Chapter 301: Wano - 35
The wind howled through the ruined sky of Onigashima, carrying the heavy scent of smoke and dust.
Ben reached out and caught Luffy before he could fall. Three elite agents of CP0 were incapacitated. They had thought to intervene, to ensure the Emperor’s victory, but Ben had handled them. They were no longer a threat.
He set Luffy down in a sheltered alcove.
On the third floor of the castle, the air was thick. Wood splintered and burned, casting an eerie, flickering orange glow down the narrow hallway. Here, the raging war outside mattered little; the hallway had become a private battlefield.
Raizo and Fukurokuju stood on opposite sides of the corridor, staring each other down. Neither ninja moved a muscle. They couldn’t. The battle had devolved into a stalemate. Both men had executed the Ninpo: Kanashibari no Jutsu, catching one another in a paralysis technique. They were locked in place, bound by their own stubborn pride and the rules of their lethal art.
Around them, the hungry flames crawled across the wooden floorboards, feeding on the dry timber and paper walls.
"Undo the technique," Fukurokuju demanded, his voice strained. Sweat dripped down his elongated forehead, stinging his eyes. The heat was becoming unbearable.
"You undo your technique first," Raizo growled back, his gaze unyielding.
The fire, indifferent to their rivalry, reached Raizo first. The creeping flames lapped at the straw of his sandals, catching the dry material instantly. The fire climbed, igniting his clothing, but Raizo stubbornly refused to break his hand seal. He kept his fingers locked in place, his face locked in a grimace of willpower. The flames spread up his legs, engulfing him in a pillar of fire. Still, the loyal vassal of Oden did not flinch. He stood still, letting the fire burn around him, enduring the heat with the grit of a samurai.
The fire continued its slow march across the floorboards until it reached Fukurokuju’s side of the hall. The moment the flames caught the edge of his robes, the rival ninja’s composure shattered.
"Hot!" Fukurokuju screamed, his face twisting in agony. He handled the heat poorly, his previous stoicism melting away in an instant. "Undo the jutsu! It burns!"
Raizo ignored him, keeping his focus enduring the inferno that surrounded him.
Suddenly, a massive shockwave ripped through the foundation of Onigashima. Deep below, on a lower level, the combined forces of Law had unleashed a devastating final assault against the towering Emperor, Big Mom. The resulting explosion rocked the entire island. The floors bucked and heaved.
The sudden tremor broke Fukurokuju’s unstable footing. Unable to adjust his balance while paralyzed, the lanky ninja tumbled sideways, crashing hard onto the burning floorboards. The flames eagerly swallowed him up. He writhed helplessly, screaming for water, his concentration broken.
Raizo, however, had rooted himself. The heavy shaking rattled his bones, but he remained standing. The victory was his. He watched through the smoke and fire as Fukurokuju stopped thrashing, his screams fading as he finally lost consciousness.
With his enemy defeated, Raizo released his hand seal. The paralysis faded. Immediately, the large ninja dropped to the floor, rolling frantically across the unburned sections of the wood. The heavy thuds of his body smothered the flames on his clothes until only smoldering ash remained. He lay there, exhausted but victorious, panting in the smoky air.
Down in the quiet sanctuary of the second floor Treasure Repository, Orochi sat heavily on the floor, panting from exhaustion and fear. The room was dimly lit, surrounded by gold and scattered artifacts. Across from him sat a stunningly beautiful woman, her face obscured by a traditional mask. In her hands, she held a shamisen.
"Komurasaki," Orochi gasped out, his greedy eyes wide with disbelief. After everything that had happened, after the betrayals and the beheadings, he truly wondered if he was trapped in some bizarre dream. How could she possibly be alive? "Play it... play your famous song."
"I will play the song," Hiyori replied, her voice smooth and devoid of emotion.
She gracefully plucked the shamisen strings. The haunting, melancholic melody drifted through the Treasure Repository, creating a strange pocket of serenity amidst the destruction of the castle.
Then, the shockwave from the battle against Big Mom hit the second floor. The walls groaned, and the floor violently jerked upward. Caught off guard, Orochi yelped as he toppled over, his body slapping against the floorboards.
