"Big Mom is getting married again!"
This was the latest news every guest attending Big Mom's tea party heard upon arriving at Whole Cake Island.
'Huh?'
'Wasn't it said to be a marriage alliance between Big Mom's daughter and Uzumaki Naruto?'
'Did it change to her marrying Uzumaki Naruto herself?'
'That would really be… oh, no, it's with a male from another new race.'
'Never mind then.'
A group of 'underground forces' with significant influence in the New World whispered and discussed Big Mom's marriage like village gossipers.
What Shipping King, Loan Shark King, underground world arms dealers… it could be described as 'all the worthy gathered together'.
"Big news, big news…"
Morgans's arrival at Whole Cake Island was quite swift. He was probably the first underground ruler to arrive after Naruto.
Beside him, the [Loan Shark King] Lu Feld also looked gossipy and asked quietly.
"Morgans, wasn't it said to be a marriage alliance between the Big Mom Pirates and Uzumaki Naruto? How did it suddenly change?"
Aside from Naruto himself, almost all participants had received similar news shortly after being invited to the tea party.
The channels varied… some heard it from Big Mom's messengers, while others had their own sources within Totto Land.
"I'm not too sure about that either."
Upon hearing Lu Feld's question, the excited expression on Morgans's face suddenly faded, and he replied as if it were nothing.
'What else could the reason be?'
'Naruto, the person involved, didn't agree.'
'How could such a question even be asked? Who knows how Lu Feld managed to build such a fortune with that brain of his.'
Umit, known as the [Shipping King], also came over to interject.
"Hey, Morgans, what about that news about the Celestial Dragons from before-"
"It's true."
As soon as Morgan heard Umit's question, he knew why the other was asking.
The reason was simple.
The previous issue of the World Economic News Paper had been 'debunked' by an 'unspeakable' force, and related information had been suppressed.
Anyone with half a brain could guess who was behind it.
The 'survival time' of this big news even exceeded Morgan's expectations. The pressure was applied more than a day after the incident occurred. Combined with the time spent printing the 'debunking' newspaper, it dragged on for two whole days.
Two days were enough for everyone who needed to know to learn the news.
Of course, the masses in most member nations still remained unaware.
Or if they did hear, they chose to believe the 'debunking' content.
None of that mattered.
Later, to divert attention, the Celestial Dragons very unscrupulously forced Morgans to focus the report on the Marine's Admiral, Akainu, who lost his hand.
One of the three famous Admirals.
The Marine's highest combat power.
Actually defeated single-handedly by a criminal and left disabled.
This severely damaged the Marine's prestige.
Yet, Sengoku couldn't forcefully make Morgans remove the news.
The World Government might not care about the Marine's image, but he had to.
Coupled with the Marine's direct shutdown of Sabaody Archipelago, the gateway from the first half of the Grand Line to the New World, forcing pirates with some strength to return to Paradise,
The end result was a sharp increase in pirate attacks within the Marine's jurisdiction, and even the Revolutionary Army's activities became more frequent.
The first half of the Grand Line became exceptionally lively for a time.
In contrast, the New World, seemingly already familiar with the World Government's antics, didn't react as strongly.
In a kitchen room of Whole Cake Castle, Orochimaru looked somewhat confused at his reflection in the mirror.
Naruto was quite kind, at least he didn't take Orochimaru's name as well.
Of course, in reality, it was simply because he couldn't be bothered to think too much about it. After all, it was just a casual move, purely on a whim.
In Orochimaru's memory, he had always lived on Whole Cake Island, and he should have been very familiar with every plant and tree here.
Yet, when he actually saw the scenes outside, he felt an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity.
The houses constructed from cake, cream, and chocolate struck Orochimaru as utterly unbelievable.
This conflicting psychology, combined with his innate curiosity for the unknown, led Orochimaru to cautiously observe everything around him.
First of all, there is his 'fiancée', Charlotte Linlin, who is known as the Emperor of the Sea.
A woman exuding immense pressure, in every sense of the word.
The reason she was marrying him was purely due to his unique [Snake-Man] bloodline.
His half-snake, half-human reflection in the mirror was the best evidence.
In the new memories created for Orochimaru by Pudding, trust and obedience toward Big Mom were particularly reinforced.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Orochimaru was inherently predisposed to despise authority, distrust anyone, and betray at any moment.
However, lacking the ability, he couldn't make any out-of-line moves.
In terms of physical stature alone, any one of Big Mom's sons could easily overpower him.
Having lost his memory, he didn't even know what Chakra was, let alone Ninjutsu.
Instead, he began to develop curiosity about Devil Fruits and Haki.
When facing Big Mom, Orochimaru behaved with great deference.
Because of this, he successfully managed to extract the information he wanted to know from her.
On the other hand, Naruto didn't seem particularly interested in Big Mom and Orochimaru's wedding.
By now, he had already gathered all the information he needed, and it was time to prepare for his return to the Ninja World.
He would wait until after the tea party and find a safer place to begin… it wouldn't make much difference to delay a little longer.
Once again carefully the information from Orochimaru's memories, Naruto mentally set Pain and 'Uchiha Madara' as his hypothetical adversaries.
He needed to prepare for battle in advance.
Uchiha Madara, according to the description of the Nine-Tails and his father, has the ability to control the Tailed Beasts.
Whether this guy was the real Uchiha Madara from history or not, he was highly suspicious.
Naruto decided he would beat him up first and ask questions later.
Meanwhile, on the route to Totto Land.
The Marine's warship carrying Garp and the others was sailing at full speed.
The latest intelligence they had received was that Naruto had already arrived at Whole Cake Island in Totto Land and had reached some form of cooperation with Big Mom.
"It looks like we're in for a tough battle ahead." Tsuru remarked, sighing as she gazed at the darkening sky in the distance.
"Wahahaha, Tsuru, you're overthinking things as usual!" Beside her, Garp laughed heartily while munching on rice crackers, completely dispelling the tense atmosphere.
The famously 'hardworking' Admiral Kizaru, meanwhile, had somehow produced a bowl of ramen and was noisily slurping it down.
Looking at her two unreliable colleagues, Tsuru rolled her eyes in exasperation, then recalled another piece of news.
'It was said that the World Government had also sent people over. Presumably, we wouldn't be fighting alone this time.'
'It seems this time, the World Government was determined to go all out against that Uzumaki Naruto.'