Garp's face darkened. He felt as if his status in Ace's heart had been shaken.
What he didn't know was that his image had already completely crumbled in Ace's mind back when he'd put on that ridiculous performance in front of Marineford's headquarters. There was no "status" left to speak of.
Ace didn't care about Garp's reaction at all. He shot Kaito a look filled with admiration, then turned back to Garp, stuck out his tongue, and said mockingly:
"Stupid old man, who needs your teaching? Pfft~"
"…"
Garp had never felt his fists itch so badly. He was already preparing to let Ace have a taste of his iron fist of love.
But Ace had already anticipated this. The moment he noticed Garp's expression change, he struck first—stretching his neck and biting down on Garp's incoming nose.
"Aaaargh!"
Garp let out a miserable scream. His poor nose had really been through it today—first a gushing nosebleed from his own overexertion, then a direct punch from Sengoku's golden fist, and now this… a savage bite from Ace.
What had his nose ever done to deserve this?
Garp yelped and released Ace, clutching his nose with both hands, groaning in pain.
Ace hit the ground running and dashed straight for Sengoku's office door. Seeing Garp suffer gave him immense satisfaction. If only Luffy had been here to witness this glorious moment!
Garp's face turned a deep shade of liver-colored purple. His nose throbbed so badly that he gave up chasing Ace and bent down to grab something—anything—to throw at the brat.
And wouldn't you know it? His hand landed on something soft. Without even checking what it was, Garp hurled it straight at Ace.
Ace was still making funny faces at him. By the time he realized something was coming, it was already too late—his face met Garp's mystery projectile in an intimate collision.
Smack!
The crisp sound of impact echoed through Sengoku's office, followed closely by Ace's cry of pain. Everyone turned to look—and saw a sandal slide down from Ace's face.
Then they looked at Ace's face… now marked with a large black imprint. It must've come from the grime on the sole, but honestly, the sandal's pattern looked surprisingly symmetrical—it almost resembled a tattoo.
Kaito's mouth twitched. He was reminded of that tattoo on Dragon's face. Of course, the designs weren't the same, and Dragon's tattoo clearly wasn't the result of getting slapped with Garp's sandal—that would be too ridiculous.
But Ace's new "tattoo"? That one had been burned into his face right in front of Kaito's eyes. Who knew if it would ever come off?
Ace clutched the red mark on his face, still unaware that a decorative imprint had been added. All he knew was that it stung like crazy.
Glaring furiously at Garp, he shouted,
"Stupid old man! When I grow up, I'm gonna do the same to you!"
Garp's blood pressure surged the moment he heard that "stupid old man" and the bold declaration that followed. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to dish out a lesson on respect.
But Sengoku had had enough. He grabbed Garp and scolded,
"That's enough! What kind of example are you setting, causing such a ruckus? Behave yourself!"
Then, casting a glance at Garp's tragically abused nose, Sengoku couldn't help but soften his tone.
"Go get that nose looked at in the infirmary. I've already given you the day off."
Garp had been bracing for more yelling. Instead, hearing Sengoku's unexpected kindness left him genuinely touched. He sniffled (which hurt) and groaned softly as he grabbed the extremely reluctant Ace and dragged him out the door.
...
The moment the pair left, Sengoku's office finally quieted down.
He walked over to his desk and brewed three cups of tea. Keeping one for himself, he slid the remaining two toward Kaito and Yamato.
Sengoku took a gentle sip, his face lighting up in satisfaction. Kaito also raised his cup and slowly savored the tea.
Yamato, though, was a unique case. She had no interest in sipping tea gracefully—she downed the whole cup in one go.
The first gulp scalded her tongue, but that didn't faze her. She exhaled a stream of cold air, instantly cooling the tea to a refreshing temperature. Just like that, hot tea became iced tea.
Sengoku noticed this little trick and raised an eyebrow.
So she's a Devil Fruit user too? Interesting… though, with Kaido as her father, it's no surprise her powers are impressive.
Kaito picked up on Sengoku's curiosity and answered the unspoken question, explaining Yamato's fruit ability.
When Sengoku heard she was a Mythical Zoan user, he couldn't hide his joy. That was a huge bonus. A talent like her couldn't be allowed to go to waste.
With that in mind, Sengoku turned to Kaito and asked,
"So, what are your plans for her?"
"I was thinking of having Zephyr-sensei help her strengthen her Haki."
At the side, Yamato's lips curled downward at the idea of being handed off to someone else, but she didn't dare speak up.
Sengoku shook his head.
"Zephyr's busy with something lately. Seems like he's back to training himself again—no time to mentor anyone new."
"In that case, I'll keep her with me."
"Mm. That's for the best."
"Yay!"
Yamato hadn't expected things to swing back in her favor so quickly. Overjoyed to hear she'd be staying by Kaito's side, she scooted her chair closer until she was practically glued to him.
Kaito didn't pay her any mind. He was already thinking about checking in on Zephyr. Based on what Sengoku had said, he suspected Zephyr had eaten the Ushi Ushi no Mi, Model: Ox Demon King. Especially since it sounded like he'd been deep in training lately.
Sengoku didn't try to stop Kaito from leaving. He just casually added,
"Kaito, start getting ready. I'm going to promote you."
"Oh—wait, huh?"
Kaito froze. Promoted? That meant… he was about to become an Admiral?
Sengoku saw his expression and couldn't resist showing a teasing grin.
He'd been meaning to promote Kaito to Admiral for a while now—and now that Kaito had defeated Kaido, it was the perfect opportunity. Honestly, Sengoku was more anxious about the promotion than Kaito himself.
Kaito blinked and asked hesitantly,
"Isn't this a bit… sudden?"
Sengoku waved it off.
"Sudden? You defeated both Golden Lion and Kaido. What more do you want—go fight the rest of the Four Emperors?"
"Uh… actually, after I took down Kaido, I might have taken off one of Shanks' arms too…"
"Haha, seriously? That's so like—NANI?!"
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo