"Quick! Someone stop him! Kyoshiro! Fukurokuju! Get out there!"
Orochi screamed in panic.
Yes, he possessed the rare Mythical Zoan—Yamata-no-Orochi fruit.
But that was more for intimidation than actual combat. To think it could withstand the overwhelming force descending upon him now?
That was pure fantasy.
Kyoshiro's face was equally grim. He stared at the incoming wave, gripping his katana tightly.
"Fukurokuju, take the Oniwabanshu and move!" he barked.
Fukurokuju and his men hesitated.
Their first instinct was to run.
But with both Orochi and Kyoshiro giving orders, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and obey.
"Attack!"
Fukurokuju leapt forward, placing himself between Orochi and the incoming force.
The rest of the Oniwabanshu followed, equally reluctant.
Orochi, seeing this, grinned with relief—and turned to flee.
But the moment he spun around, he froze.
His eyes nearly popped from their sockets.
Kyoshiro, who had just vowed to fight, was already sprinting away—carrying Hiyori on his back—faster than Orochi himself.
In the blink of an eye, Kyoshiro had vanished hundreds of meters away.
Even Fukurokuju and his men were stunned.
"Kyoshiro! You traitor! I'll never forgive you!" Orochi shrieked, face twisted with rage.
Kyoshiro glanced back, still running.
"Sorry, Orochi-sama. I'm Denjiro of the Nine Red Scabbards. I'll leave the dying to you."
"You're one of the Scabbards?!" Orochi was dumbfounded.
But before he could process it, Fukurokuju shouted:
"Orochi-sama—it's here!"
BOOM!
A massive shockwave slammed into the castle walls, followed by a deafening sonic boom.
Fukurokuju and his men had no time to think. All they could do was hope the blast was more bark than bite.
They raised their weapons to block.
CRASH!
The impact hit like a mountain.
Bones cracked. Blood sprayed from their mouths.
Seven or eight bodies were hurled like cannonballs.
Orochi, standing just behind them, watched in horror.
Before he could flee, the full force of the Conqueror's Haki crashed down.
He felt every bone in his body shatter.
BOOM!
The shockwave roared like a tsunami.
The ground trembled violently.
Dust and debris filled the air, blotting out the sun like the end of the world.
No one knew how long it lasted.
When the dust finally settled, those who had fled collapsed to the ground, their legs too weak to stand.
They looked toward the city gate.
Everything within several kilometers had been flattened.
The gate? Gone.
The castle walls? Obliterated.
If not for Luo Yu still standing there, sipping his liquor, they wouldn't have believed it was real.
Those who had been warned by Nekomamushi and Inuarashi were now trembling with fear.
Looking at the bloodied, unconscious bodies of the Oniwabanshu and Orochi himself, they realized how lucky they were.
Had that blast been aimed at them, they wouldn't have survived—even if they'd tried to run.
And now, staring at the devastation, a chilling thought crept into everyone's minds:
Was this it? Was the country opened with a single strike?
Orochi's elite guards and samurai army—his trump card—had been wiped out in an instant.
Even if some survived, who would dare step forward now?
Silence fell over the ruins.
All eyes turned to Luo Yu, still calmly sipping his drink.
This was the moment they had dreamed of for decades.
A dream they were willing to die for.
And yet, Luo Yu had done it effortlessly.
Was this the true power of a real strongman?
"Uncle Kyoshiro… am I dreaming?"
Hiyori's legs gave out. She dropped to her knees, staring at Luo Yu in awe.
"I was ready to die for this… and he just did it like it was nothing."
"Now I understand why he said my father was a fool."
"What we called 'opening the country'—to him, it wasn't even worth mentioning. If Father had asked Whitebeard or Roger for help back then… maybe Wano wouldn't have suffered for decades. Maybe it was Father who doomed us…"
Kyoshiro stood in a daze.
His faith was crumbling.
As one of the Nine Red Scabbards, he had been unable to refute Luo Yu's harsh words about Oden.
He had resisted believing them.
But now… he was utterly convinced.
"Alright. I'll leave the rest to you."
Luo Yu glanced at Orochi's broken body in the rubble.
"Stop pretending. That Mythical Zoan fruit is wasted on you."
"You… you know my secret?"
Orochi's eyes snapped open. He roared in panic:
"I'm a Mythical Zoan user! The shogun of Wano! If you spare me, I'll give you anything you want!"
He stood up, seemingly unharmed.
His voice turned into a beastly growl.
His body transformed into the eight-headed serpent form of the Yamata-no-Orochi.
But before he could speak—
Seven of his heads froze midair.
Then, in front of everyone, they crashed to the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Dust exploded into the air.
Seven heads slammed into the earth.
Orochi stared, dumbstruck.
A ridiculous thought flashed through his mind:
"Did he just kill seven of my lives in one hit?"
Now, the once-mighty Yamata-no-Orochi was down to a solo act.
If he hadn't seen it himself, he never would've believed his trump card could be so utterly useless.