One Piece: Reborn as Enel

Chapter 242: The Hermit, Pride and Ancient Weapon

_________ POV Narration _________

Enel's steps were light as he stepped to the outskirts of Amigasa Village, it was surprisingly still standing tall.

Enel had remembered it being destroyed at some point, but it seemed that a lot of events within Wano hadn't happened as expected, or hadn't happened at all.

X-Drake, the Supernova that had joined the Beast Pirates, was nowhere to be seen in Wano.
Not even Enel's senses could find him.

It was rather bizarre, but at that point, Enel knew that expecting things to happen as he knew them was rather foolish.

The entire fate of the world had changed because of him. It was only a matter of time before the world itself shifted as well.

But it wasn't all changing in a bad or unpredictable way.

Thanks to Enel's efforts, the residents of Amigasa Village no longer had to fill their bellies with water in order to not feel the hunger creeping on them.

Of course, hunger was still present, and the food they had was carefully rationed. But at least they were now a few steps away from starvation.

The Beast Pirates were spread too thinly to pay attention to the Amigasa village it seemed, so their small surplus in food went unnoticed.

This worked in their favour, obviously. They all still hid their food and lived in fear, but at least they had something to hide now.

Thankfully for them, they would not be in any danger for the foreseeable future...

Enel also planned to sleep there for a few weeks while training. So any Beast Pirate that would try to get close to the village would be unfortunately turned to ashes.

Enel spared no sympathy for the men and women who indulged their gluttony and greed while taking advantage of an entire country's worth of people and letting them starve.

To the Sky King, they were as good as dead. The second Kaido's imposing figure fell, they would follow him to the grave.

It was the same for Orochi, who was still technically the 'Ruler' and Shogun of Wano and the Flower Capital.

'To think that pathetic weakling has that monster's power...'

Enel shook his head as he remembered the imposing figure that was the real Yamata No Orochi.

He remembered the gigantic snake hiding in the depths of the world, biding its time... It was clearly worlds apart in both power and intelligence compared to the Shogun. There was simply no contest there.

'I guess this puny Shogun only really wields a fragment of Orochi's power, a fragment that's not even been mastered fully...

That's for the better anyway, he's already annoying enough as a weakling.'

Enel still remembered that old saying. 'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely'. Orochi was a piece of shit while being in a flimsy position of power under Kaido's belt.

If he also had significant personal strength then he would surely go off the wall.

Well, he was technically stronger than the regular person, but he was still a weakling by New World standards, and they were in the middle of the New World.

Regardless, the Shogun would soon pay his dues to the Kozuki Clan. And Enel was now standing in front of the oldest member of that family...

"What do you want, tall fellow?" 

Those were the words that greeted the wondering emperor as he entered the Hermit's workshop.

There, sitting on what looked like a barstool, was a tall old man with long white hair. He wore a red tengu mask with an extremely long nose.

He wore a black jacket with green poofs along its inner edges over a light grey kimono with purple spots on the bottom.

He also wore dark blue trousers and extremely tall geta sandals on his feet.

Kozuki Sukiyaki, currently masquerading as the hermit and blacksmith Tenguyama Hitetsu.

"It's odd to hear you calling me that, you aren't that much shorter than me with those shoes you have on, Old man..." Enel scratched his chin as he addressed the former Shogun of Wano casually.

"Hmph... I hardly see any point in continuing this conversation. Get to the point of your visit or get out of my shop." 

The old hermit couldn't quite put his hand on the person in front of him. It was very possible that his 'visitor' was part of Kaido's crew, and he didn't feel like welcoming such people into his workshop.

"No nonsense, huh?... You're no fun, but I can respect that. You need to have at least that much seriosity as the head of the Kozuki clan."

At that moment, a blade could be heard taken out of its scabbard, a scrape, Enel felt the wind flow as a slab of sharpened cold steel was pressed up against his neck.

"Who are you?!? What do you know?!"

The old man didn't even bother denying it. Seeing how confident Enel was in his words, he knew that the masked assailant wasn't there to question his identity.

Still, this was bad news. Kozuki Sukiyaki had managed to hide away from Orochi and the Beast Pirates for the most part, his identity being given away was extremely bad...

Especially since he also had someone that he was caring for.

"M-Master is something the matter?" A little girl's voice echoed throughout the room just as tensions were rising, the worst possible moment.

Just as the old man was about to do something drastic, one of Enel's earlobes shot up from underneath his Yukata and gently pushed the blade away.

"Nothing much is going on little girl, me and your master are just having a little chat." The man took off his mask and greeted the newcomer.

A fairly short and thin little girl with short dark violet hair and eyes.

She wore a light-green girl's yukata with a plain, yellow flower pattern, several differently coloured and patterned patch-works, paired with a pair of sandals. 

The old man quickly sheathed his blade in confusion, at that point he did realise that Enel was not an enemy. 

'There was no one this strong under Orochi or Kadio... He's likely an outsider, like Luffy-dono and the rest.' 

Enel had pushed away his blade effortlessly. Now, the old Kozuki family head may have grown old, but he was still at least close to the level of the Red Scabbards. 

