Queen grumbled loudly, "You little brat, you really screwed us over big time! I should just kill you right here to prove my loyalty to Captain Kaidou!"
Before he could take a step, King reached out and restrained both Queen and Jack, his voice dropping into a stern, ice-cold tone. "Have you two had enough? Even if we slice Ryuma to pieces right now, Lord Kaidou isn't going to spare us. We'd better focus on how to actually stay alive!"
At those words, silence fell over the group.
Ryuma stroked his chin thoughtfully. This might actually be my best chance.
If he wanted to take down Kaidou down the line, he was severely lacking in high-tier firepower. Recruiting these three Lead Performers under his banner would give his force an unbelievable boost.
Never mind their past records—their raw combat stats were top-tier. As for their questionable morals, Ryuma was confident he could re-educate them properly over time!
Jack took a deep breath, pacing around Ryuma. Though his chest burned with frustration, he managed to suppress his explosive temper for the moment.
"Are you... really Ryuma?" Jack asked, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"In the flesh. Guaranteed authentic," Ryuma replied with a cool grin.
Queen's brow furrowed tightly. "But the legends say the dragon-slaying samurai Ryuma died centuries ago in ancient Wano! How could you possibly be him? How did you come back to life?"
Ryuma remained silent for a moment before shaking his head slightly. "That's a long story. If you're interested, I'll tell you another time. But right now, if you want to keep breathing, you follow my lead."
The three Lead Performers exchanged uncertain glances. After a tense silence, King gave a slow, deliberate nod.
"Fine," King spoke up. "We'll trust you this once. What's the plan?"
"Simple," Ryuma stated without batting an eye. "To survive, we take down Kaidou."
Jack let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "Kid, you clearly have no idea what Kaidou is capable of... You don't understand how terrifying that monster really is."
"We need a concrete strategy, not an empty slogan!" Queen chimed in, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
Ryuma raised a hand, signaling them to stop. "Save the noise. Of course I have a concrete plan... Phase one: eliminate Kurozumi Orochi."
The area went dead silent.
"Look," Ryuma continued, his tone turning serious, "Kaidou is hailed as the World's Strongest Creature for a reason—he's not someone you just jump blindly. Even as a dragon-slayer, my physical strength hasn't fully recovered to its prime yet, so I doubt I can face him entirely alone. When the time comes, I'll need the three of you to back me up. But as for taking care of Orochi? I'll handle that trash myself."
Jack, whose blunt nature hid a surprisingly sharp mind, questioned, "If Kaidou is the main threat, why waste time on a useless weakling like Orochi?"
Ryuma gave a cold chuckle. "To clear the board. If we leave Orochi lurking in the shadows while we battle Kaidou, he becomes a massive liability. Who knows when that snake might stab us in the back?"
The reasoning made sense to the trio, and they nodded slowly without further objection.
While Ryuma sounded cool and calculated on the outside, his inner thoughts were screaming in frustration. How the hell should I know why we need to target Orochi first?! Blame that damn system!
He let out a quiet, exasperated sigh and left it at that.
Around the same time.
In the Flower Capital.
Shogun Kurozumi Orochi slammed his fist onto his desk, flipping it over in a fit of rage!
"Dammit! This is infuriating! That arrogant bastard actually has the nerve to impersonate the legendary Ryuma!"
The surrounding court officials and retainers bowed their heads low, terrified of drawing Orochi's explosive wrath upon themselves.
Orochi grabbed a ninja captain by the collar, roaring into his face, "What the hell do I pay you for?! How could a high-level warrior like this exist in Wano without my knowledge?!"
Trembling under Orochi's intense pressure, the ninja captain stammered, "My Lord... we never received any intelligence regarding such a person! Ever since the incident, we've conducted strict census checks across every district, but we haven't found a single trace..."
"Then keep searching! I want him dragged out! What a useless bunch of fools! I train you for years, and this is how you perform when I actually need you?!"
"Understood, My Lord!"
Later that evening.
Inside his private quarters, Orochi sat at his desk, furiously scanning through pile after pile of official census scrolls.
He was determined to unearth that imposter no matter what!
Yet, despite reviewing the records of every citizen in the Flower Capital ten times over, he found absolutely nothing.
Naturally, Orochi began to suspect the intruder was an outsider—a pirate who had snuck into Wano by sea.
However, the only foreign pirates to arrive recently were Gecko Moria and his crew, who had been brutally crushed by Kaidou in a one-sided massacre. If Moria's crew possessed a warrior of this caliber, they wouldn't have been completely wiped out in the first place!
How does any of this make sense?!
Questions swarmed endlessly in Orochi's mind, feeding his growing paranoia.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at his door.
"Who is it?!" Orochi snapped, his tone dark and impatient. He was in no mood to be disturbed.
"It's me... My Lord. The guards have captured a small assassin within the palace grounds!"
Hearing the voice, Orochi recognized it as one of his ninja captains.
"You incompetent fools! It's just a petty assassin! Kill them on the spot and be done with it—why are you wasting my time reporting this?!"
"Understood, My Lord!"
Silence returned to the corridor outside.
About half an hour passed.
The ninja captain's voice sounded outside the door once again.
"My Lord! This is bad... That assassin has slaughtered a large number of guards!"
"You useless trash!" Orochi screamed, his veins bulging with fury. "Are you trying to drive me insane?! Hilarious! Do you expect me to handle every minor threat personally?! Has it really come to this—you can't even eliminate a single intruder after half an hour?!"
Once again, silence fell outside the room.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Damn it! Are you ever going to stop?! Knock one more time and I'll chop your head off myself!"
Completely losing his temper, Orochi hurled the scroll in his hand straight at the door!
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knocking continued at a steady, calm rhythm—no longer carrying the frantic urgency of before.
"So, you little ninja captain really have a death wish, don't you?"
Just as the words left his mouth, a sudden jolt of unease ran down Orochi's spine.
No matter how clueless his subordinates were, none of them would dare push him to this limit.
"Tsk tsk tsk... My apologies..." a cool, unfamiliar voice echoed from the other side of the sliding door. "Since I'm not welcome, I'll just invite myself in!"
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN MORE CHAPTERS, I HAVE 80+ STORED IN MY:
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