(Italic dialogue formatting fixed per the user's request.)
Jin had already left Thunder God Island.
Bui Lee didn't know exactly how strong he'd become.
He only knew this: the aura Jin left behind was a world apart from the aura he'd arrived with.
He would never forget that day.
The day the lightning was at its peak.
That man had launched himself straight into the heart of the thunderclouds.
Every bolt of lightning in the sky had turned on him at once.
Below, the island fell silent.
Not a single spark touched the ground.
Nobody knew how long it went on.
Everybody just stared, jaws slack, at the raging thundercloud above.
Right when they all thought the dragon had finally died—
Laughter boomed across the sky.
"Hahahaha! Broke through! Finally broke through!"
The golden dragon tore through the clouds, roaring, massive body weaving through the lightning.
Bui Lee had seen it clearly.
The dragon opened its jaws.
Lightning converged in its mouth, compressed tighter and tighter until it became a tiny glowing sphere.
The dragon swallowed.
Then spat.
A single pillar of concentrated lightning shot across the horizon like a divine spear.
Far away, the ocean erupted.
If someone had gone closer, they would've seen it—a gigantic crater blasted into the sea, then collapsing into a spinning whirlpool.
Afterward, Jin had dropped a Den Den Mushi into Bui Lee's hands.
"No matter how far I am," he'd said, "if you call this number, I'll come."
Then he'd flown away.
Now, Jin soared above the clouds, considering his next move.
He'd originally planned to head straight for Sleep Ancient Town.
But yesterday, he'd read the news.
"…As expected of Doflamingo," he mused. "His framing work is top tier.
Why the hell didn't I think of pinning everything on the World Government earlier?"
He adjusted his trajectory.
And angled toward Wano Country.
A few days later, Wano, Kuri region, Amigasa Village.
Jin walked through the village dressed like a wandering samurai.
Simple kimono.
Straw hat pulled low over his face.
One katana at his waist.
His two-meter-seventy frame and hulking build made the outfit look… not particularly subtle.
As he walked, he caught the faint smell of pollution in the air.
The water sources were tainted.
Kaido's weapon factories were already up and running.
Ragged villagers watched him from doorways and alleys.
Curiosity warred with fear.
His clothes weren't particularly fine.
But a man that tall and broad didn't look like a good person in Wano.
Jin let his Observation Haki spread, combing carefully through the area.
He'd long since given up on his height.
He had no idea what was happening to his body.
Two and a half meters had quietly stretched to two-point-seven.
Maybe it was the physical breakthrough.
Maybe the fruit's influence.
Either way, there was no point whining about it.
Suddenly he felt something.
A distinct presence, resonating faintly with the swords stored in his bracelet.
His lips curled.
"Got you," he murmured.
Deep inside the woods, Tenguyama Hitetsu stiffened.
He'd felt it too.
A foreign aura—strong, and approaching fast.
"Is it one of Orochi's men?" he muttered. "Has he finally decided to come for me?"
He leapt toward the forest, trying to vanish into the trees.
Jin chuckled.
"Running? After I came all this way?"
His figure vanished.
Back in Amigasa Village, the residents watched as the "wandering samurai" simply… disappeared.
They screamed and scrambled back into their houses.
Clearly, in their minds, he was a monster from Orochi's faction.
Hitetsu ran.
All at once… the aura behind him vanished.
He grimaced.
"Did he leave? Or—"
"Looking for me?"
A lazy voice floated down.
Hitetsu looked up.
Jin stood on a tree branch ahead of him, smiling behind the brim of his straw hat.
The long-nosed tengu mask on Hitetsu's face stiffened.
He turned to run again—
Clink.
Jin nudged his katana halfway out of its scabbard with his thumb.
A fine line appeared on the ground at Hitetsu's feet.
"Move again and you die," Jin said cheerfully.
A wave of killing intent washed over the forest.
Hitetsu swallowed hard.
A true Great Swordsman.
There was no mistaking it.
Orochi would never have someone like this.
"Did Orochi send you to kill me?" Hitetsu asked, forcing his voice to stay steady.
