Chapter 241: Relaxation, Capture and Wait
Chapter 241: Relaxation, Capture and Wait
__________ POV Narration __________
It had already been a week since the sky was glowing in blue and black, the flames that raged on the horizon this time didn't touch the ground, although the citizens of Wano still lived in fear.
Many things had happened during that time. Blood was spilt and desperation festered within the nation of Wano.
But for now, things were once again calm.
A tall figure wearing a yellow loose-fitting Jinbei(male Yukata), walked around the streets of the Flower Capital with leisure.
He had yellow hair, slicked backwards, his face covered in a white empty wooden mask.
He stood a meter taller than all of the civilians walking the streets, he stood out a lot, which made everyone avoid him consciously.
Sometimes, one of the samurai under Orochi's employ would see him, but they would also gulp and turn their heads away.
Something inside them just made it impossible to stare at that man for too long without feeling some sort of primordial fear.
That man was none other than Enel.
He moved his mask slightly to the side and took a bite out of a dango, before signing and looking at the flower capital with a critical eye.
Although they weren't to blame, the citizen of the Flower Captial walked around leisurely while many others starved in their homes in the towns and villages in the rest of Wano.
The Sky King had gone into quite a bit of sightseeing in the villages around the Flower Capital. Needless to say, it was tough to look at it and not do anything.
Enel was not comfortable just sitting around and doing nothing, he shared some resources with many of the villages, but they were still not that much better off.
Even if the Emperor provided them with rations from time to time, not one of them was eating like the people in the flower capital.
Things were quite tragic really, and Enel couldn't wait to put a hole through Orochi's head and give the country a better leader.
But Kaido had to be gone for that to even get close to happening, and that was where things became a bit more complicated.
After clashing with the Dragon Emperor's Blast Breath, Enel managed to notice one rather obvious thing... Kaido's attacks were a lot faster than before.
Everything previously, from reports of fights that Kaido had been with, his speed was around that of Garp previously. Well, he was faster than an old Garp, but still, speed wasn't his speciality.
But now?
It had improved to the point where, if Enel hadn't been concentrating on his Observation and using Future Sight, then he might've actually gotten severely injured.
He had built a body that was strong enough to handle that attack, but he had no need to receive it.
Instead, he immediately turned into a bolt of lightning and flew further above, breaking through the atmosphere and fleeing into space in that split second after seeing his 'El Thor' get overwhelmed.
Even from space, he could see the large stream of fire that the gigantic Kaido was spitting out. It was surely enough to engulf most of Wano. But it was thankfully not directed at them.
The Island that Shiki had been using as a ship did disintegrate, however. There was no helping that.
The black flame seemed to burn that flying island to ash in seconds. It was genuinely impressive.
Of course, the flame itself was black due to it being completely infused with Haki, both Advanced Conquerors and Armament.
Enel couldn't quite compete with that yet. Hell, he hadn't even mastered Conqueror's coating yet. He had a long way to go in the Haki department.
But he wasn't discouraged. Hell, he was still quite sure that he could kill Kaido, and that it wouldn't even be that difficult to do.
After all, his Awakened form granted him power beyond comprehension.
But Enel also knew that he couldn't be the one to kill Kaido, especially since things within Wano were progressing similarly to the way they were in the show.
For example, after seeing the molten pieces of Enel's staff falling from the skies, Robin panicked and brought it to Luffy's attention as well.
The Rubber human went into a frenzy almost immediately. He activated Gear 4th in that instant and followed Kaido who had turned back to human and landed in the middle of the Flower Capital.
Their exchange went about as expected.
The Dragon Emperor didn't even need to use his spiked club, he merely slapped the Straw Hat Captain away with enough force to make him fly out of the Flower Capital completely.
Of course, Luffy survived, he was as resilient as always. Even more so than when he had originally met Kaido.
But it still wasn't enough to even withstand Kaido's slap. He was knocked unconscious at the point of contact.
Enel didn't do anything to help however, he knew that Luffy would survive. He also understood that Kaido was an obstacle that Luffy had to overcome.
He was the roadblock, and also the springboard that Luffy could use to jump his way into godhood.
Luffy was swiftly taken to the Labour Camp, one somewhere within the Kuri Region, where most of the factories and metal-working facilities resided.
He was thrown into the same camp as Kid, and surprisingly, Francisco.
It seemed that Kaido had little care for how they'd end up. He planned to break them and have them join him eventually.
