Orochi Castle and Oden Castle!

Flower Capital

Its greatest feature is its antique charm; imbued with a thousand years of history, everything in sight is splendid and beautiful.

White Wall and black tiles, flying eaves and double pavilions, temples and courtyards, stone bridges and flowing water—each exquisite building, full of Japanese charm, is half-hidden among Cherry Blossom and green trees.

This place is located in the heart of Wano Country, and it truly enjoys a spring-like climate all year round, always maintaining the most comfortable and warm climate.

Naturally, the Cherry Blossom will continue to bloom.

They flutter and fall with the wind, their pink and white petals constantly swirling in the air, following every passerby, a phenomenon elegantly known as "Flower Blizzard."

And at the heart of all the scenery lies the Orochi Castle!

This is a castle-like building perched atop a massive tree trunk, resembling a bonsai with graceful form and cascading waterfalls.

Previously, it was called Kozuki Castle, Shogun Castle.

However, since the last descendant of the Kurozumi Family, Kurozumi Orochi, became the new shogun four years ago, the castle has been renamed Orochi Castle.

That night.

It was exactly two hours after Mihawk's five Floating Warship arrived over Onigashima.

Orochi Castle.

The place was still brightly lit, just as it always was.

A series of exquisite Japanese-style melodies, played on traditional instruments such as the shamisen, taiko drum, koto, and biwa, danced around the castle like a flock of butterflies fluttering in the light.

"Goo-ho-ho-ho----"

"Pour me the drink, Aoi- chan~~"

In the highest hall, a man dressed in a magnificent yellow robe, with a black cloak draped over his shoulders, a golden crown on his left head, and a purple bun on his right, with a square face, upturned beard, and a burly figure that was striking even when seated in a high position, was laughing wildly and wantonly. His extremely arrogant laughter violently destroyed the beauty of the music.

He sat at a table laden with various drinks and delicacies, with two beautiful girls in kimonos on his left and right arms. He enjoyed the personal services of the beauties in his arms while his hands roamed over their graceful bodies. He looked every bit the smug winner in life.

"Orochi, Kaido has sent word!"

A figure with long, white hair cascading down her shoulders, her face painted deathly pale, resembling a witch and whose gender was indistinguishable, approached and offered a reminder.

He is Kurozumi Higurashi, the mastermind and instigator behind the turmoil in Wano Country.

"Um?"

Kurozumi Orochi sensed the gravity in the other person's tone and immediately told the geisha beside him to stop playing, then pushed away the kimono-clad beauty in his arms.

Once only the two of them remained in the hall, he finally spoke, asking, "Tell me, what is it?"

He was well aware that his current status and power were maintained by the Beasts Pirates, so he paid close attention to their every move.

"Kaido wants to eliminate Kozuki Oden and the various daimyo families. He asked us to help spread this news and attract all the rebels to Kuri, and we..."

After listening to a long speech by Kurozumi Higurashi, Kurozumi Orochi found it incomprehensible.

"Why make such a fuss all of a sudden? Didn't we agree to wait until Oden had performed his naked dance for five years and lost the trust of all the daimyo, Samurai, and the people before we made our move?"

Although he wasn't very smart, he knew that less than a year had passed, and there were still many people willing to believe in Oden, so it was clearly not the best time.

Kurozumi Higurashi shook his head, pondering the strangeness of the situation.

"I'm not sure either, but Kaido said he's made up his mind and is already heading to Kuri Oden Castle in Kuri. It seems the Beasts Pirates are getting impatient and want to deal with all the troublemakers in Wano Country in one fell swoop."

"Okay, okay."

Kurozumi Orochi stood up, fully displaying his 3.5-meter-tall frame. However, his body proportions were strange, giving him a particularly short and stout appearance.

"If we can really get rid of those powerful figures, it would be a great thing for us. I'm tired of hearing the opposition from those guys outside. I just hope they don't overdo it."

After saying that, he suddenly shouted to the empty audience below, "Fukurokuju, and Longevity!"

[Swish----]

With a sharp whooshing sound, a figure over two meters tall, with a long skull and earlobes, wearing black sunglasses and a purple kimono, suddenly knelt down.

"Please give your orders, General."

He is the leader of the Oniwabanshu, the ninja unit directly under the shogun of Oniwabanshu Wano Country. He is the kind of person who only obeys the shogun's orders, regardless of who the shogun is.

"Assemble all the ninjas, and prepare to depart at any moment!"

"Yes!"

The next second, Fukurokuju disappeared from the spot again, and Kurozumi Orochi turned his gaze back to Kurozumi Higurashi, asking, "How many Samurai are willing to obey my orders now?"

"Just broke two thousand."

Kurozumi Higurashi looked worried and said in a deep voice, "Under the influence of the Kozuki Clan and those daimyo, the Samurai don't really identify with your identity as shogun. In the past four years, we've only managed to win over this few people."

It's not yet 24 years from now, but even if it were 24 years from the original timeline, there would only be 5,000 Samurai willing to serve Orochi.

"Then I only have seven thousand Samurai under my command?" (In Wano Country, ninjas are also considered Samurai.)

Kurozumi Orochi paced back and forth on the stage with his hands behind his back and a worried expression on his face. "How can we complete the mission Kaido asked us to do with so few people? Each of those daimyo has at least three thousand Samurai under their command, and there are definitely people in the Flower Capital who are willing to follow Oden. Just by doing the math, they have nearly fifteen thousand Samurai!"

He increasingly felt that Kaido was in too much of a hurry; even the Beasts Pirates couldn't stop such a massive Samurai army, could they?

After all, they only have a mere thousand people!

"Regardless, we must obey Kaido's orders. At most, we should prepare to evacuate Wano Country in case we are defeated there."

Kurozumi Higurashi also lacked confidence. Although he had lived overseas for a long time, he had never truly witnessed the terrifying power of advanced combatants.

I just don't think even someone as strong as Kaido could withstand 15,000 Samurai, right?

"This is the only way. Let the ninjas spread the word first, and then we'll leave the rest to the Beasts!" Kurozumi Orochi gritted his teeth and made his decision.

At the same time.

Thousands of miles away, in Kuri Village, the capital of Bolo Town, the weather suddenly changed. The once bright and clear night sky was now shrouded in thick dark clouds.

This attracted the attention and unease of the people below. Even children came out of their homes because of the noise outside and looked up at the sky with the adults on the street.

"What's going on? Is it going to rain?"

"Look!"

"That, that is..."

Suddenly, a little girl raised her hand and pointed to the dark clouds on the right, where a blue dragon's tail emerged.

Immediately afterwards, more and more people saw a faint, Divine Dragon hovering in the clouds above Oden Castle on the mountain, eliciting gasps of surprise.

A sense of panic suddenly spread throughout the Bolo Town.

"What is Kaido doing here?"

In Oden Castle, Raizo, also a ninja, stood on the balcony of a pavilion, looking solemnly at the giant Azure Dragon in the dark clouds. Behind him stood Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, both only sixteen years old.

"The visitors seem hostile. Immediately use the Wisdom Snail to inform Oden!"

Raizo immediately made a judgment and said firmly, "Until then, our mission is to protect Lady Toki and the two princes and hold out until Oden arrives!"