"Orochi?" Jin let his aura flare one notch higher. "You think he deserves to command me?"
Hitetsu backed up a step, trembling.
This pressure…
No way this man was under Orochi.
"Then what do you want?" he asked.
He already had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.
Jin held up two fingers.
"Two things," he said. "You help me with both, I leave immediately.
"If not, I'll head back to Kuri and kill a certain blue-green-haired little girl named Kozuki Hiyori.
"And then I'll slaughter the villagers outside."
He paused, like he'd just remembered something.
"Oh, right. There's also a kid named Momonosuke.
"He's not here right now—got tossed twenty years into the future—but I still know exactly when he'll come back."
Hitetsu's whole body went cold.
"Speak," he said hoarsely. "I'll listen."
"First," Jin said, grinning. "Enma, Ame-no-Habakiri, and Nidai Kitetsu.
"Second, the location of a big red stone."
Hitetsu almost shouted.
"Impossible!"
"Oh?"
Jin tilted his head.
"So between people and swords… you choose the swords?"
His smile never reached his eyes.
"Who are you?" Hitetsu demanded. "Are you with Kaido?"
"Me?" Jin pretended to think. "I'm not anyone's man.
"That day, when Kaido fought Kozuki Oden, I just happened to be watching from the side.
"I saw the rest, too.
"Toki sending Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Kiku, Kanjuro, and Raizo twenty years into the future.
"I was this close to taking Lady Toki with me. Widows are very… flavorful."
He clicked his tongue dramatically.
"But she threatened to toss me through time the moment I let my guard down.
"Shame, shame."
Total nonsense.
But mixed with enough truth that someone like Hitetsu wouldn't be able to separate it.
"Silence!" Hitetsu shouted. "Don't you dare insult Lady Toki!"
He jerked.
Steel kissed his neck.
At some point, Jin had moved.
His blade rested gently against Hitetsu's throat.
"Choose," Jin murmured. "If you pick the swords, I'll go kill the people first and dig the rest up myself. Just more work.
"If you pick the people, you hand things over and I walk away."
Hitetsu clenched his jaw, glaring up at him.
He didn't answer.
Jin didn't rush him.
One was Oden's legacy.
The other was Oden's blood.
Eventually, something had to give.
Time stretched.
Finally, Hitetsu lowered his head.
"…I'll do it," he said quietly.
Jin smiled and sheathed his sword.
"Lead the way," he said.
They headed back toward the very edge of Amigasa Village.
To a tiny wooden hut.
Creak.
The door opened and Hitetsu went inside, disappearing into the back room.
Jin waited in the courtyard.
His Observation stayed locked on the old man's presence.
If Hitetsu tried anything, he'd know.
After a short while, Hitetsu emerged.
In his arms was a wooden box and two sheathed swords.
"You can see for yourself," he said weakly. "I don't care anymore."
Jin picked up Enma first.
The blade thrummed, fierce and wild even in its scabbard.
A sword that drank its wielder's Haki without permission.
Most people would be sucked dry and die.
A true King of Hell.
Jin smiled.
He wasn't most people.
"Good sword," he said. "Worthy of being called a demon blade."
"Hmph," Hitetsu snorted. "If you know all that, then you don't need me to explain its nature.
"No need to keep threatening me, is there?"
Jin ignored the tone.
"Yeah, I know," he said. "No more threats."
He set Enma down and drew the next blade—Ame-no-Habakiri.
Shiiing.
He studied the clean, almost divine line of the sword.
"This," he said softly, "is the blade that slayed Orochi in the myths. Heavenly Feather-Slash.
"Also called the Ten Fist Sword."
He laughed.
"No wonder it's a famed blade."
With a flick of his hand, both swords disappeared into his bracelet's inner space.
Hitetsu's eyes narrowed.
"That trick… you're from the outside world, aren't you?" he said.
Jin's smile widened.
"Oh? You noticed?"
He didn't bother denying it.
There was no point.
He'd gotten most of what he came for.
The blades of a dead samurai.
And one step closer to the red stone he wanted.
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