Doflamingo returned to his seat, his face as black as a cast iron pot.
Trebol beside him leaned in and asked cautiously, "Doffy, what happened?"
Doflamingo remained silent, merely staring fixedly in the direction of the colosseum, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest of his seat.
Seeing that their master was in a bad mood, the others didn't dare to continue the conversation, pretending to watch the match instead.
Violet, however, couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
Standing behind Doflamingo, watching his gloomy face, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. She thought to herself, 'Your day has finally come.'
…
A full day passed.
The tournament for the Dark-Dark Fruit had reached its final battle.
It did not surprise Makoto… the finalists were Kaguya and Ai.
Itsuki, Kei, Nino, and the others were eliminated one after another.
Although Nino struggled hard against Ai, the gap in strength between them was ultimately too large.
After all, before crossing into the One Piece World, Ai had already trained for thirteen years in the Chainsaw Man World, not to mention she was already a physical prodigy in the real world.
Makoto estimated that without using the Eight Gates Technique, she could even exchange a few rounds with Ran.
With the announcer's shout, the final battle officially began.
Inside the colosseum, Kaguya and Ai stood facing each other.
The distance between them was about twenty meters.
"Kaguya-sama," Ai said in a low voice.
"As agreed, we go all out."
Kaguya locked eyes with her best friend, who had grown up with her.
"Of course."
The battle began.
The fighting styles of these two best friends were completely opposite.
Although both were proficient in two types of Haki, Kaguya, who used a bow, specialized in long-range combat, while Ai was a close-range type.
To be honest, in this kind of combat environment, the situation was relatively unfavorable for Kaguya.
Because the colosseum wasn't particularly large, and the perimeter was surrounded by a pond filled with piranhas, leaving little room for maneuverability.
It wasn't very friendly for a long-range fighter like Kaguya.
Yet—
Surprisingly, Kaguya ended up winning.
In the final exchange, Ai 'messed up', getting grazed on the shoulder by Kaguya's arrow, losing her balance and falling to the ground.
Regarding this, the live audience, who didn't understand the skill levels of these two, as well as the newer players like the Nakano quintuplets and the Fujiwara sisters, didn't notice anything off.
But Makoto, Utaha, Megumi, and other veteran players all raised their eyebrows more or less, realizing something was amiss.
Ai's mother, Nao, slammed her hand on the armrest of her seat and exclaimed, "Ai! You—!"
But the announcer had already declared that the final victor was Kaguya.
According to Makoto's rules, she would receive the Dark-Dark Fruit.
Megumi asked the sisters beside her, "Hayasaka-san... did she do that on purpose?"
Reze, Saeko, and the others nodded.
Although they didn't know Ai very well, they could roughly gauge her skill level through daily training.
If Ai hadn't held back, they'd chop off their own heads!
Makoto didn't say anything.
He picked up the treasure chest containing the Dark-Dark Fruit, flashed to the center of the colosseum in an instant, and handed the chest to Kaguya.
"This is yours."
Kaguya took the chest, opened it, and looked at the Dark-Dark Fruit inside. For a long time, she didn't eat it.
Makoto asked, "What's wrong?"
Kaguya looked up, met his eyes, and asked in return, "Is this Devil Fruit... suitable for me?"
Makoto smiled.
He sighed inwardly, acknowledging that Kaguya, aside from her chest, was a top-tier all-rounder in every other aspect. Her intelligence was indeed high.
Makoto told Kaguya honestly, "Not really."
Based on the performance of this Devil Fruit in the original work, it was like the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, a close-combat type.
Although the Dark-Dark Fruit also had long-range attack moves, the most crucial aspect, which is nullifying other Devil Fruit abilities, depended on the user touching the opponent with their hand.
And Kaguya was a long-range sniper, through and through.
She and this ability were truly a mismatch.
Kaguya was silent for a moment.
Then, she closed the chest and handed it back to Makoto.
"Then, Commander, you should give it to someone more suitable."
Seeing this, many people at the scene were very surprised.
They hadn't expected Kaguya to be so magnanimous… giving up such a powerful Devil Fruit so readily.
Makoto didn't refuse this either and put the Dark-Dark Fruit back into his item inventory.
"From now on, if I see a cheat suitable for you, I'll give it to you."
Indeed, the Dark-Dark Fruit wasn't suitable for Kaguya.
If she were to eat a Devil Fruit, something like Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit, which is suitable for long-range attacks, would be better.
Or, later on in the Bleach World, he could find a way to reclass Kaguya as a Quincy, since the Quincy could be said to be the archery experts of the anime world.
Alternatively, in the Naruto World, he could find a way to transfer Otsutsuki Kaguya's abilities to her.
After all, both were named 'Kaguya', and Kaguya's looks were leagues above Otsutsuki Kaguya's.
Kaguya blinked in confusion.
Not being a gamer, she didn't know what 'cheat' meant, but she obediently nodded.
Afterwards, Makoto took Kaguya and Ai and left the Corrida Colosseum.
Chika was the first to jump out, grabbing Kaguya's hand and asking, "Kaguya-chan, why didn't you eat it? Makoto said this Devil Fruit is really strong!"
Kaguya repeated the reasoning she had given Makoto to her best friend.
Chika thought it was such a shame and pouted, "That's too bad, isn't it..."
However, Makoto praised Kaguya: "Your choice was correct."
Makoto added with a smile, "If I were to make you my wife, you'd probably keep the household running smoothly, wouldn't you? O kawaii koto."
Kaguya immediately turned bright red.
And this scene was also witnessed by Chika, the cancer of the Planet Earth, who immediately broke into a malicious grin.