Chapter 405 A Cold Declaration!

Inside the secluded and quiet teahouse,

faced with the massive shock of his identity being instantly exposed, out of the instinct of a top swordsman of Wano Country,

Kyoshiro—that is, Denjiro—uncontrollably gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist with his right hand.

His rough thumb suddenly exerted force, and with a soft "clack," the sharp blade was pushed out of its scabbard by an inch.

However, this one-inch distance became a chasm he could never cross.

Denjiro gritted his teeth, blue veins bulging on his arm, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not draw this beloved sword that had accompanied him for many years from its scabbard.

A terrifying, almost tangible murderous aura and a suffocating mental pressure pressed down on his shoulders without reservation.

At that moment, Denjiro only felt his vision instantly turn blood-red.

His soul seemed to be forcibly dragged by an invisible giant hand into a Shura Hell of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

His ears were filled with shrill wails, and his nose was filled with a thick smell of blood.

The trembling from the depths of his soul was frantically warning him:

if he dared to draw this sword, the next second, he would be decapitated in this teahouse.

Large drops of cold sweat instantly covered Denjiro's forehead.

Sweat slid down his tense cheeks, dripping onto the flat tatami mat in front of him.

In the face of this pressure, which was as deep and unfathomable as an abyss,

this Underworld overlord who summoned wind and rain in Wano Country's Underworld finally realized with absolute clarity the immense gap in strength between himself and the man before him.

Denjiro gasped for breath, his tense body collapsing like a deflated balloon.

He weakly released his right hand holding the hilt, his knees giving way as he knelt heavily on the hard floor:

"As expected of Lord Crimson Eyes, whose name shakes the New World... I am thoroughly defeated.

"Your power is awe-inspiring."

Facing this Akazaya Nine who was bowing in heartfelt submission, Tatsuya sat upright at the table, the expression on his face not changing in the slightest.

He looked at Denjiro on the ground with a smile:

"Since you've realized reality, put away your Kozuki Clan's boring schemes and clever little tricks."

"I don't care how heavy your pain of losing your nation is, nor do I care how miserable your princess is."

"Listen to me, we came here prepared to defeat that monster Kaido."

"Not because your Kozuki Clan is so important in this country, and certainly not to serve as a stepping stone for your restoration.

"We are doing this for the innocent citizens of this country who are still suffering, and also for our alliance's own goals."

"In this massive war that is about to sweep across all of Wano Country, the ones in charge can only be us.

"And you samurai only need to obediently follow orders, and that will be enough."

Hearing Tatsuya's cold and ruthless, yet incomparably confident and assured words,

Denjiro, kneeling on the ground, not only felt no anger at being humiliated, but instead trembled uncontrollably with excitement.

In this declaration, he heard no fear or cowardice in the face of a formidable enemy, nor did he hear any hypocritical balancing of interests.

All he heard was an astonishing Haki that treated the high-and-mighty Four Emperors and the powerful Orochi completely as dead meat waiting to be slaughtered!

For a full twenty years!

In this long period of time, which felt like being in an endless dark night and a swamp of humiliation,

he forced smiles every day by Orochi's side, suffering bitterly in despair every single day.

But today, in this man, he finally saw a dawn capable of tearing apart the darkness, a real hope of truly breaking the shackles of Wano Country!

This power was far stronger and much more reliable than the few samurai they had been bitterly waiting for!

"Yes! I understand! The retainers of the Kozuki Clan are willing to go through fire and water for you, Lord!"

Denjiro pressed his forehead heavily against the floor, his voice carrying a vow-like resoluteness.

After giving these instructions, Tatsuya did not linger in this tea-scented room.

He stood up, casually grabbed the famous sword "Shusui" placed to the side, and then strode with his long legs straight toward the door of the teahouse.

Seeing this, Denjiro quickly raised his head, maintaining a respectful posture, and quickly asked:

"Lord Crimson Eyes! What are your plans next?"

"As the current Underworld leader of the Flower Capital, I have eyes and ears in every corner of this city."

"No matter where you are going next or what you are going to do,"

"I can immediately mobilize all Underworld resources to provide you with the greatest convenience and the most thorough cover!"

Tatsuya walked to the doorway of the teahouse and paused.

He slightly turned his head, a trace of disdain flashing in his eyes hidden under the shadow of his broad Straw Hat.

