Chapter 263: Land of Wano, Developments and Goal
Chapter 263: Land of Wano, Developments and Goal
__________ POV Narration __________
On a flowery hill on the precipice of a grand canyon, stood two figures.
One was a young man with long flowing black hair wearing an orange and white Yukata. He had very sharp features, dark eyes, and a large smile on his face.
By his side stood the figure of a voluptuous woman, wearing a sleeveless traditional samurai garb, showing some rather deep cleavage. On her back was a chipped and cracked metallic club.
She had a rather round and beautiful face with fair features, and shining and large blue eyes, which seemed to contrast well with her flowing white hair that stood caught in a ponytail and the two small horns on her forehead.
The two people were none other than Momonosuke and Yamato.
One being the biological son of Kozuki Oden, and the current young Shogun of Wano.
The other was a young woman who had been deeply inspired by Oden's story and the courage of his subordinates.
She was inspired to the point where she decided to become a man.
The two were staring at the valley below, just months ago they had bid farewell to the Strawhats and the people who had saved their country.
"So much time has passed... I wonder when they'll be back." Momonosuke crossed his arms as he looked in the distance with a fond gaze.
"It hasn't been that long, you know?" Yamato narrowed his/her eyes at the young Shogun to her side.
"Heh... The passage of time does seem a bit confusing to me. But I'll get used to it." Momonosuke rubbed the back of his head, keeping the wide smile on his face unhindered.
Usually, children perceive time much differently from adults. Although his body was that of an adult, his mind was still that of a child, so there were some discrepancies there.
"Still, it's been a good few months, I wonder how everyone is doing..." Yamato sighed, her boisterous voice sounding a bit more restrained as she looked into the horizon.
"I'm sure they're fine. Luffy is strong! Same for Enel and all of his retainers..."
The entire Land of Wano remembered the moment when Titans touched down in Onigashima. They remembered the rhythmic beat, the drums of liberation that resounded when Luffy rose from the ground.
It was certainly memorable. Even more so when his gigantic fist the size of an island struck down Kaido.
Very few had noticed Enel assisting him in those last moments, but Yamato and Momonosuke both knew what had happened.
They saw Enel supporting Luffy in that last clash. They saw how Enel had pressed Kaido to the ground, how he snipped the dragon's wings and made him earthbound with his thunder.
It was a legendary fight, and it was also extremely therapeutic to watch for those who had suffered under Kaido's rule all those years.
Yamato did feel a smidge of pity towards her father. She had at some point hoped that there was a softer side to him, but it seemed that she had always been mistaken.
One part of his habits sure never changed... He was always looking for Joyboy. There was a reason why he very rarely killed prisoners in the past.
He believed that one day he would be brought down, and that only Joyboy would be able to do that. No, he could only accept dying at the hands of Joyboy.
Yamato didn't really ponder on his death for too long, as she saw it as good riddance to some extent.
She did regret not getting to join the Straw Hats in their journey, but at the same time, she wanted to be there to protect Wano just in case.
The country was still closed, but there was a possibility of there being visitors in their lands. She also took that time to teach Momonosuke more about Haki.
The dragon cub had a very long way to go still. But he had made outstanding progress in a short few months, being already able to use the most basic form of armament.
His control over his Dragon Artificial Devil Fruit had also improved a lot, although he still had trouble summoning the flame clouds that Kaido controlled with so much ease.
But now they took a break from training, and Momonosuke was free to wander the Flower Captial for a bit.
The people of Wano were welcoming to him and his reign, many felt as if they were waking up from a nightmare.
Momonosuke was not yet at the point where he was making decisions by himself. he was still quite immature. His grandfather, Kozuki Sukiyaki, was the one currently in charge of most duties.
Momonosuke still had a lot of work in front of him before he became a proper ruler, one that Wano deserved. But he was willing to learn, and he wanted to give his people the best.
"Wano shines best at night, huh?" Momonosuke sighed as he then turned back and looked at the sunset.
It was then that he noticed it... A slight shadow cast over the sun, looking like a small dark cloud in the distance.
Then he heard Drums, not like the ones that he heard from Joyboy. No these weren't the drums of liberation. But Momonosuke couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"... Drums of war?!" The person by his side seemed to have an idea, however.
Immediately, Yamato also became vigilant, narrowing his/her eyes and grabbing the handle of his/her metallic club.
"What can you see, a flying ship?" Yamato asked as he squinted and tried to see further into the distance.
"I-I can't tell either..." Momonosuke was sweating a bit, unsure if someone was declaring war upon Wano.
