"So scary…"
Kobayashi and the young Daoist acolyte beside her trembled uncontrollably—though for different reasons. Kobayashi had actually understood what Kizaru and the others were planning, while the acolyte was simply terrified that the honored guests invited by the grandmaster were basically a bunch of rebels!
"Miss Fubuki, is everyone in this chat group always like this?"
Unlike Song Qingshu and Kobayashi, who looked like they were about to faint from fear, Xiao Mei didn't see anything particularly wrong. On the Dou Qi Continent, monarchs weren't supreme—heck, even the royal family of the Jia Ma Empire had to show deference to the Yunlan Sect.
She was just curious whether this sort of attitude—where Kizaru and the others casually talked about overthrowing a nation—was typical for the group.
"Not exactly… This time is a special case. Besides, that Yuan Dynasty doesn't sound like anything good anyway. Taking them down might not be such a bad thing… right?" Fubuki said uncertainly.
In the world of One Punch Man, countries as political entities no longer existed. Fubuki could only imagine the Yuan Dynasty as something akin to a large city administration.
Even without Kizaru taking action personally, there were already several people present who could rival S-class heroes. Taking down what she imagined the Yuan Dynasty to be didn't seem that hard.
"Are you guys serious? This is the Yuan Dynasty we're talking about!" Haibara Ai sighed, exasperated.
Her level of historical knowledge made it impossible to equate the Yuan with just any government. Even if it wasn't exactly the same as the historical Mongol Empire that spanned Eurasia, it was still a vast empire ruling tens of millions.
The Yuan Dynasty had launched multiple invasions of Japan; if not for the so-called "divine winds" destroying their fleet, Japan's entire history might have been rewritten.
Haibara believed that if the group invested enough time and effort, they could destroy the Yuan. But they were just visitors—who in the chat group would seriously stick around in this world for years?
"That just makes it more necessary to take them down! Besides, overthrowing the Yuan isn't even that hard—just find Zhu Yuanzhang… Wait, how old would Zhu Baban be right now?"
Haibara clearly hadn't accounted for the presence of "Random guy," who was himself a transmigrator. When Kizaru first talked about rebellion, he was utterly confused—but quickly became thrilled.
He had once fantasized about time-traveling to ancient times to rebel and become emperor, only to find himself in the universe of Swallowed Star, where world-destroying powerhouses were everywhere. There, not only was rebellion a joke—just staying alive meant clinging to the protagonist's leg for safety.
Now, he had a chance to live that dream. He might not become emperor himself, but backing one? That sounded pretty satisfying too.
"Kid, how long has the previous dynasty been gone…? This is the mid-14th century. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming, isn't even twenty yet. You really think he's ready to rule?" Haibara rolled her eyes but still turned to Song Qingshu to confirm.
After a very confusing exchange that sounded like a chicken and a duck trying to talk, Haibara finally crossed her arms and delivered an answer that thoroughly crushed the background character's dreams.
"We're not trying to overthrow the nation directly. What we'll do is add fuel to the fire. Stark can provide the weapons, I'll fund them with gold, Orochimaru can supply materials, Esdeath will train the army—and the best part? Our enemies won't even know who we are…"
Kizaru spread his hands, and even the usually timid Kobayashi couldn't help but feel like they had the upper hand.
According to Kizaru, the dimensional chat group was naturally invincible—there was only one potential threat in this world: Zhang Sanfeng and the Wudang Sect. Whether they would risk opposing the imperial court for Zhang Cuishan's sake remained to be seen.
"Heh, it certainly does make for an exciting future…"
Orochimaru cast a snake-like glance at Kizaru. Even before the others realized it, he had already sensed that something had changed.
Kizaru now was clearly different from when he first joined the chat group.
Back then, he wasn't nearly this enthusiastic—even when he traveled to JOJO's world to help Jotaro fight DIO, it felt more like a casual favor than a real commitment.
Was he doing this to gain something?
