One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Toko's idea meant that Cherry had to wait a little while to put it in motion. Primarily, it meant waiting for Orochi to show up. The fact that they planned to broadcast Yasuie's execution only made what she was going to do that much sweeter.

Fortunately, Orochi did make his move to be there in person, either to oversee the execution or to carry it out personally. He would want to put on a performance of faux courage after being attacked last night.

Unfortunately, some members of Cherry's crew were also gathered among the crowd. If they chose to act, and that was a distinct possibility given their track record, it might muck up the plan.

Cherry wasn't going to do anything about that, though. She was in a chaotic mood, so more chaos was very welcome.

"YASUIEEEEEE!!!" Orochi's scream of rage carried over an impressive distance, especially given how noisy the crowd was.

The man somehow looked diminutive despite being much larger than the average man. He strode atop his gaudy palanquin with a rifle in hand, glaring something fierce in the direction of Yasuie.

Orochi didn't notice that he entered a stretch of street that had been quietly cleared of his men, creating the perfect spot for an ambush. There were others scattered around, but they wouldn't be able to get here in time.

The screens that showed Yasuie's form to the entire city suddenly had their focus change and zoom in on the enraged Shogun. Cherry experience with den den mushi made it easy for her to manipulate them.

"Show time," Cherry smirked.

…

"They're really gonna kill him! Shouldn't we do something?!" Usopp asked.

"Yasuie-sama would not want us to expose ourselves to save him," Kanjuro choked out, tears streaming down his face. "As much as it pains me, we mustn't act rashly!"

"Kanjuro is right," Shinobu gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

"This is terrible…" Nami muttered.

"I'm not sure we need to do anything regardless," Robin said.

"What do you mean?" Franky asked.

"Look around. There were guards everywhere when we arrived, now I cannot see even one on the main thoroughfare," Robin pointed out.

"What? Where did they go?" Franky looked around, even standing on his toes as if that would help him see the missing guard presence.

The projection showing Yasuie awaiting his death shifted and showed Orochi practically frothing at the mouth.

"What the heck? Is this guy so full of himself that he has to steal the spotlight from another man's execution?!" Usopp growled.

"I don't think so…" Nami said.

She was proven right a moment later as a series of quick flashes whipped past Orochi. The illegitimate Shogun didn't even notice what happened until after his extravagant kimono fell apart, leaving him in nothing but his loincloth. Even the rifle he was holding was cut vertically in half, yet somehow left the hands holding it unscathed.

"???" Orochi could hardly believe his own eyes, blinking stupidly at the sundered firearm and the fine silken rags about his feet. "RAAAAAHHHH?!?!?!"

The unintelligible screeching lasted a full five seconds before he managed to gather enough of his wits to speak like a human being. "Kill him! KILL HIM NOW!!!"

A series of gun shots sounded out from the execution ground, except they were unusually loud and followed immediately after by shouts of pain.

*POOF*

No one had time to dwell on that for long, as Orochi was suddenly covered in chicken feathers and had a painted yellow cone stuck to his oversized mouth along with a floppy red cloth atop his bald head.

"MMRMRRRMMMMRMM?!?!?!" Orochi dropped the remnants of his weapon and desperately clawed at the new additions to his attire to no avail.

"This is Cherry's doing, isn't it?" Nami sighed.

"I don't know anyone else who'd be so daring to do something so stupid," Robin said.

Usopp and Franky couldn't speak because they were too busy laughing.

"It was an excellent distraction, though. Yasuie-sama is gone," Kanjuro let out a sigh of relief.

"I didn't even catch a glimpse of her either. That's impressive stealth work," Shinobu complimented.

Orochi's minions and the Beast pirates who were present were scrambling, which meant it was time for them to leave. It wouldn't do for them to get caught here just when everything was going so well.

None noticed the little painted bird fluttering away from Kanjuro.

…

None except Cherry.

"Yoink!" Cherry snatched the painted bird out of the air.

It was pure coincidence that she had noticed it. She was just in the right place at the right time, and happened to be looking in the direction of her crewmates. More specifically, at Robin's backside.

"What do we have here, then?" Cherry looked the bird over.

The little bird trembled in terror in her grasp, squirming in a desperate and futile attempt to escape.

To the naked eye it appeared to be a normal bird, aside from the blush markings on its cheeks. Cherry could see deeper into it, however. It could easily have been mistaken as a normal bird to her Life Sense had she not been looking for it specifically, but it had a trace of Kanjuro's devil fruit hidden within.

"Why would he send this out, though?" Cherry couldn't see any kind of message it could be meant to deliver. No note strapped to its leg, no pattern in the feathers, nothing.

"Hm," Cherry crushed the bird without mercy.

It dissolved into paint with a final pained chirp and melted away, leaving behind a tiny roll of paper.

Cherry smiled victoriously and unrolled it.

"Yup, I can't read this," Cherry nodded. Clearly it was in code and code breaking wasn't exactly a skill of hers.

If Kanjuro wasn't a traitor, then she didn't need to break it. Kin'emon would be the intended recipient, or at least know who it was. If no one in their camp understood the code? The answer was simple, then.

Cherry knew that he was a rat right from the start! She couldn't wait to gloat about it!

…

"I hear that you've been making a mess in the countryside, Linlin," Kaido grumbled. "Why are you calling me after invading my territory?"

"Oh, I was just shoring up my stock of energy. You know how it is," Big Mom gave a feeble excuse. "More importantly, I have something you'll want!"

"Oh, what's that? I can't think of anything you have that I want," Kaido seriously considered the large bottle of rum he was planning to drink before getting this call, but ultimately ignored it for now.

"It's not anything that I have, but something you've been looking for. Right here in Wano," Big Mom paused dramatically, just as Cobra instructed her to. "Something that'll make your nonsensical dream of world domination a little more realistic, perhaps?"

Kaido sat up a little straighter and frowned a little deeper. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"I'm talking about Pluton you-" Big Mom's voice cut off as someone else whispered something to her. "Don't play dumb, my old friend. We're both getting older and the world keeps on turning without us. If you want to achieve your dream, and I want to achieve mine, then we can work together to bring it about."

Kaido narrowed his eyes. It was dangerous that Big Mom knew about Pluton and that could potentially destroy everything he had worked towards.

She hand't left him much choice in the matter.

"Go on," Kaido growled.