By the next morning, Yamato had already led the samurai to Tokage Port, the same harbor located beneath the mountain where Cain had been watching the battle earlier.
Onigashima lay directly across the inland sea.
Standing near the shore, Yamato removed the bandages from her arm, which barely hurt anymore, then turned toward Bella.
"If anything goes wrong while we're crossing, I'll need you to freeze the sea for us."
Yamato could freeze a limited stretch of water with her own ability, but the distance between Tokage Port and Onigashima was simply too great. Even if she exhausted herself completely, there was no guarantee she could create a path all the way across.
For Bella, however, it was hardly a challenge.
"Mm. Bella understands. It won't be difficult."
Bella floated beside her, then tilted her head as though remembering something.
"Bella also has a technique that can hide all the ships. That way, the enemy won't notice us and start shooting while we're crossing."
Naturally, she meant Mirage.
"Really?! That would be perfect!"
Yamato's eyes lit up. She immediately turned toward the assembled samurai and raised one arm.
"Everyone, board the ships!"
The order had barely left her mouth when a strained but desperate shout came from behind them.
"WAIT—!!"
Yamato spun around.
Then froze.
Ace was sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped from head to toe in bandages with both legs still secured in splints. Ashura Doji was pushing him down the mountain path at ridiculous speed.
"Ace! You're awake!"
Yamato hurried toward him, then immediately realized there was a much bigger problem.
"Wait, why are you here?!"
Ace forced one heavily bandaged arm upward and grabbed her wrist before he had even caught his breath.
"Idiot! You're going to fight Kaido today. How the hell am I supposed to sit in a room waiting for you like some housewife waiting for her husband to come home?!"
Ace had forced himself awake through sheer willpower.
Unfortunately, the first thing he discovered was that Yamato had already left.
He immediately tried to follow, happened to run into Ashura Doji arriving at the shogun's residence, and convinced him to rush over with the wheelchair.
Yamato looked at him in that miserable condition, her eyes slowly turning red with emotion.
Her lips moved.
Then she spoke with complete sincerity.
"But Ace… aren't you basically a pregnant woman right now?"
"Huh?"
Ace stared at her.
"What are you talking about? How could I possibly be preg—"
His words stopped.
Ace slowly looked down at his stomach.
Then froze.
The bandages around his abdomen were noticeably bulging outward.
In his rush to catch up with Yamato, Ace hadn't noticed at all.
"AAAAAAAAAH?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
His scream cracked harder than it had when Kaido smashed him across Onigashima.
Ace grabbed his swollen abdomen with both hands, then snapped his head toward Yamato.
"How could I possibly be pregnant?! Yamato, was this you—wait, no! Was it Cain?! Did that bastard do something to me while I was unconscious?!"
"Hahaha! Ace, calm down."
Yamato crouched in front of his wheelchair and gently placed a hand over his stomach.
"It wasn't Cain, and it definitely wasn't me."
"It's Bell."
Ace stared.
Yamato patiently explained.
Bell had remained inside Ace after waking the previous night. Ace's injuries from fighting Kaido had been severe, and both Ace and Bell were fundamentally made of fire.
More importantly, Bell's soul had been split from Ace's own.
Because of that connection, Ace's body had unconsciously begun merging Bell's flames with the damaged parts inside him, using that energy to repair the injuries.
Ace was recovering faster—
but Bell had been dragged into a dormant state as a result.
For the time being, he couldn't come back out.
"He told me that once you recover properly, he'll be able to leave your body again."
Yamato looked seriously into Ace's eyes.
"So…"
Ace's voice started trembling.
"…this giant stomach of mine…"
"Mm."
Yamato smiled warmly.
"It's our child. Bell."
She leaned closer and gently traced her fingers from Ace's forehead, over his brow, and down his cheek.
"When Bell was awake, he could control his own form, so you didn't notice anything. But now that he's asleep, he needs extra room inside your body."
"And because he's repairing your internal injuries, your organs are still too fragile to be compressed."
She lowered her hand and gently rubbed Ace's swollen abdomen through the bandages. The area was faintly warm.
"That's why you look like this."
Yamato beamed.
"So, Ace, stay behind like a proper mother and take care of yourself."
"With your constitution, by the time we finish the battle, you'll probably be healed enough to give birth without any problems!"
The entire harbor went silent for three full seconds.
Only the waves could be heard breaking against the rocks.
Every samurai had stopped moving.
Then the whispers began.
"As expected of Shogun Yamato! Even though she used to insist she was a man, she somehow managed to make another man pregnant!"
"This must be a miracle never before seen in Wano!"
"A blessing from Amaterasu!"
"That Ace fellow truly is favored by the heavens, carrying the shogun's bloodline himself!"
Within moments, the entire port was buzzing with excited speculation.
Ashura Doji slowly looked down at his hands gripping the wheelchair.
Then at the pale, bandaged man sitting in front of him with a visibly swollen stomach.
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Even Izo, who had been busy organizing the formation, stared at the surrounding samurai with deep exhaustion.
Then Ace's scream shook the harbor.
"NOOOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO BE A MALE MOM!"
Yamato immediately felt sorry for him and hurried to comfort him.
"All right, all right. I know becoming a mother for the first time is emotional, Ace, but you need to calm down."
"We're about to launch an attack, so we have to stay quiet!"
Ace practically threw himself around Yamato's waist and clung to her with both bandaged arms.
"But… ugh—?!"
Yamato simply leaned down and kissed him.
Ace's pupils widened.
His tense body gradually softened under the kiss, and his fingers slowly slipped from Yamato's clothes.
When Yamato finally pulled away, she held his face between both hands and smiled down at him.
"Better?"
"…Mm."
Ace nodded with a face so red it nearly matched his flames.
Internally, however, he was experiencing a profound crisis.
Yamato had spent most of her life insisting she was a man. Even though she seemed to have finally corrected that misunderstanding, somehow she was becoming more masculine by the day.
Meanwhile—
why the hell had Ace somehow ended up becoming the mother?
Once Yamato saw that he had calmed down, she stood and glanced toward Bella.
Then something occurred to her.
"Huh. Where's Cain?"
She looked around.
"Did he already start fighting Kaido?"
Yamato thought about it briefly, then decided not to worry.
Cain and Uta usually planned everything in advance. Whatever they were doing, they had probably already begun their part of the operation.
With that assumption, she gave Ace a serious farewell and led the samurai toward Onigashima.
As for Cain?
…
He was still asleep.
"Snrrrk…"
A large snot bubble inflated from his nose, wobbled twice, then popped.
Cain sleepily rubbed his nose.
His eyelids struggled open just enough for sunlight to hit him directly in the face.
"…Morning already?"
He slowly sat up, his head still filled with lingering visual memories of the many Utas from the previous night.
Cain rubbed his lower back.
Then his neck.
He looked around at the thoroughly disordered room and muttered to himself,
"I might've gone a little overboard last night."
Yawning, he was just about to lie back down for a few more minutes when his entire body suddenly went rigid.
Cain stared toward the window.
"…What time is it?"