"I don't know, Sakura-nee..." The boy took a deep breath and let it out again.
He didn't know how to save the people here, nor how to take action, nor what kind of future he should bring to this country.
He had grown up in the trash heap of the Goa Kingdom, after all, and then spent his time immersed in the corrupt circle of pirates.
Ace, accustomed to living in hell all year round, had no idea how to create a beautiful world. After all, one cannot imagine something one has never seen.
But the instinct, nurtured since childhood by Garp's influence, to distinguish right from wrong told him that something was wrong!
"Then use your eyes to slowly observe and slowly summarize!" Sakura raised her hand and rubbed Ace's head.
In her view, no matter who took over Wano, it would be better than leaving it to the 'three generations of Kozuki heroes'.
At least the strong from the outer seas truly contemplated the matter of ruling, unlike the political creatures of this country who thought only of inheritance and power struggles every day.
Moreover, from another perspective, strong people with a protective will and conviction were surprisingly suited to governance, such as Ace or Yamato.
Without outsiders needing to intervene, their own beliefs would spur them to act and do things beneficial to the people.
If one day they abandoned their ideals, the decline in strength and sudden change in appearance would quickly alert their supporters, allowing for timely adjustments.
'They're practically born tools!'
The girl's green eyes appraised Ace unkindly, as if admiring some rare treasure.
Ace's skin crawled under her gaze. He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and stepped back several times.
"Big brother, big sister, what are you talking about?"
Tama, confused by their conversation, looked up and hugged Sakura's leg.
"Nothing. Take us to see your village."
Sakura opened her palm, gently took Tama's hand, "And let's roast this prey. Didn't you say the people in the village haven't had a full meal in a long time?"
"Yes!"
Tama's eyes lit up at these words!
Wasn't the reason she risked bringing Komachiyo out to hunt precisely to bring back some food?
She hadn't dared to ask before because the prey was caught by Ace and the two were her saviors.
But with Sakura's permission, it was different. This was something my big sister told me to eat!
So the excited girl directed Komachiyo to gather some grass from the surroundings and weave a temporary net. She used the net to trap the prey and had Komachiyo carry it in its mouth.
Then she climbed onto Komachiyo's back herself and called out to Sakura and Ace, "Big sister, big brother, come on up! This girl will take you to the village!"
After the two climbed onto Komachiyo's back, Tama directed the giant komainu to drag the prey and kick up dust as they left.
…
Elsewhere, Wano Country, Flower Capital.
Among the elegant gray buildings, there was a Tenshukaku standing atop a small hill. It was like an unchanging monument to the city, manifesting the lofty status of the one who ruled this country.
Deep within the crisscrossing pavilions and buildings of the Tenshukaku, a burly, bald-headed, purple-haired man smashed his cup on the ground.
"Damn it! Is there still no word from Kaido?"
Kurozumi Orochi's eyes were crimson, his sharp voice tinged with a trembling of fear.
Having lost Kaido, his powerful guardian deity king, he lived in constant fear every day, believing that at any moment, the Kozuki and the Scabbards would rally the samurai within Wano and overthrow him.
Thus, before this, many residential areas in Wano had been bloodily purged by him for the most trivial of reasons.
Anyway, people were ultimately no different from weeds. Cut down one crop and another would grow. Orochi was unconcerned about the decline in population.
A shadow flickered outside the room. Fukurokuju, the captain of the Orochi's Oniwabanshu, arrived at the corridor.
Knowing well that he could not anger Orochi at this moment, he spoke, following Orochi's wishes: "Your Highness, the leader of the Guardian Deity has indicated in previous communications that he will return shortly and will bring powerful reinforcements."
"Not fast enough! I want him back in Wano immediately!!!"
Orochi shouted angrily. "In the end, which useless idiot was it that got defeated overseas? What's the point of all the weapons and equipment we produce for him every year?!"
Seeing that Orochi had already begun to be unreasonable, Fukurokuju closed his mouth and knelt on one knee outside, silent.
"Fukurokuju! Fukurokuju! Why aren't you saying anything? Are you planning to betray me?!"
A large amount of dangerous aura burst from within the room. Orochi's burly body writhed, transforming into a terrifying figure with eight heads, shattering the Japanese-style door and cutting off all of Fukurokuju's escape routes.
His cold gaze locked onto Fukurokuju, leaving him unable to advance or retreat.
'Say what? What else could I say?'
'Say that you, Kurozumi Orochi, are devouring the people and are unpopular?'
'Or say that the Kurozumi Family seized the country illegitimately, without a lord or father?'
'If it weren't for the little mental compensation you pay out, would I bother carrying out those forced matters for you every day, and then have to provide you with emotional value on top of it?'
'Anyway, no matter what I say, it's wrong. Go ahead and kill me if you dare. Let's see who's still willing to work themselves to death for a leader like you!'
Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, a voice approached the scene from afar.
"Re... reporting to the two lords, about this morning's shadow of the deity..."
"Don't mention the deity!!!"
The ninja who had come to report was cut off by Kurozumi Orochi's piercing roar before he could finish. Then Orochi's serpent body swept him flying.
The ninja crashed through several corridor walls and coughed up blood, his internal organs burning.
Yet even so, he dared not delay for a moment.
Gritting through the pain, he climbed up from the ground and knelt again before Orochi. "A thousand apologies, my lord. It was this subordinate's slip of the tongue!"
"The giant shadow incident this morning has been investigated. It was the work of foreign pirates who have invaded Wano. Moreover, these invaders have already landed in Kuri and are heading toward a village near the coast."
The words 'Kuri' pierced Orochi's heart like thorns.
His memory involuntarily recalled the man who had ruled Kuri, and the words he had spoken before his death.
'—Orochi, someone will surely take up my duty and challenge you again!'
The man's expression, his appearance, the dark thunder of Haki bursting from his body… every detail reappeared before Orochi with crystal clarity.
"Kill them. Fukurokuju, take your men and raze that village that contacted the pirates! Go now!!!" Frightened by the memory, Orochi reverted from his mythical beast form and fell to the ground.
Orochi shrieked like a rat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Yes!"
Fukurokuju bowed respectfully to Orochi, rose, and withdrew.
He stretched his muscles in the outer corridor, then went to the Oniwabanshu and selected Kazekage, Raijin, and Fujin. He ordered each of them to take fifty ninja to the village mentioned in the report.
The imposing formation set out from the Flower Capital using invisibility techniques, all the way rushing toward the location of Amigasa Village.