One Piece: Capitalist Brook's Crew Expansion Plan

Brook had already figured it out—Rocks had once again pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. The spy from Vesper had been fooled by someone with the Clone-Clone Fruit. Could it be that Rocks had recruited Kurozumi Higurashi and Kurozumi Semimaru, the sibling duo of the exiled Kurozumi family from Wano?

Those two were no nobodies—one possessed the Clone-Clone Fruit, the other the Barrier-Barrier Fruit. Back then, they schemed to revive the Kurozumi name by assassinating Kozuki Sukiyaki and helping Kurozumi Orochi become Wano's shogun.

No wonder they managed to produce the Mythical Zoan-type Yamata no Orochi Fruit so easily for Orochi to eat—and later persuaded Kaido of the Beasts to invade Wano.

It looked like they'd gained some standing within the Rocks Pirates. After all, Higurashi had once taken on the appearances of a young Shiki the Golden Lion and Miss Bakkin—that meant she'd had direct contact with both of them.

So that meant they knew Kaido too. In fact, they were probably old acquaintances of his. That familiarity might be what convinced Kaido, the living war machine, to march into Wano and suppress countless samurai.

Wano was a peculiar land. Massive waterfalls shielded it from outside intrusion—and also made escape near-impossible. Entering and exiting was no small feat.

Most pirate ships couldn't even approach it. Even Whitebeard, in his prime, only stumbled into Wano by sheer luck—and even then, the Moby Dick required serious repairs afterward.

But Brook's Golden Ark was a different story—it could fly. They could soar straight into Wano without issue. The only question was: how many swordmasters still roamed the land?

Could they, with their current strength, actually take Wano by force?

Maybe it was wiser to lay low for a while—and first find a way to learn advanced Armament Haki, the flowing kind known as Ryuo.

...

At that moment, inside a shady casino in the Flower Capital, a child no older than eight was chugging from a sake bottle, absolutely hammered.

"Hey, brat! This ain't no playground! Get the hell outta here!" one of the casino's thugs shouted, stepping forward to toss the kid out.

"You dare call me a brat?! Who do you think you are?!" the boy roared.

He wore an orange kimono that left most of his legs exposed. Crescent moons were printed across his chest. His shoulders and waist were wrapped with thick purple-and-white ceremonial ropes, and two swords were tucked into his sash.

Despite his drunken state, he exuded defiance and wild energy. Without warning, he drew both blades.

The thugs burst out laughing—this was Wano. Who didn't carry a sword?

But before their laughter could fade, the drunken kid lashed out. His sheer power sent five or six of them crashing into the walls.

Chaos erupted. Gamblers started scrambling to snatch money and flee. Panic spread like wildfire.

More enforcers rushed in from outside to beat back the looters—and surround the rampaging child.

"You the little bastard stirring up trouble?! Get him!"

More than a dozen thugs drew their swords and lunged. But within a few exchanges, every one of them was on the ground.

"Pathetic. Not a single worthy opponent. Tch."

With that, the orange-kimono boy sheathed his blades and swaggered out, leaving a wrecked casino in his wake.

He stepped into the street, threw his head back, and let out a triumphant howl—until something in the sky caught his eye.

A golden flying ship?

No doubt about it—it was a flying ship made of gold!

The boy, his spirit overflowing with adventure, bolted after the ship, leaving a trail of dust behind him. He was fast.

...

"Brook, you said this country holds the secret to externalizing Armament Haki... but are these people really gonna teach us?" Shakky asked.

After eating the Vampire Fruit, her physique had improved dramatically. Her speed-based techniques in particular had become far more powerful.

"If they won't teach us," Brook replied with a grin, "then we'll just learn through battle!"

If someone like Straw Hat Luffy could get smacked into Ryuo enlightenment by Kaido-sensei, Brook refused to believe his own Emperor-level crewmates wouldn't pick it up mid-fight.

"Gyahahaha~ So what you're saying, Brook," Shiki said, already pumped, "is that we challenge Wano's elite head-on—and learn advanced Armament Haki that way!"

The thought of blasting enemies with Haki from a distance had Shiki fired up.

Even Redfield cracked a smile. His Observation Haki was already highly refined. If he mastered Ryuo next time, he could take on Orion all by himself.

...

The sudden intrusion of the Golden Ark over the Flower Capital had Kozuki Sukiyaki frowning. He immediately ordered his men to use Wano's Den Den Mushi to summon the daimyo from across the land.

Though Wano was a major power in the New World, it remained fiercely isolationist—refusing entry to outsiders, rejecting World Government membership, and keeping even Marine ships at bay.

And now, intruders had arrived.

As the heir of the Kozuki family, Sukiyaki knew exactly what Wano had been protecting all these years. These outsiders must not discover the country's secrets.

Loyal retainers from Kibi, Ringo, Udon, and Hakumai mobilized immediately.

The Kurozumi clan had long been stripped of its title. Now, the Daimyo of Kibi hailed from the Fūgetsu family; the Daimyo of Udon from the Amatsuki family. The Shimotsuki family, which once produced the legendary Shimotsuki Ryuma, held two Daimyo positions—governing both Ringo and Hakumai.

As for the Kurozumi line, its last surviving heir, Orochi, was just a two-year-old living in obscurity in Hakumai.

Brook couldn't help but wonder—how had so many famed warriors in Wano failed to stop a still-growing Kaido? Were the rumors about Wano's powerful swordsmen even true?

What was crazier, even the yakuza bosses were said to be Ryuo masters. Hyogoro of the Flower was supposedly the same man who helped Luffy master Ryuo in record time.

The Nine Red Scabbards? All Ryuo users.

Even Kawamatsu, after being imprisoned for thirteen years, shattered his Seastone cuffs the moment he got the key—then used Ryuo to tear through the prison.

But here's the real question: how come Luffy, a Devil Fruit user, could crush Yamato's Seastone shackles barehanded with Ryuo, but Kawamatsu—a non-user—couldn't bust his own?

Maybe Wano's "masters" of Ryuo weren't as sharp as they thought.

It's like inventing gunpowder and still using it for fireworks—while everyone else is making bombs.

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+122 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg