C17: Years of Time Skip |Part 12|

• (Wano Country) {Year: 18.3} •

[Received a message from God of Systems!]

[Open?]

'Huh, wonder what it could be about.' Ryu thought. Maybe it was about the tribulation he had overcame? 'Open.'

*Ding*

[MESSAGE FROM GOD OF SYSTEMS:

Congratulations on overcoming the mutated heavenly tribulation. I've never seen such tribulation, however there are records of it in the past. No matter, I can't talk about it when you haven't ascended to godhood. I had never expected for a experiment to deal me such trouble with other gods when they felt the mutated heavenly tribulation. As of now, you're the strongest human in the world, so you may choose to either go to another world or stay there and enjoy peacefully.

Anyways, be careful and enjoy.]

'...' Ryu didn't know what to feel now. He had become too strong that the world would want to eject him. 'Does this mean I'm currently the real strongest man in the world?'

Sighing, he decided to stop getting any more stronger. 'Let's just focus on enjoying, anyways.'

Turning, he looked from the window. The Flower Capital looked bustling as usual, as if the overthrow never happened. Wano Country had become better than before. It had cleansed air, easier growing food, farms, a stronger prison, better order, and most importantly, better unification of the community.

*Knock Knock*

Someone knocked his doorslide, Ryu turned towards it and knew who it was. Sighing in exasperation, he invited her to come in. "Come in, Rin."

Rin had been coming to him once a day, ever since Ryu told her about his plans of leaving Wano Country. She also worked as a official, helping in politics. Rin had been trying to persuade Ryu into staying here. She knew that Ryu had looked at her as a sister, but that didn't discourage her. Like this, she kept going to Ryu.

(AN: yes persuade. 'persuade' with her bodi11!! jus kidding, me n my dirty mind teehee~)

...

Later in Mariejois,

"The Solitary Pirate was still at Wano Country the whole damn time!" The youngest looking of the Five Elders, he had blond hair, a beard of the same color, and has a scar on his chest. He also wore his suit with the shirt buttons open, and without a tie. "For some reason, we hadn't received any information about Wano Country, except that it suddenly had defenses."

"Yes, it may be because of Ryu." The bald man with large birthmark spots on his forehead and has a large white mustache assumed.

"It must be, I felt a restrained sword intent usage over there." The oldest looking man agreed. He was bald, with glasses and a white gi. He also held a samurai sword with him. He is the only one of the five to not wear a black suit or tie, and the only one without facial hair.

Sighing, the tall and thin bearded man with long white hair mentioned. "We need to once again increase his bounty after his declaration."

"Right, his declaration..." The samurai remembered. "The Wano Country is now under his protection, huh?"

"According the information we gathered, Kaido and his crew has been left on Onigashima of Wano. But we couldn't gather any information from the other lands, as the defenses blocked out the spies..." The gray dreadlocks man prompted. The man had scar on the left side of his face, a hat over gray dreadlocks, and wields a walking cane.

"From what the spies gather from the Beasts Pirates, it seemed that several huge events happened inside Wano Country that the whole world was kept away from." The samurai added, he couldn't believe that such many huge events happened without their knowledge. They had hidden spies inside the Wano Country, but they suddenly had no connection to their side. Must've been the work of the Solitary Pirate, he thought.

"Then," the tall and thin man suspiciously asked, "the huge blood red thundercloud must've been because of him?"

"Yes, apparently it was the tribulation signaling the end of the legendary trial." The samurai hesitantly said. "But according to the stories we heard, it was supposed to be black, and smaller than that huge one."

"Does this mean Ryu has become too strong if he passed it?" The youngest blond man asked too.

"Yes, the Solitary Pirate, Ryu, has overcome the heavenly tribulation... He has become too strong for the world to handle, but it looks like he will stop getting stronger as he wants to enjoy the life." The hollow voice came. The five Gorosei greeted him as usual whenever he spoke. However, they never understood how IM knew such information...

"Increase his bounty to B1.5 and do not make him a Yonko, as he does not want it." IM ordered them before silence came.

...

|WANTED|

[Picture of Ryu (*18-years-old, young man, shoulder-length ruffled black hair, chiseled handsome face, bright green eyes that seemed to glow, wearing light blue-snowflakes kimono with a katana on his right side. His kimono revealed his sculpted chest a bit. They received the picture of him from the Beasts Pirates.*)]

[Solitary Pirate, Ryu]

[DEAD ONLY]

[B1,500,000,000]

• (Wano Country) {Year: 18.5} •

In the end, Ryu decided to spend his time with Rin during his stay. Rin was glad, but still sad as she knew he would still leave.

