Onigashima.
Gulp gulp gulp…
Kaido picked up his sake bowl and drank heartily, spilling wine on his chest and soaking the bandages without a care.
This wasn't a banquet, but a small drinking party between the Beast Pirates' three All-Stars and their captain.
There were no other unrelated people in the room. King, Queen, and Jack each sat on one side.
Ironically, the one with the lightest injuries here was Jack, who had been unable to go to Marineford because he was defeated by Karin earlier.
With no outsiders, Jack, being the youngest, was responsible for pouring sake.
After pouring a full bowl for Kaido and King, Jack was about to sit back down when he heard Queen speak up.
"Hey… Jack, what about me?"
"Oh."
Among his own people, Jack wasn't as arrogant as he was with outsiders… instead, he seemed somewhat simple and honest.
He dutifully refilled Queen's half-empty bowl, then shook the nearly empty sake barrel. After a moment's thought, he simply raised the barrel and downed the remaining sake in one go.
Ignoring the interaction between Queen and Jack, King, after sharing a bowl with Kaido, suddenly sighed deeply and brought up the topic from the big banquet a few days ago.
"Kaido-sama, are you really at ease letting Yamato-sama deal with the remnants of the Donquixote Family?"
Hearing this, Kaido's drinking motion paused abruptly. He set down his sake bowl and turned to look at King with a puzzled expression.
"What? Are you worried that Yamato can't handle a few small fry?"
It seemed the old father had great confidence in his 'son's' abilities and wasn't worried at all.
"No… of course not. Yamato-sama's strength… even I have no certainty of winning against it."
Because it was a drinking party among four, King wasn't wearing his full-face helmet. His white hair hung down naturally, covering a small part of his face.
"Yamato-sama's mind is… simple. Plus, she doesn't have much experience at sea. I'm just worried she might be deceived by the Donquixote Family."
King's worries weren't unfounded.
—If Yamato were truly as simple as he thought.
Hearing his most loyal companion say this, Kaido was first taken aback, then burst into loud laughter.
"Wororororo…"
Queen and Jack on the other side didn't understand why, but they laughed along too.
Only King was left bewildered, feeling like he had missed a chapter and couldn't keep up with the conversation.
After laughing his fill, Kaido wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, then slapped King on the unbandaged shoulder.
"King, you still underestimate Yamato too much."
"Even without considering those little brats who went with her, Yamato alone is more than enough to handle that small country."
Looking at Kaido's expression as he said this, King saw he wasn't joking, which raised a question in his mind.
In recent years, Kaido had rarely been involved in management. Most of the Beasts Pirates' affairs were handled by King and Queen through discussion.
Among these, matters concerning Yamato were primarily King's responsibility.
One could say he played both father and mother, acting as a loyal nanny.
In King's view, while Yamato-sama was a bit rowdy, her heart remained as pure as a child's.
Even with overwhelming strength, she could still be tricked by plots and schemes.
Of course, this was also a kind of 'stepmother filter'.
Kaido didn't hesitate to shatter King's fixed impression of Yamato.
"Yamato, she's my daughter!"
As he said this, Kaido was very serious. He didn't even use his usual 'son' reference, but honestly acknowledged Yamato's identity.
"She has the same blood flowing in her veins as I do! That's something that won't change no matter how much that blonde brat influences her!"
"Come to think of it, I should thank him."
"If it weren't for that huge commotion he caused in Wano back then, Yamato might have been 'poisoned' by that guy Kozuki Oden!"
"Now, I have one hundred percent confidence in Yamato."
"She will be the one to inherit my power, to inherit the title of [King of the Beasts]."
King stared blankly at Kaido, as if not recognizing the man he had served for so many years.
This was the first time he had heard such words from Kaido's mouth.
At this moment, Kaido didn't show the previous disdain he had for Yamato. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with 'anticipation' for something hoped-for about to emerge.
