Once it was decided that their next destination would be Wano, Rowan didn't move out immediately.
Mainly because Mihawk had just fought a full battle with Ryuma and needed rest. So the group returned to the Baratie, ate there, and used the time to recover their strength.
The next morning, after breakfast, they set out again.
Using farsight magic to lock onto Wano, Rowan pushed open a door and, in an instant, the group arrived there.
And not just anywhere in Wano—they landed in its capital, the Flower Capital.
Even though Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi had ravaged Wano badly, the Flower Capital, as the center of the country, was still prosperous.
It was as if the storms raging outside had never touched it.
But if you looked more closely, you'd notice beggars scattered through the corners of certain streets.
These were people who could no longer survive in their hometowns and had fled to the Flower Capital, only to find they had no useful skills and no place to make a living, eventually becoming beggars.
Seeing this, Shimotsuki Ryuma's expression turned complicated. The once-glorious Flower Capital had fallen to this state. It was just…
As he was seething inwardly, a lively commotion suddenly rose ahead.
In an instant, both sides of the street were packed with people.
Even the second floors and rooftops of the surrounding buildings were crowded.
A massive procession was slowly making its way toward them.
Cheers erupted from the crowd in all directions.
"It's Komurasaki! It's Oiran Komurasaki!"
"Komurasaki's here, Komurasaki's here!"
"Komurasaki, over here! Over here! I'm right here! Aaaaah!"
The moment he heard the name Komurasaki, Rowan understood.
Hiyori had appeared.
He looked up and, sure enough, saw an exquisite woman in the crowd, wearing a kimono embroidered with peacocks and adorned with elaborate hair ornaments, her beautiful long emerald-green hair cascading down.
It was none other than Komurasaki, the number one courtesan in Wano.
And also Kozuki Hiyori, daughter of Kozuki Oden.
She was beautiful, undeniably so, but Rowan had no interest in her.
There was no shortage of princesses in the world of One Piece.
Rebecca, the fallen princess of Dressrosa.
Princess Shirahoshi of Fish-Man Island.
Princess Vivi of Alabasta.
And many more.
In terms of identity and status, none of them were inferior to Kozuki Hiyori.
And their countries had faced grave crises too.
Take Alabasta, for example. It had been toyed with by Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Even King Cobra had a giant accusation pinned on him, and rebellion had broken out all over the kingdom.
So what did Princess Vivi do?
She secretly left the palace, risked her life infiltrating Baroque Works, and personally gathered evidence to uncover the truth behind the Dance Powder.
Or take Rebecca, the fallen princess of Dressrosa. Even in desperate circumstances, she never gave up on herself. She trained her swordsmanship, pushed herself to grow stronger, and kept pushing.
Both of them were classic examples of women who said: if heaven won't help me, I'll help myself.
In contrast, after Wano was overthrown, Kozuki Hiyori not only failed to strive forward, she became the number one courtesan of Wano, spending her days selling smiles for a living.
Well… that's not entirely fair. It wouldn't be accurate to say Hiyori made no effort.
In truth, she did work hard. No one became Wano's top courtesan without effort.
The problem was that she worked hard in the wrong direction.
She didn't grow stronger.
She didn't make herself more capable.
Instead, she used her beauty to move among powerful men, swindling huge amounts of ill-gotten wealth out of rich men who bullied the people, often ruining them completely.
On the surface, that didn't sound too bad.
But the real question was: what help did that bring to Wano?
Was it supposed to fund the restoration of the country?
You could maybe argue that.
But once you compared her to people like Vivi and Rebecca, who had come before her, "not too bad" stopped being impressive.
Against them, Kozuki Hiyori looked pretty weak.
Especially since, beyond charming and pleasing men, she knew how to do nothing else.
That only made it worse.
So Rowan genuinely had no interest in a woman like that, no matter how beautiful Kozuki Hiyori was.
After all, across all worlds, beautiful women were the least scarce thing there was.
Ryuma's face darkened, and he turned to Robin.
"If I remember correctly, you told me before that this oiran Komurasaki is the heir of the Kozuki clan."
Robin nodded. "That's right. She's Kozuki Hiyori, daughter of Kozuki Oden and granddaughter of Kozuki Sukiyaki."
The veins on Ryuma's hand bulged as he gripped the hilt of Shusui.
"The descendant of Wano's shogun… reduced to a courtesan who sells charm and coquetry. This is…"
Even in Wano, being an oiran was hardly considered a respectable calling.
Ryuma let out a sigh, looked toward the shogun's palace, and strode forward without hesitation.
Today, it was time to set things right.
Not long after, the group arrived at the palace.
"Treasonous usurper of the Kurozumi clan—get out here and face me!!!"
Ryuma opened with the big move. A flying slash dozens of meters long burst forth, instantly splitting the luxurious shogun's palace in two. One corner of the palace lost its support and came crashing down.
The tremendous roar shocked the entire Flower Capital.
After all, the Flower Capital had enjoyed a long stretch of surface peace. It had been a very long time since anyone had openly attacked the shogun's palace.
The last time something like this happened was… well, last time it happened.
Or rather, it was when that fool daimyo, Kozuki Oden, returned from overseas.
Back then, the people of the Flower Capital had believed that this legitimate heir of the Kozuki clan would save them.
Instead, the man danced in the streets for five years and saved absolutely no one.
From that point on, the people stopped placing any hope in the Kozuki clan.
Who could have imagined that more than ten years later, someone would openly challenge the shogun's palace again?
Whose retainer was this, to be so ferocious?
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
As soon as part of the palace collapsed, several strangely shaped figures appeared out of nowhere in front of Rowan, Ryuma, and the others, moving with astonishing agility.
The Oniwabanshu.
An elite eleven-man force personally commanded by Kurozumi Orochi, tasked with protecting the shogun's palace and carrying out intelligence and covert operations. Every member was a high-level ninja capable of hidden movement and sudden assassination.
On the surface, each of them seemed highly skilled.
But in reality, they were only fit to strut around inside Wano. Outside of Wano, they were nothing.
"Who are you people, daring to come here and cause trouble?" asked Fukurokuju, leader of the Oniwabanshu, his face dark.
~~~
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