Shocking news spread to the entire of 201st Base - the Demolition Squad had returned from a brutal battle against the nefarious Trek Pirates! And unfortunately, there were extremely heavy casualties, even resulting in the original "genius" commander Kenji Akura being slaughtered by the Trek Pirate's captain! This was undoubtedly a shame and heavy loss for the entire Marine base...and an explanation would have to be given.

Currently, within Instructor Hotaru, all the surviving members of 'Demolition Squad' were in the office. A gloomy atmosphere filled the entire room, even the hulking Akoro had a tear slip down his face. Instructor Hotaru was currently smoking a cigar, his back turned to the group.

"So...what the hell happened!? The Trek Pirate's couldn't have been that strong!" Hotaru suddenly broke the silence with a furious undertone. The failure of Demolition Squad also meant the failure of his pride as an Instructor as well as his reputation! He may even suffer a demotion!

But none of that mattered to Hotaru. What was truly heartbreaking was the death of Kenji - the result was something he and Captain Oka could handle! This wasn't just the death of a potential great marine - this was the death of Garp's grandson! Who could just fathom that?

"The mission was an entire fluke. The Trek Pirates were plenty stronger than what intelligence originally thought! When Kenji gave the order to attack, he went ahead to face Daichi - which proved...fatal." Haru was the first to speak up, his eyes held some kind of sorrow that was indescribable. Who knew it was all a fake?

"How did he die exactly? Give me the details! And how come we were unable to find the body!?" This was one of the greatest mysteries of Kenji's apparent death - there was no corpse to show his death.

"By the time I had gotten to Daichi's room - Kenji was nowhere to be seen! Naturally enraged, I enter a fierce and hard battle - but managed to handcuff him! I asked him what happened to Kenji...but he refused to speak - only nodding his head to a poison blade on the floor. In a flurry of rage...I shot him!" Haru spoke all of this with a fury in his voice, selling his pack of lies with earnest ability. As all of this went through everyone's ears...they all felt their own emotions bubbling.

Kenji didn't deserve this!

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"You know that you should have kept him alive! Hmph...though I guess I can't be too angry - you were working on emotions. But I thought we had gone over this in training...clearly not enough. The rest of you, speak!"

Each member of Demolition Squad gave their own explanation of what happened from their view. And then...it was Itsuki's turn.

"Itsuki...there was no other survivors of the Red Blade except you and that boy Miyamoto. What exactly happened? And how did the rest of the ten Marines given to you die?" Hotaru's piercing eyes looked down at Itsuki, wanting to grasp the truth from his eyes.

Itsuki, however, after secret conferencing with Haru - had formulated his own excuse.

He was the brother of a proud and famous Marine! How could he let the people know that he couldn't handle the pirate given to him? Or that he relied on someone of a lower position to take the Red Blade down while he was knocked out with ease?

That would be a career-ruining blow to his reputation! And so...with the assistance of Haru...he formulated his own lies.

"The Red Blade was a powerful opponent, it took a lot of effort to bring him down! It would have been much easier if it wasn't for that snake, Miyamoto! He dared to abandon the mission at a crucial moment, refusing to support his fellow Marine when he crossed blows with the Red Blade! Like this, he ran away, and when another fellow comrade tried to stop him - he dared to shove that Marine into the Red Blade's attack! Naturally, I was infuriated when I saw this - and directly berated and rushed to the Marine's rescue...sadly I was too late." Itsuki spoke all of this with a righteous indignation, however, he seemed oddly not as convincing as Haru. However, it seemed to be enough, or at least he thought.

"And all of this you're telling me...is the truth?" Hotaru's piercing eyes dug directly into Itsuki's soul - he had suspicions about the validity of the story.

"Of course! That Miyamoto is scum that dishonors both the Navy and our Branch! Such a coward and scum doesn't deserve to be in our military!" Itsuki finished at this, his eyes drifting from Hotaru's eyes to his nose.

He felt incredible pressure bearing down on him! And a slight shame in his heart - he knew what he was doing was wrong. But he refused to let his reputation and career reduce to rubble! Not to mention, he wasn't fond of the arrogance that Miyamoto exuded - even daring to take his own opponent from him!

This hate is what brought him where he was right now!

"Wooshhh." Hotaru declined to comment, taking in a hit of his cigar, blowing the smoke out into the air.

This was the briefing he was given, and despite his own suspicions - he knew that he had no control over this matter.

This entire botched operation had flown out of his hands - it would have to be handled by the Sixty Six Navy Judges!

"Captain Oka wants to see all of you. Be sure to keep your story consistent." Hotaru spoke sharply, dismissing them all with this single sentence.

"Kenji...you can't be dead." Hotaru, alone in the office, spoke grimly with one last cloud of smoke.