[Daddy] Babaya!

After missing a chance to rise to prominence, Daddy had no choice but to work hard to survive once more. He kept learning the language and writing system, while training constantly to strengthen himself.

The power of a Logia Devil Fruit was truly astonishing, and Daddy longed to gain the abilities of a Devil Fruit himself.

As the days passed, Daddy lived by the sword in the underworld. He gradually lost his innocence and grew more ruthless.

As he slowly learned the language and put a brain that was n times sharper than those of the gang underlings to use, Daddy rose steadily through the Barto Family's ranks, gaining more and more status.

Later, Daddy deliberately ingratiated himself with the gang's boss, Cannibal Bartolomeo, and sought out the Granny whom Barto respected most, hoping to gain even more power.

That was when he discovered the old woman was the real decision-maker in the Barto Family!

She was actually Bartolomeo's grandmother!

This was an old woman who had made her way through the New World!

Not only was she powerful, she also knew Two-Color Haki. That was how she kept Bartolomeo, the gang boss, meek as a lamb and completely under her thumb.

No wonder that after the Barto Club set sail in the future, even when they ventured into the New World, they still often called her on a Den Den Mushi to ask about navigating its waters!

Daddy's rapid rise in the Barto Family and his calculated displays of ability had caught the old woman's attention. She saw his talent and intelligence!

The old woman, Tang, personally assigned Babaya, nicknamed "Mute," to Bartolomeo's side. She wanted to groom Daddy into Bartolomeo's strategic right-hand man, helping them manage and grow the Barto Family!

Thanks to Daddy's strength, fewer and fewer people dared call him "Mute" to his face.

Daddy also reclaimed the nickname [Daddy], to remind himself of life in his old world.

That way, whether people called him [Daddy] or Babaya, his ears would automatically filter it into "Daddy" or "Papa," letting him take advantage of them!

Gang members beneath Daddy in rank had to call him [Daddy], while high-ranking bosses like Granny Yubaba and Bartolomeo called him [Big D].

A [Big D] who didn't like wearing a helmet.

With Daddy's schemes and Bartolomeo's own considerable ability, the Barto Family expanded even faster, bringing more than 160 towns on the islands near Loguetown under its control.

That was already more than the 150-odd towns in the original story when Straw Hat Luffy made his debut.

At last, Granny Yubaba slowly began teaching him the most basic methods for training in Two-Color Haki.

However, worried that Babaya might grow stronger than Cannibal Bartolomeo, she didn't teach Daddy anything more!

Still, she was willing to teach the eager Babaya about navigating the Grand Line and the New World, hoping to train a navigator for Bartolomeo.

Daddy also served Bartolomeo with "utter loyalty." He even managed to steal Dezaya, Bartolomeo's childhood sweetheart, with a few cheesy lines.

He would take good care of this spirited, beautiful red-haired woman.

After all, Cannibal Bartolomeo wasn't interested in women, so Daddy had to tend this fertile field for him!

He had to admit, the red-haired beauty was bold and alluring. Once he'd won her over, she became even more forward!

She was way more exciting than the girls on Blue Star!

Now that he had eaten the Paramecia Barrier-Barrier Fruit, he planned to become a full-fledged part of this pirate world. From now on, his new name would be Daddy Babaya.

After all, [Daddy] Babaya had already made a name for himself in the waters around Loguetown. He was the Barto Family's ruthless strategist.

And the name had come from Dezaya, the first woman he'd had in this world.

Now that he had the Barrier-Barrier Fruit's power, he could finally shed his reputation as a "puppet master"!

Daddy ignored the corpse on the ground. Even if Bartolomeo and Granny Yubaba found out and blamed him, he feared nothing!

Nobody knew just how much strength and how many trump cards this sly old fox, Daddy, had kept hidden!

Besides, in the East Blue, there probably weren't many people who could break through the Barrier-Barrier Fruit's defenses.

At least, no one in Loguetown could—not even Granny Yubaba, who had a little Armament Haki!

After all, even Kozuki Oden, who had been to Laugh Tale, couldn't break Kurozumi Semimaru's Guardian Barrier, despite being a master of Three-Color Haki.

