Adrian occasionally surveyed the bustling, prosperous surroundings, his gaze passing over one extravagantly wealthy merchant and gentleman after another.
Compared with the poverty and decay of Amigasa Village, the people of the Flower Capital practically live in another world.
After a brief moment of reflection, Adrian became a shadow and vanished from the crowded, noisy street, heading straight toward the enormous ancient tree shaped like a crescent moon—the Flower Capital's most conspicuous landmark.
Meanwhile, inside Orochi Castle.
In one of the residence's most secluded rooms.
An ugly, short, pudgy man sat cross-legged in the seat of honor.
His head and mouth were both large, and his broad, square face gave him a seemingly honest look. A purple topknot sprouted from his half-bald scalp, beside which a golden crown sat crookedly, making him look every bit a clown playing king.
He was none other than Wano Country's current "shogun," Kurozumi Orochi!
Opposite Orochi sat a balding old man with a hunched back. The wrinkles on his forehead were deep enough to crush flies, and he looked impossibly ancient.
The shogun of Wano Country's adviser, Kurozumi Semimaru!
"Shogun, Kaido and his Onigashima still haven't returned..."
Kurozumi Semimaru spoke slowly with his eyes lowered, his voice muffled and indistinct, as though something were lodged in his throat.
"Guhuhuhu..."
Propping up his chin in the seat of honor, Kurozumi Orochi let out an eerie laugh like the cry of a nocturnal owl.
"If that [Guardian Deity] never came back—or better yet, died out there—that would be wonderful!"
"Shogun, mind your words!"
Kurozumi Semimaru lifted his drooping eyelids. Despite his warning, a mixture of hope and hatred flashed in his eyes.
Clearly, this user of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit also hoped Kaido and his Beasts Pirates would never return!
In fact, if he could.
Kurozumi Semimaru