__________ POV Narration__________
Hina didn't quite know what to make of Enel at first. He was certainly strong, stronger than most people in the first half of Grand Line.
But he was also extremely friendly. He was humble and really approachable. Although most of her crew were scared of him due to the massacre he carried out on the pirates.
Hina didn't really judge him for that, they were all criminals that were wanted either dead or alive, to her Enel just did an impressive job, although a bit gruesome.
Her interest in him only grew more and more with each conversation. She could tell that he was not just anybody, that he was certainly an ambitious man.
But his calming smile and welcoming attitude made her feel extremely warm to his presence.
She was a bit unsure of how his meeting with Sengoku was going to end, but she had high hopes for him, she especially hoped that the two of them would end up working together.
The thought of just how many pirates the two of them could catch made her excited.
Hell, Enel alone caught more pirates in a day than the rest of the rear admirals caught in the entire year prior. It was rather embarrassing the more Hina thought about it.
But that was also the reason why most of them were somewhat jealous of Enel.
"So what if he caught a few weaklings?! I bet he poisoned the food supply or something..." One of the Rear Admirals complained in the common room.
Quite a few other Rear Admirals seemed to nod their heads at that.
Hina gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in anger. She wanted to walk up to them and tell them off, but she was lower in the ranking than them, and they were surely going to use that against her.
"I believe you young people should stop looking at others' achievements in that way... Maybe you'd be able to brag about your own achievements if you had any."
A person that had no qualms about offending anyone did speak up in the end... It was none other than Tsuru the Crane. Another legend in the marines, although she wasn't quite as popular as Garp.
The Rear Admirals that were gossiping didn't even dare to look her in the eye as they all stood up and saluted her.
Hina was extremely pleased to watch them scamper about in that manner, Tsuru walked into the middle of the room.
"We have a new recruit amongst your ranks now... I'm sure you all know about it already going by your previous conversations. Sengoku also decided to grant him the role of Rear Admiral..." Tsuru said as she spoke with a tone of authority.
"Miss Tsuru! Do you mean that he is being recruited as a Rear Admiral?!" One of the other vice admirals present in the room asked with a confused tone.
It was rather unprecedented for such a thing to happen. Even the current Admirals started as recruits.
The people in the room failed to account for just how desperate the situation was for the marines currently.
They had resorted to asking for help from actual pirates, and Sengoku wanted to be able to gain enough firepower to completely disband the Warlords.
He hoped that the recruitment of Enel would bring him one step closer to that.
When Hina heard that Enel was going to be of a higher rank than her she became a bit disheartened, but she hoped that she would still be able to work alongside Enel.
The next piece of news was what interested her even more though...
"Indeed... I understand how this may look to some of you. That is the reason why Sengoku has made a test for Enel, our newest recruit. All of you are to come out to the training grounds to witness what your newest companion is capable of."
Tsuru started heading for the training grounds herself after saying her piece, not waiting for any more questions as she was also rather curious about the person Sengoku placed so much importance on.
Even better, something that the rest of the marines were going to find out soon, Enel was fighting Garp.
Hina was one of the first to start heading for the training grounds. A lot of marines were forming a circle, in the middle of it she could see two people.
She easily recognized one of them as Enel, she smiled when seeing him in the distance.
But her smile quickly turned into a frown when seeing who it was that Enel was actually facing.
"The Newcomer is fighting Garp?! Hahahaha! This is amazing, I can't believe we get to see the Marine hero in action, although it's not going to last for too long..." One of the Rear Admirals present said with a smile on his face.
His emotions and thoughts echoed in many of the marines present. They were all excited to see Garp in a fight, but they all knew in their minds that the fight was bound to be a short one.
Hina wasn't quite as excited, she simply clutched her chest as a bit of worry crept into her mind. She gritted her teeth as she hoped for the best.
She knew that Enel was strong, but she didn't have any delusions about him being able to fight Garp either.
That's why she could only pray that he wasn't going to get injured too badly, at least that he would stay healthy enough so that their future missions together wouldn't get affected.
The fight started as soon as all of the higher-ranking Marines arrived at the scene to witness it. The Admirals weren't present though, all of them likely being away on important missions.
Sengoku was also there, he watched with expectation in his gaze.
He wasn't dumb, he knew that the state of the marines wasn't a great one.
Their morale was not that high and only got lower with each new pirate that appeared on the high seas.
Sengoku saw the rise of many affluent pirates all over the New World, but the forces of the Marines remained relatively unchanged, all of their power concentrated on the top brass.
He knew that they needed something new, something fresh. Enel's recruitment was his attempt to bolster their rankings. But Enel himself needed to be strong enough for everyone to accept such a change.
That was Sengoku's bet. He betted on Enel to surprise him on this day.
