He stayed in his small building for three days, and even had dinner with Gion during that time.
Coincidentally, he ran into Kake at the restaurant again. This miserable fellow, seeing his goddess with another man, acting intimately (or so he thought), immediately lost his appetite. He burst out of the door, snot and tears streaming down his face.
Of course, Chiga was already used to it. Gion didn't say anything, so he cared even less.
On the fourth morning, Chiga had just finished breakfast when Gion came to his door to inform him that the enrollment date had arrived and that he should follow her immediately to the training camp to report.
When Chiga and Gion arrived at the training camp, they found that there were quite a few new recruits reporting. In the center of an open space, there was a machine, shaped like a punch strength tester from Blue Star, used in One Piece to test Douriki values.
The officer in charge of the test had not yet arrived. The recruits who had reported were gathered in twos and threes, discussing the upcoming test.
Everyone had a hint of nervousness on their faces. After all, they had finally made it to Marine Headquarters and earned the opportunity to participate in the elite training camp. No one wanted to fall at the first hurdle, the Douriki test.
However, this test was fair. It didn't matter what connections you had; if you reached the passing line, you could enter the training camp. At the same time, it was also cruel. Many of those who came here were not first-timers. No matter how they trained, they just couldn't meet the standard. For them, that line was like an insurmountable chasm.
At this moment, Gion was explaining the test to Chigi.
"When it's your turn, you just hit the soft pad of that machine with all your strength. If the value on the display screen reaches 300 or more, it means you've passed."
Chiga said he could definitely reach that value, but Gion shook her head. She looked into Chiga's eyes and emphasized seriously,
"The chief instructor of the training camp is the former Admiral, Black Arm Zephyr. The current three Marine Admirals and many Headquarters Vice Admirals were once his students. Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already recommended you to him, so this time you must give it your all and not disappoint him."
Hearing this, Chiga was a little moved. From the moment he arrived at Headquarters until now, Sengoku had taken care of him quite a bit. He wasn't an ungrateful wretch, so this time he was going to try his best to show what he could do.
"Don't worry, Sister Gion. Just wait and see," Chiga said with a confident smile, making a promise.
Gion said nothing more, bending slightly to help Chiga tidy his clothes, which made Chiga a little embarrassed, waving his hand and saying it wasn't necessary.
Gion covered her mouth and chuckled.
"You know how to be shy, huh? You can't be sloppy when you're showing off later. So many people are watching you."
Chiga rolled his eyes, then suddenly squeezed Gion's hand that was on his clothes. While Gion was momentarily stunned, he used a Shunshin Jutsu to disappear from the spot.
"Stinky little brother! If you have the guts to touch me, don't run!" Gion, who had reacted, punched the air and laughed, scolding,
"If you embarrass yourself later, I'll come settle the score with you!"
Chiga, who had "escaped" from Gion, appeared among the crowd waiting for the test, waiting for it to begin.
Soon after, the test officer arrived at the testing grounds. He briefly stated a few precautions and then announced the start of the test. He called out names, and those called would step forward to be tested.
The first recruit to be tested was a bit nervous, only hitting a Douriki value of 280. Fortunately, he had a second chance. The second time, he adjusted his mindset and achieved a score of 318, successfully passing.
The test started with a good beginning, giving a boost of confidence to the subsequent recruits. One after another, more people passed.
Among them, a man and a woman caught Chiga's attention slightly.
The man was named Binz, and the woman was named Ain. Both of them were quite strong, achieving excellent scores of 410 and 520 respectively. Compared to most people who barely met the passing line, such scores were already very outstanding.
However, this level of strength was not enough for Chiga to remember their names. What truly piqued his interest was that their names reminded Chiga of a One Piece movie: Z.
This movie primarily depicted Zephyr's insane actions after leaving the Marines, and Binz and Ain were his loyal followers.
At the same time, these two were also Zephyr's last batch of students. This implied that the initial event that led to Zephyr's disillusionment with the Marines, namely Edward Weevil's massacre of a Marine ship, would occur during this batch of students' sea training.
Naturally, Chiga was not afraid of Edward Weevil. He was confident that once his training was complete, preventing this incident would be effortless. However, it was always good to be mentally prepared.
Gradually, everyone around him participated in the test, and Chiga surprisingly became the last one.
The test officer glanced at Chiga, who was standing alone in the testing area. It was well-known that among those who came up to demonstrate, the first and last ones usually attracted the most attention from the audience, and the demonstrators were also more prone to nervousness.
However, the test officer saw that Chiga's expression was calm, without the slightest hint of nervousness. He secretly nodded, thinking to himself that he was indeed the person Fleet Admiral Sengoku had instructed them to pay close attention to.
Arranging Uchiha Chiga to be the last to appear was Sengoku's intention. Currently, the Marine's military strength was scarce, and promising talents like Chiga were naturally desired to grow as quickly as possible. Therefore, Sengoku wanted him to attract more attention and accumulate greater prestige, which would be beneficial for his future assignments and avoid meaningless procedures. It had to be said that the current special period had made Sengoku somewhat impatient.
"Uchiha Chiga!" the test officer loudly read out the last name on his list.
"Here!"