Kaido had no time to dwell on strange dreams, because King had returned.
"Kaido-sama, we caught them."
The moment King shifted back into human form, he delivered his report.
"We've also confirmed the truth about Denjiro. He once served under Kurozumi Orochi, but all this time he's secretly been sheltering the remnants of the Kozuki family."
"…Worororo."
A cold laugh rolled from Kaido's throat.
"So that worm really was plotting against me."
"He was secretly preserving the Kozuki bloodline right under my nose? I should've crushed every last bone in his body back then."
Kaido lifted his gourd and took a long drink, sake spilling down the corner of his mouth as his voice grew heavier.
"But none of that matters anymore."
"Pull our defenses in. Call back every Beasts Pirate scattered outside our territory."
"Cain's here."
His eyes narrowed.
"It's time to finally settle things with Yamato."
"Yes."
King immediately departed.
…
Meanwhile, Cain was dealing with an atmosphere of an entirely different kind.
The lingering tension in the room still hadn't completely faded.
Uta lay on her side atop the futon, her yukata hanging loosely enough to expose a considerable amount of pale skin. The flush she had picked up in the hot spring still hadn't fully disappeared.
"So hot…"
She rolled over drowsily, grabbed Cain by the arm, and pulled him down onto the bedding before climbing on top of him.
"Cain… help me…"
"Uh…"
Every alarm bell in Cain's head instantly went off.
"Help you how?"
He looked down at Uta sprawled against his chest, her entire body still radiating heat.
Then he glanced toward Bella, who was lying beside the pillow and staring at them with wide, curious eyes.
No.
Absolutely not.
Cain poked Uta lightly on the forehead.
"You're in no condition for anything right now. And Bella's still—"
Before he could finish, Uta buried her face against his chest and mumbled,
"That's exactly why I need your help…"
Cain stiffened.
Since when had Uta gotten this bold?
"Help me…"
She lifted her flushed face and stared at him through hazy eyes.
"Otherwise it's going to burst…"
"…What?"
Burst?
Had someone put something strange in the hot spring water?
"Hurry! The room's going to burst!"
Uta urgently snapped her fingers.
A faint ripple spread through Uta World.
Merry emerged from within it.
At present, the spirit and the Going Merry itself were essentially one and the same. Uta normally kept the ship miniaturized inside Uta World, which caused no problems as long as her ability remained stable.
But Uta's current condition was interfering with her concentration.
Uta World was gradually dissolving.
Cain stared for half a second.
Then everything clicked.
He immediately grabbed Merry, told Bella to stay where she was, and rushed outside.
With a swipe across his bracelet, Cain lowered the Seastone concentration and summoned Flame Clouds beneath his feet.
Three seconds later—
BOOM!
The full-sized Going Merry suddenly appeared in midair and settled safely atop the Flame Clouds.
"Whew. So that's what you meant."
Cain rubbed the back of his head.
"Sorry, Merry. I almost forgot to let you out."
[It's okay. Don't worry about me. You should check on Uta first.]
Merry's childlike voice came from the ship itself.
Cain nodded.
"For now, stay on the Flame Clouds. I'll find you a proper harbor tomorrow."
Once everything was settled, Cain headed back inside.
…
The next morning—
Uta stretched as she sat up and found Cain cross-legged on the tatami, hunched over something in his hands.
She shuffled closer, rested her chin on his shoulder, and naturally pressed herself against his back.
Her voice still carried the soft laziness of someone who had only just woken up.
"Cain? I didn't know you could sew."
Cain tilted his head and rubbed his cheek against hers without stopping the needle in his hands.
"It's a little embarrassing to admit, but yeah. I've practiced."
"When I was still with the Marines, I used to mend Grandpa's socks."
Cain's expression became distant.
"And they hadn't been washed first."
"Looking back, those really were miserable days."
Uta muffled a laugh against his shoulder.
As for what Cain was sewing—
clothes.
For someone who had grown up under the red flag in his previous life, walking around in traditional Wano clothing still felt strangely awkward.
Since he had nothing better to do, he had borrowed fabric from the bathhouse proprietress early that morning and stitched together a simple round-neck shirt that fit him reasonably well.
Uta didn't completely understand why Cain disliked Wano clothing, but she respected his preference.
And Cain did the same for her.
Whatever she wanted to wear was entirely her choice.
