"Why, if it isn't our Ghost Princess. What an honor—truly, I failed to welcome you properly."
When Kurozumi Orochi saw Yamato, he stood up, tugged at his trousers, his face reeking of alcohol.
Seeing Orochi in this state, Yamato instinctively frowned. Still, she didn't forget Kurosaki Rei's instructions. Leading Kurosaki Rei forward, she said, "General, we've come this time to discuss an important matter."
Orochi put on an overly enthusiastic front, as though he had completely forgotten that this place was the aftermath of a debauched banquet. He strode over quickly, reaching out to pull Yamato to her seat.
Yamato was full of disgust, but she didn't dodge, following Kurozumi Orochi inward. Kurosaki Rei followed closely behind, observing the deployment of forces around them.
The head of the Oniwabanshu ninja unit should be lurking somewhere in this room, hidden from sight. His concealment skills were exceptional. Kurosaki Rei couldn't pinpoint his exact location, only sensing a faint, intermittent gaze.
Aside from that, the most troublesome presence for an ordinary person was the elderly man who stuck close to Kurozumi Orochi like a shadow.
This monk-like old man was called Kurozumi Semimaru, a member of the Kurozumi clan. He had once lived overseas and was a highly proficient Barrier-Barrier Fruit user.
Because Orochi was of his own clan and had fulfilled the Kurozumi family's ambition of becoming shogun, Semimaru—representing the greatest beneficiary of their faction—kept himself on high alert every single day to protect Orochi.
Even though the visitor was Kaido's daughter, and rumors claimed they were here to deliver food supplies, Kurozumi Semimaru did not lower his guard in the slightest. His vigilance toward Kurosaki Rei and Yamato never wavered.
After fully grasping the defensive layout here, Kurosaki Rei finally relaxed.
It seemed that choosing to meet Orochi directly today had been the right call. Because Orochi was holding a silver-party tonight, the close-range security was not particularly strong.
There were no top-tier powerhouses like Kyoshiro present. The Oniwabanshu had gone out to gather intelligence, and since Kurosaki Rei and Yamato had openly expressed dissatisfaction, they were no longer tailing them. As a result, the only defenders inside the room were the Oniwabanshu leader and Kurozumi Semimaru.
It wasn't that Kurozumi Orochi lacked caution—he simply trusted Semimaru's strength too much. After all, even Kozuki Oden, as powerful as he was, had failed to break through Semimaru's barrier and kill him. Now that Orochi had absolute power in Wano, he couldn't imagine any assassin daring to strike him.
Kurosaki Rei exchanged a glance with Yamato. The tacit understanding they had cultivated over the past few days let them instantly grasp each other's intent.
Yamato recalled the plan Kurosaki Rei had told her earlier. Though she still had doubts, she decided to trust him.
Kurosaki Rei had said she didn't need to bring any weapons—especially not her kanabo—because that would alert Orochi. So she had handed the club over to Kurosaki Rei, who said he would return it when the time came.
As for Kurosaki Rei himself, he had also come unarmed. That was why Yamato still couldn't figure out how he planned to assassinate Kurozumi Orochi.
After all, relying on fists and kicks made it hard to kill someone instantly. Orochi was, at the very least, a Mythical Zoan user. If he didn't die in one blow, the guards would react immediately. Semimaru would shield him, and the main Oniwabanshu forces would arrive within dozens of seconds.
Yet Kurosaki Rei offered no explanation—he simply told Yamato to trust him.
"Ghost Princess, have you come this time on orders from the Bright King?" Kurozumi Orochi asked as he led Yamato forward.
Suddenly, however, an ominous feeling rose in his heart.
Before he could react, Kurozumi Semimaru yanked him backward.
Yamato's acting was simply too poor. The moment she resolved to strike, her killing intent leaked out instinctively, and the sharp-sensed Semimaru immediately picked up on it.