Pushing himself up, a wave of anxiety washed over the usurper shogun. Where was Fukurokuju? Why hadn’t his loyal ninja returned to escort him to safety? Had he been betrayed again? Orochi looked up, his panic rising, only to see the woman still sitting there. She was unfazed by the earthquake, her slender fingers continuing to pluck the strings of the shamisen in a steady, unbroken rhythm.
His anxiety quickly curdled into irritation.
"Stop playing!" Orochi scolded, his voice shrill with panic. "Why do you continue to play in a life-or-death situation? The castle is falling apart!"
She did not stop. The sad, steady notes continued to fill the room.
"And why are you wearing that mask?" Orochi demanded, scrambling backward as dust began to fall from the ceiling. "Are you even alive? Are you a ghost sent to haunt me?!"
Orochi was so engrossed in screaming at the woman that he failed to look up. The stone and wooden beams above him gave a groan before fracturing. A section of the ceiling collapsed, raining heavy debris onto him. A cloud of thick dust plumed into the air, obscuring the room.
Orochi groaned, pinned under the crushing weight of the rubble. Desperation seized him. He concentrated, trying to call upon his Yamata no Orochi powers, expecting his serpent heads to burst forth and shatter the stone. He pushed. He strained.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, panic turning his blood to ice. The mythical power that had saved him time and time again was gone. He pushed weakly against the rubble, finally realizing the horrifying truth. He was helpless.
The music finally stopped.
Hiyori set the shamisen down on the floor. She looked at the trapped, pathetic man bleeding under the rocks. Her voice, when she spoke, was chillingly calm.
"I secretly used Seastone nails on you while you were distracted," Hiyori explained, the mystery of his missing strength suddenly solved. "They are embedded in your flesh. The Seastone nullifies your Devil Fruit ability."
Orochi stared at her through the dust, his eyes bulging in shock.
"I never loved you," she stated softly, the words cutting deeper than any blade. "I am the daughter of Kouzuki Oden."
The revelation struck him like a blow. The mask was a lie. The name was a lie. The woman he had desired above all else was the ghost of the man he had wronged the most.
Panic overtook him. The cowardly shogun began to thrash weakly, pleading for his life with tears and snot running down his face.
"Please! Please, you have to understand!" Orochi cried out, his voice cracking. "I always admired Oden! He was a great man! Everything that happened... it was all Kaido’s fault! Kaido forced me to do it!"
Hiyori looked down at him, her eyes as cold as winter steel. She didn’t believe a word leaving his mouth.
"My father always kept his words," Hiyori stated, her voice rising in volume and intensity. "My father kept his promises, even when it cost him his life. You never kept your words. You only ever lied."
She raised a hand to her face. Grasping the edge of the mask, she pulled it away, letting it clatter to the floor. She revealed her true face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, born of two decades of repressed anger, sorrow, and endless waiting.
"I have pride as a Kouzuki!" she declared, her voice echoing off the remaining walls.
"Spare me! Please!" Orochi continued to beg, a blubbering mess of a man.
From the hallway outside, a small, floating wisp of fire drifted into the room. It was the last remaining remnant of Kazenbo, the fire demon created by Kanjuro. The creature was greatly weakened, barely a flicker of its former monstrous self, and had come seeking its master.
Orochi saw the flame out of the corner of his eye, and a twisted grin of hope broke across his face. The tides had turned.
"Burn her!" Orochi screamed at the little flame, pointing a trembling, bloody finger at Hiyori. "Burn Hiyori to ashes!"
The wisp moved forward obediently. However, it was far too weak to cross the room. It drifted toward the sound of the commanding voice, sinking down onto the nearest living thing. The flame touched Orochi’s robes. Instantly, the fabric ignited.
Orochi shrieked as the fire spread over him, trapped beneath the rubble, burning alive by the very entity he had commanded to save him.
Hiyori did not look away. She stood tall, watching the man who had destroyed her family and her country burn in the ruins of his own making.
"The dawn will come," she whispered.
Meanwhile, on the live floor of the castle, an eerie silence had fallen. The roars of battle, the clashes of haki, and the shouts of thousands of warriors were gone. Only groans of pain and the shifting of rubble remained. Bodies covered the ground in every direction.
