Makoto and the Beasts Pirates proceeded together to the capital of Wano Country… Flower Capital.
It must be said, Wano Country, not yet ravaged by Kaido and Orochi as in the original work, was indeed a paradise on earth.
Green mountains, clear waters, flowing waterfalls.
Ancient wooden buildings were built along the mountains, layer upon layer, in a staggered and orderly manner.
Seeing the beautiful scenery of Wano Country, the girls under Makoto were very happy.
Chika spun in place, her light pink skirt fluttering in the wind like a blooming flower.
Now nearly thirty, she exuded an air of being 'fully ripe', more charming than in her high school days.
She ran to Makoto, hooked his arm, and asked with a smile, "Makoto-kun, are we going to live here next?"
"Unless something unexpected happens, yes."
Makoto nodded.
Kaido, walking beside him, blinked at these words.
If Makoto was going to live here, what would happen to his partner, Orochi?
The corner of Kaido's mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
Everyone with their own thoughts finally arrived at Flower Capital.
At that moment, Orochi, along with his subordinates Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru, came to welcome them.
The new shogun of Wano Country had put on such a grand display, and countless citizens of Wano Country also came to watch.
Among the crowd were also the retainers of the Kozuki Family who stayed behind in Wano Country… Kin'emon, Raizo, and others.
At this moment, they didn't yet know that their comrade Kikunojo had been made into a human stick.
"What is our new shogun up to now?"
"I heard he killed everyone who opposed him..."
"Shh… keep your voice down! Don't you want to live?"
The citizens whispered among themselves, their eyes full of fear and disgust.
Kin'emon stood in the crowd, arms crossed, looking coldly at Orochi's smug face, his heart full of anger.
'This usurper!'
When he saw Kaido's extremely robust and very conspicuous figure, Orochi's face lit up with joy as he prepared to step forward and welcome him.
"Kaido-san! Welcome—"
But at that moment, the current user of the Clone-Clone Fruit, Kurozumi Higurashi, was greatly startled.
Her pupils shrank sharply, her whole body froze in place, her mouth open but unable to make any sound.
An image from a newspaper flashed through Higurashi's mind.
The man sitting on a chair, legs crossed, making the King of the World kneel at his feet and lick his shoes.
She trembled as she spoke his name.
"Nishikawa... Makoto..."
Orochi was a bit confused, not immediately remembering who 'Nishikawa Makoto' was.
After all, during this past year of secretly disposing of Kozuki Sukiyaki and sitting on the shogun's throne, he had been busy indulging in pleasure and hadn't been very informed about external news.
Added to the fact that Makoto hadn't done anything major in recent years, Orochi didn't recall him at first.
"Nishikawa Makoto? Who's that?"
Higurashi whispered the words in his ear.
"The King of the World."
Orochi's face instantly turned pale.
His legs went weak—
Thud.
He fell straight to his knees.
"I-I didn't know the King of the World was coming from afar... Forgive me for not welcoming you properly! Forgive me for not welcoming you properly!"
His forehead hit the ground, his voice trembling.
Semimaru and the others behind him also knelt, not daring to lift their heads.
The watching crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Who is that man?"
"The new shogun actually knelt to him..."
"King of the World? What does that mean?"
Kin'emon, Raizo, and the others were also startled.
They watched Orochi groveling like a court jester and couldn't help but wonder who that young man was, to make Orochi grovel to such an extent.
Orochi knelt on the ground, flattering for quite a while before carefully lifting his head and asking, "May I ask why the King of the World has come from afar? Please command me, I will fully cooperate!"
His eyes darted around.
Although the backer he had found was Kaido, if Makoto was willing to be his protector, that would be even better.
Kaido stood aside, watching all this expressionlessly, sneering inwardly.
'This idiot had no idea who he was dealing with.'
Makoto looked down at Orochi kneeling at his feet and said calmly,
"Go die."
Orochi's smile froze on his face.
"Wh-what?"
He couldn't believe his ears.
He wondered why did Makoto want to kill him right away.
"Kai... Kaido-san?!"
Orochi turned his head to look at Kaido, his eyes full of pleading.
But Kaido simply pretended not to see Orochi's expression, turning his face away.
Orochi's heart immediately sank to the bottom.
In the crowd, Kin'emon, Raizo, and others were ecstatic.
Although Orochi had only been shogun for a year, his deeds were already too numerous to record.
Not only did he use force to suppress the opposition, executing them publicly by dismemberment, but he also summoned all the attractive women in Wano Country to the shogun's mansion for his own debauchery.
Oh, although their lord Kozuki Oden had done similar things in the past...
'But Oden-sama was different!'
Kin'emon silently added in his heart.
However—
Makoto's next words wiped the smiles off Kin'emon and the others' faces.
