Instructors' Conclusion: Gathering Talents

The twenty trainees closest to Wude heard the Ajin Scream. Fifteen of them instantly stiffened.

The remaining trainees, who had stronger constitutions, only stiffened for about five seconds before their bodies began moving again.

Even quite a few of the instructors standing nearby stiffened for more than three seconds.

Many of the other nearby trainees only recovered their movements three seconds after those fifteen had recovered from six seconds of paralysis, and they gasped for breath nonstop.

Wude observed how long each person had remained stiff. Constitution really did make a difference, shortening the duration somewhat.

The difference was not very obvious in the Ajin world, but it had become somewhat apparent in the One Piece world.

In the distance, Sakazuki frowned as he watched Wude. He had just moved a little closer to observe.

As a result, his body had become sluggish for an instant. Although Wude's ability had almost no effect on him as a trainee,

it would be troublesome against an opponent of roughly equal strength.

"How did you do that just now?" an instructor hurriedly asked.

Although it had lasted only a short time, the indiscriminate paralysis effect was terrifying.

Wude looked at the people around him. His earlier estimate of the duration had only been a rough approximation and was highly inaccurate.

He planned to try again, perhaps even combining his Devil Fruit ability with hypnosis.

"It could be considered a kind of hypnotism," Wude said, making things up on the spot.

"I see. It's probably an ability similar to the Clone Technique."

"His name is so strange. It doesn't feel anything like ours. Could he actually be from Wano Country?"

"You mean a ninja? I think so too."

"Hey, hey, ninjas don't have some kind of undying evil art, do they?!"

The objections were drowned out.

"Can you do it again?" Sakazuki asked.

The other two veteran vice admirals also came over and looked at the young man expectantly.

Wude nodded and discussed it with the instructors.

The instructors from the two groups recorded the paralysis times of different people separately.

They selected trainees with various constitutions and levels of strength. Five instructors each conducted three rounds of recording for comparison.

Wude began screaming. A large group of trainees surrounded him, while the two groups of instructors gripped their pens and prepared to record.

Among the officers watching from the side were quite a few colonels, as well as three vice admirals.

The level of treatment made it feel comparable to that received by famous musicians at musical theaters in his previous life.

After screaming once, the guinea-pig trainees waited a while before enduring their discomfort and continuing to cooperate.

After the instructors finished recording the first set of data, they began the second and third rounds.

"What an incredible hypnotic technique. I really want to learn it." Smoker, the guinea pig standing at the very front, teased him.

"Yeah, yeah." The uninformed guinea-pig trainees nodded one after another.

"A secret family technique. Not for outsiders~" Wude continued spinning his tale.

Hina's expression remained calm, but she sneered inwardly.

What a family secret!

"Let me see." Wude hurriedly took the records from the three rounds and began comparing them.

Only a few of the figures differed somewhat from the times he had estimated.

"Are we testing more? I still have a few techniques I want to try." Wude looked at the instructors and trainees as if they were a mountain of treasure.

"Go ahead." Sakazuki and the other two veteran vice admirals nodded.

Several guinea pigs who had been preparing to run were dragged back by the instructors to cooperate with Wude's tests.

"Can we do it another day?" a navy soldier begged.

The sensation of being paralyzed was far too unpleasant. As the weakest one there, he felt as though he could hardly breathe.

"No. We're doing it today." The instructor shook his head. Quite a few trainees and instructors of various constitutions and levels of strength had gathered here.

This was the ideal place to obtain the best data for testing the ability.

Wude next planned to test control through Gaze Illusion.

After discussing it with the instructors, rows of guinea pigs began taking turns stepping forward.

This time, he was testing how many people he could hypnotize simultaneously,

as well as how much the duration of control would decrease as the targets' strength of will increased.

Smoker was unfortunately among the first batch of guinea pigs again.

The final results showed that he could control five people at most in one attempt. If he tried to control more, he would feel a sharp pain in his mind.

For people with different levels of willpower, the duration of control generally decreased by two seconds at a time. Comparing trainees and instructors, he could control them for up to around ten seconds.

Sakazuki stood directly in front of him. "Give it a try."

He really is a model worker. Wude is about to be moved to tears.

Wude looked at him, but Sakazuki was completely unaffected. "You still need to grow. This illusion is very likely related to willpower and mental strength."

He gave a very fair assessment.

Next came the test of Tactile Illusion.

Test results: Unlike Gaze Illusion, touching an unprepared enemy could control them for four seconds, even if they were several temporarily summoned rear admirals.

However, against people with greater willpower and mental strength than his when they were prepared, it had no effect at all. Even the control duration for people with weaker mental strength and willpower than his was cut in half.

Conclusion:

One, Ajin Scream could control targets over an area, with the duration linked to the other party's constitution.

Two, Devil Fruit ability: Gaze Illusion could control a maximum of five people at once, with the duration linked to their mental strength and willpower.

Three, Devil Fruit ability: Tactile Illusion excelled at catching enemies off guard. When they were prepared, its effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Wude even wanted to conduct a test combining the abilities, and he received approval from the vice admirals.

They immediately organized another test, but the results were disappointing.

Simply stacking the abilities together was not very useful.

Ajin Scream conflicted with Gaze Illusion, directly jolting those who had lost consciousness awake and leaving them staring at him in a stiffened state.

It could be said that Ajin Scream had nullified Gaze Illusion.

The second combination, Ajin Scream with Tactile Illusion, produced the same result.

"Wude, come with us for a moment. Everyone else, continue sparring!" A colonel beckoned to him. The three vice admirals had left at some point.

"Instructor." Wude walked over, and a group of instructors surrounded him.

"We discussed it and wondered if you could develop Tactile Illusion further, applying it to weapons so that you could hypnotize and control enemies through clashes between weapons," one colonel suggested.

"Would that be difficult?" another colonel asked urgently, staring at him.

"This is also a move that can't be avoided. Do you think you can develop it?" Colonel Strawberry looked at Wude. "If you need anything, just tell us. We also hope you can incorporate this ability into actual combat."

Gaze Illusion had a problem because people who knew Observation Haki could simply keep their eyes closed, rendering the move useless.

Tactile Illusion had a problem as well. Armament Haki could similarly block it.

After discussing it, the instructors concluded that unless Wude developed an illusion that could be used through weapons, this Devil Fruit would truly have little use in the later stages.

Wude looked at his seniors with considerable emotion. Although some of them slacked off at work and some beat and scolded their subordinates, their intentions were indeed good.

"I need to learn from hypnotists' experience," Wude said.

There were only a few people skilled in illusions throughout the entire One Piece story. Relying on himself would waste too much time.

"All right, we'll help you find one!" Strawberry nodded.

"We'll use our connections to help you find one right away. Kid, you'd better join my ship in the future." Colonel Yamakaji bit down on his cigar, a smile always on his face.

"Thank you for your help, seniors!"