Both of them were now traveling the Wano Country on feet, side by side. Ryu looked like he was thinking about something as Rin watched him scrunch his face a couple time.

"What are you thinking about?" Finally deciding to ask him, she started. Stopping, Ryu turned to look at her and told her.

"I was thinking about the future Shogun." He didn't mind telling her about the future a bit. "He should be coming in 5-6 years later."

"You already know who will get the Shogun position to lead Wano Country?" Surprised, she asked. "Is he any good?"

"W-well, not yet. He'll be 8 at the time..." He had forgot about his age, increasing the time needed for him. "Ugh, I'll still be leaving the Wano in 2 years, anyways."

Rin became down, she knew he was going to leave in two years, and she wanted to go with him. But she couldn't, Ryu didn't accept either. He didn't accept because he would be traveling about everywhere once again, bringing trouble.

Rin was a young eldest miss of a high-class family in Wano, so she didn't know how to fight and only knew politics. She had been helping him handle politics, with the officials.

Ryu was in name, the Shogun, not actually doing the job. He was only protecting the Wano Country. He blocked out any outsiders from Wano, deciding that the job to open its gate to the world should be done by Kozuki Family.

Speaking of the Kozuki Family, Ryu had made a new personal graveyard for them at the Kozuki Castle. The graves were now looking better and safe. He kept the rest, who weren't dead, still there as to keep them thinking so. There were still a lot of supporters of the Kozuki, and they believed in Toki, who said they would come back in 20 years back then. At first, they thought Ichigo was one of the supporters, but as time went on, he was too strong to be a mere supporter so they decided he was an outsider who wanted to help.

Now that Wano Country was free of the Beasts Pirates and Kurozumi Orochi, they didn't have to hide anymore and had already set up a building for the retainers of Kozuki. Surprisingly, Kozuki Hiyori was actually alive the whole time in hiding as Komurasaki, the aspiring beautiful oiran! She was now 20 years old beautiful young woman. Momonosuke would die of embarrassment if he found that she was taller, older, and bigger than her own big brother, Ryu chuckled.

Orochi destroyed Kozuki Family's reputation, so the community weren't easily swayed by them at first. The Kozuki's retainers and Kozuki Hiyori tried asking Ryu for help, but he refused to help. Saying that they had to work for it, not by using someone else's help. It would solidify their reputation if they gathered them. Learning that as a lesson, they decided to work hard into building a new reputation again. Their hard work wasn't for naught, as they began to garner good reputation.

There was one particular trouble Ryu enjoyed, that was Shutenmaru, the man who stole for himself. Shutenmaru had tried stealing from Ryu... only to find nothing but his kimono to steal! Ryu laughed at Shutenmaru's attempts trying to find something important of his. After countless tries, he gave up and found a different target, Rin! Ryu didn't take that easily, he nearly beat Shutenmaru to the death. Scared of Ryu now, he no longer wanted to steal from someone close to him.

There were also events where Ryu just casually walked around the Wano Country, buying from shops and eating in restaurants, as if he was a tourist. People around twitched their mouths, he was the Shogun in name and yet he's being a tourist. But they at least got to meet him.

Ryu didn't actually need to protect Wano Country, as he had the defenses do its job.

...

Standing on Mt. Fuji, he looked at the sight in front. It was, in one word, beautiful. He could see the Flower Capital, new towns/farms built around it, and people happily doing their jobs. Rin stood by his side, hugging his left arm. She and Ryu traveled around the Wano Country, without any transportation except walking. Both of them had gotten close enough for casual physical contact. The officials now could handle themselves without a Shogun but they still needed a leader who would decide matters finalization, so they temporarily voted for someone until the real Shogun came back.

Ryu told them that the future Shogun would come in about 5-6 years later, they trusted him so they accepted that. He also told them that they would need to help educate the real Shogun on new matters as well, they accepted not thinking it would be difficult.

They'd regret thinking so in the future, it was a f*cking child! They expected a menacing b*stard who could lead for the good! Ryu chuckled thinking of their reactions when they find out. He also started to let information about outside Wano Country to be spread out in Wano, letting them learn more and about devil fruits they considered as magic.

