In Kaido's experience, there were many Devil Fruits that could alter a person's appearance. Take himself, for instance — after eating the Azure Dragon Fruit, even without activating its powers, his body bore patterns resembling dragon scales.
Many Paramecia-type Devil Fruits also had effects on the user's appearance.
Logia types, however, were an exception.
To date, he had never heard of anyone whose appearance changed after eating a Logia-type Devil Fruit. Therefore, in Kaido's assessment, the purple-haired, purple-eyed leader of Inazuma and the black-haired, black-eyed daimyo of Kuri were probably not the same person. Even if their features were indeed similar and they shared the same name.
It was simply that people tend to believe what they want to believe. Kaido very much wanted Inazuma and Kuri to have no connection.
He had no desire to gain a new enemy out of thin air. So in his heart, he convinced himself of this.
Of course, he wasn't some fool who jumped to conclusions. Until the matter was fully confirmed, investigation was still necessary.
Regardless, asking him to abandon Wano Country — this succulent morsel that had practically dropped into his lap — was out of the question. He couldn't bear to leave. For now, he would just have to take things one step at a time.
On the other side, Orochi had also gradually begun his revenge against the citizens of the Flower Capital.
He couldn't be too drastic at first, as that would provoke fierce resistance. Ordinary citizens lacked power, but the Flower Capital's underworld bosses, wealthy merchants, and high-ranking nobles all commanded formidable military forces.
Orochi could only use the method of boiling a frog in warm water, slowly eroding these people's will to fight.
Removing a brick today, prying off a tile tomorrow — imperceptibly, the country would become increasingly precarious. The tragedy was that few people were willing to stand up and speak for others' interests before disaster struck their own doorstep.
Only a few months after the New Year of 1491, a major upheaval occurred in the Flower Capital. Kurozumi Orochi revised the laws, and using the amended legislation, threw the heads of several highly respected great families into prison.
These people held considerable power in the Flower Capital — strength accumulated over a century. After Orochi made his move, their families immediately mobilized their resources, seeking to pressure Orochi from every direction.
The original plan was to use the counsel of the daimyo from other regions to exert pressure on the shogun. Unfortunately, the regions outside the Flower Capital were currently drowning in bandit problems.
Each daimyo was somewhat overwhelmed. Normally, the underworld would assist the official forces in exterminating bandits, but now the underworld bosses of each region had been replaced by the mysterious Araiso Faction. How could they possibly hunt themselves?
"Tokō? How did that old man get caught?" Shimotsuki Yasuie was already overwhelmed with work, but upon receiving the letter from the Tokō family, he still frowned and asked the question.
"I heard it was something about embezzlement..."
"Honestly, getting caught for something like that — even I couldn't plead with the acting shogun on his behalf." Yasuie shook his head.
Embezzlement among officials was commonplace everywhere. It was just that sometimes those in power turned a blind eye and let it slide. Now Orochi appeared to be governing with harsh legislation, which technically wasn't wrong.
Furthermore, Shimotsuki Yasuie still wanted to borrow troops from the Flower Capital to deal with the bandits. Lately, Hakumai's trade had been practically cut off.
Heavy military patrols had improved the situation somewhat, but until the bandits were wiped out, there would be no end to it. He couldn't pour too much of his budget into this either.
"However, under the old law, even if caught for embezzlement, the punishment was only a few years of imprisonment and confiscation of property. After the law was revised, the acting shogun seems intent on executing Tokō Soichirō directly."
Hearing this, Shimotsuki Yasuie looked up in disbelief, muttering to himself, "The Tokō clan controls a massive portion of Wano's grain trade. Executing Tokō Soichirō would be no small matter!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie could already foresee what would happen next.
If Orochi refused to budge even slightly, the market price of grain across the Flower Capital, and indeed the entire country, could be thrown into chaos.
He was about to write a letter warning Orochi of this point. For the sake of the country's people, and given that Orochi had once worked under him, he felt he should offer this reminder.
But Yasuie's letter paper hadn't even been smoothed out before he paused.
Thinking about it carefully, the Tokō clan could indeed manipulate grain prices at will in the past. But what about now? With Kuri as a land of abundant harvests, what did the Tokō family's grain matter?
So he set down his brush, sighed, and said, "Those ancient families have indeed grown quite rotten. Like termites in a building, slowly hollowing out the country from within."
"Perhaps Orochi isn't wrong — it's just that his methods are a bit too heavy-handed."
As the daimyo of a region, Shimotsuki Yasuie was known for his benevolence and kindness, but that didn't mean he was foolishly soft-hearted. He saw many things more clearly than the daimyo of other regions.
Subsequent developments didn't exceed his expectations. After hitting a wall with him, the Tokō family indeed resorted to disrupting grain prices to pressure Orochi.
The Flower Capital did panic for a while, but this problem was quickly resolved through Kuri. Orochi hadn't kept this a secret — instead, he publicized it, as if building momentum for Kuri.
On the surface, Orochi didn't appear to be taking revenge at all. He seemed to be the righteous one.
But this was only temporary. Right now, Orochi simply intended to eliminate those obstacles with powerful military force one by one, while simultaneously elevating his own people.
This incident was merely the tip of the iceberg, but the old nobility of the Flower Capital had all become increasingly imperiled. Some had even begun gathering in secret, discussing how to turn Orochi into a pawn who would do their bidding.
"The Tokō clan gave us a cautionary tale. Originally only Tokō Soichirō was to be executed, but now the entire Tokō family has been dragged down with him." An elderly man gripping a cane, his hair thinning, spoke slowly.
"The 'acting shogun' has been docile for years. He's finally baring his fangs."
Someone sneered coldly. "Executing thirty-seven people in a single day — what a ruthless bastard."
"I say we just do away with him. If he won't listen, we replace him with an acting shogun who will."
"Assassination? Isn't that too radical?"
"Let's threaten him first. Put a blade to his throat, and surely this fellow will face reality."
"He's only the acting shogun anyway. Why lay down your life for a seat that doesn't belong to you?"
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