Seeing Sephiroth sit back down, Gion giggled, her flirtatious eyes playfully winking. "Wow! Little brother Sephiroth, I didn't expect you to be so amazing! This big sister is stunned by you."
"Huh!? Just luck... just luck!" Sephiroth smiled awkwardly, a hint of discomfort in his demeanor. He caught strange looks from those around him, as if they were saying, 'We all agreed to be lazy together, but you're secretly working hard!' He scratched his head with a wry smile, thinking to himself, 'Maybe next time I should get a lower score, just enough to pass...'
"Wayne... 26 points!"
After handing out the last exam paper, Shuzo's smile became even more pronounced, a mischievous grin plastered across his face. He said in a booming voice, "Now, I will arrange the content for your next class, so listen carefully! The exam was worth one hundred points, and for every point you're short, you have to run ten laps around the training ground... Now... all of you get out there and run!!!"
Whoosh!
The Military Academy Students immediately erupted in chaos and wailed one by one.
"Oh my god! 1000 laps, when will I ever finish running..." someone complained, their voice despairing.
"People are going to die, aren't they? We already had brutal training this morning..." another echoed, their voice full of hopelessness.
Amidst the noisy commotion, Shuzo raised his large right hand and slammed it forcefully onto the table with a resounding "bang," making the entire room fall silent instantly.
"All of you, shut up! You lot, not only are your brains useless, but your strength isn't good either. How are you going to become Marine officers in the future?! Do you really think Marineford Military Academy is a place for you to get a good resume, comfortably finish one year, and then be able to assume the rank of Lieutenant or Staff Officer?! I'm telling you, impossible! Both physical training and the results from other courses determine the rank you'll achieve upon graduation. If you only spend one year here, at best you'll only earn the rank of Officer. If you don't want to suffer, then get out of the Marine Academy, or go to the hospital and take a year of sick leave!"
Shuzo's words were like a sudden enlightenment for everyone. The faces that had been grimacing now looked slightly pale. They stopped complaining one by one, stood from their seats, and walked out of the classroom towards the training ground, their steps sluggish and heavy.
Low scores? Forget it! Even getting physically punished, that's truly cruel! Sephiroth watched Smoker and the others leave the classroom with desperate looks, and he immediately made this decision in his heart: he had to be more careful not to stand out too much.
Soon after, everyone in the class left one by one, leaving only Sephiroth. He walked to the side of the podium and asked the long-armed man, "Shuzo Sensei, they've all gone to run, what should I do?"
Hearing this, Shuzo gently stroked his chin, a small smile playing on his lips. He mumbled, "You?... You got a perfect score, so you don't need to be punished with running... Then go play by yourself! Anyway, the rest of this afternoon is for penalty runs, no other classes are scheduled."
"Shuzo Sensei, may I ask something of you?" Sephiroth asked again, his tone slightly hesitant.
"What do you wish to apply for?"
"Low-purity Sea Stone shackles, single handcuff type... Of course, I'll pay for them," Sephiroth said, trying to sound as casual as possible.
"Low-purity Sea Stone shackles? We Marines only have the highest purity ones... What do you want those things for?" Shuzo asked with a suspicious gaze, his eyebrows raised.
"Hehe!... Of course, it's for better physical training! Low-purity Sea Stone shackles, although they can suppress ability users, preventing them from using their abilities and putting them in a certain state of helplessness, can be used to further temper the physique..." Sephiroth explained, hoping his explanation was convincing enough.
Hearing this explanation, Shuzo's eyes immediately widened in surprise. "Hey! I think this method is good! How did you come up with that idea, kid...?"
"Ah! This... I myself once wore high-purity Sea Stone, but that kind of thing weakens stamina too much, and its practical effect isn't good..." Sephiroth smiled awkwardly and casually brushed it off, trying to change the subject. He couldn't possibly say that he remembered the physical training methods used in "Udon," the Addiction Withdrawal Mining Center of the famous mentor Kaido, could he?
Some time ago, with the help of the super recovery ability of the Vampire Fruit he possessed, Sephiroth trained without any reservations, not worrying about muscle strain, overexertion, or other issues, which caused his strength to increase rapidly. However, he now also realized that he seemed to have entered some kind of power bottleneck. No matter how he trained, his physical strength and speed no longer showed obvious improvements like before. This feeling was indescribable, but he could feel a kind of constraint, as if there was an invisible wall blocking him. He felt that only by breaking through that limit could his strength reach a higher level. Therefore, he found this method.
