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

Chapter 257 Controlling Bruno

On a whim, after leaving a "gift" for the three members of the Straw Hat Pirates, Uchiha Touya left the Going Merry and went to a tavern in Water 7.

It wasn't peak time at the tavern yet, and there were only a few people inside, except for a tall bartender who was sitting there wiping glasses.

The bartender was strong and had two bull horns on his head, whether for decoration or because of his special race, it was hard to tell. He had a seemingly dull expression, but when he saw Uchiha Hiyu push open the door and come in, he showed a hint of surprise, which he quickly concealed.

However, Uchiha Touyu was originally a ninja, and his Observation Haki was extremely sharp. How could he not see the change in the bartender's expression?

He also knew very well that the bartender in front of him was Bruno from the CP9 organization, and there was another identity that Uchiha Touyu cared about very much—the Door-Door Fruit user!

The Door-Door Fruit was a Devil Fruit that was considered a god-level fruit in the early days of One Piece. This Paramecia-type Devil Fruit's ability already involved space and concepts, and if developed properly, it could indeed unleash amazing functionality.

Of course, this Devil Fruit also has its own drawbacks. It excels in both support and defense, but it doesn't do much to increase strength, especially after the Haki system was introduced.

To put it simply, this Devil Fruit is top-notch for supporting characters, but unless the person who eats it already possesses exceptional talent, it's very difficult for a Devil Fruit user to truly reach the pinnacle; at best, they can only ensure their own survival.

Even so, this Devil Fruit is definitely one of the top-tier Paramecia-type Devil Fruits. It was a complete waste for Bruno, an ordinary CP9 agent, to eat it.

Seeing the slightly curious look in Uchiha Tou's eyes, Bruno spoke unhurriedly, "Guest, what would you like to drink? How about a glass of whiskey?"

Uchiha Touyu glanced around the bar. There were only a few ordinary customers inside. After Uchiha Touyu's gaze swept over them, these people shuddered and walked out of the bar one by one.

With his peak-level Observation Haki and unique vampire hypnotic abilities, he can manipulate ordinary drinkers into doing many things with just a glance.

Bruno is also an agent. Although the professionalism of agents in the One Piece world is questionable and there are quite a few comedic elements mixed in, Bruno is still much more perceptive than ordinary people. Naturally, he discovered that the departure of these drinkers was inextricably linked to Uchiha Touyu.

"What are you doing, customer!"

Bruno put down his wine glass and white cloth, staring coldly at Uchiha Touyu, though his back was already soaked with sweat.

No matter how ridiculous the World Government's agents are, they are at least good at intelligence. As a member of CP9, Bruno recognized Uchiha Tou's identity long before he entered the room.

The "son-in-law" of Alabasta is likely to inherit the throne of this desert superpower in the future. He is also a Blood Demon who roams the first half of the Grand Line, a terrifying figure who killed Shacroft, and is listed as one of the top-tier combatants in the World Government's intelligence.

The opponent's strength is at least superior to that of an average naval vice admiral. This is not someone an ordinary CP organization agent like myself can handle. Now I can only hope that the other party is just here for a drink, otherwise...

"Brown, an agent of the CP9 organization and a user of the Door-Door Fruit. I'm not mistaken, am I?"

"Who are you!!"

Bruno took two pistols from the table, pointed them at Uchiha Touyu, and looked very serious. However, Uchiha Touyu just shrugged.

"Who am I? Didn't you recognize me the moment you walked in? Why pretend? I don't believe that with the CP organization's intelligence network, they wouldn't even recognize me."

"If that's the case, then between the CP organization and you, one of them is definitely just freeloading."

Bruno's expression faltered slightly, then turned cold:

"Blood Demon, what brings you to Water Seven?"

"Blood Demon, is this the title your CP organization gave me? It is indeed a bit stronger than that Vampire Demon. I'm not some Digimon. Those uncultured pirates like to give me these meaningless nicknames."

"As for why I'm here... it's simple! I'm extremely interested in your Devil Fruit!"

Interested in my Devil Fruit?

Bruno, unaware that Devil Fruit abilities could be stripped away, did not understand the meaning behind Uchiha Tou's words, but could vaguely sense the murderous intent hidden in Uchiha Tou's language.

"Sorry, I have no intention of putting on a show for others, and besides... do you want to confront the World Government?"

Looking at Bruno, who appeared fierce but was actually weak, Uchiha Touyu sneered:

"I didn't just want to see your Devil Fruit ability... Besides, a mere CP9 agent doesn't represent the World Government. Do you think you're a Celestial Dragon or one of the Five Elders?"

"Also, don't press that Den Den Mushi under your table anymore. I've already drained its life force!"

Bruno's expression changed drastically. He looked under the table and, sure enough, found the once energetic Den Den Mushi lying limply on the ground, now reduced to a pile of dead flesh.

Den Den Mushi are also living beings. Given Uchiha Tou's current level of mastery over the Vampire Fruit, draining the life force of this little creature would be far too easy.

Seeing that the Den Den Mushi was dead, Bruno didn't say a word. He gripped his pistol in one hand and fired several shots at Uchiha Touya.

However, the bullet pierced through Uchiha Hiyu's body without causing any damage. After a moment, the figure dissipated; it was just a phantom.

"Wow, that's fast! Much faster than shaving..."

Bruno turned around in fear, when a hand reached out from behind him, placed on his shoulder, and snapped his arm with a crack.

"Trying to escape through the door? Sorry, I know everything about you. While the Door-Door Fruit isn't much of a help in direct combat, it's truly a god-tier fruit for escape and support, so I won't give you the chance!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Touya activated his Devil Fruit ability. Bruno opened his mouth, and his blood and life force instantly drained away, turning him into a dried-up corpse with only a breath left.

