"Ugh..."
In a daze, Tama seemed to see her deceased parents waving at her. "Father, mother, this girl doesn't want to come to you so soon..."
Half-asleep and half-awake, Tama struggled to jump off this ferry heading to the netherworld. As her calves kicked, she seemed to hit something.
"Ow, that hurts, you damn girl! Can't you sleep without being so restless?" A displeased voice sounded. The figure beside Tama took out a blanket, tied her up, and tossed her aside.
Then he stepped over the ferry's railing and walked to the bow, approaching the pink-haired girl sitting leisurely, holding a fishing rod.
"Sakura-nee, she's asleep. And maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like her strength is increasing?"
"It's not your imagination. That's a normal phenomenon after merging with Chakra." Sakura blinked, a hint of expectation in her green eyes.
Tama's body was full of vitality. After gaining Chakra, she should follow the path of Yang Release Ninjutsu. If she also had some talent in Chakra Control, then Sakura would change her original plan and take this child back to Medical Island!
Just then, the float on her fishing line bobbed. She excitedly jerked the rod back.
'Tch, such a small fish. Go get your parent.'
With a disgusted expression, Sakura threw the finger-sized fry back into the water.
"Speaking of which, what's so special about this child that you would go to such lengths to arrange things for her, Sakura-nee?" Ace reached out and poked the sleeping Tama's cheek.
After all, on this sea, there were plenty of people who admired the status of Emperors and wanted to become their followers. There was no reason for Sakura, a great pirate, to single out a little girl like this. That wasn't like Sakura, nor was it like a pirate.
"What if I told you this child's surname is Kurozumi?" Sakura baited a new hook and cast it back into the river.
"Kurozumi?!" Ace's eyes widened. He suddenly recalled what he had seen when he rushed into Onigashima to rescue the trafficked girls last time.
'If my memory was correct, this should be the surname of Wano's current shogun. In other words, this little squirt in front of us was considered nobility in Wano?'
'But as a member of the shogun's clan, someone of noble status, how did she end up selling hats in Amigasa Village, even living so precariously that she had to fight wild beasts?'
'No, that wasn't the key point. The important thing was that Tama was a member of the Kurozumi Family. She also had the authority to establish a Kurozumi shogunate, just like Orochi!'
Ace, with his sharp mind, filled in the gaps, speculating wildly from 'removing the enemies beside the lord' to 'you have bitterly wronged your emperor'.
"You plan to use this child in the future to meddle in Wano's government affairs? Are you going to take this place as your territory too?" Ace deliberated for a long time before asking.
"Wouldn't that be good? Wano, having been ravaged by two successive maritime overlords, will be liberated in the future by Tama, a descendant of a renowned Wano Country's family, and her companions Ace and Yamato. The people will all revere you as heroes~"
Sakura stretched and let out a soft sigh. "And as for me, the behind-the-scenes hero who worked the hardest, eating a few pieces of meat at the end isn't too much, right~"
Hearing the girl's undisguised desire, Ace rolled his eyes. "That guy Shiki was really unlucky to come to you."
"Hahahaha!" Sakura laughed heartily. "He'll get to be shogun for a few years, won't he?"
As she spoke, the fishing rod in her hand started bobbing again. This time, when she reeled it in, a huge carp was pulled out of the water along with the hook.
"The meat is delicious, but there are too many bones."
Sakura looked up, and a flash of Observation Haki rainbow light passed through her green pupils. The future a few seconds later was already clearly reflected in her eyes.
Ace, noticing the change in Sakura's expression and aura, hid Tama behind him. The Supreme Grade blade that had been resting on his shoulder was partially drawn.
At the end of the direction the three were traveling in their ferry, a giant dark shadow tumbled and rolled. A toxic sewage slime surged and rampaged. Everything it touched emitted a sizzling sound, spreading terrifying pollution.
Even more terrifying was the army following behind it. Countless metal chess-piece soldiers marched in perfect unison, equipped with shields, long swords, and guns. From a distance, they looked like a well-disciplined, order-obeying army.
In the sky, giant paper cranes folded from wide sheets of paper spread their wings. Their hollowed-out abdomens carried large amounts of pitch-black bullets, with chess-piece soldiers riding on top, responsible for steering and adjusting trajectories.
"Hey hey hey, what is this?!"
Ace looked at this overwhelming military force and couldn't help but gape.
"Ships animated by souls can't sail up here, so they turned them into an air force..."
The icy mist exhaled from her mouth rose upward. Sakura stared fixedly at the sky. "Looks like there are some skilled people among the Beasts and Big Mom's crews."
"Now's not the time to praise the enemy. Retreat or fight?"
Ace had already drawn his sword, with blazing Armament Haki coiled around it. His other free hand carried Tama, waiting for Sakura's decision.
"Retreat? Who do you think I am? Move closer!"
A smile curled at the corner of Sakura's mouth. Dark thunder of Conqueror's Haki crackled around her.
Ace was about to turn and instruct the boatman, but the man had already fainted standing up the moment the overwhelming army appeared.
"Tch!"
The black-haired, freckled boy clicked his tongue and had to temporarily tie Tama to his back with a rope and go forward to take the helm and row the oars.
In the center of the river, the sewage slime continued to roll and was approaching Sakura's ferry at high speed.
At the moment when the giant monster was about to collide with the small boat, the girl's toes became the center of a spreading of fiercely cold freezing air.
When the heat in a natural system is deprived, the resulting violent temperature change caused the sewage slime to burst. The splattered matter couldn't even cause secondary damage before being suspended in mid-air and turning pure white.
An unceasing torrent of frost gushed out, spreading natural disaster at a staggering speed, turning a corner of the summer island of Udon into a snowy country.
—Low-Temperature Mode: White Snow Warrior Form!
As if draped in frost-white hazy garments, Sakura lightly raised her finger and crooked it at the countless metal Homies, extending an invitation to the Soul Empress who was within their souls, observing this conflict.
"Come!"
Inside the castle, witnessing all this, Linlin also released her Conqueror's Haki.
She abruptly stood up, ignoring the food and sake spilling onto her newly changed kimono, and called out to her Homie.
"Prometheus!!!"
A blazing star of flame, burning from nowhere, descended from the sky. Destructive flames writhed around it, revealing a ferocious smile at its center.
"Yes, Mama!"
"Go burn her to death!"
Having received the provocation, Linlin poured her harvested soul into it and roared.
"Yes, Mama!"
The gradually expanding sun rose above the Tenshukaku in the Flower Capital. Then, countless flames cut through the sky, howling as they rushed toward Udon.