Secretly Searching for Treasure

Ace and Yamato talked past each other for a while like a chicken talking to a duck. Yamato was certainly the carefree sort, but Ace was not much better. He actually suspected Yamato was Kozuki Oden.

"Come on, Ace. Whether it's Kaido or Kozuki Oden, they're obviously both men," Yota finally said, unable to take it any longer.

"Ah!" Ace looked as though he had only just realized it, his face full of surprise. "So she isn't?"

Yamato still looked utterly serious. "Although I am Kaido's son, spiritually, I am still Kozuki Oden!"

"You're Kaido's... son?" Ace looked at Yamato's prominent chest, unsure how to even begin commenting on that.

"What? Though I may be a woman physically, in my heart, I am a true man!"

Yota: ...Whatever makes you happy.

"I see. My apologies for the offense," Ace said solemnly, seemingly having tuned into Yamato's wavelength.

Fine, I'm the one who can't understand how people in the One Piece World think. The abnormal one was me!

While Yota was still rolling his eyes, Yamato and Ace had already begun another fight.

Yamato, wearing shackles, was about evenly matched with Ace. In the original story, the two had fought to a draw. But this time, Ace seemed to have gained a slight edge.

That was hardly surprising. The old Ace had not had a crewmate like Yota constantly chasing after him. Yota was both a driving force and a worthy opponent to temper him.

Moreover, Yota's Munch-Munch Fruit combined with Medical Ninjutsu was truly unparalleled when it came to healing external injuries. Any wound he swallowed could be completely healed.

With such perfect logistical support, Ace had become much more aggressive in his adventures recently and had endured even greater trials. Yet his body had not accumulated any lingering injuries, so it was perfectly normal for him to be stronger than in the original story.

Of course, even if Ace was stronger than in the original story, for fighters of their level, unless the gap in strength was enormous or one side countered the other, it would still take quite some time to determine a winner.

That time might very well be measured in days!

Yota had no desire to let those two keep fighting. If they fought until the entire Beasts Pirates returned, they would really be screwed.

"Still, I should let them fight for a few hours first. Neither of them has had enough yet."

Yota glanced around and found surprisingly few Beasts Pirates grunts. He simply headed toward the giant skull.

Ever since obtaining the Munch-Munch Fruit, and after pulling off a job back in Drum Kingdom, Yota had developed a habit of digging for treasure.

Leaving aside anything else, the weapons in those treasure vaults could genuinely increase his combat power.

He already had four Grade Swords on him. Although Yota was not a swordsman, devouring those weapons still greatly enhanced his temporary combat strength.

However, Yota would not remain fused with those weapons permanently. This was not one of those worlds where frail flesh was discarded in favor of mechanical ascension.

In the One Piece World, it was nothing unusual for a body strengthened through training to surpass ordinary Grade Swords, or even Supreme Grade Swords.

After fusing with weapons, Yota's combat power might rise, but he would also lose the potential to train and grow. Steel could only wear down; flesh could truly grow.

So, Yota only regarded these weapons as a temporary measure for now. Even so, he remained very interested in such treasure vaults.

After all, whether it was the Pirate World or the Naruto World he had crossed into, danger had never been scarce. Temporarily increasing his combat power was still increasing his combat power.

Before becoming invincible, he should not pass up any opportunity to improve himself.

He entered the skull palace. There were some Beasts Pirates lackeys inside as well, but they had already fallen unconscious, apparently due to the clash of Conqueror's Haki.

Yota ignored them and studied the palace, trying to determine where the Beasts Pirates' treasure vault might be.

However, this building had been converted from the skull of an enormous creature. Its layout was completely different from every architectural arrangement Yota had learned at the Ninja Academy, making it impossible to deduce where the important locations were. It left him somewhat frustrated.

"Forget it. I'll look around first."

Even at the Kaido Pirates' headquarters, there were very few people here. The occasional conscious person could not detect Yota's presence at all.

However, just as Yota reached the second floor, his Observation Haki suddenly sensed something, and his heart skipped a beat.

Several strands of white spider silk suddenly dropped from above, nearly ensnaring Yota. His expression shifted slightly as he looked toward the darkness from which the silk had emerged.

A gigantic blonde beauty emerged from the darkness. Despite her enormous size, she had moved without a sound. Even Yota, whose profession was built around stealth and who had awakened Observation Haki, had nearly been ambushed. Clearly, this newcomer was no easy opponent.

"A Spider Fruit, Ancient Zoan? You're Black Maria?" Yota looked slightly surprised. As the beauty fully emerged, he saw that her lower body was a gigantic spider.

Spiders were born masters of ambush. No wonder Yota had failed to notice her at first.

Hadn't the Kaido Pirates all gone out to fight? Why had they left someone like her behind?

Of course, the most important question was whether there were any other Kaido Pirates here.

"Hey there, little brother. What are you doing here? We don't entertain outsiders here, you know."

As she spoke, a whole crowd of monsters and freaks emerged from behind Black Maria. At first glance, it looked like a legendary night parade of a hundred demons!

Black Maria herself resembled a Jorōgumo, a spider yokai. Behind her were Hannya demon masks, Rokurokubi, and all sorts of others. Hardly any of them looked normal.

Anyone who did not know better might have thought they had all eaten Mythical Zoan-type Fruits.

Seeing Yota's solemn expression, Black Maria gave a coquettish laugh. "Kid, you came with that flame brat outside, didn't you? Are you here to challenge Lord Kaido? But your Captain doesn't seem able to beat even Lord Kaido's child, Young Master Yamato."

"You came here alone. Are you looking to die?"

After hearing Black Maria's words, Yota's expression instead relaxed. "Looks like you're the only one in this castle, huh? Otherwise, you wouldn't have said so much just to make me leave on my own."

Never mind Kaido being in the castle—even if there were one of the All-Stars here, or even another member of the Tobi Roppo, Black Maria would not be acting like this. She would have attacked him outright long ago.