"I've said it before, my sword isn't meant to be used against the Marines."
Rosen frowned slightly.
His Observation Haki allows him to sense Sakazuki's thoughts and emotions.
The ruthless and cold-blooded Admiral Akainu was willing to face him with swords drawn, for one purpose only.
The concern was that he was no match for the Four Emperors, not because of the responsibilities of an admiral or the Marines' stance.
Knowing everything made Rosen even less willing to fight Sakazuki.
Just as he wouldn't point the knife at Borsalino, he had no reason to point it at another senior who also cared for him like a junior.
"Rosen."
"Teacher Zephyr taught you how to be a Marine Admiral."
"Mr. Sengoku taught me how to be a Marine admiral."
"Now, I, as your senior, will teach you the third thing."
Sakazuki walked around the desk and stood in front of Rosen:
"In this cruel world of pirates, even just wanting to uphold one's own sense of justice is an incredibly luxurious thing."
"If you don't want anyone to hinder your sense of justice and want to uphold it throughout your life, then you must be prepared to confront anyone with swords at any time."
"Whether it's teachers, relatives, friends, or colleagues, of course it also includes my seniors Borsalino and me."
"When you find that one or even all of us here are hindering your pursuit of justice, do not hesitate to point your knife at us. This is your respect for and commitment to justice."
After saying that.
Sakazuki took a Den Den Mushi out of his pocket and dialed the number as if no one else was around.
Brubru
snap
"That's truly rare, Sakazuki."
"Don't you usually exercise around this time?"
"I'm really flattered that they would call me today."
As soon as the call connected, the Den Den Mushi immediately simulated Borsalino's somewhat rough-looking face.
"Stop getting involved with Vegapunk and come over here right now."
"Borsalino."
Sakazuki, holding the Den Den Mushi, spoke in an extremely serious tone.
Is it that urgent?
"Could it be that one of the Four Emperors has mobilized all his forces to attack G-1 Branch?"
Borsalino recognized Sakazuki's tone and dropped his teasing.
"If it were one of the Four Emperors attacking G-1 Branch, that would be great. That way, I could legitimately team up with your junior and see if we could take down one of the Four Emperors ahead of time."
Sakazuki's voice rarely revealed a hint of helplessness.
"Junior?"
Where did Rosen go?
"Wait, you guys didn't start fighting, did you?"
Borsalino, who was lying in a chair sunbathing in Egghead, suddenly changed his expression and got up immediately.
With two monsters aiming to become Fleet Admirals clashing, and given Sakazuki's personality, he had reason to suspect that G-1 Branch had become a battlefield.
Unlike watching Kuzan and Sakazuki compete for the position of Admiral.
Now, on one side is a fellow villager and classmate, and on the other is a junior whom even he admires wholeheartedly.
He really didn't want to see the two of them turn against each other, even though he knew that day would come sooner or later.
"He and I didn't fight, but he said he was going to fight the Four Emperors by himself."
"You'd better come over and try to persuade him."
"Going to war with the Four Emperors is no child's play. If anything goes wrong, his resume as a Marine will be ruined."
Sakazuki told Borsalino what had just happened.
"Ochoku!"
"Buckingham!"
"Whitebeard!"
Borsalino's eyes turned cold, his heart filled with shock.
He never expected that the murder of the Zephyr family would involve two of the Four Emperors at once.
"Junior."
"Give me some face and don't rush to fight Sakazuki."
"We'll talk about it when we get here."
The thought of Rosen going to war with the Four Emperors and possibly fighting Sakazuki at any moment made Borsalino not think twice. He shouted to Rosen through Den Den Mushi, then boarded a ship and used the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit to soar into the sky, flying non-stop to G-1 Branch.
"They say I'm rare."
"It's truly rare to see someone as slow and deliberate as you acting so urgently."
"Rosen, it seems Borsalino really cares about you."
Sakazuki hung up the phone and shook his head.
He had known Borsalino for over thirty years, but this was the first time he had ever seen Borsalino so eager.
"I would say he cares about you a lot, senior."
Rosen corrected Sakazuki's statement.
"Now that you mention it, I suddenly regret calling him."
"I originally planned to have him come to keep watch, since if you and I were to fight, the G-1 Branch would have to be guarded by other generals."
