Ashura Doji couldn't help it goosebumps crawled across his skin. His mind erupted like a tidal wave.
"What the hell…!?"
"How can people from the outside sea be this strong… one punch, and Kozuki Oden gets blasted so far he's vanished into the horizon!"
He was stunned.
Ashura Doji was completely, utterly stunned!
He'd just traded blows with Kozuki Oden. He knew exactly how dangerous Oden was how terrifyingly strong that man could be.
And yet…
Oden had been defeated with a single punch.
That gap in power made Ashura Doji's heart go cold.
When Tengetsu Ares' huge, bell-like eyes turned toward him, Ashura Doji shuddered. Fear flickered on his face.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
His voice trembled as he asked, "Y-You…"
"What do you even want!? There's nothing in Kuri. No food, no treasure just a bunch of desperate riffraff living day to day, never sure they'll survive tomorrow, starving half the time…"
Kuri…
There was no profit here. No value. No benefits to be taken.
Tengetsu Ares studied him for a moment, then said evenly, "I'm going to rebuild Kuri in the name of the Tengetsu clan."
"Rebuild… Kuri?" Ashura Doji froze. He never would've imagined this huge brute returning from the outer seas… was here to restore Kuri.
Tengetsu Ares' expression turned serious earnest.
"I don't know Wano well yet," he continued. "Ashura Doji, I need your help. I want you to join us… and rebuild Kuri together."
"And…"
"Open Wano to the world!"
Ares knew exactly where his weakness was.
Right now, he wasn't familiar with Wano at all. The 'future' he knew came from decades later.
He needed someone who understood Wano in the present someone who knew its land, its people, its hidden currents.
And Ashura Doji was that man.
Not only that…
Ashura Doji's strength wasn't bad.
In the future, he could stand shoulder to shoulder with one of the All-Stars Jack the Drought.
Sure, people joked that out of Jack's one-billion bounty, nine hundred million came from those tusks of his.
He lost more often than he won on the page.
But no one could deny it an All-Star was still an All-Star.
If Kaido ever "taught" Jack a little more properly in the future, maybe Jack wouldn't stop at a mere billion.
That thought sparked another idea in Ares' mind.
"Kaido's the vice-captain… so why not make him the War God Pirates' combat training instructor, too?"
It was worth trying.
The War God Pirates had plenty of rookies.
Kuma. Alber the Wildfire. As for Ivankov and Ginny…
They could do whatever they pleased.
And as for "opening the nation"…
That was the banner Ares planned to raise high in Wano.
Wano had sealed itself off for centuries, and countless people had dreamed of opening its doors of seeing the wider world.
The Shimotsuki clan alone had many who secretly slipped out to sea, eventually creating Shimotsuki Village and the Isshin Dojo in the East Blue…
When Ashura Doji heard Ares speak of opening Wano, his eyes shook as if the earth itself had trembled.
Then he answered without hesitation.
"I'll follow you. I'll rebuild Kuri… and I'll open Wano!"
As the boss of Kuri's mountain bandits, he'd hated Wano's pampered nobles for a long time.
Tengetsu Ares nodded calmly.
"Then from now on, Kuri follows my rules."
"…Yes," Ashura Doji responded.
Ares turned to Chinjao and gave an order. "Chinjao. Go with Ashura Doji. Survey Kuri's terrain and map it out as quickly as possible. Draft construction plans. Step by step."
Chinjao nodded. "Leave it to me, boss."
Ares looked to the others.
"For now, everyone stays on the warships. Kaido lead the daily work. Logging, quarrying stone. Prepare materials for construction."
"Sladar. Inspect the coastline. Find where we can build a port and set up fisheries."
"Kuma. Use your ability to transport timber and stone."
"And…"
One command after another.
The crew moved at once.
The work began in full swing.
...
"Oden-sama!?"
When Kin'emon saw Oden's battered, bloodied state, his face went white. He rushed forward and supported him.
"Oden-sama, how did you end up hurt like this!?"
Inside the room, Izo, Kikunojo, and Raizo panicked, scrambling for medicine and bandages.
Oden sat down cross-legged, the blow to his pride still plain on his face.
"A group of outsiders came to Wano," he said heavily. "One of them is a descendant of the Tengetsu clan."
"And his strength…"
"It's terrifying."
He'd never imagined it.
That someone like him could be defeated by a single punch.
Kin'emon gasped. "Outsiders!? And a Tengetsu descendant… but the Tengetsu lands are currently managed by Shimotsuki Yasuie…"
Izo and Kikunojo still young, with faces delicate enough to be mistaken for girls worked quickly, applying medicine and wrapping bandages.
Oden couldn't stop replaying that punch in his mind.
"If the outside world is filled with monsters like Ares… then going out to sea…"
That one blow made him understand something deep.
A mayfly glimpsing the vast sky.
A gap so enormous it felt unreal.
Kin'emon stared, disbelieving. "D-Don't tell me… Oden-sama, you lost!?"
As Oden's devoted follower, Kin'emon had seen him cut down the Mountain God with a single clean slash, saving him.
From that day on, he'd followed Oden closely, knowing better than anyone how strong Oden was.
In Wano, Oden had never lost.
Not once.
And yet now…?
Kin'emon couldn't even imagine the kind of person capable of defeating him.
"…I lost," Oden admitted.
But when he said it, there was excitement in his eyes.
"At last, I've seen how strong the outside world truly is!"
"I won't accept this!"
"I'll defeat him… and then I'll go out to sea!"
Once Izo and Kikunojo finished treating him, Oden stood abruptly.
"I'll train even harder. Only when I defeat Ares… will I truly be worthy of sailing!"
"Oden-sama, your injuries…" Kin'emon stammered. "At least wait until you're healed…"
But Oden was already out the door, training in the courtyard.
A man with Conqueror's Haki didn't have his will broken so easily.
Kin'emon and the others watched, awestruck faces full of worship.
Wounded so badly…
And he still trained.
That unshakable will…
Someday…
He would defeat the Tengetsu heir named Ares.
...
Wano.
The Flower Capital.
"Shogun-sama! Shogun-sama! This is bad terrible news!!!"
Kozuki Sukiyaki was in his room, fussing over his beloved "beautiful maiden dolls," when frantic footsteps thundered down the corridor outside.
He jolted, quickly stuffed the dolls into a cabinet, then straightened his posture and put on an imposing expression.
"What is it? Why are you making such a commotion!?"
Slide
The paper screen door was pulled open. A subordinate entered, prostrating himself as he reported,
"Shogun-sama, a large number of outsiders have appeared in Kuri! They're preparing to build a town there. The news has already spread across all of Wano!!"
"Nani!?" Sukiyaki's face changed drastically. "Outsiders… are they trying to invade Wano!?"
"And how… how did they even get into Wano!?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"