The shape of Kuri Township is long and narrow. Traveling from the Daimyo's residence at the base of Mt. Yougou to the southern coast requires traversing almost the entire length of Kuri, making it quite a lengthy journey. However, precisely because of this, Dan had ample time to engage in an aerial battle.
By the time evening arrived, Yuriko lay nestled within the clouds, feeling as though her entire body was softer than the clouds beneath her, completely devoid of strength.
Mari had been waiting for them by the seaside for a long time. Although the distance was considerable, given Mari's current abilities, she could cover it quickly if she ran at full speed.
So, she spent her time training in the seawater alone, and it wasn't until dusk that she saw a white cloud drifting through the evening sky. The cloud slowly descended, allowing her to confirm that Dan and Yuriko were on it.
Mari waved her hand excitedly.
"Dan-sama, Mom, over here!"
Hearing Mari's call from atop the cloud, Yuriko's face flushed even more. Despite her exhausted body, she quickly lowered her head to straighten her slightly disheveled clothes and then sat up properly.
By the time the two of them descended on the cloud to where Mari was, the innocent girl still hadn't noticed anything unusual.
She immediately jumped onto the cloud and leaned close to Yuriko.
"Dan-sama, Mom, you're so slow! I've been waiting for you forever... Huh? What's that weird smell?" As Mari spoke, she seemed to catch a strange scent. She sniffed with her little nose, leaning closer to Yuriko.
Yuriko quickly pushed her away, flustered. "What are you doing? Are you a dog? You're all sweaty—don't get so close to me."
"Pfft, Mom, you smell sweaty too! Dan-sama was right—your constitution is too weak. You even get tired from sitting on a cloud." Mari backed away, maintaining her distance.
Yuriko: "..."
"Let's go to Onigashima and take a bath," Dan said with a smile. Originally, visiting Onigashima wasn't part of their plan for this trip. However, Orochi had stored a lot of supplies there. When Dan had ordered the excess Devil Fruits to be sent back, Orochi had ultimately transported them to Onigashima.
After all, Orochi didn't have much space to store supplies. Some of the manpower they had recruited stayed in Kuri to assist, while others remained on Onigashima to guard the supplies.
Dan had come here to help Yuriko select a Devil Fruit.
As for Mari, she didn't need one. Most of the fruits here were ordinary Zoan types, meant to enhance the lower ranks of their forces. If Mari and Yukiko were to eat Devil Fruits, they would need to find more powerful ones.
For example, a Logia-type fruit like the Snow-Snow Fruit would be the minimum standard.
In truth, Paramecia-type fruits had the most potential, depending on how they were developed.
Dan had a few options in mind, but finding the right fruit wasn't easy. Blackbeard had gambled his entire life, staying on Whitebeard's ship just to obtain the Dark-Dark Fruit. This showed how difficult it was to find a desired fruit in the vast sea.
Fortunately, Dan wasn't picky—he would take any fruit he could get.
Soon, the three of them arrived at Onigashima on their cloud. The number of samurai stationed on Onigashima was small. Located on an isolated island in the inland sea of Wano Country, and with Wano's strict ban on sailing, almost no one ventured out to sea, let alone stumbled upon Onigashima in the vast ocean.
The samurai guarding Onigashima were also those who had been marked with Serpent Mark. The surface of Onigashima was covered in blackened rocks, and from a distance, it appeared completely undeveloped. To avoid drawing attention, the base and supplies had been built underground. Only a few people remained on the surface, and if anything unusual happened, they would immediately contact Orochi and Dan using a den den mushi.
Before deciding to go to Onigashima, Dan had sent word ahead. Thus, when they arrived above the island, someone was already waiting on the shore to greet them.
"Lord Dan!" The samurai, marked with Serpent Mark on the back of his neck, prostrated himself in a deep bow.
"Mm, you've worked hard guarding Onigashima. I'll have Orochi send more supplies your way."
"This is our duty!" the samurai replied immediately, though he didn't refuse Dan's offer. After all, who would turn down the chance to live a little more comfortably?
The three of them followed the samurai into the interior of Onigashima. Along the way, every samurai they encountered knelt down to welcome Dan.
Yuriko and Mari went to bathe, while Dan headed to the warehouse.
The warehouse on Onigashima stored Devil Fruits, firearms, and some swords and weapons. However, the truly valuable items weren't kept here. If Orochi were to establish a connection with Kaido in the future, Onigashima would temporarily be handed over to Kaido as a base, and these supplies would need to be relocated.
But there was no need to rush. By then, Orochi would likely have become the acting shogun, and there would be plenty of places to store these resources.
"Are all the Devil Fruits here?"
"Yes, they're all here!" Laid out before Dan were nearly a hundred Zoan-type Devil Fruits, five of which were Ancient Zoans. Each fruit was labeled with its name.
Dan examined them one by one. Some of the fruits he had never seen before.
Generally, if a fruit was identified as an ordinary Zoan-type, Orochi would skip the hassle of sending it to Kuri. Only unidentified fruits were sent there.
Originally, Dan would simply absorb any unrecorded fruits, but later he discovered that he could use his reception ability to enter the fruit's consciousness before absorbing it, allowing him to identify the type of an unknown fruit.
After much deliberation, Dan found himself torn between two fruits: one was the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard.
Similar to Rob Lucci's fruit from CP9, but the type of leopard was different—this fruit contained the soul of a black panther. The other was the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Arctic Fox.
"I think I'll go with the Arctic Fox."
Compared to a black panther, the Arctic Fox was a weaker and more aesthetically pleasing animal.
"Then I'll take this fruit."
The guards on Onigashima naturally had no objections.
After taking the fruit, Dan went to find Yuriko to give it to her.
Yuriko and Mari were playfully splashing in the hot springs. Onigashima also had its own hot springs, and the two of them were wrapped in towels. Both were exceptionally gifted, though Mari, being younger, hadn't yet reached the same level of maturity as Yuriko.
As she soaked in the spring, Mari couldn't help but sneak glances at Yuriko. The burden on her own chest was already troublesome, but her mother's was even more overwhelming.
'Mom really has it tough!' Mari thought to herself.