Beep! Beep!
A sharp, drawn-out whistle echoed across the first level of the small Sky Island. The resting air cavalry members, upon hearing it, quickly gathered, armed and ready for action.
"You all saw it, there's a group of guys flying around over Wano Country. Let them understand that the sky is our territory! Move out!"
Men and Millennial Dragons were prepared for departure, but before they could take off, Kaido fell right in front of them.
"Governor-General Kaido!"
"Hm? What's going on? What are you all doing?"
"It's like this, Governor-General Kaido. Lord Queen discovered something unusual earlier. Those people from 20 years ago have appeared again, and just now Hotei from the Shinsengumi reported—"
"Enough, you don't need to chase them."
"Governor-General Kaido, you mean—"
"Just adding a little spice to a dull life, that's all. Why are you still standing here? Do you not understand my words?"
"Yes, sir!"
The air cavalry that had just assembled immediately dispersed. Kaido's orders were absolute. If he didn't want to say more, his subordinates could only obey. They weren't at the level where they could give opinions.
That Kaido was willing to explain even that much was already pretty good.
[Twenty years ago… that ridiculous prophecy. Let me see what you guys are actually capable of. I'm right here in Wano Country, not going anywhere.]
Aside from the outward explanation, Kaido also had his own thoughts. But ordinary subordinates didn't know about that. All they saw was Kaido assuming an attacking stance.
"Worororo, just letting you leave would be far too boring. Let me send you off with a parting gift, Blast Breath!"
Though he intended to let the two of them escape, Kaido didn't plan to just let them go easily, so he personally unleashed Blast Breath.
Compared to his true body, the ink-drawn clones were fundamentally different. They could fool ordinary Shinsengumi members, could cause trouble for Hotei, but they couldn't deceive Kaido.
Standing atop Onigashima like a turret, he kept firing off Blast Breaths, sweeping across all the clones created by Kanjuro.
Under the attack of Blast Breath, a series of chain explosions erupted in the sky, and the clones created by Kanjuro were instantly obliterated upon contact. Kaido's Haki lock wasn't meant to eliminate them; it was to avoid accidentally hitting the real ones during the intimidation, fearing they might be shot down by mistake.
In the end, Kaido even deliberately aimed off, allowing them to escape smoothly. What followed was the series of absurd events involving Yamato and Queen.
Outside of Wano Country, riding atop the giant falcon painted by Kanjuro.
They had just "barely escaped with their lives" from Kaido's attack. For a moment, no one spoke. Kin'emon didn't know what to think, while Kanjuro was busy arranging his words.
His current display was too different from before. To lay low, he had always painted with his left hand.
Being right-handed by nature, and deliberately distorting his painting style, his drawings turned out abstract, completely incomparable to now.
Now, in order to retreat smoothly from Wano Country, Kanjuro had exposed everything. He was thinking about how to make Kin'emon believe him.
"Kin'emon, I—"
"No need to say anything, I understand. You were helpless too. Lord Momonosuke has already been exposed, and Raizo also sacrificed his life. There was no way for you to save them."
"No, what I want to say is—"
"I understand. Now is not the time for sorrow. We must hurry to find suitable allies, that's the only way we can save them.
But your drawing skills—"
"Actually, I—"
"When did they become this amazing? With such ability, our future actions will surely go much more smoothly."
Kanjuro never would have thought that after all the effort he spent trying to find the right words, Kin'emon, like a simpleton, hadn't suspected him at all. Everything he'd prepared was completely wasted.
But in a way, this was fine too. It saved him from wasting his breath.
Alongside the relief, Kanjuro also felt a kind of despair. Having sunk too deeply into his role, he could no longer extricate himself, and he was determined to play the part of a retainer of the Kozuki family until his death.
Rescuing Momonosuke was a must, but the difference in strength between the two sides right now was simply absurd.
He had to lead a simpleton to face Wano Country + the Beasts Pirates. This hell-level dungeon was one even if Rocks himself was resurrected, he wouldn't be able to clear it, let alone Kanjuro, who had to bring along Kin'emon, who was very likely to hold him back.
Being an undercover agent to this extent, Kanjuro, if not the first of his kind, is definitely one of a kind.
If one had to look for a cause, it could only be blamed on Kurozumi Orochi. He exploited Kanjuro's personality to make him go undercover, but then got himself killed, ultimately leading to this situation.
In Kuri, the raging flames had already been extinguished. The Squirtles moved at incredible speed, and together with the Shinsengumi, who had already begun firefighting, they quickly brought the fire under control. Aside from heavy property damage, there were no fatalities, though the number of burn victims was still considerable.
