— — — — — — — —
There was no other way—after all, Uchiha Naori had awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan at a very young age!
In fact, her eyes had now evolved into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
However, her ocular techniques were already set in stone and couldn't be changed. The only benefit was that with the evolution to the Eternal Mangekyō, both her ocular techniques and eye power had received a massive boost.
At the same time, this also confirmed an important point:
As long as one's soul power, mental strength, and spiritual force continued to grow and nourish the eyes, the Mangekyō Sharingan could evolve into the Eternal Mangekyō without the need to fuse another pair from a close relative.
This revelation was monumental for the Uchiha clan.
It meant that the Uchiha were not truly a cursed clan.
They didn't have to sacrifice their own kin to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The real culprit behind this misconception was simply the degradation of their bloodline over time.
Fortunately, the many methods created by Kaito were able to circumvent the defects caused by this bloodline degradation.
"Hehe! That makes sense!"
Hearing this, both Mikoto and Kushina were delighted.
"It looks like we need to work even harder on training our meditation techniques, Haki, and Devil Fruit abilities!"
"Oh, that's right!"
Mikoto suddenly thought of something and turned to Kaito. "Kaito, if I eat another Devil Fruit after the Human-Human Fruit, will it help me improve my spiritual power even faster?
"After all, the Human-Human Fruit doesn't require any special development—it can be used anytime during training and won't take up extra time. What do you think?"
"Oh, that's a good point!"
Kushina's eyes lit up, and she quickly looked at Kaito.
"Haha! Clever! You actually figured that out!"
Kaito smiled knowingly and nodded. "That's exactly right! So, I suggest you both choose another Devil Fruit as soon as possible and start developing its abilities."
"Once you've decided, let me know—I need to refine it for you."
Over the past few months, the Uchiha Pirates had been making waves in the One Piece world, growing more infamous by the day. Each member's bounty had skyrocketed.
As for Kaito, the captain of the crew, his bounty had already risen to 1 billion berries.
That was after he defeated Aokiji; it hadn't changed in the past few months.
But Kaito figured it wouldn't be long before it increased again.
After all, the Uchiha Pirates had just arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago and were about to set sail for Fish-Man Island before entering the New World.
Once they started fighting for territory, things would undoubtedly get chaotic, and their bounties would soar even higher.
An interesting development was that shipwright Tom from Water 7, along with his two apprentices, had been recruited by Kaito and temporarily stationed at their Sky Island base.
Kaito planned to bring them over to their New World territory once the Uchiha Pirates established themselves as one of the Four Emperors, ensuring their skills could be put to full use.
Of course, these three weren't yet qualified for a contract.
As for their stay in Sabaody, their main purpose was to increase Shakky and Rayleigh's favorability toward them.
Kaito wanted to contract them both and bring them under his command.
Currently, their favorability score had reached 79—just one step away from sealing the deal.
His efforts over the past half-month had not been in vain.
"Mm-hmm!"
Both Mikoto and Kushina nodded firmly.
"We'll finalize our choices as soon as possible!"
They had already considered eating a second Devil Fruit before, but they had never made a final decision.
Now that it was directly tied to the future strength of their Eternal Mangekyō abilities, they needed to act fast.
As for whether they could obtain their chosen fruit?
With Kaito's recent power-ups, along with the improvements of Koshiro, the First Hokage, Lady Mito, Uchiha Naori, and the others, they were confident that as long as the fruit wasn't inside Pangaea Castle, it shouldn't be a problem.
"Alright, just confirm it quickly. And let Guina and Minato know as well."
Kaito nodded in understanding and reminded them.
He would also inform them himself, but just in case he got too busy, he wanted to make sure someone else had told them too.
"Got it!"
Mikoto and Kushina had no objections.
— — —
Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky's Rip-Off Bar
That day, Shakky and Rayleigh's favorability score finally hit 80.
At that moment, Kaito raised his hand, casting an isolation barrier, before getting straight to the point.
"Shakky, Uncle Rayleigh, we're planning to set sail tomorrow!"
"But before we go, there's something important I need to discuss with you two."
"Oh?"
Shakky and Rayleigh raised their eyebrows, looking at Kaito with interest.
Shakky chuckled, "I knew it! You've been working so hard to raise our favorability—there must be something you want from us."
