8 Rest, Prepare to Head to Wano Country

"Ah! This feels so good. Those Marines were like dogs, hanging on and refusing to let go. They finally left." Steam filled the air as a pirate submerged himself in the hot spring, leaving only his head and outstretched arms above the water. Members of the Whitebeard Pirates surrounded him.

"Three whole months. They annoyed the hell out of us and disrupted our voyage. The next time we see those Marines, we have to teach them a lesson."

Teach lay back in the hot spring with his eyes closed, relaxing. After that operation had failed, the Marines, led by Sengoku, had pursued the Whitebeard Pirates for a full three months in order to restore their reputation. During those three months, the Whitebeard Pirates had clashed with the Marines nearly a hundred times. Every time they escaped, the Marines would catch up again before long.

The entire New World had turned its attention toward the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines. During this period, conflicts throughout the New World had decreased considerably. Whenever they passed through the territories of other Great Pirates, three-way and even four-way brawls broke out on several occasions.

Golden Lion, Big Mom, Kaido, and other Great Pirates would occasionally jump in and stir up trouble, leaving the Whitebeard Pirates physically and mentally exhausted. They had therefore stopped their traveling plans and returned to Whitebeard Pirates territory. Moreover, some minor problems had emerged in their territory during their absence. Without the Whitebeard Pirates to hold things down for so long, their subordinate pirate crews were struggling to keep matters under control.

The Whitebeard Pirates urgently needed to return and deal with it. Some petty scoundrels had set their sights on Whitebeard Pirates territory while they were away.

After three straight months of pursuit, they had spent nearly another month after returning to clear out the small fry in their territory. Two pirate crews had been wiped out before things finally settled down. Teach, however, had not been affected as badly as the others. He was merely mentally worn out and needed to relax properly.

This was an island under Whitebeard Pirates territory, a hot spring island famous throughout the New World. There were several active volcanoes on the island, though none had erupted in decades. Every year, countless tourists and pirates came here.

Teach thought about the two Devil Fruits he had obtained from Whitebeard's ship. Naturally, the Whitebeard Pirates possessed a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, as did all the major powers in the New World. The only question was how complete they were.

Many Devil Fruits had names, while others remained unknown. Teach had acquired a Thorn Fruit and a Bounce Fruit. In his eyes, both were highly versatile Devil Fruits: a Thorn Human capable of controlling thorns, and a Bounce Human with extreme elasticity, though without the ability to reflect attacks.

This world was somewhat strange. There was no plant-type category, so such powers were classified as Paramecia. Besides, they could not transform into animals like Zoans.

Most of the crew from the Whitebeard Pirates' main ship were here. Even Pops was somewhat tired. This was a happy day, a comfortable day.

Teach had not felt like this in a long time. The Moby Dick of the Whitebeard Pirates was docked in the harbor, and the pirates on the island all behaved cautiously, not daring to cause trouble. This was the Whitebeard Pirates, after all. Even those who were usually arrogant had quieted down considerably.

The major hot springs on Hot Spring Island had all been reserved by the Whitebeard Pirates. Today was a good day. Most of Whitebeard's key members were here, and after relaxing for the day, they would hold a banquet that evening.

However, they would all have to return to guard their respective islands the next day. The Whitebeard Pirates' territory was not small, but it was not yet that vast either. Their power had yet to reach its peak, and they did not need such an enormous territory. As the Whitebeard Pirates expanded, however, expanding their territory was inevitable. Some members also needed to patrol the seas to prevent others from infiltrating in secret.

Guarding a territory was far from simple. Teach had improved greatly over these four months. Whether it was swordsmanship or Haki, he could already use Armament Haki proficiently and freely. Tempering his body was now what he needed to focus on.

Teach could activate and deactivate Conqueror's Haki and control its range, but he still could not control it with enough precision to avoid his companions while targeting only his enemies. He was still training that kind of selective Conqueror's Haki.