It was sudden, but to him, Enel represented hope. Sengoku hoped that, like Enel, other promising young men would choose to join the Marines instead of going ahead and becoming pirates.
The Marines had done many campaigns and many attempts at motivating young men and women to join their ranks, this was just another one of them, as he planned to publicize Enel's achievements and recruitment for the entire world to see.
The fight started rather slow, with Enel and Garp staring at each other for a bit. Each more serious than the other.
Enel spun his staff in his palm in a slow motion, waiting for Garp's attacks. He had no delusion of winning, but he knew that losing in a pathetic manner was also not an option.
His determination was easily noticed by Garp.
"I like your guts!" Garp said as a sadistic grin formed on his face, he quickly used Soru and appeared right in front of Enel.
The old-timer had decided not to hold back much against Enel after that short exchange of gazes.
"Eyes like that don't belong to someone weak... Don't disappoint me now!" Garp shouted as he brought his fist down onto his younger opponent.
Enel, using his observation haki, was easily able to read and predict this movement. With a backwards step, he managed to dodge the punch.
Garp's fist cracked the entire floor of the training grounds as Enel was sent flying backwards a bit due to the shockwave.
The crowd was reeling with both shock and panic. No one had expected Garp to take things this far. Neither did Sengoku or Tsuru.
But what they expected even less was for Enel to be completely unscathed. The shockwaves sent him a few meters away, but he landed on the ground gracefully and without any issue.
His gaze also seemed completely unaffected, his demeanour changed though, as he realised that simply waiting for Garp to attack wasn't a viable strategy.
Garp quickly noticed Enel's intention, the two of them dashed at each other in a mad frenzy, each less controlled than the other.
Garp's fists swung around everywhere at wild speeds, creating shockwaves and shocking all of the marines watching.
But the even more shocking part was how Enel moved. His staff managed to either bat away or deflect all of Garp's blows. The two of them couldn't seem to land a blow on each other.
Sengoku quickly noticed the problem... Garp had an overwhelming advantage when it came to strength, but he was slightly outmatched in speed.
The two of them clearly specialised in different fighting styles, so the situation evened itself out due to that, and Sengoku quickly realised that making Enel a Rear Admiral might've been underestimating his capabilities.
Garp's smile was turning wider by the second as he realized that he would surely never be able to win if he kept fighting in the same manner.
He quickly jumped backwards, expecting Enel to not pursue him at all, as he prepared to use the Rokushiki that he had perfect mastery over.
But Enel wasn't quite on the same thought process...
The second Garp took a step back he took advantage of it, a lapse in concentration was all that he needed, and with his superior speed, he seized the opportunity.
His staff twirled towards Garp in a thrusting motion. Garp noticed that it was aimed more towards his arm, so he prepared to just let the thrust slip off as he fled, only tilting slightly to the side...
In that instant, Enel twirled his wrist, and his staff became a trident. Garp's eyes widened as he noticed that change in the last second.
The strike that was going to barely hit him before now turned into sure impalement.
Enel thrust his trident forwards without any hesitation, only to hear the sound of metal hitting more metal, as sparks arose from Garp's blackened torso...
The old man looked at Enel with an almost feral grin...'He forced me to use Armament?! This brat!'
Garp was obviously still going somewhat easy on Enel, he thought that using Armament would simply be unfair for the youngster.
But he had actually been forced to use it, he knew that a thrust at that speed wouldn't have been blocked by Tekkai.
So a junior actually forced his hand and made him use one of his strongest trump cards... Armament Haki.
Enel's smile also emerged as he realised that he had finally managed to do what he had wanted to from the beginning... Witness a top power of the world using their Armament Haki in person.
In truth, Enel was also not using his top speed, not even close to that. He was only using enough to be justifiable by something other than his Devil Fruit.
He was currently not a teenager, he was in his physical prime, so Sengoku wouldn't get too suspicious when seeing that he was more specialized in speed than anything.
He could also use the excuse that he was simply manipulating his staff to go at greater speeds, letting his body be controlled by the weapon in a sense.
"You're really something huh?! We're getting serious now!" Garp shouted, his smile not faltering for one moment, Enel had managed to awaken an excitement in him that not even the Admirals could.
The young man he was sparring with had managed to exceed his every expectation.
Garp's entire body turned black as he coated it in a thick layer of Armament Haki. It was at that moment that Enel realised that the fight was lost.
He had absolutely no way to harm Garp, the old man's attacks were also going to be a lot stronger now that they were infused with Haki...
Enel was still prepared to give it his all though, he wasn't one to give up so easily after all. He turned his trident back into a staff as he prepared for the upcoming exchange.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" That was the moment Sengoku chose to call the fight.
__________________________________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter!
Yea, I hope no one actually expected Enel to somehow win this :)))
The only reason he could even keep up was due to the speed his df provides him, the second Garp started actually taking things seriously the fight was done.
