Making Zephyr Cry with Genjutsu

Moreover, Smoker had been standing nearby, listening to everything. He was also curious about what had happened back then. When he heard Jia Ji say that he had married him, Smoker showed no expression at all.

Jia Ji's strength was no joke. Though there was some bragging in his own claims, he definitely possessed rear admiral-level strength. Yet Jia Ji, with strength at that level, had actually lost to a rookie and even been kicked unconscious by one.

He had always been a competitive man, so he was now very curious about Mu Chen, especially those red eyes of his.

No one could understand what Jia Ji meant. Was he saying that he had merely looked into Mu Chen's eyes and then thought that he had married Smoker?

Jia Ji, were you dreaming?

Everyone was full of doubts over Jia Ji's words. At that moment, Wu Shu held his chin and pondered. Could it be those eyes of his... Just as Wu Shu had some idea and was about to voice it, someone finished his thought. "An illusion. Those eyes can make people hallucinate."

Everyone looked over and saw that Kuzan had somehow appeared beside them.

"Kuzan, you think so too?"

"Yes. I wanted to fight him back then, to test it out and find out whether Mu Chen was a Devil Fruit user, but he refused to fight me."

Although Kuzan was somewhat displeased by Mu Chen's refusal, he remained deeply curious about Mu Chen's eyes.

"He isn't a Devil Fruit user."

Smoker suddenly spoke coldly from not far away.

When Jia Ji heard that it was Smoker, a lewd grin immediately appeared on his face.

"Smoker?"

But Smoker ignored him completely.

"Jia Ji, he isn't a Devil Fruit user?"

"Smoker, how do you know?"

Wu Shu asked the question on everyone else's behalf.

Normally, there were only a few ways to determine whether someone was a Devil Fruit user: observing their attacks in battle, or using seawater and Seastone to test them, since those were Devil Fruit weaknesses.

Another way was if one was also a Devil Fruit user and could use Observation Haki to sense whether the other person was a Devil Fruit user. Devil Fruit users possessed a special kind of energy that could be detected with Observation Haki, but doing so required mastery of Observation Haki.

Of everyone present, only Kuzan was a Devil Fruit user. No one else had tried, but Kuzan had only just begun learning Observation Haki, so he had failed to sense it at all.

As for Sengoku and the others, they had never activated their Observation Haki during a fight between juniors, so they had overlooked it. Sengoku in particular was also a Devil Fruit user. If he had activated his Observation Haki, he would have sensed it long ago.

Observation Haki could actually be released passively, but in that state it generally only detected whether there was danger nearby. In dangerous situations, actively releasing Observation Haki could reveal all the information one knew how to perceive.

But where would there be any danger at Marine Headquarters, Marineford?

They all understood this, but how had Smoker known?

Everyone thought it should have been impossible for Smoker to know.

Smoker wore a solemn expression and slowly said, "I heard it from Vice Admiral Garp." After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

Kuzan was left standing at the scene!

They stared at one another with wide eyes. "Huh?"

The others had never expected the answer to be so simple and ridiculous. They had thought Smoker was hiding something and had even wondered when he had become a Devil Fruit user. In the end, all they got was, "I heard it from Garp." Good grief, they suddenly felt like idiots. They had all been overthinking it, only for him to pull something like this. "You've learned some bad habits. Don't drag things out like that next time, all right?"

Even the steady Wu Shu helplessly complained.

But once Smoker revealed that information, they were all dumbfounded. What? Mu Chen wasn't a Devil Fruit user? That was impossible. If he wasn't, how had he made Jia Ji lose his fighting ability?

For a moment, no one could make sense of the news. But one thing was certain: the rookie Mu Chen was very strong. Even though he had ultimately refused to fight Kuzan, the special ability that had instantly stripped Jia Ji of his combat ability was not something to be underestimated.

Elsewhere, Zephyr had already brought Mu Chen to a two-person dormitory. The dormitory looked quite spacious, much better than the major's dormitory Mu Chen had had in the East Blue.

"Mu Chen, you are now my, Zephyr's, disciple. From this moment on, your rank will be promoted to petty officer." Mu Chen did not care much about that. If he could learn Haki under Zephyr, he could save some points.

"Understood, Teacher Zephyr. Mu Chen, can you tell me what ability you used on Jia Ji at the end?"

Zephyr was now extremely curious about Mu Chen, as well as those eyes of his.

Mu Chen then briefly explained the abilities of the Blood Sharingan to Zephyr. Zephyr did not react much upon hearing that the Blood Sharingan possessed abilities similar to Observation Haki. The world was vast and full of wonders, after all. But when he heard that the Blood Sharingan could make people fall into illusions, he instantly lost his composure. "What did you say? Genjutsu?"

Zephyr's reaction to genjutsu was not much different from Garp's. He was utterly shocked, because genjutsu was practically unheard of in this pirate world.

"I've served in the Marines for decades and seen many things. I've been to valleys where illusions could kill people, seen plants that could kill people with illusions, and even encountered strange knowledge that could make people fall into illusions."

As Zephyr recalled the various experiences of his life, he began listing them. "But those were all external objects. I have never heard of anyone being able to control genjutsu, let alone someone who isn't a Devil Fruit user."