Gleanings of Paradise

When cultivated, the fields of this wheat are so mesmerizing that they appear to shine with a beauty likened to a sea of gold. They have a radiant glow and long peduncles like cat whiskers. When they sway from the mountain breeze, they twinkle, making the countless flickers look like shining golden waves.↗

The wheat itself is visually distinct from modern varieties, as demonstrated when Yaginuma presents two different ears of wheat to highlight their differences. Unlike the modern varieties of wheat, with their dense rows of kernels, the kernels on the Gleanings of Paradise are longer and thinner, and have less kernels overall. Their outer skin is also quite thick. It also has a significantly different genetic structure than modern wheat varieties.↗↗↗

This organism has a powerful survival instinct, evident by its influence over those who consume it. The wheat has its own agenda, seeking to propagate and spread its influence. It can dominate those who ingest it, bending them to its will. It considers humans as livestock, indispensable for their own prosperity as they are necessary for growing wheat. It is also intelligent enough to assign roles to the humans it enslaves, based on the human's temperament. For example, it assigns Yaginuma to be the village chief for the sake of keeping, raising, and multiplying livestock.↗↗

The Gleanings of Paradise also has a god complex, believing itself to be God and the humans it enslaves to be its angels. Rohan suggests that they once went extinct because they didn't respect humans enough to have a symbiotic relationship with them, unlike other types of wheat.↗↗

Addiction Manipulation

The wheat is highly addictive in both its aroma and taste, forcing people to constantly want to eat more. Rohan considers bread made from the wheat to be tastier than any bread he's ever eaten. The wheat also intensely compels Rohan to tell others about it, which he feels is something he wouldn't ordinarily do.↗↗

Constitution-Altering Enslavement

The Gleanings of Paradise has the ability to dramatically change the constitution of those who consume it, which involves reconfiguring their body tissues and taking control of their mind. The changes it induces varies for each person, according and proportionate to their temperament. The changes are also gradual depending on how much of the wheat they eat. For instance, Yaginuma, who once was a beautiful, slender boy, transformed into a macho man after consuming the wheat. Toshiya Utsurogi transforms into a bull as his privileged physique is suitable for plowing the land. Some other villagers transform into chicken, pig, and cow hybrids.↗↗↗↗

The wheat exerts profound control over those who consume it, domesticating humans into becoming farmers. It turns humans into livestock-like slaves by compelling them to cultivate more of the crop. Its influence is so strong that it can even overwrite the effects of Rohan's Heaven's Door ability, suggesting a powerful overriding consciousness inherent in the wheat. Using Heaven's Door on Utsurogi and Yaginuma, Rohan sees that their pages are replaced at a rapid pace with their mind rapidly regressing to simple words such as "Feed them", "Wheat and livestock", and "Survive", suggesting their host's free will is being erased.↗↗↗

The effects of the Gleanings of Paradise's powers are reversible and hosts can even retain their free will with strong enough self-control. For example, Rohan is able to withstand its effects despite his temptations because of his desire to protect a young child. Utsurogi also manages to break free from its grasp for his daughter's sake. The transformation can be reversed through expelling the wheat from their bodies, though further treatment is necessary to completely undo the changes.↗↗↗↗

Adaptability

Unlike regular types of wheat, the Gleanings of Paradise grows naturally in cold weather conditions that would usually render growth impossible. It did so by storing any sparse nutrient of the rocky soil and then continuing to reproduce. However, it wasn't able to survive through history and went extinct before Yaginuma revived it.↗↗