Chapter 74

After dropping Hiyori off at the western end of Kuri, the only part of the mainland where it was not raining, Sin arrived in the sky above Onigashima, the base of the Beast Pirates that was now rattled and devastated after the lightning strikes that constantly rained on it.

There was someone here whom he wanted to take with him, a person with a remarkable Will.

Together with a lightning bolt, he landed on the Island and immediately sent out an extremely powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki, making the Beast Pirates with weaker Wills fall unconscious, and leaving the rest with a rattled mind.

Without wasting any time, he rushed into the dungeon under the Castle where the prisoners were being kept, and one by one, he broke the gates, setting them free.

Since he had not intended for them to fall unconscious, they all saw his face and his swords and were a little stunned at what was happening.

"Run and hide. In a few years, Kaidou will be dealt with. Wait for my return." His voice reverberated in their ears after he infused it with his Conqueror's Will, and then he was gone.

He sensed the prisoners run wild and start searching for the keys to their shackles and helping each other out. He also sensed some people kill the fallen Beast Pirates, and the commotion did wake up some enemies, resulting in battles that ended up waking more people.

Sin, however, did not care about what was happening. He only wanted to create havoc here, and he only intended for the capable to survive this test.

Those, who were truly capable, would survive and run away, and if they were intelligent enough, they would listen to his words and hide in the shadows until his return.

"Yamato-Sama, the prisoners have broken free!" Someone called out, but his words were ignored by the beautiful girl with white air and orange eyes, who was swiftly rushing towards the signature that she had picked up a while ago, the one who had unleashed that power Conqueror's Haki.

She jumped up in the air and then swung her giant kanabo club at the tall old man, who was waiting for her with a smile on his lips.

Her club collided with his fist, and soon streaks of red and black lightning rippled out at the impact, showing that it was a clash between two Kings.

"Who are you?" The Oni girl with red horns on her head, asked as she was pushed away, grimly looking at the old man.

"Zeus." He smiled. "And I suppose your name is Yamato?"

"I am Kozuki Oden!" The girl declared before she rushed at him again, and Sin laughed at her words.

She was the first person he had sensed after coming to Wano, and she was the one who had intrigued him the most.

The two of them kept battling for a minute before it became abundantly clear to Yamato that she was weaker than him.

"Do you want to come with me, girl?" He asked, and his words caught her off-guard.

"I am a man!" She clarified and frowned at the smile on his face.

"You are a girl." He grinned. "And you are Yamato, the daughter of Kaidou."

The mention of her father seemed to irritate her as her eyes dangerously narrowed at him, and then she rushed at him again, swinging her club.

"I am Oden!"

Sin sensed some more strong signatures rushing towards them, but he was already ready to stop them.

Several powerful pillars of lightning fell on the Island again, wreaking devastation, and killing several people in the process. And those signatures who were rushing to his place stopped to protect themselves.

Even Yamato froze when she saw what had just happened, and her club was easily deflected before she felt a cold blade kiss her neck.

"Come with me." Sin lightly said. "I know you yearn to leave this place, girl. Let's explore the world together."

He whispered in her ear like a devil, and then he inhaled her scent, noticing how pleasant it was.

"I can't." She said, feeling a little low, and he smiled.

"Why?"

"My father put these on me, and if I leave this Island, they will explode and kill me." She said as she raised her left arm and showed him the explosive cuffs that she was wearing.

"Let me take a look at them." Sin let her go and sheathed Nidai Kitetsu back in its scabbard.

He reached forward and grabbed Yamato's arms, carefully inspecting the Cuffs, and then touched them to see if there was any Sea Stone in them.

And it turned out that there was, indeed, some Sea Stone in them, albeit in an extremely low quantity, and he was quite impressed by the craftsmanship and the engineering that went into making these explosive cuffs.

"if you choose to come with me, I can help you get rid of them right now." He told her, and her eyes widened in dismay before a bright smile crept on her face.

"You can do that?" She expectantly asked, tip-toeing to lean close to his face, looking right into his eyes.

"Yes."

"Are you a Pirate?"

"Yes."

"Captain?"

"Yes." He chuckled and nodded.

