Chapter 818: Momonosuke's Disappearance (Part 1)
Let’s go back a little in time…
Let's go back to the time when Lynch and his crew had not yet arrived in Wano Country, and even the final battle in which two of the Four Emperors of the Sea died had not yet taken place.
Sunny day, light breeze. Kuri, Wano Country.
In the flames of war, Oden Castle was reduced to a ruined dead city. Suddenly, five figures appeared out of thin air, staggering and falling down in shock. They even had the heat from the fire that burned Oden Castle to the pirates led by Kaido nineteen years ago. The corners of their clothes were splattered with oil and burnt marks, and the blood and wounds on their faces were not dry...
“Is this a dream?”
Kin'emon, Kikunosuke, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Momonosuke, who was pulled out of the crevice of the ruins by Kikunosuke, all five of them looked at everything around them in shock.
"here it is……"
A group of people from nineteen years ago climbed up to the heights of Oden Castle. This once bustling place was now extremely desolate, with only a few lonely tombstones standing.
"The Grave of Kozuki Oden", "The Grave of Kozuki Toki", "The Grave of Kozuki Momonosuke", "The Grave of Kozuki Hiyori", "The Grave of Kin'emon", "The Grave of Raizo", "The Grave of Kikunojo", "The Grave of Kanjuro", "The Grave of Denjiro", "The Grave of Cat Viper", "The Grave of Inuarashi"...
A very familiar name. The tombstone was decayed, telling how much time had passed in the blink of an eye. It was as if an invisible hand had cut them out of the nineteen years of time and sent them to this place.
"This is the Oden Castle nineteen years later!?"
"Master Shi's ability... is real..."
Momonosuke knelt down in front of his parents' tombstone, tears streaming down his face. When he saw the tombstone with his own name on it, he felt a terrifying fear. The tremendous pressure and the absurd sense of time and space confusion made him burst into tears, with tears and snot streaming down his face.
While Kin'emon and the others were trying to comfort Momonosuke, Kanjuro used his giant brush weapon and sword, Tsuji Shibai, to quickly paint on the ground, activating the power of the superhuman Ink-Ink Fruit to quickly draw two birds.
Two black birds emerged from the ground and flew away flapping their wings.
Kin'emon wiped the blood and tears from his face and said seriously, "Anyway, we need to figure out our current situation first."
Several people stood on the height of the ruins of Yutian Castle, looking at the distant view of the entire Jiuli. The village that was once as beautiful as a paradise was now desolate with few living things in sight. There were many factory-like buildings in the mountains and by the river, with several rows of tall chimneys emitting disgusting black smoke.
"Toki-sama sent us to this day nineteen years later, there must be a deep meaning." Kin'emon looked around at his three companions and said with a firm look, "We must inherit the last wish of Lord Oden and establish the country of Wano!"
"Yeah!" Kikunosuke and Raizo were in tears, and Momonosuke wiped his tears. Kanjuro, who was an undercover sent by Kurozumi Orochi, was very into the role and was also in tears at this moment.
"Kanjuro, you stay near Kuri Oden Castle and Nozomi. Kokiru, you go to Usagi and the south of Kuri with Raizo to check the news. I'll take His Highness Momonosuke, Suzuko, and Hakumai to see if Lord Shimotsuki Yasuie is still alive..." Having said this, Kin'emon paused, feeling sad and heavy in his heart.
To them, nineteen years was just a blink of an eye, but Denjiro, Kawamatsu, Ashura Douji and the others had survived day by day. Also, is His Highness Hiyori alright? If anything went wrong...
"Are we all going to various places to gather information?" Kanjuro raised his hand and asked doubtfully, "Old Dog, Old Cat and the others may have already returned to Zou. Besides, nineteen years have passed, and it will be more difficult to defeat Kaido and Orochi. Now that Lord Oden is gone, it's just us... Kin'emon, should we go out to sea to find more help?"
Kin'emon shook his head and said, "It's not that easy to go to sea! It's even harder for us to violate the maritime ban and leave Wano Country alive... Our lives are not a pity, but His Highness Momonosuke must not be lost. Lord Toki has worked so hard to preserve the fire, how dare we let him down?" He murmured to himself, "Lord Toki would rather sacrifice himself than send us to this day. There must be some reason..."
"In short, try to get in touch with Denjiro, Kawamatsu, Ashura Douji, Nekomaru, or Inuarashi." Kin'emon took Momonosuke, who was still in shock and in a low mood, into his arms, and with one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, he looked back at the group of corrupt tombstones with a sad expression, "Success or failure depends on this one move, we won't have a second chance. Remember, you must hide your whereabouts, be careful! Don't reveal our identities, we will meet again in seven days..."
"clear!"
With a few whooshes, the group of five people were divided into three groups.
