The outskirts of the Flower Capital, at the Crossroad.
"Yoisho!" Luffy leapt down from the trees, stretching his limbs with a twist of his shoulders.
"Hm? What's wrong, Luffy?" Sanji asked curiously.
Luffy silently pulled the brim of his straw hat lower, then lifted his head, his eyes turning sharp and serious.
"They're here."
BOOM!!
A rubber pistol shot cracked into the unseen depths of the forest. With a thunderous explosion, a figure was blasted out into the open.
"Damn, it's an ambush!"
"It's the Straw Hats! They're blocking the way!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill us?" Zoro rose slowly, murderous intent rolling off him like midnight fog. He drew his blades with a cold grin.
"Such cheap talk."
'Santoryu, 1080 Pound Phoenix!'
BOOOOM!!!
A colossal dragon-shaped wave of sword energy, vast as a mountain, roared forward, tearing the forest apart.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
The rapid-fire slashes scythed through everything in their path. Trees shattered with deafening cracks, and samurai and shinobi in the Oniwabanshu's livery were hurled screaming into the moonlight.
Now fully exposed beneath the night sky, the Oniwabanshu stood revealed. The survivors' horrified eyes widened as Zoro bared his teeth in a killing smile.
"But one thing you got right… is that this road goes no further!"
The last assault led by Kin'emon and the others to rescue Momonosuke had been desperate and reckless. The Flower Capital had paid the price, civilians caught in the chaos, homes reduced to rubble, countless lives lost.
Kozuki Oden had been dead for over twenty years. The shogunate's propaganda had long since recast him as nothing more than a reckless fool, an arrogant tyrant who tried to "open the country" and brought only ruin. In the eyes of the common people, he wasn't a martyr but a warning.
And so, after that battle, the rebellion, already fragile, was completely abandoned by the populace.
Ordinary citizens didn't care who ruled Wano. They weren't Kozuki retainers; their lives were consumed with rice, firewood, and survival. High ideals meant nothing compared to a full belly.
If it weren't Rowen leading this time, the Kozuki heir would never have been accepted. Even victory wouldn't matter, why would Wano's people embrace a Kozuki Momonosuke who only brought them war and grief?
A tyrant is not judged by intent. The people see only the scars left behind.
Through the Heavenly Network, Rowen confirmed that most of the Oniwabanshu had left the city. His eyes narrowed as he gazed toward the Shogun's estate.
"So the ones still holed up must be Orochi's personal guard. Hmph… afraid to die, and yet clinging so tightly."
Kozuki Toki's prophecy, spoken in her final breath, had haunted Kurozumi Orochi for twenty years. Now that the appointed time was near, he had even welcomed Kaido's presence in the capital, desperate for protection.
Strong, high-ranking, yet such a coward. Rowen almost didn't know how to evaluate him.
"No matter. If you're so eager to die… I'll grant your wish."
Inside the Shogun's mansion, Fukurokuju snapped his eyes open. His face twisted in terror as he looked skyward.
"This power… what is this?!"
From above, an oppressive force crashed down, vast and suffocating, like the heavens themselves collapsing. It stripped away the will to resist, leaving only primal instinct, fear.
But Fukurokuju knew better. It wasn't that resistance was impossible. This was simply the natural reaction of mortals facing something beyond comprehension.
"Escape? Impossible. I am the commander of the Oniwabanshu! Quick, wake the Shogun! The enemy is here, "
"Too late." Across kilometers of night, Rowen's cold voice echoed.
Thunder Cloud, Qilin!
BOOOOM!
The thunderclouds looming above the mansion, dense and unbroken even amidst the shockwaves, suddenly detonated with divine brilliance. From within emerged a radiant beast of lightning, its sacred form blazing in the heavens. The world turned stark white beneath its thunderous glow.
Wreathed in pure white stormclouds, the qilin let out a furious roar and plunged downward.
DOOM!!! RUMMMBLE!!!
The Shogun's mansion, and vast swaths of the forbidden district around it, were swallowed whole by the descending storm. Rivers of lightning cascaded across the ground, twisting into countless thunder serpents that slithered and roared in every direction.
Within the blinding storm, a scream ripped the air.
Kurozumi Orochi, half-dazed, staggered from his bed, only to be struck head-on by the divine thunder.
Were it not for the monstrous endurance of his Zoan body, that single Qilin strike would have reduced him to nothing but ash.
BOOM!!
From the charred ruins, Orochi tore free, his upper body bare as he shed the remnants of his scorched robe. Standing amidst the rubble, he roared in fury.
"Fukurokuju! What the hell are you doing?!"
Having his own retainers injured and his mansion attacked, this was never why he entrusted the Oniwabanshu to his most loyal aide.