It was certainly an 'interesting' strategy. Now, maybe it did work for some. But Enel highly doubted that it worked on any actual Conqueror's Haki user that was worth mentioning.
After all, one needed a certain strength of character to become a Conqueror. And usually, such a spirit was hard to break.
After Luffy was captured, Enel knew that there was no point in taking down Kaido by himself. After all, things were going somewhat similar to what they had in the show.
Of course, Enel was now also left without much to do.
He did make sure to send a message to his people within the island, he reached out to Garp and Zephyr, who seemed to have punched out a hole in a mountain and made it their humble abode.
He also reached out to Shiki and Bonney, who had fit right into the local population. They were currently occupying an abandoned building in one of the less fortunate towns of Wano.
Food was scarce, but Shiki also started distributing some food he salvaged from the Beast Pirates.
Of course, the Beast Pirates, although spread thin now, still noticed the increase in food supply in some of the towns, especially the one Shiki was in.
Unfortunately for them, most people who noticed that seemed to be later found buried in mounds of earth and crushed rock. Their bodies twisted and contorted as if they had been crushed by the earth.
Of course, Kaido was far too busy drinking and laughing to care much about such a thing being reported.
In the first place, he already knew that there were intruders, hell he had even caught a glimpse of their retreating backs and had some idea of who they might've been.
But at the same time, the Dragon Emperor was also drunk on power. Especially after he 'killed' Enel. At least he hoped he did manage to kill Enel.
But at the same time, to him, it simply didn't matter anymore.
'The more the merrier!'
He had already found out that he could overpower Enel, he couldn't really stop him from fleeing, sure, but now the Dragon Emperor didn't feel the need to fear Enel at all.
So, the more gathered and prepared to take him down, the more fun he was going to have crushing their wills into the dirt.
Kaido had clearly grown bolder, more arrogant than before. Maybe finally surpassing Xebec and Francisco made him feel euphoric, and he was now on a constant high.
And who could really blame him? Besides Enel and IMU, it was doubtful that there was any other entity that could face off with him.
He had gone above the level that mortals were supposed to be able to reach, one could say that he was already a step into godhood, especially since Enel wouldn't be able to defeat him without Awakening.
'What an absurd opponent he has become... I need to make some preparations for Luffy to actually be able to face him...'
Just letting Luffy train while in prison wasn't even close enough. The gap between him and Kaido was already immense in the One Piece that Enel remembered. Now it was simply insurmountable.
Enel was, at least for now, going to bide his time. He had no reason to rush, he knew that Luffy needed a few weeks at the least to train and be able to use Conqueror's coating.
'... I should try to gain more mastery over haki as well in the meantime...'
Although Enel technically didn't have a teacher for now he still remembered Francisco's teachings. And what he mainly needed was practice.
And so, he slowly turned and started leaving the Flower Capital. No one stopped him on his way out.
Although Kaido was strong, his observation still didn't span far enough. To cover the entirety of Wano, Enel had also learned how to hide his aura from Observation Users.
Although he wasn't as skilful at stealth as someone who actually specialized in it, he was still rather decent at it, likely thanks to his overwhelming talent for Observation.
Regardless, he was able to walk free thanks to it. So he couldn't really complain.
'Now then... I think I better look for that old man... Tenguyama Hitetsu, was it? Or rather, Kozuki Sukiyaki...'
Enel smiled as he headed for the location that he could remember. The humble smithy of an old Swordsmith, located somewhere within the Amigasa Village in the land of Kuri.
Enel decided to take the scenic route, not using his devil fruit and just dashing through the beautiful country of Wano.
Now that its citizens weren't as starved thanks to his efforts, the country felt a lot more lush and beautiful.
In truth, he had already gotten tired of hearing the suffering cries of many within his Awakened state. It was truly discouraging, but at the same time also frustrating.
Enel knew that there was so much he could do with his power, yet the situation prompted him to wait for the right moment anyway.
Not just in Wano, but for the whole world.
Even if he were to act out and hunt down every World Government Agent within the New World, things could still go very badly.
What if the Government became more desperate and decided to destroy a few kingdoms in return? What could he do to protect them all at once?
Nothing really. He needed to get rid of the threat from its core. Which was what had led him into his current predicament.
He had plenty of time to spare, so he decided, why not find out a bit more about something that interested him?
'I wonder how much Oden's father would be willing to share with me in regards to what's hidden under Wano...'
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Hope you liked the chapter!
Forgot to press the upload button yesterday, hence the delay... Sorry, haven't been feeling that great lately, some stomach issues and a lack of focus
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