Arima brought everyone to the beach, deciding they would eat first before searching for treasure.
The moment they landed on the white sands, they were stunned by the bizarre sight before them.
There was no sun, no moon, not even a bird in the sky. The heavens shimmered in shifting colors, as if one could reach out and touch them.
Scattered across the beach not far away lay several bleached skeletons, while the air carried a faint acidic tang.
Kushina curiously asked, "Is this the 'new world' you mentioned?"
Olga cut in from the side. "Nope, this is Lord Bonbori's stomach!"
Kushina tilted her head. "Who's Bonbori?"
Olga looked surprised. "That giant Sea King that swallowed you guys, he's Lord Bonbori!"
Arima explained, "It's an enormous Footballfish. What's more interesting is that there really are Fishmen in the sea, and most of them live on Fishman Island."
At that, Arata, who had been listening, piped up excitedly. "Father, so Fishmen are real! I really want to see what they look like! Are they like us?"
Olga burst into laughter. "You've never seen a Fishman? The Celestial Dragons love keeping them as pets, so of course they're good-looking! Heheheh…"
Tsunade frowned. "But aren't Fishmen people too?"
Olga countered, "A white horse is still a horse, isn't it? The Celestial Dragons are a bunch of spoiled aristocrats.
Once they set their eyes on something, they'll do anything to have it. Two hundred years ago, my mother told me this herself…"
The moment she mentioned her mother, her expression grew heavy.
It was then the group finally realized, she really had been living in this lonely place for nearly two centuries.
Arima clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Alright, let's get some meat roasted. After that, we'll go look for Pure Gold!"
At the mention of Pure Gold, the gloom lifted from everyone's hearts. Even Olga perked up again.
What cheered her most was the promise of meat.
Normally, she survived on the fish and fruit Bonbori swallowed in.
The massive dinosaurs roaming about had never been on her menu, though she had been craving their flesh for a very long time.
Soon enough, they returned to the spot where Arima had captured a dinosaur earlier and began preparing the ingredients together.
When Olga moved to help start the fire, Kushina suddenly weaved through a series of hand seals.
A moment later, she exhaled a massive fireball that roared into the pile of wood, instantly setting it ablaze.
Olga's eyes went wide as she stared at the red-haired girl. "Kushina, are you… a Devil Fruit user?"
Kushina blinked in confusion. "What's a Devil Fruit?"
Olga, recalling her parents' descriptions, pressed, "Have you ever eaten a strangely-shaped fruit that tasted absolutely awful?"
Kushina shook her head. "Nope! …Arima, what's a Devil Fruit?"
While tending the roasting meat, Arima lifted his head and replied, "It's that miraculous fruit I mentioned to you before. But truth be told, I've never actually seen one myself."
Olga frowned and said firmly, "Don't lie to me! Kushina, you must've eaten a Devil Fruit, otherwise how could you breathe fire?
Is it the Flame-Flame Fruit? Or maybe the Magma-Magma Fruit?"
Kushina knew well that although Olga looked six years old, she was nearly two hundred.
The girl had always been so secretive about Pure Gold, which made Kushina all the more mischievous.
Putting on a deliberately disappointed face, she said, "So you figured it out after all. That's right, I ate the Flame-Flame Fruit! Just look at my fiery red hair.
My grandmother ate the Magma-Magma Fruit, that's why she had red hair too! I'll tell you a secret, actually, all of us have eaten Devil Fruits!"
Olga gasped in awe. "You're amazing! Devil Fruits are supposed to be super rare, yet all of you ate one? I heard they taste horrible. Is that true?"
Kushina froze for a moment, then quickly improvised. "Uh… yeah, you're right. They're disgusting! Like chewing on a dirty rag that's been soaking in water for three days straight!"
She had just picked the nastiest image she could think of.
Olga gave her a sympathetic look. "That sounds terrible. But at least you gained a wonderful power! …So what about the others? What Fruits did they eat?"
Arima had been watching their exchange as nothing more than playful banter.
But suddenly, he realized, revealing their ninjutsu in front of others would be risky unless they had a proper excuse.
Unexpectedly, this whole "Devil Fruit" misunderstanding was the perfect cover.
So he declared, "I ate the Magnet-Magnet Fruit."
In truth, he had no idea how to classify Magnet Release, so he simply followed the naming pattern of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
The moment he spoke, the others immediately caught on.
Tsunade chimed in, "I ate the Power-Power Fruit. With one punch, I can smash through mountains and stone with ease!"
Natsuka grinned, happy for the convenient excuse. "Then I must have the Rock-Rock Fruit."
Nawaki thought for a moment, then laughed. "Me? Obviously the Water-Water Fruit! I'm the man who signed a summoning contract with the sea itself!"
Hearing that, Natsuka nudged him with her elbow, silently urging him to tone down his smug grin.
Nono pondered, then said, "I suppose mine would be the Medical-Medical Fruit."
At the word "medical," Olga lit up. "I once had a terrible illness and was bedridden for so long! If I'd had someone like you around back then, it would've been wonderful!"
Nono smiled warmly. She found herself fond of this strange girl, an old soul in a child's body, whose blunt honesty she liked.
Olga finally turned her gaze on Arata. "What about him? Did he eat a Devil Fruit too?"
Tsunade, who was cradling the boy in her arms and feeding him freshly picked fruit, shook her head. "No, he and his sister haven't eaten one yet."
She lowered her head, blinking playfully at her son.
The boy didn't understand but nodded along anyway. Seeing his cooperation, Tsunade tenderly stroked his head, her heart filled with warmth.
By then, the roasted meat was ready. Arima called everyone to eat.
Olga wasted no time. She grabbed a roasted dinosaur leg, sat cross-legged, and tore into it with delight.
Unbothered, Arima clapped his hands. A long table and several chairs appeared before them.
Before Olga could even exclaim, he continued by pulling bowls, chopsticks, and Tsunade's favorite sake from Kamui's space.
Seeing her jaw drop, Arima chuckled. "I also ate the Space-Space Fruit. I can store all kinds of things inside."
Olga's astonishment only deepened. She studied him up and down, frowning. "I heard a person can only eat one Devil Fruit. No one's ever managed two. Are you some kind of monster?"
Arima hadn't expected that detail, but he quickly covered it up. "There are people who can eat two. You just haven't seen them! …Alright, let's eat!"
He slipped Tsunade a glance. She caught on immediately. "Olga, come sit with us and try this wine I brought."
But then she realized something and added regretfully, "Ah, but even though you've lived a long time, your body's still six years old. Alcohol wouldn't suit you. Better have some fruit instead."
At the mention of fruit, Olga wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No fruit! Just meat, only meat for me!"
Her outburst successfully derailed the topic.
The others exchanged playful looks with Arima, winking and sticking out tongues. Even Nawaki mouthed silently.
Arima only laughed to himself. 'You're all just a bunch of kids.'
Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. So Devil Fruits could only be eaten once? He had once hoped to collect multiple powers to face enemies like Jigen.
That wish was now dashed, not to mention the debt he still had hanging over him. For now, all he could do was take things one step at a time.
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