Success

Blades slashed, clubs smashed, fire burned, and ice froze. After a long barrage of clanging attacks, Ace, Yamato, and Denjiro retreated, panting heavily. The protective barrier looked as pristine as ever, without so much as a scratch.

"Damn it, this turtle shell is way too hard!" Yamato complained, rubbing her wrist, which had gone sore from all the smashing.

Denjiro said nothing. Even though blood had begun to seep from the web of his thumb, he still swung his long blade, wrapped in Haki, fiercely against the barrier.

"Useless, useless, useless! You can’t break the Barrier Technique!" Kurozumi Orochi shouted with forced bravado as he trembled all over, tears streaming down his face.

Ever since he learned that Serpent was Kurozumi Orochi’s "son," he had been acting like this.

After all, he did not know about the "loving father and dutiful child" relationship between Yamato and Kaido. In his eyes, Kaido’s son had brought people here to kill him, so he naturally assumed they wanted to seize his position.

In fact, in the original story, Kaido really had wanted Yamato to take over as shogun of Wano Country. It was clear that even Kaido had grown fed up with Orochi’s mindless stupidity.

Oppressing the common people was one thing, but making all of Wano Country miserable and causing supplies for the Beasts Pirates to decline was another matter entirely. Even someone as simple-minded as Kaido understood a little about sustainable development.

"What the hell… letting a petty scumbag like him gloat just because of some barrier…" Ace said angrily, flames still burning in his hand. "This guy really is complete trash."

"Alright, you’ve tested it enough. Leave it to me." Yota glanced at the others and spoke.

From the very beginning, Yota had privately told Yamato and Ace that he could break the Barrier Technique. That was precisely why the two had been willing to act alongside him. They had only been testing whether they could shatter the barrier with their own strength; otherwise, Yota would have stepped in long ago.

At Yota’s words, Ace and Yamato immediately moved aside. Even Denjiro, who had silently continued hacking at the barrier, showed a trace of hope in his eyes.

"Y-you-you, what are you planning to do? No one can open the Barrier Technique!" Kurozumi Orochi seemed to sense something as well, staring in terror at Yota as he walked forward.

"That’s right. With pure physical attacks alone, it really is difficult to break this barrier." Yota sneered. "Unfortunately for you, moves other than physical attacks are what I have most!"

Kamui!

Yota’s entire body suddenly phased, and in an instant, he passed through the barrier. He then stretched out both hands as black mist spread through the air. Moments later, Kurozumi Orochi and Kurozumi Semimaru vanished from the room.

For Yota, there were at least three ways to bypass the barrier: Kamui’s phasing, Rinnegan genjutsu, or simply using Dark Hole to suck them, barrier and all, into the Dark Space. This time, he chose the simplest method.

"Th-they’re… just gone?"

Denjiro stared in astonishment, stammering as he spoke.

"What were you expecting? For me to fight him for three hundred rounds?" Yota rolled his eyes. "Neither of those two has much fighting ability. Once the Barrier Technique was broken, couldn’t I just knead them however I wanted?"

"Uh, no, didn’t they say Kurozumi Orochi has eight lives?"

"Heh. Once he’s been sucked into the Dark Space, eighty lives wouldn’t save him." Yota snorted. "What matters now is dealing with the aftermath!"

"Dealing with the aftermath?" Denjiro repeated blankly.

"Of course. The reason I agreed to use all these schemes instead of simply storming the palace and killing Kurozumi Orochi wasn’t just to raise the odds of killing him." A sinister smile appeared on Yota’s face.

In truth, ninjas from the Naruto World, even ordinary ones, were terrifying once they entered most worlds that were not particularly powerful and lost their restraints.

That was because everything they learned, from beginning to end, revolved around deception, provocation, and war. Even an ordinary genin could start a world war in many worlds!

Not to mention, with only a basic Transformation Technique, plus a ninja’s powers of observation and sensitivity to intelligence, playing schemes and intrigues was absurdly easy.

That was why so many old schemers in the ninja world loved playing nested games. After all, that was the kind of education they had received since childhood!

And for a ninja at Yota’s level, carrying out a coup by replacing one ruler with another was child’s play!

A few minutes later.

Looking at Yota’s Wood Clone, which looked exactly like Kurozumi Orochi and even perfectly mimicked his facial expressions, Denjiro stroked his chin, feeling as though a whole New World had opened before him.

"With this, the position of shogun of Wano Country will be ours." Yota smiled. "We can take this opportunity to gather the original Nine Red Scabbards, and secretly transfer out some of Wano Country’s former samurai from the mines."

"Then, after we have recovered our strength, we’ll launch a counterattack against the entire Beasts Pirates. When the time comes, we’ll have ‘Kurozumi Orochi’ and his men serve as cannon fodder first!"

"So, what do you think of this plan?"

Denjiro let out a breath, a relieved expression appearing on his face. He then looked at the Oniwabanshu Yota had captured. "Sorry, but to keep this secret, you’ll have to be sacrificed."

As he spoke, Denjiro slowly raised his long blade. The Oniwabanshu ninjas struggled desperately in fright, tears spilling from their eyes.

"Leave it to me." Yota stopped Denjiro. "I have a way to make them keep quiet."

As he spoke, Yota lightly tapped their mouths. Strange black patterns spread across them.

Seeing the curious looks of the others, Yota explained, "This is the Tongue Severing Curse. Anyone branded with it has no way to reveal information that must be kept secret. The moment they even think of doing so, the Cursed Seal will activate!"

"And the owner of the Cursed Seal can directly control it as well. I’ll give you a demonstration first." After saying that, Yota casually formed a hand seal. Among the ninjas on the ground, a round, chubby yellow man immediately writhed in agony, unable even to scream.

The other Oniwabanshu members all shrank back. In truth, most of them were not especially loyal to Kurozumi Orochi—after all, they had originally served Kozuki, and were completely different from members of the Kurozumi Clan.

It was not as if they had joined Kurozumi Orochi because his charisma was incredible, was it? Obviously, they either feared death or craved wealth and status. They could not possibly be particularly brave, fearless, or loyal.

So Yota’s little display had already terrified them completely.