36 Prelude to War.
"Sir, we received a report on what happened to Gecko Moria. It was submitted by Shichibukai Kuma." The marine handed the papers to his superior officer at the desk before leaving with a salute.
The man who was looking over the report adopted an annoyed expression. He was Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
He passed the papers around the room to the others he was having a meeting with.
Admiral's Kizaru, Aokiji, and Sakazuki were reading over the report and continued to pass it on. They were not the only ones present.
The final two members were The Marine Hero Garp and Vice Admiral Tsuru.
"Gecko Moria lost, he doesn't deserve his place among the Shichibukai" Sakazuki said.
"We can't remove him after what happened to crocodile, if the world sees another defeated Shichibukai their faith in us will waiver" Aokiji responded.
"Your grandson is in the middle of this mess again Garp!" Sengoku yelled towards the marine hero.
"Kuma left out his thoughts on the matter, he didn't think it wise to add them to the report" Tsuru said quietly.
Sengoku calmed down and looked towards the vice admiral.
"According to kuma, the group that were with the strawhats did the majority of the fighting" Tsuru said.
"Were they pirates?" Sakazuki said sternly.
"According to Kuma, they were not pirates. In fact, he did not recognize them at all" She said to the admiral.
"So some unknowns come out of no where and defeat Moria, Kuma should have been able to deal with them. We all knew that Moria was growing weak" Sakazuki said annoyed.
"That is one of the major concerns for this meeting" Tsuru said stoically.
"Kuma said that he had no chance in defeating these unknown people" She said with a darkened expression.
Sengoku and the admirals had a shocked expression on their faces. Kuma was strong, he was able to fight an admiral if he wanted, though he would lose in the end.
"If Kuma's judgement was accurate, then he made the correct call" Sengoku said.
"We don't have the resources to battle an unknown group that strong who may not even be hostile. We can't forget that Moria was the one to initiate hostilities." He added.
"That's not all, this isn't the first report on these unknowns" Tsuru said again.
"They originated from East blue and made contact with a small time Marine Captain. He ran into them one point and they offered assistance in dealing with a pirate crew that were beyond the capabilities of the captain " She explained.
"They showed abilities far beyond what was to be expected for that part of the ocean so he put in a request for monitoring. It was escalate when they started to make a name for themselves and a vice admiral happened to be nearby and took the request to surveil the group. He also noticed power far exceeding what was expected and they were completely unknown. This was a period before they encountered Moria" She finished.
"We've been too occupied preparing for war, this would have been much higher on our priorities otherwise" Sengoku said with a sigh.
"Is it possible to recruit them? They showed no hostilities and haven't broken any laws." Aokiji asked.
"Unlikely but not impossible" Tsuru said.
Sengoku pondered for a minute before issuing his order.
"Approach with caution. Until they show otherwise, they are not to be treated as criminals. If you get the opportunity relay a message that the government wishes to recruit them"
The admirals left after receiving their orders, it was only the older generation that remained.
"This does not bode well" Sengoku said, rubbing his temples.
"I agree, it is bad timing that an unknown group that can match an admiral at the least appears when we prepare for war" Tsuru added.
"If luffy gets along with them the they'll probably get into trouble eventually" Garp said with a laugh.
"Your family is the bane of my existence garp" Sengoku said with a face palm.
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Ichigo's peerage didn't really have a destination like the pirates that swarmed the seas. They just drifted along the waves while in the "paradise" portion of the grand line.
They were taking any bounties they came across, mostly due to the pirates thinking them easy prey but they also sought out the more despicable of the bunch.
It was ironic the name the world came to know them by, they never officially introduced a name for their crew so the world created one to call them.
People referred to them as the "Shinigami". Since the group went after the worst of the worst, they showed no mercy and promptly demolished any in their wake. It was said when they came after you, not a single soul would escape.
When a reporter approached them at one point to interview the now famous crew he asked what their purpose was. Were they pirates, bounty hunters….what were they?
Their answer: Sightseers. They were merely sailing around for pleasure and happened to take some bounties along the way.
Needless to say, this caused quite the stir in the world.
Various organizations sought to recruit them. Kingdom's wanted them to protect their borders, Pirates wanted to expand their crews. Even the World Government sent a representative to parlay.
Their exploits were watched closely, they showed off their strength and people were baffled at the powers they displayed. There were rumors that some of them knew magic and that none of them had even eaten a devil's fruit.
Some of the crew had even gotten monikers.
Jaina "The Mage" There were rumors of her using magic and referring to herself as a mage.
Shirou "The king of blades" There had been people witnessing him creatr all manner of bladed weapons and using them all proficiently.
Orihime "The Goddess of Life" It was said among those that she had saved that it did not matter how bad the wound you had, if you still drew breath she would make sure you lived.
Artoria "The holy Knight" Her display's of power could only be described as holy and she held herself as a knight.
Rukia "The Ice Queen" She displayed her command over ice, this had raised a few questions regarding her powers since the Ice Logia fruit had a known user.
The last one was a bit surprising how much attention she got.
Tier "The Empress" She had control over water. She could command the very sea they sailed on. They dubbed her the empress of the sea. Her powers was heavily scrutinized, there were no devil fruits that could command the sea. It was impossible, the sea countered devil fruit users and yet she wielding it like it was a part of her.
This went beyond even the manipulation that the fishmen could do, they could manipulate water for various purposes but she controlled it with ease.
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The peerage had been mostly ignorant to the waves they made in the world's politics. They knew they had become some-what famous but beyond the occasional recruitment speech they didn't really get effected that much.
