Chapter 242: The Hermit, Pride and Ancient Weapon

Chapter 242: The Hermit, Pride and Ancient Weapon

_________ POV Narration _________

Enel's steps were light as he stepped to the outskirts of Amigasa Village, it was surprisingly still standing tall.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m

Enel had remembered it being destroyed at some point, but it seemed that a lot of events within Wano hadn't happened as expected, or hadn't happened at all.

X-Drake, the Supernova that had joined the Beast Pirates, was nowhere to be seen in Wano.

Not even Enel's senses could find him.

It was rather bizarre, but at that point, Enel knew that expecting things to happen as he knew them was rather foolish.

The entire fate of the world had changed because of him. It was only a matter of time before the world itself shifted as well.

But it wasn't all changing in a bad or unpredictable way.

Thanks to Enel's efforts, the residents of Amigasa Village no longer had to fill their bellies with water in order to not feel the hunger creeping on them.

Of course, hunger was still present, and the food they had was carefully rationed. But at least they were now a few steps away from starvation.

The Beast Pirates were spread too thinly to pay attention to the Amigasa village it seemed, so their small surplus in food went unnoticed.

This worked in their favour, obviously. They all still hid their food and lived in fear, but at least they had something to hide now.

Thankfully for them, they would not be in any danger for the foreseeable future...

Enel also planned to sleep there for a few weeks while training. So any Beast Pirate that would try to get close to the village would be unfortunately turned to ashes.

Enel spared no sympathy for the men and women who indulged their gluttony and greed while taking advantage of an entire country's worth of people and letting them starve.

To the Sky King, they were as good as dead. The second Kaido's imposing figure fell, they would follow him to the grave.

It was the same for Orochi, who was still technically the 'Ruler' and Shogun of Wano and the Flower Capital.

'To think that pathetic weakling has that monster's power...'

Enel shook his head as he remembered the imposing figure that was the real Yamata No Orochi.

He remembered the gigantic snake hiding in the depths of the world, biding its time... It was clearly worlds apart in both power and intelligence compared to the Shogun. There was simply no contest there.

'I guess this puny Shogun only really wields a fragment of Orochi's power, a fragment that's not even been mastered fully...

That's for the better anyway, he's already annoying enough as a weakling.'

Enel still remembered that old saying. 'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely'. Orochi was a piece of shit while being in a flimsy position of power under Kaido's belt.

If he also had significant personal strength then he would surely go off the wall.

Well, he was technically stronger than the regular person, but he was still a weakling by New World standards, and they were in the middle of the New World.

Regardless, the Shogun would soon pay his dues to the Kozuki Clan. And Enel was now standing in front of the oldest member of that family...

"What do you want, tall fellow?"

Those were the words that greeted the wondering emperor as he entered the Hermit's workshop.

There, sitting on what looked like a barstool, was a tall old man with long white hair. He wore a red tengu mask with an extremely long nose.

He wore a black jacket with green poofs along its inner edges over a light grey kimono with purple spots on the bottom.

He also wore dark blue trousers and extremely tall geta sandals on his feet.

Kozuki Sukiyaki, currently masquerading as the hermit and blacksmith Tenguyama Hitetsu.

"It's odd to hear you calling me that, you aren't that much shorter than me with those shoes you have on, Old man..." Enel scratched his chin as he addressed the former Shogun of Wano casually.

"Hmph... I hardly see any point in continuing this conversation. Get to the point of your visit or get out of my shop."

The old Shogun wanted to give the samurai of Wano a chance to redeem themselves. It was already a great shame upon them to have lived like that for so many years.

Now, after all that time, the stars were finally aligning, and the Red Scabbards were coming together.

In their eyes, it was never meant to be an outsider's job to save their country and its people. It was solely their obligation.

It was their pride... But under the current circumstances?

"... I'm afraid that's suicide, there is no samurai or group of samurai in Wano that can take down Kaido as he is currently... I'm sure you noticed it, but he has gotten even stronger somehow."

Enel shook his head. Even in the original, it was a long hope to think that the Red Scabbars would be able to take down Kaido.

They were crushed, even if they had fought valiantly. In the end, the fate of Wano still fell upon the back of an outsider... That outsider was Luffy, Joyboy.

"I am well aware of the risks. Yet I ask you to give us the chance anyway. A chance to wash away our shame." The old Shogun kept his head and gaze angled towards the ground, still bowing to the emperor in front of him.

O-Tama had given up at that point and was just silently staring daggers at Enel. Likely not too appreciative of the man that was making her Master bow his head like that.

"... Fine. I won't be interfering unless I'm truly needed."

Enel shrugged as he conceded. It was never his intention to personally take down Kaido in the first place.

He had hoped that Kozuki Sukiyaki would be able to dissuade the Red Scabbars from rushing into their graves, but there was not much else that he could do if they themselves were unwilling.

'Well, I'll still try to make sure they don't die horrific deaths under Kaido's claws... But I guess their involvement in the Raid in Onigashima is unavoidable...'

Enel had plans for Onigashima, great plans. And he wanted to make sure that there was no 'fodder' on it.

He only wanted the strongest of the Strawhats and of every faction present. While the Red Scabbards were strong, they were weak in front of the likes of Yamato and even a properly grown Momonosuke.

Essentially, Enel wanted to lessen the casualties in Wano as much as possible.

But if Fate had other plans, then there wasn't much he could do.

At the end of the day, he couldn't just throw lighting to stop people from going to Onigashima... Well, he technically could, but that could end up actually doing more harm than good.

"Thank you, for giving our Samurai a chance." The old man raised his head and sighed, before placing O-Tama on the ground and gesturing for her to scurry off.

She took one last pointed glance at Enel before huffing and leaving.

"... What a spirited little girl." Enel shook his head and sighed.

"Haha, she wasn't always like this, and she's usually more friendly with people she just meets... Her apprehension may be my fault, however, since she did see me point my blade at you."

The old hermit gave a short belly laugh as he scratched the back of his head in shame.

"That is fine... But there is still something else I wish to talk about if only to kill time..." Enel crossed his arms and smiled at the old Shogun.

"Well, I do still have plenty of time to spare. Let's hear it."

Kozuki Sukiyaki nodded towards the Emperor and gestured for him to talk freely.

"Well... It's related to the Ancient Weapon hidden underneath Wano..."

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Hope you liked the chapter!

The mc be looking into Pluto now, but taking it out would still require the land of Wano to open up.

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