Naruto: Copy System

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At Marine Headquarters.

Sengoku frowned at the Den Den Mushi on his desk. Shin Uzumaki had appeared in the East Blue?

To be honest, the Marines had little intelligence on the Kuja Pirates' movements. They knew the crew had left the New World, and Sengoku assumed they were returning to Amazon Lily, so he hadn't thought much of it. He never expected them to head for the East Blue.

He remembered that Red-Haired Shanks and his crew often lingered there, but what was so special about that sea? Sengoku didn't believe Shin was simply on vacation.

What could possibly draw him to the weakest of the seas?

"You encountered Shin Uzumaki, and you didn't fight him?" Sengoku asked Garp.

"Sengoku, if I had fought him, do you really think I'd be here, talking to you right now?" Garp retorted. Aren't you supposed to be the strategist? How could you ask such a stupid question

Sengoku was a bit embarrassed.

It seemed he had asked the wrong question. With Shin Uzumaki's strength, if a fight had really broken out, Garp would have been no match. He might have even been killed.

"He saw you too, right? Since there was no conflict between you, it probably means it's nothing major. I'll have someone keep a closer eye on the situation."

Sengoku said after some thought.

"By the way, have you caught that Marine scumbag yet?" Sengoku suddenly asked Garp.

Sengoku's sudden question made Garp's expression freeze.

It was obvious who he meant—Morgan, the man he had been sent to capture.

"Morgan escaped. I didn't think he'd be that strong—he even managed to knock me down. We'll need to be careful with him." Garp wasn't the type to cling to pride, so he spoke honestly. Morgan had already gotten away, even if Sengoku wanted him, it no longer mattered.

"What? You let him escape?" Sengoku almost couldn't believe his ears.

A little Captain from the East Blue had slipped away from Garp? It sounded like a bad joke.

"Are you kidding me?" Sengoku asked Garp.

In the past, he had chased Roger across the world, yet now he had been outmaneuvered by a mere Captain. Could Morgan really be that strong?

If he were, he wouldn't still be stuck in the East Blue as a Captain. Sengoku quickly pieced it together—Garp must have been slacking and let him slip away.

"GARP, YOU'RE NOT GETTING PAID THIS MONTH!"

Sengoku roared before slamming the line shut.

He glared at the Den Den Mushi on the table, barely resisting the urge to take his anger out on it. After all, it was a living creature—and it hadn't done anything wrong.

"Strange, why hasn't Momousagi sent back any information?" Sengoku frowned.

When he first sent her undercover, she reported back occasionally. Now, contact had been completely lost. If he didn't know she was still alive, he would have assumed her cover had already been blown.

"Reporting, Fleet Admiral! We've received news that Captain Hina has been captured."

Suddenly, a Marine walked into the office and reported to Sengoku.

"What? Who has the guts to do that?" Sengoku was already in a foul mood, and the news only enraged him further.

Hina was one of the Marines' most promising talents. Now that he had learned she'd been captured, his frustration boiled over.

"Well, according to the report from Captain Hina's subordinates, she was captured by Shin Uzumaki. His ship crashed into her warship."

The Marine soldier immediately replied.

Sengoku fell silent at the news. Captured by Shin Uzumaki... there was nothing he could do. Rescue Hina from him? Impossible—unless he mobilized the full force of Marine Headquarters and declared open war.

And even then, victory was far from certain. Shin could summon meteors. Power like that was beyond anything Sengoku could contend with.

"Alright, I understand. You can leave now." Sengoku waved his hand to let him leave, without saying how to handle it.

In truth, he didn't know how to handle it either. He couldn't make up his mind. If he could reach Momousagi, he would ask her first to understand the situation. Only with a clear picture could he decide how to proceed.

"To contact Momousagi, I'll need Tsuru to step in." Sengoku was a bit suspicious.

He suspected that Momousagi had already defected to Shin Uzumaki.

It was entirely possible. She had been undercover for more than a decade—plenty of time to be swayed. If that were true, it would break his heart.

Had he really handed one of the Marines' top fighters over to a pirate?

"I hope she won't disappoint me." Sengoku couldn't be sure and could only pray in his heart.

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While he was considering these things, Shin had already reached Loguetown—the town of beginnings and endings.

The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had been born here, and this was also where they'd executed him. The final curtain on the greatest pirate of his generation.

That's why they called it the town of beginnings and endings.

Loguetown sat right at the entrance to the Grand Line. Basically every pirate crew heading for those waters had to pass through here.

Because of that strategic importance, the Marines had stationed someone fairly capable to keep watch—a guy named Smoker.

Smoker wielded the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, a Logia type that let him turn his entire body into smoke at will. He could solidify that smoke to trap enemies or use it to suffocate them.

Smoker had been the first person to hand Luffy a real defeat, capturing the rubber boy without breaking a sweat.

But compared to Luffy's growth, Smoker's strength seemed to plateau over time. When he first showed up, the guy had serious potential, but eventually other fighters left him in the dust.

That's not to say Smoker was weak—far from it.

Regular pirates didn't stand a chance against him. A Logia Devil Fruit was basically a cheat code in the East Blue, where nobody knew the first thing about Armament Haki.

Without Haki, how the hell were you supposed to deal with someone who could turn into smoke?

Sure, Seastone and seawater were every Devil Fruit user's weakness, but first you had to actually land a hit.

Plus, most small-time pirates couldn't afford Seastone weapons anyway—that stuff was expensive as hell, being the ultimate anti-Devil Fruit material and all.

Smoker's weapon had Seastone embedded in it, and the mineral was tough as nails.

Only a master swordsman could cut through it easily.

But anyway, Shin hadn't come to Loguetown for Smoker. He didn't even plan on meeting the guy.

His real target was Roger's execution platform. The place held too much historical significance to skip.

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