During the following days, Kaito spent his mornings helping his dormmates train, and in the afternoons, he went alone to the wastelands behind the mountain to hone his Haki.
After unleashing twelve consecutive Vacuum Strikes, Kaito collapsed on the ground, limbs sprawled out, panting heavily.
Vacuum Strike was currently his most powerful single-target taijutsu technique. With less than a week left until the final assessment, he'd managed to pull off twelve strikes in a row.
"Alright. No one in this year's class is going to be able to take a single hit from this. And since Vacuum Strike is infused with Haki, even Logia types wouldn't be able to block it."
Lying on the ground, Kaito reflected on his recent progress and felt more than confident about passing the upcoming exam. He got to his feet and patted the dust off his clothes, preparing to return to the dorm early.
Just as he stood up, he saw Breach sprinting toward him in a panic, shouting as he ran,
"Kaito! Boss! A hot officer chick came looking for you!"
Kaito blinked. "Hot officer chick?"
"Yeah! She said her name's Gion!"
Oh. So it was Gion—someone he hadn't seen in almost a year. Kaito thought she wouldn't show up until his graduation.
Still, since she had come all this way, he couldn't just leave her waiting around.
Grabbing Breach by the collar, Kaito shot into the air before the poor guy could even react. Breach screamed in terror,
"Kaito, Boss!! Hold on tight, man! I haven't mastered Geppo yet!!"
...
Landing smoothly, Kaito set down the now-exhausted Breach to the side. He immediately spotted Gion standing by the dormitory gates.
Gion had also seen Kaito's dramatic aerial entrance. A flicker of delight passed through her eyes, though she kept her expression composed—well, almost. With a mock-angry look, she stormed toward him, heels clacking against the pavement.
She stopped right in front of him, pinched his ear, leaned in, and scolded softly,
"Kaito you're really something, huh? I've been waiting here for half a day—did you even know that?"
Kaito didn't resist the ear pinch. With no rush in his tone, he replied,
"Gion, the moment I heard you were here, I flew over like a rocket. You're really doing me wrong here."
Gion glanced at Breach, who was now face-down on the ground and rolling his eyes like he was dying. Unable to keep up the act anymore, she let go of Kaito's ear, her expression softening.
She looked closely at his face and said gently,
"It's been a long time, Kaito."
Kaito smiled slightly and opened his arms.
"Yeah. It's been a while."
But seeing his gesture reminded Gion of the hug they'd shared when they last parted. Her cheeks flushed, and she rolled her eyes at him. Crossing her arms, she remained rooted in place.
Kaito stood there with his arms still open, looking a bit silly. He quickly lowered them and scratched his nose to cover up the awkward moment.
Gion tapped his forehead with her finger, smiling as she teased,
"What, one hug wasn't enough last time? Don't forget what I told you—once you graduate and reach your goal, I'll grant you one request."
Kaito assured her that he hadn't forgotten, and that he was working hard for exactly that.
Seeing how serious he looked, Gion chuckled behind her hand. She then pinched his cheek and shifted to business.
"I heard from Tsuru-san that your year-end assessment is coming up. The top three rewards sound pretty good. So? Confident?"
Kaito shrugged casually.
"Victory is mine."
Gion, amused by his cockiness, pinched his cheek harder.
"Oho, feeling bold today, huh? I'll be watching in person this time, so don't go embarrassing yourself."
Kaito didn't even flinch. "I already know what reward I want. I want a Devil Fruit."
"A Devil Fruit? Why would you want that? Don't you already have enough bizarre powers? And you know if you eat one, you won't be able to swim."
Gion frowned. She really didn't think Devil Fruits suited him, so she made sure to warn him of the drawbacks.
"Relax. I've thought it through. I'm not planning to eat it. My eyes still have some flaws. The power of a Devil Fruit might be able to not only fix them—but evolve them further."
Hearing that, Gion looked stunned. She already thought Kaito's eyes were absurd—so many strange abilities, and the flight one alone had made countless people jealous. And now he was saying his eyes still had flaws? That they could evolve even more?
She peered closely at his Rinnegan and noticed a new tomoe had appeared in his right eye.
"The pattern in your right eye... does that have something to do with the evolution you mentioned? Was it caused by a Devil Fruit?"
Kaito nodded. He didn't bother hiding it. Gion was someone he trusted deeply, so telling her was no issue.
Gion took a moment to process this. The idea of evolving one's eyes with Devil Fruit power was outright fantastical. But it also implied that Kaito could potentially wield multiple Devil Fruit abilities?
Still, the fact that Kaito would trust her enough to share something like this made her feel genuinely happy inside.
She let those thoughts go and looked him in the eye.
"So you really do need a Devil Fruit, huh?"
"Yeah. And it can't be a trash one either."
Kaito never bought into that "no useless fruits, only useless users" nonsense. Trash fruits were just trash. For example, could a basic Zoan-type really compare to a Mythical Zoan?
Take the String-String Fruit. Sure, it looked powerful in Doflamingo's hands—but that was because he was strong. If a random nobody ate it, they'd probably end up sewing clothes in a sweatshop somewhere.
If Doflamingo had eaten something a little stronger—even just one of his subordinates' weapon fruits or the Snow-Snow Fruit—he wouldn't have gone down so easily. He wouldn't be rotting in prison reading newspapers all day.
Gion nodded slightly. She herself had never eaten a Devil Fruit—partly because she focused on swordsmanship, and partly because she hadn't found one that suited her. But if Kaito needed one, then of course she'd help.
"Alright, I got it. Tsuru-san has a few. All of them are recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Once you graduate, come pick a few out for yourself."
"?"
Kaito was genuinely stunned. Pick a few?! Did she even hear herself? Was Gion secretly some rich heiress or something?
Wait a minute… did that make him the pretty boy she was spoiling?
He never imagined he would end up being the pampered one.
But…
It felt great.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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