Among the senior Navy officers, Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru were considered the most reliable. As for Admiral Zephyr and Vice Admiral Garp, they were known for their rugged, devil-may-care personalities.
As Garp himself would put it, Sengoku and Tsuru used their brains, while he and Zephyr relied on their fists. People who think too much often lead less carefree lives than those who don't.
With the capture of Pirate King Roger, Fleet Admiral Kong was expected to be promoted soon. The vacant Fleet Admiral position would likely be filled by Sengoku.
Garp and Tsuru, being Vice Admirals, couldn't skip directly to Fleet Admiral without first holding the rank of Admiral.
And as for Zephyr, who had long lost interest in naval administration and was only still in the Navy due to multiple requests for him to stay, he was even less likely to compete for the Fleet Admiral position.
Considering all this, Kadaru realized who was likely behind today's large-scale exercises at Marineford.
The new recruits arriving at Marineford today were the first batch of naval personnel under Sengoku's expected tenure as Fleet Admiral. It made sense for Sengoku to take such measures.
New officials often make bold moves, but those moves usually target the old guard. For the new recruits, however, it's essential to win them over, as they represent the Navy's future backbone.
After thinking this through, Kadaru felt he understood some of the intentions of Sengoku, the "strategist." Whether there were deeper motives, however, he couldn't say.
However, it seemed that Sengoku's meticulous planning had been derailed by none other than Garp. And the latter, oblivious as ever, was now eagerly asking Zephyr if he had found any promising recruits during his recent trip.
When Zephyr mentioned the recruits, he couldn't help but smile. Before leaving Marineford, Garp had jokingly said that there might be some unexpected gains. At the time, Zephyr hadn't taken the comment seriously, dismissing it as mere comfort from an old friend. But it turned out Garp was right.
"There are some good kids among them, still a bit raw, but with proper training, they'll become excellent Navy officers. And I did find one particularly interesting kid. He's young, but he's got guts."
Hearing Zephyr and Garp's conversation, Wood felt a sense of impending doom. He instinctively tried to edge his way to the back of the group, but Zephyr had already spotted him and called him out.
Heaven help him, Wood had joined the Navy partly to get stronger and partly to take advantage of the protection it offered. He had no other intentions beyond that.
This was Marineford, the Navy's headquarters—not the relatively small Red Leaf Island in the first half of the Grand Line. Here, everyone he saw was either a boss-level figure or an elite officer.
Even the low-ranking guards patrolling the area could very well be the captains or rear admirals of tomorrow.
Wood had always had a clear understanding of his place in the world—he was a supporting character. Without the fate of a protagonist, there was no way he could become one of the era's leading figures.
He had already planned out his future: lay low under the Navy's protection while steadily growing stronger and earning some accolades along the way. In about a decade or so, once the main storyline began, he could use his Navy experience and Zephyr's connections to request a transfer to Red Leaf Island's naval base, where he could retire as a captain.
Who said that all transmigrators had to challenge the world and take on impossible quests? What did the "One Piece" have to do with him? He wasn't interested in uncovering the lost history of the Void Century.
His goal was to develop enough strength to survive on the seas, then return to his hometown to deal with rookie pirates and live a peaceful life. That was Wood's true ambition.
So, before arriving at Navy Headquarters, Wood had resolved to keep a low profile, avoiding the attention of any "big shots."
He had even liked the "backdoor slacker" image that had formed around him and was planning to maintain that persona while at Marineford.
He envisioned spending the next decade or so training inconspicuously, eventually becoming a nondescript Navy officer who would then retire to a quiet island and live out his days in peace.
But as fate would have it, things didn't go as planned. Out of thousands of new recruits, Zephyr had somehow remembered his name and called him out in this public setting.
In front of so many people, being singled out by an Admiral, what could Wood do? No matter how reluctant he felt, he had no choice but to step forward.
Thanks to Zephyr, everyone's attention was now focused on Wood. He had intended to keep a low profile, but now, on his first day, he was thrust into the spotlight!
"Is this the kid you mentioned? He doesn't look old enough to meet the recruitment criteria."
Most of the Navy recruits were around eighteen years old. Although Wood was strong and well-built, his youthful face made him stand out among the others.
"That's right, he's only sixteen, but in terms of experience, he's already seen more action than most Navy soldiers."
"Would you believe it? This sixteen-year-old kid recently wiped out half a pirate crew, including a Devil Fruit user with a 20 million beli bounty."
"But that's not even the most important part. What impressed me the most about this kid is his character."
"Garp, can you believe it? I was actually startled by this kid's gaze. It was the look of someone ready to lay down their life for the sake of justice!"
Garp, who had initially only shown mild interest in Wood, suddenly became serious upon hearing Zephyr's words. He began to scrutinize Wood carefully.
Having known Zephyr for many years, Garp knew him well. If Wood had earned such high praise from Zephyr, there had to be something remarkable about him.
So, Garp, too, became curious about Wood and considered testing the boy's mettle himself.
Meanwhile, Wood, who had overheard the entire conversation between Zephyr and Garp, was left utterly dumbfounded.
Zephyr's exaggerated praise left Wood speechless. If not for the fact that Zephyr had specifically named him, Wood would have thought he was talking about someone else entirely...
It was like that old saying, "Am I really this amazing? How did I not know?"
If Wood was bewildered, the surrounding bystanders were even more so.
Especially the recruits who had been on the same ship as Wood—they had assumed he was just a connected slacker, but it turned out he was actually a hardcore warrior!
While Wood was taking down a pirate with a 20 million beli bounty at the age of sixteen, these other recruits were only pretending to be pirates in their role-playing games.