No one knew how much more time passed.
Cain's eyes remained completely covered by the blindfold, yet the mixture of nervousness and heat surging through him only made every other sense grow sharper.
Just as Uta was nearing exhaustion and Cain's body and mind had both been stretched to their limits, his thoughts suddenly became crystal clear.
His already powerful Observation Haki erupted in an instant.
Its range expanded wildly, while its sensitivity rose several times beyond anything he had ever experienced before.
Unfortunately, Cain had no desire to celebrate.
He only felt a headache coming on.
Sometimes, Observation Haki being too sensitive was not a good thing.
Even with his eyes completely covered, every subtle movement Uta made, every rise and fall of her breathing, the warmth in her cheeks, and even the faint trembling of her fingertips formed a perfectly detailed image inside his mind.
It surrounded him from every direction, clearer than anything he could have seen with his own eyes.
Combined with the embarrassment of this strange situation, his senses were only amplified further.
What kind of blindfold was this?!
It was simply a different and even more overwhelming way of seeing everything!
Back in Totto Land, merely looking at Uta had caused him to suffer two violent nosebleeds.
Now, in this enclosed space and at such close range, Observation Haki was feeding him details a hundred times more vivid than ordinary sight.
With the warmth of Uta's fingertips registering so clearly as well, how was Cain supposed to endure it?
His entire body suddenly shuddered violently.
The tension wound through his nerves snapped loose all at once.
"That just now was… my first…!"
"Why are you trembling so badly?"
Uta noticed something strange and began asking in confusion.
The next second, Cain—still leaning against her—underwent an utterly ridiculous transformation.
Two bright-red streams of blood blasted out from beneath the blindfold like crimson meteors, tearing through the steam filling the bathroom with far greater force than any of his previous nosebleeds.
They punched straight through the roof and shot into the sky.
The force launched Cain with them, turning him into a blazing red meteor that dragged a fiery tail through the air as friction set the atmosphere around him alight.
…
"Cain! Where are you going?! Are you coming back to finish your 'meal'?!"
Wrapped in a bath towel, Uta shouted anxiously toward the sky.
No answer came.
After she explained the general situation to Shakky—while leaving out the most embarrassing details—the older woman looked deeply frustrated.
"My, my! What a miscalculation. I never imagined Cain-chan would be so…"
She clicked her tongue several times.
"I'm afraid I can't help you now. I didn't expect his resistance to be so poor."
"You raised the intensity far too quickly. With his mind already unstable, losing control was unavoidable."
"I understand now. The two of you need to take things gradually."
"Stop trying to finish everything in a single step."
"Next time, begin with something simple—just getting used to being close to each other."
…
"So what exactly happened to this dried-up corpse?"
Inside Cain's house, Hongo stared at the shriveled figure before him.
The "creature" had lost an enormous amount of blood and resembled a mummified body.
The longer Hongo examined it, the more suspicious he became.
"This thing… why does it look more and more like Cain?"
"It is Cain."
Shanks frowned, his voice grave.
"My earlier feeling was correct. Someone attacked him."
"And whoever did it managed to drain this much blood without breaking through Cain's absurdly powerful defenses."
"The attacker must possess extremely troublesome abilities, and their strength may be no weaker than mine."
"They also concealed themselves perfectly. I searched almost the entire island and couldn't find a trace."
"What about Uta?" Hongo asked seriously.
Shanks had carried him here, so although Hongo had seen Uta, he had no idea what condition she was in.
Shanks shook his head with helplessness in his voice.
"Uta is fine. She was only frightened."
"She's probably still angry with me, because she refuses to explain anything."
"But that isn't our greatest concern right now. First, we need to find a way to give Cain a blood transfusion."
Hongo gave him a thoroughly speechless look.
"Boss, I may not be as strong as you, but you don't need to treat me like an idiot."
"This guy's defenses are ridiculous. How exactly do you expect me to stick a needle into him?!"
"Besides, the natural recovery of his Mythical Zoan has already started working. Look—his face has regained some color."
"We only need to feed him something that replenishes blood once he wakes up."
…
Downstairs, Uta sat with worry written all over her face.
Earlier, she had barely ended her call, hurriedly dressed, and prepared to search for Cain when Shanks and Makino suddenly entered.
Shanks had been carrying Cain, whose entire body was tightly wrapped in his cloak.
Cain's face had been deathly pale, without the slightest trace of blood, and his body looked so thin and withered that he resembled a dried corpse.
One glance nearly stopped Uta's heart.
According to Shanks, he and Makino had been walking along the shore when they saw Cain streak through the sky like a meteor and plunge directly into the sea.
The flames produced by his high-speed flight had burned away every piece of clothing on his body.
After explaining, Shanks naturally asked whether Uta was injured and what exactly had happened.
How could she possibly tell him the truth behind something so humiliating?!
Now Makino was sitting beside her, gently offering comfort.
"Don't worry, Uta. Cain will be all right."
"And Shanks will definitely find the person who hurt him."
Every word was filled with sincere concern.
Yet each sentence struck Uta directly in the heart, making her lower her head until it nearly disappeared against her chest.
She had no idea how to respond.
When Shanks and Hongo eventually came downstairs and explained that Cain would recover, both women released a relieved breath.
Uta immediately sprang from the sofa and raced upstairs.
Makino remained where she was.
She had originally intended to follow and check on Cain herself, but after thinking about it, she decided to leave the two of them alone.
…
Uta pushed the bedroom door open with trembling hands.
Seeing that some color had finally returned to Cain's face, she stepped inside as quietly as possible and slowly approached the bed.
Her hand shook as she gently touched his cheek.
At that moment, Cain's eyelids moved.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Uta… have Shanks and the others left?"
His voice was hoarse from just waking, yet that was the first thing he asked.
"Not yet. They're all downstairs!"
Uta immediately lowered her voice, terrified that anyone below might hear.
In truth, Cain had already awakened earlier, while Shanks was outside searching for the supposed "attacker."
Unfortunately, Beckman had immediately taken over guarding the door.
The two men had exchanged shifts so smoothly that Cain and Uta were forced to prepare for the worst.
To keep the truth from being exposed, Cain hardened his heart, coated the back of his neck with Armament Haki, and struck himself hard enough to lose consciousness again.
After all, they could never allow Shanks and the others to learn what had truly happened.
Not even if they died!
Cain looked at Uta and asked in a trembling voice,
"What exactly was that earlier? Was that something else you learned from Shakky?"
"Mm. I only heard about it before…"
"That was my first time actually trying it."
Uta's voice became smaller and smaller.
"Did I go too far? Shakky said that next time we should control ourselves and proceed more slowly…"
"We should begin with simple contact…"
"And not try to go all the way at once…"
"All the way into my stomach?"
[This is so embarrassing!]
The exact same thought screamed through both of their minds.