Good grief, a Rasengan!

That said, Dunn had no intention of leaving Shimotsuki Village immediately.

After all, he had already paid the fees; wouldn't it be a loss to leave now?

"Is what you're describing really possible?"

A few days later, Koshiro looked at Dunn with a headache-inducing expression.

He had seemed so steady before, so why had he suddenly become so unreliable?

Controlling a temperature of 15 million degrees to wear like a cloak, or to coat a blade with it?

What kind of sword could withstand such intense heat?

Besides, how could such a high-temperature flame even exist?

"That is why I am asking for your guidance!"

Dunn looked at Koshiro, his expression earnest.

Hmm?

Koshiro took a sharp, deep breath, suppressing his speechlessness.

"I apologize, I cannot comprehend what you are describing either. However, regarding the Nadeshigiri you mentioned, I can tell you that it is indeed possible. Many swordsmen on the sea can coat their blades with Armament Haki to unleash powerful slashes. Such slashes might be similar to the Nadeshigiri you speak of."

After hearing Koshiro's words, Dunn scratched his slightly overgrown hair and stood up with a sigh.

"Thank you, Master!"

"No need for thanks, I haven't really helped you much. However, I can demonstrate an imitation of the Nadeshigiri for you, though it certainly won't reach the level of power you described."

With that, Koshiro rose and left, returning a moment later clutching a sword with a pure white scabbard and hilt.

"Let's go, this place isn't suitable!"

After saying this, Koshiro turned and walked away, with Dunn following close behind.

Before long, the two stood on a cliff on the other side of the island, looking out over the endless sea.

Koshiro took a deep breath and assumed a stance, his right hand gripping the hilt of Wado Ichimonji. The next moment, Armament Haki coated his hand and spread along the blade of Wado Ichimonji.

Dunn watched quietly.

In an instant, a draw-slash combined with an incredibly fast strike occurred, followed by the sound of the sword sliding back into its scabbard.

The flying slash carved a hundred-meter-long trench into the sea, which vanished in an instant.

"That wasn't quite right. According to your description, it should have been a vertical slash."

Koshiro shook his head slightly.

What he had just performed was actually a diagonal slash.

"That's enough, I think I understand now."

Dunn called out to stop Koshiro, who was about to try again.

The worlds were different, so the power exerted by techniques would naturally differ as well.

The kind of flames reaching tens of millions of degrees used by that old man Yamamoto from another world were far too difficult to replicate in this world.

Especially since he had to rely on his fruit ability to reach that level.

Of course, if he could truly reach such high temperatures, he wouldn't need any techniques at all.

No one could withstand a temperature of tens of millions of degrees.

No, he didn't even need tens of millions of degrees; a temperature of a hundred thousand or even tens of thousands of degrees would be enough to make anyone unable to resist.

Even the Magma-Magma Fruit, the superior version of the Flame-Flame Fruit, only reached temperatures of one or two thousand degrees.

A temperature of just a few thousand degrees would be enough to vaporize magma.

However, the flames he currently controlled were only at five or six hundred degrees. Of course, by adding other forms of control to the flames, he could increase the temperature.

Since it was the Flame-Flame Fruit, the focus of his development should be on increasing the temperature.

Dunn sighed.

So many techniques were useless; if the temperature didn't reach the required level, the power would remain very limited.

Thinking of this, Dunn's gaze fell upon the digitized panel he had summoned.

Flame-Flame Fruit (Fully Mastered): A powerful Logia fruit ability; grants the ability to transform into and control flames; continuously strengthens the body; fruit drawbacks removed (weaknesses and soul possession); current fruit development (25%)

Fully mastered?

So the method he was thinking of was correct?

Seeing the changes on the digitized panel, Dunn was struck by a realization.

But with only 25% development, and even now it was just an idea without a concrete method to increase the flame's temperature, how could it be fully mastered?

Perhaps this "fully mastered" didn't mean what he thought it meant.

Dunn felt a bit puzzled.

Koshiro lowered his stance, looked at Dunn who was frowning in deep thought, and left quietly without disturbing him.

Dunn sensed Koshiro's departure, but he did not withdraw his focus.

The changes in the panel had plunged Dunn into deep contemplation, and he began to think about how to increase the temperature of his flames based on those changes.

Compression!

This was the simplest method.

If he compressed the flames, the temperature would surely become extremely high.

Dunn raised his hand, and a fireball the size of a watermelon floated above his palm.

How to compress it?

With Haki?

Dunn looked at the fireball in his palm and attempted to coat it with Armament Haki.

But the result was unsatisfactory.

The Armament Haki could not make contact with the flames in his hand.

After trying several times, Dunn flicked his hand and extinguished the fireball.

Either Haki could not coat something like fire, or his current mastery of Armament Haki was simply not up to par.

If it were a physical elemental form, perhaps he could coat it with Haki.

For example, the Swamp-Swamp Fruit, the Magma-Magma Fruit, or the Chill-Chill Fruit.

But for the Flame-Flame Fruit and the Glint-Glint Fruit, if one had to be precise, they did not have a physical form after elementalization.

However, the Mochi-Mochi Fruit, which was very similar to a Logia, allowed for Armament Haki to be applied after creating mochi arms.

If this method didn't work now, was there another way?

A thought stirred in Dunn's heart as he considered another possibility.

In an instant, a fireball appeared in Dunn's hand once again.

When he had first eaten the fruit, he had manipulated the flow—or rather, the rotation—of the flames to speed up the roasting of bird eggs.

Accelerating the flow would draw in more oxygen to speed up combustion, or rather, it would make the plasma forming the flame more active, thereby creating a higher temperature.

The fireball flowed in Dunn's hand and then began to rotate.

Streaks of orange-red flame, or plasma fluid, formed several blade-shaped ribbons. The orange-red color of the flames faded, and as the speed of rotation increased, a fireball that was orange-yellow on the outside, with white, scorching flames encased within, appeared in his hand.

Damn!

Isn't this just a Rasengan?

This actually works?

The white flames were at least over a thousand degrees, which meant this method was a success.

However, the rotating fireball in his hand looked exactly like a Rasengan infused with fire.

Thinking of this, Dunn threw the fireball in his hand directly toward the sea.

Then, the shocking scene he expected did not occur; after flying only a dozen meters, the rotating fireball completely burned out.

Well, there is still a long way to go.

Dunn was not disappointed, nor did he continue to try; he turned around and headed back.

On his digitized panel, a change had occurred once again.

[Flame-Flame Fruit (Initial Control)]

And the development progress had changed to 31%.

Does this count as an advancement?

So, as long as he found new ways to develop the Flame-Flame Fruit, would it progress to Proficient Control and Complete Control as the development percentage increased, and then what?

It wouldn't be Awakening, would it?