Naruto: From Konoha to One Piece

Seeing Kaido's intense gaze, Pudding took a step back nervously. After all, he was a powerful pirate on par with her mother. It would be odd if she didn't feel a bit of fear.

Though Pudding was confident about her own abilities. Typically, those with immense strength and unyielding will could resist her manipulations, and those with a dominant spirit could shake off her influence entirely.

This didn't even account for those with awakened abilities. Even if she used the full extent of her devil fruit powers, it might not be enough to alter the memories of a monster like Kaido.

Shin stepped forward, blocking the advancing Kaido, and said with a grin, "Long time no see, Kaido."

Kaido snorted, took a swig from his gourd, and exhaled heavily. "It's only been a few months. Does that count as 'long'? And I don't welcome you here, Shin!"

With those words, he seemed to let out a burst of emotion. He pulled the giant mace from his back, Bringing it down in a thunderous strike.

Shin smiled, countering with a powerful, armored fist wrapped in Haki, meeting Kaido's blow head-on.

Strange black lightning crackled between them. Kaido's fierce, Haki-infused mace was deflected, and Kaido himself stumbled back two steps.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "You… you've gotten even stronger!"

Indeed, Kaido's backward step wasn't solely due to the loss of the Azure Dragon Fruit; Shin's strength had visibly increased!

Kaido remembered clearly that Shin had once been weaker than him without his unusual abilities. Even counting Shin's devil fruit, Kaido's chances of victory were high.

Yet now, even without using any Devil Fruit powers, Shin could match Kaido—who now lacked the Azure Dragon Fruit—and even emerge victorious.

Shin had grown much stronger. The boost from his previous battle with Kaido, the stamina enhancement from the Azure Dragon fruit, and the combined body structure traits he acquired from Kaido and Charlotte Linlin propelled Shin's potential even further. Compared to his time in Wano, he was nearly a different person.

This progress left Kaido almost in shock. Once strength reached a certain limit, further improvement became incredibly difficult. Whether it was the Pirate King, the Four Emperors, the Marine Admirals, or the Marines' hero, these individuals all shared a similar ceiling. They had tapped into their potential to the fullest, honing their fruit powers and Haki to the highest levels. Further advancement required immense effort for even the smallest gain.

Yet, here was Shin, advancing quickly even beyond this limit, breaking through what Kaido thought was the ultimate ceiling of the pirate world.

Kaido calmed down, remembering the strange power within Shin's body and the abilities he'd shown. Given Shin's unusual growth, Kaido found it less surprising that he surpassed the norm.

Still, as he looked at Shin's youthful face, Kaido couldn't shake an odd feeling.

'Is my time over?' 

Kaido hadn't ever considered this possibility before. Kaido was the youngest and arguably in his prime among the older generation of pirates.

In a world where combat experience spanned decades, a pirate in their fifties was considered to be at their peak. Experience and skills were honed to perfection, haki and devil fruit powers were fully mastered, and physical strength hadn't yet declined. Kaido had always believed himself to be the strongest among all pirates.

At least until he faced Shin and was utterly overwhelmed.

Kaido quickly pushed aside the nostalgic thoughts that only made him feel more dejected and instead asked, "What are you doing here? There's no devil fruit left for you to plunder."

"No, I'm not here to plunder a devil fruit. On the contrary, I'm here to give you one." Shin replied with a grin.

"Besides, aren't you resentful about being driven out of Wano? This time, you could reclaim your role as Wano's Protector."

Kaido looked puzzled by Shin's words. Given what he knew of Shin, he couldn't deduce his intentions.

In Kaido's mind, Shin's actions could only mean trouble.

"No need. I know there are devil fruits in Wano, and I'll take them back myself! I don't need your charity!"

"Really?" Shin sighed. "Can't you just accept my offer in good faith?"

As soon as he spoke, Shin's figure vanished in an instant.

Kaido, ever vigilant, was about to raise his arm when Shin's palm struck him squarely in the chest!

"Ugh!" Kaido coughed up a mouthful of blood. His clothes ripped open at the back as a blast of air shot through him, creating a loud, storm-like sound.

Seizing the moment, Shin quickly shoved a Devil Fruit and a small dango into Kaido's mouth. Kaido's eyes immediately changed.

"Shin, what did you just feed me?" he growled.

After losing the Azure Dragon fruit, Kaido hadn't been too sad. He could eventually secure another powerful Zoan Fruit with his strength, even if it required effort.

If worse came to worst, he could pursue plenty of powerful Paramecia and Logia fruits.

However, regaining his full strength would be impossible if he had been fed useless fruit, which naturally left him anxious.

He only stayed tense for a moment, though, because soon he felt the heat building in his chest, and with a roar, he breathed out a small flame.

"Huh?! This… this is…" Kaido gasped as a familiar power surged within him. He looked at his hand, and to his shock, his arm transformed into a dragon's claw, but it was pink in color.

"The Azure Dragon Fruit? No… Could this be a different dragon fruit, like a Red Dragon Fruit?"

At that, Shin couldn't help but stifle a laugh. The color was clearly pink. If what Kaido said was true, and there was a Red Dragon Fruit, then following that logic, there would have to be dragon fruits in every color of the rainbow. 

*******************************

BONUS CHAPTER: 50 Powerstones achieved

For each power stones milestone—25, 50, 100, 150, and beyond—I will release a bonus chapter.

If you would like to gain early access, you can join me at www.patre on.com/bookbattalion