Ben walked slowly among the fallen fighters, his boots crunching softly on the broken tiles. He ignored the low-level henchmen, stepping over the grunts who were groaning in pain. He was looking for specific targets. Every time he found a defeated member of Kaido’s elite forces—the Tobi Roppo, the All-Stars—or the heavy hitters from Big Mom’s crew, he paused.
Raising his hand, Ben activated his spatial dimension. A dark, rippling portal opened in the air beside him. Without a word, he floated the unconscious, high-value pirates into the void. The bodies vanished into the pocket dimension, safely contained and removed from the board. He left the rest of the fodder to wake up in the dirt. He only took the pieces that mattered.
Outside the island, the night air was cooling. Momonosuke stood near the edge of the cliff, looking out over the dark waters of Wano. Below the surface, the massive form of Zunesha stood waiting, the giant elephant’s shadow looming in the mist.
"I will not open the country’s boundaries yet," Momonosuke declared, sending his voice into the ancient creature’s mind. It was a heavy decision, one that weighed on his young soul, but he knew it was necessary to protect his people while they rebuilt.
"I understand," Zunesha replied. The elephant bowed its head, respecting the young shogun’s decision without question.
Far below the floating island, in the Flower Capital, the Fire Festival was reaching its emotional climax. The citizens, ignorant of the world-shaking battles happening, filled the lantern-lit streets. Joyous laughter and music echoed through the night. Families and friends gathered together, holding delicately crafted paper sky-boats.
Wishes for freedom, for food, and for the return of the Kouzuki clan were written on the fragile paper. Together, the people released the boats. Thousands of soft, glowing lights lifted into the night sky, floating away like a river of stars, carrying the hopes of an entire nation.
Suddenly, a tremor struck the island.
It was entirely different from the shakes of the battle. Throughout the mainland, the partygoers paused, looking around in confusion as the ground vibrated beneath their feet.
Deep underground, far below the crust of the earth, the reason for the quake was making itself known. Kaido and Linlin had been punched so hard they had broken straight through the bedrock of Wano. They had plummeted deep into a subterranean magma chamber. Their immense, monstrous bodies, combined with the force of their impacts, caused a violent reaction within the pressurized pool of lava.
Off the coast of Udon, the ocean began to boil. With a deafening roar, the water exploded upward. A underwater volcanic eruption breached the surface, shooting towering plumes of steam, boiling water, and molten rock high into the dark sky, a violent fireworks display marking the fall of two Emperors.
Far, far away from the isolated shores of Wano, high atop the Red Line, the atmosphere in Mary Geoise was tense. Inside a lavishly decorated room, the Five Elders sat in silence, the weight of the world pressing down heavily upon them. Things were spiraling out of control on multiple fronts.
They had spent the last several hours stressing over the disaster at the Reverie. Nefertari Vivi and Cobra had managed to escape their grasp. It was a catastrophic failure of security, but more importantly, it was a leak of the world’s greatest secret.
"They know," one Elder said, leaning heavily on his walking stick. "They know about the existence of the Empty Throne. They know about the presence of Imu-sama."
"They have to be silenced, one way or another," another Elder replied, his face shadowed. "We cannot allow that truth to reach the world."
"As if that were our only problem," a third Elder sighed, rubbing his temples. "We have also lost connection to the CP0 agents stationed in Wano."
"They were sent with strict orders to sabotage Strawhat and ensure Kaido’s victory," the first Elder noted. "Now, they are silent. We have no idea what happened in that country."
"Given the silence, and the reports of the battle’s scale..." a fourth Elder concluded grimly, "from the looks of it, it seems the CP0 agents have been killed in action. Wano is out of our control."
Elsewhere on the vast, open sea, the mood was equally foul. Inside a Marine base, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki sat at his desk, a lit cigar clamped between his teeth. He held a receiver to his ear, his face set in a deep scowl as he glared at the Den Den Mushi on his desk.
"Where are you?" Sakazuki growled, his voice a low rumble of warning.
