Despite the challenges, he leisurely made his way to Foosha Village to find the blacksmith recommended by Hawk Eyes.
Several days had passed since Hawk Eyes' departure. Ryuuzaki was still living the blacksmith life, occasionally sneaking out at night to observe Ace from a distance. Gathering solid evidence was proving to be very difficult. At this point, he was content to just coast for now. Even if he couldn't complete the mission, it probably wouldn't be a huge issue.
What did trouble him, though, was finding a proper hideout.
Ryuuzaki knew he would never see eye to eye with the Celestial Dragons. It was only a matter of time before he cut ties with them completely. That meant finding a safe retreat in advance was crucial.
His top choice? Skypiea.
The benefits of the Sky Island were obvious. It was far above ground level, nearly unreachable without special means. In recent days, Ryuuzaki had been contemplating new ways to develop his Door-Door Fruit. If he could find a way to teleport directly to Skypiea, it would be perfect.
But how could he achieve that? Developing such an ability was a serious headache.
"Teleportation, huh?" Ryuuzaki muttered to himself, rubbing his chin.
Some characters in the One Piece world could technically teleport, like Law with his Ope Ope no Mi, but even that had short range. Impressive, yes, but also easily intercepted by someone like Kizaru.
Was there anyone else who could teleport? Wait… right! The Fourth Hokage from Naruto, Minato.
That jutsu… what was it called again? Ah, the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As Ryuuzaki recalled, Minato needed to place a seal first, and afterward he could instantly teleport to that seal.
In simple terms, the key was leaving a "mark."
That was it!
In Devil Fruit development, imagination was key. The powers weren't fixed in form, they followed the user's creativity. But of course, imagination was just the beginning. Execution was another story.
Ryuuzaki took his idea and began experimenting. He named the new ability: "Marking Gate."
The concept was straightforward, leave a mark on a physical object, then open a door from anywhere and instantly travel to that marked location. Like a teleportation gate.
The idea was great, but the execution… not so much. He fumbled around for a while without any success.
A mark? What kind of mark? Just touching an object? That didn't trigger anything.
No… he realized he was thinking about it wrong. Instead of focusing on the concept of "mark," he needed to approach it more like magical teleportation gates from fantasy, ones that require energy to create and maintain.
Energy, huh? Well, he didn't have magic, but what about stamina?
Following this new line of thought, Ryuuzaki touched his wardrobe and, this time, infused it with stamina as he focused.
And it worked! He felt it, like a tethered sensation forming on the object.
But he also noticed that while the mark existed, his stamina continued to drain.
He didn't stop there. Walking outside his bedroom, he placed another mark on his bedroom door, opened the door, and found himself stepping out of the wardrobe inside.
Ryuuzaki was thrilled. It had worked. It actually worked!
Damn it, that guy Blueno had been completely wasting the Door-Door Fruit!
He continued practicing and testing. The Marking Gate consumed stamina continuously while active. Once his stamina was depleted, the marks would vanish. Thankfully, he could also cancel them manually.
Now, with Marking Gate, if Ryuuzaki ever needed to run, it would be almost impossible for anyone to catch him. Even if Kizaru could move at light speed, Ryuuzaki could just open a gate to Skypiea, then another to Impel Down, where would anyone even begin looking?
The catch, though, was that he had to set up the mark in advance.
So if he wanted to teleport to Skypiea, he'd have to get there and leave a mark first.
"Damn it, Skypiea's too far away," he muttered, scratching his head. "And I don't have time right now anyway."
"Guess I'll focus on getting used to the Marking Gate first."
The stamina drain from maintaining marks was no joke. After a few days of testing, Ryuuzaki found he could only keep two active marks before hitting his limit.
But he also noticed something fascinating, his overall stamina capacity was increasing from the constant drain.
"Wait, is this actually working? It's like I'm training my stamina passively!"
Without hesitation, he dumped all his extra talent points into Basic Stamina and began using the Marking Gate as a stamina training tool.
Of course, burning stamina at that rate made him constantly hungry. He was eating five meals a day and still waking up at night with hunger pangs.
Even so, he had to admit, it was an incredibly efficient training method. Unlike traditional workouts, this one could run 24/7. He didn't even have to move; he could train while lying down.
Still, the sudden spike in his appetite raised suspicion. To avoid drawing attention to himself and blowing his cover, Ryuuzaki got creative.
Using a combination of Door-Door techniques, Tunnel Gate, Shrinking Gate, he established one Marking Gate on a nearby uninhabited island and another in Foosha Village.
This let him shuttle back and forth in seconds.
On that deserted island, he hunted small animals, gathered spices, and grilled the meat over a campfire.
The Talent Reset System proved invaluable. He dumped all his lifestyle talent points into Cooking, and in no time his culinary skills skyrocketed.
The roasted meat was fragrant and delicious.
The only downside was that hunting and cooking took time, but there was no helping that. With all the reasons at play, maintaining the marks, stamina training, staying undercover, this was the best solution.
After about a week of this lifestyle, his Basic Stamina had risen to Level 36. It wasn't explosive progress, but decent. More importantly, he was now fully adjusted to maintaining two Marking Gates at all times.
"Skypiea, huh…"
Ryuuzaki looked up at the sky. Skypiea wasn't just the ideal hideout, it was also home to something else that excited him: the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Sure, he couldn't eat it himself since he already had the Door-Door Fruit, but he could still find it and give it to someone worthy, maybe a loyal subordinate, or a powerful girl he could... recruit.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter