"Vice Admiral Tsuru... should Hina open the door?"
"Hmm?" Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Chief of Staff, had stacks of documents on her desk—several times more than Sengoku's.
Amids her busy schedule, she looked up and gave Hina a gentle smile.
"Go ahead and open the door, Hina. That interesting kid is here."
At just thirteen years old, Hina already carried the bearing of a Marine officer.
As a specially recruited new blood for the Marine, though she hadn't yet seen battle and her rank remained Ensign, everyone knew how highly Vice Admiral Tsuru regarded this young girl.
Clearly, she was being groomed as a future aide.
Perhaps even as a future leader representing the female faction of the Marine.
In truth, there were many cases of young talents being specially recruited.
Take Smoker, for example—now fifteen, he had been discovered by Aokiji at Roger's execution site and brought into his unit.
And as it turned out, a hothead like Smoker was a perfect fit for a reckless old man like Garp.
The big and little reckless duo—who knew how well they'd get along, but it was bound to be hilarious.
After receiving confirmation from Tsuru, Hina stepped forward and opened the office door.
There, she saw a strikingly handsome young man with platinum-blond hair stride in.
"Grandma Tsuru, may you live long and prosper!"
"Hehe, Michael, I knew it was you... or should I say, Rear Admiral Michael now?"
"Ahem, well, in Grandma Tsuru's eyes, I'm just a brat, aren't I?" Michael grinned broadly as he leaned against the desk.
"You always did have a sweet tongue." Tsuru's face softened into a kind smile.
"Hey, Hina, long time no see."
"Hina also feels it's been a while, Big Brother Rosinante."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Michael blinked in surprise.
The original story hadn't gone into such detail about every side character's background.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
As fellow Marine recruits—both raised or handpicked early by high-ranking officers—it was only natural they'd know each other.
Besides, Rosinante had always had a soft spot for kids.
After all, even while undercover, he couldn't help but reach out to help Law.
It made perfect sense, both logically and character-wise, that my overly gentle brother knew these young Marines.
"Well well, this makes things much easier, Grandma Tsuru" Michael said with an innocent, harmless smile that seemed almost too sweet.
"How about letting Hina join the secret special forces for some training?"
"Michael, didn't Sengoku give you full autonomy? As long as Hina agrees to your proposal, you can completely ignore me."
"Ahaha, Grandma Tsuru, when it comes to such matters, the old man has always been the one to make the final call and set the overall direction" Michael shrugged, gesturing toward the desk piled high with documents.
"But the specifics? Those are always decided by you, the Chief of Staff. In other words... this so-called 'full autonomy' of mine was actually granted by you, Grandma Tsuru."
Michael wasn't just flattering her.
This was the true status and authority of Tsuru within the Marines.
If Sengoku were to disappear now, the Marines would suffer no major losses—at least nothing crippling.
After all, the future Three Admirals—Akainu, Aokiji and Kizaru—were already approaching their peak.
Fleet Admiral Kong was still in his prime and could easily step back in to oversee everything.
But if they lost Chief of Staff Tsuru...
It would be like gouging out the brain of the Marines.
In the entire One Piece World, Tsuru was the only person whose intellect alone struck fear into others.
And among those "others" was the future infamous "Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo.
Chased across the seas like a stray dog by Tsuru, even after joining the Shichibukai and refusing to show Sengoku any respect, he would still obediently sit back down in his chair for meetings with just one word from her.
After listening to Michael, Tsuru sighed.
"It seems you've already grasped the state of the entire sea, Michael."
"Hina, this is the best training opportunity for you."
"And as you can see, for a long time to come, I'll be stuck in this office with paperwork."
She pointed at the documents on her desk, her face full of resignation.
After only a brief hesitation, Hina saluted Michael under Tsuru's encouraging gaze.
"Rear Admiral Michael, Ensign Hina reporting for duty!"
In the following days, similar scenes played out in the offices of various elite vice admirals.
However, after securing Hina from Tsuru's office, the vice admirals proved much more agreeable.
But... it was important to remember that factions existed within the Marines.
And these factions were largely led by the future Three Admirals, already predetermined.
Akainu led the radical militarist faction—full of battle-hungry fanatics who, following his example, rarely cared about their comrades' lives.
Aokiji's faction was the moderate, the most conventional Marines, though extremists saw them as lacking conviction.
As for Kizaru, his faction was the neutral, laid-back Marine's—the largest group, composed mostly of those who joined the Marines for self-preservation, strictly following orders and never doing anything unnecessary.
These were the three major factions.
Of course, other smaller factions existed as well.
For example, the female soldiers' faction led by Vice Admiral Tsuru and Gion—there's not much to introduce, as the number of female soldiers is relatively scarce.
Then there's the faction led by Marine Hero Garp, whose defining trait is sheer shamelesness!
A whole bunch of unruly folks!
Their behavior can be summed up as usually being extremely easygoing.
But once their tempers flare, even Fleet Admiral Sengoku himself wouldn't be able to rein them in!
There's absolutely no scenario where they'd grovel before a logistics officer or kneel before a commander.
Take Smoker for instance—he's a prime example.
Though there are many factions, the differences are purely ideological and it hasn't devolved into power struggles or infighting.
Overall, they remain united.
However, when it comes to joining the SWORD Secret Special Forces, the major factions share the same attitude…
"It sounds great, but I really don't want to leave my current unit."
So even after Rear Admiral Michael made his rounds throughout Marine Headquarters…
Only Hina, Smoker and the unaffiliated young Lieutenant T-Bone and Lieutenant Shu chose to join.
But Michael was quite satisfied with these four…
This special forces unit was meant to prioritize quality over quantity.
And… he didn't plan to recruit solely from Marine Headquarters.