Overcoming Weaknesses, Mirror of Heart Door

BOOM!

The seawater surged violently.

At this moment, Arlong and his crew were stunned.

Nami's eyes widened as well, filled with pure shock!

Momoo, a creature far larger than their pirate ship, had been sent flying by Natsuya with a single blow!

What kind of strength was this!?

"Don't be afraid! So what if he has great strength!?"

"Attack him with seawater! As long as he's hit by it, he'll lose all his power!"

Arlong's low shout rang out.

He snapped back to reality, but his heart sank when he saw the expressions on his crew's faces.

Clearly, everyone, including himself, had been intimidated by the power Natsuya had just displayed!

Of course, this was hardly surprising.

After all, as a combatant of the Arlong Pirates, Momoo's fighting strength was among the best in the crew.

Now that he had been sent flying by Natsuya so easily, one could only imagine how the others felt!

But this wouldn't do.

If they lost their will to fight before the battle had even truly begun, Arlong would have even less confidence in dealing with this strange boy.

Thus, he hurriedly spoke up to remind them.

Hearing Arlong's words, Kuroobi, Hatchan, and the others finally regained their senses and launched their attacks toward Natsuya!

"Water Shot!"

"Water Wave!!"

"Seawater Jet!"

Led by Arlong, all the fish-men unleashed their various techniques.

Arlong swung his palms, firing off bullets of seawater.

Hatchan and Chew spat streams of water from their mouths.

Kuroobi and the others didn't stay idle either.

In the blink of an eye, a barrage of seawater attacks rained down on Natsuya like a hail of bullets!

Seeing this, Nami, watching from the different dimension, turned pale and instinctively clenched her small hands.

As for Natsuya, he merely raised an eyebrow.

It was worth noting that Arlong's repeated words struck a chord with him.

Seawater was indeed his current weakness!

As a Devil Fruit user, coming into contact with seawater would indeed cause him to fall into a weakened state.

However, in Natsuya's view, this weakness was not insurmountable.

In the later stages of the original story, Luffy and Kid were able to fight even while wearing Seastone—that was the best example!

Judging by Luffy's experience, as long as one had enough contact with things like seawater and Seastone, one could adapt to that weakness!

Thinking of this, Natsuya decided that he would have to make time in the future for seawater adaptation training; otherwise, if this weakness were truly exploited by enemies later on, it would cause him no small amount of trouble.

Of course, Arlong and his crew were clearly nowhere near that level of adaptation.

Swish.

Natsuya's figure flashed, and he flew to the other side, dodging all the seawater.

Immediately after, he held up two fingers and began to thrust them into the empty air in front of him!

A miraculous scene unfolded!

The fingers Natsuya thrust seemed to vanish into the air.

But at the same time, the shadows of his fingers appeared directly behind Arlong and his crew!

"Door-Strike Dog, open the heart's door!"

While Arlong and the others were completely bewildered, their hearts were opened one by one by Natsuya, and their inner thoughts were laid bare.

"Hm? What is this!?"

"How strange, I felt a poke on my back?"

"What's going on!?"

"Hmph, playing tricks!!"

This time, the majority of the fish-men didn't speak aloud, but their inner thoughts were all eavesdropped on by Natsuya.

Arlong, standing at the front, frowned, sensing that something was terribly wrong.

He knew that Natsuya's actions could not be without reason.

The current inexplicable situation was highly likely to have already exerted an invisible influence on them!

Thinking of this, Arlong's heart suddenly sank.

However, he had no other way for the moment and could only continue to launch attacks at Natsuya!

Kuroobi and the others were the same; once they regained their focus, they began firing seawater again.

Yet this time, Natsuya curled his lips into a smile and walked toward the seawater with a leisurely, unhurried gait.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

The seawater shot out, creating bursts of piercing sounds!

However, at this moment, it was as if history were repeating itself.

Just like when he had dealt with Colonel Mouse by passing through a hail of bullets earlier, Natsuya walked straight through all the seawater attacks!

"What!?"

Arlong and the others were instantly shocked.

Nami, inside the different dimension, was also greatly astonished.

Natsuya, however, was not surprised at all.

By eavesdropping on their inner thoughts, he already knew the trajectory of Arlong and his crew's attacks.

In this way, he could easily dodge all the attacks just by using Paper Art!

While dodging, Natsuya was also contemplating his current state.

The main reason he had come to eliminate Arlong and his crew was to test the role of Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts in combat and the various changes that occurred when using it.

The role it played, naturally, went without saying.

But regarding the changes during its use, Natsuya had gained new insights.

How should he put it?

It was quite troublesome.

First was the time limit of Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts.

As mentioned before, the more power consumed, the longer he could eavesdrop.

But this time, although the power Natsuya consumed was the same, the duration for which each fishman was affected varied.

This resulted in the effect of Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts becoming inconsistent in duration.

Additionally, after the number of targets for Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts increased, Natsuya found it somewhat difficult to keep up.

A few people were fine, but what about a dozen, or even dozens?

And don't forget, he still had to divide his attention to fight during this time.

"It seems this ability is better suited for one-on-one combat."

Natsuya had some realizations, but then a sudden inspiration struck him.

"No, perhaps I can develop more suitable moves based on this situation."

Natsuya suddenly thought of this point.

One had to know that any move was rough and imperfect when first developed.

But it could certainly be strengthened and improved based on real-world circumstances.

And right now, Natsuya felt that this Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts ability could be strengthened and improved.

First was the issue of its duration; it would be best if it could be made consistent.

And the number of people affected should ideally be able to increase or decrease according to Natsuya's will.

Right, and there was also its activation method.

To open the Mirror of Heart Door and eavesdrop on inner thoughts, Natsuya first needed to activate Door-Strike Dog to poke someone in the back.

But such a prerequisite for the move seemed a bit troublesome as well.

So, could this aspect be streamlined as well?

As Natsuya thought about these things, he quickly found inspiration.

And so.

The next moment.

Arlong and the others were surprised and suspicious to find that two tiny air portals had suddenly appeared on Natsuya's face!

Those two air portals connected together and rested on the bridge of Natsuya's nose, resembling a pair of glasses!

Arlong and the others were stunned.

Nami, seeing this, was also very puzzled.

"What is that!?"

But Natsuya felt a surge of spirit and revealed a smile.

Without a doubt, this glasses-like anomaly was the product of his improvement to the Eavesdrop on Inner Thoughts ability!

"Let's call this move the Mirror of Heart Door!"