“Worororo, my apologies Orochi, I’ve drunk too much and my hand slipped. Burp~”
Kaido displayed clear signs of being drunk, but Orochi didn’t believe a single word of his. Even if the kanabo had slipped out of his hand for being too drunk, who would use Haki before it slipped out of their hand?
Orochi himself may not be strong, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t seen others using Ryuo before.
Ryuo is another name for Armament Haki in Wano Country. Due to the isolationist nature of Wano Country, many things have different names here, such as Devil Fruit users being called sorcerers and Armament Haki being called Ryuo.
Ryuo is not the highest level of Armament Haki. All forms of Armament Haki in Wano Country are collectively referred to as Ryuo, and the advanced Armament Haki that can cause internal damage is the highest level of Ryuo. This is just another name, and not a distinction of grade.
Kaido’s strike was clearly aimed at killing him, and if he didn’t have someone to rely on who intervened, the strike would have taken his life.
The one who stopped Kaido’s strike was one of the most overpowered Devil Fruits, the Barrier Fruit, which can create an absolute defense barrier.
The barrier cannot be broken by any means, and it can even block an attack from one of the Four Emperors.
Its weakness is that the total area of the barrier that can be released at the same time is limited, and it requires maintaining a hand gesture with the index and middle fingers crossed.
The current user of the Barrier Fruit is called Kurozumi Semimaru who was a lute priest, and like Kurozumi Higurashi, is a member of the Kurozumi family who was exiled outside of the country.
And of course, Kaido didn’t accidentally slip. He did it on purpose. The sake in Wano Country is much weaker than outside, and the amount he drank was not enough to get him drunk. Since he has already entered Wano Country, he wanted to see if he could take care of Kurozumi Orochi with just one strike.
If he could take care of him at once, the strategic policy of the Beasts Pirates would change drastically. Since they have already infiltrated inside the country, they would have many ways to deal with the situation that followed after.
After all, it was just a slip of the hand, not intentional. However, since the attack was blocked, he didn’t have any intention to continue attacking Orochi. This can only be seen as an attempt, and whether it succeeds or not, there is nothing to regret, and it can even be considered a show of strength.
Moreover, this strike successfully forced Orochi to reveal one of his trump cards, and the impact of the Barrier ability is significant.
As for why he did this, let’s not delve into it. Kurozumi Orochi’s words were essentially expediting his own downfall, but unfortunately, he still doesn’t realize the magnitude of his mistake.
His reason for not continuing was also straightforward. The slip of hand would have been called ‘killing by mistake’ and not intentional, but if he had attacked again, it would be deliberate.
He deliberately killed his “ally” as soon as he arrived, which is not conducive to future development. Moreover, he is not useless while alive, as he can be used to build the image of the Beasts Pirates.
“A slip of the hand? Kaido, do you believe that excuse yourself!”
“Ah? I’m telling the truth, I often have a slip of hand, right guys?”
“Yeah, yeah, Boss Kaido always does strange things after drinking. Last time he even went dancing at the Marine base.”
“That was a long time ago, right? Wasn’t the most recent time when he had a fight with someone? Who was it? Oh well, doesn’t matter, they’re all dead anyway.”
The people below continued the conversation, solidifying Kaido’s reputation for being clumsy.
Amidst the laughter of the Beasts Pirates members, Orochi couldn’t hold back and his body underwent some subtle changes. However, Kurozumi Higurashi, who was beside him, grabbed his hand and shook her head to signal Orochi to calm down.
Seeing that Orochi didn’t make a move, Kaido shook his head in disappointment. If Orochi had made a move, the Beasts Pirates would have a reason to retaliate. As for the Barrier Fruit, though it’s ability is troublesome, it isn’t as if it couldn’t be dealt with.
If worst comes to worst, he could transform into a blue dragon and throw both the person and the house into the sea. He didn’t believe that a devil fruit user could still cause any problem after being thrown into the sea.
“Kaido, that’s enough. We are guests here, let’s give him some face. This is Wano Country, and we will have to rely on him in the future.” Arceus spoke up to stop Kaido. He knew a bit about the situation in Wano Country. If the Beasts Pirates wanted to rule this place, they would have to use Kurozumi Orochi to eliminate the rule of the Kozuki family.
Then, they would reveal Orochi’s actions later and let him bear the hatred of the people. They will then prop up a new puppet regime in order to completely control Wano Country.
Afterwards, they would use time to make the ordinary people accustomed to the rule of the Beasts Pirates. It’s not easy to find a scapegoat as good as Orochi. It would only take a few years, and for the sake of greater development, he could endure it for a while.
Amidst the laughter of the crowd, a voice of dissent emerged, and he called Kaido by name. What’s more, Kaido actually listened to this person’s words, which naturally caught Orochi’s attention.
However, the next moment, he realized that it was all an illusion. Kaido’s actions were only slapping his face, while Arceus’ actions were truly cutting his flesh.
“We brought over a thousand people this time, and many of them feel bored after sailing for a long time. They seemed to have seen your Red-Light District on the way here, and many of them are interested. However, it seems that Berry is not accepted here, so how about supporting us with some money?”
“Just give a few dozen gold per person, as having fun and accommodation always cost money.”
The currency used in Wano Country is platinum, gold, and silver, with platinum being rare but also the most valuable. One platinum is enough to build a house in Wano Country.
The common currency used by ordinary residents is gold and silver, with gold being worth around 10,000 Berries and silver being worth 100 Berries.
As soon as Arceus opened his mouth, he asked for a few dozen gold per person, which is equivalent to making Orochi directly take out a few hundred million Berries. It hasn’t been long since he has obtained the position of proxy Shogun, and he also needs money to support all his subordinates. This truly struck a nerve with him.
Kaido was embarrassing him, but he could tolerate losing face. Compared to the loss of money, face was nothing at all.
He knew he had to spend money, but he thought that preparing some money for Kaido would be enough. As for those pirates under him, they were pirates, yet they still spend money to buy things?
He didn’t know that at this moment, both Kaido and Arceus considered Wano Country as their own territory, and on their territory, it was only natural to spend money instead of doing a stupid thing like exploiting it recklessly.
Besides, Red-Light District is not a reputable place and it was extremely shameful to spend others’ hard-earned money on visiting pro*titutes.
At this moment, Kaido suddenly realized that he had misunderstood Arceus’ intentions. His decision to let him off for the time being was not to let him off completely. He wanted to squeeze out his value before sending him off. Compared to that, his idea of sending him off with just a single blow was overly simple.
“That’s right, Orochi. It’s just a few tens of thousands of gold. Surely you wouldn’t be reluctant to part with even that, would you?”