Bruh... I thought I accidentally deleted a published chapter for a fat minute...
———
Surprisingly, the samurai did not witness the secrets of the Void Century like their original lord, Kozuki Oden. The reason they were being targeted by people associated with Kaido in the first place was because people assumed they knew said secrets. Oden had apparently not wanted to burden them with the knowledge of the world's mysteries. Too bad they're being sought after anyway. Their lord's last words to them were "Open up the Land of Wano," since it is closed off from the rest of the world, according to Brook. That was their sole reason for surviving this long even though they considered themselves failures. To do that, though, they'd have to defeat Kaido and his crew.
"To look for someone who will fight with us, we set out to sea! First, we headed for Zou! Because to fight against the Beast Pirates, we surely needed the help of the Minks, our closest allies," Kinemon said.
"Yes, the Kozuki Clan and the Minks... have a special bond from way back, which means whatever happens, we'll share the same fate!" Dogstorm stated.
"More than anything, the dog and I are Oden-sama's direct retainers. Ever since the day Raizo arrived here, all of our warriors were prepared!" Cat Viper continued.
"But when we actually fought, it turned out like this against Jack's unit which was just a part of Kaido's army!" Dogstorm voiced.
Cat Viper sighed, "How disappointing."
"What a shame," Dogstorm agreed, sitting back down.
Franky frowned, "Hey, but that's because they used that dirty weapon!" He was referring to the poisonous gas that was used on the Mink Tribe.
Usopp stepped forward to expand on that, "No one could've expected they'd use the poison gas!"
Dogstorm responded, "If there were a judge to call foul and we'd win, maybe that would work, but..."
"No matter how dirty they play, this is our country! We should've won!" Cat Viper finished his sentence.
The other duke raised his head again and looked back at us, "But we won't let it happen again! We won't repeat the same failure! We have an ace up our sleeve too. If we fight again, we'll show them the true power of the Mink Tribe!"
I perked up and walked between Usopp and Franky, asking, "Wait, true power?"
"Yes! We're not just gonna back down!" Cat Viper agreed, not really answering my question. I wonder if it has anything to do with why Wanda was talking about how the full moon was better covered.
Chopper jumped onto Cat Viper's head and put his face next to the feline's, "Then take your injury seriously! Otherwise, you won't be able to exercise that true power! No drinking until you're fully recovered! No baths either!"
The sound of a pat on the floor made everyone's attention turn back to the samurai behind us. "Now, we have a favor to ask you, Luffy-dono!" Kinemon declared. "And you, too, Law-dono! I know it's presumptuous of me to ask you a favor after you saved my life but I've been impressed by how strong you guys are! Since we are fated to share the same purpose, will you help us fight to kill the shogun of the Land of Wano and Yonko Kaido?!"
Kanjuro joined in his plead, "Please! I'm begging you, Luffy-dono!"
"I'm begging you, too," Raizo added. Momo was still crying in front of the ninja. He's been crying for a long while now; it makes sense since they just brought up the death of his father.
"Oh yes! Who can ask for more?!" Usopp responded immediately. "Those samurai and the Minks! They'll be a big help for us too!"
"We were going to fight Kaido sooner or later! We gotta jump at this chance!" Franky agreed.
"They even have a ninja, Luffy!" Chopper chirped, now on Franky's shoulder.
"We've helped them so much already, let's just continue!" I chimed, smiling at the back of our captain with everyone else.
Surprisingly, Luffy wasn't saying a word. He stood there silently. Kinemon pleaded for his aid yet again as if to encourage a verbal response. The captain finally claimed, "I refuse!" My jaw fell at the words.
"Wh-what?" Kinemon gasped in shock.
"What did you just say?!" Usopp questioned.
"I refuse!" Luffy repeated.
"Why?! We've been traveling together!" the sniper asked.
"I refuse!"
Usopp started shaking him around and beating him up, Franky and Chopper trying to persuade him to change his mind as well. I joined in on their cause. Nami agreed with him solely so that she could "negotiate", but she was halted by Chopper and Franky.
Luffy struggled to lift his head, but when he did, he looked straight at Momo, yelling, "Are you just a figurehead, Momo?! You say it! I thought you were an important person! You're the leader of these great men, aren't you?!" The teen jumped to his feet, the motion throwing Usopp off of him. "Are you gonna just cry?!"
