Mythical Zoan Onyudo and Yamata no Orochi

The Flower Capital plunged into an ocean of joy.

They won!

Their counterattack to restore the country had actually succeeded!

Everything felt so surreal.

Denjiro returned alongside Kozuki Hiyori, pushing the insurgent army's fervor to even greater heights.

Yet another member of the Kozuki Family appeared.

This proved that the Kozuki Family was truly favored by destiny.

Three members of the Nine Red Scabbards reunited, all their grievances swallowed in silence.

Ashura Doji spent over a decade as a mountain bandit, while Denjiro spent those same dozen years enduring humiliation under Kurozumi Orochi.

Karamatsu spent over a decade locked away in a Seastone mine.

The former daimyo of Hakumai, Shimotsuki Yasuie, even wished to personally pay his respects to General Kozuki Sukiyaki.

Back then, Wano Country boasted five daimyo: Kozuki Oden of Kuri, Shimotsuki Ushimaru of Ringo, Fugetsu Omusubi of Kibi District, and Amatsuki Tempura of Udon.

Aside from Shimotsuki Yasuie, who narrowly escaped with his life, the other four daimyo all perished at the hands of Beast Kaido.

This left Yasuie consumed by guilt and self-blame, and now he only wished to beg for forgiveness from General Sukiyaki.

After all, it was he who had taken in Kurozumi Orochi all those years ago and allowed him to become Kozuki Oden's retainer.

However, everyone soon discovered that their General Sukiyaki had departed without a word, taking Onimaru with him and leaving behind only a letter.

The letter stated that as a ruler who lost his country, he was no longer fit to serve as the general of Wano Country. Moreover, advanced in age and lacking energy, he designated Kozuki Hiyori to temporarily assume the position of shogun.

Should Kozuki Momonosuke ever return, he was to succeed the throne.

Sukiyaki intended to live in seclusion within Wano Country, silently watching over its development.

This letter shocked Kozuki Hiyori, the three members of the Nine Red Scabbards, Shimotsuki Yasuie, and the five yakuza bosses.

Nevertheless, they followed Kozuki Sukiyaki's decree, supporting Princess Hiyori as the acting shogun of Wano Country.

Kozuki Hiyori quickly composed herself, restoring Shimotsuki Yasuie to his daimyo position and keeping him in charge of Hakumai.

She also appointed Ashura Doji as the daimyo of Kuri, Denjiro as the daimyo of Kibi, and Karamatsu as the daimyo of Ringo, swiftly seizing control of the nation's situation.

To reward Hyo of the Flower and the other four yakuza bosses for their righteous deeds, Kozuki Hiyori established the Udon Daimyo Residence, allowing the five of them to jointly govern Udon.

At the same time, this kept them on the front lines, continuing to fight against Beast's forces.

Going from yakuza bosses to officially appointed daimyo, the five men were overjoyed and readily accepted their new posts.

With Fukurokuju's surrender, the Oniwabanshu ninja and Mawarimawari-gumi samurai were once again reabsorbed by the Kozuki Shogunate.

The four daimyo and the Udon daimyo quintet began dispersing and absorbing these samurai.

They executed the unyielding, suppressed the neutral, and favored those who surrendered.

One had to admit that, aided by everyone around her, Kozuki Hiyori truly stabilized the situation in Wano Country.

However! As long as a colossal enemy like Beast Kaido existed, all their efforts were destined to become castles in the air, mere reflections of the moon in water.

Yet none of this concerned Luo Ji.

Using the Sukiyaki puppet, he spread news of Shimotsuki Ushimaru, easily luring Onimaru—the komakitsune pet of Ushimaru—right to his side.

Treated to adorable Tama's dango, the clueless Onimaru found himself unwittingly becoming Tama's pet just like that.

"Brother Luo Ji, Onimaru is my pet now too!"

Tama adored the komakitsune. Much like Komachiyo the komainu, it was one of Wano Country's guardian-beast pets.

