After a round of discussion, the group came to a decision.
Hashirama Senju would take the Woods-Woods Fruit, Tsunade would take the Op-Op Fruit, Orochimaru would take the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi, and as for Tobirama Senju, he had set his sights on the Soul-Soul Fruit.
That part surprised Rowan a little, but when he thought about it, it actually made perfect sense.
Tobirama was the one who invented Edo Tensei and soul-binding techniques. When it came to soul research, he was basically number one in the Naruto world.
So it was only natural that he'd be interested in the Soul-Soul Fruit.
The problem was that the current user of the Soul-Soul Fruit was Charlotte Linlin, captain of the Big Mom Pirates and one of the Four Emperors.
Getting that fruit from her was no easy matter.
If Hashirama were still alive, beating Charlotte Linlin wouldn't be a problem.
But the issue was that Hashirama was already dead.
Even though Orochimaru had brought him back with Edo Tensei, he was still a dead man, and his strength was less than half of what it had been at his peak. Killing Charlotte Linlin would not be easy.
Facing Rowan's doubts, Tobirama said calmly, "We don't necessarily have to kill her. Since Vegapunk was able to use Kaido to create a brand-new Azure Dragon Fruit, the three of us—me, Orochimaru, and Tsunade—may be able to use Charlotte Linlin's blood to create a brand-new Soul-Soul Fruit."
"And if that doesn't work, we can always kidnap Vegapunk from Egghead and work with him to crack the secret of Devil Fruits."
Rowan thought it over. Tobirama, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were all first-rate experts, especially in scientific research, human modification, and medicine.
Maybe they really could unravel the secret of Devil Fruits.
If that happened, then getting the Op-Op Fruit, the Woods-Woods Fruit, and the Soul-Soul Fruit really wouldn't be that difficult.
Just then, Rowan turned to Kabuto and Shizune and asked, "What about you two? What Devil Fruits do you want?"
Shizune thought for a moment, then said, "If possible, I want a Teleport-Teleport Fruit."
A ninja with teleportation would be pure slaughter.
Back then, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had earned his incredible reputation on the battlefield thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Unfortunately, Flying Thunder God was too difficult. She couldn't learn it.
But now there was a shortcut. If she ate the Teleport-Teleport Fruit, she could gain teleportation directly, and it would be useful no matter what kind of situation she found herself in.
Kabuto pushed up his glasses and said, "What I want most right now isn't a Devil Fruit. It's Blackbeard. I want to study why he's able to eat two Devil Fruits."
Orochimaru's eyes lit up, and he flicked out his tongue. "Kabuto's right. Blackbeard is the key. We have to capture him and understand his body. Once we do, we may be able to eat two Devil Fruits ourselves—or even more."
A single Devil Fruit was already powerful enough.
But if someone could eat two fruits that complemented each other, the result would be almost unimaginable.
Tobirama made the final call. "Exactly. The first thing we need to do is study the power of Devil Fruits. Once we've cracked their secrets, we capture Blackbeard and study his body."
Hashirama, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the others had no objections.
Now that the plan was set, the next step was carrying it out.
And carrying it out depended on Rowan.
After all, only Rowan could take them across worlds.
Fortunately, Rowan didn't refuse. He found a door inside Orochimaru's base and connected it to the world of One Piece.
On the other side was still Nico Robin's room.
But this time, Robin wasn't there. She was probably off handling other matters.
Still, Robin had been very thoughtful. To make sure Rowan wouldn't have trouble finding her after arriving in this world, she had left a glass case on the balcony of her room.
Inside the glass case was a Transponder Snail, along with food it liked to eat.
There was also a note stuck to the inside wall of the glass case.
It read: "Call me."
Tobirama and Orochimaru circled the Transponder Snail a few times. They had seen it more than once in the manga already.
But this was their first time seeing one in real life.
It was hard to imagine that something shaped like a snail could actually be used as a phone.
The biology of the One Piece world really was bizarre. No wonder it had produced things like Devil Fruits.
Rowan looked down at the snail in the box. In the manga, the creature had looked kind of cute, but seeing it in real life gave him a very complicated expression.
Because it really was both cute and gross at the same time.
Gross, but with a hint of cuteness.
Cute, but also kind of disgusting.
It was hard to explain. It just felt weird.
After taking a few deep breaths and forcing down his revulsion, Rowan finally picked up the Transponder Snail and called Nico Robin.
It didn't take long for the call to connect.
At once, the snail mimicked Nico Robin's expression and posture, and even started speaking in her voice.
That somehow made it even grosser.
"You're back."
On the other end, Robin also saw that the Transponder Snail in her hand had taken on Rowan's face, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Rowan said, "Yeah, I'm back. I brought a few helpers this time. Where are you right now?"
Robin replied, "I'm preparing your surprise. Give me a little time. I should be back tonight. Also, I left some money at home. If you get bored, you can go have some fun at Rain Dinners. I remember Tsunade likes gambling, so if she loses, put it on my tab."
The moment Tsunade heard that, her eyes lit up.
But in the very next second, she felt a sharp gaze fall on her face.
She turned her head and saw Tobirama staring at her like his eyes were knives.
Tsunade immediately turned away again.
There was no helping it. Her granduncle's stare really was like a blade. It was way too piercing.
Tobirama snorted coldly, then slowly shifted his gaze onto his older brother.
If he remembered correctly, Hashirama had been a gambling addict too. Back when Tsunade was little, he used to take her in and out of casinos all the time.
Hashirama absolutely shared responsibility for why Tsunade had turned out like this.
When the beam above is crooked, the beam below won't be straight.
He should have stopped that kind of thing back then and saved little Tsunade from this terrible influence.
Unfortunately, it was far too late for that now.
The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt. He genuinely could not understand what was so fun about gambling. It was a waste of time, and more importantly, a waste of money.
Hashirama had never been good at it, and Tsunade had somehow surpassed even him, to the point of becoming infamous throughout the ninja world as the legendary "Big Fat Sheep."
It was a disgrace to the Senju clan.