At his side, Rin was having her thoughts. She thought of secretly going with him, but Ryu would easily find her out. She thought of forcing an marriage with him, but Ryu wouldn't like a forced marriage. Sighing, she decided that it wasn't time for both of them. Rin knew that Ryu would have other women falling for him, so she had intended to be the first woman.

Unfortunately, Ryu didn't want any wives now.

• (Flower Capital of Wano Country) {Year: 18.7} •

A gathering of important people was being hosted in the Flower Capital. Only important people were invited, not permitting even the guards. The heads of important families that were considered for management of particular lands were invited.

The gathering were for the officials and heads of important families to discuss about the land management and new system prioritizing the wellbeing of residents in Wano Country.

The officials, including Rin, were already in the private room, awaiting for the rest. There was delicious food on each tables there, geishas performing for them, all while waiting. The head of families started to come in, each alone, some with their future heads of their family, they were permitted as they would take over their families respectively, so they'd know the information eventually anyways.

There was an commotion when Kyoshiro entered as an Family Head in his outfit. They knew his true name, Denjiro, an retainer of Kozuki Family and formerly one of Nine Red Scabbards. The officials however, did not object to his appearance in the room.

However, few officials were annoyed at his appearance but did not act on it. They had iron wills and strong good moral beliefs that Ryu personally allowed to either stay or join officials. Ryu didn't want any corrupted official right after he conquered Wano Country. In total, there were 7 officials, 3 females and 4 males.

The heads of their families were mostly composed of males, as female head were a rarity due to discrimination against women being weak. However, Ryu announced to the officials that females were also strong, using Rin as an example causing her to blush at him.

The officials started to agree, as most of them were married and were henpecked but not out of their home. When Ryu found why they agreed easily, he swore not to be henpecked in front of the officials, causing them to admire him and pity him in future. They didn't believe him at all.

Anyways, the female heads started to show up, showing they were the real head of their families. When the residents heard about that, they began to think of equal rights for both males and females. There were almost 15 family heads, mostly males.

There was Kozuki Hiyori as the temporary head of her family, Kozuki Family wouldn't have been invited if it weren't for their hard work during those past months. The other heads and officials agreed with that, as they started to view Kozuki Family in good light again.

The people in the private room were waiting for two more people to show up, the Shogun Ryu and the citizens-elected representative. The citizens living in Wano Country were allowed to choose a representative to participate in the discussion for the community's sake, not the country's. Ryu announced that he wanted a community where they could all be united as one, like the Minks Tribe. Though they didn't know what the Minks Tribe was, they understood he was letting them to voice out their opinions.

Finally, both Ryu and the citizens-elected representative came in. The female geishas took that as the signal and started to leave, all while giving flirtatious glance at Ryu. It only made Ryu chuckle, but that prompted Rin to pout.

...

The start of the discussion...

As both of them came in together, causing other people inside to have their own assumptions, they quietened down and went to their chairs. The circular room was spacious, with short chair and their own side-tables aligned circular. There was one chair that looked taller than others.

The officials, family heads, and the representative sat in the short chairs. While the future heads or invited guests of their own sat behind them. Ryu twitched his mouth as he looked at the taller chair. Beside it was a short chair with Rin on it, with the representative on other side. Sighing, he could only sit in the taller chair.

Ryu thought it made him look like he was looking down on them all. The others though, thought that him sitting in that chair made him look menacing instead of arrogance. It made them nervous to the point they thought they couldn't lie in front of him, not like they were going to.

Starting the discussion, Ryu spoke. "Now, we have invited you all because we wanted to discuss about the land management and new system prioritizing the wellbeing of the citizens. Know this, if you have opinions about them, you may voice them but expect that we may rebuke you or agree. Also, remember that I am only here to oversee the discussion as the officials will finalize your and their decisions together."

They nodded in understanding. Even Kyoshiro who usually was cheerful. The future heads and invited guests only watched silently, either nervous, learning, or admiring the menacing Ryu. If Ryu had heard them, he would've just played along and bring out his pressure. He had gained a sadism personality during Wano.

"Good, now I'd like to introduce the representative that the community has picked, O-Tsuru."

O-Tsuru stood and bowed greeting them all. She was chosen because people knew her as a kind and compassionate woman who can be quite stubborn when set on helping other people. She hadn't expected to be chosen, but she accepted the temporary representative, so she was going to make sure the community was not let down.