It's chapters like these that remind me how overlooked Sengoku is. The man is incredibly well composed and seasoned. He's not over being goofy, but knows when to take it seriously, and remains even tempered as best as possible in all situation. And he has the best pet in the entire series. The fact he grayed out his hair from all the stress from his position as Fleet Admiral is both funny and relatable. Makes him a comparatively human character in an otherwise zany series.
Indeed. Tying this to the current Fleet Admiral, we're seeing some intriguing developments going on with Sakazuki's character right now that I would expect more from Sengoku.
Before the time skip, everyone and their mother would describe Akainu as an extremist who would get his man no matter the cost. That for the greater good, even the lives of marines were forfeit because he killed that AWOL. Oda even has this beautiful spread where he contrasts Akainu extinguishing pirates to create law and order to the pure chaos of Blackbeard bringing down everything Marine HQ stands for.
But what would folks say now to the Sakazuki of the latest chapter? A man that has cooled down, put away his grudge, and is communicating with Fujitora again. Fujitora probably following orders to move to a new battlefield. A man that would rather keep the government-backed warlords than dispose of the system and have to hunt these pirates down. A man hesitant to expend resources to stop the first Yonko alliance because a Yonko territory is not under the World Government's jurisdiction.
It's possible that due to the nature of the job, the Fleet Admiral is expected to gravitate towards the Gorosei's position on all important matters. He was nominated to the position by them while Aokiji came from the marines via Sengoku. They could be doing each other a favor, if Sakazuki follows this order to the letter then in the future he will be rewarded with access to the SSG to hunt the targets he pleases. Maybe Akainu really is the leader of Sword and he is investigating a less militaristic approach to the alliance outside of the Gorosei's wishes.
Either way, you can't have the World Government as the final antagonist if the entire Navy defects from their rule. There must be some ideological alignment or compromises being made. When the cleansing takes place, I don't expect many influential Marines to start quitting left and right or the Strawhats won't have admirals to fight.