King, who was sitting across from the Governor-General, immediately noticed the shift in Kaido's mood. "Big Brother, did something good happen?"
Hearing King's question, Kaido didn't bother to hide his amusement. "King, do you know what that stinky brat Yamato said to me? She said she wants to surpass me! Worororo!"
As he listened to Kaido recount the story, King felt a wave of genuine shock. "The Young Master is truly your child, Big Brother. Just like you, she is a natural-born powerhouse."
Conqueror's Haki—the "quality of a king" found in only one in a million people. To possess it at such a young age was proof of her destiny.
"At least Yamato isn't a coward like Oden's brat. If she were, I would have had to give her a few whacks with my club," Kaido said, sounding more satisfied with his daughter by the second. It truly proved the old saying: comparing things makes you want to throw them away, but comparing people makes you want to die.
"Haha, Big Brother, you say that, but you might not know how hard she's been pushing herself this past year. I'd wager that in less than ten years, the Young Master will give the entire world a massive surprise," King laughed.
"Ten years? That's a bit early. Don't forget, she intends to surpass me," Kaido replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course. If she wants to surpass you, ten years won't be nearly enough. But in ten years, she will certainly be a powerhouse in her own right," King clarified.
The current Kaido was not yet forty. He was in his absolute prime and hadn't even reached his peak; he was still growing stronger. Even with Yamato's extraordinary talent, catching up to her father in a single decade was an impossible task.
"Hmph. Naturally. If she can't even achieve that much, she has no right to talk about taking my head," Kaido laughed heartily.
Since the death of Kozuki Oden and the burning of his castle in Kuri, the Kozuki Clan had effectively vanished from Wano Country. The entire nation was now firmly under the thumb of Orochi and Kaido. From that day on, Wano entered a perpetual dark night. Weapon factories rose like iron weeds, and more commoners were seized every day for forced labor.
However, none of this concerned Yamato anymore. She was focused entirely on her own evolution.
At the foot of the mountain in Hakumai, a group of pirates arrived with a heavy carriage. "Young Master, here are the items Lord Queen asked us to deliver."
Yamato looked at the carriage, which was laden with various blocks of processed Sea Stone. She nodded. "Unload them."
Thud!
One by one, the heavy blocks hit the ground. There were five in total, ranging in size.
"Young Master, these Sea Stone blocks weigh 2 tons, 4 tons, 6 tons, 8 tons, and 10 tons respectively. And then there's this," a subordinate reported. He brought out a pile of reinforced wristbands, belts, and anklets. "This is the weighted gear you requested. When worn together, they add up to about 1,500 kilograms."
Yamato examined the equipment and nodded with satisfaction. "As expected of Third Uncle, he's efficient. Alright, you can head back now."
"Yes, Young Master!" The men hurried away, eager to leave the intense training ground.
Yamato couldn't wait to put on the gear. The 1,500 kilogram weight felt substantial but manageable—the perfect baseline for her daily movements.
"Well then, training begins," Yamato said, walking toward the smallest block.
She reached out with both hands, centered her gravity, and exerted a sudden burst of explosive strength. "Up!" she shouted, hoisting the 2-ton block onto her shoulders.
The subordinates, who hadn't made it very far yet, looked back and were instantly frozen in shock. "What am I seeing? The Young Master is carrying a Sea Stone block!" one lackey stammered, his jaw hitting the floor.
Since they were the ones who had transported the blocks, they knew exactly how heavy they were. Seeing an eight-year-old girl carry that weight was surreal. It was terrifying.
"As expected of Lord Kaido's bloodline... she's a total monster," they whispered, gulping hard before scurrying away.
Yamato's feet sank slightly into the earth under the pressure, but her posture remained unwavering. In the next moment, she began to run. The ground trembled with every step, sounding like a gargantuan beast on the move.
Later that day, after finishing her morning drills and devouring a person-high bento, Yamato climbed to the summit of the mountain to rest. To her surprise, she found something unexpected waiting for her at the peak.
Tangled in a vine was a fruit with peculiar spiral patterns and a pale, white skin.
A Devil Fruit!
Yamato walked over and inspected it closely. "An actual Devil Fruit... just sitting here?"
It was a staggering discovery. In a world where these fruits were worth hundreds of millions of Berry, finding one on a random mountain peak was almost impossible luck.
"I wonder what it is," she mused, plucking it from the vine. Without a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, she couldn't tell if it was a Paramecia, Zoan, or Logia.
"Could this be the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Okuchi no Makami?" she wondered, rubbing her chin.
In the original story, that fruit had fallen into Kaido's hands before Yamato ate it. Since the fruit was the "Guardian Deity of Wano," it made sense that it would appear somewhere within the country.
"If it really is that Mythical Zoan, what should I do with it?"
She had already consumed the artificial Azure Dragon fruit. While that fruit was "artificial" and technically didn't contain a sea devil, there was no guarantee that eating a second, real fruit wouldn't cause her body to explode. Furthermore, even if she survived, she would definitely gain the weakness to seawater, which would ruin her current "perfect" status.
"I'm not going to gamble," Yamato decided. "Even if I could gain a second Mythical Zoan power, losing the ability to swim makes it a net loss."
The Azure Dragon's power was already more than enough for her. Besides, she couldn't be 100% certain this was the Makami fruit, though her gut told her it was.