Kikunojo and Raizo left for the southern part of Kuri and Usagi, while Kin'emon took Momonosuke and headed straight for Hana-no-Miya, Hakumai, and Suzuko.
Kanjuro stayed in front of the desolate graves. A strange smile appeared on his pale and rosy Kabuki face, "Don't reveal your identity, you idiots. Lord Orochi should have received the signal I sent by now... Hahahaha!"
…
The capital of flowers, the general's mansion.
"Someone broke into Wano Country?" Orochi was slightly drunk and angrily smashed the documents on his subordinate's head. "You bother me with such groundless things! We can talk about it after we catch the offender!"
"yes!"
"Hahaha, ignore them." The snake embraced the gorgeous courtesan and laughed wildly, "Keep going!"
Suddenly, two black birds flew in from the window and landed on the big snake's shoulders very intimately.
Xiao Zi raised her eyes and looked over curiously. She noticed that the big snake's expression suddenly changed when the two birds landed. He even pushed her aside, hurried back behind the screen in a daze, opened the door of the inner room and disappeared.
Counting the time... Oiran Kozuki was still smiling and laughing at the Shogun's banquet, but she remembered clearly in her heart that this year was the year her mother had predicted. This year, her brother would be sent across time and space by her mother nineteen years ago using the power of the devil fruit. If everything went smoothly as predicted, Momonosuke would regain his position as Shogun, and Wano Country would be founded...
"Xiao Zi." Kyoshiro's voice brought Xiao Zi back to her senses.
She covered her face with a fan, blinking her beautiful big eyes, and met Kyoshiro's slender gaze hidden under the wig. She shook her head gently to indicate that she was fine.
After last year's fireworks display, she knew that Kyoshiro would count the days on his fingers, appearing calm on the surface every day, anxiously waiting for Kin'emon and others who might have come from nineteen years ago...
At this time, the big snake was in another room. Looking at the bird that turned into two pools of ink on the table, his face turned pale and he shuddered violently.
They really came! Kin'emon! The most important one... Kozuki Momonosuke!
That son of Kozuki Oden! The last bloodline of the damn Kozuki family who was most likely to threaten his position as shogun! His own confidant had disappeared with Kin'emon, Momonosuke and others nineteen years ago. Now, after nineteen years, Orochi saw the ink bird created by Kanjuro's ability again. How could he not understand what happened? "Check! Check it for me!"
Orochi felt cold all over, but was furious. He overturned the coffee table in anger, "Even if we have to search every inch of the land in Wano Country, we must find them! All of them will be sentenced to death! They...should have died nineteen years ago!" General Kurozumi suppressed his roar, "Also, tell Kaido that Kozuki Oden's son has really appeared again!"
…
"What's going on? The atmosphere has been so tense these past two days."
At the border of Kuri and Udon, in a town, Monet, Senior, Buffalo, and Sugar, who had already changed into local costumes of Wano Country and disguised themselves as a couple, a bodyguard, and a daughter, gathered in an empty, dilapidated house.
When they arrived in Wano Country, a hellhole with stinky sewers everywhere, Sucrose hadn't eaten fresh grapes for several days. Her mouth felt bland and she was in a bad mood.
Senior said, "It seems like they are searching for someone."
"Could it be us?!" Buffalo was shocked.
Monet said, "We flew out directly on the buffalo and were not discovered at all."
"It's not a solution to stay here any longer," said Sandang irritably, dragging her overlong patched kimono - she refused to wear the clothes she had stolen from a little girl "of the same age" - "Buffalo, you and Senior are the only ones left to watch over the only waterfall entrance on the Jiuli side. Monet, come with me to the Flower Capital, where we should have better information."
On the way to the Flower City, Monet smiled and said, "Sister, you just want to go to the Flower City to find some grapes, right?"
“Shut up!” Sugar yelled, and then said angrily, “It’s so annoying! If that bastard Lynch doesn’t show up again, we might as well join Kaido. They probably know Lynch’s whereabouts.”
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Monet smiled and said, "In this case, I'm afraid Kaido will have to know your abilities before they will accept us."
“Isn’t having a naturalist enough?” Sugar glanced at her sister and sneered, “If I tell them about my ability, I’m afraid many people will be so scared that they will come and strangle me to death in the middle of the night…”
"..." Monet was silent for a while, and murmured sullenly, "After all, not everyone has the same magnanimity as Dover."
"Sister, can we really avenge him?"
"Shut up!"
…
I am Kurozumi Kanjuro, an actor who was born on the stage and also longs to die on the stage... Kanjuro, with a relaxed smile on his face, sat in an abandoned village in Kuri, unfolded a piece of waste paper that he had finally found, and with ink dripping from his fingertips, he wrote down confidential information on the paper without adding any words: "General Orochi is here... Kozuki Momonosuke is also with us..."