Daddy tossed aside the bloodstained machete in his hand and casually wiped the blood from his palms.

He crossed the index and middle fingers of both hands. A pale-green, transparent barrier appeared in an instant, seemingly unbreakable, as though no attack could penetrate its sturdy defense!

"Paramecia: the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. It's a creation-type Devil Fruit ability. Mr. 3, Doflamingo, Cracker, and Katakuri—all of them can give me great ideas for developing it!"

Daddy whispered excitedly. Although he hadn't been able to hitch a ride with Fire Fist Ace to the New World to scheme for the Dark-Dark Fruit, he'd still gotten a very good Devil Fruit ability, and this one had huge potential!

The Barrier-Barrier Fruit could be developed into all kinds of shapes: stairs, columns, spheres, paddles—even crude giant humanoid forms had appeared.

It made Daddy think of the Susanoo from the Naruto world. Wasn't that also an indestructible energy barrier?

"But it seems Paramecia abilities need specific hand signs to activate. I have to overcome that as soon as possible!"

Daddy thought of Nico Robin, Foxy, and Bartolomeo. All of them had to make specific hand signs to activate their Devil Fruit abilities.

But look at Doflamingo, Cracker, and Katakuri—the Paramecia powerhouses of the New World's later stages. Who among them was still limited by specific hand signs?

If you could only activate your Devil Fruit ability with a specific hand sign, your mastery of it clearly wasn't deep enough.

At the very least, Doflamingo and Katakuri, who had already awakened their Devil Fruit abilities, could produce string and mochi at will without being bound to any particular hand signs.

Cracker, on the other hand, still had to clap his hands to summon wave after wave of powerful Biscuit Soldiers. That meant his Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit might not have awakened yet.

It was much like the history of hand signs in Naruto. At first, every ninja dutifully formed them to perform ninjutsu. But as time went on, the signs grew simpler and simpler, until a single clap could produce practically anything.

Take the Water Dragon Jutsu performed by Zabuza and Kakashi with 44 hand signs. By the time Tobirama Senju and Kosuke, the eternal genin, used it, they needed only four. Mei Terumi needed only six.

By the late stages, ninjutsu that required no hand signs were everywhere.

"Right now, I need to cross the fingers of both hands to activate the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. But one day, I'll be able to form signs with one hand, with my toes, with my eyes—or summon barriers without any signs at all!"

Daddy declared confidently. After trying out a few moves, he picked up the corpse on the ground and tossed it into a large storage crate full of junk.

"Xiu'er, I'm sorry. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being loyal only to Barto!"

Daddy didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. After all, if a man didn't look out for himself, heaven and earth would punish him!

Besides, he wasn't even a native of this world!

The Barrier-Barrier Fruit should have gone to Bartolomeo, but Daddy, the strategist, had intercepted it. Even the ace bodyguard escorting it, Yamashita Chuhide, had been ambushed and killed by Daddy!

There was no helping it. Yamashita Chuhide was Cannibal Bartolomeo's top subordinate, utterly loyal to Barto, so Daddy had no choice but to kill him.

The day before, after clearing out the opposition on an island, Yamashita Chuhide had found a Devil Fruit while looting the spoils. He immediately contacted Bartolomeo by Den Den Mushi.

As it happened, Barto had gone out without his Den Den Mushi, so Daddy, the strategist at headquarters, answered the call instead.

Yamashita Chuhide didn't hide anything. He happily shared the good news with the strategist.

Daddy casually asked whether anyone else knew about the Devil Fruit.

Yamashita Chuhide said no. That was when greed took hold of Daddy. Since the Dark-Dark Fruit wasn't so easy to get, he had no reason to turn down the Barrier-Barrier Fruit that had practically landed in his lap!

But as Bartolomeo's absolutely loyal subordinate, Yamashita Chuhide insisted on presenting the Devil Fruit to his boss himself. He refused to hand the Barrier-Barrier Fruit over to Daddy, wanting to make an impression on Barto.

So Daddy had no choice but to come up with an excuse to lure Yamashita Chuhide to the underground warehouse, then strike him down and take the Barrier-Barrier Fruit!

Provided by the great author, Great Wildfire, from Pirates: I Open Susanoo with the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.