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"Zephyr, that's not what I'm talking about," Sengoku said, rubbing his nose with a slightly sheepish expression.
He had extended the invitation many times, asking Zephyr to take part in the war between Marine Headquarters and the Whitebeard Pirates, and Zephyr had turned him down every time. But that was no longer a pressing concern. Ikki would now be involved in the war, and unlike Zephyr, he would not need to be persuaded.
What was more, Ikki would not be coming alone. His crew's strength was not built on him alone, as some of his companions possessed exceptionally powerful abilities in their own right. Nami alone had once wielded a blade capable of summoning heavenly lightning to pin down the Golden Lion, buying Ikki the opening he needed to finish the fight.
Having Ikki and his formidable crew present at the war against the Whitebeard Pirates was significant, even if Ikki chose not to go all out. And beyond raw strength, the ties between Ikki's crew and the Marines were rooted in both personal loyalty and shared interest. Sengoku had little doubt that Ikki would give the matter his genuine effort.
With that in mind, Sengoku no longer had any intention of pressing Zephyr on the matter.
"Then what did you want to talk about, Sengoku?" Zephyr asked. He turned to glance at Ain beside him. "Ain, why don't you head outside and wait for a bit? I'll chat with Sengoku and come out shortly. Then we'll continue with our mission."
Ain nodded and began making her way toward the door, intending to head down to the Marine Headquarters port to relay Zephyr's orders to the rest of the pirate guerrilla unit.
"Wait, Zephyr, let Ain stay," Sengoku said. His gaze had landed on the short sword at Ain's waist, and he found himself speaking before he had fully decided to. "What I'm about to say has nothing to do with sensitive matters. It's perfectly fine for her to hear it."
Ain stopped and looked back at Zephyr.
"Then stay, Ain," Zephyr said. He had no idea what Sengoku intended to say, but he was not going to refuse his old friend's request.
"What I want to talk about concerns Ikki," Sengoku said.
Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "Ikki? What has that man done now?"
Throughout his long career as an instructor, Zephyr had shaped many of the Marines' finest. The current three Admirals were all his former students. Ikki, for his part, had trained a number of formidable disciples of his own and had left Gion with a powerful legacy.
His methods were rooted in kendo and differed somewhat from Zephyr's approach, but as a fellow teacher, Zephyr found himself genuinely interested in the man.
"So you are curious about him," Sengoku said with a smile, reading Zephyr's reaction easily. "Actually, what I want to discuss is not Ikki himself, but the people he has trained. Specifically, someone from within our own Marines. Something happened at Impel Down recently, Zephyr."
"A riot broke out at Impel Down?!" Zephyr's expression shifted the moment he heard it. "And Sadi-chan, the one Ikki trained, actually managed to hold back Bullet, and along with him, the other inmates on Level 6?!"
His surprise was understandable. Zephyr had never faced Bullet personally, but Bullet had forced both Sengoku and Garp to authorize a Buster Call to bring him in. That alone was testament to his strength. His time in Impel Down had surely taken a toll on his condition, but even so, for Sadi-chan to stop him was extraordinary.
It was proof of just how powerful she had become under Ikki's tutelage.
"Zephyr, you know I wouldn't fabricate something like this," Sengoku said. "Ikki has genuinely produced a swordsman of remarkable strength."
"I won't deny it," Zephyr said. "If Sadi-chan is capable of that, then she is indeed a formidable swordsman. Ikki is a peculiar man. The fact that she reached this level in such a short time is hard to believe." He paused, then looked at Sengoku directly. "Have you asked her how he did it? What kind of training did Ikki put her through?"
It was a natural question for a man of Zephyr's position. As the Marines' foremost instructor, seeing Ikki produce results at that speed was genuinely astonishing. He was curious about the method, and had even found himself wondering whether any part of it might complement his own approach, allowing him to build even stronger forces in the future.
"Unfortunately, even Sadi-chan herself could not fully explain it," Sengoku said, shaking his head. "And Gion, as you know, does not entirely understand how Ikki made her stronger either. The one thing we do know is that Ikki is capable of modifying famous swords, and that when he gives one of his modified blades to someone, that person can gain abilities of an extraordinary and almost inexplicable nature."
What Sengoku did not know was that Sadi-chan was not quite as ignorant of Ikki's methods as he believed. She did not know everything, but she knew more than Gion did. The difference was that Sadi's mind was entirely fixed on Ikki, and she had no intention of returning to the Marines' fold.
She had only come back to Impel Down because Ikki wanted her to hold the position of warden, a foothold that would be useful to him in the future. That was the sole reason. Her thoughts, her loyalty, her purpose, all of it was oriented toward Ikki, which meant she would not be sharing his secrets with anyone else.
That included the Marines.
As for Gion, Ikki had taken a more discreet approach when he had enhanced her, which meant she genuinely knew very little about his methods. And even if she had known more, given her feelings toward Ikki, there was no certainty she would have told the Marines anything he had asked her to keep quiet.