Lead-colored iron clouds piled up, like towering dark mountains across the sky, making it hard to breathe.
Dense, dark warships, like sharp swords, tore through the sea, sailing straight ahead.
"We see it!! That's the legendary Land of Samurai!"
Wald stood at the bow, gazing into the distance. Ahead, shrouded in mist, a towering island gradually emerged from the hazy light.
Cliffs, inverted rivers, and turbulent waves near the coast. Schools of carp leaped from the sea, chasing each other.
Kaido stood at the ship's prow, his dark hair fluttering in the wind. The salty sea breeze brushed his face as he looked at the kingdom now within reach, and he couldn't help but fall into a few memories.
In his previous life, after rescuing Abel, he formed the Beasts Pirates. Later, he met Queen, and with the three of them as the core, the Beasts Pirates roamed the seas for several years, gaining a resounding reputation.
Not long after, Kurozumi Higurashi, who had been living in seclusion overseas and constantly monitoring the movements of the sea, found Kaido. She hoped to form an alliance with Kaido, using the opportunity to help the Kurozumi Family regain power.
Kaido had briefly investigated Wano Country and knew it was a closed-off nation, yet militarily powerful.
Without the Kurozumi Family's internal and external cooperation, attempting to conquer this country would be a fool's errand.
The various Daimyo were all renowned swordsmen, even overseas, especially Kozuki Oden and Shimotsuki Ushimaru.
The Underworld boss, Hana no Hyogoro, was also a powerful swordsman of his generation; even Kozuki Sukiyaki spoke highly of Hyogoro himself.
Back then, the naive Kozuki Oden fell into a trap. The various Daimyo and samurai expressed disappointment in Oden's actions, and with the exception of a very few individuals, they all cut ties with Kozuki Oden.
At that time, Gekko Moriah forcefully landed in Wano Country and engaged in a great battle with Kaido in the Ringo snow mountains.
After a night of fierce fighting, Gekko Moriah's cadres and subordinates were almost completely wiped out, and the barely surviving Moriah fled in panic.
"Those are truly distant memories…"
Kaido covered his face, his eyes shooting out beams of light. His snake-like eyes swept across the vast ocean ahead; that majestic island was almost upon them!
Hanafuda, holding a spyglass, noticed the huge, rapidly flowing waterfall at the Wano Country pass: "Hey, Boss Kaido, that kind of current could capsize the warships in an instant. Do we really have a way to get past it?"
About thirty nautical miles away, the thunderous roar of the waterfall's rapids could be heard, piercing the clouds and splitting rocks.
On the more than thirty warships, every pirate looked with some astonishment at the rapidly approaching waterfall. The initial excitement from leaving Winter Island seemed to be blocked by this natural chasm, and their enthusiasm had cooled considerably.
Kaido grinned, his eyes narrowed, revealing a chilling smile: "Just leave it to me."
At a Marine branch base about a hundred nautical miles off Wano Country, the base commander, a Marine Vice Admiral, watched the dense, dark warships appearing on the surveillance screen, his scalp prickling.
The Marine Vice Admiral stiffened his neck, his face grim: "Still no contact with Marineford? When will their reinforcements finally arrive?"
He had initially thought Marineford's intelligence was mistaken. After all, Wano Country had historically repelled even multiple World Government invasions without success, so how could the Beasts Pirates think they could chew through such a tough nut?
Whether they could conquer it remained to be seen, but the fact that the entire Beasts Pirates crew had appeared near Wano Country was an undeniable reality.
He paced back and forth in the monitoring room, anxious and unable to calm his heart.
The liaison received a reply from his superior and immediately reported to the Marine Vice Admiral: "Marineford replied that they will arrive near Wano Country in two days. They want us to monitor the movements of the Beasts Pirates, and once the grand fleet arrives, they will launch an encirclement campaign against Wano Country!"
The Marine Vice Admiral breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the reply. Marineford and the World Government were so aggressive towards Wano Country for two reasons: first, this country was not a member of the World Government and was not protected by it.
Second, this country was rampant with bandits and had historically continuously plundered overseas resources, its actions even surpassing those of pirates.
The World Government dreamed of destroying this country.
According to news from Marineford a while ago, Kong would be overseeing the operation from the rear this time. He had quickly assembled nearly ten thousand Marine officers and deployed twelve Marine warships, determined to conquer Wano Country.
The Marines' massive operation naturally caught the attention of the Underworld families. Many gloated, looking forward to a mutually destructive battle between the Marines and Kaido.
However, it was said that some other great pirates had also been active recently, such as the Whitebeard Pirates, the Flying Pirates, and the Big Mom Pirates.
Whitebeard was far more astute than ordinary pirates. Just from the news reports of the Beasts Pirates' major movements, and the recent Marine conscription and the departure of numerous warships for Wano Country, he had pretty much figured things out.
"The Marines are truly as despicable as ever."
Whitebeard grinned. He wasn't very interested in which country Kaido attacked, as long as it didn't endanger the safety of the few kingdoms he had good relations with.
He had also heard of the Land of Samurai. If he had the chance, he would like to visit Wano Country.
But now, since Kaido intended to attack Wano Country… Whitebeard's eyes narrowed. He remembered that spirited, charge-loving, yet somewhat cunning brat from back then.
"Whitebeard, is this the power of your Devil Fruit? It's truly terrifyingly strong!"
"It's not bad. You must find a Devil Fruit that suits your own power. One day, perhaps you too can find a Devil Fruit that matches your strength."
Recalling being trapped with Kaido back then, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Whitebeard's mouth.
However, Whitebeard didn't have much affection for Kaido. He was straightforward and boisterous, while Kaido was dark-hearted and somewhat unfathomable.
After several years together, Whitebeard also grew tired of trying to educate Kaido as an "older brother." In his view, Kaido bore all the evil labels of a pirate… At this moment, ten nautical miles off Wano Country.
The sound of the waterfall roared, ceaseless.
A massive white curtain of water cascaded down the cliff, stirring up towering white waves.
At this moment, all the pirates looked at Kaido, wanting to know how this Pirate Governor intended to overcome this natural barrier, like a heavenly pass!
Kaido bared his teeth in a savage grin, then leaped with a 'clunk,' transforming into a giant Azure Dragon and soaring into the sky!
Roar!!
The sound waves from his terrifying roar stirred the ocean currents. His hundreds-of-meters-long body circled above the warships, casting dark clouds and lightning!
Dense purple flame clouds drifted down from the sky, like fire, enveloping the side planks of the more than thirty warships!
"Hold on tight, my lads, we're going to fly up!!"
A dull, thunderous roar came from the sky.
Fly??
Tens of thousands of pirates watched the high heavens, trembling.
The next moment, to everyone's stunned amazement, one warship after another strangely rose into the air!!