Konoha's Mission Master

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Chapter 345 Proof of Hegemony: The Secret of the Soul

In the days following Whitebeard and the others' departure, Yakumo became busy, spending every day in the research lab investigating the secrets that were troubling him.

In the time it takes to eat a meal, the group has become quite familiar with each other.

Shyvana, in particular, developed a great curiosity about Yuuki Chiyuki's appearance and gender, thinking that he had eaten a rather strange Devil Fruit, which made his appearance infinitely closer to that of a woman.

But her smile soon faded, because Yakumo assigned Yukotsu Chiyuki to teach Shyvana the Hatake sword technique. During this training, she suffered greatly and endured much hardship.

But she also had a reason to work hard to improve her swordsmanship, so she could only keep practicing her swordsmanship on the verge of collapse.

Under Yukotsu Chiyuki's guidance, she quickly integrated the Hatake Secret Manual with the swordsmanship of the pirate homeland into her own combat system.

Of course, during the guidance process, Yuuki Chiyuki was also openly learning the swordsmanship of the One Piece world and integrating it into her own combat system, and her swordsmanship skills improved at an extremely fast pace.

Mori Masako was secretly practicing her Devil Fruit. To Yakumo's surprise, the awakening speed of the Illusionary Bird Fruit was very fast, improving at a rate of about three per thousand per day.

At this rate, three Nirvanas will occur in less than a year. This discovery has put immense pressure on Yakumo, forcing him to create ten shadow clones to simultaneously analyze and study the secrets of the Illusionary Colored Bird Fruit.

One day later, in the laboratory.

Yakumo analyzed the differences in the blood of Machi, Shivana, and Mori Masako, focusing most importantly on the secrets carried by their genes.

Yakumo discovered that the complexity of the recessive genes in the three individuals, from lowest to highest, was Maki, Shivana, and Mori Masako.

The power of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit depends on the complexity of its genetic material, and more... only the will carried by Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruits possesses extraordinary power!

This may be the reason why Mythical Zoan fruits are different from ordinary Devil Fruits; the difference in their souls plays a crucial role.

Yakumo focuses his research on this point: how to tame the will carried by Zoan-type Devil Fruits.

The only solution he could think of was the sealing technique, Yin-Yang Seal. The successful development of the healing orb proved that Yin-Yang Seal could target energy.

If it is further improved, it should be possible to develop the power to seal souls.

This process requires a large amount of gold coins and Grandmaster Breakthrough Scrolls, which makes Yakumo's already meager reserves even more strained.

Of course, the second way is to continue to break through the Soul-Soul Fruit and use one's own soul power to wear down the will of the Mythical Beast Fruit.

Alternatively, the will of the mythical beast could be crushed and absorbed by Mori Masako's soul, thereby promoting the fusion and awakening of the genetic chain.

Yakumo's first thought was Machi.

Her cat ears and tail are manifestations of an animal's loss of control, and he wondered if he could suppress this process through his spiritual will.

When he thought of this, he decided to give it a try.

A few minutes later, Maggie arrived at the laboratory.

Her outfit was extremely daring and provocative, and her body was covered in sweat, indicating that she had just been sparring with Yougu Qianxue to enhance her absorption and assimilation of animal will.

Maggie sat down opposite Yakumo without any hesitation, took the towel Yakumo handed her, and began wiping the sweat from her body.

During this time, she also discovered that Yakumo had no airs of a strong person at all, was very peaceful and approachable, and had a deep respect for everyone.

Of course, this applies to friends.

"You should know that you're nearing your limit, right?"

Maggie paused slightly as she wiped her body, and nodded gently.

The fourth attack, which intensified the animal's will, was extremely fierce. Although she persevered and successfully withstood countless waves of impact, she experienced a few seconds of disorientation.

Fortunately, she regained herself through her own willpower at the crucial moment, but she estimated that... she could only do it twice more at most before reaching her limit.

Every time she thought about this, her face would darken and she would feel a deep sense of resentment, which was a unique kind of torment for her.

“I have a special method that can help you overcome animal will, but this method is in the experimental stage and I cannot guarantee 100% safety, but it can definitely help you break through your limits.”

Yakumo sipped the green tea brewed in a beaker and said softly.

In fact, as soon as Yakumo finished speaking the first sentence, Machi suddenly raised her head, and the resentment in her eyes quickly disappeared, replaced by a strong longing.

Once she gets used to such an easy way to improve, how could she be willing to stop and go back to the time when she practiced day after day and might not even make any progress? Of course, she wouldn't want to.

She completely ignored the danger that Yakumo mentioned.

“I do!” Maggie said immediately, almost without hesitation.

"Just a heads up, there might be some danger."

Yakumo said with a slight smile as he sipped his green tea.

"I know... but I believe you."

Machi admits that there was an element of gambling involved, but she has almost unconditional trust in Yakumo, from easily creating and repairing her calf to destroying Pirate Island Hive and adjusting the activation progress of other people's Devil Fruits.

These events were nothing short of miraculous, making people unconsciously believe in them. The last person to give her this feeling was the leader, Dragon.

"Then I'll begin. And don't be afraid... The following actions are all for the purpose of this brand new experiment."

Yakumo put down the beaker, and the sound of the mechanism moving came from the Glory Sword Case beside him. Fuma slowly slid out from inside the case, its smooth blade as clear as a mirror, making the laboratory room even brighter.

Even though Yakumo had no intention of attacking, Maki could still feel a bone-chilling cold. With each battle and strengthening, Fuma himself carried an intense killing intent.

"Why did you bring a weapon?" Machi's teeth chattered. She didn't believe that Yakumo had drawn his sword to kill her and silence her, but she was also very puzzled as to why a weapon would be used in this experiment.

