"Crocodile, listen to me, okay? At first, they were really scared of me. I felt a bit uncomfortable too, but I was bored out of my mind, so I tried shrinking myself down and heading into the city."
"Back then, the police warned me off and even kept surveillance nearby. People on the streets wouldn't come near me."
"But you know, their expressions were different from the people of Sunagakure. There wasn't any disgust—just pure fear and tension. That, I could understand."
"So I gave it some thought and started helping them clear all the sand and gravel out of the city. Every time I'd go back, I'd even spend money to buy them some fruit. Of course, I'd just leave the Berries and ask the nice police guys to pass it along."
"And as time went on—maybe about a month—the people in the city didn't seem so afraid of me anymore. Then one day, I beat the crap out of a bunch of scumbags who were trying to kidnap two kids… and that's when I heard them cheer for me, thank me!"
In the vast desert roughly 10 kilometers from Rainbase, Shukaku had already returned to his full size. He was happily swaying his tail as he moved forward, animatedly recounting the past few months to Crocodile, who was perched on his shoulder, silently smoking his cigar while patiently listening to Shukaku's stories.
"I'm telling you, that 'Sea Mother' is a giant blue dragon—around my size. Well, maybe a bit smaller. She's got wings, but she calls herself a 'Rhyme Dragon' or something. And she had a bunch of much smaller dragons with her—her followers, she said."
"She also uses this water-type ability called magic. I don't think it's any weaker than what Isobu can do. But 'Sea Mother' seemed kinda fragile. If it came down to a real fight, I think Isobu would have a better chance. That turtle shell of his is ridiculously tough!"
Crocodile let Shukaku carry him toward his territory, all while mulling over this "Sea Mother" business.
He had never been to the Zero Magic World himself.
But he had just fought two of the highest-ranking devils who used magic.
So when it came to that kind of power…
He had firsthand experience—he'd nearly died fighting them, after all.
Which was precisely why the thought of learning magic had started to take root in his mind.
Crocodile already possessed Conqueror's Haki and, in theory, had the potential to synthesize Colorless Haki.
But Colorless Haki wasn't something you could just reach by having Conqueror's Haki—it didn't work like that.
Of course, without Conqueror's Haki, you definitely couldn't achieve it at all.
In other words, if he wanted to keep advancing to a higher level, the standard route would be pushing his body to its limits through harsh training—focusing on physical combat and Haki.
But Crocodile didn't think he had much talent in the Haki department.
His core strength, after all, still lay in his Sand-Sand Fruit powers.
And compared to grinding away at physical training or Haki refinement…
He was far more interested in developing and evolving his abilities.
So Crocodile shared his thoughts with Shukaku.
"You want to meet the 'Sea Mother'—and learn magic?"
Shukaku, who had been marching forward in giant strides, stopped in surprise.
"Mhm. My Devil Fruit ability has already awakened, and I've basically hit the ceiling with it. If I don't find a new path forward, the only way left to grow stronger is through brute-force training—crushing my body's limits, refining my will."
Crocodile nodded solemnly.
There was, in fact, another reason.
He had recently heard that after defeating Nahamah and Lilith, Sakazuki and Kuzan had somehow learned how to wield the devils' conceptual rule-based abilities—those that allowed them to burn or freeze things at the conceptual level.
That revelation had stuck with him.
He'd been obsessively reviewing and replaying his own battles with those same demons, trying to determine if there was any way he could grasp those abilities too.
And yet, months had passed, and he still hadn't unlocked anything.
Still, it wasn't a complete loss. His sharp sixth sense kept whispering to him that perhaps—just perhaps—magic was the path best suited to him.
"You might be disappointed," Shukaku said, shaking his head with concern. "The 'Sea Mother' told me that in their world, human magic can't even be used without magical elements. But as for the Rhyme Dragons like her—well, Blue Dragons are magical beasts. Their blood carries innate magic. Even if it's depleted, it recovers naturally along with their stamina."
"I see…" Crocodile muttered. "Then we'll have to wait for the Academy to finish improving the 'Guren Blood.' Once that's done, I can test whether I can absorb and train with natural energy like Kuzan."
"Natural energy?"
Shukaku glanced toward the dark silhouette of his territory slowly emerging in the distance.
Then he turned back and asked Crocodile for more details.
Once he finished listening to Crocodile's explanation, he suddenly came to a halt, turned his head toward his shoulder, and burst out laughing.
"What are you talking about? Isn't that just the Sage Techniques cooked up by those toads and stinky snakes?"