"From now on, the name 'Wano Country' will cease to exist."
"This is the New Amazon Lily."
He reached out, wrapped his arm around Tritoma's slender waist, and pulled her to his side.
"From now on, you will be the Empress of the New Amazon Lily."
Makoto said.
Tritoma's eyes lit up. She stood on tiptoes and kissed Makoto on the cheek.
"Makoto-kun, you're so good to me!"
Makoto smiled and patted her rear.
That's right, he intended to have Tritoma replace Orochi's position from the original work and serve as the leader of this country.
And the country of 'Wano Country' no longer needed to exist... it could just disappear.
"What?!"
"Wano Country... no longer exists?"
"How can this be!"
Exclamations rose and fell in the crowd.
And Kin'emon, Raizo, and Ashura Doji, among other retainers of the Kozuki Family standing in the crowd, their faces changed dramatically.
They had initially thought Makoto killing Orochi would be a good thing for them.
But they never expected Makoto to go this far… directly wanting to rename their country.
This of course triggered a stress reaction in these samurai.
Especially those of the Kozuki Family, who had been waiting for their master, Kozuki Oden, to return and inherit the position of shogun.
"No!"
Raizo was the first to step forward, forming hand seals, striking a battle pose.
"Wano Country is the land of the Kozuki Family! It absolutely cannot be renamed!!"
"Well said!"
Ashura Doji also stepped out from the crowd, gripping a large sword.
"We've waited so many years for Oden-sama to return, how can we let you change the name of the country?"
One by one, the retainers of the Kozuki Family stepped forward.
They drew their swords and surrounded Makoto and his group.
The surrounding citizens also began to stir, some whispering, some looking fearful, others with unease flickering in their eyes.
Makoto looked at these samurai who had stepped forward and couldn't help but laugh.
"Bushido, is it?"
"I specialize in crushing bushido."
Makoto waved his hand.
"Cut off the limbs of these useless wastes, just like that trap earlier."
Although Orochi relied on newspapers and even the oral accounts of his trusted subordinate Higurashi for external information, he was well aware of the things Makoto had done.
When the other party clearly expressed his intent to kill, Orochi instinctively realized—
He is already dead.
Without time to think further, Orochi quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction.
"I'll leave him to you, Kai-san."
Makoto waved to Kaido, his tone as easy as saying 'take out this bag of trash'.
Kaido rolled his eyes.
The reason he came to Wano Country was to form an alliance with Orochi. Now he was being asked to kill his own ally… this went against his principles.
But Kaido didn't argue.
He drew the kanabo from his waist and strode after him.
Although Orochi ran desperately, his speed was negligible before Kaido.
Kaido caught up to him in a few steps and swung his club—
Bang!!
The kanabo smashed into Orochi's head, blood and brain matter splattering.
Orochi's headless body swayed for a moment, then fell to the ground with a 'thud', blood gushing from the neck stump, staining the stone slabs beneath red.
Kaido looked expressionlessly at the headless corpse, then turned and walked away.
'Whatever. I didn't have much of a moral code anyway. This guy was dead, so be it.'
'Speaking of which, Nishikawa Makoto probably wasn't interested in Seastone weapons and such, so I could probably still get plenty of benefits from coming to Wano Country.'
Thinking of this, Kaido's mood improved considerably.
However—
Just as Kaido walked past Orochi's corpse, after taking only two steps, he heard Makoto say to him with a smile, "It's not over yet."
Kaido raised an eyebrow.
Using Observation Haki, he instinctively looked behind him.
Orochi's head had grown back.
"Aaaah—! Aaaah—! It hurts so much—!!"
Orochi clutched his newly grown head, rolling on the ground and screaming in pain.
Even Kaido was startled.
"He can regenerate too?"
Eriri exclaimed in surprise. This scene reminded her of the regenerative abilities of Makoto, Reze, and others.
"It's not regeneration."
Makoto shook his head and said calmly.
"It's the special ability of the Yamata no Orochi Fruit… eight lives. Each time he dies, he loses one life. You have to kill him eight times to finish him off completely."
He paused.
"It feels like this guy hasn't developed many abilities, but just these eight lives are annoying enough."
When reading the manga in his previous life, seeing this guy survive for so long even after Kaido cut off his head, every time he appeared again, Makoto couldn't help but comment… why isn't he dead yet?
And the other person who made Makoto feel the same 'why won't he die' feeling while following the Wano Country Arc was—
Thinking of this, Makoto turned his head to look at Kin'emon and his group, who were charging over with their swords drawn, leading the Nine Red Scabbards.
Yeah.
This one was even more heavyweight.
Taking Kaido's Conqueror's Haki coating to the head and then standing back up in the next scene.
The Hidden Emperor Kin'emon.
The man whose health bar could rival Hinamori Momo's from the Bleach World.