The sky was gray and overcast.
Kuzan raised his head to look at the red-haired figure standing atop the cliff, his expression immediately turning complicated.
"Long time no see, Yoriichi!"
The man blocking the Marines' path was none other than Tsugikuni Yoriichi. The moment Kuzan saw him, the doubts lingering in his heart vanished without a trace.
He had been wondering why this route through the Red Strait had been blocked by a rock wall, and why the mountains on either side had such unnaturally smooth diagonal cuts.
The instant he saw Tsugikuni Yoriichi, all those questions were answered.
If it was Tsugikuni Yoriichi, then he really could do something like this.
Kuzan and Tsugikuni Yoriichi had not seen each other for several years. Kuzan had once imagined what it would be like for old friends to meet again.
But...
Standing on completely opposing sides like this was something Kuzan had never imagined.
The New Marines were very powerful. Kuzan had always believed that the World Government and Marine Headquarters would not rashly clash with them.
At worst, the New Marines would claim territory in the New World and refuse to submit to the World Government's rule.
There were many forces like that in this world. Back then, the Whitebeard Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, and others had all been treated by the World Government with one eye open and one eye closed.
In Kuzan's memory, aside from the time the Whitebeard Pirates had taken the initiative to attack Marine Headquarters, the Marines and the World Government had never mobilized on such a massive scale as they had now.
Had Tsugikuni Yoriichi's threat to the Celestial Dragons truly reached a level that could no longer be ignored?
Seeing Tsugikuni Yoriichi again left Kuzan feeling deeply conflicted.
To be honest, even