"Well then, spill it! What is it you need from us that made you spend so much time buttering up two old folks like us?"
"Haha, exactly! Let's hear it."
Rayleigh took a swig of his drink and nodded with a smile. "Honestly, with our relationship, you really don't need to be so formal. As long as it's not something too difficult, we wouldn't refuse you."
"It's not that I'm being overly polite."
Kaito shook his head helplessly. "It's just that this is a necessary condition for forming a contract."
He then explained his desire to contract them, detailing both the benefits and the restrictions that came with it.
After hearing everything, Shakky and Rayleigh fell silent for a moment.
"So, if we agree to this contract, we'll gain significant benefits, but at the same time, we'll be bound by certain restrictions, such as being unable to harm you?"
"Can you tell us more about these benefits?" Shakky asked after exchanging glances with Rayleigh.
This was a big decision, not something to take lightly. No wonder Kaito had been working so hard to raise their favorability.
"I can't reveal everything just yet," Kaito admitted with a nod. "But I can tell you this—one of the basic benefits is spatial teleportation. Also, I possess a pill that can extend a person's life by up to 90 years!"
"If you agree to the contract, these will be yours."
"And there are even greater benefits that you'll only learn about after signing the contract."
The spatial teleportation ability was something Shakky and Rayleigh had already suspected. After all, everyone around Kaito seemed to have it, which was far from normal.
When they later met Hancock and saw that she had also acquired this ability instantly, it became clear that it must be something Kaito could grant.
Now, their suspicions were confirmed—it was indeed a perk of the contract.
As for the longevity pill, this was truly tempting. Given their age and experience, the prospect of regaining their youth was incredibly appealing.
As expected, upon hearing about the pill, their focus shifted entirely from the teleportation ability. Their eyes lit up as they stared at Kaito, both asking at the same time, "Are you serious? If we sign the contract, you'll really give us a pill that extends our lives by 90 years?"
"Of course!" Kaito assured them with a confident nod. "This may be a rare treasure, but to me, it's not that big of a deal."
"So, do you agree to the contract?"
At that moment, Shakky and Rayleigh's favorability toward Kaito shot up by five points, reaching 85.
Kaito couldn't help but sigh inwardly. "If I had known this earlier, I should have used the longevity pill to tempt them from the start. It would've made raising their favorability much easier."
But hindsight was still 20/20, and things had worked out well enough.
"What are we waiting for? Let's do it! What do we need to do?" Shakky and Rayleigh exchanged another glance before making up their minds. They were willing to take the gamble for 90 more years of life and a chance at youth.
Besides, given their relationship with Kaito and their understanding of his character, they weren't too worried about him tricking them.
If worse came to worst, they were confident in their ability to break free from any contract. They assumed it must be some kind of Devil Fruit ability, perhaps a 'Contract Fruit.'
As long as it was a Devil Fruit power, they believed there had to be a way to counter it.
Unfortunately for them, their confidence was misplaced. They had no idea what kind of power they were truly dealing with or just how high its level was.
Meanwhile, Koshiro and the others simply watched with knowing smiles, choosing not to interfere.
Kaito could tell what they were thinking, but he didn't bother correcting them. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Alright then."
With that, he condensed two contract runes from his forehead and sent them toward Shakky and Rayleigh. "Touch these runes and agree in your heart, and the contract will be formed."
"Got it!"
Shakky and Rayleigh were mesmerized by the mysterious contract runes. Without hesitation, they reached out and touched them.
The moment their minds accepted the contract, the runes disappeared into their foreheads, embedding themselves deep within their consciousness.
Then, a flood of information about the past and future of the Pirate World—and even glimpses into the Ninja World—poured into their minds.
Overwhelmed, they had to close their eyes and focus on processing the knowledge.
Shortly after, techniques such as meditation methods, Life Force cultivation, and Primal Chakra refinement also entered their minds.
Half an hour later, they slowly opened their eyes and exhaled deeply. "Wow…"
They then turned to look at Kaito and the others with expressions of shock and amazement.
Rayleigh was the first to speak. "So that's the truth… You guys really come from another world?"
"No wonder we could never find any information on you before. It was as if you appeared out of thin air!"
Shakky nodded in agreement, still processing everything she had just learned.
The truth had finally been revealed to them.
.
.
.