Facing Kaido's question, Black Maria gestured for her subordinate to enter. "Let her explain."
Kaido wasn't strict about status with talented officers—many called him by name, some with honorifics, but Black Maria, being close, was especially casual.
At Maria's signal, a young woman with long black hair entered, wearing a leaf-patterned kimono and a wide belt, her shoulders exposed. She wore a monitor mask representing an eye—this was the Beasts Pirates' intelligence officer, Crocodile Woman.
Because she had eaten an artificial Devil Fruit, her lower half was a giant crocodile, hence her name.
"Kaido-sama, after Yamato entered prison, I've been monitoring her, recording the cell conversations. Please take a look."
Crocodile Woman was more respectful, using her mask's abilities to record and report reliably.
"Show me."
Kaido sobered up, curious what could make Maria say Yamato was really reflecting.
Crocodile Woman opened the monitor system, sharing the previously recorded scenes. Kaido, seeing Gusion, was confused. "Who's that?"
Black Maria smiled. "You're so forgetful! I just said, that's the oni slayer who challenged you a few days ago."
Kaido cocked his head, trying to recall. "No impression. I must've been drunk, thought a fly was buzzing around and swatted it away."
"Haha, that's so you. He was confident, declaring he'd slay you, but you didn't even remember him."
Maria laughed, "So pitiful."
"Not important. Keep playing; I want to see what they talked about."
Kaido urged.
As the scenes played, Kaido's expression shifted between anger and calm.
When Gusion's words led Yamato to question her worldview and break down, Kaido slapped his thigh, making the cave shake.
"This guy! He actually made Yamato think!"
Kaido was surprised. He never expected his stubborn daughter to actually doubt herself and reflect on her Oden obsession.
"At first he didn't seem that smart, but he speaks logically. Maybe it's true that outsiders see more clearly. He pointed out all the illogical things in Yamato's life. Even Yamato can't ignore them now," Maria said. "Come to think of it, our crew doesn't have any good debaters."
Kaido was tempted. He realized that while strength was important, he needed smart, persuasive people too.
If he'd had someone like Gusion when Yamato started going astray, maybe Yamato could have been set straight.
He didn't know if Gusion was a military genius, but he clearly understood education.
So Kaido thought, even if Gusion just became Yamato's tutor, that'd be good.
"Keep him locked up for now. I'll have Queen talk to him later."
Kaido decided. Queen was a capable manager and trusted by Kaido, and ran Udon Prison.
"True, there's no rush. My analysis is, maybe it's not that Gusion is so smart, but that Yamato finally made a friend her own age—she listens to her friend's advice."
Maria analyzed, "To Yamato, we're all her enemies, so she never listened to us, thinking we were deceiving her."
"So that's the logic... Good thing I didn't kill that guy."
Kaido was happy. After eight years of headaches, this was the first sign of hope for his daughter's character.
He also reflected a little—maybe he let Yamato grow up too isolated. If she'd had friends, maybe they could have talked sense into her.
But the thought quickly passed. In Kaido's view, the strong are always alone.
He became his kingdom's top warrior at ten, led many victories, but won only fear, not love, and was betrayed, handed to the Marines.
So, he thought his daughter must have a heart strong enough to soar alone. He never let her play with other kids.
To Kaido, that was weakness—after all, he was on the battlefield at seven or eight.
"Now that Yamato has a new friend, she probably won't try to break out soon. Let's just observe."
Maria said.
Kaido nodded, looking at Crocodile Woman. "Right. In future, report to me every day—no, every half day!"
Then he thought, "Actually, just stay here. If anything happens, broadcast it live."
He figured, live was better than replays. If anything happened, he could deal with it right away.
…
After two days of exhaustion, Gusion was resting against the wall in his cell, not knowing he was being watched by the strongest in the world.
Yamato, still injured, had fallen into a deep sleep after her breakdown.
Unlike Gusion, she subconsciously felt this was her home turf, so she slept soundly, without a trace of vigilance.
Gusion regretted not having a bed in prison—comfort was second to training progress.
When the sun rose, the other cell doors were opened and prisoners dragged themselves to the mines for another day of hard labor.
Only Gusion and Yamato's cell stayed closed, with no guards coming to order them to work.
By now, Gusion's injuries would have healed enough for him to be sent to work, but last night the guards were told not to send Young Master Yamato and the cellmate Gusion to mine—just deliver meals.
The lower-level guards were puzzled, but dared not ask, and simply delivered ample food and left.
"The uses of Observation Haki include sensing attacks, predicting the next move, sensing the strength of living beings, sensing their emotions and thoughts, and detecting the location and number of things outside your field of vision. The range and strength vary by person, but with training, it can be expanded..."
After waking, Yamato didn't pester Gusion for stories about the outside world. She seemed listless and explained the principles of Observation Haki.
Gusion, seeing Yamato like this, didn't push her any further, but focused on learning Observation Haki.
Unlike Armament Haki, which he'd gained through a skill scroll, he hadn't mastered Observation Haki before, so it was new to him.
But he learned quickly—since the core principles of Haki were similar, and with Yamato's instruction and demonstration, he soon grasped the basics.
Observation Haki is closely related to one's mental state. To use it well, you must be calm; emotional agitation cuts it off.
Experts can predict moves, sense locations, even hear thoughts—a kind of mind reading, or "the power to hear." At its peak, it can even see glimpses of the future.
Gusion found this ability powerful—a strong support in battle, raising his margin for error.
Yamato's Observation Haki wasn't especially strong; she wasn't an expert—mainly because her fights with her father were always head-on, rarely dodging or using tricks.
Gusion guessed Kaido's Observation Haki probably wasn't very strong either—it matched his style and personality. Kaido was the type to fight head-on with overwhelming strength, relying on Armament and Conqueror's Haki, so Observation Haki didn't help him much.