In the reflection of Yamato's wide, stunned eyes, Souta Kiryuu raised his arm. His Haki surged outwards, coating his hand in Armament, and with a simple flex of his fingers, the air itself seemed to quake. The low-purity seastone cuffs on Yamato's right wrist shattered apart, their fragments scattering into the wind.
To think—in the original timeline, Straw Hat Luffy had needed only a day or two of training in Flowing Haki before he could unlock that same pair of cuffs. But Souta? He hadn't even touched her. The shackles had simply obeyed.
He flicked the remains away.
A thunderous BOOM! ripped through the air, shaking the deck. Yamato froze, eyes wide as the explosion bloomed like fire behind her. She had never truly believed her father would go so far—that Kaido would actually plant real bombs in her cuffs.
Tears welled up in her eyes before she even realized it.
In that moment, her anger toward Kaido deepened into something colder—something beyond despair. She had always thought he was just trying to scare her. That the "bomb cuffs" were only a cruel joke. But no—Kaido had meant it. They were genuine explosive seastone cuffs, no trick, no mercy.
Souta glanced at her still-blank face, then wordlessly crushed the cuff on her left wrist too. He tossed it into the air, and another explosion tore through the sky.
Smoke coiled upward like a dragon.
"Hmph. That brute Kaido really doesn't hold back, does he?" Bonney muttered, cupping Yamato's tear-streaked face with one hand and wiping her cheek with the other. "What kind of father threatens his own kid with bombs?"
She sighed softly, pity creeping into her expression. The girl called herself "Kozuki Oden," but what Bonney saw now wasn't some delusional maniac—it was a lonely child.
Bonney had at least known love—her father Kuma's care, his sacrifices. But Yamato? No mother. No affection. A lifetime of beatings, isolation, starvation. Locked away in Onigashima for twenty years, punished for her own confusion over who she wanted to be.
No wonder she'd turned out this way. Even Bonney had to admit… maybe it wasn't so hard to forgive her for the act.
"I'll never acknowledge Kaido as my father again!!"
Yamato scrubbed away her tears, her expression tightening with resolve. Something within her solidified.
"I'll defeat Kaido. I'll free Wano. Until I do, I don't deserve to call myself Kozuki Oden!"
Her small hands clenched into fists, her eyes burning with spirit. For the first time in two decades, the weight of the seastone shackles that had bound her was gone.
"Hey, uh… Souta, could you maybe help me take off the ones on my ankl—ow! Owww!"
THWACK!
Yamato tumbled to the floor, clutching her head as a sharp lump swelled where Souta's Haki-imbued flick had landed. She rolled on the deck, tears springing to her eyes all over again.
Bonney swallowed hard. Souta's "discipline" was… terrifying. Thank the seas he never treated her that way.
"Try calling yourself Kozuki Oden again," Souta said flatly, blowing imaginary smoke off his fingers. "And I'll give you the deluxe set. No extra charge."
A devilish grin curved his lips. With Yamato's oni bloodline and Mythical Zoan strength, she was plenty durable. He didn't have to worry about breaking her.
Besides, Kaido's "training methods" had been far worse.
How else did she get so damn good at Thunder Bagua? That technique had been beaten into her—literally.
"I am—"
THWACK!
Another lump joined the first. Souta didn't even blink.
"Boss Souta," Bonney muttered, wincing, "she's just a confused kid… maybe don't—"
"Confused?" Souta cut her off with a snort. "She's under the strongest illusion Kozuki Oden ever cast. She needs to be re-educated."
He folded his arms. "Bonney, give her every book you've got from your island stash. Robin—find her some hero tales. The real ones. And make sure she reads the stories about me and the Kiryuu Pirates at least ten times."
He had zero intention of freeing the seastone shackles on Yamato's ankles. In fact, he ordered two new cuffs to replace the old ones—just in case Kaido's originals were still wired to explode.
"On it!" Bonney said, darting off. Soon she returned with stacks of books—travel logs from Sky Island, the Boin Archipelago, Weatheria, and more.
Nico Robin smiled faintly and added her own collection—biographies and news reports of Souta Kiryuu's legendary battles against the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. Exaggerated, polished, glorified—sure—but far more exciting than Oden's tired old voyage diary.
"Hard to believe this thick-headed girl is really as strong as you say," the Pirate Empress murmured, arms folded as she watched Souta discipline Yamato. The so-called "daughter of Kaido" didn't look like someone who'd mastered Conqueror's Coating.
"Sometimes," Souta said with a lazy grin, "the pure ones—those with nothing but guts and instinct—grow the fastest."
He raised an eyebrow. "She's got the same type of soul as Luffy, Garp, even Roger. Always charging headfirst, learning through pain."
He wasn't wrong. Straw Hat Luffy had awakened both Conqueror's Coating and his Devil Fruit after getting pummeled by Kaido. Yamato, beaten for nearly twenty years, had done the same—perhaps even earlier.
By talent alone, she was the youngest known wielder of Conqueror's Coating in history—only eight when it first awakened.
For comparison, Luffy had been seventeen.
While Bonney busied herself forcing little Yamato to read, the Kiryuu Pirates' airborne fleet cut through the clouds, bound for Totto Land—the territory of Big Mom herself.
Perhaps because Souta Kiryuu had announced his visit personally, Charlotte Linlin decided to host a grand Tea Party in his honor. Invitations were sent to all the underworld titans—the so-called "One Emperor and Six Kings."
It was clear she intended to overshadow Kaido's "Fire Festival" entirely.
Every dark emperor responded. Even Gild Tesoro from the Golden Island planned to attend.
He had a lot to discuss with Souta. His Gran Tesoro, once the largest ship in the world, was ready for evolution. No longer would it sail the seas—it would rise into the sky.
The Sky Casino: Tesoro's new empire among the clouds.
But to do that, he'd have to break ties with the World Government once and for all.
Those pampered Celestial Dragons who'd been "vacationing" on his ship for months—half-tricked, half-imprisoned—were about to become his bargaining chips.
Using the chaos of the New World as an excuse, Tesoro had kept them there under the guise of safety, even convincing them to report back to Mariejois that all was well. For now, the Government hadn't dared touch him.
But soon, Tesoro planned to bare his fangs—to kill those Celestial Dragons and seal his pact with the Kiryuu Pirates in blood.
After all, the New World now belonged to pirates. Souta Kiryuu's word was law.
Even Kaido and Big Mom had to respect it.
The underworld's emperors knew this. If they wanted to survive, they'd better make nice with the Dragon God of the Seas.
Besides, this wasn't just a meeting. It was the wedding celebration of Big Mom and Souta Kiryuu—a union of empires. No one dared skip it.
Stussy and Morgans—close "friends" of the Kiryuu Pirates—had already set sail for Whole Cake Island.
The Sea Freight King, the Loan Shark King, the Storage King, and the Funeral King—the four great rulers of the underworld—banded together for the journey, hoping safety came in numbers. They packed backup plans, escape routes, and contingencies galore, just in case Big Mom or Souta decided to "change the rules."
Because in the New World, mercy was a myth.
And Souta Kiryuu was rewriting every one of them.
...
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