During this period, Arceus still stayed in the underground treasure vault on Ghost Island. With Rotom's greeting, he left here once again, but as soon as he emerged, he sensed some tremors.
"Kaidou, that guy... what's he up to again?"
According to the history of Wano Kuni, earthquakes are rare, and this tremor was clearly transmitted from above. No one other than Kaidou could create such a commotion.
When he reached the rooftop of Ghost Island, he happened to see Kaidou's unique training. In essence, there wasn't much difference; it was just him beating Yamato fancifully, but Yamato seemed to have seen a savior.
"Father! Have you finally finished your work?"
No one would come here when Kaidou trained. The already collapsed Jack and Maria nearby were proof; they didn't have Yamato's strong endurance.
However, Arceus's appearance distracted Yamato for a moment, but Kaidou wouldn't stop because of such a thing, so Yamato also ended up joining the collapsed lineup.
"Finished? Looks like her training session is about to end."
For some reason, Yamato, who had endured for two months, suddenly felt an urge to cry upon hearing this. One could only say her time had been too tough.
"Father, what were you doing? For two whole months, do you know how hard it's been for me?"
"Two months? Have I been busy for that long?"
"What do you think? You have delayed quite a bit this time."
Having temporarily ended Yamato's training, Kaidou put the Hassaikai back at his waist and went to Yamato's side. Previously, Yamato had to worry about Kaidou giving her a surprise attack, but now with Arceus reappearing, she finally felt at ease.
"It sure was laborious, but it's no longer important now. Yamato, this is for you."
Saying this, he tossed the Okuchi no Makami to Yamato, though this made Kaidou feel something was amiss. If he recalled correctly, this fruit seemed to be the one he retrieved.
"Is this a Devil Fruit? I don't want to eat it, Father, I don't want to be a non-swimmer."
Devil Fruits are not hard to recognize; the strange patterns and ridges on them are unique to the sea, and with some study, one can gain insight into them.
Yamato herself has dreams of going out to sea, and she doesn't want to lose the ability to swim for those so-called powers. Maria herself is a non-swimmer, with her entire family lacking swimming talent, so she doesn't care about this.
But Yamato is very concerned about this issue.
"No need to worry. Do you think I've been working all this time? This fruit won't make you lose your swimming abilities, so just go ahead and eat it. As for the taste, though, I don't know what it's like."
The meticulous engineering cost him quite a bit of energy, and he didn't even pay attention to matters like taste.
"Hey, are you kidding? You really solved that problem?"
Hearing Arceus's words, even Kaidou showed a look of disbelief. The Devil Fruits were born too long ago, and no one knows where the first fruit appeared.
But the weaknesses of Devil Fruits are well-known. It's not that no one wants to solve this problem; it's just that no one has succeeded. And Arceus solved a century-old issue in two months.
"Of course not. I found the method, but there's no possibility of replicating it. For now, I don't want to do that kind of thing anymore."
Eliminating the fruit's drawbacks is one thing; removing the drawbacks from the fruit user is another, more complex problem. He wouldn't want to do such things before the Ghost and Mind Plates appear.
"Heh heh heh, that's just like you. Okay, Yamato, don't waste your father's goodwill, hurry up and eat it."
Saying this, he grabbed the Okuchi no Makami fruit and stuffed it into Yamato's mouth.
"Uh uh... cough cough... Father! Are you trying to choke me to death?"
"Not at all. Moreover, this way, you won't notice the taste of the fruit. Isn't that a good thing?"
"It seems... it is?"
With Kaidou's words, Yamato suddenly realized she hadn't even noticed what the fruit tasted like. Remembering Maria's previous description of the fruit's taste, this seemed to be a good thing.
However, according to common sense, Kaidou would never do such a thing, and as expected, his next words revealed his "malevolent intentions."
"Yamato, do you know what the biggest advantage of Zoan types is?"
"Um... Beast-like physique?"
"Pretty close, but more importantly, there's the powerful restoration ability. The fruit touched by your father will only be stronger. This Mythical Zoan's restorative power is bound to be extremely terrifying, meaning... you can take more hits now."
With this, Kaidou stretched his muscles, producing echoing sounds.
"Come on, let me help you practice the fruit's power in real combat. Now, channel that power and show me the strength of the Mythical Zoan!"
This time, Kaidou didn't use his Wolf Fang Club, nor did he use Haki, but under Yamato's incredulous gaze, Kaidou transformed into his Dragon form.
"Fa... Father, are you seriously kidding me!?"
"Heh heh heh, of course, I'm serious. Hurry up, or I won't give you the chance to transform!"
That's Kaidou's logic: experience what you learn. So when teaching Thundering Hakken, he would use the Hassaikai, and teaching Supreme King Haki, he'd use Supreme King Haki. Facing fruit abilities, naturally, he'd use fruit abilities.
Arceus also intended for Yamato to quickly master power, so he allowed Kaidou this time. The Okuchi no Makami is a specially modified carrier by him, so there weren't significant changes in appearance; just the teeth became sharper.
However, seeing the changes in the field, Jack, having recovered some strength, seemed to have an idea.
"Lord Arceus, Lord Arceus."
"What's up?"
"Uh, I also want to gain an ability like Yamato and Maria." The young little ship king felt a bit shy at this time, but being the only one among the trio raised sparsely, he felt somewhat envious.
"Sure, do you have a favorite animal?"
"Can it be an elephant? I feel that elephants are the strongest animals on land."
"Elephant... sure, but you'll have to wait longer, unless you want to be a non-swimmer."
"Yes! I understand!"
In a certain sense, he was easy to coax. Having received a positive response, he obediently sat by the side, not continuing to speak.
Meanwhile, in Paradise, some things were happening. During the time Arceus was focused on the fruit for two months, Mandfeish escorted a shipment of weapons to the West Kael Kingdom on Kuraigana Island in the First Half of the Grand Line.