One miserable night passed, only for the miserable days to continue.
The next morning, a new round of training began.
There was no rest and no extra time to play.
The three children fell into an endless routine of waking up, training, studying, and sleeping.
Their two hours of lessons each evening were the closest thing they had to rest.
Garp and Sengoku hated that part the most.
They didn’t want to study; they wanted to play.
But under Jiro’s watch, they could only sit obediently and listen.
His lessons were crude, simple, and direct.
Whenever they didn’t understand something, they could ask, and Jiro would explain it.
Even after hearing the explanation, the two boys sometimes remained completely lost.
Tsuru enjoyed the lessons most.
She had the best comprehension and learning ability of the three and was the most eager to gain knowledge.
She couldn’t compare to Garp and Sengoku in physical training, but when it came to studying, she was easily the top student.
Sengoku came next.
As expected of the future Fleet Admiral, once he overcame his initial discomfort, learning became easy for him.
Garp was the most miserable.
This was his first time receiving a proper education, and he had somehow ended up at the bottom of the class.
When the assessment results came out, he was firmly in last place.
Holding the three exam papers, Jiro brought their month-long assessment to its final stage.
He had given them a test, and Garp’s result was truly astonishing.
“Thirty-five points?” Jiro stared at him.
“Garp, how did you even take this test?
It was worth a hundred points, and you only got thirty-five.
Aren’t you embarrassed?” Garp’s failing score embarrassed him.
How many times had he told the boy to study hard and pay attention in class?
Every question had been covered before, yet Garp still didn’t know the answers.
“These are all things I taught in class.
The questions are simple.
You could score sixty with your eyes closed, so how did you get thirty-five?” “Look at Tsuru and Sengoku.
They started later than you, yet both scored higher.” Sengoku had earned eighty-seven points, while Tsuru had scored ninety-five.
Tsuru was a genuine top student with excellent learning ability.
Both scores were within Jiro’s expectations.
Garp failing was the surprise.
Jiro had thought he would at least pass, but the final result left him speechless.
“Come on.
Tell me how you managed this.” Garp took the paper and stared at the large 35 written across it.
He had really scored only thirty-five points.
How embarrassing.
After glancing at Sengoku’s and Tsuru’s scores, he became even more depressed.
“I only got thirty-five?
Dad, did you grade it wrong?” Jiro’s hands trembled with anger.
“Come here and look for yourself.” He placed all three exam papers on the table.
Garp carefully compared them while Sengoku and Tsuru came over.
They already knew their own scores, but when they saw Garp’s, both burst out laughing.
“You failed, Garp,” Sengoku said.
“Did you fall asleep during the test?” Tsuru looked at the paper.
“Thirty-five points?
I could score eighty with my eyes closed.
How did you even manage that?” Garp had stayed ahead of them in training and mocked them constantly.
Now their opportunity had finally arrived.
How could they waste such a rare chance to mock him?
“Oh no,” Sengoku said dramatically.
“I only got eighty-seven.
What a terrible score.
If I hadn’t messed up the last question, I might’ve gotten a perfect hundred.” Tsuru joined in.
“Exactly.
I made a few careless mistakes too.
If I’d checked more carefully, a hundred points would’ve been easy.” Sengoku patted Garp on the shoulder.
“Do you want some of my points?
I have plenty.
Even if I gave you twenty, I’d still pass.” Tsuru nodded generously.
“I’ll give you thirty.
Take them.” The two were unusually generous, casually offering him twenty or thirty points.
They had so many to spare that giving some to Garp felt like charity.
Garp fell silent.
He hadn’t expected them to turn the tables on him like this.
Jiro shook his head.
“You’ll copy the entire exam ten times.
Make sure you understand every question you got wrong.
Until you do, don’t even think about leaving.” He turned to Sengoku and Tsuru.
“You two can rest.
There’s no training today.” They immediately nodded and left.
After training for a month, they badly needed the break.
Garp, however, was left behind.
He had to keep studying.
He couldn’t play or leave while his father watched over him, correcting each mistake and explaining the questions again and again.
Sengoku and Tsuru stayed long enough to hear which questions he had gotten wrong.
Once Garp finished his first copy, they went out to play.
Half an hour later, they returned.
Garp was still copying.
He looked miserable.
The two sat nearby and stared at him, making him even more restless.
He had only completed one copy, with nine more remaining.
Only after starting did he realize how much work ten copies actually were.
Garp lowered his head and continued, working through the second, third, and eventually ninth copy.
At last, he reached the final one.
Nearly two hours had passed.
Seeing how slowly he worked, Jiro felt like hitting him with the stick.
The exam wasn’t even long.
Jiro had deliberately kept it simple, with only ten questions, yet Garp had somehow dragged the task out for half the day.
“Stop.
Don’t finish the last copy.” Garp happily put down his pen.
His father really did love him after all.
That happiness lasted less than half a second.
“Take the test again.” Jiro removed the copied answers and tossed a blank exam paper in front of him.
Garp stared at it, dumbfounded.
Sengoku and Tsuru immediately burst out laughing.
They loved the way Uncle handled things.
It was always so unexpected.
“Hahahaha!” “Hahahaha!” While they mocked him, Garp lowered his head with a bitter expression.
He had no choice.
Gritting his teeth, he began answering the questions.
Half an hour later, he finished.
He checked the paper more than a dozen times before daring to hand it over.
As Jiro graded it, Garp stood beside him without making a sound.
He was terrified that one mistake would earn him another ten copies.
Finally, Jiro nodded.
“Not bad.
Everything is correct.
So you do have a brain after all.” “You’re capable when you actually try.” “Pay attention in class from now on.
Stop thinking about playing all the time.” “Studying is one of your basic responsibilities.
It isn’t optional.” Garp didn’t want to answer.
He only wanted to go play.
Sengoku and Tsuru had already enjoyed themselves.
Now it was his turn.
Jiro continued, “I’ll teach you something new this afternoon.
Haven’t all of you been asking to learn how to fight?” “This afternoon, we’ll begin a new subject: combat training.” “I’ll teach you how to fight properly.” Garp and Sengoku instantly became excited.
They had been pestering Jiro about this for an entire month, and they were finally going to learn the real thing.
“Long live Dad!” “Long live Uncle!” “Uncle is the best!” Tsuru was excited as well.
They were finally beginning real combat training.
After a month of exercise, all three had become much stronger, and their physiques had improved dramatically.
They could now easily defeat their former selves from a month ago.
Even Tsuru’s physical fitness had improved by several levels.