Kaito withdrew his gaze. He had already gotten the answer he was looking for.
Just now, in that remote confrontation with Imu, he had seen a pair of "eyes."
They were crimson Rinnegan, but the ripple pattern didn't cover the whole eye—only two concentric rings were visible.
Of course, just from appearance alone, Kaito couldn't be sure. But as someone who also possessed the Rinnegan, he could sense a familiar aura emanating from those eyes.
It was the aura of a "kin."
But the aura was strange—flickering, unstable. And when it did appear, it was extremely faint, as if it had been wounded or damaged somehow.
Kaito lowered his head, deep in thought.
"Looks like this Imu is still hiding something..."
Judging by Imu's reaction earlier, it was clear that he was paying close attention to Kaito at all times. But why was he so interested in him?
Was it really just because they were of the same "kind"?
As far as Kaito knew, the Ōtsutsuki clan didn't particularly care about their own kind. Yet Imu had shown him so much "favor"—almost as if he were paving a clear road for Kaito's growth.
"Ten-Tails."
"Ōtsutsuki."
"Favor."
"Weak aura."
These keywords flashed through Kaito's mind. Then suddenly, a bolt of realization struck him like thunder.
"He's waiting for me to fully evolve into an Ōtsutsuki… so he can feed me to the Ten-Tails!?"
Once this thought emerged, it wouldn't leave. It lingered in Kaito's mind like a haunting echo. He felt like his guess was probably on the mark.
But one question remained—was Imu not afraid that once Kaito completed his evolution, he might no longer be a match?
Based on that weak aura from before, Imu probably couldn't even handle Kaito's current self, let alone after his evolution. So where did his confidence come from?
There was only one possibility—Imu wasn't actually an Ōtsutsuki. He had been marked with a Karma seal by one, just like the relationship between Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Jigen.
That would explain why the aura felt so faint.
Imu's trump card, most likely, was to temporarily borrow the power of the Ōtsutsuki via the Karma seal, and use it to bring Kaito down.
If that were true, then the Ōtsutsuki who marked Imu must be extremely powerful—confident enough to subdue even a newly evolved Ōtsutsuki like Kaito.
Still, regardless of what Imu's real identity was, Kaito was sure of one thing: his goal was exactly what he suspected—to use him as food for the Ten-Tails, and absorb the fruit to enhance his own power.
In fact, Imu might be even more anxious about Kaito's evolution than Kaito himself.
If Kaito weren't so picky about Devil Fruits, and if they couldn't be shoved down his throat by force, Imu might've already tried stuffing one right into his Rinnegan.
Kaito had guessed that Imu was dying for his evolution to accelerate, but for now, he had no solution to that.
The path of evolution had to continue. Even if Kaito tried to stall, Imu would eventually run out of patience and feed his incomplete Ōtsutsuki self to the Ten-Tails anyway.
And since Imu was confident enough to face a fully evolved Ōtsutsuki, then his strength was likely already greater than Kaito's.
Rather than clashing with Imu now and risking failure, it would be better to evolve fully and then fight him—that would give him a much better shot at victory.
Kaito simply didn't believe that his Rinnegan, after absorbing so many Devil Fruits and completing its evolution, wouldn't be able to defeat someone like Imu.
For now, all he had to do was stick to the plan and keep evolving.
...
Kaito pushed his thoughts aside and looked down at Brook and Laboon.
The two of them had already calmed down. Brook was playing with Laboon, who let out happy, cheerful bellows in response.
Seeing this heartwarming scene, Kaito smiled. His mood had clearly lifted.
Off to the side, Crocus also smiled from the heart, genuinely happy for Laboon.
Crocus thought to himself—looks like I won't need to inject Laboon with tranquilizers anymore!
But then, he couldn't help but glance at Kaito's back again.
Up until now, he had only learned about Kaito from the newspapers. He knew the man was terrifyingly strong and dealt with pirates the same way Sakazuki did—killing them on sight, mercilessly.
But today, everything Kaito had done completely overturned Crocus's impression of him.
This was a Marine Admiral with a real sense of humanity!
Brook was a pirate, and Crocus himself had once been a member of the Roger Pirates. That alone was enough to sentence him to death.
And yet, Kaito spared him. He even helped Brook reunite with Laboon.
The more Crocus thought about it, the more incredible it seemed.
He couldn't help but wonder—if all Marines were like Kaito, wouldn't that make Captain Roger's actions seem almost laughable?
At that thought, Crocus looked at Kaito with increasingly complicated eyes.
...
Kaito, sharp as ever, sensed Crocus's gaze and turned around.
"Had enough staring? What are you thinking about?"
Crocus jumped slightly, hastily waving his hands.
"Sorry! I meant no offense. I just wanted to know—what do you think of the world as it is now?"
"Oh? Didn't Roger already see through the nature of this world? As a member of his crew, why are you asking a Marine like me that question?"
"Uh…"
Crocus looked a little awkward. He rephrased his question.
"Then… how do you view pirates as a group?"
"Just trash cluttering the seas."
"…"
Crocus's mouth twitched. Kaito's words had insulted him too, but he didn't dare say anything.
Luckily, Kaito thought for a moment and added,
"But sometimes, you'll find a few bits of gold in the garbage."
What Kaito meant was: among the massive number of pirate crews, there were a few whose conduct wasn't bad.
These crews didn't bully civilians. Most of their income came from treasures found through exploration.
Sometimes, they even helped civilians solve problems in exchange for compensation.
In Kaito's eyes, these kinds of pirate crews were the "gold" amidst the trash heap.
But gold and garbage were still two different things.
Such pirate crews were pirates in name only. In essence, they were passionate adventurers with good hearts—completely different from true pirates.
If you had to name representatives of the two types: one would be the Blackbeard Pirates, who were the very definition of real pirates.
The other would be Brook's former crew, the Rumbar Pirates—adventurers flying the pirate flag.
That's why Kaito's attitude toward the two types was completely different.
Look at the Blackbeard Pirates—before they could even properly establish themselves, Kaito had wiped them out. Blackbeard himself had died at Kaito's hands.
And Kaito didn't feel a single thing about that. Because to him, that was justice.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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