Semimaru's thinking was simple. Whether it was a misunderstanding or not, he would first deploy the barrier and protect both himself and Orochi. Everything else could be dealt with afterward.
At the instant he pulled Orochi back and raised the barrier, he saw it—
The black-clad man standing beside Yamato suddenly had a long blade appear in his hand, assuming a thrusting iaijutsu stance.
Seeing that Semimaru had reacted, Kurosaki Rei felt no disappointment in Yamato's acting. Without her identity, they never could have approached Orochi so smoothly. And once Orochi was within reach, with no top-tier powerhouse by his side, his head was as good as taken.
In the next instant, an invisible pressure burst forth from Yamato's body. Just as Kurosaki Rei had instructed, she unleashed her Conqueror's Haki before moving.
This wasn't to clear out fodder. Conqueror's Haki naturally carried an intimidating effect—against strong opponents, even if it couldn't knock them unconscious, it could still cause a momentary lapse.
Coupled with the fact that her identity was supposed to be Orochi's ally, this sudden eruption of Conqueror's Haki would confuse the surrounding elites. A split-second hesitation and misjudgment would decide victory or defeat.
That was exactly what happened.
Kurozumi Semimaru, whose only thought was to protect Orochi, was unaffected. But the Oniwabanshu leader lurking on the ceiling hesitated for a split second, failing to strike Kurosaki Rei and Yamato in time.
And so—
Kurosaki Rei moved.
Prison Demon—Initial Release.
The oni-god power surged to its peak in an instant. Dark-red Haki enveloped Kurosaki Rei's body as Ryuo fully erupted, flowing like water and spreading onto the blade of Prison Demon. Even through the scabbard, a layer of dark crimson could be seen.
Then, accompanied by a shrill whistle like a steam horn, white mist sprayed from Kurosaki Rei's mouth. Lightning flashed. In the blink of an eye, the tatami mats beneath his feet were blasted backward.
A piercing sonic boom erupted indoors!
Amid thunderous explosions, howling gales, and ear-splitting shockwaves, Prison Demon was drawn.
Kurosaki Rei's figure moved like an afterimage. In just a few meters, the target was already beneath his blade!
Seeing the terrifying momentum and speed of Kurosaki Rei's strike, Kurozumi Orochi instantly recognized it. He had only ever seen such speed from Kyoshiro. How could he not know that this was a powerful swordsman come for his life?
Yet in his panic, he felt little fear.
Because he trusted the man behind him—Kurozumi Semimaru.
Time and again, Semimaru had saved his life. Even Kozuki Oden, the strongest swordsman Wano had known, failed to cut through that barrier. There was no way this attack would succeed!
In the sliver of frozen time, Orochi could almost see it—the blade stopped by the barrier, ringing out with a crisp clang.
But the next instant—
Both he and Semimaru felt their vision blur.
Kurosaki Rei was suddenly inside the barrier.
Before either of them could comprehend what had happened, the Ryuo-wreathed blade had already swept across Kurozumi Orochi's neck.
The man burst into the sealed space on a storm of wind, spraying blood sideways. With this single strike, Kurozumi Orochi's head was severed.
Under a full-powered Ryuo-enhanced slash, a man with total attributes not even reaching forty had no chance of survival.
And Kurosaki Rei's blade did not stop there.
Before Semimaru could adjust the barrier, he himself was cut cleanly in half by a diagonal slash!
The raging wind rebounded again and again within the barrier, forming a miniature tornado. In the next moment, with the death of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit user, the barrier shattered explosively.
The whirlwind swept outward, tearing up tatami mats and stirring clouds of blood mist.
Kurosaki Rei stood atop the two corpses, flicking blood from his blade.
When the attack from behind descended upon him, he didn't even dodge.
Bang—!
Fukurokuju's strike failed to land on Kurosaki Rei, blocked instead by an invisible wall.
Bakudō #81: Dankū.
