Chapter 1173: You Call This Hell?

Chapter 1173 -1154: You Call This Hell?

Twenty years ago, Kozuki Oden was defeated, and Kozuki Toki used her Time-Time Fruit ability to send Kozuki Momonosuke and some of the household attendants twenty years into the future.

Kozuki Toki herself was a person from 830 years ago, with an unknown purpose, she used the ability of the Time-Time Fruit to keep advancing into the future, eventually arriving in this special era.

But the Time-Time Fruit can only move forward and not backward in time, nor can it change the location.

Twenty years ago, their defeat was decided, and to prevent being wiped out, Kozuki Toki made this decision.

For those who stayed behind, twenty years was very long, long enough for the world to undergo huge changes. The Hundred Beasts that could only find peace initially now have the power to dominate the world.

But for those affected by Kozuki Toki’s ability, it was merely an instant. The time tunnel seemed like a flick of a finger to them, with the memories of Kinemon and others, Wano Kuni was still a war-torn country.

Kozuki Toki had explained her ability before acting, so Momonosuke and Kinemon and the others knew what had happened.

In their understanding, what the Hundred Beasts did previously was just an illusion, all to seize the Kozuki Family’s regime. Once they held power, their true colors would be revealed.

After twenty years of their rule, Wano Kuni should have turned into purgatory by now.

Logically, they should be at Oden Castle now, but it has turned into a wilderness, which in their eyes is “evidence.”

Even the once-flourishing Oden Castle has become like this, there’s no need to say more about other places.

These youths from twenty years ago, or perhaps old relics, had no idea what urban redevelopment meant in the old town, and during the renovation process, they listened to the ideas of the sole heir to the original owner – Kozuki Hiyori – and transformed it into a woodland without constructing other buildings.

“There are no pirate guards around us, it looks like they’ve forgotten about us.”

Raizo scouted around the area; being from a ninja background made him more suited for this work. The scouting results were considered good news for them, at least the traces of past battles have disappeared.

“That’s good, but we cannot be careless, Oden-sama was not a match for Kaidou, and it’s even more impossible for us. The priority now is to leave Wano Kuni, to prevent Lord Momonosuke from staying in such a dangerous place.”

Kinemon made the decision for what comes next.

These people have some self-awareness; they knew they couldn’t defeat the monster that even Kozuki Oden couldn’t handle.

Therefore, they needed external assistance, leaving Wano Kuni was the most urgent matter, as there weren’t any guards here now, who knows if they’d be discovered later.

“We can’t all leave; we need to find out what’s happening in Wano Kuni now and how the people who stayed behind are doing… we’ll split into two groups, one group escorts Lord Momonosuke out to seek external aid.

The other group stays here to investigate Wano Kuni’s situation. As a ninja, I am better at lurking, so let me stay.”

Raizo eagerly offered to stay.

Twenty years ago, Ashura Doji died in battle.

Denjiro, Kawamatsu, Kikunojo stayed behind in Wano Kuni.

Besides Momonosuke, Kinemon, Raizo, Kanjuro, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi were transported twenty years forward, with Raizo considering himself the most suitable to stay among them.

“Let’s wait on this first; we need to grasp the situation in Wano Kuni first. Leaving here is not an easy task, and before confirming a specific plan of action, it’s better not to disperse too much, and to take care of each other if anything happens, not to mention external aid….

Oden-sama failed, who could defeat Kaidou….”

They had a special mysterious admiration for Kozuki Oden, even though they were twenty years in the future, they still were rather pessimistic, some like Kinemon couldn’t even think of where they should go.

“If we can leave here, let’s go to Zou first, after all, it’s an ally nation of ours, it should still hold hope.”

This was Inuarashi’s view, according to Zou’s past traditions, his words had no issue.

“Nekomamushi, do you have the Life Card to return to Zou?”

Inuarashi’s Life Card had originally been borrowed by Setsuna, so now they could only rely on the one Nekomamushi had.

“Here it is, meow, this time I didn’t lose it.”

Nekomamushi took out the Life Card from himself, though the card’s pulse frequency made him and Inuarashi feel something was off.

“Weird, is Zou too close to Wano Kuni?”

Nekomamushi still remembered Zou’s approximate range of movement, it shouldn’t be this close. Little did they know, in the twenty-year span, the changes in Zou were no less significant than those in Wano Kuni. Essentially, both places were no different.

Except for Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, the others didn’t understand what this meant, while Inuarashi and Nekomamushi hadn’t even dug deeper into the matter yet when Kanjuro made a new discovery.

“Hey, hey, you guys come take a look over here, look at what this is!”

Kanjuro had just felt a pang of hunger in his stomach and wanted to draw something to satisfy his hunger. Items created by the Brush-Brush Fruit would become real objects, including food, though they lacked taste, they were as if chewing paper yet provided a sense of fullness.

