— — — — — — —
Early the next morning, after breakfast and a quick training session, Uchiha Naori wasted no time teleporting to the South Blue. Her target? Silver Fox Foxy—still just a small-time character at this point.
With a simple genjutsu, she hypnotized him instantly.
Still unsatisfied, she gave him a solid smack on the head, knocking him out completely.
Only then did she teleport Foxy back to the main dimension of Space-Time Gate.
She quickly contacted Kaito through the communication space.
Shwoop!
The next moment, Kaito appeared beside her.
"So, this is Silver Fox Foxy? He looks a lot younger, but still just as ugly and sleazy."
Kaito glanced at the unconscious Foxy sprawled on the ground and couldn't help but comment.
Before Naori could respond, he reached out with a simple motion, and the Slow-Slow Fruit was extracted directly from Foxy's body.
Instead of immediately refining the fruit, Kaito simply willed it—using his space authority—to snap Foxy's neck, killing him on the spot.
Another thought, and he flung the corpse out of the Gate, tossing it into a deserted sea in the One Piece world to feed the fish.
With that taken care of, he turned his attention back to the Slow-Slow Fruit in his hand.
A wave of his hand purified the fruit, extracting the sea's curse and will within it.
He then threw the extracted curse and will back into the One Piece world before embedding the purified fruit into his mother's body.
"Alright! Mom, give it a try."
As Uchiha Naori adjusted to the changes in her body, she nodded.
She raised her hand and pointed at Kaito.
A pink slow beam shot out, hitting Kaito dead-on—since he made no effort to dodge.
Instantly, he felt his movements become incredibly sluggish.
He tried to move, but his speed was agonizingly slow.
After a long moment, he finally felt the effect fade away, and his speed and perception of time returned to normal.
"How does it feel? With your power, do you think you can forcibly break free from this ability?" Naori asked curiously.
"Nope!" Kaito shook his head. "It's clear that this Devil Fruit ability has a high potential ceiling since it involves time manipulation. Right now, I have no way to break free from it by force."
"That said, my five senses were unaffected—only my body was slowed down."
"This ability is definitely strong, but only if it lands."
"Mom, can you only use it in the form of beams? What's the max speed?"
Hearing this, Naori immediately answered, "Right now, I can only release it as a beam. As for speed, I can double what you just saw."
"But I believe that with further development, I should be able to expand the attack, maybe spreading it like a wave to cover a whole area."
"There's a lot of room for speed improvements, too."
Clearly, this was just the beginning of her fruit's development.
"That's great news!" Kaito's eyes lit up. "Once you master it, the hit rate will increase dramatically. No need to worry about enemies dodging so easily!"
This fruit had incredible potential.
"Heh, exactly!" Naori smirked, satisfied with her choice.
Afterward, the two of them left the Dimensional Gate space and headed to one of their beast-infested island bases to conduct some practical tests.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Kaito received a message through the communication space from Kuro.
He quickly checked and was surprised—Kuro, while scouting maps in the West Blue, had accidentally discovered Nico Robin, a target Kaito had instructed it to keep an eye on.
"Oh? What's up?" Naori, who had just finished testing her Devil Fruit, walked over curiously.
"Kuro spotted Nico Robin in the West Blue while mapping the area. I need to head there now!" Kaito told his mother.
"Oh?" Naori raised an eyebrow. "That poor little girl? Alright then, go ahead."
"She's got good potential. The sooner we rescue her and bring her in for training, the better."
"Plus, when the time comes for you to uncover the secrets of Laugh Tale, she'll be useful."
"Get her early, form a contract with her sooner."
As for being targeted by the World Government because of this?
Not a problem at all.
For now, they wouldn't let Nico Robin wander freely anyway.
Considering the remote location of their training bases, the World Government wouldn't find her anytime soon.
And even if they did, worst-case scenario, they'd just throw her into the already-prepared Kaito Pirates and take her out to sea.
That way, their base wouldn't be exposed.
Still, Kaito doubted it would come to that anytime soon.
Even if the World Government was tracking Robin, they'd only search the West Blue. It would take a while before they realized she had disappeared entirely.
"Yeah, that's my plan too!"
"Alright, I'm off!"
With that, Kaito activated his teleportation.
— —
In the next instant, he appeared high above an island in the West Blue, standing on Kuro's back.
"Yo! Kuro, good work! Where's Nico Robin?" Kaito grinned and patted the massive creature beneath him.
At this point, Kuro had grown several times larger than before. Its wingspan now exceeded thirty meters, making it even more imposing.
