*Chapter 236: Kizaru: Have I Fallen Out of Favor?*

News of Kizaru’s defeat spread throughout the Navy. The warship he led, along with most of his forces, was practically wiped out.

The loss of the warship itself wasn’t a big deal—once the World Government approves funding, they can simply acquire more. However, the loss of these elite marines was a different matter; they were irreplaceable assets, not something money could buy.

Seventy percent of the marines Kizaru led perished, most of them buried at sea. Only Kizaru and the remaining thirty percent of his troops made it back, defeated and ashamed.

And Pain, the target of the mission, was not captured. It was a complete failure. Even the Revolutionary Army made an appearance, yet Kizaru didn’t even catch sight of any of them.

Many in the Navy Headquarters already had reservations about Kizaru, and this failure exacerbated his unpopularity. Although he is an admiral, the Navy has many strong figures, each with their own allegiances. After this disastrous battle, Kizaru’s reliability is in serious doubt. He not only failed the mission but also indirectly led his forces to their deaths. These were his elite troops, and now they’ve been lost in vain.

Kizaru’s position as admiral might not be in immediate jeopardy, but over time, his standing could weaken. Particularly now, many within the Navy have begun to side with Uchiha Raijin.

“Admiral Borsalino.”

Two Vice Admirals approached Borsalino (Kizaru), their faces grim. This mission had been a total failure, and they had lost face. If they had at least captured a small fry, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But they returned empty-handed, with significant financial losses.

“Let’s head back first.”

Kizaru’s expression remained unchanged as he glanced at the devastated land before him. The Akatsuki organization posed a significant threat, especially if they aligned with the Revolutionary Army. If that happened, both the Navy and the World Government would face serious trouble. The Revolutionary Army had always been a hidden threat, and now, if they were backed by the Akatsuki—a leopard with a tiger as its leader—the Navy and World Government would have an even tougher battle ahead.

However, Kizaru felt this wasn’t entirely his problem. After all, his focus had been solely on Uchiha Raijin. He didn’t care about the others and had only come because he knew Pain was connected to Uchiha Raijin. Without that connection, he wouldn’t have even bothered coming.

“Brr-brr-brr.”

At this moment, the sound of a Den Den Mushi (transponder snail) rang out. Kizaru glanced at it, feeling a headache coming on. He feared it might be a call from Sengoku, which would inevitably mean a severe scolding. They’d already been berated here, and once they returned, it would happen all over again.

“Moshi moshi?”

Kizaru’s lazy voice responded as he looked at the Den Den Mushi.

“Admiral Borsalino, there’s been another development in Dressrosa,” a voice came through.

“Oh?”

Kizaru’s eyes sharpened. No matter what, any action related to Dressrosa had to be intercepted. When it came to Dressrosa and Uchiha Raijin, he would not hesitate.

“A fleet from Dressrosa is heading towards the North Blue. According to our sources, it seems they’re interested in Germa 66. There’s a high probability they want to recruit Germa 66, likely for their technology, aiming to surpass the World Government’s power.”

It was no secret that Germa’s king, Judge, was once a colleague of Vegapunk. Many people across the seas knew this and coveted Germa’s technology. Germa was at the forefront of technology, but the World Government, with Vegapunk on their side, had no interest in Germa’s inventions, considering them leftovers from Vegapunk’s experiments. The projects Vegapunk was currently working on were far more advanced, outclassing Germa by a wide margin.

However, not everyone saw it that way. Vegapunk was under the World Government’s control, and there were only a few top scientists left in the world. One was with the Beast Pirates, though he rarely made moves, his knowledge in modification and poison technology was top-notch. The other was Germa 66, with their expertise in cloning, bloodline factors, and memory chip armor technology. Many desired these technologies, but lacked the strength to seize them.

Uchiha Raijin, however, had the power and qualifications to potentially bring Germa under his control.

“I didn’t expect something like this to happen,” Kizaru’s eyes flickered. Germa was a member nation of the World Government, so he had no authority to interfere in their affairs. If two member nations cooperated, an admiral had no say in the matter.

But if Germa were pirates...

Never mind! Uchiha Raijin’s close ties with pirates haven’t caused the World Government to take action. In fact, their relationship with Uchiha Raijin has only grown closer. Uchiha, as a Warlord of the Sea, even has connections with the Celestial Dragons.

Doflamingo, once a powerful figure, has long been forgotten by the sea.

However, Kizaru wasn’t ready to let this slide. He planned to cause some trouble for Uchiha Raijin—at the very least, he couldn’t let him have it easy.

“Admiral Borsalino?”

The marine on the other end of the line was waiting for Kizaru’s next orders.

“Oh! I’ll handle this. Report it to higher-ups first,” Kizaru stroked his chin.

“Yes, sir!”

The Den Den Mushi call ended.

Kizaru thought for a moment and then picked up the World Government’s Den Den Mushi. He knew it would be impossible to get the Navy or the World Government to stop Uchiha Raijin’s actions. As long as Uchiha Raijin didn’t openly reveal his ambitions against the world, the World Government would continue to treat Dressrosa as a pet—training it and placing bets on both sides without spending any money, letting Dressrosa grow.

But Kizaru had already seen through their ambitions. There was no way this would end here!

So let's start with something a little gross.

"Moshi Moshi, Five Elders!"

Kizaru answered the call, his tone becoming slightly more formal. After all, he was a Marine Admiral and in command of the Marine Science Unit.

One could say that few in the Marines were as closely aligned with the World Government as he was. In fact, he was practically the World Government's representative within the Marines. But clearly, Kizaru hadn't fulfilled his duties as a representative well enough.

