At this point, Genichi had no choice but to go all the way down this path.
A normal person would think continuing like this is foolish.
But for someone like Genichi, going all the way to the end isn't a problem at all—because now, he's not walking this road alone. He's pulling almost half the shinobi world along with him.
Everyone sees a bright future ahead, everyone sees their ambitions coming true, and Genichi is using that.
The ending he sees is darkness, but along the way, there will be plenty of light. For the others, seeing that hope is enough.
As the World Government's meeting is held again, nobles from all nations gather at the World Government conference in the Land of Fire.
At the same time, on Crescent Moon Island in the Land of the Moon…
The ministers and the ruler of the Land of the Moon have already left under Marine protection. Now, only a small force and a few noble families remain there.
Inside the palace, the Moon Prince, Getsuman, stared at the newspaper in his hand with a puzzled look.
"Hinoman, why do you think my father and the ministers are so eager to go to the Red Line? I think Crescent Moon Island is great.
There's no war here, and so many merchants come and go."
Getsuman might be an uneducated prince, but in this new era, his Pops and the ministers have been forcing him to learn the ways of ruling a country.
The problem is, this guy has almost no talent for it.
Hearing Getsuman's words, Hinoman explained gently.
"The Red Line is in the center of the New World. The power of the Dragon Veins can make nobles' bodies stronger. No matter the situation, strength is the foundation that keeps everything safe and stable.
Your Highness, Getsuman."
"And even though the Land of the Moon hasn't been attacked by pirates, in the current state of the world, no one can say for sure.
Building a place where only nobles live will allow the World Government to protect their safety. It's also a way to protect their status."
Hinoman answered with a smile.
Even though he's a White Zetsu, he's read plenty of books in the palace and learned a lot of information.
He's always by Getsuman's side. Getsuman never pays attention in class, but Hinoman has picked up a lot.
After hearing Hinoman's words, Getsuman shook his head, not understanding. To him, any problem can be solved with money.
"Damn it, when Pops comes back, he'll check my studies again. I'm already an adult, and I still have to learn this stuff!!"
Getsuman gritted his teeth.
Especially when he thought about his own son, who was supposed to be the heir to the throne, yet acted just like he did back then—doing nothing all day—Getsuman became even angrier.
Seeing this, Hinoman could only smile and respond.
"Your Highness Getsuman, I'll go prepare some fruit for you. Take your time with the newspapers and books. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."
"Alright, thank you, Hinoman."
Getsuman let out a long sigh.
He couldn't help thinking that even though Hinoman was a White Zetsu, he was so much smarter than him.
Well, maybe not smarter—it was probably because he himself was just too lazy and never worked hard.
But then he thought, once he inherited the throne, he could just let Hinoman make all the decisions for him, right?
Meanwhile, outside the room, Hinoman looked out from the palace corridor. A white shadow flashed by, and a White Zetsu appeared behind him.
"Hinoman, we need to leave. Now's the best chance. Tonight is the night of the uprising."
The White Zetsu behind Hinoman was just there to deliver the message. Hinoman had always been one of the key members of their group. Without Hinoman's help inside the palace, the White Zetsu on Crescent Moon Island might have already revolted—and been crushed.
That's what happened to White Zetsu in other places. They started uprisings too soon and were quickly wiped out by the Marines.
The gap in strength between them and the World Government's forces was just too big. And don't even mention those unplanned riots—did they really think the strong ones in the ninja world were pushovers?
The ninja world might seem ordinary now, but since the new era began, the barriers between ninja villages and nations have broken down, and lots of regular people have been trained as ninjas.
The overall military strength has gone way up—that's no joke.
The reason it doesn't look that way on the surface is because the Marines on the front lines usually face monsters. Ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit users aren't even considered strong enough to show up there.
But in reality, the Marines' overall strength is not weak at all.
You can say their individual power can't compare to pirates, but you can't say their overall power is weak. There are plenty of strong and ambitious fighters among the Marines.
So the reason Crescent Moon Island has stayed peaceful is largely thanks to Hinoman helping the White Zetsu there.
"I understand."
Hearing the White Zetsu behind him, Hinoman nodded.
Then both of them fell silent.
Hinoman knew what the other wanted to say, but… he couldn't do it.
"I understand. Good luck out there."
"If you can, find Gato as soon as possible and stay with him. You'll get everything you want."
Hinoman spoke calmly.
"You're not coming with us?"
"No. I still need to go prepare fruit for Getsuman."
Hinoman shook his head.
"Hinoman, you're a White Zetsu. He's human—a noble. Do you really think, after we start this rebellion, that you'll be allowed to live?"
"To them, we're just tools. Disposable things they can throw away anytime. Don't you get it? You'll die."
The White Zetsu behind him spoke angrily. He couldn't understand what was wrong with Hinoman.
Hinoman had always helped them, but never truly stood with them. He was one of them, yet he would never betray humans. To humans, White Zetsu were nothing but pawns that didn't matter.
"I understand. But Getsuman has never done anything to wrong me."