Crocodile shot him a look. "You know about it?"
"Of course I do. I'm probably the only Tailed Beast who's ever studied those ninja techniques. What else could I do? The old Sage of Six Paths was unfair—he gave me the smallest share of chakra, so I had to find a way to boost my power by learning shinobi jutsu."
"Even though they don't have much chakra, their control and finesse with it are genuinely impressive."
Shukaku nodded repeatedly, his face full of nostalgic admiration.
"Take Wind Release, for example. All I used to do was blow out a big gust of wind. But those Wind Release shinobi? They can shape wind into blades, whips, or spheres."
"With the same amount of chakra—or even less—a wind blade can easily tear apart a basic gust, and a wind sphere's destructive power is far greater..."
Crocodile sighed at the long-winded explanation. "Just get to the point."
"The point is—so-called Sage Chakra is basically just a knockoff of Tailed Beast chakra," Shukaku said with another nod.
"You strengthen your sensitivity to natural energy, absorb it, and then balance it with your own chakra. That balance is what makes your jutsu stronger—that's Sage Mode. But we, as Tailed Beasts, are chakra formed from concentrated natural energy."
Crocodile frowned. "So what you're saying is—you can help me train in natural energy?"
"Exactly. If what you want is the ability to sense and absorb natural energy, I probably have a way to help. Whether you can refine it into your own power, though… no guarantees."
Crocodile leaned in, eyes sharp. "What's the method?"
"Eat me!"
"Ah?"
Crocodile froze, momentarily thinking he had misheard.
"I said, eat me!" Shukaku repeated with a mischievous tone.
This time, Crocodile heard it loud and clear. A vein popped on his forehead.
"YAAAH—HAHAHAHAHA—!"
Shukaku couldn't help but clutch his round belly, bursting into laughter.
Crocodile's expression just now had been too hilarious.
"Fine."
But to Shukaku's surprise, a cold smirk crept across Crocodile's face.
"Then I'll have to hire an excellent chef and have a serious talk about how to prepare your meat—some of it steamed, some of it grilled. Hopefully, it'll taste decent!"
"Huh?"
Shukaku was dumbfounded, laughter cut short. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
"Hmph."
Crocodile shot him a cold glare.
Though, truthfully, he wasn't actually angry.
His gaze drifted instead toward the various buildings scattered in the distance.
That was Shukaku's territory.
At first glance, it looked like a replica of Sunagakure.
The only difference was the massive spherical sand fortress at its center—many times larger than the Kazekage's building back in the village—making it appear incomparably grand and majestic.
And around the outermost edge of the territory, Shukaku had constructed a circular wall and city gate, each seemingly close to 100 meters tall.
Honestly, it had quite the proper look to it.
But this also made Crocodile realize something: deep down, Shukaku hadn't completely severed ties with the Shinobi World.
"Alright, alright."
Shukaku turned serious and explained to Crocodile: "When I said you could eat me, I wasn't entirely joking."
"Like I told you before, we Tailed Beasts are a fusion of natural energy and chakra."
"So if you eat a piece of my flesh, you should temporarily gain the ability to sense natural energy. As for whether you'll be able to absorb it and cultivate it successfully—that I can't guarantee. But at least that first step should work."
"I don't want to learn chakra."
After a long silence, Crocodile declined.
He had already been informed of the truth behind chakra—Imu had personally shared it with the higher-ups.
As a Lieutenant General of the Army Headquarters, and a top-tier candidate for General, of course he had received a copy of that report.
But confidentiality had been mandated, so he couldn't share any of it with Shukaku.
"Of course. You Starfish people can't use chakra anyway, right?"
Shukaku gave him an unsurprised look.
"That's why I said my flesh should only grant you the temporary ability to sense natural energy."
"You'll need to get used to sensing and absorbing natural energy from the air on your own during this period. Once that's done, expel the flesh from your body and return it to me."
"But I need to warn you—Tailed Beast chakra is extremely volatile. If your will or your body can't handle it, you might lose control and go berserk."
Crocodile nodded, having understood: "Has anyone in the Shinobi World ever succeeded with this?"
"Yeah. Kinkaku and Ginkaku from Kumogakure."
Shukaku gave a brief explanation of their case.
But as soon as he finished, Crocodile sneered. "In that case, there's no issue."
When it came to physical endurance or strength of will—
He refused to believe anyone from the Shinobi World could outmatch a Starfish native.
Especially someone like him, a master of Haki.
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