, the Navy Fleet Admiral. So, this matter must be temporarily concealed. You can announce it after you ascend to the position of Navy Fleet Admiral."
The others also began to persuade him one after another, because this was indeed the best way at the moment. Under everyone's persuasion, although Akainu was still very unhappy in his heart, he could only agree to this decision for the sake of the big picture.
And so, a few days later, Akainu's injuries finally recovered, and Navy Headquarters couldn't wait to announce the news of his ascension to the position of Navy Fleet Admiral. As a result, the news of the change of Navy Fleet Admiral spread throughout the world at an extremely fast speed. After all, to the World Government, Navy Headquarters was its most powerful military force. So, the matter of changing Fleet Admiras naturally had to be done in a grand manner.
"The Navy Fleet Admiral has actually changed, and it's that hot-tempered Akainu. Looks like things will get interesting in the future."
In the New World, Red-Haired Shanks, one of the four emperors, quickly received the news. However, his expression gradually became serious, because Akainu was different from Sengoku. Although he wasn't as stable as Sengoku in many aspects, he was much more ruthless than Sengoku when it came to dealing with pirates. So, Akainu's ascension was the worst news for pirates.
Beckman said, "The new Navy Fleet Admiral taking office will inevitably cause a big commotion. I just don't know what that Akainu is planning to do?"
Shanks said, "No matter what he's planning to do, we just need to respond to all changes with constancy. No matter how strong his ability is, he can't possibly control the New World. He doesn't have the qualifications."
The other two four emperors, BIG MOM Charlotte Linlin and Kaido of the Beasts, had also received the news. However, they weren't too worried, because they were located in the New World, and didn't take the Navy seriously. So, to them, whether it was Sengoku or Akainu, whoever was the Fleet Admira was the same.
The other major forces had also slowly received the news of the changes at Navy Headquarters. On the Sabaody Archipelago, in Shakky's Rip-off Bar, Shakky asked Rayleigh with some worry, "Hey, you said that brat Akainu has ascended to the position of Navy Fleet Admiral. Will he carry out a purge of the Sabaody Archipelago? After all, he knows that you're on the Sabaody Archipelago. If he wants to establish his authority, you'd be a good choice."
Although Shakky had never been fond of the Navy, she had to admit the strength of Navy Headquarters. Once they were targeted by Navy Headquarters, it would definitely be a very troublesome thing, especially for a loner like Rayleigh.
Rayleigh took a sip of wine, and laughed, "Don't worry. That brat Akainu doesn't have the time to care about an old guy like me. If I'm not mistaken, his target will definitely be those big pirates in the New World. And even if he wants to find me, it won't be easy to find me. So, rest assured. This possibility is very low."
Shakky immediately revealed a smile, and said, "You've convinced me. You're right. You old guy is already so old. Who would have the time to care about you?"
Rayleigh's expression suddenly became somewhat melancholy, sighing, "What I'm more worried about now is that kid Akira. It's been a long time since we heard from him after he escaped from Marineford. However, it seems that the Whitebeard Pirates, under Marco's leadership, have clashed with the Blackbeard Pirates several times, but have all been at a disadvantage. I don't know how that kid is doing. The Whitebeard Pirates have been forced to this point, but he still hasn't shown his face."
Shakky said, "I think he should be healing his injuries. He suffered very serious injuries in the Summit War. It's been so long now. He should have almost recovered, right? The Blackbeard Pirates are in the limelight now. If he doesn't appear, the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates led by Marco and the others alone are no match for the Blackbeard Pirates at all."
"Hopefully!" Rayleigh sighed, and said.
New World!
After Akira took in Aokiji, he continued to head towards the location where Marco and the others were. However, before they could join up with Marco, something had already happened to Marco and them. To be exact, Marco and them had run into the Blackbeard Pirates again.
Over the past month or so, Marco had led the Whitebeard Pirates to clash with the Blackbeard Pirates several times, but they hadn't seen Blackbeard. Even so, the captains under Blackbeard were making it very difficult for them to cope.
With Blackbeard not even having taken action, the Whitebeard Pirates were at a disadvantage. Although the disadvantage wasn't very big, it was still an extremely humiliating thing for the Whitebeard Pirates, who had dominated the New World for decades. So, they had been thinking about regaining face, and severely strike the Blackbeard Pirates' arrogance.
However, before Marco and them could actively seek out the Blackbeard Pirates, the Blackbeard Pirates had discovered them first, and began to encircle and suppress them.
The war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates wasn't a full-scale battle where everyone gathered together for a decisive battle. Instead, it was the division commanders leading their crew members and pirates to clash with the Blackbeard Pirates' captains separately. So, the scale wasn't too large, but the fighting was very fierce, with countless people on both sides having died.
However, this time, the Whitebeard Pirates had all gathered together, because they had received a message from Akira, saying that he would meet up with them here. That's why everyone had gathered together.
But it was precisely because of this that their actions were discovered by the Blackbeard Pirates. So, Blackbeard led the people of the Blackbeard Pirates to encircle and suppress Marco and the others of the Whitebeard Pirates. The two sides gathered on an island where the Whitebeard Pirates were temporarily stationed. This was also the first time Blackbeard had reappeared before Marco and the others.
"Zehahaha..."
Blackbeard's arrogant laughter rang out. They saw him leading the pirates of the Blackbeard Pirates to stand in opposition to the Whitebeard Pirates led by Marco. The number of people on both sides was very large, with as many as several thousand people.
In order to welcome Akira's return, Marco had gathered all the people of the Whitebeard Pirates on this island. And Blackbeard had also brought all the people of the pirate crew over, preparing to annihilate Marco and the others in one fell swoop.
"It's been a while since we last saw each other, Marco, since Marineford," Blackbeard said to Marco with a loud laugh.
"Teach!"
Marco, however, was looking at Teach with an icy expression. This time, he had brought his people to meet up with Akira, but he hadn't waited for Akira, and had instead welcomed the Blackbeard Pirates. Now that the two sides' forces had gathered together, it was clear that Blackbeard wanted to annihilate them. So, Marco wouldn't have a good face for Blackbeard.
"You hid for more than a month, and finally dared to show yourself, Teach? No, Blackbeard. Pops treated you like his own son, and you, you bastard, actually dared to betray Pops, and even commit the heinous crime of killing Pops. We will never let you go."
Blackbeard laughed loudly and said, "Marco, don't say that. Pops was very good to me, but so what? I also thought about staying on the Moby Dick for the rest of my life, but the heavens weren't willing to let me waste my life like that. So, they opened up a path to the peak for me. Whitebeard blocked my path, so I naturally had to eliminate him. More importantly, he's the most important link for me to reach the peak. Zehahaha. Now that I've finally taken control of his power, I'll inherit his title of the strongest in the world. Zehahaha..."
Hearing Blackbeard's shameless words, the people of the Whitebeard Pirates were all furious, and couldn't help but curse angrily: "Teach, you bastard, I curse you to die without a burial place..."
The Whitebeard Pirates' curses didn't affect Blackbeard at all. He was currently in high spirits. He asked, "However, Marco, why are there only a few of you? Where's that guy Akira? Didn't he clamor that he was going to kill me to avenge Whitebeard? Why hasn't he appeared yet? Could it be that he died from his serious injuries?"
Akira hadn't appeared since the Summit War, so even Blackbeard couldn't figure out what his situation was now. So, he opened his mouth to test him.
Marco snorted coldly. He was now able to control the anger in his heart, because he knew that this kind of anger would only affect his judgment, and wouldn't have any effect on getting revenge.
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