One Piece: Start by Rebuilding Kuri

"Non-Samurai Ice Fang!"

A chilling force erupted from the mouth of the white wolf in the darkness, like a polar blizzard mixed with countless hard ice pellets, as if a snowstorm was rushing in!

In haste, Dan could only conjure an ice wall in front of him to block the attack.

But the hardness of ice varies.

The ice wall he created was shattered in an instant, and the debris of ice shards slapped against his face.

In the next moment, the fierce white wolf pounced, its sharp claws tearing his body apart.

Dan withdrew from the consciousness space, his body drenched in sweat.

Today, Keiko was on duty. The woman was holding a handkerchief, gently wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Dan-sama, you're awake?"

"Yes." Dan reached out and grasped her wrist. Since entering the Daimyo's residence, Keiko's once slightly rough hands had become softer. "No need to wipe anymore. Have the servants prepare bathwater. I need to bathe."

"Yes." Keiko slowly stood up and walked out of the room.

Watching her swaying figure, Dan slowly exhaled.

"Failed again. It seems this matter really can't be rushed."

Since obtaining the two Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits and the Paramecia-type Ripe-Ripe Fruit, engaging in battles with these souls in the consciousness space had become a daily routine for him.

Only by defeating them in the consciousness space could he fully succeed in inheriting their powers.

However, in the consciousness space, he couldn't use other fruit abilities or Haki. All he had was the same ability as the fruit itself, and this ability was extremely weak.

He could only continuously battle the consciousness of the fruit, honing his own abilities, and eventually surpass the fruit itself to truly complete the inheritance.

This process was no simpler than awakening a Devil Fruit. Dan had spent countless years fully inheriting the powers of the Yamata no Orochi Fruit. Although this process was long, it also helped him understand the fruit's abilities better.

Take, for example, the other Mythical Zoan, the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Onyudo. In the original story, this fruit didn't seem to develop any useful techniques in the hands of the fox. Apart from being like an enlarged version of the Human-Human Fruit, it didn't seem to have any special features.

However, in reality, the Onyudo Fruit also had its unique powers.

One of them was the ability to freely change the size of the body. If desired, it could grow even larger than a mountain. Another ability was sound wave manipulation, though Dan estimated that the vibrations and shockwaves it could produce were not as powerful as those of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.

If properly developed, this fruit could reach a very high level. Unfortunately, in the original story, it was eaten by a fox. Despite being a Mythical Zoan, it had fewer tricks than Chopper's Human-Human Fruit.

Speaking of which, when it comes to the development of Zoan-type fruits, Chopper is undoubtedly the strongest in the entire One Piece world.

Chopper's starting point was very low. He wasn't a powerful animal to begin with. In the Grand Line, where rare beasts abound, he was just an ordinary reindeer, not even as large as the reindeer from Dan's previous life.

After finally eating a Devil Fruit, it was also the most ordinary Human-Human Fruit.

Yet, he managed to turn this fruit's abilities into something extraordinary.

Dan sat still for a while, and soon Keiko returned, her face flushed.

"Dan-sama, the bathwater is ready."

"Yes." Dan got up to head to the bath, and Keiko quickly came over to support him, treating him as if he were a patient.

Inside the Daimyo's residence, there was actually a natural hot spring, located deep within the compound, in a place where ordinary people couldn't enter. However, it was quite far, and Dan was always mentally exhausted after his training, so he didn't plan to go there. Instead, he had water heated for a bath in the high tower.

The bath was just a few rooms away, so they arrived quickly.

"My lord, let me help you undress." Keiko said in a soft, almost inaudible voice, her face red. However, her movements were not flustered but rather orderly. She had done this countless times and was already very skilled. It was just her nature to feel shy.

Sometimes, Dan looked at Keiko and felt as if he were seeing the former Yukiko, though in reality, their personalities were somewhat different.

Now that Yukiko held a high position, she had developed a lofty demeanor, something Keiko lacked. Even in the past, Yukiko was much more lively than Keiko.

Within the Daimyo's residence, Keiko didn't practice martial arts. Instead, she studied knowledge and skills, so she didn't have that sharp, overbearing aura.

Soon, she finished tidying up the clothes, and Dan slowly stepped into the warm water, closing his eyes and sitting down to rest.

After a while, he felt something soft pressing against his back, and the rising steam from the water carried a faint fragrance.

"My lord, let me help you."

Keiko's voice was so soft that Dan almost doubted whether he had really heard her or if it was just his imagination. However, her delicate hands, with a slight, almost negligible force, began to move.

Keiko might have been using all her strength, but to Dan, the pressure felt almost nonexistent, making it seem less like a scrub and more like a tease.

And so, Keiko suffered the consequences.

A few hours later, Dan carried Keiko, whose legs were too weak to stand, out of the bath. The maids outside, who had been listening to the "moans and gasps" for hours, were also struggling to keep their legs steady.

However, they quickly came in to help dry the two.

Keiko was so embarrassed that she wished she could bury herself in a hole rather than be attended to by the maids. She suspected that her earlier cries might have reached the other end of Wano Country, in Ringo.

Of course, it wasn't that exaggerated, but Keiko had indeed been quite vocal, and while her voice might not have echoed throughout the entire Daimyo's residence, it certainly carried through the seven layers of the nine-story tower.

Dan also couldn't understand why Keiko, who was usually so soft-spoken, had been so loud at that time.

Fortunately, there were no outsiders in the tower. The lower three floors occasionally received guests, but it was rare for outsiders to enter the Daimyo's residence. Even when subordinates like Shutenmaru came, they usually waited in the outer hall of the residence rather than entering the tower.

Thus, even the guards in the tower were members of the harem formed by Yukiko, and they were long accustomed to Keiko's behavior. Only Keiko herself remained overly self-conscious about it.