Her long blue tail swayed uneasily behind her, and her cat ears were just touching her hair, making her look like a trembling big cat.

"I already told you not to be afraid, these are experimental equipment."

"Does it mean they're going to dissect it?"

Maggie felt a chill in her heart and couldn't help but regret that she had agreed so readily. At the very least, she should have asked about the experimental process before agreeing.

"Don't overthink it. This weapon has the function of amplifying energy. Through its transmission, the effect of one unit of energy can be doubled, which can save energy and make operation more precise," Yakumo replied with a smile.

Maggie breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said.

"That's fine, that's fine."

Yakumo spoke up. "I told you... don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid... Yeah, right."

As the Demon-Subduing Sword was unsheathed, the entire laboratory was instantly filled with a chilling atmosphere. An invisible yet terrifying wave spread out, causing Maggie to instinctively tense her legs.

"Relax, if I really wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be able to escape at all, so... it's better not to be afraid."

"Damn it, you're scaring me even more now!"

Maggie relaxed her body slightly, and the muscles in her legs gradually relaxed as well, but it felt as if a huge stone was pressing on her heart. Every cell in her body seemed to have come alive, urging her to run away quickly!

Yakumo stared at the blue phantom on Machi's body, which resembled wisps of smoke. It was the soul that surged forth from her body due to fear. If he activated his soul-stripping ability, he could probably severely injure Machi in an instant.

"You are so afraid because your animal instincts have suppressed your rationality. After all, animals follow the law of the jungle and have no concept of friends."

"Adjust your state of mind to control your instincts."

Upon hearing this, Maggie tried to force herself to calm down, but her body felt as if it were in a frozen wasteland, gradually losing its warmth and slumping against the chair.

The more she resisted her body's instincts, the less strength she felt, as if only escaping this place could bring her relief.

"Empty your mind and enter a meditative state."

Yakumo gently comforted Machi while trying to suppress the fluctuations of his Soul-Soul Fruit. With their combined efforts, Machi gradually straightened her back, leaving only her eyes slightly evasive.

With the Demon-Subduing Sword fully unsheathed, Machi seemed to see mountains of corpses and seas of blood gradually pressing down on her, a terrifying prospect that could kill at any moment, as if the temperature in the laboratory had dropped several degrees.

Yakumo noted in his mind that if a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user retains the characteristics of an animal's will in their body, it will enhance the user's perception and even suppress rationality to amplify inner fears.

Finally, the back of the Demon-Slaying Blade rested on Maggie's wrist, and he began to mobilize his own soul energy, which was then channeled and strengthened into Maggie's body through the Demon-Slaying Blade's transmission.

This process was completed in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Yakumo closed his eyes and began to wholeheartedly manipulate his own soul energy, making it differentiate as much as possible, as if splitting into countless thin tentacles.

After the Soul-Soul Fruit awakened, his manipulation of soul energy became more refined. Countless training and insights had made this manipulation instinctive, allowing him to control soul energy into extremely fine units without expending too much mental energy.

Yakumo's soul energy searched for any remaining traces of animal will within Machi's body. At the same time, Yakumo opened his Soul Eye to enhance his perception, scanning meticulously with both methods, striving not to miss any detail.

This is an extremely difficult step. The will of those animals is hidden very deeply. The only way to find it is to make the tentacles of soul power split into smaller entities, so that they can form a large hunting net.

Yakumo gripped the hilt of the Demon-Subduing Blade with both hands, accelerating the output of soul energy while simultaneously controlling it to continue splitting.

Ten minutes later, Yakumo raised the level of his observation to the cellular level and indeed found the animal will carried by those Devil Fruits hidden between the cells.

These lingering wills, filled with bestiality and madness, emanate unknown fluctuations, influencing the surrounding cells and causing them to undergo unknown changes.

For a moment, Yakumo couldn't determine whether this change was beneficial or harmful.

Could this be the true secret of Devil Fruits?

Genetic rewriting combined with animal will fusion equals Zoan-type Devil Fruits. If that's the case, could I create a perfect Zoan-type Devil Fruit?

We can address this issue later; for now, we still need the remaining animal will.

As his strength grew, so did the number of questions in his mind, as if the path of seeking knowledge had no end.

For example, why can a space teleport according to the flow of space? For example, why can a soul carry the concept of burning? For example, why can a soul be materialized and forged into a weapon?

There are many more questions like these: body, soul, energy, space, time—these are all countless questions for Yakumo.

Yakumo pulled himself out of his thoughts and first manipulated his own soul energy, wrapping the animal will around it and trying to divide it into smaller individuals.

However, an unexpected change occurred: Yakumo's soul energy was subjected to a suicidal attack by the will of animals.

The animal wills launched a direct attack on Yakumo's soul energy, but even if they were all destroyed, they could not shake Yakumo's soul energy.

The will of the animals around them that were not encased remained unchanged, still existing between their cells, quietly radiating their unknown influence, reminding Yakumo of the word "source of pollution."

A whole new question arose in his mind.

If I help Machi eliminate the will of these animals, will it affect the strength of her Devil Fruit power?

This should be the inevitable answer, but the specific results and the extent of the impact can only be obtained through experiments, and the will should reside in the mind rather than the body.

In other words, these animal wills should not have appeared around the muscle cells but should have merged with Machi's will.

Yakumo stopped searching for any remaining animal will, as it was unnecessary; he directly transformed the form of his own soul energy.

The tide that gathered within Maki's body to form Yakumo's soul slowly compressed and increased the density of her soul energy. Then, her left arm began to repeatedly wash over Maki's body.