At the gate of the Shogun's Palace, two groups of soldiers stood guard and stopped everyone. They looked at Sephiroth and his group with vigilance. Kojiro, who was on the stretcher, gritted his teeth, endured the pain from his wound, got up, and got off. He walked up to the leader of the soldiers and explained his identity and intentions. Only then did the other party give an order and open the door to the Shogun's Palace.
Kojiro, supported by his men, brought in Sephiroth and the tied-up Asura Doji. They walked directly into the garden in front of the Shogun's Palace. Not far from there, they met with a group of luxuriously dressed ninjas, led by a tall bald man. His earlobes and skull were long, he had a long pointed black goatee, wore a pair of square black sunglasses, and a purple kimono. He looked like a monk named Fukurokuju, the captain of the Oniwabanshu, who managed five thousand ninjas.
Fukurokuju put his hands on his back and walked up to the tied-up Asura Doji. Seeing the man's fat face which had not changed much since five years ago, he couldn't help but sigh. "Sure enough, he is one of the Nine Red Scabbards. Asura Doji, long time no see! I didn't expect you to still be alive. I hope you can tell me where the rest of the Kozuki family are. That way, you might suffer a little less."
"Humph! Fukurokuju... Don't dream!" Asura Doji stared at Fukurokuju coldly, his weak tone filled with contempt. He had actually separated from the other Nine Red Scabbards to divert the pursuers' attention, and he had no idea where the others were. Therefore, Fukurokuju was destined not to get any useful information from his mouth.
"I hope you can stay tough when the time comes!" Fukurokuju sneered and said nothing more. He turned and led the way for Sephiroth and the others.
After a while, Sephiroth arrived at the open door of a large reception room. He met a man three and a half meters tall, wearing a yellow kimono, with a square face with a large head and an ugly mouth, and a golden crown on his head—Kurozumi Orochi, the current shogun of Wano Country!
Fukurokuju bowed slightly and said, "Shogun-sama, Asura Doji has been brought."
Hearing this, Kurozumi Orochi's face suddenly showed a smug smile. "Hahaha! Show me that damn guy!"
As he spoke, he quickly walked out of the reception room and saw Asura Doji who was tied to a thick wooden pole.
"Hahaha! Good! Good! Good! As expected, he is a remnant of the Kozuki family!"
As if realizing his smile was too ugly and demeaning, Kurozumi Orochi immediately took a fan from his sleeve and covered his smile.
What a pathetic god! He had been worried since five years ago, when with Kaido's help, he killed Kozuki Oden. The corpses of the Nine Red Scabbards, as well as Kozuki Hiyori and Kozuki Momonosuke, none had been found! However, what gave him the most headache was Kozuki Sukiyaki, whom he had secretly imprisoned in a secret room, also escaping! Kurozumi Orochi knew that the other party's influence in Wano Country was very high. It could be said that he responded to every call and the people's hearts were decided. As a result, he was afraid to let outsiders know that Kozuki Sukiyaki was still alive. Otherwise, those who were having difficulty surrendering to his men would definitely have a second heart. Therefore, he could only fight with fear every day, and constantly urged his men to quickly find out the remnants of the Kozuki family and kill them all!
After smiling for a while, Orochi turned to look at Sephiroth. He stared at him from top to bottom before speaking. "You defeated Asura Doji, Miyamoto Musashi...?"
"That's right! It's me."
As Orochi looked at Sephiroth, the latter also looked at the shogun of Wano Country. Through his Observation Haki, he found that this general... Although Kurozumi Orochi had eaten the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit Yamata no Orochi, his aura gave Sephiroth the feeling that he was at most just like an ordinary mountain beast, stronger than ordinary people, but had nothing to do with the word "strong man."
"Do you want to work for me? To become a samurai under my command and guard the Shogun's Palace? As long as you are willing, power, Beli, and status are all at your fingertips!" Orochi smiled wickedly.
Because Sephiroth had directly defeated Asura Doji, the strongest of the Nine Red Scabbards, there was naturally no doubt about his strength. On the other hand, Kurozumi Orochi, thinking of Sephiroth's act of handing Asura Doji over to him, which had undoubtedly offended the remnants of the Kozuki family, he was not too worried that the other party was a spy sent by the Kozuki family.
Hearing that, Sephiroth immediately shook his head and refused. "General, I have always been used to living freely, and I am afraid I am not suitable to serve under you. However, if you have any trouble in the future, as long as you give me an appropriate reward, I will be happy to help."
Exactly! He had indeed previously intended to quickly establish himself in Wano Country and develop his power with the help of Kurozumi Orochi's connections. But, if he joined Orochi's command and maintained the Shogun's Palace, he would be a little reluctant. Instead of working every day and never getting ahead, it would be better to build his own power. Wouldn't it be great to be a boss for himself?
Hearing Sephiroth's answer, Kurozumi Orochi was initially unhappy and wanted to get angry. But, on second thought, he himself did not completely trust this man, and it did not seem too good for him to let him live in the Shogun's Palace and guard his own safety. Besides, this person also said that if he had trouble in the future, as long as the reward was enough, the other party could also help him solve it!
With this in mind, Kurozumi Orochi stopped struggling, and he smiled and nodded, agreeing to Sephiroth's proposal. Immediately, he ordered Fukurokuju to go and fetch a thousand pieces of gold from the treasury.
"I was originally going to give you 500 gold Beli for capturing the Nine Red Scabbards, but I am very satisfied with you, so I will give you an additional 500 gold Beli reward."
As he spoke, Orochi took a small cloth bag from Fukurokuju and threw it directly to Sephiroth. After catching the bag, he opened it and looked at it, and found that it was filled with large pieces of yellow gold. He weighed it and estimated that the gold inside should weigh more than ten kilograms.
Good guy! This is a thousand gold? Just this? How embarrassing!
The Wano Country monetary system is a currency made of gold and silver. Beli, which is basically common on the open sea, is worthless here, and pure gold is not considered a hard currency. The large gold coin currency from this Kurozumi Orochi Reward is said to be more or less. In Wano Country, where the economic environment is on the verge of collapse and food prices are high, it is enough for an ordinary person to live a prosperous life for six or seven years. Of course, if you use it to sell a house, you can buy two or three large houses.
Although Sephiroth secretly cursed in his heart, he despised Kurozumi Orochi as a stingy man. But, on the surface, he pretended to have a very happy expression and said, "Thank you, General!"
"Uh! Nothing, just step back!" Kurozumi Orochi waved the fan in his hand and gave an order of expulsion. In response, Sephiroth said nothing, and, with the bag of gold in his hand, very simply turned away. On the other hand, Kurozumi Orochi, who was still in the reception room, was asking Kojiro about what had actually happened.