After everything that had happened, a sense of despair had begun to spread among the rebellion at Ringo.
"Even Lord Oden has given up. There's nothing we can do."
"Maybe we should just give up early. At least everyone would keep their lives..."
"We might as well go overseas and throw ourselves at the mercy of the Daimyo of Kuri. If it's that Daimyo, he might actually take us in."
Shimotsuki Yasuie and Hyogoro had heard plenty of talk like this. It made them both angry and helpless.
In truth, pessimism gnawed at their own hearts as well, but as two of the resistance leaders, they could not afford to show weakness.
"Pull yourselves together! Look at you — what kind of attitude is that?!" Hyogoro bellowed.
His blue hair flared upward like blazing flames, making him resemble a blue-maned lion.
His furious appearance only made those who wanted to retreat shrink back further.
"Even if Oden took a hard blow, I believe he'll pull himself together and stand by our side once more!" he encouraged them. "Even if that guy never comes back, we still can't just give up like this!"
"But... Boss Hyogoro, without Lord Oden, who could stand against monsters like Kaido and Orochi?" many still said pessimistically.
Orochi was one thing — among those present, at least Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Hyogoro were confident they could hold their own against him. But Kaido was a true monster!
"Are you really going to give up — really going to be afraid — just because of that?"
At that moment, Shimotsuki Yasuie slammed a bowl of warm sake onto the table and glared coldly at the assembled group. He too had blue hair, though his natural presence and commanding aura were not particularly strong.
Those who knew Shimotsuki Yasuie understood that this perpetually stern-faced man was genuinely kind at heart. People respected him not for his strength, but for his character.
Yet right now, Shimotsuki Yasuie's intensity made it impossible for many present to meet his gaze.
"Have you all forgotten the brave samurai who died at the hands of Kaido and Orochi?" His gaze scraped across their souls like a blade. "Without Oden, do you not even have the courage to resist?"
"It's true — Kaido and Orochi are powerful. Perhaps none of us will be able to defeat them in the end..."
"In that case, why not just—?" someone started to say, but when they met Shimotsuki Yasuie's eyes — eyes that seemed ready to embrace death — the rest of the words died in their throat.
"Death is nothing to fear!"
"What's truly terrifying is forgetting who we are — preferring to live like wild dogs rather than find the courage to fight back!"
"If we give up now, what will we say to the comrades who have already sacrificed themselves? What will we say to the people of this country?"
"Do you want your children and grandchildren to live under the rule of Orochi and Kaido?!"
His accusations left everyone speechless. Of course, not everyone was moved by his words — but even they knew this was not the time to argue.
Everything in Wano Country was more or less under Orochi's control. Compared to the oppressive environment within Wano, the outside world remained treacherous, though the various powers had fallen into a rough equilibrium.
Yukiko guessed that the power dynamics of the New World might stabilize somewhat in the coming years. Once a powerful force had laid a solid foundation, destroying it would not happen overnight.
Ren, however, did not see it that way.
The New World was indeed trending toward stability, but that was premised on Roger having faded from the scene. The current equilibrium was only temporary — within a few years, new upheavals would begin.
Fortunately, none of this had much to do with him. Inazuma's roots overseas now ran deeper than tree roots. Unless the World Government planned to go all-out against him — launching a war on the scale of God Valley — he had nothing to fear.
But that was impossible.
The reason the World Government had spared no effort in destroying Rocks was entirely because that man was a lunatic. They were natural enemies.
But Ren and Inazuma were different.
Up to this point, Inazuma had not displayed any open hostility toward any faction. There was even debate within the Marines about whether he should be given a bounty at all.
Inazuma was certainly a threat in the World Government's eyes, but not a severe one. On the contrary, allowing Inazuma to exist in the New World actually helped the Marines and the World Government maintain the balance of power among pirate factions.
Quite a few things had happened on the seas in recent years. The most eye-catching development had been those three Marine supernovas — three Logia users who would go on to become the three Admirals.
In truth, Aokiji and the others had joined the Marines several years ago. Aokiji had enlisted a year after Kizaru and Akainu, but all three had risen to prominence at roughly the same time. This perhaps had something to do with how active Aokiji was during this period.
On a side note, that guy Zephyr — he had only been an Admiral for a few years before an incident forced him into semi-retirement. Kizaru and Akainu had been in his first class of students.
Ren felt a twinge of regret about the Devil Fruit abilities of those three. The Glint-Glint Fruit and the Magma-Magma Fruit both possessed incredibly destructive power. Although the magma's temperature was only a little over a thousand degrees — still not matching the Fire-Fire Fruit user Ren had encountered in the past.
But even flames reaching thousands of degrees could not necessarily burn the sea, whereas if all the volcanoes in the New World were to erupt simultaneously, they could devastate the entire era.
These past few years, his Devil Fruit collection had yielded other gains as well. The Gravity Fruit, a Paramecia, and the Woods-Woods Fruit, a Logia, were both already in his possession.
He had not yet decided whether to consume them, though.
"Lord Ren, the lookout reports that a pirate ship flying Whitebeard's flag has appeared in our territorial waters," Yukiko said, interrupting Ren's reverie.
"Whitebeard? What are those guys here for?" A hint of distaste crossed Ren's face.
He did not actually dislike Whitebeard — on the contrary, he had a good deal of fondness for that pirate crew.
Of course, if the old man intended to ask Ren to become his son, that would be another matter entirely.
The main reason for Ren's distaste was that the Whitebeard Pirates were a bunch of broke pirates. They simply could not afford Inazuma's merchandise. Even the older models of Ruin Guards went for a hundred million Belly apiece — how many could they possibly buy?
"Let's just see what they're planning to do." Ren thought for a moment and said.
He suddenly remembered that Whitebeard's crew should have arrived at the Kuri coast of Wano Country two years ago, but that event had never come to pass.