"I will come with you! Please take them off!" She unhesitantly promised, and he laughed at her antics.

"Alright, let's go." He said as he grabbed her waist and then rushed into the sky, and though it might have not been possible for anyone else to get rid of them without any risk, he was just ridiculously fast.

Sin let go of Yamato in the air, grabbed the cuffs on her hands and then broke them to free her wrists before throwing them down. He then grabbed her waist again and kept flying higher into the sky.

Everything happened in a mere second, and Yamato only opened her eyes when she heard a loud explosion below them.

She looked down, and to her shock, she found them already out of the range of the massive explosion. But then her eyes started turning misty.

"He really wanted to kill me...." She sniffed, and Sin chuckled at her words. As he expected, only a few seconds later, she was laughing again. "You are awesome, old man!"

"I am twenty-one years old, girl." He told her, and she confusedly looked at him before she pinched his cheek and tried to take off his non-existent mask. "You are already this old at 21?" She frowned.

"Sadly..." He sighed, and she laughed again.

"You are lying, Old Man!"

Sin helplessly shook his head and dropped her off at the location where Hiyori and Sukiyaki were chatting with each other.

"Stay here. I will be back in a few minutes." He told her before he flew away towards the Prison Mine in Udon to set the prisoners free.

"Hi! I am Kozuki Oden!" Yamato brightly smiled and introduced herself, putting her club over her shoulder, and then curiously tilted her head when both the old man and the younger girl looked at her with a shell-shocked expression.

"W-what?" The girl with turquoise hair, who was clearly holding back her tears, stammered.

"I am Kozuki Oden," Yamato said again, and she saw a glint of anger flash in the girl's eyes.

"Why are you mocking us?!"

"What?" Yamato was taken aback by her outburst and then felt guilty as she saw the pain reflecting on the girl's face. "I am sorry." She apologised even though she did not understand why the girl was so hurt, and then awkwardly looked at the old man who was glaring at her.

A few minutes later, Sin returned and chuckled as he sensed Yamato's unease.

"Don't mind her. She's just a crazy fan of your father." He told Hiyori, who was a little terrified when she looked at him, but his words caused her to look at Yamato in surprise.

"She's Hiyori?" Yamato asked in surprise, and when she saw Sin nod his head, she immediately rushed to the girl and happily laughed.

"I shall protect you from this day onwards!" She declared, and winced when Sin smacked her head.

"Behave." He said to her. "She's my future wife."

"I won't let an old man marry my daughter! Oww...." She tearfully glared at him when he smacked her head again.

"Behave." He warned again and then grinned at the princess. "Done talking?" He asked.

It was evidently clear that Hiyori was scared of the idea of leaving her grandfather, whom she had met for the first time in her life, but when Sukiyaki nodded his head, her heart immediately dropped.

"Yes." The former Shogun said and stood up. "Please take care of her." He requested, bowing to him, and Sin smiled and nodded.

"I will." He promised.

"Hiyori." Sukiyaki then turned to look at his granddaughter and then presented her with the sword he had brought with him. "Your father left two swords behind, and as per the tradition, you and Momonosuke inherit one blade each. I will continue waiting for him here with Ame no Habakiri, and Enma now belongs to you."

The girl tearfully accepted the sword from his hands and bravely held back his tears when he hugged her.

"You are a Samurai's daughter, the Princess of Wano. Be a good wife to your future husband and a good mother to your future children." He said and affectionately patted her head when she nodded to him, promising that she would listen to his words.

Sukiyaki then nodded to Sin and the two walked a little away from Yamato and Hiyori.

"It's a duty of every Shogun to pass down the knowledge to the next one. If you do decide to make her the next Shogun, do tell her about the things I have told you." He sighed. "I will also create a manual that you can use to learn the Ancient Language..."

"There's no need for that." He smiled and shook his head. "I can read, write, and speak it."

Sukiyaki looked at him in surprise. Even though he could read and write the Ancient Script, he could not speak the language itself.

"You can speak it?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"How..."

Sin smiled at him, not answering his question, and after nodding to him in farewell, he arrived by the side of the two girls and picked them up in his arms before disappearing in a bolt of lightning.