Uchiha Puppet Master, Starting from One Piece.

He said this.

How big is Wano Country? How powerful is Kaido? How many villages kneel before the Beast Pirates, not daring to raise their heads? How many mines like this, how many rebels like this, are still hiding in the corners of Wano Country?

he does not know.

But he knew one thing.

He has never been one to say one thing and do another.

"Onimaru."

"exist."

Onimaru came up from behind. His injury had not yet healed, and his left leg was obviously weak when he walked, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let anyone help him.

Which direction is the City of Flowers?

Onimaru's expression changed slightly.

Are you going to the City of Flowers?

"Ah."

“But…” Onimaru hesitated for a moment.

"The Flower Capital is Kaido's core territory. The headquarters of the Beast Pirates is there, and Shogun Orochi's castle is also there. Kaido's people are everywhere there. If you go there like this..."

"I'm just going to take a look."

Bai Yu interrupted him: "It's not like we're going to fight."

Onimaru opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately kept it closed. He pointed southeast, his voice slightly strained.

"Follow this road, cross two mountains, and you'll find a large river. Walk south along the river, and you'll arrive in about a day and a night."

"A day and a night?"

Bai Yu looked at Violet.

Violet immediately understood what he meant, and her eyes began to shine, her gaze passing through mountains, rivers, and forests, stretching far, far away.

"found it."

She closed her eyes, withdrew her power, and then opened them to look at Bai Yu: "The Flower Capital is in the southeast. It is a very large city with many buildings and many people... and it is very prosperous."

Her tone was a little strange.

"Very bustling?"

Rangiku raised an eyebrow.

"At least that's how it appears."

Violet carefully chose her words: "My vision can only see the general outline and surface appearance. From the outside, the Flower Capital is completely different from the villages we just passed. There are complete streets, tidy houses, brightly lit taverns... like a normally functioning city."

"interesting."

Bai Yu's lips curled into a slight smile: "A country whose blood has been drained, yet its heart is still beating wildly."

He turned to look at Artoria.

"What do you think?"

Artoria remained silent for a moment.

"This is not normal."

She said, "If the whole country is suffering while only the capital is prosperous, then this prosperity must be based on sucking the blood of other places. Kaido is not governing Wano Country; he is feeding Wano Country, only feeding the capital and letting other places fend for themselves."

"Not even fed."

Artoria said softly, her voice calm, but her gentle eyes held a sharpness that only someone who had experienced countless life-and-death situations possessed: "He's just using the people of the capital to help him maintain his rule, giving them a little sweetness, making them accomplices of the oppressor. This is the most classic method of rule: creating a vested interest class and having them exploit the lower classes for you."

"Let's go."

Bai Yu said, "Let's go see just how prosperous this flower capital really is."

He took two steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Onimaru.

"You all wait here and don't do anything unnecessary. We're just going to take a look and won't alert them."

Onimaru nodded, but his expression clearly showed unease.

Bai Yu said nothing more and turned to walk into the night.

Artoria, Robin, Rangiku, Unohana, Connor, and Violet followed behind, their figures quickly swallowed by the darkness.

The journey was much faster than Onimaru had described.

In less than half the time, they reached the outskirts of the Flower Capital.

Bai Yu stood on a small hill, looking down at the city in the distance.

The night view of the Flower City is beautiful.

It's really beautiful.

The streets were brightly lit, with red lanterns hanging everywhere, and the faint sounds of shamisen and people's laughter could be heard in the distance.

The tall buildings are layered one on top of another, the most eye-catching being a magnificent castle.

That's the symbol of the Beasts Pirates.

On the other side of the castle, there is a completely different architectural complex, magnificent and ornate, like a giant beast with its jaws wide open, greedily devouring everything around it.

"That's the serpent's castle."

Robin whispered, "I saw in the information they provided that Kurozumi Orochi is the shogun of Wano Country, but in reality he should just be Kaido's puppet. He is responsible for ruling Wano Country, and Kaido is responsible for protecting him. The two of them use each other."

Bai Yu didn't speak, he just looked at the city.

Then he noticed something.

There is a high wall on the outskirts of the Flower Capital.

It's not a city wall, but more like a barrier, completely separating the city from the outside world.

On this side of the wall, there is darkness, desolation, and deathly silence.

On the other side of the wall lies light, prosperity, and noise.

Separated by a wall, two worlds.

"Let's go in."

Bai Yu said.

He led the way down the hillside and soon arrived at the foot of the high wall.

There was a door in the wall, and two guards stood at the door, dressed in the uniforms of the Beast Legion, with swords at their waists and wine jugs in their hands, their faces flushed from drinking.

"I've taken in three more women today, hehehe, Lord Orochi will definitely be happy."

"Those women were really good-looking, especially the red-haired one. If it weren't for Lord Orochi specifically asking for her... hehehe..."

The two guards grinned lewdly, completely unaware of Bai Yu approaching from the darkness.

The eyes of the two guards simultaneously went out of focus, and their bodies froze on the spot like two stone statues.

Sharingan, hypnosis.

Bai Yu walked past them without even glancing at them.

Behind the gate is a wide avenue that leads directly to the center of the Flower City.

Cherry blossom trees line both sides of the avenue. Although it is not the season for cherry blossoms to bloom, the trees are covered with lanterns. The light shines through the thin red paper and casts a gentle pink hue over the entire road.

The air was filled with the aroma of food.

Grilled squid, oden, glutinous rice balls, soy sauce ramen... all sorts of flavors mixed together reminded Bai Yu of the festival in Konoha Village.

But this is not Konoha.

This is Wano Country.

A country that is being drained of its lifeblood.

Bai Yu didn't stop walking. He walked along the cherry blossom avenue and entered the main street of the Flower Capital.

The main street was even more lively.

The shops on both sides were brightly lit, selling everything from kimonos and jewelry to swords and sweets.

The streets were bustling with people. Courtesans in gorgeous kimonos waved their fans and smiled as they beckoned customers. From the taverns came the sounds of rock-paper-scissors and singing, and the air was filled with the smells of alcohol and perfume.

Bai Yu watched all this, his eyes growing colder and colder.

It's not because of the prosperity here.

It's because the prosperity here was bought with the blood of those outside.

The farmland along the roadside was abandoned because all the grain had been requisitioned, but the restaurants here were piled high with food.

The children in the village were shivering with cold because their blankets had been stolen, but the shops here were filled with expensive silks and quilts.

The people of Iwami Village knelt at the village entrance to welcome the Beast Legion, not daring to raise their heads, but they laughed, joked, drank, and sang, as if Wano Country had never suffered.

"I have seen a lot of unfair things."

Unohana said softly, "When I was in Rukongai, I saw people starve to death, people freeze to death, and people be beaten to death over a single bun, but at least... at least those who lived in Seireitei didn't flaunt their food in front of those who starved to death."

Violet's voice was also low, filled with suppressed anger: "I saw it. People in those taverns were talking about it. They said the lowly people in the north were causing trouble again. They said Lord Kaido should have killed them all. They said, 'Those lowly people are just wasting food by living.'"

Her fists clenched.

"They know that people outside are suffering, they know what Kaido is doing, but they don't care, they even think that the suffering of those people is to be expected, because they are their own people!"

Robin didn't speak, but her eyes said it all.

Evil is never something that one person can accomplish alone.

Evil requires the silence and cooperation of countless people.

Artoria walked at the very back of the group, her face expressionless, but Bai Yu noticed that her hand remained on the hilt of her sword.

The Knight King once ruled a country.

She knows what a ruler of a country should and should not do.