Was there something special about Zhang Sanfeng or this world?
Though he hadn't quite figured it out yet, that didn't stop Orochimaru from going along with Kizaru's plan.
After all, this was a golden opportunity for Konoha and for him as the Fourth Hokage. The only pity was that ninjas couldn't cross worlds like they could.
Otherwise, the idea of getting hired for a war by such a massive country was thrilling to think about.
Not to mention the potential of having this nation's rulers issue missions to Konoha in the future—given the sheer scale of this world, it might even eclipse the entire ninja world in terms of commission volume.
No matter how hard Orochimaru tried to figure it out, he couldn't guess that Kizaru was also a transmigrator, just like the "Li the random guy."
And it wasn't really about saving Zhang Cuishan—Kizaru simply wanted to help overthrow the Yuan Dynasty.
"Then it's settled. I'll go with Li to persuade Master Zhang. Everyone else, wait here for good news~"
Kizaru made the call, and even Jotaro Kujo didn't object.
After all, in the JOJO universe, history was pretty much the same—apart from the Mongols themselves, nobody really had a favorable view of the Yuan Dynasty.
The only one who showed interest in tagging along was Esdeath—she wanted to see if there'd be a chance for a good fight. The rest simply nodded without objection.
"Heh, better let me go instead. Given Random's personality, I doubt he'd be very cooperative."
Right then, Orochimaru, eyes narrowed in that eerie way of his, suddenly spoke up.
When it comes to negotiation or persuasion, you always need one person to play the 'bad cop' and the other to play the 'good cop'. While the ninja world hadn't yet formalized this concept, Orochimaru was smart enough to intuit Kizaru's intentions.
"Hmm… What do you think, Li?"
Kizaru rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He realized he might've made assumptions. He was used to dealing with Navy HQ elites or sharp minds like Nami—people who needed no coaching on how to cooperate.
But Li was still, at the end of the day, just a regular guy. Even if his current strength could barely get him into the lower officer ranks in the world of One Piece, he wasn't the scheming type.
Rather than strategizing around how to get random guy to play along, it would be simpler to bring Orochimaru along instead. If anything, Orochimaru was even more cunning than Kizaru.
"Yeah… better let Orochimaru-han take the lead. I'm really worried I'd mess it up…"
Li was clearly nervous. Sure, he could probably solo all the top fighters from the Six Sects, but that didn't mean he had the guts to talk big in front of a crowd.
Especially when the task was convincing people to rebel—no matter how you looked at it, that was no small ask.
"Then you'll stay here for now. You—young man—please take us to see Master Zhang."
Kizaru addressed the dazed little Daoist acolyte, Song Qingshu.
Still half in shock, Song Qingshu nodded instinctively. By the time he came to his senses, he had already led Kizaru to the Wudang Sect's reception hall.
When they arrived, a man with sharp eyebrows and resolute eyes was kneeling before Zhang Sanfeng, bowing deeply three times and speaking urgently.
Then, to everyone's shock, he suddenly drew his sword—and slashed at his own neck!
The motion was so swift that not even a master like Zhang Sanfeng could react in time. This man was Zhang Cuishan—torn by loyalty and guilt, unable to reveal Xie Xun's whereabouts and unwilling to harm his wife, he felt he had failed his third senior brother.
Clang!
Just as blood began to seep from his neck, a barely visible beam of light flashed—and the sword in Zhang Cuishan's hands shattered clean in two.
What followed were several thunderous bursts—Zhang Sanfeng had struck the nearby guests with palm force, trying to save his disciple.
"Fifth Brother! Why would you do something so foolish?!"
The rest of the Wudang Seven Heroes rushed forward, snatching away the broken sword, their faces drenched in cold sweat.
But then, they noticed something strange—Zhang Cuishan's sword, while not quite a legendary blade like the Heaven-Relying Sword, was still an excellent weapon. How could it just snap like that?
