For the rest of the day, Chiga helped his roommates train in the morning, and in the afternoon, he went to the wasteland behind the mountain to train his Haki alone.
After unleashing twelve consecutive Sky Smashes, Chiga lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for air.
Sky Smash was currently Chiga's strongest single-target physical attack. With less than a week left until the assessment, he could already perform twelve strikes.
"That's enough. No cadet in this batch could possibly withstand one punch of this move, and since Sky Smash is powered by Haki, even a Logia user wouldn't be able to take it."
Lying on the ground, Chiga pondered his current training results and felt that he was more than prepared for this assessment. He then got up, dusted off his backside, and prepared to return to the dormitory early.
Just as he stood up, he saw Bridge rushing towards him, shouting as he ran,
"Chiga, a beautiful female officer is looking for you!"
Chiga paused, asking,
"A beautiful female officer?"
"Yes, she said her name is Gion!"
Alright, so it was Gion, whom he hadn't seen in nearly a year. Chiga had thought that Sister Gion would only come to see him when he graduated.
But since she was here, Chiga couldn't let her wait indefinitely.
He grabbed Bridge in one hand. Before Bridge could even react, he found himself airborne and immediately let out a scream,
"Chiga! You have to hold on tight, my Moonwalk isn't proficient yet!!"
…
Landing steadily and placing the exhausted Bridge aside, Chiga immediately spotted Gion standing at the entrance of the dormitory area.
Gion also saw Chiga descending from the sky. A hint of joy flashed in her eyes, but her face showed a slight frown. She quickly walked towards Chiga, her high heels clicking.
Stopping in front of Chiga, Gion pinched his ear and leaned her face close to his, feigning anger,
"Little brother Chiga, you're truly a busy man. Do you know I've been waiting for you here for a long time?"
Chiga ignored his ear in Gion's grasp and calmly said,
"Sister Gion, I heard you came to see me and immediately flew here like the wind. You're really wronging me, you know."
Gion glanced at Bridge, who was lying on the ground, disoriented. She finally couldn't keep up the act. Her expression softened, and she released Chiga's ear, looking steadily at his face. She softly said,
"Long time no see, little brother Chiga."
Chiga smiled slightly and opened his arms,
"Long time no see, Sister Gion."
However, upon seeing Chiga's gesture, Gion remembered their embrace during their last farewell. Her face flushed, and she rolled her eyes at Chiga, remaining still with her arms crossed.
Chiga standing there with his arms open looked a bit comical. He quickly lowered his arms and raised a hand to rub his nose, trying to cover up the slight awkwardness from just now.
Gion poked Chiga's forehead with her finger and said with a smile,
"One hug last time wasn't enough, huh? Don't forget what I told you. Once you graduate and achieve your goal, I'll grant you one wish."
Chiga said he certainly hadn't forgotten and was striving for it constantly.
Seeing Chiga's determined expression, Gion chuckled softly and pinched Chiga's cheek again, then brought up the main topic,
"Sister Tsuru told me you're having your year-end assessment soon. The rewards for the top three are pretty good. How about it, do you have confidence?"
Chiga shrugged indifferently,
"I'm determined to win."
Gion, seeing him so boastful, increased the strength of her pinch,
"Oh, quite confident, aren't we? I'll be there to watch this time, so don't make a fool of yourself then."
Chiga's expression remained unchanged, and he continued,
"I've already decided what reward I want. I want a Devil Fruit."
"A Devil Fruit? What do you need that for? Do your strange abilities still require that? If you eat it, you won't be able to swim."
Gion felt that Chiga was really not suited for eating a Devil Fruit and emphasized its drawbacks to him.
"Don't worry, Sister Gion, I know what I'm doing. And I don't want the Devil Fruit to eat it. My eyes still have some flaws. The power of a Devil Fruit can hopefully evolve them further."
Upon hearing this, Gion looked incredulous. She thought Chiga's eyes were already abnormal enough. Besides the endless stream of abilities, just the flying ability alone had made countless people envious. But now, listening to Chiga, did that pair of eyes still have flaws and could even evolve?
She examined Chiga's Rinnegan and noticed an extra tomoe in his right eye.
"Is the pattern in your right eye related to the evolution you mentioned? Was it caused by a Devil Fruit?"
Chiga nodded. He didn't mind this, and besides, Gion was one of the people he knew in this world, so telling her was fine.
Gion processed the information she received. After all, using the power of a Devil Fruit to evolve eyes was truly unbelievable, and didn't this mean Chiga could possess the power of more than one Devil Fruit?
Of course, the fact that Chiga could tell her such information showed that he truly trusted her. Gion felt immense joy about this.
No longer thinking about unnecessary things, Gion looked at Chiga and said,
"So you really need a Devil Fruit, right?"
"Yes, and the Devil Fruit's ability can't be too trashy."
Chiga never believed in the saying that there are no trashy fruits, only trashy users. A trashy fruit is just trashy. Can a normal Zoan compare to a Mythical Zoan?
For example, the String-String Fruit looked strong in Doflamingo's hands, but that was because the person was strong. A normal person eating the String-String Fruit would probably only be able to operate a sewing machine.
If Doflamingo had eaten a slightly stronger fruit, even the Weapon-Weapon Fruit or the Snow-Snow Fruit from his subordinates, he wouldn't have been taken out so quickly and ended up as the Newspaper King in prison.
Gion nodded slightly. She hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit partly because she primarily practiced swordsmanship, and partly because she didn't find a suitable fruit for herself. However, since Chiga needed one, she naturally had to help him.
"Okay, I understand. Sister Tsuru has a few, all recorded in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. You can pick a few when you graduate."
"?"
Chiga was truly stunned. Pick a few? Listen to what she's saying, is that something a human would say? So Gion was a small rich woman? What did that make him? A kept man? He never thought he'd have a day where he was a kept man!
But, the feeling isn't bad!