The chaos of Mariejois would remain infamous for decades to come. Not only because of the losses of that one night, but because they had lost the entire structure of Mariejois. The flames were finally extinguish by the help of the Navy. It had taken over a day to find vice-admiral Sakazuki, trapped on that roof. One of the Marines had shot the figure imprisoning him in the head, after which he turned to water as the orb that had trapped the sputtering, coughing and cursing magma-man obeyed the law of gravity and fell, dissolving into a puddle.
It was only from an interview with Saint Roswald and his children, the only ones that had stood face-to-face with the culprit and walked away from it, that they learned his name. Madara Uchiha. Who was he? Men of such power didn't simply appear out of thin air.
The freshly promoted fleet-admiral Sengoku was prowling in his office in Marine-headquarters like a caged animal. His predecessor had retired when he read the news, part of it being blamed on him, and left the mess in Sengoku's hands. He looked around, and saw that the military-leaders, strategists and advisers he had asked for had arrived.
"Let us get straight to the topic, ladies and gentlemen." He began "The Mariejois-incident. The losses are, there is no other word for it, horrible. The property-damage alone is somewhere in the two-digited billions. Then there is the loss of life. Marines and World Government Agents have dropped like flies, but that is not the worst of it. One attacker, Madara Uchiha, has single-handedly slain thirty Tenryuubito. Nine more died in the fire this man has caused, or in the resulting collapses of buildings, seven were killed by Fisher Tiger, a fishman that climbed the Red Line barehanded to free slaves, four were killed by stray shots, and two were trampled to death by panicked hordes. Altogether, fifty-two Tenryuubito lost their lives. That is more than a quarter of all Tenryuubito that currently exist in our world."
He took a deep breath. "The World Government has taken drastic steps to ensure their capture. Lets begin with the fishman. Tiger Fisher's bounty is raised from 102.000.000 beri to 325.000.000 beri. Madara Uchiha, who was formerly completely unknown, has been given the highest start-bounty in the history of our world, going from 0 beri straight to 473.000.000 beri. Also, both Madara and Tiger Fisher have been given the title of Sinner."
To understand the shock at the table, one must understand what that title holds. The Tenryuubito, in honor of their families' great achievements, were granted the title of Saint, a title that grants them many privileges. To be titled with Sinner, the polar opposite, one must commit horrible crimes. Someone who was a sinner had no rights whatsoever. His life was forfeit to whoever could take it, and there would be no repercussion. No shop was allowed to sell anything to a Sinner, the punishment for doing so being death. And while powerful pirates are sometimes approached by the government, a Sinner would not be approached if the world ended. They were known as the worst of the worst, and not even the Yonkou had been given that title. In fact, the title of Sinner had not been given to anyone in over four-hundred years.
Sengoku cleared his throat. "Also, all current operations of the Marines are put on hold. The stationed Marines will remain at their stations, but all Marines and World Government Agents not absolutely needed are being withdrawn to protect the remaining Tenryuubito. It is suspected that Madara Uchiha holds a strong hatred against them, and we cannot afford to allow all remaining descendents of the world's creators to be slaughtered. For the moment, the Buster Call is also blocked. In the face of this threat, we cannot afford to send five Vice-admirals and ten battleships away."
Tsuru, the Great Tactician, looked up. "What of the planned investigation of Ohara? The World Government told us to prepare for one."
Sengoku shook his head. "That too is currently put on hold. It will be done, but not now. As I said before, all available forces are used to protect the Tenryuubito from further attack."
So the Marines and the World Government pulled their forces close, preparing for an attack that never came. Madara, while disliking Tenryuubito, found them to far beneath him to actively waste energy seeking them out. He had other plans...