Momo took the arm that was covering his eyes off so that he could look at Luffy. He was still crying, of course, but he definitely acknowledged the words that were just directed at him. Nami faced her captain and started slapping him, "How could you make him cry like that?! Don't be harsh to an eight year old!"
I grabbed her and pulled her back from him, "Hey hey, Momo was already crying in the first place for the past ten minutes, that's not on Luffy."
"Luffy, generally, heirs don't necessarily stand on their feet until they're fully grown," Brook interjected.
"Is he even a heir anymore, though? He's no longer the next in line, he's at the front of it," I retorted. I think Luffy has a point, even if the way he said what he said was a little harsh.
The skeleton tapped his chin in thought. I turned around as the sound of footsteps began. Momo was walking towards Luffy, who was still being held back by Usopp from when Nami was slapping him. I let go of Nami when she made a move to walk toward the kid. "Yes, come here, Momo. I'm sorry for what our stupid captain said to you..." she trailed off when she realized that he was not coming to her.
The kid got to Luffy when the captain had shook Usopp off yet again. After a bit longer of him sniffling, he finally looked Luffy in the eyes and shouted, "I WANT TO BRING DOWN KAIDO! He was an enemy to my parents! He killed my mother too! I wish to grow up and became strong quickly to avenge my mother and father! I want to protect all my retainers too! But because my body's still small, I can't do that! That's why I want you to fight with me!" Momo fell to his knees and placed his hands on the floor in front of him, "I'm begging you!" Right when he was about to put his face down to fully bow, Luffy stopped him with a hand.
"I got it! Let's join hands! We're allies! Let me have Kaido's head, though!" Luffy finally declared.
Momo cried some more and put his little hands around our captain's, leaning his forehead against it, "Thank you! Thank you!"
"You're doing it wrong! You gotta grab it tight! Like this!" Luffy brought his other hand around and clutched their little handshake thing.
"Thank you...!"
"Like this!"
"But I am grabbing your hand..."
"No, do this!"
Law walked up to them and looked toward our captain, "Straw Hat-ya, didn't you have to ask me first?"
"It's cool, right?" Luffy asked him.
"Yea, but-"
I threw and arm over Law's shoulders and grinned at him, "If it's fine then why make a big deal about it?"
He removed my arm and sighed, "That's not the point here."
Luffy stood up and smiled, "Alright! Guys! Gather up! Our objective is... to kick Yonko Kaido's butt! We're the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance!" Law, Dogstorm, Luffy, and Momo(with the help of Kinemon) all put their fists up to signify the joining of our forces.
"Is ninja really necessary?" Nami mumbled.
"YES IT IS!" our ninja worshipping group shouted at the navigator.
~~~
When we were on our way back down the Whale Tree, many things were talked about, like Cat Viper and Dogstorm's affiliation with Roger and the route concerning the log pose on Nami's wrist. Cat Viper also said that he would be looking for Marco the Phoenix as a reinforcement for our war. Through this talk, I also learned that the remaining Whitebeard Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates had a war a year ago. Luffy didn't know it happened, just the same as me.
"So, just like Kinemon, we need time to prepare," the feline duke stated.
"Okay, got it! Let's split up for now then!" Luffy nodded.
"We will round up allies and plot a strategy in the Land of Wano," Kinemon said.
Zoro raised a brow and looked at the samurai, "Are you gonna be okay there? I thought you guys are being targeted by the shogun."
"We're worried about our comrades there," Kinemon replied.
Brook piped in, "The Land of Wano is occupied by Kaido now, right? Your chances of encountering the Beast Pirates are high and isn't it hard to even enter the country?"
"Well, it should be easier since they're from there," I thought aloud.
"Can't you do something with your ninjutsu?" Usopp asked Raizo.
"It'd be hard to use it against everyone," the ninja replied.
Law stepped up, "If you come on our submarine, you'll be safe while traveling."
"Oh?! Are you sure, Law-dono?!" Kinemon perked up.
"We'd like that!" Raizo said.
"Please take us!" Kanjuro said.
"And... if you know a place to hide on the island, you'll be alright," Law continued.
Cat Viper entered the conversation again, "I'll look for Marco with my subordinates." Dogstorm brought up that meeting in Wano would be a good idea since the samurai will already be there, so the Minks decided to make a Vivre Card for Kinemon.
"Don't get lost guys," Zoro mused.
"Yea, cuz that's who's gonna get lost," I sighed.
"Eh?" he looked toward me.