"Alright, go now."
Hinoman smiled.
"I have prepared everything that needs to be prepared for you, and there won't be any accidents."
After saying that, Hinoman left.
There were too many things he could do in the royal palace, he could even help the White Zetsu change their identities, because the Marines would investigate whether the White Zetsu were purchased through Gato's channels.
So with Hinoman's help, the White Zetsu on Crescent Moon Island didn't suffer much loss, and a large number of White Zetsu were retained, including those who were supposed to be "eliminated". Even the White Zetsu who were supposed to be eliminated were secretly protected by Hinoman.
But even so, Hinoman couldn't leave the royal palace directly.
Being able to do this much for the White Zetsu was because of his kindness, but it was also because of this kindness that he couldn't find a reason to betray Getsuman.
As the sun gradually set, the direction of the port on Crescent Moon Island was still a fiery red, and the raging fire pierced through the night.
The fire began to spread out, and the battle at the port broke out.
The Marines picked up their weapons, and the originally scattered White Zetsu had now gathered together, and the civilians were running everywhere.
"Run, the White Zetsu have gone crazy."
"Protect the civilians, and eliminate all the White Zetsu you encounter on the spot."
"Protect the civilians and retreat, everyone else, come with me to the royal palace."
The Marine commander was already overwhelmed at this time.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Marine base was burned down, and a large number of weapons were stolen by the White Zetsu, and the White Zetsu were completely organized in a short period of time.
Protecting civilians was a small matter at this time, what was really important was to prevent any big problems from happening to the people in the royal palace.
As the Marines began to take action, the civilians of the entire Crescent Moon Island also rushed towards the royal palace. In this great chaos, only the royal palace was the safest.
Only in that place could they get the best protection.
In other places, the rebellious White Zetsu had taken everything they could from the entire port, and all the supplies were transported to the ships.
The battle with the Marines was also almost over, but there were still many White Zetsu who hadn't come over.
The White Zetsu with only one leg left, looked at the streets covered by flames, and listened to the sounds of fighting and various screams coming from the flames, without any emotional change in his heart.
This was a rebellion of the White Zetsu, a war between the White Zetsu and humans.
As long as it was a war, there would be casualties, and one day, he would die in this war.
But not now.
"Boss, Hinoman has prepared everything for us, we should go."
"Boss, let's go quickly!!"
"Don't worry, the Marines don't have much combat power, we have plenty of time.
So... I'm still going to say goodbye to Hinoman."
"Let the others go first, if there are any who are willing to come with us, just stay here and wait for me to come back."
He turned around and said, these White Zetsu were not all his subordinates, most of the White Zetsu were free "rebels".
They had hatred for humans, but they knew their strength was limited, so they had been waiting until now.
Even among the White Zetsu, there were several factions.
As the "boss." walked into the sea of fire, some of the White Zetsu also followed him towards the royal palace.
Having received the grace of "Hinoman," these White Zetsu had imprinted the symbol of the sun on their bodies, the symbol of the sun covered the numbers on their bodies.
It would also let them forever remember "Hinoman," the liberator of Crescent Moon Island.
At this time, in the royal palace, Hinoman had been tied up by the Marines, he didn't resist.
Getsuman next to Hinoman had an unbelievable expression on his face.
"It's impossible, even if all the White Zetsu on Crescent Moon Island rebelled, Hinoman wouldn't betray me."
"This kind of thing is absolutely impossible."
"Prince, the White Zetsu are very cunning, and he's just a White Zetsu, even if he dies, we can just buy another one later."
The Marine officer didn't care, it was just a White Zetsu, was he really that important?
"Also, it's hard to say whether he betrayed us or not."
A female ninja stared at Hinoman in front of her, and in an instant she was sure that this White Zetsu in front of her was very different from ordinary White Zetsu, and also different from those rebellious White Zetsu.
"You did it, didn't you? Organizing the White Zetsu to rebel, letting them wait for an opportunity in an organized way, all of this, a normal White Zetsu wouldn't be able to do it."
The female ninja said.
Hinoman looked up, his tone calm.
"It was me."
The moment these two words were spoken, everyone was stunned, and Getsuman looked at Hinoman in disbelief, and collapsed directly into the chair.
His voice trembled, his face also turned gloomy in an instant, and finally he squeezed out a few words with difficulty.
"Since when... tell me, Hinoman!!"
"When did you start deceiving me??"
"He never deceived you."
A voice came from above, as the voice appeared, a huge explosion directly destroyed the gate of the royal palace, and the White Zetsu broke through the gate.
A figure fell from the sky, a wooden prosthetic limb knocked on the floor, and a scarred White Zetsu appeared in front of everyone.
On his chest was imprinted a red sun mark, and in his hand he was carrying a Marine who had already fainted. The White Zetsu boss casually threw the Marine aside.
"Hinoman has never deceived you."
"It's just that you, as humans, never ask about these things anyway.
You are always high above, and we, we are just your tools, no one cares about the thoughts of tools."
"It's just a pity, we are not tools."
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