Chapter 213: New Bounty Orders!
The reconstruction plan for Wano Country had just gotten on track, and the meeting inside the mansion had come to an end.
The heavy, intricately painted sliding shoji doors gently closed shut, sealing the grand meeting hall in a comfortable, quiet serenity.
The lingering scent of premium Wano green tea and fresh tatami mats hung thickly in the air, a stark, peaceful contrast to the blood and ash that had completely coated the nation just days prior.
Outside the wooden corridors, the heavy, rhythmic thud of footsteps slowly faded into the distance.
As Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara headed out together, preparing to "patrol" the newly conquered territory in their own highly unique way, their muffled voices drifted back into the room.
Hashirama's booming, cheerful laughter echoed down the hall as he animatedly discussed using his Wood Release to rapidly grow fresh, sturdy lumber for the countless destroyed civilian houses in the Flower Capital.
In sharp, immediate contrast, a cold, disdainful scoff could be heard from the Ghost of the Uchiha.
Madara's heavy crimson armor clinked sharply against the wooden floorboards as he mockingly complained about being treated like a glorified carpenter, his large hand undoubtedly gripping the handle of his massive war fan, the Gunbai, with aggressive irritation.
Listening to the fading banter of the two legendary founders of Konoha, Suzaku sat completely alone in the elevated head seat of the Shogun's palace.
He rested his chin on his knuckles, a faint, highly amused smile gracing his handsome features.
He took a slow, deep breath of the quiet air and gently closed his eyes, allowing his mind to sink into the absolute depths of his consciousness.
Instantly, the dark void behind his eyelids was brilliantly illuminated by a familiar, ethereal blue light.
Before his eyes, a massive, endless flood of digital data that absolutely only he could perceive was flickering wildly at an astonishing, dizzying speed.
[Multiverse Summoning System]
[System Alert: The legendary fall of the Beasts Pirates is currently spreading across the Four Blues and the Grand Line!]
[Legendary Points: +500]
[Legendary Points: +900]
[Legendary Points: +150]
[Legendary Points: +1,200]
The glowing blue text scrolled downward like a cascading digital waterfall, the numbers spinning and updating with a satisfying, rhythmic chime in his mind.
Suzaku knew very well what this unprecedented surge meant.
He knew that these rapidly, ever-increasing Legendary Points directly represented the sheer, terrifying weight of the name "Suzaku" engraving itself into the annals of history.
It meant that absolutely everything that had transpired upon the bloody shores of Wano Country was currently spreading throughout the entire world.
Through the relentless, scattered flocks of News Coos, through the panicked, encrypted Den Den Mushi calls of hidden CP0 agents, and through the frantic whispers of the criminal underworld, the explosive news was traveling in an absolute, unstoppable manner.
He could vividly imagine the chaotic scene unfolding at the Marine Headquarters in Marineford right at this very moment.
He pictured the Fleet Admiral slamming his fists onto his desk, the Five Elders in Mary Geoise frowning deeply in their luxurious Room of Authority, and the remaining Emperors of the Sea staring at their morning newspapers in profound, heavy silence.
Every gasp of fear from a civilian, every drop of cold sweat from a Marine Admiral, and every tremor of panic from a rival pirate crew was actively fueling his power.
Just as Suzaku was deeply enjoying the profound, intoxicating pleasure brought by the wildly soaring Legendary Points, the heavy silence of the room was violently shattered.
The thick wooden door of the grand hall was suddenly slammed open with an incredibly loud, echoing "bang!"
The solid wood hit the wall so hard the entire doorframe visibly shuddered, dropping a thin layer of dust from the ceiling beams.
An energetic, bright orange figure rushed into the expansive room exactly like a localized, unstoppable whirlwind.
It was Nami, her breathing slightly ragged from a full-on sprint all the way from the harbor, her vibrant orange hair wildly framing her flushed, overly excited face.
She was waving a thick, freshly printed bundle of papers high in her right hand, the sharp, distinct scent of cheap printing ink instantly filling the grand hall.
"Captain! Captain Suzaku! We're famous again and again and again!" Nami shouted, her voice reaching an incredibly high, joyful pitch that echoed off the painted walls.
She practically skipped across the tatami mats, completely ignoring all traditional Wano etiquette.
She slammed her hands onto his desk, leaning forward until she was almost completely invading his personal space.
"No, forget being famous! We're worth so much more money now!!"
Nami's beautiful brown eyes were literally glowing with an intense, absolute feverish heat.
The overwhelming brightness in her gaze was even more highly exaggerated and intense than when she had first laid eyes upon Kaido's hidden mountains of pure, glittering gold.
If one looked closely enough, they could practically see the physical "Berries" currency symbols violently spinning within her dilated pupils.
Looking exactly like a proud, energetic kitten eagerly presenting a highly prized, freshly caught treasure to its owner, she violently slapped the rolled-up World Economy News Paper onto the table.
Following the newspaper, she dramatically fanned out a massive, thick stack of brand-new, glossy bounty orders all at once across Suzaku's wooden desk.