To think some hidden weapon could break the sword under their very noses was too ridiculous to believe.
At that moment, a chorus of startled exclamations rang out—as Kizaru's towering figure stepped into the hall.
The martial artists present had seen their fair share of tall warriors—but a man towering over them by more than a full meter? Even the tallest among them had to crane their necks just to see his face.
"So… so tall!"
"Which sect or school is this master from?"
"With that height… could he be a demon?!"
…
In this moment, even the martial arts masters were no different from those clueless commoners. If it weren't for Kizaru's otherworldly handsome face, his extraordinary height would've easily made many think he was some kind of monster.
"Master Zhang, I heard everything you said from outside. As a total bystander, I feel it's my duty to say a few fair words…"
Kizaru began speaking with utmost seriousness.
Had Random Guy been present, he would've found Kizaru's tone oddly familiar.
Everyone knows: when someone claims they're about to speak "fairly," they're almost certainly not about to be fair.
While the Six Major Sects and other martial artists in attendance didn't get that particular joke, it didn't stop them from scoffing at Kizaru's self-proclaimed fairness.
"Who do you think you are? This isn't your place to speak—"
Though they were initially startled by Kizaru's height, the seasoned martial artists weren't so easily cowed just because someone was tall.
A burly man with a face full of whiskers stepped forward. He was a hall master of the Giant Whale Gang, a powerful figure with some fame in the martial world.
Though the Giant Whale Gang wasn't on the level of the Beggar's Sect, which claimed to be the largest sect in the world, they were still confident enough to confront the Wudang Sect.
But before the man could finish his sentence, he suddenly collapsed—knocked unconscious by the silent release of Kizaru's Conqueror's Haki.
No matter how others shouted or tried to rouse him, he wouldn't wake.
Witnessing this, even a fool could tell Kizaru had used some kind of invisible technique. To take down such a renowned expert without making a sound? That meant none of them were safe if he decided to turn that technique on them.
Even the masters from the Six Major Sects involuntarily took a step back, afraid Kizaru might target them next.
"Mr. Ki—ahem, Mr. Bo, please speak."
Zhang Sanfeng was still confused at this point. He hadn't yet learned that Yin Susu was the true culprit behind his third disciple's crippling injuries.
He simply couldn't understand why Zhang Cuishan would choose to end his life.
But since Kizaru had saved his fifth disciple and seemed to have something important to say, Zhang Sanfeng, wise with age, chose to cooperate with the performance.
He almost let slip Kizaru's name in his flustered state, but caught himself and changed to "Mr. Bo" just in time. That slip only deepened the curiosity of the gathered martial artists—who was this "Mr. Bo" that even the legendary Zhang Sanfeng treated with such respect?
Even the disciples of the Giant Whale Gang lowered their heads instinctively, fearful of drawing Kizaru's attention.
"Mr. Bo is so handsome…"
"Hehe, if your heart's moved, why don't you go follow him? I'll tell Master for you…"
"Don't slander me…"
…
Several young female warriors from the Emei Sect whispered among themselves. Though Emei was led by the strict Abbess Miejue, the sect did not forbid marriage or love. In fact, the head disciple Ji Xiaofu was engaged to Yin Lixia of Wudang.
It wasn't surprising that some younger disciples were smitten upon seeing Kizaru. This was especially the case because their group was led by their peer, Abbess Jingxu. Though highly ranked, she lacked the commanding presence of Abbess Miejue. Had the latter been present, no one would have dared to speak up.
"Silence!"
Abbess Jingxu glared at her juniors in frustration. As martial artists, their keen senses allowed them to pick up on the strange looks from the other guests. As the sect's lead disciple, she couldn't allow Emei to lose face .
Properly scolded, the younger disciples obediently fell silent. They dared whisper behind Jingxu's back, but none would defy her openly. Otherwise, they'd surely be reported once back at Emei. All they could do now was sneak glances at Kizaru from within the crowd.
°°°
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