Hancock's hair suddenly shifted, catching Kaito's attention. And it wasn't just him—even Elder Nyon stared in shock at Hancock's head.
That long, thick black hair slowly split into nine distinct strands, resembling nine black serpents.
Kaito frowned as he stared at the serpentine strands. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but he could sense a familiar energy radiating from those nine black snakes.
Hancock didn't seem to realize what was happening with her hair. When she saw Kaito suddenly frown, she immediately assumed he had noticed her fleeting emotional vulnerability and was displeased by it.
That thought scared her to the core. Her entire heart was now devoted to Kaito. If something like this made him feel repulsed by her, that would be more terrifying than death itself.
An image surfaced in her mind—Kaito looking at her with eyes full of disgust. The thought alone made her feel suffocated, and her face instantly went pale as a sheet.
Typical Hancock—an overactive imagination in full bloom. All it took was a tiny change in Kaito's expression for her to mentally leap straight to a tragic ending.
Kaito was also startled by Hancock's sudden change.
She had looked fine just a second ago—how did she suddenly seem on the verge of collapse again?
He quickly placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a little shake.
"Hancock! What's wrong with your face? Are you feeling unwell again?"
Hancock stared at him blankly, her whole body strangely rigid, like a soulless puppet. Her lips moved, muttering over and over again:
"Kaito-sama... please don't hate me... It's my fault..."
Kaito was completely baffled by her words.
When had he ever said he hated her?
He truly couldn't follow her logic. Just as he was about to speak, Hancock's nine drifting serpentine strands of hair began to change again.
The nine black strands shifted into a deep shade of purple. Their shapes also changed—they were no longer merely snake-like, but had fully transformed into nine small, deep-purple serpents. The characteristic "sssss" of snakes hissed softly from their mouths.
And that wasn't all. Hancock's entire appearance began to change.
A golden headpiece like a crown appeared on her smooth forehead. Her pupils turned into deep purple slits, giving her an otherworldly, sinister charm.
Even more striking, a pink cloud-like sash appeared around her body, floating behind her and forming the shape of a heart.
Elder Nyon, who had been hovering behind Hancock, was completely stunned. She let out a sharp cry, which instantly drew the attention of all nine little snakes.
As the cold gazes of the snakes locked onto her, Elder Nyon felt a chill surge through her very soul. Before she could even look away, her body once again turned into stone.
Only this time, her face was frozen in sheer terror.
After petrifying Elder Nyon, the nine snakes turned their heads toward Kaito, seemingly preparing to do the same to him.
But Kaito merely let out a cold snort. His Rinnegan eyes flared with a brilliant purple light.
In an instant, the nine serpents recoiled as if struck by lightning, their heads drooping. Their arrogance vanished completely.
In stark contrast to the snakes, Hancock herself remained dazed and unaware of anything that had just happened.
Kaito stared into her eyes and released a faint wave of spiritual energy using the Rinnegan. Hancock's body trembled, and her expression finally began to soften.
Now awakened, Hancock blinked. This time, she finally noticed the abnormal state of her body. She caught sight of the snakes her hair had turned into and was so startled that she leapt up from the bed.
As she jumped, she collided with the stoned form of Elder Nyon behind her.
Hancock let out a pained gasp, turned around, and realized that Elder Nyon had turned into a statue once again.
She didn't understand how it had happened, but she instinctively knew it was her doing. She quickly dispelled the petrification.
As Elder Nyon returned to normal, she looked at Hancock with terror in her eyes. Then, she began flailing in midair, clearly trying to escape to the ground.
Seeing this, Kaito deactivated his Deva Path ability. Elder Nyon immediately dropped and landed with a thump on the bed.
The moment she landed, she didn't say a word. She grabbed her cane, jumped off the bed, and bolted out of the room without even looking back.
Petrified by Hancock twice in a single day—she wasn't sticking around for a third. Her old bones couldn't take another round of this madness.
...
With Elder Nyon gone, only Kaito and Hancock remained in the room.
Kaito reached out and pinched one of the serpents formed from her hair, examining it closely. Then he looked at Hancock with a helpless expression and said:
"What was that just now? Saying I hated you? When did I ever say that? Stop imagining such weird things, will you?"
Embarrassed by his words, Hancock let out a soft hum, clearly flustered. She knew she'd gone overboard with her imagination again. But she couldn't help it—Kaito was too important to her. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
After giving her a bit of a scolding, Kaito turned his attention to the changes in her body.
He had already figured out the reason behind it. Most likely, this was the awakened state of the Love-Love Fruit.
Actually, it probably shouldn't even be called the Love-Love Fruit anymore.
This awakened form clearly didn't belong to the Paramecia class—it had the distinct characteristics of a Zoan-type awakening.
Judging from her current appearance, the fruit's true name was most likely:
Zoan-Type ・ Human-Human Fruit ・ Mythical Beast Model: Medusa Form.
As for a Paramecia turning into a Zoan, Kaito didn't find that strange at all. Didn't the Rubber Fruit turn into the Nika Fruit?
Back when he saw Luffy's sudden Gear Five transformation, Kaito had even joked to himself—could Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit evolve into a Human-Human Fruit: Mythical Beast Model: Thousand-Armed Kannon?
He also recalled the appearance of the Love-Love Fruit. It looked like a cherry-shaped Devil Fruit—but strangely, it was made of two heart-shaped cherries of different colors.
One was pink, and the other was deep purple.
Based on Hancock's current powers, the pink one clearly represented the classic petrifying heart-shaped energy of the Love-Love Fruit.
The deep purple one must have granted Hancock the ability to transform into Medusa.
No wonder Blackbeard had gone to such lengths to get his hands on it—even risking a direct confrontation with the Marines. He must've known long ago that the Love-Love Fruit wasn't as simple as it appeared.
It was another god-tier Devil Fruit.
You could question Blackbeard's morals, but never his eye for Devil Fruits.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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