Since people regularly got their clothes wet or dirty at the bathhouse, the proprietress also sold replacement garments on the side, so finding something for Uta wasn't difficult.
Strangely enough, Uta chose neither a kimono nor anything traditionally Wano-style.
Instead—
she dressed herself like a ninja.
Fishnet-style chainmail.
A short vest.
Long exposed legs with high heels.
And a scarf pulled across the lower half of her face.
Once she finished, Uta stepped in front of Cain, formed a hand seal, and declared with complete seriousness,
"Ninja Uta of Foosha Village, reporting for duty."
"I'm the woman who will become Hokage."
Cain looked down at the shirt he had just finished, pulled it on, and remained silent for a few seconds.
"I feel like I should point out that technically that means I'm supposed to become Hokage…"
He sighed.
"But yeah. This is definitely the consequence of me showing you Naruto back then."
"Hehe!"
Uta excitedly adjusted her face covering.
"I've always wanted to try being a ninja."
"It's just a shame Yamato said Wano's ninja aren't anything like the ones I know."
"No chakra."
"No Tailed Beasts."
She brightened.
"But technically I'm a jinchūriki too! I can use the Sing-Sing Fruit to activate my abilities."
Then she suddenly stopped.
"Wait…"
"If my abilities are based on sound…"
Uta stared into space.
"Doesn't that make me a Sound Ninja?"
Her expression slowly changed.
"Wait, that means I'm from Orochimaru's village…"
"…Uh."
Cain had absolutely no response to that.
Before either of them could continue, however, a sudden commotion erupted downstairs.
It instantly snapped Cain and Uta out of their joking mood—and even made Bella stop rolling around inside the blankets.
"THE SHOGUN HAS BEEN ATTACKED!"
"LOCK DOWN THE ENTIRE BATHHOUSE!"
"What the hell?"
"Something happened to Yamato!"
Cain and Uta exchanged a look, grabbed Bella, and rushed downstairs.
They found the entire bathhouse surrounded by armed samurai.
And in the middle of them—
Yamato lay sprawled on the floor.
Blood trickled from her nose.
Her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles hung beneath them, and she wore an utterly vacant grin while remaining completely oblivious to everything happening around her.
She kept mumbling the same thing.
"Hehehe… Ace… wait for me…"
"Hehehe…"
…
Under normal circumstances, an incident involving the shogun in such a state would have resulted in the entire establishment being shut down.
Cain ultimately stepped in and suppressed the matter.
After all—
one look at Yamato made it pretty obvious that whatever had happened, she had done it to herself.
Especially with that expression.
She looked almost exactly like Sanji during one of his worst episodes.
The samurai still had doubts, but once the shogun's supposed younger brother personally vouched for the bathhouse, they had little choice but to sheath their swords and leave.
The proprietress breathed an enormous sigh of relief.
Fortunately, all of her forbidden illustrated books were stored inside a hidden room.
Even during the thorough search, nobody had discovered them.
Which meant the cause of Yamato's condition remained a complete mystery.
Even the doctor summoned to examine her could only shake his head helplessly.
She had simply overworked her brain while remaining in an intensely excited state throughout the entire night.
Eventually, her body couldn't keep up anymore.
She collapsed from exhaustion.
"So what the hell was Yamato doing all night to end up like this?"
Cain stared at Yamato lying on the bedding with that same stupid smile still plastered across her face.
He shook his head helplessly and turned toward Uta, who was wiping Yamato's face with a damp cloth.
Before Uta could answer, a samurai hurried into the room and dropped to one knee.
"There's fighting near Tokage Port!"
He quickly described the newcomer.
From everything he said, there was little doubt about the man's identity.
It was the person Yamato had mentioned before—
Fire Fist Ace.
The instant the word "Ace" left the samurai's mouth—
Yamato's eyes snapped open.
A fierce light exploded from them.
Her entire body sprang upright as though struck by lightning.
"ACE IS HERE!!!"
Before anyone could react, Yamato crossed the room in two enormous steps, snatched her kanabo from where it rested against the wall, and shot through the doorway like a blur.
Cain's outstretched hand remained frozen in midair.
He slowly turned toward Uta.
Uta stared back.
"…Does Yamato really want to see Ace that badly?"
"I have no idea."
Uta looked just as baffled.
"She definitely wasn't acting like this when they talked yesterday."