Fukurokuju was furious.
Just moments ago, the shogun of Wano—their immediate superior, Kurozumi Orochi—had been preparing to hold a banquet.
He had even specifically sent people to invite the courtesan Komurasaki to come and keep him company. Everyone had been in high spirits.
And then, right in the middle of all that drinking, laughing, and anticipation, someone came along and wrecked everything.
Who could stay calm after that?
So right now, Fukurokuju wanted nothing more than to slaughter the troublemakers—preferably by carving them up piece by piece.
Still, since the intruders were clearly no pushovers, he decided to play it safe for the moment and figure out who they were before deciding whether or not to move against them.
"Get lost."
Ryuma couldn't be bothered wasting words on a bunch of underlings like these. He coated the famed blade Shusui in Armament Haki, drew it an inch from its sheath, then slid it back in.
After that, he simply started walking toward the shogun's palace.
"Stop!"
Fukurokuju was furious. This man clearly didn't take them seriously at all. He instinctively moved to stop Ryuma, but the moment he took his first step, he was shocked to find his body tilting.
He collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Huh? What just happened?
Full of confusion, Fukurokuju struggled to turn his head and look.
Both of his legs were still standing where they had been, one foot forward in mid-step.
But everything above his waist was gone.
No—not gone.
He had been cut clean in half at the waist.
Only then did Fukurokuju remember the motion Ryuma had made earlier, drawing his sword and sliding it back in.
And in that instant, he understood.
Ryuma really had drawn the blade just now. It had simply been so fast that none of them had even seen the unsheathing itself.
All they had seen was the sword slightly drawn, and then sheathed again.
The part in between had been completely invisible.
The gap between them was simply too vast.
Thud. Thud. Thud…
At that moment, several more heavy impacts hit the ground.
The other members of the Oniwabanshu.
That slash had not only bisected him—it had cut down every other member of Orochi's ninja guard as well.
All of them were severed at the waist.
Worse still, none of them had even realized what had happened until the blood started pouring from their midsections.
Only then did they understand.
They had already been cut in half.
"So fast… who exactly are you…?" Fukurokuju stared at Ryuma in disbelief. Where had a monster like this come from? Why had he never seen him before?
But Ryuma couldn't be bothered sparing Fukurokuju and the others a glance. He walked straight past the bisected Oniwabanshu and into the shattered palace, searching for the hiding Orochi.
As Rowan passed Fukurokuju, he looked down at him and said, "These days, every random nobody thinks he can go around calling himself Fukurokuju. Do you really think you're worthy of that name?"
It wasn't that Rowan specifically looked down on the old man. It was just that the name was too grand. Fukurokuju was the name of an actual god of good fortune in folk belief.
And yet this old servant dared to call himself that? Was he not afraid it would shorten his lifespan?
Only in some backwater little country like this would someone dare use a name like that. In most other worlds, anyone without divine status calling himself that would already have grass three feet tall growing over his grave.
Boom!
By the time Rowan entered the ruined palace, Ryuma had already found Orochi.
To save his own life, Orochi immediately activated his Devil Fruit power and transformed into his Yamata no Orochi form.
Only the central head still retained Orochi's original features; the other seven had become dragon heads, all glaring at Ryuma. Trying to act fierce despite his fear, Orochi roared, "Who are you? Why are you opposing me, the shogun?"
Ryuma said nothing.
He simply drew his blade.
Every slash he made casually cut off one of Yamata no Orochi's heads.
It wasn't like Orochi hadn't tried to fight back.
It just didn't matter.
In myth, Yamata no Orochi wasn't just a massive beast—it could even control the weather. Even Susanoo no Mikoto hadn't dared fight it head-on, choosing instead to kill it only after getting it drunk.
By all logic, this should have been an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit.
The problem was that Orochi himself was just too pathetic.
A powerful fruit had become nothing more than a survival tool in his hands. Even his attacks felt limp and useless. He was no match for Ryuma.
In a matter of moments, Ryuma chopped off seven of Orochi's dragon heads, leaving only the last.
"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
Orochi was terrified now. He hurriedly returned to human form, dropped to his knees before Ryuma, and begged in a low, cringing voice, "Please don't kill me. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you."
"Women, money, power—even the shogun's seat."
"As long as you spare me, it's yours."
Rowan stepped forward and said, "Don't kill him. He's still useful."
Only then did Ryuma rein in his killing intent.
After that, Rowan opened a door to the Naruto world and kicked Orochi through it, sending him tumbling to Tobirama's feet.
"He's yours."
Tobirama smiled faintly and dragged Kurozumi Orochi back into the Naruto world.
With this man in hand, they could be a lot more aggressive with their experiments.
That would be a huge help in cracking the secret of Devil Fruits.
After all, Kabuto was Orochimaru's subordinate and, in a sense, one of their own, so there were certain more brutal experimental methods they couldn't really use on him.
But Orochi was a different story. His crimes were beyond counting. He was perfect experimental material.
With him, Tobirama's progress on unraveling Devil Fruits could be cut in half.
Serie was interested in the secrets of Devil Fruits too, so she followed Tobirama back to the Naruto world.
As for everyone else, they stayed behind to wait for the true mastermind of Wano.
Orochi might have been Wano's shogun, but anyone who had read One Piece knew he was nothing more than a puppet.
The true ruler of Wano was someone else entirely.
The guardian deity of Wano. The user of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon.
One of the Four Emperors—
Kaido.
So whether Orochi lived or died wasn't actually all that important. Kill one Kurozumi Orochi today, and tomorrow maybe some "White Charcoal Orochi" or "Red Charcoal Orochi" would pop out instead.
There was only one way to save Wano:
defeat Kaido.
If Kaido wasn't beaten, Wano could never be liberated.
After the way they had stirred things up in the Flower Capital, Kaido, all the way out on Onigashima, had surely heard by now.
Ryuma sat silently atop the broken roof of the shogun's palace, waiting for Kaido to come.