"Wasn't this what you wanted, Young Master Yamato? Anyway, if you're willing, just come with us. If Lord Kaido gets angry, we'll be the ones in trouble."
The oblivious Yamato didn't notice the difference in address. Normally, aside from senior officers and her own close aides who would call her "Miss Yamato," everyone else would only refer to her as "Oni Princess." No one would ever address her as "young master."
If Robin had come with her, just the way she was being addressed would've raised suspicion. But this time, she didn't have a partner. Zekrom and Reshiram were the only ones who knew what was going on, but they made no move to warn her.
The equally careless pirates didn't notice why Yamato had taken off her Hannya mask and that the Seastone handcuffs on her wrists had mysteriously vanished. Even her clothes had changed; they were no longer the traditional Wano Country attire.
The Yamato raised by Arceus would never dress like this, but although this place was Onigashima, it wasn't the Onigashima she knew. This was a world without Arceus… the Onigashima from the original timeline.
Yamato's trial in the Dragon Dimension had reached a deadlock. She couldn't win by fighting, nor could she win by talking; just like the younger brothers from Robo-Soldiers getting crushed from beginning to end by Hades. [TN: It's from RevEvolution, a Chinese science fiction anime.]
When you get stuck on an instance in a game, no matter how many times you run it, there's no way to clear it. So Arceus opened a new instance for Yamato, letting her see with her own eyes what a world without him looked like.
But there was a prerequisite. Yamato first had to realize something was wrong. She had just drunk quite a lot at the banquet, and the alcohol hadn't worn off yet, so she was completely unaware that anything was amiss.
Even though Yamato's entire style had changed, her face hadn't. The pirates, just trying to complete their task, brought her back to Onigashima's banquet hall.
"Who's the All-Star that can sing and dance?!"
"Queen!"
"Who's the star of the Golden Kagura festivities?!"
"Queen!"
Different world, same Queen. No matter where he is, Queen is always that flamboyant, narcissistic character.
"Lord Queen! We've brought Young Master Yamato!"
Just as Queen was narcissistically bragging about himself, one of the underlings shouted from the side.
Hearing the underling's voice, Queen found it a bit strange. The Beasts Pirates' celebrations here were nowhere near as elaborate as those in Arceus' side. The annual night of Fire Festival was a rare opportunity for dancing and drinking.
Kaido always wanted Yamato to come and participate, but she never gave him the satisfaction.
The fact that this bunch of small fry actually managed to bring Yamato here was already beyond Queen's expectations. But in the next moment, something even more shocking happened. Yamato didn't have handcuffs on her wrists.
In the original timeline, without Arceus, Yamato had happened to pick up Kozuki Oden's logbook. Afterwards, she became possessed by the diary and started acting oddly, almost as if Oden had taken over her body.
After that, Kaido imprisoned her on Onigashima. Although she was allowed to move freely on the island, she wore explosive handcuffs that would detonate if she tried to leave the island. Logically, Yamato shouldn't have been able to remove those handcuffs, which is what Queen didn't expect.
Moreover, Yamato had actually changed clothes, and even her ever-present kanabo was nowhere to be seen. That was another thing Queen didn't expect.
But it wasn't just Queen who was confused. Yamato herself was growing more and more bewildered. Looking around at the Wano Country-style décor, she was completely dazed.
"What the heck is going on? How long was I out? Did Onigashima get a full renovation? Uncle Queen, you guys work fast!"
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
Queen slapped his own face. By all logic, she should be calling him just "Queen"—there's no way the term "Uncle Queen" would come out of her mouth.
"What year is it right now?"
"It's 1521."
"1521?! I've been asleep for a whole year?!"
While Yamato was still reeling from the year Queen mentioned, Kurozumi Orochi emerged from the side, surrounded by a flock of giggling women. Seeing this, Yamato frowned, but when she heard someone call him "Shogun Orochi," her expression shifted to one of utter disbelief.
"Wait a second, didn't Orochi die? Isn't Hiyori the Shogun now?"
Upon hearing that name, the girl nestled in Orochi's arms visibly trembled, though Orochi didn't notice. Instead, he turned to look at Yamato.
"Queen, who is this rude woman?"
"Boss Kaido's son... but something's off. Seems like his brain's been messed up."
"Son??? Uncle Queen, how much have you drunk? Can't you even tell the difference between a man and a woman anymore? Where's Dad? Something's really wrong here."
This was how the Yamato from the original timeline behaved. Possessed by Oden's diary, she firmly believed she was Kozuki Oden, and therefore considered herself male. The Kaido of that timeline was powerless to change this and eventually just called her his son.
"What are you trying to do, disguising yourself as Young Master Yamato?"
"I am Yamato! I'd like to know what the hell is going on here too! Where's Dad? Something's really off about this place!"
"Dad? Since when did you have a 'Dad'? I sure as hell don't remember ever having any brother like that." [TN: The chinese word for Dad used here also means adoptive father, godfather or blood brother.]
From the staircase to the side, a tall figure descended. He looked exactly like the Kaido Yamato remembered, except for one difference: a fierce X-shaped scar across his stomach.
These words made Yamato recognize the truth: this wasn't her Onigashima. There was no way either Kaido or Queen would forget the existence of Arceus.
"If this is supposed to be some kind of joke, then it's gone too far. I'll give you one chance, undo all this right now, and I'll let it slide."
Yamato kept muttering "nonsense" to herself. She assumed this was some pirate breaking Kaido's rule and launching a sneak attack ahead of schedule. After all, with so many Ability Users now part of the Beasts Pirates, she couldn't keep track of them anymore.
Seeing no response, Yamato pulled her Takeru 7.0 out of her bag.
"If that's how it is, then I'll just knock out all you fakes."
"I thought you'd finally come to your senses when you took off that mask, but it looks like I was wrong. You're still that idiotic son of mine. Got me all excited for nothing. Seems like you still haven't learned from your lesson last time!"
Kaido swung his kanabo at Yamato, something that matched perfectly with the Kaido she remembered.
"Thunder Bagua!"
"Thunder Bagua!"
Faced with Kaido's attack, she reacted on instinct, reflexively swinging her kanabo in return. But the moment their weapons collided, she sensed something was off.
"I don't know from where a fake like you learned Thunder Bagua (Thunder Eight Trigrams), but this is barely at the level of Thunder Seven Trigrams!"
This "Kaido" wasn't weak, but he was weaker than the Kaido she faced every day. This was Yamato's most direct impression. Similarly, "Kaido" also sensed something off. Though both were testing the waters with their attacks, this single strike actually forced him back a step.
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