The curve of Suzaku's lips became increasingly playful and intrigued as he leaned forward in his grand chair.
He reached out his hand, his fingers grazing the smooth, high-quality paper as he slowly picked up the very first bounty poster resting squarely on the top of the pile.
It was his own.
In the center of the large poster, the attached photograph captured a truly terrifying, majestic angle of him.
The shot seemed to have been taken from a considerable distance by some heavily concealed CP0 spy during the absolute peak of the war.
In the photo, Suzaku was standing tall amidst the apocalyptic, burning rubble of Onigashima, his coat billowing wildly in the chaotic wind.
His expression was absolute, freezing cold, his dark eyes looking down upon the shattered earth as if he were a descending god presiding over the bloody end of an entire era.
Right below the intimidating photograph, the bold, heavy black ink screamed his new status to the entire world.
[Suzaku Pirates Captain — "Suzaku" Suzaku Yareon]
[Bounty: 3.5 Billion Berries]
[Condition: Extremely Evil, Dead or Alive!]
"3.5 billion... huh?" Suzaku muttered softly, his voice echoing in the quiet room.
He lightly tapped the massive string of zeroes with his index finger, his handsome face showing absolutely no sign of shock or profound surprise.
He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he thoroughly analyzed the World Government's strategic evaluation of his threat level.
Kaido, the man he had just completely dethroned and humiliated, had boasted a terrifying bounty of over 4.6 Billion Berries.
Given that he had entirely dismantled the Beasts Pirates and conquered Wano, one might expect his bounty to instantly eclipse the fallen Emperor's value.
But politics and public relations were a heavily nuanced, manipulative game.
"Tsk, the Marines really are far too stingy with their budget these days," Suzaku said, shaking his head with a highly dismissive, slightly mocking sigh.
"Such a relatively low bounty for taking down the Strongest Creature in the World? Are the World Nobles so thoroughly broke from paying the Heavenly Tribute that they can't even bear to part with this much money?"
He knew the real reason, of course.
The Marines likely didn't want to immediately admit to the world that an entirely unknown, brand-new rookie had instantaneously surpassed the established Emperors in pure, individual threat level.
It was a pathetic, desperate attempt to heavily control the narrative and suppress the absolute global panic that was undoubtedly brewing.
Still shaking his head at their petty political games, he casually reached out and flipped his poster over to reveal the next one in the thick stack.
And then, his hand completely froze mid-air.
He stared blankly at the second sheet of paper for a long, silent moment, his brain rapidly processing the bold numbers printed upon it.
Suddenly, he let out a loud, booming laugh that he absolutely couldn't hold back, his shoulders shaking with pure, unadulterated amusement.
[Executive Officer — "Giant of the Forest" Hashirama Senju]
[Bounty: 3.8 Billion Berries!]
[Condition: Extremely Evil! Dead or Alive!]
"Pfft... hahahaha!"
Suzaku really couldn't hold it in anymore; he threw his head back and laughed heartily, the sound bouncing off the high ceiling.
He didn't even need to look at the next poster in the stack to perfectly imagine the highly tense, suffocating atmosphere currently dominating the meeting rooms at Marineford.
He could vividly picture Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the ever-furious Admiral Akainu sitting around a large tactical table with incredibly long, extremely stressed faces.
They must have spent hours racking their collective brains, meticulously analyzing the terrifying battle footage gathered from Wano.
They had witnessed Hashirama Senju summon a literal mountain-sized, thousand-armed wooden Buddha statue that had physically grabbed and mercilessly battered a gigantic mythical dragon into complete submission.
In their desperate, terrified panic to classify these impossible monsters, they had clearly decided that the man commanding the True Several Thousand Hands was the absolute greatest physical threat on the battlefield.
But what made Suzaku laugh so hard wasn't just Hashirama's staggering, Emperor-level bounty.
It was the incredibly transparent, recycled, and highly predictable "vicious scheme" the Marines were actively trying to pull off.
Still chuckling, he slid Hashirama's poster to the side.
Right beneath the grinning, completely carefree face of the First Hokage's bounty order, he immediately found another highly familiar, incredibly arrogant face staring back at him.
The photograph captured a man standing with his arms crossed over crimson armor, a terrifying, massive blue ethereal construct rising menacingly into the sky behind him.
[Executive Officer — "Blue Flame Giant" Uchiha Madara]
[Bounty: 3.5 Billion Berries!]
[Condition: Extremely Evil! Dead or Alive!]
3.5 billion Berries.
It was exactly the same astronomical, terrifying amount as Suzaku's own Captain bounty.
But crucially, mathematically, and most importantly... it was a full, staggering 300 million Berries lower than the bounty given to that idiot "fated rival" of his!
"A highly calculated, precision psychological strike..." Suzaku murmured, shaking his head slowly while continuously laughing at the sheer audacity of the Navy's intelligence division.
He tapped his finger against Madara's scowling photograph.
"Those old, wrinkly schemers sitting high up in the World Government actually think they are clever, don't they?"
Suzaku leaned his elbows on the desk, thoroughly amused by the blatant attempt at sparking a mutiny.
