With blood dripping from his lips, Kaido looked past Blaize at the Marineford. After a period of silence, he transformed into his dragon form and jumped into the air, disappearing from everyone's view.
Yes, Kaido decided to flee...no...he decided to retreat tactically.
Aside from Blaize, Marineford still has Sengoku and Garp. Considering his deep wound and Blaize's strength, he would end up in the worst situation if he stayed any longer.
Watching Kaido's retreating figure, Blaize's lips curled up a little. He made no effort to stop the former from leaving as he didn't plan to capture or deal with him.
Meanwhile, countless Marines looked at the fleeing Kaido in pride and puffed chests. Why wouldn't they? They repelled and chased away one of the Four Emperors of the sea — Kaido of the beasts.
As Blaize bested Kaido, the long-lost system notification rang in his mind.
[~ Achievement Complete: Defeated the Yonko: Kaido
Reward: +1.0 Constitution +1.0 Devil Fruit +1.0 Haki +1.0 Free attribute point. ~]
'I am getting the attribute points after a long time...' Blaize mused and summoned the status panel.
[~ Name: Blaize Hunt
Occupation: Marine
Constitution: 77.8--> 79
Devil Fruit: 75.4-->76.6
Haki: 80.1--> 81.1
Free attribute point: 4.5 -->5.5 ~]
Aside from the 'single' point increase rewarded by the system, his attributes rose by another 0.1 or 0.2 points thanks to his fight against Kaido.
According to the achievement points mentioned by the system, he should have received 'two' attribute points in each attribute for defeating the Yonko, but he didn't because he hadn't defeated the entire Yonko crew.
--
Fleet Admiral Office,
Though it's been five years, Blaize looked the same in appearance with a more refined temperament and spirit.
Feeling the powerful Haki emitting from him, Sengoku sighed. He doesn't know what's going to happen next and how the World Government is going to react.
'It's going to be a pain in the ass.' Sengoku rubbed his temple and thought.
"Brat, are you trying to show off your Haki to us? Restrain it or I will help you in doing so..." Garp balled his fist and spoke.
"Well...you can't blame me for being strong!" Uttering some arrogant words, Blaize kept his haki in check.
"It's good that you came back...but what's your next plan?" Sengoku asked.
Before Blaize could answer, he continued: "I know you want to rejoin the Marines, but I don't think the World Government will agree. Everything that happened has happened.
You can't change everything as a single being."
Sengoku's words held deep meaning. In fact, Blaize was surprised the former would speak such profound words as he always thought the other party was entirely devoted to the World Government.
Blaize knew it would be difficult to separate Marines from World Government power, but after hearing Sengoku's words, he realized something.
In the end, everything comes to a single path. If you want to free the Marines, you have to dethrone the World Government.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing sound of Sengoku's Den Den Mushi...
--
Room of Authority, Pangaea Castle.
As Blaize fought Kaido, the intelligence of his return soon reached the ears of the Five Elders.
"He returned, as we thought." The bald Elder with glasses spoke.
"Mn. It's indeed troublesome. Considering his strength, we need to handle him properly." The tall and thin bearded Elder with long white hair voiced his thoughts.
As a matter of fact, after Blaize's disappearance, they assigned a separate Cipher Pol unit to search his whereabouts.
But, the search yielded no results with no information. After five years just when they thought Blaize wasn't coming back, he returned in style.
"We can't take any rash decision in his case. It's better we ask Im-sama's thoughts before deciding anything." The youngest-looking Elder spoke.
"Ok. Let's do it." After discussion, they decided to seek advice from Im, the ruler of the World.
--
Fleet Admiral Office,
Sengoku ended his call with a serious and bewildered countenance. Noticing his friend's look, Garp asked, "I know it's them. What did they tell?"
Blaize also gave an inquisitive gaze.
"Well...The Five Elders have no opinion on Blaize rejoining as Vice Admiral but the Admiral position is out of reach for him." Sengoku replied.
"Interesting...haha" Blaize commented and laughed aloud. 'Considering their reaction, it seems they see me as no threat and someone that can be eliminated anytime.'
"Since there's no issue, I see no problem," Garp spoke.
Sengoku nodded and expressed. "You can join from tomorrow."
Though they didn't explicitly mention anything, the Five Elders' decision troubled both Sengoku and Garp a little as it was completely different from what they thought.
--
Next day,
Everyone who read the front page of the newspaper was thrilled by the content.
With the title, 'The Return of the Strongest Marine', the portrait of Blaize and Kaido's fight was illustrated for half a page.
The only thing skipped in the news was Kaido's defeat by Blaize's hand. Naturally, the World Government made the news coo skip this part as it will boost Blaize's prestige.
The lost memories of Blaize's deeds began to resurface in everyone's mind. The pirates who knew of his heroic battles and strength began to fear for their future.
Whitebeard and Bigmom crew thought nothing of this news when they heard about Blaize's return but the same couldn't be said about Shanks.
"What do you think?" Benn Beckman threw the newspaper to Shanks.
When the latter read the news, he squinted his eyes. As someone who had fought against Blaize before and understood his strength, Shanks knew it wasn't a small matter.
"Both his disappearance and return are suspicious. The World Government should have hidden something from us." Benn Beckman expressed his thoughts.
"I have a feeling that we will meet soon." Shanks chuckled and remembered the promise they once made. 'The next time they meet, they would battle for real.'
--
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