Chapter 7 — Cooperation
At dusk, on the final night before Roger's execution, a burly man with a full head of purple hair arrived in great haste. It was Zephyr, who had been urgently transferred over.
Tomorrow was the day of Roger's execution. Sengoku had duties of his own and could not stay with Garp to accompany Madara. To prevent Uchiha Madara from suddenly turning hostile and starting to dance when the execution began, Sengoku had ultimately decided to temporarily call Zephyr over as well, so that two men with Admiral-level combat power could accompany Madara at the same time—escort him, or rather, keep watch over him.
Zephyr himself was still completely confused.
Originally, he had been responsible for maintaining order at Reverse Mountain during the execution period, but Sengoku had summoned him over with an urgent notice.
After hurrying to the Loguetown garrison, he found Sengoku talking with a man clad in ancient armor, occasionally even bursting into laughter.
The moment Sengoku looked up and saw Zephyr arriving, he smiled and said,
"So, you're here, Zephyr."
Then he began introducing the Uchiha Madara beside him.
"This is Mr. Madara, an extremely distinguished guest of the Marines. The reason I called you here this time is so that you and Garp can accompany Mr. Madara while watching tomorrow's execution."
Zephyr's pupils contracted slightly when he heard that.
Someone who required both him and Garp to keep watch over him?
In other words, did that mean the man before him, this Uchiha Madara, possessed at least Admiral-level combat power?
Uchiha Madara, on the other hand, showed no unusual reaction.
He now understood just how important the execution of the Pirate King, Roger, was to the Marines standing before him. For someone with an unclear identity like himself to appear in a place like this, naturally he would be monitored. He showed no dissatisfaction over it.
"Hahahahaha, Zephyr, you came too? You're here because of Brother Madara as well?"
Garp also arrived right around mealtime.
No wonder the three of them got along well—each one showed up the moment it was time to eat.
The instant Garp appeared, Uchiha Madara's face darkened, and his aura began to turn unstable again.
Zephyr froze for a moment, then immediately looked toward Uchiha Madara with caution. That terrifying presence was not something just anybody could give off.
But before Madara could act, a small figure jumped out from behind Garp.
"Yo~ Master~ Did you miss me?"
Madara's breath caught.
Why is this brat everywhere?
Though, in truth, it was still manageable this time. At least she wasn't carrying that so-called Will of Fire scabbard.
"Hahahahaha, Brother Madara, seeing how much Gion likes you, why don't you just join the Marines?"
Garp seized the chance to speak up.
If those words came from Sengoku, it would feel far too tense, but if Garp said them, then even if he got rejected, it didn't matter.
"I refuse."
Garp paid no attention at all. He casually threw an arm around Madara's shoulder and began rambling.
"Brother Madara, the Marine benefits are great, you know. A powerhouse like you—if you joined and stayed around for a while, a Vice Admiral position would absolutely be guaranteed. If you really wanted, even Admiral wouldn't be impossible. Though I wouldn't recommend becoming an Admiral, because then you'd have to protect those trash Celestial Dragons."
"Garp!!!" ×2
Garp simply waved a hand and laughed loudly.
"Hahahahahahaha! Sorry, sorry. That word just now doesn't count. Pretend you didn't hear it."
The two subordinates following beside Zephyr were dumbstruck by Garp's earthshaking statement.
Was that really something we were allowed to hear?
Madara, however, found himself interested.
He already knew a little about the Celestial Dragons from the information in Gion's memories, though Gion herself was still too young and only knew they were not to be provoked. Now that Garp and the others had brought them up, his curiosity was stirred.
"World Nobles? Daimyō? Why would you fear such ants? Wouldn't killing them solve the problem?"
Zephyr (Sengoku): !!!
Garp burst out laughing again.
He had to admit, a lawless thorn like Madara really suited his taste.
After a long round of explanation from Sengoku, Madara barely came to understand why the Celestial Dragons could not be provoked.
But Sengoku failed to notice the increasingly bright gleam in Uchiha Madara's eyes.
Ants who summon strong opponents if you hit them? Interesting!
For Madara, the fact that striking a Celestial Dragon would bring in Admiral-level combat power was extremely interesting.
In other words, if he got bored in the future, he could just kill a Celestial Dragon, and then a powerhouse on Garp's level would come dance with him?
