Sabaody Laboratory.
Beneath an inconspicuous residential building in Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 50, Sephiroth, clad in a blue kimono, stepped out of a dimensional portal. He stood at the threshold of an underground laboratory with walls lined with thick steel panels.
His gaze immediately fell on the corpse of Kozuki Sukiyaki lying on the floor, his eyes wide open and his body slumped. A look of surprise appeared on his face.
This old man is...?
Sephiroth rushed to open the iron gate and approached. He squatted down, touched Kozuki Sukiyaki's body, and examined it. The cause of death was an apple stuck in his throat. Lividity was already visible on his skin, his body was stiff, and his body temperature was close to room temperature. His time of death was probably around eight or nine hours ago!
In other words, while I was still in Wano Country, Kozuki Sukiyaki committed suicide!
Damn it! This man must have committed suicide. I was careless! If only I had prepared liquid food. But then again, if he wanted to commit suicide, he could have done it with the shackles on his hands! As for death... he died last night!
So, the reason for this suicide is clear! Kozuki Sukiyaki decided to commit suicide only after he sensed that I could read memories. This was to keep certain secrets.
Sephiroth shifted his gaze to Kozuki Sukiyaki's body. He thought for a moment about sucking his blood to read memories but immediately dismissed the idea. No! It's too disgusting! I can't bite!
After blood loses its activity, it becomes difficult to read memory information from it. He did not want to disgust himself for information that was not necessarily there or useful!
After letting go of Kozuki Sukiyaki's body, Sephiroth threw it into a large glass container and quickly filled it with embalming fluid, ready to use his body as a research material.
Recently, he had an interesting idea. By implanting a certain blood factor, a baby's embryo could be given a superpower similar to a Devil Fruit from birth. What about the Three Types of Haki? Haki also needs to be awakened to be used! In this world, there is a natural Observation Haki and Armament Haki, but it is unknown whether there is a natural Conqueror's Haki. According to Sephiroth's research, he was increasingly feeling that Haki was actually a blood factor. If he mastered the blood factor to awaken the Three Types of Haki, it would mean that he could create a being born with the Three Types of Haki!
Therefore, he had recently extracted some blood factor samples from himself, Scarlett, and Hancock to conduct research. The three of them had awakened Conqueror's Haki, and there should be some similarities between them.
Kozuki Oden also had Conqueror's Haki, but Kozuki Sukiyaki, his father, did not. This could be considered a rare research material.
How about... I take some time to go to Fusha Village in East Blue and get blood factor samples of Ace and Luffy?
After finishing his work in the laboratory and making dinner for Perona, Sephiroth went to buy some goods before leaving the Sabaody Archipelago and returning to Wano Country.
As for the Marines' side, if there was nothing special, he basically used his bat clone, just "hanging up" all day. The daily affairs of the base were completely handed over to Vice Admiral Frank, and for emergencies such as pirate plundering, everything was thrown to Vergo...
Flower Capital, Rasetsu Town.
The night sky was dark, and the stars shone like diamonds. A crescent moon, obscured by dark clouds, looked even more mysterious.
A figure in a black nightdress with two swords on his back leaped from rooftop to rooftop. He was tall and wore a black towel covering his face. He moved quickly and silently, and even the guards patrolling the streets failed to detect his presence.
After a while, Kyoshiro, dressed in a night suit, arrived near the prison. Facing the guards who were holding hands in the prison perimeter, he chose to carefully lurk in a nearby house.
He couldn't help but sigh. This prison was the place where Kozuki Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards were once imprisoned. He recalled Kozuki Oden's bet with Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi—they would survive as long as they could hold on in the oil cauldron for one hour. In order for them all to survive, Oden held them up with a door plank, while he himself endured the boiling oil for a full hour. If it weren't for that, they would not have survived that kind of torture and escaped from Kurozumi Orochi's siege.
In the face of this life-saving grace, Kyoshiro could only choose to repay his life with his heart and brains! As long as he did not die, he would be loyal to the Kozuki Family for his entire life!
Kyoshiro carefully circled the prison, looking for any ambushes that might be hiding in the shadows.
Swish!
As he landed on one of the rooftops, a chubby figure in a pink ninja dress with twin tails and carrying a long sword, pounced on him.
"Ninja Art, Egg-Breaking Technique!"
"!"
Hearing the sound and the name of the Ninjutsu, Kyoshiro, who had already drawn his sword, couldn't help but pause.
Whack!
He used Ryuo to strengthen the defense of his crotch, but he still felt the pain from his 'balls'!
Plop!
Kyoshiro covered his crotch with both hands. He endured the pain and whispered, "Shinobu... It's me! Denjiro."
"Uh!?" The chubby female ninja, who had originally wanted to hack the enemy's head, stopped. "You're Denjiro!?"
"That's right... It's really me!"
Kyoshiro pulled his cheeks and untied his mask, explaining his experience over the years. Although Shinobu was not one of the Nine Red Scabbards, she had once fought alongside them, so Kyoshiro still trusted her very much.
"So, do you also know that Asura Doji was captured and are preparing to save him?"
Shinobu nodded. She knelt down and bowed respectfully to Kyoshiro. "I'm sorry! I just thought you were a member of the Imperial Court Clan who was chasing me, so I attacked you."
"Uh!? Forget it, it doesn't hurt that much. However, in these seven years, you've really changed a bit!"
Kyoshiro looked at the chubby Shinobu. It was difficult for him to associate her with the female ninja who used to have a fascinating figure and a charming face.
"In order not to be hunted down by the imperial clan, I could only use my own Ninjutsu to change my figure and appearance." Shinobu explained.
Due to the isolation of Wano Country, the existence of Devil Fruits was unknown. After accidentally eating a ripe fruit, Shinobu only thought of it as a rare kiwi fruit, causing her to awaken some special Ninjutsu.
"What Ninjutsu?" Kyoshiro was curious.
"A familiar Ninjutsu!"
As she spoke, Shinobu made a seal with her right hand and pressed her left index finger on a tile on the roof, demonstrating her secret technique to Kyoshiro. In an instant, the tile touched by her finger was immediately corroded into a hole, creating a paste around it.
"Can your Ninjutsu be used on steel?"
A light flashed in Kyoshiro's eyes, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. If that Ninjutsu could corrode steel, the difficulty of saving Asura Doji would be greatly reduced.
Hearing this, Shinobu nodded. "It can."
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