This was all thanks to Primal Chakra Refinement and Life Force techniques.
Additionally, meditation had strengthened its mental power and soul, boosting its intelligence tremendously.
By now, Kuro was as smart as any ordinary human—maybe even smarter than most.
Sensing Kaito's arrival and hearing his question, Kuro immediately responded through telepathic transmission:
"She's inside the attic of the ninth house on the third street from the west side of the island."
"But be careful, Master—there are two groups searching for her right now."
"One group is the Mafia, and the other seems to be CP agents."
"I see." Kaito nodded in understanding.
He activated his Observation Haki, instantly covering the entire island below.
It didn't take long for him to lock onto Nico Robin's position, along with those of the Mafia and CP agents.
Their clothing and movements made them stand out too much. Combined with how the locals reacted to them, Kaito easily identified his targets.
Next, he pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and flicked it toward the attic window where Nico Robin was hiding.
"Whoosh!"
Within seconds, the kunai embedded itself deep into the wooden windowsill.
"Alright, I've got the situation under control. Kuro, you can go back to mapping the area. I'll handle things here."
With a thought, Kaito disappeared from Kuro's back.
Kuro, feeling the sudden absence of weight, nodded before spreading its wings and soaring away, leaving the island behind as it continued its mission.
Until it had fully mapped out the One Piece world, its main task was to keep exploring.
Of course, that didn't mean it worked 24/7.
It only worked for eight hours a day. The rest of the time, it trained, ate, and rested.
After its shift, Kuro would teleport back to a designated training base to recover in the Space-Time Gate. Life was rather comfortable.
— — —
Meanwhile, Kaito had already appeared at Nico Robin's attic window.
With a wave of his hand, he opened the window and stepped inside.
Inside, he saw Nico Robin, who had just been startled by the sudden sound of the kunai embedding itself into the window.
She was staring at him in terror, stepping backward repeatedly, her eyes darting around as she desperately searched for an escape route.
At the same time, her whole body trembled as she stammered, "W-Who are you?"
"Me?"
Kaito calmly pulled out the kunai before giving her a warm smile.
"Just a good-hearted person who came to find you and rescue you from this cruel world. Someone who wants to save you from being constantly hunted by the World Government's lapdogs."
"So, there's no need to be afraid. I won't hurt you, Nico Robin."
The moment she heard her name, Robin's pupils shrank sharply, and her already dark complexion turned a shade paler.
Only one thought echoed in her mind: It's over! He knows who I am!
As for Kaito's words, she didn't believe them at all.
Over the past few years, she had witnessed far too much deception and cruelty. She no longer trusted anyone easily.
Her only thought now was to run.
Kaito immediately saw through her intentions. In the next instant, he flickered beside her, placing his hand on her head.
As she trembled, he gently ruffled her coarse hair and reassured her, "I already told you—don't be afraid. With my power, if I wanted to hurt you, you wouldn't have any chance to escape."
"The Mafia and CP agents chasing you seem to have noticed something unusual here."
"Guess I did attract a little too much attention when I showed up."
"Just watch—I'll deal with them first."
With that, Kaito moved her back to the window.
Before Robin could say anything, he raised his hand and instantly transformed into an unfamiliar person using the Transformation Jutsu.
Then, under Robin's shocked gaze, he flickered out of the attic and onto the rooftop.
Using his Observation Haki and spiritual senses, he locked onto the Mafia and CP agents who were closing in.
With a flip of his hand, he pulled out dozens of Flying Thunder God kunai and, within a second, flung them all toward his targets.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, the nearest Mafia and CP members noticed something flying toward them.
Before they could react, a shadow flickered before their eyes.
They only felt a sharp pain at their necks before their vision spun, and then—darkness.
Moments later, the ones further away met the same fate.
From Robin's perspective, she saw Kaito suddenly turn into a streak of black light, moving at terrifying speed between the kunai he had thrown.
One by one, heads began rolling.
In just a few breaths, she suddenly found Kaito standing next to her again.
The scent of fresh blood still lingered around him.
Robin stiffly turned her head, her body trembling as she looked at him.
The transformed Kaito gave her another warm smile.
Robin shuddered slightly, trying to find the words to say something.
"You..."
Even now, her fear of Kaito hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Even though he had eliminated the ones hunting her and shown her kindness...
He was simply too mysterious, and she didn't dare trust him.
All she felt was fear at the terrifying power he had just displayed.
She just wanted to escape from here.
.
.
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