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)
__________ POV Narration__________
Hina didn't quite know what to make of Enel at first. He was certainly strong, stronger than most people in the first half of Grand Line.
But he was also extremely friendly. He was humble and really approachable. Although most of her crew were scared of him due to the massacre he carried out on the pirates.
Hina didn't really judge him for that, they were all criminals that were wanted either dead or alive, to her Enel just did an impressive job, although a bit gruesome.
Her interest in him only grew more and more with each conversation. She could tell that he was not just anybody, that he was certainly an ambitious man.
But his calming smile and welcoming attitude made her feel extremely warm to his presence.
She was a bit unsure of how his meeting with Sengoku was going to end, but she had high hopes for him, she especially hoped that the two of them would end up working together.
The thought of just how many pirates the two of them could catch made her excited.
Hell, Enel alone caught more pirates in a day than the rest of the rear admirals caught in the entire year prior. It was rather embarrassing the more Hina thought about it.
But that was also the reason why most of them were somewhat jealous of Enel.
"So what if he caught a few weaklings?! I bet he poisoned the food supply or something..." One of the Rear Admirals complained in the common room.
Quite a few other Rear Admirals seemed to nod their heads at that.
Hina gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in anger. She wanted to walk up to them and tell them off, but she was lower in the ranking than them, and they were surely going to use that against her.
"I believe you young people should stop looking at others' achievements in that way... Maybe you'd be able to brag about your own achievements if you had any."
A person that had no qualms about offending anyone did speak up in the end... It was none other than Tsuru the Crane. Another legend in the marines, although she wasn't quite as popular as Garp.
The Rear Admirals that were gossiping didn't even dare to look her in the eye as they all stood up and saluted her.
Hina was extremely pleased to watch them scamper about in that manner, Tsuru walked into the middle of the room.
"We have a new recruit amongst your ranks now... I'm sure you all know about it already going by your previous conversations. Sengoku also decided to grant him the role of Rear Admiral..." Tsuru said as she spoke with a tone of authority.
"Miss Tsuru! Do you mean that he is being recruited as a Rear Admiral?!" One of the other vice admirals present in the room asked with a confused tone.
It was rather unprecedented for such a thing to happen. Even the current Admirals started as recruits.
The people in the room failed to account for just how desperate the situation was for the marines currently.
They had resorted to asking for help from actual pirates, and Sengoku wanted to be able to gain enough firepower to completely disband the Warlords.
He hoped that the recruitment of Enel would bring him one step closer to that.
When Hina heard that Enel was going to be of a higher rank than her she became a bit disheartened, but she hoped that she would still be able to work alongside Enel.
The next piece of news was what interested her even more though...
"Indeed... I understand how this may look to some of you. That is the reason why Sengoku has made a test for Enel, our newest recruit. All of you are to come out to the training grounds to witness what your newest companion is capable of."
Tsuru started heading for the training grounds herself after saying her piece, not waiting for any more questions as she was also rather curious about the person Sengoku placed so much importance on.
Even better, something that the rest of the marines were going to find out soon, Enel was fighting Garp.
Hina was one of the first to start heading for the training grounds. A lot of marines were forming a circle, in the middle of it she could see two people.
She easily recognized one of them as Enel, she smiled when seeing him in the distance.
But her smile quickly turned into a frown when seeing who it was that Enel was actually facing.
"The Newcomer is fighting Garp?! Hahahaha! This is amazing, I can't believe we get to see the Marine hero in action, although it's not going to last for too long..." One of the Rear Admirals present said with a smile on his face.
His emotions and thoughts echoed in many of the marines present. They were all excited to see Garp in a fight, but they all knew in their minds that the fight was bound to be a short one.
Hina wasn't quite as excited, she simply clutched her chest as a bit of worry crept into her mind. She gritted her teeth as she hoped for the best.
She knew that Enel was strong, but she didn't have any delusions about him being able to fight Garp either.
That's why she could only pray that he wasn't going to get injured too badly, at least that he would stay healthy enough so that their future missions together wouldn't get affected.
The fight started as soon as all of the higher-ranking Marines arrived at the scene to witness it. The Admirals weren't present though, all of them likely being away on important missions.
Sengoku was also there, he watched with expectation in his gaze.
He wasn't dumb, he knew that the state of the marines wasn't a great one.
Their morale was not that high and only got lower with each new pirate that appeared on the high seas.
Sengoku saw the rise of many affluent pirates all over the New World, but the forces of the Marines remained relatively unchanged, all of their power concentrated on the top brass.
He knew that they needed something new, something fresh. Enel's recruitment was his attempt to bolster their rankings. But Enel himself needed to be strong enough for everyone to accept such a change.
That was Sengoku's bet. He betted on Enel to surprise him on this day.