After obtaining the twin guns, Teach's marksmanship had also improved by leaps and bounds. There had been a saying in his previous life: "Guns and cannons are a man's romance." In his previous life, such things were visible but unattainable.

He liked the feeling of firing a gun, the sound of bang, bang ringing in his ears. The guns in this world were far more primitive than those of his previous life, yet their power was much greater. Teach had carefully examined the structure of his pistols. They were extremely sturdy and could fire over great distances. Combined with Armament Haki and Observation Haki, the bullets' power was terrifying.

With his powerful Observation Haki, Teach's marksmanship could also be considered among the best.

Unlike the advancement of Armament Haki, Observation Haki had no further development technique like "Ryou." Expanding its range required constant training, while foreseeing the future had no set path for training and could only be comprehended in battle.

As Teach expanded the range of his Observation Haki, he also refined it to the utmost degree, while continuing to pursue deeper future sight.

Time passed so quickly. A faint smile appeared on Teach's face as he looked up at a hot spring pool not far away. Pops and the others were there, along with Oden, who was laughing heartily.

In another two years, they would encounter the Roger Pirates by chance. Oden would then leave the Whitebeard Pirates, board Roger's ship, and help Roger reach the One Piece and ascend the throne of Pirate King.

That Pirate King was a symbolic title, one acknowledged by everyone. But making other pirates obey his commands was impossible. Pirates were all an unruly bunch.

Kozuki Momonosuke had also already been born before Teach joined the Whitebeard Pirates. He was smiling as he played in the hot spring. The future most beautiful woman of Wano Country, Komurasaki—also known as Kozuki Hiyori—had been born as well, only a short while ago.

The longer one spent around Kozuki Oden, the easier it was to be influenced by his emotions. He was a man with an incredibly broad heart, as though he could contain everything, and he possessed monstrous strength. Yet in the future, his death would be rather tragic. He trusted his enemies too easily, and through collusion from within and without, a heroic figure was framed and eventually executed amid the scorn of countless people.

Wano Country was already in trouble at this time. Kurozumi Orochi had taken the position of acting shogun of Wano Country, while Oden's father had been murdered. Behind the scenes were two powerful figures, Kurozumi Semimaru and Kurozumi Kamachi, the users of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit and the Copy-Copy Fruit respectively.

It was through the Copy-Copy Fruit's ability that Kurozumi Orochi had been able to deceive the other Daimyo and take the position of acting shogun of Wano Country.

Kanjuro, one of Oden's Nine Red Scabbards, was a spy sent by Orochi. He had stolen vast amounts of Kuri's wealth, causing Kuri to grow poorer and poorer.

Teach had a great deal of goodwill toward Kozuki Oden. Although the evil side of his personality was more prominent, and he did not consider himself a good person, that did not prevent Teach from helping Kozuki Oden and making trouble for Kaido. In the future, Kaido would join forces with Kurozumi Orochi to wipe out the Kozuki Clan and rule Wano Country together. In the end, aside from the prosperous Capital of Flowers, every other part of Wano Country would become wasteland.

Kaido did not know how to manage anything at all. All he saw were the immense profits of Seastone, and Teach deeply despised such brutal methods of management.

But the timing was wrong. He had never been to Wano Country, so how could he possibly know what was happening there? The more time passed, the more unfavorable it would be for Oden.

It would be too much of a pity for a man like that to die so easily. Besides, changing history gave Teach a strong sense of accomplishment.

With that thought, Teach rose to his feet and slowly walked over. "Hey, Teach, come soak with us." Jozu waved at him. The future Diamond Jozu was already one of the strong men aboard the ship, born with astonishing brute strength.

"Haha, I've soaked enough." Teach smiled and looked at Whitebeard. "Pops, we shouldn't have any major operations coming up, right?"

"Mm, we'll be resting for a while. What is it?" Whitebeard asked. From Teach's words, he could tell that Teach seemed to have something in mind. Teach smiled and looked at Oden beside him. "I want to make a trip to Wano Country. I want to find Wano Country's finest craftsmen to repair my three blades, and while I'm there, see Wano Country's 'Ryou' and try some authentic Oden."

