Journey to Oni Island

Yota and Ace's combined fighting power meant that, in the current Wano Country, where Kaido, the Three Disasters, and even the Tobi Roppo were absent, they could basically run rampant without restraint.

Raiding a batch of food from Wano Country was naturally no difficult task. The only somewhat troublesome part was transporting it.

In the end, Yota, as the Munch-Munch Fruit user, was forced to become the chief transporter. After swallowing and storing a massive amount of food, he became a fat man over twenty meters tall, almost round like a ball.

Thus, after making several trips and obtaining enough food for Amigasa Village to last half a year, Yota fled the place as though he had been granted a pardon.

He had no desire to experience that feeling of being stuffed like a balloon again. The Munch-Munch Fruit's swallowing ability had its limits too; otherwise, if he kept swallowing, wouldn't he eventually be able to devour the entire planet?

What was this, a game where you started with a Kun and evolved entirely by swallowing?

Though this fruit was called the Munch-Munch Fruit, its real function lay in modifying and combining objects. It was not meant to be used as storage space.

As for where to go next...

"Kaido's lair should be on that Oni Island, right?" Ace looked eagerly toward the distant island with its enormous skull.

Yota looked at the island in the distance, but the person who came to mind was that "filial son," Yamato.

"Come to think of it, Yamato should have Kaido's blood too. She can be considered part of the Oni race, right?"

"Her potential is no less than Ace's. If I can obtain her body structure, my own potential will increase once again!"

Yota had no particular opinion about Yamato's actions. Just as the Navy Hero had raised a son who became a revolutionary, and One Piece had a grandson who became a pirate, the entire Pirate World was filled with this atmosphere of yearning for freedom. It was hardly strange for Kaido, a textbook pirate, to raise a "son" who dreamed of becoming a heroic figure.

But Yota was practically drooling over Yamato's potential. If his body could undergo another modification, perhaps he could leap straight to Ace's level of strength.

In truth, his potential was already nearly on par with Ace's. Though his rate of progress in pure physical training was still slower than Ace's, the boost from Chakra allowed him to raise his physical strength to a higher level in battle.

It was just that the Munch-Munch Fruit was still inferior to the Flame-Flame Fruit in direct combat, and the changes to his body structure had only increased his potential. In the mere half year or so since then, that potential had yet to fully translate into strength, so his frontal combat ability still fell short of Ace's.

Still, if they truly fought, it would be hard to say who had better odds. After all, Yota had mastered ninjutsu, especially Water Release, which was practically Ace's natural nemesis.

It could be said that even among Devil Fruit users, Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit was the second most severely countered by seawater, surpassed only by Crocodile's Sand-Sand Fruit.

"You wait here. I'll go take a look first!" As Oni Island drew closer and closer, the excited Ace stomped his foot and transformed into a streak of fire, leaping toward the island.

Yota curled his lip. He knew Ace's trip was doomed to yield nothing, since Kaido and the others had long since gone off on an expedition.

A moment later, a thunderous boom rang out. Yota narrowed his eyes and saw, amid surging flames, that a dragon statue at the very front of Oni Island had been smashed into several pieces.

"What a violent guy," Yota muttered. If Kaido really were on that island, and saw Ace smash even his statue, wouldn't he beat Ace into pulp?

Soon, the ship drew closer and closer to the island, and Yota heard shouts coming from it. It seemed Ace had encountered some opponent.

Then a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki swept across the area. At the same time, another unfamiliar Conqueror's Haki rose from Oni Island. As the two clashed, even the clouds in the sky faintly churned.

"That Conqueror's Haki should be Yamato's. Too bad they're still a little short of producing that sky-splitting spectacle..."

"But if they really possessed Haki that could seemingly divide the sky in two, then the two of them would be close to reaching the highest tier of combat power."

The people aboard the Spade Pirates' ship looked rather miserable under the Haki pressure, but at least they had not fainted. Though Yota considered them nothing more than useless hangers-on, the Spade Pirates were a small but elite Pirate Crew. At the very least, their fighting power far exceeded that of ordinary pirates in a Four Emperors Crew.

Moreover, Yamato and Ace's Haki was ultimately weaker than that of true Four Emperors, which was why they could barely remain conscious.

However, the closer they got to Oni Island, the greater the pressure became. Seeing them struggle, Yota said, "You should wait here for now. Come closer after the battle is over."

With that, he jumped directly off the ship and ran across the seawater toward Oni Island.

The Spade Pirates exchanged glances, all wearing somewhat dejected expressions.

After following Ace and Yota for so long, it would be a lie to say the Spade Pirates had no awareness that they were weak. But these people were simply lacking in innate potential. Even if they trained hard, their rate of improvement was far slower than Ace's and Yota's. What could they do about it?

When Yota stepped onto Oni Island, he saw two figures fighting furiously. Flames and ice scattered everywhere, and the battle was clearly incredibly intense.

With a thunderous boom, the two figures separated. Yamato and Ace faced each other, each standing on one side.

"Are you Kaido, the Captain of the Beasts Pirates?" Ace asked with a grave expression.

Yota:...

Come on, Ace, can you use your eyes properly? Other than the two horns on her head, what part of Yamato looked like Kaido? She was obviously a normal girl!

"I am not Kaido. I am Kozuki Oden of Wano Country!"

All right, at least she looked like a normal girl. Her brain was another matter.

"Kozuki Oden?" Ace tilted his head slightly and actually began thinking. "Wasn't that the Daimyo of Wano Country before? Didn't Kaido already kill him?"

Before coming to Wano Country, Ace had never heard of Kozuki Oden. However, after staying in Amigasa Village for so long, he naturally learned about this hero of Wano Country.

Though he sounded like a somewhat foolish hero, that kind of conduct suited pirates like Ace quite well.