Marinford.
A hot spring bathhouse.
Three Admirals of the Navy Headquarters soak in the hot spring, bare-chested, and can't help but slowly close their eyes, enjoying the long-awaited relaxation.
Especially Akainu and Aokiji...
Recently, the psychological pressure on both of them has been quite significant.
With so many in the Navy at Marinford, once they find out that the two Admirals are undercover, how hopeless would they feel… Now that all three Admirals are undercover for Akatsuki, psychologically, it seems they can accept it a bit?
"Kuzan..."
Kizaru turned his head to Aokiji with a smile and asked leisurely, "What are you doing this weekend, Kuzan? If you're free, we can come here and relax together..."
"Well, sometimes I go fishing with Senior Tsuru..."
Aokiji slowly propped up his body, leaned back against the stones of the bath, and softly said, "What about Borsalino and Sakazuki?"
"We are usually around here..."
Kizaru glanced at the dozing Akainu, his mouth curled slightly, and he laughed lightly, "The life of a man... always needs some different colors..."
"Hey, Borsalino, don't say things that could be misunderstood."
Akainu interrupted Kizaru coldly, his arm also resting on the stone, the tattoos on his shoulder and arm appearing somewhat menacing, "Alright, let's talk about serious matters. The danger of Akatsuki is now undeniable..."
"I don't find it particularly dangerous."
Aokiji shook his head and slowly spoke, "According to my information, Uehara Naraku is the third leader of Akatsuki, the strongest among all the leaders Akatsuki has had. It's said that Uehara Naraku has only failed once in his life..."
"Oh?"
Kizaru's mouth curled, suddenly becoming a bit interested, "Looks like our leader isn't invincible!"
"Borsalino, you are an Admiral!"
Akainu's forehead couldn't help but twitch, he glanced at Kizaru before speaking, "But you are right, someone who has failed before..."
"I think you should let me finish."
Aokiji shook his head, sighed, and continued, "Apparently, that year, Uehara Naraku was only twelve years old and lost to Uchiha Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi...
Hmm, and there are some rumors, they say that Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, the two brothers, were always played in the palm of his hand, manipulated into conflicts."
"Isn't that petty?"
Kizaru's expression was somewhat subtle.
Akainu's expression was even more peculiar.
Aokiji furrowed his brows and softly continued, "That might not be the case... That guy treats everyone in the world as pawns.
Yet, his heart is not so bad, and the outcomes of any matters he deals with are generally not bad, just that the process is somewhat cruel..."
At this point, Aokiji pondered for a moment and then added, "Hmm... maybe more than a little cruel."
That's rather modest.
It's not just cruel, it's brutal...
The things that Uehara Naraku does sound like a rainbow after a storm, but not many people have the psychological fortitude to withstand the storms that Uehara Naraku stirs up...
Aokiji scratched his head and sighed, "Huff, that guy isn't as righteous as the Navy, but he's not as evil as we imagined..."
"Hey, Kuzan..."
Akainu's eyelids twitched, he snorted coldly, "Remember your role, you are an Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, you won't really become a spokesperson for Akatsuki, right?"
"Sakazuki."
Aokiji shook his head leisurely, got up to climb out of the bath, "There's no need for me to chat here with you, instead of wasting time here, we should think of a way to prevent Akatsuki from further infiltrating the Navy..."
"Eh? Don't be in such a hurry..."
Kizaru suddenly spoke, stopping Aokiji, smilingly easing the atmosphere between them, "Kuzan, Sakazuki, now isn't the time for us to be at odds! If the three of us are here, maybe we can come up with a better idea!"
"..."
Aokiji and Akainu both fell into silence.
Kizaru stood up, sat on the stone, draped a bathrobe over himself, and said with a laugh, "Speaking of which, Sakazuki has a theory; could our leader, who is often called a god, want to replace the Celestial Dragons living in Holy Land Mary Geoise, and thus change the world's order..."
"I'm not sure about that."
Aokiji also sat up, wrapped a bathrobe around himself, looked down at the steam in the bath, and softly said, "According to the information I received, Uehara Naraku is called a god by Akatsuki members, even Doflamingo included...
Besides Uehara Naraku's unmatched power in this world, there's another strange yet acknowledged reason.
It's said that he is the reincarnation of a certain Creator God from a thousand years ago, though this has nothing to do with that group of trash known as the Celestial Dragons.
Even though Uehara Naraku repeatedly denied it, the mother of that Creator God, the founding deity, lives in the world and personally confirmed this."
Aokiji spread out his arms, unhurriedly continued, "According to your theory, if Uehara Naraku intends to replace the Celestial Dragons, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
Now that Akatsuki occupies Wano Country as its base, the ordinary people of that closed, backward nation seem to live better than people in other countries, with even homeless orphans having shelters..."
This is true.
Because in Wano Country, commoners and nobles are equal, at least nominally, for instance, both commoners and nobles receive education in the same environment.
Perhaps due to wealth disparity, their access to educational resources differs.
However, commoners truly have the opportunity to advance through their efforts and no longer solely rely on the charity of nobility or the king.
The most important thing is...