They were on a small island near the Sabaody Archipelago, they were receiving a lot of attention as they docked and headed into town.
One of the "features" they found out about the ship, it had Anit-theft measures built in. They didn't need to leave anyone to watch the ship.
"Lets go get a drink" Ichigo said to his group. He had taken up going to taverns whenever they docked, it was a good way to eat or drink and hear some information about whats been happening in the world.
Their faces have been rather famous so many people were doing double takes as they walked past. They could hear the hushed whispers about who they were looking at. It was hard to get used to for most of the group, they all usually had to hide their abilities form the public and here they were the center of rumors and intrigue.
The tavern was easy to find, and it wasn't too crowded for their group. The owner was more than happy to serve them, he had explained that their presence had reduced pirate trouble dramatically in the area.
Ichigo silently listened to the conversations around him, the ones that weren't directed towards him or his group. He was hearing some interesting stuff, apparently the government had captured and planned to execute a commander in the whitebeard crew, "Fire fist" ace and they were preparing for war.
One piece of news he heard made his expression drop drastically. Apparently Luffy assaulted one of those "world nobles" and the government sent an admiral after him and the other rookies at the Archipelago. They say that the strawhats were taken out by the Shichibukai Kuma who also arrived.
This had happened several days ago. The others in his peerage also heard the news and had the same expression. They all got up and left, they didn't need to say anything. They were headed to Sabaody Archipelago.
It would take a few days to reach their destination even with the cheat that was their ship. Ichigo was a bit worried. That idiot had not crushed the orb, he could only hope that it was because he didn't need to.
There was other news that pertained to the fate of the strawhats, apparently the "dark king" appeared and fought off the Admiral to save the strawhats. There were rumors that he was living on the island as a coater. A coater being one who coats a ship so that it can go to fishman island that's very far below the ocean's surface.
They didn't bother to take proof of any bounties they encountered along the way. According to eye witnesses, the "shinigami" just plowed through everything in their way as they sailed towards Sabaody Archipelago.
When Ichigo and his peerage docked at the island, they were receiving a lot more attention than they had thought.
There were a lot more marines here since the incident had happened.
They all looked at Ichigo's crew with awe. Ichigo's crew had a very good reputation among the marines, they had often saved various marines while they were out hunting.
Orihime in particular was loved by them, she had shown off her healing abilities and saved many lives.
As they were walking through the streets, plenty of marines approached them and thanked them for their rescue or healing. The pirates that still lingered were quickly making themselves scarce.
Ichigo and his peerage were searching all the coating specialists on the island. He could tell with merely a glance that none of them were the "Dark king".
It took them several hours and they were quickly dwindling on possible locations, they happened upon one that worked out of a bar. It was called "Shakky's Rip-off Bar", Ichigo could tell as he got closer, it was this one. The aura's inside were strong, much stronger than the normal person.
Ichigo and his group entered the bar. The bartender and the one person at the counter turned around to see the newcomers.
Ichigo's eyes met the old man that was having a drink.
"Is luffy safe?" Was all Ichigo asked.
This took them by surprise.
"Safe is relative" The old man said with a laugh.
"What did that idiot get himself into?" Ichigo asked with a sigh.
"You're probably going to need a drink." The old man offered to Ichigo and his crew.
"Alright, tell me what happened since he was attacked by the Admiral" Ichigo said, taking the next seat.
"Well the most important thing right now, his crew is safe as is he….for now" The old said ominously.
Before Ichigo could ask what he meant by that, the old man continued.
"Fire fist Ace…is his brother." The old man said.
Ichigo responded with a face palm.
"Let me guess, the idiot is going to rescue his brother?" Ichigo said.
"Spot on" The old man responded with a laugh.
"And he's way over his head?" Ichigo asked.
The old man nodded.
"I guess I should be expecting his call for help any time then" Ichigo said with a sigh.
"What do you mean by that?" The bartender asked.
"I gave him something that can summon me and my crew if he's ever way over his head and a life is at stake." Ichigo explained.
"Oh, to give something like that to Strawhat…you must really care about him." She said with a smile.
"The idiot grows on you way too easily, I only knew him for less than a day. Plus....Zoro had the same teacher as me. " Ichigo said with an awkward smile.
Ichigo's peerage couldn't argue with that, they honestly like the idiot themselves. He was way too pure and innocent.
"I'm surprised that the famous "shinigami" crew are friends with the strawhats, I heard that you tend to hunt down pirates with extreme prejudice." The old man said.
"We don't hunt down pirates, we hunt down monsters" Ichigo corrected.
The old man raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh.
"The Marines are in for a rude awakening if you guys show up during the war" The old man said.
It was moments later that Ichigo felt it. A tugging sensation, like his senses were linked somewhere else.
He smiled towards his peerage. They felt it as well.
The two at the bar looked at them in confusion.
"Looks like its time" Ichigo said.
"Let's put on a good show" Yoruichi said with a sadistic smile.
Ichigo took out Zangetsu and stabbed it into the air and turned it like a key.
The familiar doorway opened up for the group. Ichigo turned back towards the two at the bar.
"Thanks for the help" He said.
"Give them hell kid" The bartender said to the shinigami.
The group disappeared into the portal.
"I almost feel bad for the Marines" The old man spoke with a laugh.
"Heh, the Dark King feels pity towards his long time enemies. That group sure is something to get a response like that from you" The bartender said.
"You have no idea" The Dark king thought to himself. He couldn't feel the peak of their power.
