The moment Kenji smiled and turned his head, Borsalino suddenly had a bad premonition.
He immediately disregarded everything else, preparing to retract his leg and retreat, but found that his right leg couldn't be pulled back at all.
It was then that he realized his right leg had been firmly gripped by Kenji's Armament Haki-enhanced arm. Armament Haki can capture the true body of a Logia Devil Fruit user.
The next moment, Kenji's free right hand clenched into a fist and swung over.
Borsalino could only watch in horror as the pitch-black, Armament Haki-enhanced fist rapidly enlarged in his vision, finally smashing heavily into his face.
Bang!!
Borsalino crashed heavily onto the ground far away. His previously slightly crooked mouth now seemed to have been 'cured,' becoming much more normal.
As his body hit the ground, kicking up clouds of dust, the entire plaza fell completely silent, and all discussions ceased abruptly.
Borsalino was the 'monster' acknowledged by all the students. Many even felt that his entry into Marine School was just a formality.
Only at this moment, after the students personally witnessed their 'monster' being easily knocked down by a single punch, did they finally gain a clearer understanding of an Admiral's strength.
'No matter how weak an Admiral is, he is still an Admiral!'
Many factions in the sea commented that Kenji might be the weakest Admiral in Marine history. But now these students understood: regardless of whether he is the weakest Admiral, they are still very far from Kenji's level of strength.
"Hahaha!"
Despite a student being beaten, Zephyr, as the instructor, was very happy. He smiled as he looked at Borsalino, who had fallen face-first into the 'mud'.
"I've warned you repeatedly not to overly rely on your Devil Fruit ability!"
"Your Glint-Glint Fruit's ability will be vulnerable when facing a true powerhouse!"
Borsalino didn't retort. He stood up with a serious expression, looking clearly unyielding, as if he still wanted to continue fighting.
Kenji, however, felt a bit bored, so he simply raised his hand and pointed at another person.
"That one with the big sword on his back and a sinister look on his face, yes, you! As a Marine, how can you have such a sinister expression every day? What if you scare the little kids? Step forward!"
"You two don't need to bother with turns. Come at me together!"
The students present thought, "Ah? Out of all people, he picked the other 'monster'!
"Perhaps Admiral Kenji intentionally chose the strongest students?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down, if he hears us, he might pick us too and give us a beating!"
Sakazuki walked out of the ranks amidst the discussions, his actions very decisive, as if he had been prepared all along.
In fact, even if Kenji hadn't picked him, he had planned to step forward and challenge Kenji himself.
"It's a bit unfamiliar to team up with someone for the first time!"
In the distance, Borsalino's entire body glowed, and he once again elementalized.
At the same time, Sakazuki had drawn the great sword from his back and launched a slash.
Whoosh!
The blade cut through the air with a sharp aura, almost making the spectators unable to open their eyes.
Sakazuki's slash was extremely fast. In an instant, the blade descended towards Kenji's head, only to be caught between two Armament Haki-enhanced fingers.
Immediately after, Kenji exerted force with his hand, using his fingers to grip the blade and swing Sakazuki along with it fiercely to his side. Meanwhile, Borsalino's light-speed kick arrived precisely at his side, blocked by a kick from Kenji.
Kenji's hand didn't stop. The blade, still gripped by his fingers, was smoothly inserted into Borsalino's chest.
The latter immediately paled, quickly looking down to check, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found no Armament Haki wrapped around the blade.
But in that moment of distraction, Kenji had already raised his leg again, kicking the still-secretly-rejoicing Borsalino flying.
Then, Kenji clenched his free left hand, wrapped in Armament Haki, and struck Sakazuki, who had been carried into the air by the great sword. The latter flew far away like a cannonball, smashing heavily onto the ground in the distance.
Boom! Boom!!
Two consecutive thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground caused the plaza to shake twice.
"This... those two 'monsters' are no match for Shirojishi Admiral at all. Their strengths are not on the same level..."
The students in the arena were, after all, elites chosen from all over the world. By now, they could clearly see that Sakazuki and Borsalino were simply being toyed with by Kenji.
Only when there was such a vast disparity in strength between the two sides would such a one-sided battle occur.
"So, even 'monsters' like Sakazuki and Borsalino are still far from the Admiral level!"
Due to the overwhelming impact and shock, no one spoke in the plaza for a while, silently processing the lingering horror.
Zephyr, however, seized the opportunity to step forward and instruct the students, saying things like, 'Don't think you're elites, the Marine has no shortage of elites,' and 'One failure is nothing. With diligent training, you will succeed one day!'
A combination of stern warnings and encouragement indeed achieved excellent results. The students, whose sense of dread had receded, were motivated by Zephyr's words, and their eyes became even more resolute.
Kenji had already waved goodbye to Zephyr and felt refreshed on his way back. Of course, it wasn't entirely because he had just beaten up two guys he didn't like.
Another reason for his refreshing mood was that he saw the system's mission completion notification, and it was an over-completion.
[You have defeated the combined forces of 'monster' students Sakazuki and Borsalino in a challenge. Your name is spreading throughout Marine School, known to all!]
[Mission (Main): Challenge the strongest 'monster' students Sakazuki or Borsalino in Marine School, and make all students praise your name! — Over-completed!]
"What's so great about becoming famous in Marine School? Show me the rewards!"
Kenji didn't feel any pride in bullying a group of kids. He just wanted to quickly confirm his rewards, hopefully something big.
"With an over-completed status, there should be some extra rewards, right? But this damn system... hard to say."
[Reward upgraded! Changed to Over-completion Reward!]
[Over-completion Reward: Upgrade a random owned trait three times!]
[Rewards being distributed...]
[Physique (Super Blue) has been upgraded to Physique (Dark Purple)!]
[Physique (Dark Purple) triggers derivative evolution...]
In an instant, Kenji felt a brand new power surge from deep within his body.
He was already 66 years old, and for ordinary people in this world, at this age, one would usually be inseparable from a cane, walking shakily every day.
Even though he exercised regularly and his physique was far stronger than that of ordinary people, he could still clearly feel his physical condition deteriorating day by day. After all, he had reached an age where his physical condition would only continuously weaken with time.
This was also why Kenji planned to retire. In a few more years, even if he exercised daily, he wouldn't be able to maintain his combat strength, and his power would rapidly decline.
However, at this moment, as the rarity of his physique trait increased, he found that all sense of bodily old age had vanished, as if he had returned to his youth, with infinite energy within him.
And the changes brought by the Physique trait upgrade were not limited to this. Soon, Kenji realized that he had somehow gained a new trait.
"Sea Beast Power?"
Kenji looked at the newly appeared unfamiliar trait, a thoughtful expression appearing in his eyes.