One Piece: Start by Rebuilding Kuri

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

During this time, Dan had basically mastered the basics of Armament Haki and Observation Haki. His strength had also improved by leaps and bounds. Even without using his Take Over ability, he now possessed strength comparable to that of the Straw Hat crew during their time in Water 7.

"With the Eight-Headed Serpent, I have enough to conquer Kuri," Dan smiled. In fact, it wasn't just the Eight-Headed Serpent. Over the past six months, Kurozumi Orochi and Semimaru had secretly sent people to help him search for Devil Fruits.

In truth, the number of Devil Fruits in this country wasn't small, but most foolish people feared them as cursed fruits and avoided them, with almost no one willing to eat them. Moreover, most of them were ordinary Zoan types.

Ordinary Zoan fruits weren't very useful to Dan, as he could already directly Take Over animals from the wild. As a result, several identifiable ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits were handed over to Kurozumi Orochi to be stored away.

The remaining Devil Fruits were all Taken Over by Dan, though most of the unknown fruits were also ordinary Zoan types, with only three exceptions.

One was the Paramecia-type Juku-Juku no Mi, and the other two were Mythical Zoan-type, Hito-Hito no Mi, Model: Onyudo, and the equally mythical Okuchi no Makami.

Although Dan had obtained these three fruits, he had not yet successfully Taken Over them.

To successfully Take Over a Devil Fruit, Dan had to defeat the demon residing within the fruit itself. Ordinary Zoan types were easy for Dan, but Mythical Zoans were much more difficult. Back when he Take Over the Eight-Headed Serpent Fruit, it had taken him many years.

Paramecia types were the same, with some being even more troublesome than Mythical Zoans.

Even so, Dan's current strength was more than sufficient.

During this period, Wano Country had almost no top-tier strong individuals. The strongest at the time, Kozuki Oden, was only at the level of being instantly defeated by Whitebeard. If Oden could conquer Kuri in a single day, then Dan could naturally do the same.

It might take a bit longer, though, as unlike Kozuki Oden, who was the son of the Shogun, even if Dan beat the lawless into submission, they might not be willing to follow someone like him.

But that wasn't a big deal. There was plenty of time, and there would always be people willing to follow the strong. Once he gathered the forces of all of Kuri, the position of Daimyo would naturally fall into place.

After all, the power of the samurai was undeniable. As the most chaotic region, Kuri was actually home to the largest number of powerful samurai. Once this scattered force was united, even Kozuki Sukiyaki wouldn't be able to ignore it.

Dan wasn't afraid of Sukiyaki raising an army to attack him either. The combat power of the samurai from the Flower Capital and those from Kuri were not on the same level. Even if Sukiyaki gathered the entire country's forces, it would still be a brutal battle with more losses than gains.

Dan casually packed some dry rations and prepared to head to Kuri with a single sword.

But before he could step out the door, he heard an urgent voice behind him.

"Wait for me, Lord Dan!" A young girl in a light-colored linen kimono and Kurozumi Semimaru hurried over.

The girl was the same maid who had been nearly scared out of her wits by Dan half a year ago. Her name was Yukiko. Dan had initially thought she was someone Kurozumi Orochi had bought for his own pleasure, but after being marked by Dan's Serpent Mark, Orochi had changed his ways and now acted as if "women would only slow down his sword drawing."

Yukiko had actually been bought by Orochi to polish Dan, who was still in his fruit form at the time. However, after buying her, Orochi realized that worshiping a fruit was a bit strange and feared accidents, so he abandoned the idea.

Later, when Dan took human form, it was only natural for Yukiko to start serving him instead.

"Lord Dan, please take Yukiko with you," Yukiko said, wearing her light-colored linen clothes. In truth, aside from Dan, only Kurozumi Orochi's clothes were slightly better in quality.

Orochi had to maintain a decent appearance as a servant in the Kozuki household, so he couldn't look too shabby. The rest of the money couldn't be spent on such external things.

"My lord, please take me with you as well," Kurozumi Semimaru said. Over the past six months, he had spoken more than he had in his entire life. "Kuri has been a lawless land for many years, and the samurai there are extremely fierce. If your noble body were to be harmed, it would be a crime deserving of death."

"No need, Semimaru. Stay and assist Orochi. Do you really need to worry about my strength?" Dan shook his head. "Orochi is also a crucial part of the plan, and we can't afford any mistakes."

When Dan used to watch anime, he didn't like Orochi because the guy was ugly, caused trouble, and was utterly incompetent, ruining everything good. But now, Orochi seemed as if he had been hit by a mind-altering genjutsu, becoming motivated and hardworking. This had somewhat changed Dan's opinion of him.

Though Orochi was still ugly, the world of One Piece was full of bizarre things, so in comparison, Orochi's remaining flaws didn't seem so bad.

"Then at least take Yukiko with you. She has some self-defense abilities now and can serve you on the journey," Semimaru said, bowing his head.

"Fine," Dan nodded and agreed.

"Yay!" Yukiko cheered, quickly taking Dan's luggage and sword into her arms.

Dan hadn't used the Serpent Mark on her, but after half a year together, she no longer feared him as much and instead liked sticking close to him. As for Dan's plans, she had guessed some of it, but as a woman, she didn't really care.

Watching Dan walk ahead without looking back, Yukiko's eyes sparkled.

'What happens to this country doesn't matter to Yukiko. As long as I can follow Lord Dan, that's enough.'

Someone of her lowly status wouldn't care about national affairs.

Originally, if Kurozumi Orochi's goal hadn't been to destroy Wano and impose a brutal, oppressive rule, few would have been willing to rebel.

After all, under whose rule did it really matter?

Even under the Kozuki family's rule, would everyone live happily? Weren't there still many poor people who could only sell themselves? If she hadn't been bought by Orochi, she would have likely been sold into a brothel as a courtesan.

'Meeting Lord Dan is the greatest fortune of Yukiko's life.'

With that thought, Yukiko quickly caught up to Dan and began chattering about trivial matters.

"Lord Dan, are we really going to Kuri?"