At the furious roar, Fukurokuju staggered forward and landed before Kurozumi Orochi.
"Cough… cough… Forgive me, General… Th-this was… ugh!… my failure!"
Orochi's brows knit together as he looked at him. Fukurokuju's entire body was charred black, his skin seared and giving off the smell of roasted flesh. Even he had been reduced to this state, proof enough that their enemy was no ordinary foe.
Orochi lifted his gaze, and what he saw froze the breath in his lungs. The entire district, including the General's mansion, had been flattened.
"What… what happened here?! Was this also the enemy's doing?!"
Every structure within a full kilometer radius had been leveled. The few Oniwabanshu who had survived by sheer luck groaned in pain beneath the rubble, proof they too had been caught in the attack.
Such massive range… even Lirisk couldn't pull this off.
'Wait, no…!'
"This… this is lightning!!!"
Orochi's eyes widened as he finally pieced it together. His heart hammered, and he dragged the maimed Fukurokuju closer.
"Who is the enemy?!"
"If… cough cough… if this subordinate's guess is correct… it should be none other than… the Marine Admiral…Soryu!"
The realization struck Fukurokuju like a thunderbolt even as he spoke. But what puzzled him more was why Rowen was here at all.
Hadn't Orrick said that Azure Dragon had already returned to Marine Headquarters?
Of course, Fukurokuju couldn't know the truth, that all three of them had long since realized the "Soryu" seen at Headquarters was a fake. The day after Ryokugyu's incident, "Soryu" appeared in Marine HQ, an impossibility.
"Damn Orrick… always hiding his cards."
Orochi instantly understood why Fukurokuju was so bewildered. He threw him aside, glared up at the sky, and bellowed:
"Soryu! Why have you come?! Orrick and Kaido aren't here. I have no reason to fight you!"
"No, no… from the moment you agreed to ally with Kaido and Orrick, our war was already decided."
A cold, cutting voice came from his flank.
But instead of fear, Orochi's lips curled in savage delight. He swung his hand out, and a gleaming blade sliced ruthlessly toward the sound. For Kurozumi Orochi was not only the wielder of a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, he was also one of Wano's strongest swordsmen, a master of dual blades.
Even Kaido himself, caught off guard once, had been slashed across the chest and sent flying by him. That scar remained as proof.
Why else would Kaido consent to cooperate? Without strength, he would have simply taken what he wanted.
Skkrrt!
The edge bit through flesh. Orochi's lips stretched into a cruel grin as he turned to admire his work, only for his face to twist in horror.
The blade had cut something… but it wasn't Rowen.
Fukurokuju's lifeless eyes stared up at him, wide open in death. Orochi's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"Human artillery…"
Bzzzzzt!
A piercing hum rattled the air as searing blue arcs danced over Fukurokuju's bisected corpse. Rowen sneered, using the body like a living cannonball and firing it straight at Orochi.
Crack, !
Crasshhhhh!
At such close range, dodging was impossible. The corpse slammed into Orochi, detonating into a cloud of blood and flesh that drenched him head to toe.
A chunk of charred meat splattered against his lips, filling his mouth with a strange taste. But instead of fury, what swelled inside Orochi was terror.
"No… I underestimated him!!"
Shuā!
Rowen ducked under the desperate slash of Orochi's blade, closing the distance in a blur. In the next instant, he shot upright, his palm clamping onto Orochi's face.
As the wielder of the Goro Goro no Mi, the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, Rowen's speed was beyond comprehension. Fukurokuju's corpse exploding had bought Orochi no time to counter; the window had already opened.
'Awakening Technique: God's Cry Shot!'
Lightning surged point-blank against Orochi's skull. In his terrified gaze, the world turned white.
BOOOOM!!!
The ground convulsed like an earthquake. Even Orochi's monstrous body could not withstand the sheer destructive force of compressed lightning detonating at zero range. The land for dozens of meters in front of Rowen disintegrated instantly, gouged deep by thunder's wrath.
And yet, behind Rowen, not even a pebble stirred. His flawless control over the storm was absolute.
After speaking with Kureha, Rowen hadn't gained some new power; he had gained clarity of mind. Less consumed by endless schemes, more calm and detached.
And with that serenity came mastery; lightning answered him as though it were part of his own body.
"Impressive durability… the bones didn't shatter." Rowen flexed his hand, savoring the sensation, before lifting his gaze with a cold smile.
"Then let me carve deeper pain into you, Kurozumi Orochi."
"Gungnir!!!"
Bolts rained down like a meteor shower, dense as stars in the night sky. In the Flower Capital, terrified citizens raised their heads as spears of the Thunder God ripped through the heavens and struck the horizon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The night exploded in blinding fury.
(End of Chapter)
This novel is finished and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395