Sensing that Bruno had fallen into a near-death coma, Uchiha Tou grabbed his head, opened his eyelids, and hypnotized him directly.

As a fairly capable agent, Uchiha Touya's hypnotic abilities are unlikely to have a long-term effect on Bruno. Modifying his memories is feasible, but making Bruno completely obedient to her is extremely troublesome.

However, when a person is near death, their will naturally weakens, and hypnosis will be much more effective.

This is precisely why Uchiha Touyu beat Bruno to the point of near death, and only a moment later, Uchiha Touyu completed the hypnosis.

"The effects of hypnosis should last for a few months! After all, it's about transferring his complete loyalty to the World Government to me, not just altering his memories."

Human memory is actually quite easy to modify because humans have the ability to fill in the gaps in their understanding. As long as the modified memory is logical, it will naturally be regarded as a real experience after a period of time.

However, to make someone blindly loyal to you is equivalent to directly modifying their personality, which is naturally much more complicated. In addition, Bruno is also quite powerful, making it even more difficult for Uchiha Tou to modify him.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened in the end. After the hypnosis was completed, Uchiha Hiyu directly replenished Bruno's lost blood and life force, and also treated his injuries. Bruno recovered quickly.

Having recovered from the brink of death, Bruno immediately knelt before Uchiha Tou and said:

"Master, what are your orders?"

Uchiha Touyu circled Bruno once, and seeing that he was still kneeling on the ground without any doubt, he nodded:

"You continue working at the bar for now! Then try to instigate a conflict between the Straw Hat Pirates and CP9..."

At this point, Uchiha Tou seemed to have thought of something and asked:

"Oh, by the way, do you know Franky?"

"The Franky family is the largest criminal organization in Water Seven, and their members often drink at my bar."

After hearing Bruno's answer, Uchiha Touyu nodded in satisfaction:

"Very good. Find a way to let Franky's family get acquainted with Straw Hat Boy, whether it's a good or bad encounter, and then tell Straw Hat Boy that Franky is the best shipwright in all of Water Seven."

"Given Straw Hat's personality, he'll eventually be able to turn enemies into friends with Franky, and might even try to recruit Franky onto his ship. Then you can leak the information to CP9, saying that the blueprints for Pluton are on Franky, thus inciting both sides to go to war."

"Once CP9 is defeated by the Straw Hat Pirates, use the Door-Door Fruit to bring them all here! CP9 should still be somewhat useful then."

Bruno nodded, without asking how Uchiha Touyu knew so much information, or how he could be sure that things would develop as he said. He saw himself as nothing more than a pawn carrying out orders.

It's not impossible to take Bruno away and extract his Devil Fruit, but that would definitely put Uchiha Touyu on the CP organization's blacklist.

Although few people witnessed the battle between Uchiha Tou and Bruno, and the memories of everyone in the bar were all hazy from Uchiha Tou's perspective, these special agent organizations don't care about evidence.

Bruno's Devil Fruit ability is extremely good at self-preservation. There was no one in Water 7 who could take him down silently. At this time, Blood Demon had just gone on a killing spree in Water 7, killing a large number of pirates. Then Bruno disappeared. These two points alone were enough to make the special agent organization focus their attention on Uchiha Touyu.

While one Bruno might not amount to much for these special agents, it's a different story when you include the Door-Door Fruit user. To put it bluntly, this Devil Fruit is almost worth the entire CP9 special agent team!

Although Uchiha Touyu is not afraid of the World Government, it's not the time to turn against them yet. He's still planning to take advantage of the two major events, the Marineford War and the Impel Down breakout, to make a fortune in one fell swoop. If he really turns against them, many things will become difficult to manage.

As for why they wanted to capture the CP9 special agents, it was actually just to establish a connection between these agents and the World Government.

It's a very simple matter. Don't be fooled by the fact that this special agent team was easily distorted by Spandam and made into a bunch of traitors. In reality, these agents also have their own connections within the World Government!

Kalifa's father is clearly an agent, as stated in the official guidebook. Kuchiki also has a mother who is an assassin for the World Government. In addition, although the other agents do not have clear backgrounds, how could someone like Otonashi Owl, who is not strong and has a loose tongue, possibly join CP9 without any background?

After being exonerated, these agents were promoted to CP0. Besides their own considerable strength and their loyalty to the World Government during the crisis, there must have been a reason for the influence of the forces behind them. Otherwise, how could they have such a good thing? They failed a mission, took the blame once, and then rose to prominence overnight.

After giving his instructions to Bruno, Uchiha Touyu did not linger in Water 7. The Hades blueprints were likely very important to both the pirates and the World Government.

But for Uchiha Touyu, instead of wasting time building the strongest warship, he would rather spend his time improving himself and receiving the main body. Once the main body is received, wouldn't that be much better than the strongest warship?

Besides, the original Hades is buried beneath Wano Country! It's far superior to any blueprints or anything like that.

After leaving Water 7, Uchiha Tou resumed his killing spree in the first half of the Grand Line, even more efficiently than before.

Having awakened the Blood Release technique, Uchiha Hiu was incredibly fast. He could almost single-handedly block seven shipping lanes and easily jump between routes and islands to engage in a battle royale with pirates. This also caused his training speed to increase rapidly.

Meanwhile, the terrifying reputation of the Vampire Demon resounded throughout the seven sea routes, and Uchiha Touyu deliberately left behind a large number of dried-up pirate corpses.

The sight of empty pirate ships drifting on the sea, leaving only dried-up corpses, not only terrified the pirates of the Grand Line, but also filled ordinary civilians with fear at the mere mention of vampire demons.

However, news about vampires hasn't been making headlines in the world lately. The most explosive news right now is the Buster Call that has struck Enies Lobby.

(End of this chapter)