Chapter 89: Eight Lives! The Immortal Whitebeard Pirates?!

"The shogun Orochi was killed by my own hands."

Izou clenched his fists tightly, speaking through gritted teeth.

"At least that’s a little interest collected for Oden."

"One day, I’ll kill Kaido too and avenge Oden completely."

Hearing those words, Ron suddenly realized what he had forgotten.

He had neglected to tell Izou something crucial.

Kurozumi Orochi had eight lives.

That information was extremely important.

But now...

it seemed a little late.

"What’s wrong, Ron ?"

Izou noticed Ron’s strange expression and frowned slightly.

Ron took a deep breath.

This wasn’t the time to keep secrets.

He had to tell him the truth.

Still, seeing how happy Izou had been about killing Orochi, Ron found it difficult to ruin that satisfaction.

"My fault."

"Really, this one’s on me."

"Orochi is... a little special."

Izou blinked.

"Special?"

"That guy looked like nothing more than an idiot and a piece of trash."

Clearly, he found the idea hard to believe.

In his eyes, Orochi had been weak, foolish, and utterly unimpressive.

How could someone like that be special?

"Listen carefully."

Ron lowered his voice.

"Orochi ate the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi (Hebi Hebi no Mi, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi)."

Izou’s brows furrowed.

This was the first time he had heard that.

Thinking back to their encounter, Orochi hadn’t transformed before Izou electrocuted him.

He had even assumed Orochi wasn’t a Devil Fruit User.

"Yamata no Orochi?"

He repeated the name.

Ron nodded.

"That’s right."

"And the Yamata no Orochi is extremely unique."

"It grants its user eight lives."

"...What?!"

"Eight lives?!"

Izou’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

His face was filled with disbelief.

Ron nodded again.

"Exactly."

"Every time you think you’ve landed a fatal blow, all you’ve really done is consume one of his lives."

Izou inhaled sharply.

The revelation hit him like a thunderbolt.

He instantly understood the implications.

To truly kill Orochi, one couldn’t simply defeat him once.

They would need a way to eliminate all eight lives.

Otherwise, any mistake could allow him to survive.

"..."

Izou fell silent.

He stood there quietly, lost in thought.

Then suddenly—

he burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

" Ron , why are you apologizing?"

"And how could this possibly be your fault?"

Ron stared at him.

"...?"

Instead of being upset, Izou looked relieved.

"Actually, it’s a good thing you didn’t tell me earlier."

"If I had known beforehand..."

"I might’ve actually killed him."

Ron was even more confused.

Before he could speak, Izou continued excitedly.

" Ron !"

His eyes shone brighter than ever.

"Since Orochi has eight lives..."

"And since his Devil Fruit is the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi..."

"Then we can use it too!"

"We can enchant the fruit and gain eight lives ourselves!"

The moment those words left his mouth—

Ron slapped his thigh.

"That’s it!"

"How the hell did I forget about Orochi’s Devil Fruit?!"

"This is an incredible opportunity!"

Eight lives.

It meant surviving situations that should have been impossible.

No matter how severe the danger, as long as one life remained, there was still hope.

More importantly—

it was practically the ultimate insurance against accidents.

Lose one life?

You still had seven left.

The more Ron thought about it, the faster his heart raced.

His breathing became heavier.

His eyes sparkled with excitement.

The possibilities were endless.

"Izou..."

"It looks like our trip to Fish-Man Island needs to happen sooner than planned."

His voice carried unmistakable urgency.

Izou slapped his own thigh excitedly.

" Ron , just tell me what to do."

"I’ll follow your lead."

After a moment of thought, Ron answered.

"Bring Orochi back."

"Alive."

"No problem."

Izou grinned confidently.

"That guy’s a complete fool."

"Catching him will be easy."

His lightning abilities weren’t just useful for combat.

They could also incapacitate targets and abduct them without attracting attention.

He had complete confidence in the mission.

However, Ron remained cautious.

This operation couldn’t afford a single mistake.

If they failed and Kaido learned that their true target was Orochi, capturing him again would become exponentially more difficult.

Everything had to go perfectly.

"Take Enel with you."

Ron added.

"His Mantra can cover all of the Flower Capital."

"He’ll be able to track Orochi’s movements and guarantee success."

Enel’s observation ability was incredibly useful.

As long as a target remained within range, locating them was easy.

Whether it was Orochi—

or practically anyone else.

"Understood, Ron !"

Izou nodded vigorously.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

With Orochi’s eight lives—

Whitebeard could gain eight lives.

Marco could gain eight lives.

Ace could gain eight lives.

Jozu could gain eight lives.

Everyone could gain eight lives.

In the future, the Whitebeard Pirates would become something entirely different.

The Immortal Whitebeard Pirates.

Or perhaps—

The Whitebeard Pirates Who Could Not Die.

Just imagining it made his blood boil with excitement.

At that moment, as Izou turned to leave, something suddenly occurred to him.

He froze.

"Ah!"

"I almost forgot something important!"

" Ron !"

He hurried back.

Removing the bundle from his back, he carefully placed it on the floor and slowly opened it.

The instant the wrapping unfolded—

a dazzling golden light flooded the room.

Inside was a mountain of treasure.

Gold.

Jewels.

Precious ornaments.

Every piece gleamed brilliantly.

Each item was exquisitely crafted and worth a fortune.

" Ron ."

Izou’s voice was filled with excitement.

"These are treasures I took from Orochi."

"I’ve already set aside the portion that belongs to the crew."

"As for the rest..."

He looked at Ron seriously.

"I want to use all of it to fulfill Jozu’s wish."

"I want to help him obtain an Enchanted Devil Fruit."

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