Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 243 Heading to the New World

"Alright, now it's time for the last test."

Uchiha Touyu took a small stone from his hand and handed it to Bell. The Devil Fruit user took a long breath, reached out, and caught the tiny stone.

"Well……"

"How are you feeling? Is there any difference compared to before?"

Seeing Bell's furrowed brows, Uchiha Touyu quickly asked, "Pell took a deep breath. Although he looked somewhat weak, there was a hint of joy in his voice:"

"I feel that the Seastone's effect on me has weakened considerably! Right now, at most, the stamina boost from the Devil Fruit has disappeared a lot, but my original stamina hasn't completely vanished!"

"Is that enough?"

Excitement flashed in Uchiha Touyu's eyes. As long as it worked, it proved that the power of faith absorbed by the Future Life Sutra could indeed make up for the shortcomings of the Devil Fruit.

The reason why Bel was still weakened by Seastone was because his faith power was insufficient, and even the evolution of his Devil Fruit was only just beginning. Of course, Uchiha Touyu did not expect to completely make up for the shortcomings of his Devil Fruit in one fell swoop.

It's important to understand that Pell didn't actually promote any faith in Alabasta. The progress was entirely due to the spontaneous faith of the Alabasta people. If the state were to truly launch a propaganda campaign, Uchiha Touyu was confident that he could gain dozens or even hundreds of times more faith.

By then, it should be enough for either Devil Fruit evolution or to make up for its flaws... But that's not necessarily true. Theoretically speaking, the more powerful a Devil Fruit is, the more faith power it will need to advance further.

The Devil Fruits that Uchiha Touyu could set his sights on were almost all the most powerful Devil Fruits in the world. The faith required to advance further was absolutely incomparable to that of an ordinary Zoan-type Devil Fruit.

However, he wasn't in a hurry. There were many countries in the pirate world, and with his strength, he could always find a way to gather enough faith power.

After sending Bell away, Uchiha Touyu made up his mind to start getting his hands on the Devil Fruit he desired.

"The Devil Fruit that's perfect for me... I don't know if the Blood-Blood Fruit exists in this world, but even if it does, it wouldn't be easy to find... So, I'll go to the Sleeping Town in the New World to find that Vampire Fruit!"

"Besides, there's Blackbeard... Whether it's that guy's Dark-Dark Fruit or his bizarre body that can hold multiple Devil Fruits, they're all extremely valuable to me... The only problem is that my current strength is about the same as his, so it's not easy to win, let alone kill him."

Of course, it's only a matter of time. After Blackbeard obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit and revealed his ambition, he did improve very quickly. But no matter how fast he improves, can he improve as fast as Uchiha Tou, who has cheat codes?

There are still at least a few months until the Marineford War. After a few months, I will definitely have the strength of a Yonko (Emperor of the Sea). Then I can go and cause trouble for Blackbeard.

"Going directly to the New World? That's a bit troublesome... but given my current status, there's actually another way."

What is Uchiha Tou's current status? He is Princess Vivi's fiancé and can be considered the next heir to the Alabasta Kingdom. This status may not sound impressive, but he is actually a member of the Alabasta royal family and can directly use the Navy's power to travel to the New World!

He should use his power when he has it. Uchiha Touya is not like the Straw Hat Pirates, who always think about sailing the seas on their own. He goes to sea to gain powerful strength, and only secondarily wants to see the scenery of the One Piece world.

After discussing it with King Cobra, Cobra quickly contacted the Navy and summoned a naval warship from near Alabasta. To Uchiha Tomoyu's surprise, he encountered an acquaintance.

"Smoker? You bastard, why aren't you staying in Loguetown? What are you doing on the Grand Line?"

The navy dispatched the fleet closest to Alabasta, which is outside Smoker's jurisdiction.

"I came here following the Straw Hat Pirates and Buggy the Clown... Back in Loguetown, a mysterious person rescued Straw Hat Luffy, and later Buggy the Clown joined the Straw Hat crew..."

