Or rather, one of the objectives of his trip—the princess of the Kozuki family, Kozuki Hiyori!
Without the slightest resistance, the frail woman was dragged by him into the sky.
The reason he could fly was simple.
A pair of blue-green wings had grown from Zoro's back.
It was a Qi technique iteratively evolved from the foundation of Flying Bird Gate · Phantom Wing Flight.
As the strongest among those Ren had taught, he naturally knew many similar techniques as well.
The reason he could defeat Denjiro—whom Ren had called very powerful—in a single strike was also because Zoro's attainments in Qi were growing deeper and deeper.
The Shikigami hovering in the sky quickly led the way. The direction it pointed toward was the heart of the Flower Capital: the palace of Shogun Kurozumi.
"Hey, hey! What is that?!"
"T-there's an enemy! Hurry and notify the Beasts—"
The belated cries of chaos faded into the distance, replaced by the palace complex drawing ever closer.
Komurasaki, who had been grabbed, was in complete turmoil.
She had only just finished properly squeezing dry another vile rich man who exploited human lives, and had only just been discussing follow-up safety arrangements with Denjiro.
Then, all of a sudden, she discovered someone standing opposite the window, and then battle erupted just as suddenly.
The originally incomparably powerful Denjiro had been defeated in a single exchange, and she herself had been abducted.
At first, she thought this would be some kind of kidnapping.
Yet unexpectedly, they were heading straight for Kurozumi Orochi's palace.
Under normal circumstances, if Kurozumi Orochi wanted to see her, he would not need to go through this much trouble at all.
Nor would he possibly send a swordsman—or rather, Kyoshiro, the alias Denjiro used, who was the strongest swordsman under Kurozumi Orochi.
The most reasonable direction of speculation was that this man was an enemy.
But this was Wano!
The only possibility… was probably that something had been exposed!
'Calm down. Calm down. Once I meet Kurozumi Orochi, I need to handle this calmly. There will definitely be a turning point…'
Kozuki Hiyori had already gone down the wrong line of thought.
But Zoro continued forward. The vast Flower Capital was no different from flat ground to him.
With the guidance of the Shikigami and Violet, he also arrived precisely at the area where the target was located.
A fierce wind howled. The windows of the houses beneath his landing point shattered in unison.
A group of furious and startled ninja appeared, blocking Zoro's path forward.
They were the Orochi Oniwabanshu, responsible for protecting the safety of Shogun Kurozumi, as well as the extension of Kurozumi Orochi's "hands and feet."
In most circumstances, they would only appear near Kurozumi Orochi.
Seeing them meant Kurozumi Orochi was nearby.
The leader of the Orochi Oniwabanshu was Fukurokuju.
He was tall and bald, with long earlobes and an elongated skull, a long pointed black beard, and a pair of square sunglasses.
"Who goes there?!"
As Fukurokuju shouted angrily, attempting to make the enemy stop, he simultaneously prepared his attack.
Behind him were the Oniwabanshu, all in various postures, but basically all dressed like ninja.
"Mr. Zoro, I'm watching his movements. He's moving. Please deal with these enemies as quickly as possible."
Violet's voice swiftly clarified the situation.
"Just a bunch of small fry."
Zoro was in midair. He grabbed Komurasaki and tossed her upward, then drew Shusui, Wado Ichimonji, and Yubashiri in succession.
Sword-light flashed through the air, sweeping up three blue-green flying slashes that fused into one in an instant.
Three-Sword Style: 1080-Pound Phoenix!
The atmosphere trembled! It shrieked sharply!
An incomparably massive flying slash crossed several hundred meters, like a phoenix spreading its wings, engulfing the attacks of the Orochi Oniwabanshu along with their bodies.
"What is this…!"
Fukurokuju's face showed anger and terror. Before he could finish a single sentence, he was torn apart by the crisscrossing sword energy.
In the next instant, the violent giant flying slash was stained with a touch of crimson—the paint granted by the blood of the Orochi Oniwabanshu.
Then, in the following instant, the terrifyingly powerful flying slash tore open the palace grounds, triggering a small-scale earthquake.
'So strong!'
Komurasaki, who was still in midair, was stunned for a moment. That swordsman was a powerhouse far stronger than Denjiro.
But immediately afterward, she realized she was high in the sky, and the sensation of falling appeared instantly.
"Ah!"
Her scream rapidly drew closer.
Zoro smoothly landed beside the cracked fissure in the ground. After sheathing Yubashiri and Wado Ichimonji,
he held Shusui in one hand while abruptly stretching out the other, catching Komurasaki as she screamed and fell from the sky.
"Quiet down, Kozuki Hiyori. If you want to avenge your family, then obediently endure this for now."
Without wasting words, Zoro coldly threw out a sentence that made Kozuki Hiyori's pupils constrict, then started running forward again with large strides.
In the direction Zoro advanced, one Shikigami after another lined up to form a guide along the path.
As he passed those translucent Shikigami, Zoro could not help clicking his tongue.
Violet saw everything. If the mission had not been urgent, she would have almost laughed aloud.
But there was no helping it. After all, this Mr. Zoro was famously directionally challenged and unaware of it himself.
If these Shikigami had not become more intelligent and useful after being trained by Perona,
the captain truly would not have dared to let Zoro complete this operation alone.
In any case, under the guidance of the Glare-Glare Fruit, Kurozumi Orochi—who had no idea what was happening but knew that enemies had appeared—had yet to escape to a safe location.
