One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 456: Talking With Kin'emon



Kin'emon laid out his entire story, or at least a somewhat summarized version of it given the span of time that it covered.

The story of Oden and the wacky adventures he went on. How he was banished from the Flower Capital by his father, the shogun at the time, and went on to tame the criminal infested Kuri, turning it into a prosperous region.

How he joined Whitebeard's crew and later joined Roger on his quest to reach the final island.

About the state that he found Wano in when he returned, about his struggles against Kaido and Orochi. About how he was executed unjustly and still saved the lives of his retainers in the process.

How Oden's wife, Toki, was a woman out of time and used her devil fruit to send Oden's most trusted retainers and Momo into the future.

The story was one that inspired outrage on the part of the Straw Hats.

Even Cherry was moved, knowing that if she had met the man in life then she likely would have found his musclebrained simplicity endearing. Although the part about him continuing his adventure after his wife fell ill did irk her a little, but nobody was perfect and he did return as he promised to.

Toki choosing to die alongside her husband and leave her children behind, however? That didn't sit right with her at all. Cherry wasn't foolish enough to speak ill of the dead in these circumstances, though, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Fortunately, we have largely gone unnoticed and underestimated by the enemy! They do not suspect that we have amassed an army to face them or that we have obtained powerful allies in the form of you good people. We cannot risk any part of our plan being exposed left we give them a chance to counter us!" Kin'emon said.

"Right, I got it!" Luffy agreed.

Kin'emon nodded. "In two weeks time, there will be a grand festival. Kaido's men will mostly be held up in his base at Onigashima. We will carry out a raid on them then, when they are drunk and stuffed with their stolen food!"

"Not a bad plan," Sanji commented.

Not even Luffy had any complaints, despite his usual sense of fair play. Clearly he cared more that Kaido saw some semblance of justice than fighting him fair and square.

"What do you need from all of us then?" Cherry asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" Kin'emon nodded. "There are a number of preparations to make before the final battle!"

Kin'emon started to list out several objectives that he wanted them to do. Like having Nami join their resident kunoichi, Shinobu, for some spy work, having Brook pretend to be a ghost in their efforts to steal supplies for their growing army, and having Sanji use his skills as a chef to reach out for new recruits.

"What about Pudding and Reiju? Where did they run off to?" Cherry asked.

"They both went ahead to the Flower Capital. Reiju seemed to think that they do quite well spying on the enemy thanks to her training and experience, as well as Pudding's endearing acting skills," Nami said. "Reiju also said something about 'spending time with her new sister-in-law'."

Sanji blushed and hid his face.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Pudding looked just like Sanji does when she said it too," Nami added with a teasing smile. "I understand why you don't have Jinbe doing anything, but what about me?" Cherry asked. "On the contrary, you have an important job to do!" Kin'emon said.

"Oh?" Cherry wondered what he had in mind.

Kin'eon nodded seriously. "Nothing!"

"Nothing?" Cherry asked, nonplussed.

"That's right! Just stay out of trouble until the day of the battle!" Kin'emon confirmed. "It's the same for Luffy-dono. We can't afford to risk two of our best battle assets before then!"

"We already got into trouble!" Luffy declared, raising his hand.

"What?!" Kin'emon gripped the sides of his head.

"They robbed a treasure barge from the Paradise Farm and gave it to the people of Okobore..." Law explained.

"This is terrible!" Kin'emon stood up and started to pace in the room.

"Calm down. It isn't like any of the Beasts know about you and your army," Cherry

downplayed.

"That... may be the case, but this is still terrible! They will undoubtedly report back to their superiors about this!" Kin'emon reasoned.

"Kiku, do you know much about that Holdem guy?" Cherry asked.

"Hm? I know some things about him. I have been gathering information for the last few

months since we arrived in the future," Kiku said.

"Would you say he's a prideful man?" Cherry asked.

"Most certainly," Kiku agreed.

"Do you think he would willingly report his own humiliation to his superiors?" Cherry asked.

"Well... perhaps not. Losing a treasure barge will harm his reputation severely and may even lose him his position," Kiku said. "The Beast Pirates are not very forgiving towards failure, as I've heard."

"And if I shaved his lion?" Cherry asked.

Dawning horror appeared on several faces alongside amusement on others.

"I very much doubt he'll report it at all, in that case..." Kiku speculated.

"No harm done then!" Cherry nodded with a smile.

"There was also Hawkins-" Law started.

"I dealt with him too," Cherry said. "He struck me as the self-serving type too, not particularly loyal to Kaido."

"That's... true..." Law rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It would have been better if you just killed him, though."

"You didn't kill him either," Cherry stuck her tongue out at him and he looked away.

"In any case, you need to go unnoticed! From now on, you should ignore the immediate plight of the people, for we cannot help anyone if we were to fail!" Kin'emon said bluntly. "You just want me to not get into trouble, right? I can do that," Cherry said.

There was more to her words than what it seemed on the surface, but Kin'emon failed to notice and accepted them at face value with a firm nod. "Good."

*thunder*

"What was that?" Chopper asked.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid..." Jinbe said.

Everyone piled out of the ruins and looked to the distance. A small, isolated storm cloud seemed to have formed in the sky over the wasteland near the town of Okobore below.

"It's not just the ominous cloud, apparently. Look," Cherry pointed out a section of the town

at the foot of the mountain.

There one could see something of a commotion if one looked closely.

"Do any of you know about a big guy with pink hair and purple flower tattoos on his

shoulders?" Cherry asked.

"Could it be Ashura Doji?" Kin'emon wondered. His eyes weren't good enough to recognise a

person at this distance.

"What is he doing?" Kiku asked Cherry.

"Looks like he's stealing the leftover food from the townsfolk," Cherry said.

"What?!" Kin'emon looked positively outraged. "If that is truly Doji, then I will have harsh

words to speak to him!"

"You may not get the chance," Law said, redirecting their attention back to the cloud.

From within the dark shape in the sky a long, serpentine, gigantic figure could be seen

meandering within.

"Kaido...!" Kin'emon clenched his teeth and his fists almost to the point of drawing blood. Kiku, Momo, and Shinobu were not in much better spirits.