"That straw hat guy didn't seem like an ordinary person, so I chased him all the way to the Grand Line, but unfortunately I still couldn't catch him in the end."

As he spoke, Smoker covered his cheek, which was visibly bruised, and his arm was wrapped in bandages.

Uchiha Touyu stroked his chin. It was obvious that Smoker had been beaten up. And among those with Logia-type Devil Fruits, there were only two in Alabasta who could defeat Smoker.

One was himself, and the other was Fire Fist Ace. If Uchiha Touyu's estimate was correct, Smoker probably encountered Ace while chasing Straw Hat Luffy and got beaten up by him.

"It seems your pursuit isn't going well. Did you encounter any obstacles?"

"It certainly didn't go smoothly. I never expected to run into the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates' second division in Alabasta. I wonder what this guy is up to in the New World? I've already reported to Marine Headquarters! We absolutely cannot let those pirates run rampant like this!"

As he spoke, Smoker's face contorted in a grimace, clearly indicating that his excitement had aggravated his injuries.

"Fire Fist Ace? I met him too... That Straw Hat Luffy was mixed up with the Alabasta rebels and I beat him up badly. Just then, Ace rescued him. They're supposedly sworn brothers."

"Is there a connection between Fire Fist Ace and Straw Hat Luffy?"

Smoker's expression showed some surprise, which startled Uchiha Touya as well.

"You don't know? Fire Fist Ace only fought you because you were chasing Luffy?"

"No... I haven't caught Luffy yet, I've only caught Buggy the Clown. He seems to have some connection with Ace, so Fire Fist Ace rescued him!"

It turns out it was because of Bucky the Clown. Speaking of which, when Fire Fist Ace went to sea, he did encounter Bucky the Clown. It seems they even had a banquet together, so they had some kind of relationship.

Given Ace's personality, he certainly wouldn't stand idly by when he saw his friend being captured by the Navy, so it's only natural that Smoker would get a beating.

Fortunately, it seems that Ace only hit Smoker; the others were not seriously injured, but they looked somewhat listless.

Later, Uchiha Touyu learned that Ace had used Conqueror's Haki, which knocked down all the grunts. Only Smoker and Tashigi managed to withstand the attack, and since Tashigi was a woman, Smoker was the only one who ended up getting hit.

Smoker didn't want to talk much about his frustrating experiences and quickly skipped over the topic:

"By the way, I heard you defeated Shackleford? And thwarted that guy's plot to seize the country?"

"It wasn't that I defeated him, I killed him outright."

Uchiha Touyu chuckled and said something that made Smoker's eyes widen in surprise.

Although he had received intelligence long ago, he never imagined that the opponent's strength wasn't that great back in Loguetown. How come he managed to defeat even a Shichibukai after coming to the Grand Line?

"Amazing! As expected of Uchiha Touyu!"

Tashigi stared wide-eyed. This girl wasn't very bright; she had the typical mindset of a pirate, only thinking that Uchiha Tou was incredibly awesome, without considering whether it made sense or not.

"By the way, you defeated Shackleton, so would you be willing to inherit his position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

Smoker seemed to have thought of something and suddenly asked a question. Uchiha Tou rolled his eyes:

"I'm not a pirate, why should I inherit the so-called Seven Warlords of the Sea position?"

Smoker was stunned for a moment. The position of Shichibukai was actually chosen from among the pirates. Smoker was only thinking about Uchiha Tou's strength and completely ignored the prerequisites.

"Uh... that's true. You might even become the King of Alabasta someday. The Seven Warlords of the Sea really don't mean much to you."

Regardless, the kings of the member states still have more power than the Seven Warlords of the Sea. It's just that the huge difference in individual strength makes the Seven Warlords seem to have a higher status than the kings of the member states.

"Alright, enough of that. Let's get to the new world!"

This time, Uchiha Touyu didn't go to the New World alone; he also brought Nami and Robin with him.