Because of the rush of time, he only had time to use the ink bird to inform Lord Orochi that he had indeed come from across the domain for 19 years. As an excellent undercover agent, Kanjuro, now that he is free, of course he must report the information he can provide to Lord Orochi, the current head of the Kurozumi family and his loyal master. ——Kinemon, that idiot, when they were splitting up, actually let me act alone! However, this is also because of my superb acting skills over the years. Hahahaha.
After writing the secret letter, Kanjuro wrapped it up, then splashed ink and painted a lifelike Oniwabanshu leader - Fukurokuju with a big bald head and long earlobes. Fukurokuju, who was transformed by ink, picked up the secret letter, hid it in his arms, and saluted Kanjuro, who was smiling evilly. Kanjuro, a schizophrenic actor who had a lot of drama, also returned the salute in a similar way, and finally watched Fukurokuju, who was transformed by ink, go to the direction of the flower capital.
As long as he receives the secret letter, Lord Orochi will be able to capture Momonosuke very quickly! Capture everyone!
Kanjuro looked at the sky and thought to himself, Kin'emon, I suggested going out to sea before, but I really did it for your sake! The best actors are not those who can act like what they are, but those who can act like what they are. When I played Kanjuro, one of your companions, the "Nine Red Scabbards", I really thought about you wholeheartedly... and when I returned to the identity of Kurozumi Kanjuro, I also sincerely wanted you to die!
Hehehahaha… Kanjuro, with his face covered in white powder and blush on, showed a self-indulgent smile.
…
"Hey, thank you very much."
The disguised Kin'emon gave a fake smile to the pirates of the Beasts Pirates who passed by, and walked away in disgrace. After running for a few miles in one breath, there was a movement in his arms, and Momonosuke popped his head out. His face, which was "disguised" by Kanjuro, also turned red, and he breathed a sigh of relief as if he had come back to life, "I almost died! Kin'emon!"
"I deserve to die!" Kin'emon apologized hurriedly.
"Forget it, this is not the time to be fussy..." Momonosuke brushed off his clothes and coughed lightly, "The most important thing now is our plan."
Kin'emon sighed with a gloomy look on his face. During the past few days, they saw factories everywhere, spewing thick black smoke. The river water had been polluted to the point of being undrinkable. All the daimyo except the Flower Capital had been destroyed. The land was dry and the area available for growing crops was less than one-third of what it was twenty years ago... These were secondary. The most hateful thing was that Orochi, that bastard, slandered the name of Kozuki!
The people of Wano Country today only know Kurozumi Orochi, but not General Kozuki!
“Hehehe…”
Kin'emon was walking in distress when he suddenly heard Momonosuke's laughter in the distance. He was shocked and said, "Lord Momonosuke, why don't you just leave me alone——Tsuru?!"
He looked up and saw that at the side of the path ahead, Momonosuke, with a face that had been "made up" by Kanjuro, was throwing himself into the arms of a still charming woman, laughing with his little head raised.
Kin'emon was struck by lightning. This woman was none other than his first wife, Crane! Nineteen years had passed in a flash, and she was still so beautiful, gentle, and plump...
"Hehehehe..." Momonosuke arched and arched. In this cruel world, only this warm heart can give him a little warmth.
"Whose child is this? Has he been separated from his family?" The beautiful woman had no idea that her husband, who had disappeared for 19 years, was watching her secretly. With a face full of pity, she held her young master Momonosuke, whom she had never recognized, in her arms to comfort him. "Be good, don't be afraid. Come home with your auntie and have some red bean soup, how about that?"
Momonosuke shook his head vigorously, stepped back and bowed his head, saying: "The person you are waiting for will definitely come back!"
After saying that, he turned around and ran away without caring about how Crane reacted, leaving Crane standing there in a daze, wanting to scream but not daring to, covering its mouth tightly with its eyes wide open.
The boy ran away to a nearby corner, and the tall figure waiting there looked like...
Crane. Kin'emon looked away reluctantly, "Now is not the time for us to recognize each other!" Kozuki Oden's number one retainer, the samurai, left with Momonosuke in great pain.
It really hurts!
The way Momonosuke twisted his body in his wife's arms just now was like a nail stuck in his heart. Kin'emon didn't know if he saw it wrongly. Momonosuke seemed to be showing that kind of smile... No, it's impossible. Momonosuke was only eight years old. He was just an eight-year-old child! "What's wrong with you, Kin'emon?" Momonosuke looked up and asked.
What am I thinking? This is Lord Oden's son! How can I be so petty at this time? Kin'emon shook his head and said seriously, "I think we should make a secret code. If Denjiro sees it, he will definitely understand it..."
(End of this chapter)