The Oniwabanshu leader, Fukurokuju, stared at Kurosaki Rei in shock as the recoil from his own attack forced him backward.
"Barrier Fruit!?"
He blurted it out in disbelief. The power that had blocked him felt exactly like the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
But wasn't Kurozumi Semimaru already dead?
Even if he weren't, why would he protect Kurosaki Rei?
Kurosaki Rei turned around unhurriedly. Sensing ninjas converging from all directions, he spoke coldly:
"Kurozumi Orochi plotted rebellion and has been executed by order of the Bright King. Will you die with him—or swear loyalty to a new ruler?"
Hearing Kurosaki Rei's words, Yamato quickly stepped forward to cooperate, releasing her Conqueror's Haki once more—an impeccable atmosphere-setter.
"My father, the Bright King Kaido, has appointed me as Wano's new shogun. Do you dare rebel as well?!"
The Oniwabanshu ninjas who rushed in saw Orochi already dead. Hearing the declarations from Kurosaki Rei and Yamato, they immediately halted their attack.
Orochi was dead. Were they really going to avenge him by killing the Bright King's daughter?
No matter how they thought about it, that was a guaranteed road to death.
Thus, Fukurokuju—the first to attack Kurosaki Rei—was also the first to react. He dropped to his knees.
"I am willing to follow Shogun Yamato!"
Seeing their superior kneel, the rest of the Oniwabanshu followed suit.
"We are willing to follow Shogun Yamato!"
Seeing this, the heavy stone in Kurosaki Rei's heart finally fell. At this point, his hidden mission was essentially complete.
The difficulty of assassinating Kurozumi Orochi lay mainly in approaching him through layers of forces, and then escaping safely afterward.
Barriers that others found impossible to breach were meaningless before his Cloud-Stepping "blink." As long as there was no powerhouse who could react in time and kill him first, Orochi's death was inevitable.
And these ninjas had never been people with much backbone to begin with. In the original story, when Kaido publicly "killed" Orochi, they all defected to Kaido without hesitation.
In the end, they were simply people with no loyalty—whoever held power was who they followed.
Now that Orochi was dead and Yamato was here, they might have charged in out of anger and impulse. But after Kurosaki Rei's declaration, they instantly understood their position. Naturally, they had no intention of risking their lives anymore.
"Yamato, let them get up. The shogun's palace still needs cleaning," Kurosaki Rei reminded her.
After shouting her declaration, Yamato had been holding what she thought was a majestic pose for far too long. It was starting to look a little silly.
"…Mm. You may rise," Yamato said, smiling.
She hadn't expected the purge of Kurozumi Orochi to go so smoothly. Once again, she felt that Brother Rei truly was a strategist of both courage and wisdom.
At that thought, she suddenly realized something—
She had absolutely no idea what to do after killing Orochi and becoming shogun.
Turning to Kurosaki Rei, she asked, "Brother Rei, what should we do next?"
Kurosaki Rei felt a headache coming on. Yamato didn't seem all that bright. If he weren't around, could she really govern Wano properly?
But since he was already on this ship, there was no getting off now. He could only take things one step at a time—first stabilize Wano's internal situation and improve things as best he could.
"Do you have a roster of the ninjas?" Kurosaki Rei asked after a moment's thought.
At this point, the newly risen Fukurokuju proved extremely perceptive. Stepping forward respectfully, he asked, "May I ask this great swordsman who eliminated a menace to the people—how should we address you?"
Kurosaki Rei felt a wave of disgust. Just moments ago, this man had tried to stab him from behind. Now he was calling him a 'great swordsman who eliminated a menace to the people.'
No sense of shame at all.
"Brother Rei is my military advisor," Yamato said. "From now on, all major and minor affairs of Wano may be handled by him. He has the same authority as I do."
This was something she had already decided long ago. After all, she knew she wasn't particularly smart. If Wano was to be governed well, she would need Brother Rei's help.
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