Yasuie and Hyougoro's plan was simple: break into the prison.
Over the years, many people had been captured by Kaido and Orochi and sent to the quarry. These prisoners were themselves a powerful force of resistance — and most of them still hadn't surrendered.
Whether these people lived or died carried enormous significance for their cause.
Moreover, while the quarry was undoubtedly heavily guarded as a prison, in a world where individual combat prowess outweighed sheer numbers, those guards weren't much of a threat.
After all, Kaido and Orochi themselves wouldn't be stationed at the quarry. The remaining second-rate guards were nothing to worry about.
"The only problem is those machines Kaido brought from overseas..." Yasuie said gravely.
He was referring to Ren's automata. From the very beginning — no, even now — those machines had dealt them devastating blows.
Even ordinary Ruin Guards were not something average pirates could handle. Wano might be a martial nation, but not everyone had mastered Ryuo. And even those who had mastered Ryuo didn't necessarily possess the power of Internal Destruction.
This was an extremely advanced Armament Haki technique — even Yamato hadn't fully mastered it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been trapped by that explosive collar.
"Damn it, that guy Ren actually sold those machines to Kaido!" Kin'emon scowled, seething with anger. He knew exactly where those machines came from.
"Don't say that, Kin'emon. Kaido didn't necessarily buy them directly from Inazuma — those things circulate on the black market too," Denjiro replied. "Besides, didn't he also tell us about those machines' weaknesses?"
"That 'weakness' doesn't even count as a weakness!"
On their way back to Wano, Ren had explained that the automata's weakness lay in their core. However, the core was encased in a crystalline shell that was extremely hard.
They called it a weakness, but without the Internal Destruction technique, the only option was to smash it by brute force. At that point, it was easier to just destroy the Ruin Guard's limbs.
In reality, among everyone present, only Oden and Hyougoro had mastered Internal Destruction. Kin'emon and the others had learned a little on Roger's ship, but they could barely scratch the surface.
"The cores of those machines are very fragile. Master this technique, and you can destroy them effortlessly."
"In that case, leave those machines to me and Oden," Hyougoro volunteered. "If the rest of you encounter them, avoid them if you can. If you can't, you'll just have to spend the effort to destroy them by force."
Easier said than done — there really weren't many people who could destroy a Ruin Guard by brute force.
"That guy should've just given us a batch of machines to support us," Raizo fumed.
But Oden cut in and refuted him: "The ones producing those combat machines are the overseas pirate group, the Nation of Inazuma — not Kuri in Wano. Let's not say such things anymore."
Raizo and Kin'emon, who had been about to speak, both fell silent.
In truth, they couldn't really blame Ren too much. Though Ren had claimed he wouldn't provide more help than any other region, he had actually sent nearly as many samurai as all the other regions combined — worried that Oden's forces were too far behind Kaido's.
He had also agreed to supply enough food. Without that, feeding all the people Oden had gathered would have been a problem in itself.
Although Ren had his own ulterior motives, his intervention meant Oden's forces were ultimately stronger than they would have been otherwise.
And what about Kaido's side?
Ren's existence had made Kaido's overseas expansion far more difficult than it should have been. He had even lost Ash, the ally he'd worked so hard to trick into joining him.
With one side growing stronger and the other weakening, if Oden still couldn't take down Kaido — who else could he blame?
Blame Ren for not doing enough?
Please — Ren wasn't Kozuki Oden's father. He had no obligation to be responsible for the man.
With a plan in place, they still needed the right timing. Yasuie and the others seemed to have been prepared for a long time — they had already scouted out the quarry's interior and even obtained a copy of Kaido's schedule.
It looked like even if Oden hadn't returned, they might have gone ahead with this operation anyway.
"At the beginning of next month, Kaido will leave Wano for a while. At that point, Orochi will be the only enemy in Wano — and he mostly stays in the Flower Capital. That's our chance," Yasuie explained.
"Is the intelligence reliable?" Kin'emon asked quickly.
Yasuie nodded and said solemnly, "This came from Kuri. At the start of next month, Kaido will attend a banquet hosted by another pirate group. The leader of Kuri — no, Inazuma — Ren was also invited, which is how they got this information."
"Knowing we plan to raid the quarry, Mr. Ren specially sent a few overseas samurai to assist. But he also said this is the only time Inazuma's forces will intervene in this matter," Yasuie added.
He knew the real reason behind this. It was essentially repayment for the two Great Grade Swords that Ringo's daimyo, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, had forged for Ren. And right now, Shimotsuki Ushimaru happened to be imprisoned in the quarry.
Though their original arrangement had been a trade — and Ren didn't actually owe Shimotsuki Ushimaru anything — the two still had a relationship. Ren also quite wanted to recruit Shimotsuki Ushimaru as his subordinate.
After all, the ability to forge Great Grade Swords was extremely valuable. Shimotsuki Ushimaru was one of Ren's candidates for the Raiden Gokuden — the Five Traditions of Raiden. For the other four positions, he still hadn't found any suitable candidates.
The assistance Ren provided this time was a small squad.
It was one of the units within the Oni Squad.
It consisted of only five members, each representing one of five forms — Tiger, Deer, Bear, Ape, and Crane. Individually, each one was no weaker than Kikunojo. Together, they could unleash even greater power.
They were the type who could hold their own against almost anyone. Working in concert, even Oden couldn't take them all down cleanly in a short time. Within the Oni Squad, they ranked in the upper-middle tier as core fighters.
In practice, though, the actual impact these five could make might not be that significant. Instead, their presence left others with the impression that Ren deeply valued loyalty and friendship.
In truth, they weren't close to Ren at all. Kuri had long felt disconnected from the other regions, and even after its reconstruction, interactions remained sparse.
Shimotsuki Ushimaru had originally traded with Kuri for food and machinery — both sides had settled their debts.
Yet Ren was willing to go the extra mile for Shimotsuki Ushimaru over that tiny bit of past goodwill. That alone told them this was a man worth befriending.
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