I brushed him off with another sigh. The Minks found us in the forest and greeted Raizo, apologizing to him for chaining him down. He bursted into tears upon seeing them and started showering everyone with his ninjutsu of love, which was essentially a bunch of heart shaped pedals that he was creating while flying around. There was a banquet prepared for the accomplishment of Raizo's safety, but Nami didn't let us go just yet. By "us" I mean Luffy because he was the first one to try to walk off.
"We already had a banquet! We've already had a banquet! Let's get going! It's gonna be too late to save Sanji!" she scolded Luffy, holding him in a choke hold to keep him from marching off towards the center of the village that we got to.
"What?! Are you coming?!" he spluttered through the scrunched up face he was being forced to make by Nami.
"Of course I'm coming with you! I feel responsible!" she responded, "Besides, do you think you can travel the sea of the New World without a navigator?"
She let him go and he climbed back onto his feet. "I'm coming too! Pekoms is heavily injured! You need a doctor!" Chopper said with a hoof motioning to his captain. Pekoms was going to be the one leading us to Whole Cake Island, so it makes sense that Chopper would be tending to him.
"Plus," Brook struck a pose and strummed his guitar as he continued, "who is going to play music when you guys feel down?"
"Who needs that?" Nami grunted.
"Hey! Don't exclude me! We both allowed them to take Sanji!" the skeleton shouted.
Luffy looked toward the samurai group, "Kinemon, you don't mind if I take them with me?"
"You don't need my permission! They're your crew! And no one can stop someone who is trying to save his friend! I wish I could come along! I'm in debt to Sanji! I'm sorry!" the man replied.
Franky jumped into their exchange, "Now it's getting hard to sneak in. Get out of there as soon as you screw up the wedding." Oh shit, that's right. Sanji is getting married. To some random girl.
"We're gonna go along with Kinemon, so you take care of Sanji," Usopp added.
Robin went up to Luffy and smiled, "In case you find a poneglyph, can you make a rubbing for me? I'll do research on the poneglyph that Kaido has in the Land of Wano, too."
Luffy grabbed hold of my arm and brought me over to his group's side, then he looked out toward the rest of them. "Will do! Alright! Is that all for now?" he asked.
"Oi wait! Did that mean that you'll be taking (y/n) there, too?!" Usopp questioned, motioning his hands towards the casual grip Luffy had on my forearm.
I waved the sniper off, "Don't worry, Usopp, I actually want to go of my own will, anyway. I'm gonna help fuck up that weddi- I mean I'm gonna help get Sanji back."
"Really? So you're for sure with our group then!" Luffy grinned. I nodded. He looked to the rest of our crew, and everyone nodded to each other in agreement.
"Let's have a banquet!" Cat Viper announced, the rest of the Minks cheering.
Chills went up my spine all of a sudden, and as I looked around I noticed Luffy, Zoro, and a couple of the Minks doing the same thing. Something was wrong. This suspicion was confirmed when I went flying to the right as the elephant moaned in pain. I skidded to a stop and grabbed hold of a tree. Houses were falling over and people were sliding across the floor.
"Zunesha is crying out!" Cat Viper yelled.
"What is happening?!" Dogstorm questioned.
Luffy was frozen in place, but then he started shouting about some kind of voice. Zunesha seemed to be falling the other direction now, which made me grip the tree harder. When the sliding calmed down a bit, I had to run and keep houses from falling on people. Leading Minks to strongholds to grab onto with the rest of the crew was another task that needed to be done in this commotion.
"Wh-who is it?!" Luffy yelled again to nothing after the floor stopped tilting.
"What's wrong?!" Nami asked.
"What's wrong?! You hear it too, right?!" the captain was pushing his hands onto his ears while gritting his teeth as he answered her.
"What are you talking about?" I queried as I ran over to him.
"You guys can't hear it?!" he shouted over the pain in his head. His eyes scrunched shut and he raised his voice again to this disembodied voice. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! GIVE YOU AN ORDER TO DO WHAT?! ANSWER ME! WHO ARE YOU!"
The floor rumbled again, so I grabbed onto another nearby tree. "Luffy, what are you talking to right now?" I asked him again.
"Only I can hear him then! He's not listening to me and I don't know who he is!" he responded, still looking around for whoever this was.
Pedro spoke up from his position on the tree branch he was on, "Gol D. Roger and Oden-sama as well. I heard they experienced the same thing. They heard a loud voice but couldn't get it to respond."