"But now, it would be too much of a torment for Borsalino to watch me fight you."
Upon hearing this, Sakazuki realized that his actions had been somewhat ill-considered.
At the very least, he hadn't considered Borsalino's feelings at all.
Thinking about this, he seemed to understand something.
"Perhaps that's why Borsalino chose you instead of me."
"For the sake of justice, I can point a knife at anyone at any time, but you won't do that; you'll only think of other ways to solve the problem."
"Perhaps my heart is really too small, so small that after accommodating 'complete justice,' it can no longer accommodate anything else."
Sakazuki glanced at Rosen and suddenly said with a self-deprecating laugh.
"The justice you chose is too great, so great that it can only contain justice."
"so."
"Only you, senior, can be so devoted to justice that you have nothing else to offer."
Rosen paused for a moment, then spoke.
Is there nothing else besides justice?
"Ha ha ha ha."
"I never expected that the person in the Marine Headquarters who understands me, Sakazuki, the most is not Borsalino, whom I've known since childhood, but you, whom I've only met once."
Sakazuki paused for a moment after hearing this, then burst into laughter for the first time ever.
yes!
This sentence perfectly encapsulates his life.
This moment.
The two, who had already positioned their sword hilts facing each other, couldn't see the slightest bit of hostility between them. Instead, they were like friends who had just met and understood each other, even like kindred spirits, opening their hearts to each other and talking about everything.
As Rosen and Sakazuki chatted idly, time quietly slipped by.
Click
After an unknown amount of time, the tightly closed office door was suddenly pushed open.
Borsalino, who is usually calm and collected, has lost his usual composure and instead appears anxious and impatient.
However.
When he pushed open the door, he found that the tense atmosphere and the scene of swords clashing that he had imagined did not appear.
Instead, they saw Rosen and Sakazuki having a pleasant conversation.
What Borsalino found even more unbelievable was that he actually saw Sakazuki's perpetually icy face smiling like an iron tree in bloom.
"Damn it."
"Does Sakazuki laugh?"
"I thought this guy didn't have this function!"
Borsalino couldn't help but take off his glasses, wipe his eyes and lenses, and then put them back on.
Enough!
It's not an illusion.
Viewed by the Marines and even the world as a synonym for iron-bloodedness and ruthlessness, they seem to be monsters born to uphold "complete justice".
He was actually chatting and laughing with his biggest competitor.
"You've arrived."
Sakazuki glanced at Borsalino, who was making a face like he'd seen a ghost, and his smile vanished instantly.
"Junior, is it really necessary to take action?"
"You, me, Mr. Sengoku, plus Sakazuki, and oh yes, Mr. Garp too."
"Even the Five Elders would have to consider the consequences of refusing our opinion."
Borsalino ignored Sakazuki and strode up to Rosen, speaking to him without even taking a sip of tea.
"If the headquarters agrees to go to war with the Four Emperors, no matter which one it is, even if it's Whitebeard, I will not stop them."
Seeing this, Sakazuki also expressed his opinion directly.
The reason he resolutely stopped Rosen from going to war with the Four Emperors was not only because of his responsibilities, but also because he didn't want to see Rosen put himself in danger.
Fighting one of the Four Emperors and fighting one of the Four Emperors' teams are not the same thing.
Even the Marine Headquarters, when faced with Whitebeard who was plagued by illness and old and frail, prepared for battle with all its might and mobilized its entire force.
"Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over something as trivial as the Ochoku Pirates?"
"Senior, do you remember what I said to you and Professor Zephyr in Impel Down?"
"Now is the time to deliver on our promises."
Rosen shook his head, then looked at Borsalino;
"If I can't even handle a single Ochoku Pirates crew, then cutting off the Great Pirate Era would truly be a joke."
The reason he chose to go to G-1 Branch instead of Beehive Island after arriving in the New World was to decide the fate of the world in one battle.
To settle things with the Ochoku Pirates.
This brings to a close the case of the murder of the Zephyr family, which had been buried for 20 years.
Following Borsalino, he completely won over Sakazuki, the leader of the three admirals of the Marines.
This is why Rosen came to G-1 Branch.
The simplest way to achieve all this is to stage a scene in front of Sakazuki where he single-handedly wipes out an entire Yonko crew.