Chapter 455: Identity Theft
"Who is this, then?" Cherry asked, pointedly looking in the direction of a woman with the lower half of a horse.
"I am Speed, an officer of the Beast pirates!" Speed declared.
"And, uh, is she on our side?" Cherry asked, understandably confused.
"Yeah! Tama fed her one of her dango!" Luffy supplied the answer.
"... Okay," Cherry accepted. "The implications of that are horrifying, but… okay."
As horrifying as a child casually mind controlling people was, Cherry had to admit that it raised some interesting questions.
Like, does it work on normal animal type Zoan devil fruit users or is it just S.M.I.L.E. fruit users? If it does work on normal zoan types, does it only work when they're transformed? Does it work on every S.M.I.L.E. fruit user or just some of them? Does it also work on the failures?
"Should we use this to turn Kaido's army against him?" Cherry wondered aloud.
"You turned your opinion around awfully quickly, Sakuranbo-san…" Okiku said.
"It would be a better fate than many of them deserve," Cherry spoke bluntly. "Although, I'm not keen on using a child as a weapon against my enemies."
"I agree with the sentiment," Okiku said.
"As much as I enjoy listening to you working out the ethics of mind control, we really should be going soon," Law said.
"Oh? Where to?" Cherry asked.
"The ruins of Oden Castle," Law answered.
Cherry noted that Okiku flinched almost imperceptibly and that she became rather tense, in the way that a warrior did before battle.
"You'll get to meet the ghosts of Wano," Law added ominously.
"Ghosts?" Luffy asked.
"It was really shocking, finding out the truth…" Zoro said.
"Stop being so melodramatic. Ghosts aren't that scary," Cherry said.
"Ghosts are super scary!" Tama piped up.
"Only if you're a little baby," Cherry teased.
"Ghosts aren't a big deal…" Tama changed her tune shamelessly.
Soon the impromptu feast was over and after thanking Luffy, Zoro, and Law profusely a few more times, the people of Okobore went back to their own business.
"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Tama asked, looking like she'd really like to come along.
"We'll be fine on our own. Thanks for everything, Tama!" Luffy refused.
"Well… at least take Komachiyo with you! He's strong and fast, so you can ride him wherever you need to go!" Tama insisted.
"Okay," Luffy agreed instantly. "Take good care of Tama, Horse-face!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Speed snapped at him. "It's only natural for a servant to take good care of her master! Hmph!"
"Be sure to make that stubborn old man eat his fill, Tama," Cherry waved goodbye to her as Speed raced away with Tama on her back.
"I'll keep borrowing the sword for a little longer!" Luffy called out as well. "Alright, let's go!"
"Excuse me, I'd like to go as well," Okiku quickly raised her hands when multiple sets of eyes landed on her. "I've just always wanted to see the ruins of the castle…"
"Sure thing!" Luffy agreed.
"Wha-?" Law stopped his complaints partway and just grumbled instead, knowing by this point that there was no dissuading Luffy.
"Kiku's cool, and strong too!" Luffy said.
"She's sneakier than she seems, though," Cherry said, not taking any care to avoid being overheard by the person in question.
Okiku didn't know whether to refute that or not, or if doing so would only make her seem more suspicious.
In time, the group managed to reach a large ruin with decades of plant growth over the walls, with a rotting wooden structure atop its solid stone foundation.
At the sight, Okiku seemed to become distraught and hopped off of Komachiyo's back and vanished into the trees. Before anyone might have followed after her, Law called Luffy over to look at something. Cherry was curious as well, so she just kept track of Okiku with Life Sense and followed Luffy.
"Graves?" Luffy tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the faded names carved in the stones. "Huh?!"
Cherry was just as surprised as he was. The graves bore the names of the samurai they had met since entering the New World, but they were as old as the ruins themselves by the look of them.
"Are they dead?!" Luffy asked Law hurriedly. "Is that why we couldn't contact them?!"
"Kin'emon and Momo are hiding in those ruins, though?" Cherry blurted out.
"Really? That's great!" Luffy cheered and bounded over to said ruins.
"Kikunojo…" Cherry narrowed her eyes at the grave bearing that name. "A coincidence, or something more?"
"It'd be best if Kin'emon explained it to you," Law said.
In that moment, Kin'emon hobbled out of the ruins just in time for Luffy to crash into him.
"Kin'emon!" Luffy shouted.
"Luffy-dono?" Kin'emon spoke feebly.
"Kin'emon-sama!" Okiku raced out of the trees, hand grasping the handle of her sword but not yet drawing it.
"Kiku?!" Kin'emon answered, right as she barreled into the pile as well.
"Hm? Do you know each other?" Luffy asked.
"Of course they know each other. They're both pretending to be those dead folks back there, after all," Cherry sauntered over.
"""Eh?""" Luffy, Kin'emon, and Kiku spoke at once.
Law planted his face firmly into one of his palms.
"It's the obvious conclusion. Momo isn't old enough to have faked his death with a grave that worn by time," Cherry said. "It's a good plan. Take the place of a dead, legitimate heir and save the country from its current tyrant so that no one will call you out. Incredible."
"That's not it at all!" "Momonosuke-sama is not a fraud!" Kin'emon and Kiku jumped to their own defense.
"You don't have to play coy with me~ We're still going to help you," Cherry winked with a smile. She joked, "Or what, are you going to tell me you all got thrown forward in time?"
"Yes!" Kin'emon nodded firmly, dead serious.
"Oh," Cherry scratched her head. "Neat."
"Luffy!" Momo appeared from within.
"Momo!" Luffy immediately latched onto the diversion from the complicated conspiracy talk.
"Look, I've been practicing!" Momo started to show off super basic practice swings with a bamboo sword.
"Momonosuke-sama! You're here too!" Kiku forgot all about Cherry in her excitement.
"Oh, Kiku! I'm glad to see you again!" Momo said. "Wait, Luffytaro, did you just say 'Momo'? That's very rude!"
"It's fine, Kiku," Momo persuaded her.
"""Luffy, Cherry, Zoro!""" New shouts came from the forest revealing Sanji, Chopper, Brook, Nami, Jinbe, Carrot, and Pedro.
"You all made it!" Luffy laughed and went to greet them.
"We went looking for you everywhere except the sea!" Sanji half complained. "We knew that Cherry wouldn't let you drown, after all."
"Yeah, you guys just missed us in the bamboo forest," Cherry said.
"Why didn't you come straight to us?!" Nami accused.
"I was just following our captain's lead. Don't blame me," Cherry looked away.
"As if! You were just hoping he would drag you into some trouble, weren't you?!" Nami shouted.
"No comment," Cherry answered.
"Now, now. The important thing is that we're all back together again," Jinbe mediated.
Nami sighed and nodded. Cherry smiled victoriously.
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.
"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.
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