"Huh, who knows? We are really back in Wano, just have to figure out the timeline now," Yuta muttered, seeing the familiar place.
His ribs ached after the love-filled punch he received from Maki upon making her wait.
Some might say she went easy on him after he practically requested to go commando for her by not adding Haki to her punch. However, Yuta knew better.
Any attack strong enough to really hurt him activated Rika's scarf, and then she wouldn't be able to touch him. In all this time, she had learned how to punch with just enough force to bypass that annoying scarf.
"So, what's the plan now?" Maki, now in new clothes and stuffed with food, asked with her trademark smirk. Because of course, cool characters don't smile — they smirk.
"Find out the timeline and then regroup with the Straw Hats, Kin'emon, and Law's group." That was the most obvious choice.
Once they were out of Kuri Beach — before he planned on blasting off all the blasted sand away for their next unfortunate landing there — both of them ventured straight for the nearest place they remembered.
Amigasa Village in Kuri. Last time they were there, they got food and lodging. Unfortunately, this time around the conditions were not the same.
Once a bustling and cheerful village was now turned into an abandoned land of broken houses.
"What happened here?" Maki's brows tightened at the complete destruction of the place, fury burning up inside her.
"Kaido and Orochi." Yuta wasn't surprised — he had anticipated this. He knew of it from the One Piece manga, and since by the time Luffy arrived in Wano, this cheerful, cozy village had already turned into ruins.
Lack of food and business opportunities were the price.
Neither said anything, but finally, after three months of joyful and simple life with Toki, they recalled the reason they were here — that Wano needed them.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
For a moment, Yuta almost recalled the Cocoyashi Village Arc.
Two people kicking down Kaido's door, beating the shit out of him. Ah, if only it was that easy.
It wasn't.
Kaido and Orochi had an entire army. They needed a force of their own to go against those two.
Orochi was easy enough, however, it was Kaido who was the real problem. And that wasn't the end of it — in the story, even Big Mom ended up joining the fray in Onigashima.
As they made their way further into the forest to cross it and enter deeper into Kuri's state, their goal being Bakura Town, Yuta kept on making plans, trying to cut out the chaos that the Wano Arc was — at least the entire war that took place in Onigashima — and find a better method if there was any.
Of course, the first order of business was to take care of that backstabbing rat, Kanjuro.
"However, without proof, doing that would be hard."
Not to mention, this time around they would have better odds since the Whitebeard Pirates would also come. This might really mess up the timeline to the point where even Fifth Gear Luffy might not awaken without being pushed to the extreme end.
However, Yuta wasn't looking to put all his fate on Luffy. He'd rather have as many options on the side as possible.
By the time they crossed the entire forest, they came across the barren land of Kuri.
No vegetation — even the grass looked sickly. Animals and rivers still flowed, however, the rivers were poisonous due to the material waste dumped into them by Kaido's factories, and the animals drinking the same water were in the same boat.
Irrigation was completely impossible in this condition, and importing food from other parts of Wano would require a great deal of money.
"This land is lifeless," Maki said in a solemn tone. For someone who had seen the place both twenty and ten years ago, Maki knew personally that this land was beautiful once.
Full of life and fertility.
A sadness ran across her mind — a sense of loss, the kind one feels only at the destruction of natural beauty.
"Where to next?" Maki's features, after a long time of staring at the almost endless barren land, finally changed to one of hardness and determination.
"Bakura Town. If we wish to find anything about the Straw Hats, then that's the place we can get the news."
…
When Yuta and Maki finally arrived at Bakura Town, the place was shaking — literally. The air was filled with cheers, drums, and the booming sound of something heavy slamming into the ground. The crowd roared as if a festival had broken loose.
"What the hell is going on here?" Maki asked, hands on her hips, frowning at the chaos.
Yuta grinned, his eyes sparkling with recognition. "Oh! Ohhh! I know this scene! It's the sumo tournament! Don't you recall Bakura Town being famous for its sumo tournaments?"
Maki blinked. "Sumo? How come you know that?"
"It's culture, Maki," Yuta said, puffing his chest proudly. "This is important history. And if we are here, then we should check it out, you know."
The crowd pushed and shouted as they squeezed through. Inside the ring stood a mountain of a man — Urashima, the pride of Wano's sumo world. His body gleamed with sweat and oil, and he was glaring furiously at his opponent.
That opponent was none other than…
"…Mugiwara."
Yup! It was Monkey D. Luffy, bouncing on his heels with his trademark grin.
"Oh no way!" Maki said with exasperation. "Of course, the idiot had to cause chaos."
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "You ready, chonmage guy?"
Urashima puffed up, shouting, "You dare insult me, peasant! I'll crush you flat!"
The crowd held their breath as the two charged. Yuta was practically vibrating with excitement. "Maki, watch this! This is Wano's Sumo—"
A thunderous boom shook the air as Luffy slapped Urashima's hand away, then delivered one mighty push. Urashima flew like a cannonball straight through several buildings, leaving a giant trail of destruction.
"Uhmma," Yuta said, hands on hips. "Chef's kiss."
Maki blinked, unimpressed. "So this is your 'culture'? Some half-naked guy sending another naked guy flying through walls?"
Yuta nodded. "I didn't know you were so laser-focused on them being naked. Tsk, tsk, tsk, Maki. Your mask's slipping!"
A blush flared on her face, irritation rising high. She was almost ready to have a conversation with him about what she was more focused on, but before that, Yuta was gone.
Luffy scratched his head, laughing. "Guess I used too much strength."
Yuta called out from the crowd, waving. "Hey Luffy! Looking good, man!"
Luffy turned and blinked. "Huh? Do I know you?"
"You bastard, it's me!"
xxx
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