It was sudden, but to him, Enel represented hope. Sengoku hoped that, like Enel, other promising young men would choose to join the Marines instead of going ahead and becoming pirates.
The Marines had done many campaigns and many attempts at motivating young men and women to join their ranks, this was just another one of them, as he planned to publicize Enel's achievements and recruitment for the entire world to see.
The fight started rather slow, with Enel and Garp staring at each other for a bit. Each more serious than the other.
Enel spun his staff in his palm in a slow motion, waiting for Garp's attacks. He had no delusion of winning, but he knew that losing in a pathetic manner was also not an option.
His determination was easily noticed by Garp.
"I like your guts!" Garp said as a sadistic grin formed on his face, he quickly used Soru and appeared right in front of Enel.
The old-timer had decided not to hold back much against Enel after that short exchange of gazes.
"Eyes like that don't belong to someone weak... Don't disappoint me now!" Garp shouted as he brought his fist down onto his younger opponent.
Enel, using his observation haki, was easily able to read and predict this movement. With a backwards step, he managed to dodge the punch.
Garp's fist cracked the entire floor of the training grounds as Enel was sent flying backwards a bit due to the shockwave.
The crowd was reeling with both shock and panic. No one had expected Garp to take things this far. Neither did Sengoku or Tsuru.
But what they expected even less was for Enel to be completely unscathed. The shockwaves sent him a few meters away, but he landed on the ground gracefully and without any issue.
His gaze also seemed completely unaffected, his demeanour changed though, as he realised that simply waiting for Garp to attack wasn't a viable strategy.
Garp quickly noticed Enel's intention, the two of them dashed at each other in a mad frenzy, each less controlled than the other.
Garp's fists swung around everywhere at wild speeds, creating shockwaves and shocking all of the marines watching.
But the even more shocking part was how Enel moved. His staff managed to either bat away or deflect all of Garp's blows. The two of them couldn't seem to land a blow on each other.
Sengoku quickly noticed the problem... Garp had an overwhelming advantage when it came to strength, but he was slightly outmatched in speed.
The two of them clearly specialised in different fighting styles, so the situation evened itself out due to that, and Sengoku quickly realised that making Enel a Rear Admiral might've been underestimating his capabilities.
Garp's smile was turning wider by the second as he realized that he would surely never be able to win if he kept fighting in the same manner.
He quickly jumped backwards, expecting Enel to not pursue him at all, as he prepared to use the Rokushiki that he had perfect mastery over.
But Enel wasn't quite on the same thought process...
The second Garp took a step back he took advantage of it, a lapse in concentration was all that he needed, and with his superior speed, he seized the opportunity.
His staff twirled towards Garp in a thrusting motion. Garp noticed that it was aimed more towards his arm, so he prepared to just let the thrust slip off as he fled, only tilting slightly to the side...
In that instant, Enel twirled his wrist, and his staff became a trident. Garp's eyes widened as he noticed that change in the last second.
The strike that was going to barely hit him before now turned into sure impalement.
Enel thrust his trident forwards without any hesitation, only to hear the sound of metal hitting more metal, as sparks arose from Garp's blackened torso...
The old man looked at Enel with an almost feral grin...'He forced me to use Armament?! This brat!'
Garp was obviously still going somewhat easy on Enel, he thought that using Armament would simply be unfair for the youngster.
But he had actually been forced to use it, he knew that a thrust at that speed wouldn't have been blocked by Tekkai.
So a junior actually forced his hand and made him use one of his strongest trump cards... Armament Haki.
Enel's smile also emerged as he realised that he had finally managed to do what he had wanted to from the beginning... Witness a top power of the world using their Armament Haki in person.
In truth, Enel was also not using his top speed, not even close to that. He was only using enough to be justifiable by something other than his Devil Fruit.
He was currently not a teenager, he was in his physical prime, so Sengoku wouldn't get too suspicious when seeing that he was more specialized in speed than anything.
He could also use the excuse that he was simply manipulating his staff to go at greater speeds, letting his body be controlled by the weapon in a sense.
"You're really something huh?! We're getting serious now!" Garp shouted, his smile not faltering for one moment, Enel had managed to awaken an excitement in him that not even the Admirals could.
The young man he was sparring with had managed to exceed his every expectation.
Garp's entire body turned black as he coated it in a thick layer of Armament Haki. It was at that moment that Enel realised that the fight was lost.
He had absolutely no way to harm Garp, the old man's attacks were also going to be a lot stronger now that they were infused with Haki...
Enel was still prepared to give it his all though, he wasn't one to give up so easily after all. He turned his trident back into a staff as he prepared for the upcoming exchange.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" That was the moment Sengoku chose to call the fight.
__________________________________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter!
Yea, I hope no one actually expected Enel to somehow win this :)))
The only reason he could even keep up was due to the speed his df provides him, the second Garp started actually taking things seriously the fight was done.
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)