"Borsalino, I know why you're calling. I'm not going to pursue this matter further!"

"Even if that guy escapes, it's not a big deal! You can return to the Marines now!"

The Five Elders cut Kizaru off as soon as they picked up. They weren't very concerned about Payne; at most, he was a minor nuisance. They just didn't have the time to deal with them; otherwise, Payne and the Revolutionary Army would have been crushed long ago.

Another factor was the Revolutionary Army's incredible ability to stay hidden. To this day, they had no information on the Revolutionary Army's strongholds, making them like rats hiding in the sewers.

"It's not about that! Elders, from what I know, Dressrosa seems to have sent people to the North Blue to search for Germa 66."

"They seem to be planning to bring Germa 66 under their control, thereby enhancing their strength!"

Kizaru said seriously, staring at the Den Den Mushi (the transponder snail).

"..."

The Five Elders immediately began discussing among themselves. They clearly weren't too concerned about such trivial matters.

Even though Dressrosa had grown into a major power in the New World, the Five Elders still didn't think much of them. After all, in their eyes, Dressrosa was still playing with outdated tools.

"What's your point?"

The Elders paused their discussion, and Saturn spoke up, asking Kizaru for his thoughts.

"I believe letting Dressrosa make contact with Dr. Vegapunk's former assistant could cause some problems."

"Dressrosa's growth is not in the World Government's best interest. After all, they are merely a Warlord of the Sea under the World Government."

"Furthermore, they have such close ties with pirates. This time, Kaido and Charlotte Linlin married off their daughter to strengthen that connection."

"I hope we can either force Dressrosa to stop their actions or... have the World Government destroy Germa entirely."

A glint of killing intent flashed in Kizaru's eyes!

After his defeat at the hands of Payne, he needed to regain some ground. Dressrosa was definitely after something valuable from Germa. Destroying that would be the best course of action.

Even if the Five Elders didn't agree, at the very least, this matter would put Dressrosa on their radar. They couldn't be allowed to act so freely anymore. Some restrictions had to be put in place.

"Borsalino, let's end this here."

"We will handle Dressrosa's affairs ourselves."

Click 

The call was abruptly disconnected.

Kizaru's face showed a bit of confusion.

What's going on?

Even if they didn't accept his proposal, there was no need for such an attitude.

In Pangaea Castle, the faces of the five elders remained calm, unperturbed by Kizaru's proposal.

"Now that we have Vegapunk under our control, Germa is irrelevant."

"No! Vegapunk seems to have other thoughts lately. It's better to keep Germa around; their abilities might still be useful in the future."

"Indeed! But Kizaru is becoming petty, bothering us with such a trivial matter."

"Haha! Dressrosa doesn't show the Marines any respect, so Kizaru has grown to dislike them, especially after that last incident."

"Let them do as they please!"

The upheavals on the sea were like children's squabbles to them!

Their gaze turned deeper into the palace. The reason they had ended the call so abruptly was that there seemed to be movement in the deeper chambers.

Lord Imu was on the verge of awakening.

Kakashi pulled down his mask and yawned.

After arriving in the North Blue, he found the local manga quite interesting. But...

Kakashi still gave these mangas a poor rating.

They didn’t contain what he wanted to see—what else was there to do but give them a bad review? Just some hot-blooded manga, fairy tales, and villain stories. What was the point?

What do men really want? Don’t they know it themselves?

Tsk tsk!

They should have brought Jiraiya to the sea. Who knows if he could innovate with Make-Out Paradise?

Only...

Kakashi touched the copy of Make-Out Paradise in his ninja pouch. He used to think it was the pinnacle of human creativity, but after coming to the sea, he realized it was a bit too tame.

As expected!

A virgin's imagination is just that limited.

Hopefully, Jiraiya-sensei can come up with something new. Forget about Tsunade, that bad woman, and focus on creating something good.

"Kakashi-sama, we're almost there."

Shiranui Genma also yawned.

Although the North Blue was in constant turmoil, as soon as their ship arrived, flying Dressrosa's flag, their journey had been smooth.

The North Blue was really chaotic. Previously, the North Blue’s underground market was controlled by the Donquixote Family and Germa, among other countries. Back then, while the North Blue was chaotic, it was a chaos with rules.

Basically, these two forces decided who would fight whom. Then, they would sell weapons to opposing sides at high prices. They were essentially arms dealers, making huge profits from the North Blue.

But after the fall of the Donquixote Family, the balance shifted. Chaos reigned everywhere, with battles breaking out constantly. The weapons trade increased, leading to more deaths.

Foreign arms dealers were mostly wiped out by Germa. The local North Blue residents were embroiled in a confused war, not even knowing who they were fighting or who was attacking them. They only knew they had to kill their enemies.

Now, they could probably see cannon fire as soon as they landed.

"Chaos is understandable. Once our people arrive, we can resolve it."

"By the way, have you located Germa's position?"

Kakashi asked casually!

No chaos compares to the chaos of the Shinobi world. But the chaos in the Shinobi world was the lowest level of chaos.

Here, ordinary people can kill a Genin, so there's no comparison.

The sea is still more peaceful.

Look how polite these people on the sea are.

"We've found it! We've already run into them."

Shiranui Genma said seriously.

"What?"

Kakashi immediately sat up straight, scanning the surroundings.

He saw a snail ship appearing on the horizon, with Germa’s flag flying on it.

Shiranui Genma really was thorough. Shouldn't they scout out the situation first?

But!

It seems they've already grasped the situation in the North Blue.