Undercurrents Stirring

In the eyes of Wano Country’s people, today was nothing more than an ordinary day.

The somewhat brainwashed, dim-witted citizens of the Flower Capital noticed nothing unusual, and neither did Kurozumi Orochi’s trusted subordinates.

The only surprising thing was that Kurozumi Semimaru, the Barrier Fruit user under Kurozumi Orochi’s command, had gone to Flower Street and then died of old age a few days later.

Still, judging by that old man’s appearance—he looked seventy or eighty and trembled even while walking—the death of Kurozumi Orochi’s strongest shield, though certainly a major event, was not especially unexpected.

From then on, Kurozumi Orochi began keeping a low profile. Whenever he spoke with someone, he stayed at least ten meters away, and he became extremely wary of anyone approaching him.

Though these actions seemed excessively cautious, the other Flower Capital nobles and his guards, who already knew Kurozumi Orochi well, were not surprised.

After all, they knew exactly what kind of man Kurozumi Orochi was. Cowardice was practically in his nature.

At the same time, Kurozumi Orochi began heavily courting Sleeping Kyoshiro, granting him titles and promotions, placing the entire Flower Capital guard under his command, and even handing the Oniwabanshu over to him.

To the Flower Capital’s nobles, this was merely another self-preservation measure by Kurozumi Orochi. Behind his back, they found his behavior rather laughable, but they remained respectful on the surface and gave Sleeping Kyoshiro even more deference.

About a month passed like this.

"The intelligence is more or less complete. These Flower Capital officials and nobles really are rotten to the core. When it comes to disappointing people, they’ve never disappointed anyone."

With a hint of indignation on his face, Sleeping Kyoshiro placed the intelligence gathered by the Oniwabanshu on the table.

Kurozumi Orochi, secretly mocked as a coward by every noble in the Flower Capital, now wore a calm expression as he picked up the reports and slowly leafed through them. He spoke steadily as well.

"This is perfectly normal. Given Kurozumi Orochi’s personality, anyone who wasn’t rotten to the core wouldn’t have gathered around him in the first place."

"Come to think of it, there are plenty of scum in your country. Back when the Kaido Pirates were dealt with, only the Nine Red Scabbards stood up. It probably wasn’t merely because of Kurozumi Orochi’s schemes that the Kozuki Clan lost the people’s support."

"Kurozumi Orochi is a complete mess when it comes to governing a country. Or rather, he’s simply venting his hatred on Wano Country. But when it comes to winning over and corrupting nobles, he’s quite skilled."

In truth, the idea many people had—that once someone stole the ruler’s position, they could do whatever they wanted with the country—was impossible.

No matter how centralized a country was, the country could never be equated with its ruling monarch. The fact that Kurozumi Orochi could turn Wano Country into such a disaster and still remain shogun proved that Wano Country itself was not a seamless egg. There had to be a group whose interests supported him.

Of course, the One Piece World’s characteristic of individual strength determining everything was also indispensable. Otherwise, no matter how obedient Wano Country’s residents were as wage slaves, they would still rebel once they were pushed into a situation where they simply could not survive.

Although Yota’s group had eliminated Kurozumi Orochi, the nobles under him still held most of the power. Even if Yota, disguised as Kurozumi Orochi, suddenly decided to pull himself together, those people would never allow Kurozumi Orochi’s reforms to infringe upon their interests.

Fortunately… this was a world where strength belonged to the individual. Yota did not need to outwit them, divide them, strike at one group while winning over another. He only needed to give the order and charge straight through.

Once all the intelligence had been gathered, Yota’s group began acting directly. Relying on the Oniwabanshu, now fully under their control, and Denjiro’s leadership, they raided those thoroughly rotten people’s homes one by one.

Those with sense were arrested and thrown into the mines as laborers. Those who dared resist were cut down on the spot. In just one day and one night, blood flowed through the Flower Capital. Every unlucky noble was arrested, and all the forces under their command were absorbed.

Afterward, Kozuki Hiyori began to act as well. There were still quite a few forces loyal to the Kozuki Clan in Wano Country. If nothing else, Asura Doji and Kawamatsu of the Nine Red Scabbards were still alive!

There were also a great many samurai imprisoned in the mines, and some of them were truly exceptional. When the nobles and their subordinates guilty of serious crimes were sent to dig in the mines, they could bring those people back.

With Kozuki Hiyori personally stepping forward, those people were naturally overjoyed when they received the news. They came to the Flower Capital without hesitation. After making a few minor arrangements, Yota had them replace the former nobles and govern Wano Country.

Many of them had previously possessed considerable prestige or power in Wano Country. Thus, the turmoil caused by those nobles was swiftly settled, and the conditions of Wano Country’s commoners improved slightly as well.

However, as long as Kaido’s Beasts Pirates remained sprawled across Wano Country, sucking its blood, Wano Country could never truly return to what it once was. Therefore, to truly liberate Wano Country, they would inevitably have to confront the Beasts Pirates.

With Yota’s current strength, even taking on the Beasts Pirates alone would not be difficult. Yota’s strength had advanced greatly in the Shinobi World, and he could now be considered to have entered the Six Paths Level. A Four Emperor like Kaido was, at most, only somewhat stronger than the Super-Kage Level.

However, on one hand, if Yota wanted to train his Haki, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity. After all, Teacher Kaido’s teaching ability was plain for all to see.

Thus, he did not intend to use abilities from the Shinobi World in this battle. That would leave him considerably weaker than Kaido.

Yota’s physical qualities had all been built up through Bloodline Limits and Chakra. His Haki was far inferior to Kaido’s, and he had not even awakened Conqueror’s Haki. If he did not use ninjutsu, then facing Kaido would basically mean getting completely crushed.

So naturally, Yota needed others to help him share the pressure from the Beasts Pirates.

On the other hand, Yota had finally found two Devil Fruit users to serve as experimental subjects during this period. Naturally, he intended to experiment on them properly. His experiment was whether it was possible to separate a Devil Fruit without taking the Devil Fruit user’s life.

The Dark-Dark Fruit alone certainly could not accomplish that. But if he also included the Munch-Munch Fruit in his possession, the strongest tool for human modification, then it might be possible.