"Oh, you know," the Den Den Mushi replied, perfectly mimicking the lazy, arrogant smirk of Admiral Ryokugyu. "I’m just flying towards Wano. Thought I’d check out the scenery."
Sakazuki’s grip on the receiver tightened, the plastic groaning under his strength. "Do not make things worse. We do not have the manpower to start a war with whoever won that conflict."
"Sure, sure," Ryokugyu nonchalantly agreed, though his tone suggested he was barely listening. "I’ll be a good boy." The line clicked dead.
A few days passed, and the sun finally rose on a liberated Wano.
The immediate aftermath of the raid was a blur of exhaustion and recovery. During the long days while Luffy and the other heavy hitters lay unconscious, recovering from their impossible injuries, the cleanup began.
Ben did not rest. He went straight to work, tackling the environmental damage Kaido’s factories had inflicted upon the country. Using a seamless blend of his innate magic and advanced technology, he began filtering the air and purging the toxins from the immediate areas around the capital.
He wasn’t alone. Vivi stepped up to help, revealing the full extent of her newly awakened power. She had unlocked the true potential of her Simurgh Devil Fruit. The mythical awakening allowed her to manipulate and cleanse the environment on a massive scale. Together, Ben and Vivi moved through the wastelands. She summoned pure, cleansing rains that washed the heavy metals from the rivers, while Ben’s magic restored the nutrients to the dead, cracked soil. Slowly but surely, patches of green began to return to the poisoned land.
During this quiet time of restoration, Ben also took a moment for himself. He retrieved a Devil Fruit he had confiscated from one of the defeated CP0 agents. Using the devil fruit drawing out a new template to add to his arsenal. He had gained: the template of Orihime Inoue from Bleach. The ability to reject phenomena and heal on a conceptual level was now his to command.
Back inside the shogun’s castle, the quiet peace was finally broken by a loud, familiar groan.
Luffy’s eyes snapped open. He sat bolt upright in his futon, his bandages rustling.
"Food!" he yelled, his stomach unleashing a roar that rivaled Kaido’s dragon form.
The news spread like wildfire. Within minutes, the room was packed. Everyone from Wano who had fought beside them, along with the entirety of the Straw Hat crew, flooded into the room. Tears of joy were shed, laughter echoed through the halls, and the heavy burden of the war was finally lifted. Their captain was awake.
Luffy didn’t care about the tears. He just demanded meat.
Plates upon plates of food were rushed into the room. As Luffy began to inhale everything in sight, Yamato barged through the doors, carrying an armful of food. The tall warrior slammed a tray down and immediately began stuffing their face alongside the captain. For days, Yamato had performed a strict, traditional Wano-style vigil for the recovering heroes. They had deprived themselves of food and baths, sitting in quiet prayer for the crew’s safe recovery. Now that the vigil was over, Yamato’s appetite was almost as terrifying as Luffy’s.
"Listen up!" Momonosuke announced, beaming with pride. "I am going to have the entire country participate in a massive banquet! The banquet will celebrate your recovery, and our freedom! Kaido has been defeated. He has been taken out of the kingdom. Tonight, we feast!"
The Straw Hats and the samurai cheered so loudly the remaining windows of the castle rattled.
But before the banquet could begin, there was a need for hygiene. The crew hadn’t washed since before the raid on Onigashima.
The Straw Hats, along with Law and the samurai, descended upon the castle’s massive, luxurious bathhouses. The steaming hot water was a blessing, washing away the dried blood, sweat, and dirt of the hardest battle of their lives. Yamato, unfazed by conventional norms, cheerfully walked right into the men’s bath, joining the boys in the hot water. Laughter, splashing, and quiet moments of reflection filled the steamy air as the heroes finally allowed themselves to relax.
By evening, the castle was buzzing with anticipation. Down in the massive kitchens, the royal chefs were frantically preparing a gourmet banquet fit for the saviors of their country. Elaborate plates of carefully arranged sushi, delicate soups, and perfectly roasted meats sat on the preparation tables.
Sanji walked in to check on the progress. The head chef bowed apologetically. "The main courses are very intricate. The food needs two hours to finish."
When Sanji delivered the news to the waiting crew, a collective groan echoed through the halls.