At this moment, the Squirtles were surveying the fire site, making sure there were no remaining flames that had not been extinguished.
The outer areas were handled by Squirtles, the interior by Wartortles, while at the very center it was a Blastoise conducting the inspection.
"Blas~toise."
Blastoise raised its arm to block a collapsing house beam.
This area had been the center of the battle and was hit the hardest, reduced completely to ruins, with a high risk of collapse.
If the small-bodied Wartortles or Squirtles were to be here, they could easily be buried alive, so only a Blastoise, with its turret-like body, could take on this task.
Blastoise then adjusted the angle of the cannons on its back, completely dousing the embers hidden beneath the ashes.
After a round of searching, it discovered a small iron box in the ruins. Thanks to its material, it had survived the flames. Blastoise brushed the ash off the surface, picked up the little box, and left the ruins.
"Come on, Granny, no need to be sad. This house was damaged in battle, we'll compensate you with a new one. Besides, this was an old building already, it was scheduled for demolition.
Even without this fire, this street was set to be rebuilt at the latest by next year. Don't grieve any further, your family all came out safe, didn't they?"
Hotei clutched his head in frustration. He caught Raizo, but two escaped.
He didn't know why the air cavalry hadn't deployed, but matters of the sky weren't under his jurisdiction anyway. This operation couldn't be considered a total failure either as information about twenty years ago had been scarce, with no record of any flying abilities.
The real issue was the damage caused by the fire Kanjuro released at the end, so Hotei was working hard to manage the aftermath.
"Sigh, I've lived here for sixty years. This place holds the memories of most of my life…"
Watching the old woman sink into her memories, Hotei's head seemed to grow even heavier. He waved his men over to handle matters here and was about to leave, when Blastoise emerged from the fire site, carrying that box in its hands.
"Bla~stoise."
"Thank you."
The old woman trembled as she received the iron box, clutching it to her chest like a treasure. No one knew what was inside, nor did many care, but just as Hotei was about to leave, the old woman suddenly called out to him.
"Captain Hotei, you can catch him, right? That ghost of Kibi."
"The ghost of Kibi?"
"Well, you're too young, maybe you don't know about this.
Back in the day, there was a ghost in Kibi who stole people's hair. He'd suddenly appear in broad daylight to cut people's hair, even taking the hair of the dead. That guy is the same freak who set the fire just now."
The old woman recounted the tale with the tone of someone telling a ghost story. A long time ago, Kanjuro used the hair he stole to make brushes and sell them. When he tried to snatch Oden's hair, he was beaten up instead, and only afterward did he become one of Oden's retainers.
That was one of the identities performed by Kanjuro.
Because of his bizarre behavior and peculiar looks, many old people still remembered him.
"Ah, I will. Don't worry, Granny, that guy's an arsonist."
Although Kanjuro's fire had indirectly helped them escape, it had also brought about a worse consequence.
Kuri had once been the territory of Kozuki Oden. During his rule, he worked diligently to alleviate the poverty in the region and made various efforts to bring about change.
That was why the elders of Kuri remembered him more deeply. Even after all these years, he had not been completely forgotten.
But today's fire changed everything. They didn't blame Oden, who was already dead, but instead grew resentful toward these retainers from the past.
Before they appeared, nothing had happened. But the moment they showed up, people lost their homes. Whatever little prestige remained was consumed further.
And with Hotei's subtle prompting, his confidants spread the word that this battle was caused by Momonosuke's retainers stirring up conflict.
Those whose property was damaged, or whose family members had been injured, began to harbor resentment against this man who had disappeared for twenty years.
At the Beasts Pirates' Pokémon Center, in the pediatrics department, the physical examination had just finished, and Mandrell was waiting for the results.
"Lord Mandrell, there's nothing to worry about. For now it seems the three children are all healthy. Just wait a bit longer, and the report will be ready."
"Sorry for troubling you."
Watching his daughter growing restless under the lead of Meowna and Wolff, Mandrell sighed helplessly. He thought the checkup was unnecessary, but Queen had ordered them all to come.
So before taking the children out to play, Mandrell had no choice but to stop here.
While they waited for the results, those injured in the fire were also brought in. The burns unit quickly became busy. At the same time, Denjiro arrived with Kawamatsu and Kikunojo.
Hiyori had told him to come here to treat his hand injury. On the surface it looked like concern, but Denjiro had already sensed something unusual. Hiyori no longer trusted him, and it was likely his current position would soon change.
Momonosuke wasn't dead yet, but the future looked bleak. As Denjiro was mired in his worries, he overheard the voices of a few people cursing.
"Who even is this Momonosuke? Why did he have to come back? It's all because of his father that we got hurt!"
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