"We should meet them halfway... Give the others time to prepare." Yamato was not quite as stressed, she simply looked forward to engaging those who dared declare war on Wano.
Momonosuke nodded, seemingly agreeing with her. In an instant, his body morphed and transformed into that of a long pink dragon, he was smaller in size compared to Kaido before awakening.
Yamato immediately jumped on his head and grabbed onto one of his horns.
Then, at the top of his lungs, he shouted.
"SAMURAI OF WANO! PREPARE FOR WAR!"
His voice thundered, even overshadowing the slight drumming heard in the distance.
Panic quickly spread through the people of Wano, and the samurai who heard the drums and Yamato all immediately got to work, gearing up for battle.
In the distance, Momnosuke and Yamato were already treading the air towards their opponents.
It took around 10 minutes of flying for them to realize just how far away their 'enemy' was.
And then, after around 20 more minutes, they realised the actual size of the ones sounding the drums of war...
"T-that..." Yamato's face seemed to fall as he realised that what they were looking at was no mere Ship.
"Flying islands!?" Momonosuke sounded just as scared and confused in that instant.
And immediately, Yamato and Momonosuke looked at each other, contemplating what to do next.
Yamato was strong, but he wasn't confident in fighting that many islands at once. And Momonosuke could at best provide some supporting fire.
They still had some 30-odd minutes before they came close enough to the flying islands...
'Maybe it would be smarter to retreat and try to prepare in Wano instead of fighting them in the air?...' Yamato thought for a moment, his hand tightly gripping the metallic club's handle.
Just as he was about to speak out, Yamato felt the air behind him shift slightly, and Momonosuke felt something heavy land on his back.
"Yamato, Momonosuke, really nice of you two to come out and greet us so early!"
The two of them were filled with cold sweat for a moment, but quickly recovered as they realized who the person behind them actually was.
"Lord Enel!" Momonosuke recognized him first.
Yamato immediately let go of his weapon and turned around fully, facing the Emperor with a wide smile on his face.
"Holy shit that scared me... Enel! It's great to see you! I've heard and seen so much about you, yet I never got to meet you properly!"
"Sorry for scaring you, I figured you were getting the wrong impression regarding the drums... We are waging war against the World Government, Wano is safe."
Enel smiled apologetically as he explained. He had somewhat expected the people of Wano to be a bit more aggressive when hearing the drums since they had just come out of a war.
He was planning on heading to the island first or sending Shiki there before the army got too close, but it seemed that it was no longer needed.
"War on the World Government?!?" Momonosuke immediately became squeamish at the notion.
"Another war, huh?" Yamato seemed a bit less shocked at the notion, though Enel didn't expect that to mean any one of them was willing to join in.
"Indeed, we are merely passing by Wano, and I was planning on saying Hello to Lord Sukiyaki as well before flying off..."
"You know Grandpa?" Momonosuke couldn't help but ask, his childish tone not fitting his large dragon body too well.
"I know him briefly..." Enel muttered as he remembered his short conversation with the Kozuki Elder.
Enel passed by Wano exactly because of it. He wanted to find out if Wano was ready to open up its borders so that they could finally get thier hands on Pluto.
"Great, we'll lead you there then!" Momonosuke mouthed off as his body started twisting and turning around.
"Sure thing! My people will follow behind us..." The islands started moving as well, following the Dragon and keeping up with his speed.
Momonosuke noticed this and started flying faster and faster, the islands adjusting thier speed accordingly as well.
"You won't be losing them anytime soon Momonosuke..." The Emperor laughed slightly as the Dragon cub turned the small journey into a race.
The young Shogun seemed embarrassed for a few seconds but recovered quickly enough.
And after around 30 minutes, they were back above Wano.
By that point, the Samurai who had been getting ready for war noticed what exactly was approaching them.
Very few could keep their cool when faced with such a scene, but seeing Momonosuke and Yamato leading the islands was a bit calming to the Samurai.
Them Ladning in the Flower Captial, and the Sky Islands hovering over the skies of Wano did make them quite anxious. But there wasn't much for them to do.
No one among them had the power to slash through islands.
Thankfully Yamato was quick to go and explain the situation to everyone, finally allowing the weary samurai to rest easy.
Even if not everyone knew of Enel's involvement in Kaido's death, plenty knew that the Sky King's men were among the ones who took part in the extermination squad that marched into Onigashima that fateful day.
Momonosuke landed in the courtyard of his family's compound. He waved off the guards that had gathered around him and quickly led Enel towards his Grandfather's office.
'Now then... Let's check if Wano is ready to open up its borders... Shall we?'
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