That was precisely why Teach needed to go. He did not know how to maintain swords. Aside from Purgatory, which his teacher had always maintained well, Thunder Fang had suffered some wear after going unused for decades. Dragon Abyss, though of extremely high quality, was also several centuries old and needed proper polishing and maintenance.

"Oden, you don't want to go back yet, do you? If there's anything you need, you can leave it to me. I can also deliver any messages you have." Teach spoke seriously. "Haha, thank you, Teach. I have so much I want to say. Wait a moment—I'll write a letter later, and you can bring it back for me." Oden was delighted. "Oh, I've been away for three years already. I wonder how Wano Country is doing now! I can't wait to know."

"Dad, is Wano Country Dad's hometown?" Momonosuke asked from the side.

"That's right. It's a very beautiful place. After some time, once I've seen more different sights, I'll take you back with me." Oden smiled, spreading his arms as his eyes gleamed.

"Teach, will you really be all right going alone?" Marco asked worriedly. "Haha, don't underestimate me, Marco. I'm not a landlubber like you." Teach mocked. "I heard Wano Country's entrance is a massive waterfall. I can already use Geppo proficiently, so I can easily fly up it."

Marco had now eaten that Mythical Zoan Phoenix Fruit. Marco had been quite lucky. He had picked one Devil Fruit from among those with unknown identities and eaten it, only for it to be a Mythical Zoan even rarer than a Logia. The entire Whitebeard Pirates had been stunned at the time, and even Teach had been surprised. So that was how Marco had obtained his power.

With that kind of luck, there had previously been plenty of people stronger than him. But after eating the Devil Fruit, he had soared in strength and become one of the foremost powerhouses. With that bug-like recovery ability and the power of flight, he was practically invincible.

"Gurararara, then go, Teach. This will be a form of training too." Whitebeard laughed.

Before long, Oden could no longer sit still. He found a place and began writing furiously. This was undoubtedly something that made him happy. Then, before the banquet began, he took out several pages covered in writing, carefully placed them in an envelope, and handed it to Teach.

That night, the area was brilliantly lit. Everyone happily drank wine, devoured food, chatted, and played. In the center of the gathering, Marco and Jozu had their arms around each other's shoulders as they drank, thoroughly drunk and performing some strange dance. Every so often, they would hop twice and kick up their legs together.

It was utterly painful to watch, yet they were so immersed in it that they looked rather adorable, like children. The pirates around them all cheered loudly.

"Teach, aren't you going up there? Come have fun with everyone." Vista took a swig of wine, hooked an arm around Teach's shoulders, and laughed. "Haha, I'm already having fun." Teach's face was slightly flushed, but his eyes remained clear. "Though I have to say, Marco's dancing is a little ugly." As he spoke, apparently thinking of something, he snickered and somehow pulled out a camera. He took three consecutive pictures of Marco and Jozu in the center. "Teach, what are you doing?" Vista asked in confusion.

"Haha, once Marco becomes famous in the future and turns into a powerhouse of the New World, I'll release these photos. What do you think?" The thought alone excited him, and his eyes took on a somewhat lecherous glint. Hearing Teach's words, Vista froze for a moment and looked at Marco's little butt sticking out on the dance floor.

Thinking of Marco's reaction when he saw those photos in the future, Vista, who had lived for many years, could not help feeling a chill run down his spine. "That's truly vicious!" If the same thing happened to him, his gentlemanly demeanor and lifelong reputation would be utterly ruined.

Then Vista burst into laughter. "Take one for me too later. I want to keep it as a collectible, haha." The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Several pirates nearby heard them and moved closer. "Teach, take one for me too." Teach smiled and nodded. "No rush. I'll print a hundred copies later. Everyone will get one."

At this moment, Marco had no idea that these photos would ruin his lifelong reputation in the future.

The banquet gradually quieted down amid the joy.