War Was About to Begin

The Orochi couldn't help but recall the first half of his life, a life of poverty and wandering. His parents died early, leaving him all alone. To escape ordinariness, he desperately became stronger. To gain more, he put on a petty face and constantly tried to please others. Even when others looked down on him, he still smiled.

In order to climb higher, he became a menial servant in the Hakumai Daimyo's Mansion, the lowest-ranking person there.

At the same time, he also shoulders the great responsibility of the rise of the Kurozumi Family. Most of the Kurozumi Family members are displaced and wander, while a small number of them hide in the wilderness or live in towns under assumed names.

He longed to reach the pinnacle of power. Although he had the help of Kurozumi Semimaru, a senior member of the Kurozumi Family, he still succeeded. That was only part of the help; he relied more on himself. Entering the General's Mansion alone was like venturing into a tiger's den, extremely dangerous. He could only rely on himself for this. Sometimes he didn't even dare to sleep.

However, in the end, he persevered and, through his acting skills, did not reveal the slightest flaw. He gradually gained a foothold in the General's Mansion and earned the recognition of others with his abilities. He began to build his own power and regain the strength of the Kurozumi Family, and he has continued to this day.

After gazing at the beautiful Capital of Flowers, the Orochi couldn't help but laugh, "Let's take one last look. We won't have the chance to see such a view again."

After a long while, Orochi shifted his gaze to the thousands of samurai and ninja soldiers below, who stood solemnly, dignifiedly, and coldly, seemingly awaiting Orochi's command.

"Haha, this beautiful Capital of Flowers can't be destroyed like this, even if it doesn't belong to me." Orochi spread his arms and laughed heartily. "Enough with the nonsense, let's go out and make a big splash, and let Kurozumi's glory shine on the entire Wano Country once again."

"Yes, Lord Orochi," the samurai below replied in unison, while the ninjas all lowered their heads, obeying Lord Orochi's orders.

After leaving the general's mansion, everyone below was ready. The remaining people were all Orochi's confidants and the Kurozumi Clan's confidants. The highest-spec general's exclusive sandalwood carriage was specially built by Orochi, with black and gold as the main colors and a large snake character embroidered on the leaf windows on both sides.

Riding in the palanquin, one can see that all the samurai and ninjas wear the character for snake on their shoulders. The Kurozumi Clan has been extinct for a long time, and although they have risen again, Orochi is their lord, and Orochi represents Kurozumi.

The drunkenness on Kurozumi Orochi's face had completely subsided, and he sat properly in the carriage. In addition to the samurai and ninjas, the power of the Kurozumi Clan continued to gather, surrounding Kurozumi Orochi.

An elderly man came out, wearing a black kimono embroidered with the character for snake, and a knife at his waist.

Along the way, the samurai and ninjas made way for the Orochi's carriage, showing him great respect and treating him with special regard.

Upon seeing him, Orochi wanted to get out of the carriage to greet him, but the old man waved his hand and said, "No need, Orochi. You are now the head of the Kurozumi Clan and the shogun of Wano Country. From now on, I will listen to you. Let this old man do his part for Kurozumi."

"Yes, senior." Orochi bowed his head to show respect. This was a senior of the Kurozumi Clan, and also a powerful swordsman of the Great Swordmaster level. He had survived the rebellion decades ago and had always protected the Kurozumi Family. More importantly, he had always been the one supporting him from behind.

"Haha! Orochi, you were the one who led this battle, and we are exhausted too. To die in such a war is enough to satisfy me." Two middle-aged swordsmen walked over, one of them laughing.

These two are also Great Swordmaster, making a total of three Great Swordmaster. This is the foundation behind Kurozumi Orochi. However, this is also the last bit of power left. There is still too little time for Orochi and the Kurozumi Clan to develop.

Hearing their words, Orochi couldn't help but laugh heartily, feeling a sense of satisfaction. He was surrounded by his people, people who believed in him and were willing to fight alongside him. At this moment, he truly felt that he was the shogun of Wano Country, a true shogun.