Zunesha cried out again and the ground shifted. "If it's moving around this much, then maybe someone is attacking it," I voiced my thoughts.
"You may be right since we've never experienced this much of a quake before," Dogstorm told me.
Momo started groaning in even more pain than before, then he shouted, "IT'S JACK! Jack.. Jack is attacking the elephant! There are five powerful-looking ships at nine o'clock!"
"As I thought, Jack wasn't dead!" Wanda growled.
"Momo! How did you know that?!" Luffy asked, coming up to the boy.
He put his hands over his face, "I don't know... I just saw it!"
"You saw?"
"It... it came to my mind!"
At this confirmation of an attack being the cause of this, the Minks were sent off to counterattack Jack, but another quake stopped them, making them stumble to the ground. Luffy and Momo started clutching their heads again. Momo widened his eyes all of a sudden and yelled, "The one behind the voice is...this... elephant!" The pain in both his and Luffy's faces returned, but this time, Momo continued to speak, "A long time ago, the elephant committed a crime... And now... all he is allowed to do.. is walk..! He has been... obeying that order. Thus..." Another shake stopped him in the middle of his sentence. When the shakes calmed a bit, he began speaking again. "The elephant is... asking for permission! He needs someone to... order him to fight!" Momo sobbed.
"Momo! You tell him! I have a feeling that your voice will reach him!" Luffy told him.
"But..."
"If they bring down the elephant, we'll all end up in the sea!"
"But how loud should I-"
"Just shout it out! Or the elephant is gonna die!" Their little back and forth was ended by another violent shake and cry from the elephant. "Hurry, Momo! The elephant's really gonna die!"
They had a stare down before Momo finally fell to his hands and knees and shouted with everything he had, "ELEPHAAANT! DON'T GIVE UP, ELEPHANT! YOU CAN'T FALL DOWN! MAKE JACK... MAKE JACK GO AWAAAY!"
Zoro caught hold of me when there was another shake, which was good because the scene was making me space out. I was staring upwards at the clouds. The sky looked like it was turning, so that probably meant that the elephant had changed directions. Did the elephant listen?
"Oooh shit, those guys down there are fucked," I gasped. "That's what they get for animal abuse."
"That's what you're thinking of right now?" Zoro huffed.
I leaned my head back so I could see his face, "Well yea, who just starts shooting at a huge old elephant? I hope they all drowned." He let out a chuckle and let go of my waist. My feet plopped onto the ground and we made our way to where Momo and Luffy were. "Oh, and thanks for catching me."
He nodded, "No problem. I saw that you were distracted when you didn't grab onto anything."
"Thanks for staring at me all the time, then," I joked. He didn't shoot anything snarky back at me. I turned to him and raised a brow. "Wait, do you actually do that? What are you, a weirdo?"
"No! Why would I? I just happened to be looking at you this time," he growled. He sighed and shifted his eyes to me, "Seriously, why you?"
"Why me, what?" I hummed.
"Oh! That's where you guys are!" Luffy's voice almost startled me. We'd made it to him and Momo, apparently. Zoro took this opportunity to escape me.
The two of them reported to not be hearing any voices anymore. The kid fainted as soon as he got the words out. Luffy ran off while we stayed with Cat Viper and Dogstorm. A monkey came out from the forest and told us that Zunesha had actually attacked the ships with his trunk. They didn't know that Zunesha was even a conscious being previous to this event.
Luffy came running back with an empty bag, "What're you all so serious about?"
"We're still stunned at this sudden occurrence," Dogstorm replied.
"First, we gotta find out how jack was able to get here. Otherwise this place will no longer be safe," Cat Viper said.
"I see. Well, good luck with that. It'd be cool if this elephant becomes our ally," Luffy commented. "Now, we're gonna go, so can we have lots of food?"
---
Yea kinda uneventful chapter fanservice-wise but some things have to be done to achieve story. Sorry. Anyway. The latest One Piece manga chapter bruh. Literally what the fuck???? *dies* OH YEA!! So I finally started watching Fire Force, and its not even funny how fast I recognized Obi's voice actor. Kazuya Nakai. ZORO'S VOICE ACTOR. Every time I hear Obi, it just sounds like a peppy Zoro CTVHBIJNOKM and it reminds me of the lost Zoro memes.
(He also voices Hijikata, Zapp, Mugen, etc)