Nami, needless to say, wanted to obtain more sea charts and also learn about the sea conditions in the Grand Line through the Navy. As for Robin, she naturally wanted to see if there was any information about the Poneglyphs.

Of course, Robin herself did undergo a disguise, not the same disguise technique used by Princess Vivi that involved changing her hairstyle, but rather a disguise performed by Uchiha Touya himself, which was almost a complete transformation.

The Book of Demonic Path also contains methods of disguise, and this kind of disguise technique that uses external objects is very cheap and does not require many sacrifices.

The most sophisticated disguise techniques can even change a person's appearance so that it automatically changes with age, making it no different from becoming a completely different person.

Unless a special potion is used, the disguise on her face will never disappear. This time, no one saw through Robin's disguise. As long as she doesn't use her Devil Fruit ability, she can easily sneak onto the Navy ship.

The Navy truly lives up to its reputation as the largest power on the entire sea, especially in the first half of the Grand Line, which can be described as the Navy's domain. Every three islands there is a small base with a Navy Headquarters captain stationed there, and every five islands there is a large base with a Navy Headquarters vice admiral in charge. They have thoroughly explored everything from underwater currents and ocean monsoons to island climates.

With the help of the navy's route, the journey was smooth sailing, and in just over half a month, they had already seen the red earth continent.

"Once you cross the Red Line, you'll have to find your own place. I don't know what you're planning to do in the New World, but I have to tell you, even with your strength, it's far from safe. There are plenty of people stronger than you, if not countless."

Smoker spoke to Uchiha Touyu with a serious expression, and Uchiha Touyu rolled his eyes:

"Please, I'm only going there to find a treasure, not to challenge one of the Four Emperors. Why do you think I'd be in so much danger?"

Since he's neither a pirate nor a marine, Uchiha Tou's current strength is more than enough for the New World, provided he doesn't actively provoke large pirate crews.

Smoker choked for a moment, then said angrily:

"You ungrateful wretch! Those great pirates of the New World don't care if you're a Marine or not. The chaos of the New World far exceeds your imagination. Without the flag of a Yonko pirate crew, you can't get anywhere on those seas!"

If the paradise of the first half of the Grand Line was the domain of the Navy, then the New World of the second half is the domain of pirates. The power of the two sides is exactly reversed, and the chaos in the seas ruled by pirates is naturally imaginable.

The Four Emperors' pirate crews have a relatively stable base. Having already developed into warlords, they are still able to maintain a certain level of order within their own territory.

However, in those border areas, or places beyond the jurisdiction of the Four Emperors, there was almost constant chaos and fighting. Pirates fought against pirates, pirates fought against nations, and nations fought against nations. Everywhere was engulfed in the smoke of war.

"Tsk, is the new world this chaotic? I thought at least some order would be maintained here!"

"Now you know, right? The reason this place is called the New World is not only because of the harsh environment, but also because the order here is completely different from other places..."

"Isn't this all your navy's fault? Your navy is so incompetent! You can't eliminate the pirates, so you just dumped them all in the New World. The chaos in these New World countries is partly your navy's fault!"

Upon hearing this, Smoker immediately blushed.

"You... what do you know... this is... this is necessary..."

What followed was a series of difficult-to-understand topics, such as naval strategy and the World Government's leadership.

Tashigi, on the other hand, blushed and bowed deeply to Uchiha Touyu.

"We're sorry, this is all our navy's responsibility. We will work even harder in the future!"

"Look, look, Smoker, you're not even as good as Tashigi! At least she doesn't shirk responsibility."

"Damn it! You make it sound so simple. The Navy has already done its best to suppress these great pirates in the New World! Defeating all the great pirates in one fell swoop is practically impossible."

"Hmm, but that's your navy's problem, and your navy's responsibility. What's the point of telling me that? I don't care about reasons, I only care about results! The result is that your navy can't deal with pirates, isn't it?"

"...How have you managed to live this long?"

"I guess it's because I work out regularly that even some of the more irritable guys have to patiently listen to me!"

(End of this chapter)