"Cover won't be necessary."

"I have finished enjoying the scenery of this Flower Capital."

"Now, I'm going to slaughter that Orochi."

The moment his voice fell,

a gentle breeze blew by, and the curtain of the teahouse swayed slightly.

And Tatsuya's figure had already vanished into thin air without warning, as if he had never stepped into this room.

Inside the teahouse, Denjiro, who was still kneeling, had his eyes fly wide open to their limits.

His mind went blank, and his ears kept echoing with that casually tossed-out phrase, "I'm going to slaughter Orochi."

The culprit who had oppressed Wano Country for twenty years, whose flesh he wished to eat raw day and night,

was actually as insignificant as a stray dog on the roadside in this man's mouth.

After a long time of being unable to snap out of it, Denjiro suddenly came to his senses.

His bloodshot eyes instantly turned red, and two streams of hot tears rolled down.

He turned around, put both hands on the ground toward the direction where Tatsuya had disappeared, and bowed his head heavily to the floor with the deepest respect and expectation.

...

Meanwhile, at the Udon Quarry in Kuri,

the originally lifeless living hell had now completely turned into a boiling ocean.

Under the joint call of the yakuza boss Hyogoro, who had shed his disguise, and Kawamatsu, one of the Akazaya Nine who had regained his freedom,

the anger in the hearts of the tens of thousands of long-enslaved samurai, yakuza members, and innocent prisoners in the entire prison was completely ignited.

They held high the broken chains and iron pickaxes for hauling bricks in their hands, letting out earth-shaking roars.

The sound waves swept through the entire quarry like a mountain-toppling wave.

Everyone, with bloodshot eyes, did not hesitate to vow to join this allied army led by the Straw Hat crew, aimed at subjugating Kaido and Orochi.

However, when the excited emotions calmed down slightly, a huge realistic dilemma was mercilessly placed before everyone.

This group of people had been doing inhumane hard labor here for a long time. They couldn't even eat a single full meal every day, and their bodies were already extremely weak, thin, and sallow.

And even more deadly, they were now virtually empty-handed.

Relying on this scrap metal used for breaking stones to go against the well-equipped regular army of the Beasts Pirates was nothing short of throwing an egg against a rock.

Facing everyone's worries, Luffy only grinned easily.

He turned around, raised his arm, pointed his thumb at the towering and vast architectural complex in the far back of the quarry, and asked back loudly as a matter of course:

"What? Just because we don't have weapons? What is there to worry about?

"Look over there! If you want weapons, aren't there tons of them in that big factory?"

Everyone looked in the direction of Luffy's finger. It was the massive weapons factory that Kaido used to exploit Wano Country's resources, working day and night to manufacture weapons of slaughter.

There was absolutely no need for any tedious pre-war mobilization.

"Let's go, guys!"

Luffy took the lead, his figure rushing out like a cannonball shot from a barrel.

Zoro, Sanji, and the others followed closely behind.

The Straw Hat crew led the vast crowd behind them, charging directly into the weapons manufacturing factory inside Udon with thunderous momentum.

The remaining guards of the Beasts Pirates stationed inside the arsenal, facing this group of prison breakers who were like tigers descending from the mountain, simply had no time to organize any decent resistance.

Before they could even sound the alarm, they were instantly killed in a split second by Zoro and Sanji, who were charging at the very front.

Accompanied by an earth-shaking loud noise, the extremely heavy steel gate of the weapons factory was shattered by Luffy's heavy fist coated in Haki.

The fanatical samurai were like a bursting flood, roaring as they swarmed into the interior of the factory.

They used the tools in their hands to smash open the sturdy armory doors one by one.

Amidst the cold gleam filling their eyes, they eagerly stripped off the tattered prison uniforms on their bodies that represented humiliation and torture.

They put on the fine armor carefully forged by the Beasts Pirates, which was originally prepared to be shipped to the front lines.

They picked up the rows of razor-sharp samurai katanas on the racks and shouldered boxes of powerful muskets and ammunition.

The clashing of steel and the excited shouts of the people intertwined, echoing through the heavens.

In just a few short hours, in this piled-up armory, amidst the boiling hot blood,

the prototype of a fully armed rebel army was officially declared established upon the ruins of Udon!