Although he also did physical training in shallow sea areas every day, that kind of thing was too dangerous! One day, he was hit by a large wave on the beach, and his whole body became helpless. If only the water hadn't been shallow and the tide had been receding, and if only he hadn't desperately spent the remainder of his life force to store enough stamina to lift his upper body, he would have surely drowned in thirty centimeters of seawater... That choking sensation and despair still haunted him.
"Your idea is very valuable, I will definitely tell Sensei Zephyr and see if he can immediately ask the Marine Science Research Department to produce them..." Shuzo said, his eyes gleaming. "By the way, they are also doing related research on Sea Stone recently, and they have successfully developed a method to make warships deceive Sea Kings. I'm sure they will also be very interested in your idea."
Shuzo laughed and patted Sephiroth's shoulder, then turned and left the classroom, his steps spirited.
That day, due to the high-intensity training, a large number of people were admitted to the Marine Academy's infirmary again, moaning in pain.
Only after seven days, the low-purity Sea Stone shackles that Sephiroth proposed were quickly developed and mass-produced by the Marine Science Research Department under the urging of Admiral Zephyr. That day, Zephyr happily distributed a pair of low-purity Sea Stone shackles to all ability users in the Marine Academy, and required them to wear them during physical training!
Then...
Sephiroth, Smoker, Tina... and other Devil Fruit ability users all lay limp after completing their morning physical training, feeling like they had lost half their lives.
At the Marine Academy training ground.
"What was that old geezer Zephyr thinking to come up with such a torturous method..." Smoker lay on the ground like a dried fish, his breath ragged. After reaching out and unbuckling the Sea Stone shackle on his left hand, his hand trembled like a sieve as he lit a cigar for himself.
"Tina feels so uncomfortable! I feel like my whole body is going to collapse...." Tina, with her long pink hair, sat in a duck-like position, propping herself up with her hands on the ground, breathing heavily, sweat plastering her hair to her temples.
"How about a cigar to relax..." As he said this, Smoker glanced at Tina, pulled out a cigar from his body, and offered it to her. Tina hesitated for a moment before saying with a suspicious look, "Can this really make you relax?"
"Of course! When I feel tired or lack energy, I always have one..." Smoker assured, exhaling smoke casually.
So, under Smoker's temptation, Tina began to try, awkwardly puffing on the cigar.
Sephiroth listened to the Devil Fruit ability users on the training ground continuously cursing and complaining. He thought for a moment and decided that he must not let them know that he was the one who first proposed the low-purity Sea Stone shackles, lest he get beaten up by everyone! A small smile played on his lips, imagining the chaos that would ensue if the secret got out.
Training, studying, training... day by day, occasionally bickering with Gion. To make the most of each day, Sephiroth compressed his sleep time to four hours, pushing himself to the limit. His life at the Naval Academy was very busy and fulfilling, especially after the advent of the low-purity Sea Stone shackles. The difficulty of physical training also increased, often making him feel like giving up entirely. But fortunately, after the Sea Stone shackles were removed, the physical damage and fatigue he felt always recovered quickly, keeping his body in optimal condition every day. Under long-term extreme physical exertion, his awakened Busoshoku Haki also gradually increased in quality and quantity, becoming denser and stronger.
On the other hand, Tesoro also officially established Umbrella Corporation in the Sabaody Archipelago with the continuous funding Sephiroth provided. The company undertook massive recruitment and ran the arms business in full swing. Vaguely, Umbrella Corporation had the momentum to become the largest arms dealer in the Sabaody Archipelago, and Tesoro had various interactions with figures from both the underworld and the legitimate world, building a strong network.
To secure the Company's capital chain in the early stages, Sephiroth would go to the Sabaody Archipelago every weekend when he had time off, seeking out pirates with bounties under 100 million Berries. This was an efficient way for him to train combat experience while earning money. During this time, he also met two other Devil Fruit ability users: one with a Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard Zoan type, and another with an Ami Ami no Mi Paramecia type. Unfortunately, perhaps he was unlucky, or perhaps the type of fruit he brought was unsuitable, but he did not obtain a reborn Devil Fruit.