Watching Madara's eager expression, Sengoku felt a bitterness welling up inside.
Now he was starting to get a headache.
If they really managed to absorb Uchiha Madara into the Marines, would that actually be a good thing—or a bad thing?
With that wildly arrogant temperament of his, this man was no different from pirates like Shiki or Roger.
Sengoku could even imagine it now:
On some pleasant afternoon, Uchiha Madara, dressed in an Admiral's Marine coat, bored because there were no pirates to catch, casually stepping on a Celestial Dragon with a look of contempt and forcing Garp to fight him.
The moment Sengoku pictured that, his head began throbbing.
Looking at Garp, who was laughing while draping himself over Uchiha Madara, Sengoku felt that one Garp was already more than enough suffering for him.
If Uchiha Madara were added on top of that, then he might really collapse dead inside the Fleet Admiral's office without ever even getting the chance to retire.
Madara, for his part, was not comfortable either.
He truly had trouble adapting to the people of this world. Why did all of them have personalities like that idiot Hashirama? Equally loud and carefree, equally lacking in sense.
But for him to lose control and explode over something like that would also be making too much of it.
After arriving in this world, he genuinely had no clear goal.
He did not even have any desire to return to the Naruto world. He felt that his performance there had already reached its curtain call.
And in this world, the only people he knew were this bunch of lunatics—Garp and the others.
The group also noticed Uchiha Madara sitting before the campfire in thought.
By silent mutual understanding, they all kept quiet.
Sengoku and the others were tense as well. They knew Uchiha Madara was truly considering the possibility of joining the Marines.
Gion, meanwhile, hugged her knees and crouched in front of Uchiha Madara, curiously staring at him as he thought.
After a long while, Madara let out a breath.
"My apologies. I will not join the Marines."
The moment he heard those words, Sengoku's expression sank with disappointment.
Still, this had also been within his expectations. After all, they had only met by chance a few days ago—how could someone of Uchiha Madara's level possibly be moved so easily?
Just as Sengoku was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, Madara continued,
"I am a ninja. I intend to inherit my close friend's will and establish a ninja village."
Sengoku froze.
Things seemed to have taken a turn.
He quickly asked,
"What do you mean by that, Mr. Madara?"
Holding Gion's Patricidal Filial Sword, Madara absently stirred the fire before him. The firelight flickered across his face, casting shifting shadows.
"I hope to cooperate with the Marines. Ninja need to eat. We can form a mercenary-style partnership with the Marines. The commissions included in our cooperation would include, but not be limited to: assassination, escort, theft, warfare, intelligence gathering, and so on."
Sengoku's eyes lit up.
Isn't that basically the Cipher Pol departments?
A Cipher Pol branch belonging to the Marines themselves.
Fleet Admiral Kong had once told him the same thing: there were some dirty matters the Marines simply had no way of handling openly. If not for certain people refusing to allow it, Kong himself had wanted to establish a Cipher Pol-style department that belonged solely to the Marines.
Then Sengoku looked again at Uchiha Madara.
Admiral-level combat power. Strong. And as a ninja, professionally suited to dealing with matters that couldn't see the light of day.
The moment Madara mentioned "cooperation," Sengoku immediately understood the real implications.
You, Uchiha Madara, want to build your own organization—but you have no money, no land, and no backing.
To establish a force, you would need territory, would you not? Then of course you would need land from the Marines.
Second, you would need stable, high-quality personnel. And how about the Marine recruit training camps for that?
Use my land. Eat my food. Use my people.
Calling it "cooperation" made it sound equal, but wasn't this basically just a looser special Marine division?
And on top of that, the Marines would get an Admiral-level powerhouse as a guaranteed asset for free. Since he would take commissions and be paid according to his labor, he wouldn't even be drawing a useless salary.
Was there a better deal in the world?
Wasn't this just a pillow arriving the moment someone got sleepy?
To put it plainly, all they had to do was give Uchiha Madara a name.
Everything else would still belong to the Marines.
Thinking this, Sengoku looked at Uchiha Madara with complete seriousness and said,
"Mr. Madara, I can represent the Marines in discussing the details of this cooperation with you. I hope we can reach a pleasant agreement."