A powerful aura erupted from his body; he no longer concealed himself, nor did he need to. Outsiders present could sense that Orochi was the strongest among them.

Orochi has always displayed very weak strength, which is why Kozuki Sukiyaki made him the acting shogun. Such weak strength would not pose a threat to Oden, and without strong and recognized strength, it would be impossible to become an Orochi.

"Let's set off now and settle this score with them outside the Capital of Flowers!" Orochi shouted, drawing his long sword and pointing it forward.

At Orochi's command, everyone set off, heading towards the outskirts of the Capital of Flowers. However, everyone was very clear, especially Orochi, that this was the final battle. After this battle, they would not be able to survive, because they would be facing the combined samurai legions of the other five Daimyo. They were also very aware of the powerful strength of Wano Country. Although they had three Great Swordmaster, they still had no chance of winning.

They were all prepared to die in this battle, even Orochi, who preferred to die in front of a great crowd.

Meanwhile, the Daimyo who had already set off arrived with their samurai legions. Leading the group was the Kozuki Clan samurai, Kozuki Sukiyaki, who sat on horseback. Beside him were Shimotsuki Yasuie, Daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuiie Hakumai, Shimotsuki Gyumaru Daimyo, Ringo samurai of the Fuugetsu clan, the samurai of the Amaterasu clan, the samurai of the Amatsuki clan, and the samurai of Kuri.

This is a samurai legion of over 100,000 men. Such a powerful force gathered here has never appeared in the past Wano Country. But now, it has. The samurai of various families have gathered together, united, to face a common enemy: Kurozumi.

A dense crowd of samurai had gathered here, looking around curiously. There were so many people that even the Daimyo were quite shocked.

Now, the Kurozumi Clan's secret plot has been exposed and is known to everyone. The target of this operation is the current acting general, the strategist, Kurozumi Orochi, who will eliminate the Kurozumi Clan.

"I'm truly sorry. I was tricked by the Kurozumi Clan and easily trusted Orochi, which led to this situation." Kozuki Sukiyaki looked at the other Daimyo he knew beside him and couldn't help but feel ashamed.

It all started with him; if he had known, it wouldn't have turned out this way.

"Haha, Sukiyaki, this isn't your fault. The Kurozumi Clan is ambitious and has been planning this for a long time. It was only a matter of time. Our predecessors had already planned to completely wipe out the Kurozumi Clan, but in the end, they were spared out of mercy." Shimotsuki Gyumaru laughed loudly from the side.

As the Daimyo of Wano Country, he naturally knew the inside story of what happened back then. After receiving news of the Kurozumi Clan's rebellion, he searched through the clan's records to find out what had happened during the rebellion.

After the rebellion was suppressed, the original plan was to execute all the rebels. However, the general at the time, out of consideration for past relationships, spared them. But since their offenses could not be easily forgiven, he exiled them instead. This decision was opposed by many people at the time, as they felt the punishment was too lenient.

"Don't worry, we won't let them get away this time." Kozuki Sukiyaki nodded firmly, but then suddenly his face turned pale and he started coughing incessantly, covering his mouth with his sleeve.

This was witnessed by many; Kozuki Sukiyaki had some blood on the corner of his mouth, and the morale of the troops wavered slightly.

"Sukiyaki, are you alright?" They knew about Kozuki Sukiyaki's condition, but he seemed fine before, so they didn't expect it to be exposed at this time.

"Haha, it's alright, much better than before." Kozuki Sukiyaki very optimistic, knowing that her poisoning was still quite severe. "It's already very good that I'm alive."

However, the other Daimyo remained deeply worried, "When will Oden return? We're all waiting for him."

At this moment, a commotion broke out at the rear of the samurai legion. All the samurai made way, and then someone shouted, "Oden is back!"

One person shouted, then two people shouted, and before long, the news of Oden's return had spread throughout the entire legion. Everyone knew, and they were all invigorated.