Then he saw the Shikigami circling around him. Immediately afterward, the wall shattered, and Zoro, carrying a person in one hand and holding a sword in the other, stepped over the corpses of many soldiers and blocked Kurozumi Orochi's path.
"Wait, I am—"
Kurozumi Orochi, both enraged and alarmed, wanted to say something, but a flash of sword-light burst across his vision!
Squelch—!
Shusui pierced through his heart. Zoro pulled the blade free and retreated, flicking the sword to splash a grim arc of blood through the air.
Expressionlessly, he set down Kozuki Hiyori, whose beautiful eyes were wide open.
"Did you see that? He died once."
"Wait, this…"
Kozuki Hiyori was already incoherent. She had absolutely no idea what was happening right now.
Eh?
He killed Kurozumi Orochi. He was not one of Kurozumi's people!
Could this person be an outsider?!
Before she could think anything through, Zoro raised his hand and swung his sword again. A blue-green flying slash rose from the ground.
Amid the sharp howl of wind came an angry roar and the shaking of the earth.
"You… You actually dare harm the noble Shogun! And you even intend to destroy my body! I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The head of Kurozumi Orochi, whose chest had been pierced through, suddenly swelled, transforming into seven distinct python heads.
Then his entire body expanded and enlarged at astonishing speed, turning into a massive, ferocious creature with seven heads.
Kozuki Hiyori's pupils constricted, and she quickly retreated to avoid the most dangerous area.
At the same time, the indifferent voice of the green-haired swordsman sounded by her ear.
"Zoan-Type Devil Fruit, Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Model: Yamata no Orochi. It possesses eight heads and catastrophic destructive power.
"But… that applies to normal Devil Fruit users.
"As for you, your greatest ability is nothing more than dying in someone else's place. One head, one life.
"At the same time, you possess the basic qualities of a Zoan type, but nothing too exaggerated.
"You're simply a piece of trash. No strength to speak of at all!"
As he spoke, Zoro raised his eyes and glanced at the raging seven-headed serpent. The reason there were not eight heads was because he had already died once earlier.
"Shut up! How dare you insult the Shogun!"
Kurozumi Orochi launched his attack in utter fury.
Aside from the head that served as his main body, six snake heads alternately opened their bloody maws and bit toward Zoro.
If used against ordinary people, this would be an overwhelming power.
However… standing before Kurozumi Orochi was Zoro!
In the next instant, Shusui turned into a fierce sword gleam, stirring up roaring sword energy that crisscrossed in every direction.
He did not even deign to use a named technique. He merely added Haki Coating.
When the sword-light flashed past, all six snake heads were severed at once. As Kurozumi Orochi screamed in agony, streams of sword energy swept violently through the air.
Squelch—!
Blood flowers bloomed across the area. After the interwoven sword energy wandered away and withdrew, what remained was only something that could barely be called a human stick.
Zoro appeared behind Kurozumi Orochi, sword in hand. He cast down a contemptuous gaze while raising his hand to speak to Violet through the communication.
"Mission target dealt with. Have them retrieve the material."
"Understood."
Following Violet's command, a squad of Angels of Glory on standby descended. Carrying specially made Seastone restraints, they began retrieving Kurozumi Orochi from the ground.
"You… It hurts so much… Let go of me!"
Amid his wails, Kurozumi Orochi was packed into the restraints, then taken away by the Angels of Glory.
Kozuki Hiyori stared blankly at everything as it happened. Even now, she still had not understood what exactly was going on.
This was very normal, because from the moment they had first looked at each other until now, less than ten minutes had passed!
Seemingly seeing her doubt, shock, and confusion,
Zoro thought for a moment, then said in a stiff, formal manner, "Although I apologize for doing things this way, Miss Kozuki Hiyori, you'll have to leave with us.
"You must have many doubts, but after you meet our captain, you'll receive the answers you deserve.
"There is no need to worry about anything else. After all, I just crippled Kurozumi Orochi right in front of you. There must be some area where we can reach a common understanding.
"Also, that Denjiro won't die. I held back earlier."
At this point, he reached his hand out toward Kozuki Hiyori.
"Now, we need to leave this place before the Beasts Pirates react and send pursuers."
"…"
Kozuki Hiyori pressed her lips together and looked at the hand extended toward her.
She asked herself several questions.
Was he an enemy?
It seemed he probably was not.
Could she resist?
She could not.
Did she need to survive?
Before revenge, she had to survive.
After receiving the answer to that final question, she could only stretch out her hand and grasp Zoro's.
"Good. That saves me the trouble of knocking you unconscious."
Zoro said something that made Kozuki Hiyori's eyelid twitch. Then his wings flapped, and the two of them swiftly left the skies above the Flower Capital.
During this period, flying Devil Fruit users from the Beasts Pirates also appeared, but they were all intercepted by the batch of Angels of Glory left behind to cover the retreat, who stopped them at any cost.
'The Flower Capital mission is over. The Yamata no Orochi Fruit has been retrieved. Kozuki Hiyori has been retrieved.'
Watching this scene, Violet let out a breath of relief. Then she dispelled her ability and reported these matters to her superior—Nico Robin.
"I see? Understood… Good work. Once this mission is over, you can return to Dressrosa to visit your family or something."
Nico Robin said this, then hung up the call.
At this moment, she was not in Wano. Or rather, she had always been on Punk Hazard in Skypiea.
On one hand, it was because she temporarily could not act as a member of Ren's group.
On the other hand, it was because of her irreplaceable and impeccable qualities as a secretary.
(End of Chapter)