"Two hours?!" Luffy whined, clutching his stomach as if he were dying. Nobody had the patience to wait for carefully prepared gourmet meals. Their blood was pumping, and they wanted to celebrate right now.
"Forget this," Luffy declared, grabbing his straw hat. "Let’s go to the city!"
The group instantly abandoned the castle and the fancy food, sneaking out the back and heading down the mountain to the Flower Capital.
The city was a paradise of noise, light, and smell. The streets were packed shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrating citizens. Food stalls lined every alleyway, selling skewers of meat, sweet dumplings, and hot sake. Colorful paper lanterns hung across every street, illuminating the joyous faces of a people who hadn’t smiled in twenty years.
Luffy was in his element. He darted from stall to stall, his arms stretching out to grab food, laughing as the vendors happily handed over everything they had. Grabbing a wooden cup of juice, Luffy jumped onto a nearby roof, looking down at the alliance that had followed him.
He grinned, raising the cup high. "Ninja-Mink-Pirate-Samurai Alliance!" he yelled, his voice carrying over the music. He reached out with a rubbery arm, wrapping it tightly around a very grumpy Trafalgar Law, dragging him and the rest of the Heart Pirates into the center of the crowd.
"Toast with me!" Luffy demanded, forcing a cup into Law’s hand.
Unable to escape the infectious joy, Law sighed and raised his cup. The street erupted into a deafening cheer, glasses clinking, music swelling, and the night dissolving into a carefree party.
While the capital celebrated, a much darker presence touched down in the barren wastelands of Udon.
Admiral Ryokugyu landed lightly on the cracked, dry earth. He wore a floral shirt and a pair of sunglasses, looking out of place in the desolate region. He looked around at the dead soil and sighed.
"What a depressing place," he muttered.
Activating his Mori Mori no Mi ability, he took a step forward. Instantly, thick green grass sprouted from the dry earth beneath his boots. As he walked, wood and leaves erupted from his body, spreading out like a tidal wave of life. Within seconds, a dense forest grew out of the wasteland, transforming the dead region into a lush, vibrant jungle.
He casually strolled up to the heavy iron gates of the Udon Prison Mine. The facility was currently acting as a holding cell for the remnants of the Beasts Pirates. The heavy hitters were gone—there was no sign of King, Queen, or the Tobi Roppo, and the Big Mom pirates were nowhere to be seen. Only hundreds of low-level henchmen remained, locked away in the cells.
Ryokugyu didn’t care. He attacked the prison without warning. Thick roots burst through the stone floors and iron bars. The wooden tendrils moved like vipers, stabbing into the chests and limbs of the terrified Beasts Pirates. The Admiral used his ability to mercilessly suck the vitality straight out of their bodies. The muscular henchmen withered away into dry, skeletal husks in seconds, their life force feeding the surrounding forest.
Standing amidst the withered bodies, Ryokugyu pulled a small Den Den Mushi from his pocket. He dialed a secure Marine frequency, calling in a heavily armed battleship to anchor off the coast of Wano.
"Listen closely," Ryokugyu commanded his subordinates over the snail. "Do not mention this to Sakazuki. I’m handling this my own way."
He hung up, putting the snail away. He adjusted his sunglasses and looked toward the distant horizon, where the lights of the Flower Capital painted the night sky. He started walking. His plan was simple: march into the city, find the exhausted Straw Hat Luffy, take his head, and return to Headquarters with a prize that would force Sakazuki to give him his long-awaited approval.
However, someone was waiting on the path.
Ben had been hoping the Admiral would show up. He had felt the massive surge of natural energy blooming in Udon and had quietly slipped away from the banquet in the capital, making his way down the long dirt road to intercept the threat.
Ryokugyu stopped walking. The dirt road ahead was blocked. A figure standing casually in the middle of the path.
Ben stood with his hands in his pockets relaxed. He looked at the Admiral, assessing the man who thought he could simply waltz into Wano and ruin their hard-earned peace.
Ben pulled a hand from his pocket and raised it in a lazy, half-hearted greeting.
"Yo," Ben said.
Ryokugyu narrowed his eyes, a smirk playing on his lips. "And who might you be?"