When Amado pulled out that thing, everyone started looking at him weirdly.
You with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, usually quiet, secretly hiding something like this in the lab?
"You didn't ask,"
Amado shrugged, acting like it wasn't his fault at all.
"Besides, although Slug Sage's clones have Slug Sage's traits, they are different from the real Slug Sage.
These clones only really become Slug Sage's clones at specific moments. Normally, they're just ordinary slugs with Slug Sage's powers but no intelligence," Amado explained.
"Is that so?"
After hearing Amado's explanation, Shisui and Haku looked toward Shanks.
Slug Sage was so cautious—it must be because of Shanks.
But Yahiko, and Furido didn't know much about Shanks.
"Why are you all looking at Shanks like that?"
"Well... it's because back then, Shanks just cut the Eight-Tails down in one slash. The Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki was fine, but the Eight-Tails itself was killed through the seal by Shanks with one slash."
"..."
"Huh??"
Hearing that, Yahiko and the other two quickly took a few steps back.
This guy in front of them... he could totally cut them down, right?? No, seriously—how could someone this scary exist in this time? Are you really going to tell us that's swordsmanship and not some kind of crazy sealing ninjutsu?
"That's because the tailed beast was being suppressed by me. Normally, I wouldn't be able to attack a clone and have the real body get hurt too."
Shanks explained. The whole incident with him killing the Eight-Tails was honestly an accident.
Well, it was actually lucky the Eight-Tails came out—otherwise, Killer Bee would've been the one who died.
At that time, Shanks was basically powered up by the will of the world. The will of the ninja world directly accepted his existence.
In that kind of situation, Shanks couldn't fully control his power.
"So you're saying, under 'not normal' conditions, it *is* possible?"
"Yeah. My Kamui state is basically an overload mode. It goes beyond the limit of willpower. How to explain it… It's like breaking through the world's restrictions and attacking everything in range."
As long as I hit someone, no matter where they are, they'll get hurt directly on a mental or spiritual level."
Shanks gave a rough explanation.
His state is sort of like breaking through the world's lock on his willpower and stepping into another extreme state.
In that mode, his will is like a satellite floating outside the ninja world, able to lock onto the entire world.
Otherwise, how do you think Shanks was able to strike at the will of the world itself?
"I don't get it, but it sounds super scary."
"I do get it—and yeah, that's one terrifying ability."
"Hmm… I feel like we don't really belong here anymore."
Yahiko said awkwardly.
"So, Kamui… isn't swordsmanship?"
Shisui was also curious now.
After hearing Shanks, everyone had more questions in their minds.
After all, Shanks was the strongest person alive—there was a lot to learn from him, or at least things only he could explain.
Shanks had a lot of secrets. This guy had basically founded his own path of power. A lot of it made no sense to people native to the ninja world.
"To be exact, my Kamui isn't swordsmanship. It's a state of being.
But the only way I can enter that state is through sword techniques. I can't fully control it. That's probably the only limit I have right now."
Shanks started explaining.
It's a tricky thing to explain—even he doesn't totally get it. He can feel what the power is like, but understanding it doesn't mean he can control it completely.
It's like breathing—he can describe what it feels like, but he can't explain exactly how it works in detail.
It's instinct.
To Shanks, it's basically like: "If I swing my sword like this, I think I can break through my limits."
Without using certain moves, he can't enter the Kamui state.
That's why without his special sword skills, Shanks isn't at full power.
"Got it. So now it really seems like Orochimaru is insanely strong."
"Well yeah. That guy literally pushed both me and the world's will to the edge."
Shanks sighed. To be honest, Orochimaru was really something. He actually managed to trap the World Will using just his own body.
But then… the two of them got beaten up together. Of course, every action has a reaction.
Shanks was the type with high attack but weak defense, and the World Will wasn't someone you could just charge at head-on.
When he was slashing at Orochimaru, Shanks also paid a heavy price.
Same for Orochimaru — he didn't get off easy either.
And the World Will? It was trapped by Orochimaru back then, and ended up getting wrecked too.
That battle in the Land of Wind completely changed the ninja world.
In just a few months, natural energy started returning in huge amounts, and powerful life energy spread all over.
Sea Kings began appearing everywhere, and all kinds of strange animals started showing up across the ninja world.