"They genuinely, truly think they can successfully stage a massive 'internal strife script' and tear my crew apart from the inside with just a simple, printed piece of paper?"
It was a classic, textbook Marine tactic.
By deliberately giving Hashirama a significantly higher bounty than Madara, they were actively trying to publicly humiliate the incredibly proud Uchiha.
They wanted to deeply insult his overwhelming pride, hoping it would instantly spark a deadly, island-shattering internal conflict between the two most powerful combatants of the Suzaku Pirates.
Suzaku could almost perfectly foresee exactly how incredibly dark, twisted, and completely furious Uchiha Madara's handsome, arrogant face would turn after seeing this specific bounty order.
In the very next second after the realization fully set in, Madara's terrifying Mangekyo Sharingan would undoubtedly spin furiously to life, glowing with a murderous, blood-red light.
He would absolutely grab his heavy Gunbai war fan, the air temperature around him plummeting from pure, unfiltered killing intent.
He would furiously stomp out of the capital and aggressively hunt down Hashirama Senju, who was probably peacefully planting saplings in some quiet, remote corner of the island.
Madara would immediately demand an absolute, no-holds-barred "sparring match," likely dropping a few massive meteorites from the sky just to aggressively show the idiotic Marines and the entire world who was truly the stronger, more terrifying ninja between the two of them.
The mental image of Hashirama crying comically while desperately trying to dodge a Perfect Susanoo sword slash was simply far too entertaining.
In a genuinely great, highly elevated mood, Suzaku continued eagerly flipping through the remaining stack of glossy papers.
[Executive Officer — "Ice Queen" Esdeath]
[Bounty: 1.9 Billion Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
"Not bad at all," Suzaku nodded approvingly, looking at the photograph of the stunning, sadistic blue-haired General standing amidst a completely frozen wasteland of shattered pirate bodies.
"It seems the Marines still highly value Esdeath's terrifyingly absolute control over ice and her unyielding, brutal cruelty on the battlefield quite a bit!"
He pulled the next sheet from the pile, revealing a pair of cold, completely emotionless green eyes.
[Executive Officer — "Wings of Calamity" Ulquiorra Cifer]
[Bounty: 1.82 Billion Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
Suzaku frowned slightly, studying the melancholic image of the Espada standing with his hands casually tucked into his pockets.
"Ulquiorra is still far too low-key for his own good," Suzaku mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"He hasn't made many flashy, wide-scale destructive moves during these past two major conflicts. He barely even drew his sword, mostly relying on basic hand-to-hand combat and a few Ceros."
Suzaku knew the terrifying, apocalyptic truth of the Segunda Etapa.
"The Marines' current assessment of his true, overwhelming spiritual power is still incredibly superficial. If he ever truly releases his lance of lightning, they will deeply regret pricing him under two billion."
He moved to the next elegant, terrifyingly beautiful face.
[Executive Officer — "Blackwing Demon" Albedo]
[Bounty: 1.8 Billion Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
The photo perfectly captured Albedo's flawless, angelic beauty, sharply contrasted by the menacing, jet-black wings sprouting from her lower back and the absolute, demonic killing intent radiating from her golden eyes.
The Marines had clearly witnessed her utterly flawless, impenetrable defense and her ruthless, instantaneous execution of the rebellious Wano samurai, pricing her as a high-tier Commander threat.
[Executive Officer — "Red-Eyed Sword Maiden" Akame]
[Bounty: 1 Billion Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
The image showed Akame mid-sprint, her crimson eyes glowing dangerously in the dark as her cursed blade, Murasame, dripped with fresh blood.
She was the ultimate, silent assassin. One singular cut, one guaranteed, unavoidable death. A flat, solid billion Berries was a testament to the sheer, unavoidable lethality of her curse.
Finally, Suzaku reached the bottom of the impressive stack of papers, revealing the two adorable, yet incredibly deadly, twin maids of his household.
[Executive Officer — "Flying Maid" Rem]
[Bounty: 700 Million Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
The photograph showed the sweet, blue-haired maid completely covered in enemy blood, swinging her massive, spiked iron morning star with terrifying, demonic physical strength, effortlessly crushing the hull of a massive pirate galleon.
[Executive Officer — "Twin Maid" Ram]
[Bounty: 500 Million Berries]
[Condition: Dead or Alive]
Ram's poster captured her standing with a haughty, unimpressed expression, a massive, devastating tornado of razor-sharp wind magic violently ripping the earth to absolute shreds directly behind her.
Suzaku smiled warmly, incredibly proud of the massive, world-shaking ripples his newly formed crew had already managed to create across the global stage.
Suddenly, a pair of soft, delicate hands aggressively slammed onto the desk right in front of him, physically startling him out of his deep, satisfied thoughts.
Nami was practically vibrating with intense, uncontained physical excitement, bouncing rapidly on the balls of her feet.
She leaned even further over the wide wooden desk, her face merely inches from his, completely unable to contain her overwhelming anticipation for even a single second longer.
"Captain! Captain! Look at mine! Mine!"
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