"Wait and see, King. Yamato is the one who will stir up this sea again!"
"Her 'willfulness' is no less than mine! She will be a new source of chaos, Wororororo…"
Saying this, Kaido once again burst into unrestrained laughter.
To this, King could only nod blankly, seeming to realize he hadn't fully understood the thoughts of this father and daughter pair.
Kaido-sama's expectations for Yamato-sama were higher than he had imagined.
Thinking of this, King suddenly realized something and looked up at Kaido.
"But Kaido-sama, you previously said you'd only give her a month—"
Hearing this, Kaido simply waved his hand.
"That brat is clever."
"She knows I could never do such a thing."
"After all, those people are the Beasts Pirates' 'assets', 'tools' that can produce endless weapons for us."
"As for the one-month deadline?"
"Hmph, just wait and see."
"That brat will definitely come back ready to challenge me next time."
As he said this, Kaido's face was full of satisfaction, without a trace of distress over his child's rebellion.
'Heh heh heh heh, that damn blonde brat, your troubles are coming soon!'
Behind the sake bowl, his face showed a gleeful smile.
...
"Hey, you, do you really understand the current situation?"
Sasuke looked at Yamato opposite him with utter speechlessness as she calmly dealt with the last bits of flesh on her body, then, without any hesitation, loosened her belt a bit and shook her loose clothing to ensure no residue remained.
"Huh?"
Yamato glanced up at him, then lowered her head again to tighten her belt.
"If you're worried about the antidote—"
Finally clean, Yamato stood up straight again, resting Takeru on the frozen chunks of Orochimaru.
"—Those little ones running around the city saving people right now should be the 'Tontatta Tribe' you mentioned, right?"
As she spoke, Yamato pointed.
Hearing this, Sasuke quickly walked to the edge of the high platform, straining his Sharingan to its limit. Combined with his Observation Haki, he indeed saw several small figures running rapidly through the city.
Baby-5 was leading the way, while two small, insect-like Tontatta Tribe's members flew around carrying a small person in a long dress.
It seemed that was the 'Princess Mansherry' they had mentioned.
Following behind them was Viola, whom they had left behind earlier, now using the Giro Giro no Mi to guide them.
And wherever Princess Mansherry passed, the snake-people fell into a rigid, unmoving state, then began to 'shed their skin' at a rapid pace, gradually returning to human form.
"I didn't lie to you, did I?"
Yamato walked to Sasuke's side, crossing her arms.
"You knew about this all along?"
Sasuke looked at Yamato, silently comparing the difference in their Observation Haki.
Clearly, Yamato's Observation Haki range far surpassed his.
At least when facing Orochimaru earlier, his Observation Haki couldn't cover such a distance.
And judging by Yamato's words, she had likely been continuously 'monitoring' the situation below.
'This person… is stronger than I thought.'
"This joke isn't funny at all."
Sasuke said this, but inwardly he sighed in relief.
Finally, they had saved this country before Orochimaru completely destroyed it.
"Ah… that? Actually, it wasn't a joke."
However, Yamato's next sentence made Sasuke's closed eyes snap open again.
"It would have been better if your insight weren't so sharp. We could have fought in a muddled way, and it wouldn't have hurt our rapport."
As she spoke, white flame clouds began to extend from around Yamato's body.
"Attacking you now… I feel like Naruto-sama would definitely scold me if he found out."
Her words suggested she wanted to avoid trouble, but in Sasuke's perception, the fighting spirit rising from Yamato's body wasn't convincing at all.
"Naruto? You know Naruto too?"
Sasuke was taken aback, then realized.
'Right, Naruto had lived in this world for many years… it wasn't strange for him to know many people.'
However, Yamato had no intention of answering Sasuke's question.
"Let me see how qualified you are to follow that great man."
As her words fell, a Conqueror's Haki impact far surpassing the previous one swept out wildly, and black lightning crackled on her kanabo.
Yamato is now going all out!