At night, Garp had just finished soaking in the hot springs and felt utterly refreshed.
Hot springs were one of Inazuma's specialties. The most famous were at Shirahama and Onigashima—their quality rivaled any dedicated hot spring resorts overseas.
But since their operation didn't require going to Onigashima or Shirahama, they made do with Hakumai.
"What a shame. I was hoping for mixed bathing," Kizaru said with a sleazy grin.
"Are you an idiot?" Kuzan rolled his eyes. "Even if mixed baths existed, the only people in there would be old ladies."
It seemed Kuzan spoke from experience.
Then he suddenly remembered something. He glanced around furtively, and upon confirming that the two female Marines were nowhere nearby, he lowered his voice: "I hear the Pleasure District in Inazuma is quite interesting. Want to check it out together?"
"Well… that's not really appropriate, is it?"
Sengoku was tempted but hesitant. His eyes darted around.
Visiting brothels wasn't exactly dignified. If word got out that the Marine Admiral had dragged two Admirals to a brothel in Inazuma, the Marines' reputation would be flushed down the toilet.
"Hey, don't misunderstand. We're tourists in Inazuma—experiencing local customs is perfectly reasonable, right?" Kuzan said with a straight face.
"Good point. Let's go?"
"Let's go!"
The men slapped their thighs and were about to head out.
But just then, a man in a yukata who had just finished bathing walked out, toothpick dangling from his mouth, and called them to a stop.
"Wait a minute, fellas—don't tell me you're planning to hit the Pleasure District?"
Sengoku's face flushed red. "W-we're just going to listen to music…"
"Oh, just listening to music? That's allowed. But if you're hoping for anything more… Inazuma doesn't provide those services to non-locals," the man explained.
"There's such a rule?" Sengoku and the others frowned.
"It's an Inazuma regulation. I hear the Shogun originally intended to shut down the Pleasure District entirely, but in the end, there were indeed plenty of women willing to sell themselves, so the plan was scrapped."
The man was quite the talker and looked like a local fixture. Sengoku and the others grew interested and slowly listened to his explanations.
"If it's not banned, why not do business with foreigners?" Kizaru asked.
"To prevent Inazuma's reputation from becoming synonymous with sleaze. There's a place overseas called the Pleasure District, right? If Inazuma ended up like that, it would be truly tragic," the man explained. "In short, if you've got any such ideas, you'd best give them up."
Watching the man leave, Sengoku thought to himself: Liberate Inazuma, can't wait a moment longer!
So when Vice Admiral Tsuru and Gion emerged from the hot springs, the men briefed Tsuru on tonight's operation.
"We're moving tonight? Wouldn't it be better to wait until their guard drops further?" Tsuru asked, confused.
Even though they were merely decoys to draw attention, they should still put on a proper act—that was the only way to keep Inazuma's eyes focused on them.
"No more waiting. Liberate Inazuma—can't wait a moment longer!" Sengoku declared with conviction.
"Exactly. Every minute we delay could mean one more young woman we fail to save!" Kuzan nodded firmly.
Tsuru: ???
"Garp, what on earth is going on?"
Garp, who had been munching senbei and watching the show, was suddenly put on the spot. He stared blankly.
Laughing his ass off—he didn't even know what the plan was or what the operation involved, and they were asking him?
But after a moment's thought, piecing together what the others had been discussing, he more or less got the gist. So he explained, slurring his words:
"Sounds like they want to go save some fallen women…"
Tsuru: …
"All of you—knock it off!"
Tsuru activated her Wash-Wash Fruit ability, scrubbing away the filth from the hearts of every man present.
"Gomenasai! Sumimasen!"
The men knelt in a neat row before Tsuru, faces flushed with shame.
Then Garp's head suddenly shot up.
"Wait—why am I kneeling too? This has nothing to do with me!"
"Shut it!"
A single word from Tsuru rendered them meek and obedient. After a moment, the aging Vice Admiral sighed.
"If that's the case, let's just begin the operation. We'll draw out Inazuma's main combat forces so Smoker and the others can infiltrate the Flower Capital and other areas without trouble."
"The Flower Capital is Inazuma's capital, but it's in the central region. The Raiden Shogun is currently overseas, and even at lightning speed, her first destination would be Kuri. Kizaru, you're the fastest—you and Gion handle Kuri."
"Is Borsalino plus Gion enough for Kuri? Don't forget—Kuri has the Ashura Demon, Shutendouji," Kuzan countered.
"Hey, hold on. What's that supposed to mean? Are we actually going to fight?" Garp's jaw dropped.
Are you guys planning a real battle?
Even if it were real, one Kizaru plus one Gion wouldn't be nearly enough, would they?
"Are you out of your mind? How could there possibly be a real conflict?" Sengoku said. "However, while we won't engage head-on, we can play the part of directionally challenged sailors who accidentally wandered into the wrong area."
"Would anyone actually believe that excuse?"
Garp was speechless. Even he wouldn't buy that nonsense.
But Sengoku looked entirely at ease.
"Why wouldn't they believe it? We're Marines—of course we'd have no sense of direction on land. Being cursed by land to become hopeless navigators—it's perfectly logical!"
Zoro: ???
Hey now, did you guys eat the Name-Name Fruit too? Stealing my whole persona?
Don't let me catch you, or there won't be any juice left for you!
…
With their targets assigned, the group set out.
It was nighttime. Kizaru and Gion strolled along Hakumai's streets as if sightseeing, gradually making their way toward Kuri.
They didn't take the bridge. Instead, under the cover of moonlight, they used Moon Steps to fly across the river channel.
But the scene was spotted by a swarm of drones overhead.
The Ruin Hunters patrolling the air received the alert and immediately sprang into action, converging on their position.
Meanwhile, at the Kuri Daimyo Residence, Shutendouji had also received the alert.
"Finally making their move, huh? Those Marines."
"A-Tsuru, shut down the patrol alerts for the other regions and keep monitoring them. I'm going to go welcome these Marines personally."
Shutendouji had been waiting for this. After giving his wife A-Tsuru a quick instruction, he threw on his coat, gripped his blade, and headed out.
In truth, he knew the chances of an actual clash were slim. But life in Kuri had grown monotonous—sometimes his hands itched and there was no one worth cutting down.
[
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