"My name is Enel, I am one of Kaido's enemies on the world stage... An Emperor, if you're familiar with the term." 

Enel didn't even budge from his seat, ignoring the fact that his life had just been 'threatened' and continuing the conversation like nothing had happened.

The little girl, Kurozumi Tama, or O-Tama for short, seemed to be rather scared at the prospect.

A stranger claiming to be at Kaido's level was certainly concerning, but also difficult for her to believe.

"... I am a bit familiar with the term, and if that is true then I must apologize for my earlier transgression... But what is your purpose here, Enel?" The former shogun spoke out with crossed arms.

O-Tama clung to his pants from the side, looking up at Enel with a bit of fear and uncertainty in her big eyes. 

"To put it simply, I want to bring Kaido down." Enel smiled warmly as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Same as all the other youngsters... But you said you're an Emperor as well?" The hermit patted the little girl's head while speaking, attempting to calm her down.

Enel simply nodded, he didn't bother commenting on being called a youngster.

He was already used to it since he looked young and he was surrounded by droves of old men. 

But this old man wasn't looking down on him. Instead, he was sizing Enel up.

Wano was very much a closed-off country. As a former Shogun, Sukiyaki had some ideas about the concepts of the outside world. He also knew the title and identity of their tyrant and true ruler, Kaido.

In his mind, although Enel seemed strong, he appeared nowhere as imposing as Kaido. It wasn't just about size, but also about atmosphere.

'Well... He may also just be a wolf in sheep's clothing. I'll choose to believe him for now, but my answer won't change.' 

"Well, many pirates and outsiders have tried in the past. All have failed. If you think you are capable, and you are truly on par with Kaido... Then I have a favour to ask of you." 

Enel tilted his head when hearing that, not entirely sure what to expect from the old former Shogun.

"Please, give the samurai in this country the chance to redeem themselves first." The old man took a slight bow as he spoke, which prompted O-Tama to climb up his leg and tap his back.

The old man paid her no mind and didn't straighten his back.

And Enel also focused on the old man's request for a few seconds, before realizing what he truly meant.

The old Shogun wanted to give the samurai of Wano a chance to redeem themselves. It was already a great shame upon them to have lived like that for so many years.

Now, after all that time, the stars were finally aligning, and the Red Scabbards were coming together.

In their eyes, it was never meant to be an outsider's job to save their country and its people. It was solely their obligation.

It was their pride... But under the current circumstances?

"... I'm afraid that's suicide, there is no samurai or group of samurai in Wano that can take down Kaido as he is currently... I'm sure you noticed it, but he has gotten even stronger somehow." 

Enel shook his head. Even in the original, it was a long hope to think that the Red Scabbars would be able to take down Kaido.

They were crushed, even if they had fought valiantly. In the end, the fate of Wano still fell upon the back of an outsider... That outsider was Luffy, Joyboy. 

"I am well aware of the risks. Yet I ask you to give us the chance anyway. A chance to wash away our shame." The old Shogun kept his head and gaze angled towards the ground, still bowing to the emperor in front of him.

O-Tama had given up at that point and was just silently staring daggers at Enel. Likely not too appreciative of the man that was making her Master bow his head like that. 

"... Fine. I won't be interfering unless I'm truly needed."

Enel shrugged as he conceded. It was never his intention to personally take down Kaido in the first place.

He had hoped that Kozuki Sukiyaki would be able to dissuade the Red Scabbars from rushing into their graves, but there was not much else that he could do if they themselves were unwilling.

'Well, I'll still try to make sure they don't die horrific deaths under Kaido's claws... But I guess their involvement in the Raid in Onigashima is unavoidable...'

Enel had plans for Onigashima, great plans. And he wanted to make sure that there was no 'fodder' on it.

He only wanted the strongest of the Strawhats and of every faction present. While the Red Scabbards were strong, they were weak in front of the likes of Yamato and even a properly grown Momonosuke. 

Essentially, Enel wanted to lessen the casualties in Wano as much as possible.

But if Fate had other plans, then there wasn't much he could do. 

At the end of the day, he couldn't just throw lighting to stop people from going to Onigashima... Well, he technically could, but that could end up actually doing more harm than good. 

  "Thank you, for giving our Samurai a chance." The old man raised his head and sighed, before placing O-Tama on the ground and gesturing for her to scurry off.

She took one last pointed glance at Enel before huffing and leaving.

"... What a spirited little girl." Enel shook his head and sighed.

"Haha, she wasn't always like this, and she's usually more friendly with people she just meets... Her apprehension may be my fault, however, since she did see me point my blade at you."

The old hermit gave a short belly laugh as he scratched the back of his head in shame.

"That is fine... But there is still something else I wish to talk about if only to kill time..." Enel crossed his arms and smiled at the old Shogun.

"Well, I do still have plenty of time to spare. Let's hear it." 

Kozuki Sukiyaki nodded towards the Emperor and gestured for him to talk freely.

"Well... It's related to the Ancient Weapon hidden underneath Wano..." 

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Hope you liked the chapter! 

The mc be looking into Pluto now, but taking it out would still require the land of Wano to open up. 

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