A familiar feeling

Thrown by Whitebeard's full-force punch, Kozuki Oden crashed onto the ground in the distance. His vision started to blur, experiencing a sensation he had never felt before due to the sheer power of the attack.

"Hahaha!"

After a moment, Oden, in a sorry state, lay on the ground and burst into hearty laughter. This was what he had been tirelessly seeking – everything in the Land of Wano was just too dull.

"That guy is laughing after getting punched?"

Jozu watched with surprise as Oden, bloodied and seemingly on the verge of death, laughed heartily.

"Who knows? Maybe that guy's just crazy."

Marco shrugged nonchalantly.

"Damn it!"

Just as Whitebeard was about to return to the Moby Dick, a large group of people suddenly emerged from the jungle, heading straight for Oden.

"Do you know who this is? This is the Lord of Kuri, the future heir to the Land of Wano! How dare you attack Lord Kozuki Oden like this!" Kinemon, brandishing his long sword, expressed his anger.

In their eyes, it was a grave offense to harm a person of Oden's stature.

"Oh, so he's a lord from Kuri."

The members of the Whitebeard Pirates remained indifferent.

Seeing Oden's subordinates berating them, Marco was furious.

"Attacking Lord Oden? Have you no shame!?"

Faced with the accusations from Oden's subordinates, Marco and the others responded with equal vehemence.

"You dare to attack the Whitebeard Pirates? I'll make you regret it!"

Marco's body ignited with azure flames, his arms taking on the shape of wings.

"Enough, Kinemon!"

Oden, who had stopped laughing, propped himself up from the ground and raised his hand to stop Kinemon.

"Oden-sama."

Kinemon looked at the heavily injured Oden with concern, but what no one noticed was the smile that crept onto Oden's face.

For him, he had waited for this moment for over twenty years. These few days wouldn't make much of a difference. He would first pacify Kinemon and the others, and then establish a connection with Whitebeard later. Once the ship was repaired, everything would be smooth sailing.

"Alright then, when the ship is fixed, we'll leave."

Hearing Oden's words, Whitebeard nodded.

"Hey, Denjiro, post a notice in Kuri's lord's residence recruiting craftsmen."

After Oden and his entourage departed, Whitebeard sat on a crate, frowning as he gazed at a distant mountain peak.

"What's wrong, old man? Worried that those guys will cause trouble secretly? Should I secretly follow them?"

Marco, seeing Inurashi monitoring the Whitebeard Pirates from afar, thought Whitebeard was concerned that Oden's people might cause trouble for them.

"Marco, it's not those guys."

Whitebeard shook his head and continued, "During the fight, I felt a familiar presence nearby, but when I tried to use Observation Haki to locate them, I got nothing."

"Someone who can evade your Observation Haki?"

Marco was shocked. While Observation Haki might be Whitebeard's weakest aspect among the three forms of Haki he mastered, even so, it was Whitebeard. The fact that someone managed to elude his senses was astonishing.

"Who could it be, then?"

Marco was puzzled. Anyone who could trigger Whitebeard's sense of familiarity must be a top-tier figure on the seas.

"I feel like it's Thunder Kid, but it's unlikely for him to be here."

Whitebeard was uncertain.

"Thunder Kid? The guy who defeated Charlotte Linlin and Kaido together? But hasn't he been out of the picture for years?"

Jozu was bewildered. For many aboard Whitebeard's ship, the name Thunder Kid was unfamiliar. Compared to the prominent figures dominating the seas currently, that guy was too low-key.

"Let's forget about it. We'll leave when the ship is fixed. Maybe it was just my imagination."

Whitebeard waved his hand dismissively.

Meanwhile, in the Shogun's Mansion in Flower Capital, a secretive chamber, a young man with a square face and purple hair knelt on a tatami mat, facing the Land of Wano's Shogun, Kozuki Sukiyaki.

"Who would've thought that Whitebeard would show up in the Land of Wano?"

Sukiyaki said, his face filled with trepidation.

"Is that guy named Whitebeard very strong?"

The young man asked curiously.

"Hehehe."

Hearing this, Sukiyaki burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke.

"Orochi, it seems that the Land of Wano has limited your perspective. There are countless powerhouses on the seas, and someone like Whitebeard, if he wished, could easily annex the entire Land of Wano and control countless islands under his command."

Sukiyaki paused for a moment. "But this is also an opportunity. If Kozuki Oden follows Whitebeard to sea, then our plan can proceed even more smoothly. We can reclaim the ancestral lands of the Kurozumi Clan and the entire Land of Wano!"

With a wicked smile, Sukiyaki concluded"