"Oden is back." Kozuki Sukiyaki and the others said, their eyes filled with joy. They all turned to look behind them and immediately saw Oden riding Flame Deer, waving in their direction. Then, they saw the large group of Oden behind Oden. Among them, the tall Whitebeard giant possessed terrifying power that made their hearts tremble. The pirate brothers behind him were also quite strong, and it was clear at a glance that they were different from the people of Wano Country.

Both in terms of clothing and demeanor.

"Are these Oden's companions?" Kozuki Sukiyaki murmured to himself. They naturally knew about Oden's departure to sea and had gone out to sea with him on a ship.

"So many people!" It can be seen that nearly a thousand people are rushing towards this side from behind Oden.

"It's our lord!" The most excited people upon seeing Oden were the samurai of the Kuri clan. Kin'emon, Denjiro shouted excitedly, their lord, whom they had waited for for many years, had finally returned.

"Haha! I'm finally back." Oden laughed heartily. Only now, seeing these familiar faces, did he truly feel like he had come home.

Whitebeard followed closely behind Oden. After running for so long, Whitebeard was only slightly out of breath, seemingly unaffected. He truly lived up to his reputation as someone with a monstrous physique.

Marco descended from the sky, landing behind Whitebeard. The flames of immortality on his body were gradually dissipating. Teach, riding the Giant Boar king, arrived here, attracting many eyes. At this moment, after running continuously, the Boar King was already panting heavily, and he felt that his strong body was shrinking.

Teach jumped off the Boar King, followed closely by Mobius, Pito, and Wos.

Looking at the Boar King, Teach couldn't help but smile. "Alright, we've arrived. You can go now."

Upon hearing Teach's words, the Boar King, who was already too exhausted to run any further, suddenly became excited. He felt his body suddenly filled with power, roared happily, stomped his foot, causing the ground to tremble, and then turned around and ran away quickly.

The Whitebeard Pirates continued to catch up from behind. The stronger members ran and followed closely behind, while those who were slower, following Teach's example, rode horses, sat in carriages, or drove wild beasts, tying them up with ropes and sitting on makeshift sleds behind them.

The samurai made way for the Whitebeard Pirates, and soon, almost all the members of the Whitebeard Pirates arrived.

Many people know about Oden's voyage, but no one expected that Oden would bring people with him. They stood curiously at these guests from the outside world, looking at their various clothes, appearances, and weapons. Some even looked at ability users like Marco. Many of these guests from the outside world knew "magic".

"Father, are you alright?" Oden asked with a furrowed brow, very worried upon seeing Kozuki Sukiyaki's condition.

"Haha, it's alright." Kozuki Sukiyaki was very happy. He could feel that Oden was much stronger and had grown a lot since he left. He had gained a composure that Kozuki Sukiyaki had never had before. He could now confidently hand over the position of Shogun of Wano Country to Oden.

"No, leave this to me. I have a doctor among my companions who can cure your poison." Oden shook his head and said. After meeting Momonosuke and giving birth to Momonosuke and Hiyori, he realized the preciousness of family and did not want anything to happen to her father. You know, Kozuki Sukiyaki had been poisoned for two or three years and was on the verge of death. Although he was pulled back, he was still in great danger.

"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you from now on." Kozuki Sukiyaki looked at Oden's determined eyes and couldn't help but sigh at how much Oden had grown. The Daimyo around him were also very worried about his health and nodded in agreement.

"Our Whitebeard Pirates' doctor is ready. Let's go to the back and take a look," Whitebeard said, looking at Kozuki Sukiyaki, knowing he was Oden's father.

Kozuki Sukiyaki subsided, Kozuki Oden came up, along with his Oden. He also saw his former companions, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Izo, who had sailed with him that day.

They greeted each other, and were very happy to see each other after so long.

Suddenly, a huge commotion came from the direction of the Capital of Flowers. From afar, a group of people dressed in black could be seen. Oden Wano Country had already left. The only ones who could have so many people were the Orochi's Mansion, which had Orochi, and the Kurozumi Clan.

Samurai, ninja legions, members of the Orochi Oniwabanshu (Orochi's Orochi's Oniwabanshu), an army of thousands, marched out of the Capital of Flowers in a grand procession.