"Right, from now on, it and Komachiyo will protect you well."

With a beaming smile, Luo Ji spoke after drawing a large vial of blood from Onimaru.

He had now secured the blood of the mythical zoan Onyudo and Yamata no Orochi.

Next came sketching their mythical zoan forms, imbuing them with power, and adding them to Luo Ji's army of mythical zoans.

"Luo Ji, can we set sail yet?"

Yamato, believing she had successfully 'liberated' Wano Country, looked thrilled at having accomplished something even Kozuki Oden could not.

Little did she know that the Wano Country of the immediate future was heading toward an even more tragic fate.

Beast Kaido would not let these bouncing rebels off so easily.

"We can, but we need to find a few pirate ships first!"

Luo Ji smiled faintly. He had finally completed his initial accumulation of wealth right here in Wano Country.

He had built his blood-soaked fortune on the back of Wano Country's future, practically speaking.

Yet he felt not a shred of guilt.

Besides, he hadn't personally raised a hand to destroy this country.

They brought all this upon themselves driven by their own obsession with restoring the nation, so they could just go play nicely with Beast Kaido.

"Luo Ji, I never expected your pirate crew was just established. I really want to invite you guys aboard my ship!"

Looking at the powerful Yamato and Luo Ji, who could glimpse fate itself, Fire Fist Ace desperately wanted to become their companion.

"We aren't meant to be. You're bent on surpassing Roger and stubbornly intend to challenge the Yonko. That is an extremely dangerous path."

Luo Ji smiled lightly. As the fuse that ignited the Summit War, coupled with his current personality and dreams, Fire Fist Ace was destined to walk a different path from him.

"Fine, fine! Stop looking down on me like that. I'm definitely going to beat the Yonko!"

Ace was currently at the stage where a newborn calf does not fear a tiger, paying no heed to the Shichibukai or the Yonko.

"Even though I didn't manage to catch Kurozumi Orochi, I've already given you two more Emperor of Flames. Hurry up and tell me where Sabo is."

Ace asked again. Now that Luo Ji and Yamato were about to set sail, who knew how long it would be before they crossed paths again.

"Sabo joined the Revolutionary Army, serving under Luffy's father. His strength is probably no less than yours.

Back then, however, he was blasted by the Celestial Dragons, suffering severe head trauma and amnesia.

He has forgotten you, Luffy, and many other things as well.

Someday in the future, though, certain events will cause him to remember everything."

Luo Ji raised an eyebrow and cast a strange look at Ace. Sabo would only recover his memories because of Ace's death!

"That's great! As long as Sabo is okay, and to think he actually ended up under Luffy's old man?"

Ace shouted in excitement, flames erupting from his feet as he lifted into the air.

As long as Sabo was alive, it didn't matter if he lost his memory.

One day, Sabo would remember them.

"You might not know this yet, but Luffy's father is the infamous world's worst criminal, Revolutionary Army leader Monkey D. Dragon.

Sabo will become the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army in the future, holding the position of chief of staff. I hope you manage to do better than him."

"So cool!! Luffy's dad is actually a big shot too, and with the old man being a Marine hero, their family is seriously amazing!

Sabo is awesome too! He really lives up to being one of my best brothers!"

Ace flew around in a frenzy of excitement. The intelligence Luo Ji gave him made him happier than he had ever been before.

"Alright! Yamato has already made your Vivre Card. Leave a Den Den Mushi number so we can keep in touch."

Luo Ji tore a piece from Ace's Vivre Card, allowing him to monitor Ace's health and location in the future.

And since the Spade Pirates were this year's Supernovas and had sailed deep into the New World, their ship naturally already had a Den Den Mushi.

Luo Ji had also plundered a few Den Den Mushi from Beast's forces.

He could continue contacting Ace from now on.

Once Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he might even be able to scheme against the Yami Yami no Mi that Thatch would acquire.

That way, the hidden final boss, Blackbeard Teach, would never get a chance to rise.