But when Shanks said all this, no one dared look directly at him.
Their captain really didn't want to take any blame.
Seeing Shanks praising Orochimaru like that, Shisui couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. Their captain had probably planned from the start to make Orochimaru work for them.
"So... Shanks, you said earlier that killing the Eight-Tails was an accident. What did you mean by that?"
Yahiko raised his hand, curious.
"Oh, I can explain that."
Amado brought out all his research notes. These were actually based on the research goals Shanks had given him. He even used a clone of the Slug Sage as part of his experiments.
When it came to science, Amado could definitely be trusted.
Back in the *Boruto* era, he was already a crazy scientist. And in this world, to be honest, he was even more over-the-top.
Though, his crazy ideas didn't always go in the right direction.
"From what we've seen, Tailed Beasts are basically like Zoan-type Devil Fruits — they have similar traits.
We could say Tailed Beasts are like 'half' Devil Fruits. They don't have the same weaknesses, but they do have other problems that Devil Fruits don't."
"The biggest one is that they don't sync well with their Jinchuriki."
"For normal Devil Fruit users, once they eat the fruit, their compatibility is perfect. After that, it's all about how they develop their powers."
"But with Jinchuriki, a lot of the time they can't even use 100% of the Tailed Beast's power."
Amado continued explaining. This was exactly what they planned to work on next. As the most advanced pirate crew of this era, only they could take on this kind of job.
"So when Shanks killed the Eight-Tails, it was kind of like suppressing a Devil Fruit. The Tailed Beasts are naturally at a disadvantage."
"But that's not the whole story. Honestly, it also had to do with the Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails himself.
For Devil Fruit users, the fruit just gives the ability — but how strong they become depends on the person, how they train, and how much they unlock from the fruit's power.
It's kind of like how chakra can be used to create and develop ninjutsu."
"But it's different with Jinchuriki. Most of them aren't even as strong as the Tailed Beasts they carry.
So there's no way they can fully develop those powers. When Shanks fought the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki, it was like facing just the fruit, not someone who had mastered its power."
As Amado finished speaking, Shanks nodded. While there were some differences, it was still a pretty good way to describe it.
It's like how Haki can suppress Devil Fruit abilities.
As for the fruits themselves? Of course, some fruits are stronger than others — but the gap between them isn't that huge.
Some people are just born with a lot of chakra, or with more chakra elements than others.
You're asking about strength? Well, that still mainly depends on the person, right?
Look at Kabuto and Hiruko under Orochimaru—they look strong on paper, but in reality, they're seriously weak.
Of course, "weak" depends on who you're comparing them to. Still, these two are great examples of people who perfectly show what the lower limit of power looks like.
No matter how their strength changes, the power they can actually use doesn't go very far.
"If a Tailed Beast Jinchuriki can get along with their beast and learn to use its power, they can definitely become very strong."
"It's kind of like how Devil Fruit powers can awaken—once they're developed enough, the change is similar to chakra nature transformation."
At this point, Amado got to the key topic.
He was talking about his research on Devil Fruit awakenings.
Even someone like Shanks doesn't really understand how it works. And for Amado, it's the same—it's insanely difficult to figure out.
"Because right now, there's no one in the ninja world who actually has this power. In other words, it doesn't exist yet. Everything has to rely on my experiments and my theories."
Amado looked a little helpless as he said this.
"But still, I figured it out. Even if I don't have real-life proof yet, I'm sure my research is 100% correct."
After saying that, Amado stood with his hands on his hips and showed his usual proud look, just waiting for everyone to praise him.
Shanks' eyes lit up when he heard this—did he really finish the research already?
"Really?"
"Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm the scientist of the Red-Haired Pirates—the best scientist in the world!!"
Amado grinned wide, still full of pride. He believed his brain alone was enough to crush the rest of the ninja world.
Though deep down he was a little nervous. When he found out what Shanks wanted him to do, he kept a calm face, but behind the scenes, he worked overtime like crazy just to get ready for this moment.
Being a scientist for the Red-Haired Pirates wasn't enough. He didn't just want to be the best—he wanted to be the greatest scientist in history, the kind who starts a whole new era.
There were so many strong people in this new age, but Amado wanted to prove that even a normal person with no fighting skills could stand by Shanks' side just by using his brain.
To stand at the top of the world.
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