Even the Ninja Legion under Akatsuki must not harm innocent civilians at will, and everyone must abide by the peace rules established by Akatsuki.
Moreover, after Wano Country was stabilized, there were no more instances of orphans freezing or starving to death, which even surprised Nico Robin.
In this world...
No country can achieve that!
These...
are the real reasons Aokiji began to change his attitude towards the Akatsuki Organization.
And for the Akatsuki Organization to achieve this, it's hard to imagine they could be the bad guys, since even the Revolutionary Army that wants to overthrow the World Government has never done so!
If it weren't for knowing that the current Nico Robin wouldn't deceive him, Aokiji might not have believed it...
After Aokiji babbled on for a while, he scratched his head, sighed, and said, "If there's a chance, let's go take a look at Wano Country together!"
"Wano Country is very dangerous."
After hearing Aokiji's words, Akainu couldn't help but frown and said in a deep voice, "Isn't that Kaido's territory? Although it was taken over by the Akatsuki Organization, we still have to cross Kaido's sea territory. We can only go there after we've eliminated the Beasts Pirates and Kaido..."
"It shouldn't be a problem for us."
Aokiji shook his head and continued looking up at the sky: "Speaking of which, isn't the Beasts Pirates under the control of the Akatsuki?"
"Yes..."
A voice suddenly fell into their ears.
This almost imperceptible sigh made the faces of the three Admirals present change dramatically, as their Observation Haki hadn't detected anyone secretly watching!
The next moment, a large serpent suddenly sprang out of the bath!
This serpent opened its bloody mouth wide and slowly spat out Yakushi Kabuto's body. He pushed his glasses and looked up at the three Admirals of the Navy Headquarters with a smile...
This scene was quite unnerving...
This Yakushi Kabuto...
What kind of ability user is he?
Yakushi Kabuto spread his palms and said with a light laugh, "Admiral Aokiji guessed correctly, the Beasts Pirates are indeed an outer force of the Akatsuki... If you want to go to Wano Country, you just need to apply to Lord Naraku."
After Yakushi Kabuto finished speaking, his gaze slowly lingered on Aokiji, and his lips curled slightly: "By the way, Admiral Aokiji seems to know quite a lot of information, probably all told by Ms. Robin in private..."
"Nico Robin..."
Akainu's brow furrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "That Demon Child who escaped from Ohara back then? Kuzan, you let her go back then, didn't you!"
Kizaru rubbed his forehead, sighed, and said, "Now is not the time to talk about those troublesome old stories... Besides, we were only carrying out the orders of the World Government; there's no need to be so ruthless!"
Kizaru's attitude remained ambiguous.
Some things can be done, some things can be left undone.
Now is indeed not the time to hold Aokiji accountable, especially since they've also seemed to have found Nico Robin's location; it's said that she has been following Uehara Naraku all along...
So, does this mean...
Aokiji has always been able to get information on Uehara Naraku from Nico Robin?
Kizaru and Akainu couldn't help but glance at Aokiji, who always appeared so relaxed, yet managed to put spies to good use!
It's just that...
Aokiji's espionage seems somewhat counterproductive.
Instead of turning the enemy, he turned himself.
After obtaining sufficient information from Nico Robin, Aokiji might immerse himself in the Akatsuki Organization.
However, Yakushi Kabuto wasn't concerned about this effect, a chilling smile flickered across his face: "Admiral Aokiji, it seems Ms. Nico Robin is better at gathering intelligence than imagined, I almost want to recruit her into the CP Organization..."
"Kabuto, don't interfere with her life."
A chill exuded from Aokiji's body as he calmly spread his hand and said: "This was my request for her. The people of Akatsuki should clearly understand that Robin would not refuse my request, and she hasn't actually done anything wrong, right? I'm also a member of Akatsuki."
I am also a member of Akatsuki.
This sentence clearly carried significant weight.
It was more substantial than anything else Aokiji had said.
Even Yakushi Kabuto felt somewhat helpless. In this regard, how should it be put? Aokiji and Nico Robin hadn't really done anything wrong, and Uehara Naraku wouldn't hold it against them either...
Moreover, this woman Nico Robin is quite clever.
Even if Yakushi Kabuto wanted to transfer Nico Robin away, it wouldn't be so easy...
Because Nico Robin has been idle lately, she's been staying in Wano Country, reading Historical Poneglyphs, and naturally chose to attach herself to the highest-status person in Wano Country.
That is Konan, the teacher of Uehara Naraku.
As a result, Nico Robin has indeed heard quite a bit about Uehara and has even witnessed the relationship between this master and disciple.
The leader actually listens to his teacher quite a lot, even though he is powerful and genuinely a kind-hearted good child (possibly misunderstood), often remarking that someone named Nagato is too soft-hearted...
In truth, Uehara himself is also quite soft-hearted...
This matter...
is rather perplexing.
Nico Robin's vigilance towards Uehara was much reduced.
If Nico Robin hadn't followed Uehara Naraku for a period and witnessed Uehara Naraku never really doing much against others, she would have doubted if Uehara was a counterfeit...
It was because Nico Robin told Aokiji these interesting stories that Aokiji developed quite a bit of goodwill towards Uehara Naraku.