As he intended to draw, he needed a flat surface, so he cleared some weeds, and beneath those weeds were several tiny grave mounds.

Kinemon

Kanjuro

The names of these time travelers were engraved on the tombstones above, left by loyalists who weren’t aware of Kozuki Toki’s exact deeds, only knowing about a prophecy she left for twenty years later.

Thus, these missing people were regarded as deceased in their eyes, and to express remembrance, they erected a symbolic grave for them.

“This really is…”

Looking at these tombstones, Kinemon and the others didn’t know what to say.

“Actually, it’s a good thing. If they think we’re already dead, their vigilance towards us will decrease, and our chances of escaping will be greater.”

Kanjuro didn’t think it was a bad thing and then distributed some cabbage he had drawn to others as temporary food, and after a brief discussion, they decided on their next course of action.

Kinemon, Kanjuro, and Raizo would go to the nearby town to gather information, while Raizo was to look for hidden opportunities.

Nekomamushi and Inuarashi used the local trees to make a simple raft to serve as a tool for escaping Wano Kuni.

Momonosuke was temporarily left in this forest. For his safety, Kinemon thought it best not to let Momonosuke show up too early.

Then Kinemon used the ability of the Garb-Garb Fruit to change the clothes of those going to the town, creating some disguises. Kanjuro drew some crude tools and left them for Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.

The poorly disguised drawing technique produced objects that resembled Stone Age tools, but they were still better than having nothing.

“Everyone, remember to control your emotions. No matter how cruel the scenes we might see, we must bide… For Lord Momonosuke, this is necessary.”

“Hmm.”

“Don’t worry, Kinemon, I’m ready.”

Raizo and Kanjuro followed Kinemon with a heavy heart as they headed outwards. Soon, they found a small path in the forest.

As the saying goes, there was no road initially, but a path appeared after many people walked it; this small path was clearly made by humans. If they follow it, they’re sure to find a place where humans gather.

They weren’t unfamiliar with the geography of Wano Kuni, but they weren’t sure how much had changed in these 20 years.

…

Not long after, they had walked out of the forest and arrived at the bustling town of Kuri. On the way, they deliberately avoided older people who might remember them and increase the risk of exposure.

Though they had entered an area with surveillance cameras, they didn’t arouse any suspicion.

The focus of Queen was originally on the outside world. Without news of an intrusion or infiltration, and with the alarms in important areas not triggered, Hundred Beasts would not suddenly conduct a large-scale search of the inner city.

Just some stray dogs from 20 years ago aren’t worth causing such a commotion.

“Kinemon, are you sure… this is hell?”

The flow of people on the street became denser; houses along the street were adorned with celebratory decorations, indicating that a festival was approaching.

The vibrant celebration created scenes of peace, with prosperity and abundance, a picture of flourishing, seemingly far from the concept of hell.

If hell is truly like this, the bus to hell might just be overbooked.

“It’s fake… it must be fake, all of it is an illusion, deception to trick the people…”

A usurper spent 20 years turning Wano Kuni into an ideal scene, something they would never believe even under duress.

After some searching, Kinemon pinpointed his target: a few young delinquents.

These youngsters usually run around, seemingly knowing more about various news. As a former gang leader, Kinemon understands how to communicate with such brats.

“Hey, you guys! Come over, I have something to ask you!”

Kinemon still stuck in the mindset of 20 years ago, knew that being too soft to delinquents could make them think he was easy to bully, so his tone was somewhat stiff.

“What do you want, you old-fashioned uncle? Even my grandfather wouldn’t dress as old-fashioned as you.”

“Enough nonsense; I ask, you answer. If you answer correctly, this is yours.”

Kinemon shook a bag, and the sound of metal clinking came from inside. Back in the day, he often used this method to gather information from ordinary punks.

“Where’s your camera crew? Did the programme style change?”

The delinquent in front spoke in a way Kinemon couldn’t understand, reflecting changes in Wano Kuni over the years, providing more entertainment options for people to release emotions in their free time.

The televisions beginning to spread in Wano Kuni also facilitated the development of local TV shows.

These shows, commonly known as variety shows, often adopted a traditional format like street interviews.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, okay, I’ll play along with you. What questions do you have? I’m sure I can answer them correctly.”

The delinquent before him already regarded Kinemon as a host from some comedy show, and Kinemon didn’t delve deeper but started asking some key questions.

“Okay, first question, what happened to Kurozumi Orochi?”

“Huh? Are you doing some kind of retro historical quiz? Even if I’m not good at studying, I know this stuff. That trickster Kurozumi Orochi was slain by Lord Ming Wang 20 years ago.”