What those three said made complete sense.
Now that Kurozumi Orochi was dead, it wouldn't be long before that bastard Kaidou caught wind of it. Once tonight passed, leaking the news was inevitable.
Actually...
Kaidou might already know by now.
Ryuma pondered the thought—Kaidou was likely waiting on Onigashima for him to show up right about now.
Taking a deep breath, Ryuma let his mind wander. What happens when you fuse two S-Rank Zoan Devil Fruits together?
Without hesitation, he selected the Icefield Wolf Fruit and the Yamata-no-Orochi Fruit to merge!
"System, fuse the fruits!"
Ding! System is automatically fusing the Devil Fruits for the host...
Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the SS-Rank Mythical Zoan Fruit: Immortal Phoenix Fruit!
Hearing the announcement, Ryuma blinked in surprise.
Immortal Phoenix Fruit?
"Host, as the name implies, the Immortal Phoenix Fruit is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit possessing three distinct forms. The first is the full Phoenix Form; the second is the Phoenix Hybrid Form; and the third allows the host to sprout wings while wielding the divine power of the Phoenix."
Listening to the explanation, Ryuma was stunned.
This Immortal Phoenix Fruit is incredible!
If an SS-Rank fruit was already this broken, then... just how terrifying would an SSS-Rank fruit be?
There was no way to verify that for now.
All Ryuma knew was that reaching an SSS-Rank fruit fusion would likely require a long, arduous process.
In truth, Devil Fruits were inherently picky about their users.
Take Kaidou's Dragon-Dragon Fruit for instance—an Eastern Dragon form that granted absurd defensive capabilities. If anyone else had eaten it, would they have achieved that same monstrous level of power?
Thus, when given a choice, the fruit's nominal rank mattered far less than how well it suited its wielder.
"System, consume the Immortal Phoenix Fruit," Ryuma commanded decisively.
The system had one major perk: no actual tasting required!
Devil Fruits were infamous for their abysmal flavor—rumor had it the taste was so foul and nauseating that normal people could barely stomach it.
Ding! Congratulations to the host for consuming the Immortal Phoenix Fruit!
A confident smirk spread across Ryuma's face. His chances of overthrowing Kaidou had just shot through the roof.
After all, dragons and phoenixes were legendary beings of equal stature.
Aside from the fruit fusion, he still had three gacha draws waiting to be claimed.
"System, pull all three gacha draws for me," Ryuma ordered directly.
Ding! Please stand by while the gacha draws are prepared...
Ding! Please stand by...
Ding! Rewards generated!
Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring Intermediate Armament Haki.
Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the skill: Mind Reading.
Ding! Congratulations to the host for acquiring the combat skill: Half-Moon Divine Slash!
Hearing the three rewards, Ryuma felt a thrill run through his chest.
Just the names alone sounded undeniably formidable!
Though his Armament Haki was only at the intermediate stage, it was more than enough for his current needs. Mind Reading... while mostly a utility perk, was an absolute game-changer for winning over allies and identifying traitors in an instant!
And what Ryuma lacked most right now was high-tier offensive techniques.
Half-Moon Divine Slash is exactly what I needed!
In an instant, the memory and mastery of the technique flooded into Ryuma's mind. Though he had never performed it before, the execution felt as natural as second nature.
Delaying this for another day or two serves no purpose. Might as well kick Kaidou out of Wano as soon as possible!
Nodding firmly to himself, Ryuma turned and walked out.
Outside the chamber, the three Lead Performers were waiting, their eyes fixed on him as he stepped into the light.
"Boss, are we going now?" Jack grumbled, impatience written all over his face.
Ryuma didn't answer immediately. Instead, he activated Mind Reading to probe Jack's thoughts.
This Ryuma is way too slow! How much longer is he going to drag his feet?
Reading Jack's internal complaint, Ryuma shook his head subtly.
This guy really has no patience.
Queen chimed in, "Big Brother Ryuma, you promised to save us from Kaidou's wrath. Dragging this out for two more days isn't going to change anything. Why don't we just rally our boys and the prisoners from Udon Prison and charge straight in?"
Ryuma remained silent, closing his eyes to read Queen's mind as well.
Sigh... Pissing off Kaidou... I don't know if this was the right call. I really hate Ryuma for dragging us into this mess!
King stood off to the side, keeping his thoughts to himself without uttering a word.
Ryuma let out a faint snort, his tone calm and collected. "Of course we can... Going now works just fine. I've been wanting to clash with Kaidou anyway."
Stepping ahead, Ryuma paused and looked back at Jack, speaking with deliberate emphasis. "Jack, your temper is far too hot-headed. If you learned to cool your head and analyze situations calmly, your potential would be far greater."
Jack froze, taken aback, before slowly nodding.
It was true.
He had eaten the Mammoth Fruit, an Ancient Zoan that was notoriously difficult to awaken.
Zoan fruits in general were tough to awaken—even Fleet Admiral Sengoku's Mythical Zoan was no exception.
Once a Zoan user pushed their physical attributes to the limit, they essentially hit a ceiling.
If one wanted to thrive in this world, sharp tactical analysis was just as vital as raw strength.
Ryuma then glanced at Queen and King. "You two don't need to panic either... I can assure you that joining my side is the right choice. At the very least, I won't force you into senseless atrocities like Kaidou did. As long as you follow me loyally, your future is bright. But right now isn't the time for speechmaking. Our immediate priority is taking Kaidou down. If we can't kill him or drive him out of Wano, everything else is just cheap talk."
Hearing Ryuma's words, the three exchanged uneasy glances. With grim expressions, they nodded slowly in agreement.
He wasn't wrong.
At this point, there was no right or wrong path—only whether they survived or perished.
At first, they hadn't noticed anything unusual, but a creeping sense of dread was starting to set in.
This man looked like an ordinary warrior on the surface, yet he seemed capable of seeing right through their innermost thoughts!
In this world, reading minds was virtually impossible unless one possessed a specific Devil Fruit ability. Even Observation Haki could only predict movements or brief moments into the future, not peer into a person's inner psyche.
Since Ryuma had already demonstrated the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, they assumed it was impossible for him to have eaten a second fruit.
In a world where a person could only consume one Devil Fruit, that left only one terrifying explanation.
Ryuma's intellect and insight were so absurdly profound that he resembled an ancient, immortal deity who had walked the earth for tens of thousands of years!
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