In the second year of Oden's departure, Shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki officially passed away.
In the same year, Kurozumi Orochi temporarily took over the position of Shogun in Wano Country.
After assuming the role of Shogun, Kurozumi Orochi did not show any great ambitions. Everything was done by the book, and he even actively sought advice from various daimyos, quickly gaining their approval.
The daimyos gradually began to overlook their surveillance of the Flower Capital.
Meanwhile, the Rebellion grew rapidly, with many towns and villages falling.
Those who called themselves rebels raised the status of women, allowed them to establish their own organizations, liberated tenant farmers to form agricultural associations, and enacted the "Agricultural Association Law" to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of farmers. Through the "Land Reform Law," all the land seized from local strongmen and temples was distributed to landless farmers, marking the first time in many generations that many people owned their own land.
Even many farmers, upon hearing about what was happening in the rebel-controlled areas, could not contain themselves. In fact, there were reports of tenant farmers fleeing with their families to the rebel-controlled areas.
The rebels ravaged the Flower Capital, shaking various towns and the capital.
At the same time, the Lord of the Hakumai, Shimotsuki Yasuie, with the assistance of his staff and the powerful families of various towns, raised a force of over two thousand warriors to suppress them.
Dozens of miles from the rebel stronghold of Hakumai Town, on a plain, the force led by Shimotsuki Yasuie was stationed. Many of the warriors were relatively relaxed, thinking that those rebels had not truly experienced the terror of warriors and believed that acquiring firearms from outside Wano would be enough to turn the tide.
For powerful warriors like them, those firearms were just toys. This time, in addition to the swordsmen who accompanied the suppression of the rebels, there were also several swordsmen.
"Gentlemen, is there really no room for negotiation?"
On the open ground, Shimotsuki Yasuie, dressed in samurai armor, looked around at the serious faces and spoke earnestly.
"Lord Yasuie, since those people have rebelled once, even if we give them a chance, they will surely rebel again in the future. Therefore, we must kill these rebels completely, otherwise, it will sow the seeds of rebellion in their hearts."
The Left Minister among his aides spoke solemnly.
And others echoed his sentiments.
Seeing this scene, Shimotsuki Yasuie didn't know what to say. After hearing about the rebellion in many places, he was completely baffled. He couldn't imagine where those oppressed tenants got the courage to rebel.
Later, he made special inquiries about the various policies implemented by the rebels in the areas they occupied. Finally, he found that what they were doing was unsolvable. Just distributing land to the farmers who had been tenants of local strongmen for generations would make them follow the rebels wholeheartedly.
Shimotsuki Yasuie also considered learning from their various measures. After all, in his view, once these measures were implemented, there was no doubt that the Flower Capital could be built into a better place.
However, he was strongly opposed by the warrior forces under him. Because if he did so, it would undoubtedly mean giving up their interests to those inferior people, which they could not accept.
Even they united and forced Shimotsuki Yasuie to launch this suppression against the rebels.
"There are about 2000 of them..."
Nicholas's eyes flickered with red light as he calmly stared at the fortified camp in the distance.
In fact, when Shimotsuki Yasuie's army appeared hundreds of miles away from Hakumai, someone in the information they provided, including Shimotsuki Yasuie, and the warrior families under Shimotsuki Yasuie's command, had a considerable force of over 2000.
But even without intelligence, Nicholas could accurately judge from the information feedback of Kenbunshoku Haki.
In the distant camp, there were about 2076 troops stationed, including about a hundred and thirty warhorses.
For Nicholas, dealing with enemies of this size, if he wanted to, he could easily resolve it with a single thunderous blow and not waste much time.
But since he planned to occupy Wano for a long time, he had to consider more things, such as letting his followers personally defeat these nobles who had always been high above them!
Only in this way could their confidence be enhanced, and they slowly develop the consciousness of being human beings.
Thinking of this, Nicholas pointed to the camp in the distance surrounded by various warrior family emblems, and said to the leaders of the rebels beside him with an unwavering tone, "Have you seen those people down there? They've come this time to take back your land, kill you all, turn your wives into their private property again, and turn your children into slaves for their families for generations.
In this war, we will only help you stop the swordsmen in the enemy's camp. The rest of the warriors are up to you to deal with. If you win, you can survive as human beings. If you lose, you will return to the life worse than livestock."
"Lord Nicholas, rest assured! We will defend everything we have to the death!"
"If they want to take everything from us, then they have to kill us first!"
All the rebel leaders can be said to have red eyes. Having experienced a life as true human beings, they would never willingly return to being slaves of those people, even if they died.
"Then go and prepare, use weapons to defend everything you have."
"Yes!"
With Nicholas's words, these people all began to return to their respective teams for pre-battle mobilization.
"Captain, can we just take out those swordsmen in the camp?" Vista asked, holding two beautiful swords and looking at the camp of warriors in the distance. For him, a camp without top-notch warriors was something he could destroy in less than five minutes.
"No."
Hearing Nicholas's words, Simon, Vista, Brook, and even Katie were stunned, all looking at Nicholas.
"You don't need to deal with them. Just hold them back. Also, take care of Katie more during the battle. Although she is also considered a Zanbato Swordsman, she lacks a lot of combat experience."
"Captain, Katie can handle it!"
Hearing Nicholas's words, Katie immediately became a bit unhappy. Almost every time there was a battle, Captain and the others treated her like a child.
"Yeah, Katie can handle it."
June reached out and patted Katie's head, comforting her like a child.
"Sister June, patting my head won't make me grow taller!"
...
On the other hand, while Shimotsuki Yasuie and his warriors were sharpening their blades, and the rebels were mobilizing for battle.
Shimotsuki Yasuie, who was resting on a mat, suddenly woke up.
Because just now, it seemed like he saw the annihilation of the warrior army, and even the entire Wano Country was engulfed in flames.
"What's wrong, Lord Yasuie?"
Shimotsuki Yasuie's sudden wake-up call made the inner courtier, who was dozing off, suddenly tremble, and he woke up instantly, looking at Shimotsuki Yasuie with a nervous face.
"It's nothing, just had a nightmare. By the way, when is the attack going to happen?"
Shimotsuki Yasuie waved his hand to indicate that there was no problem, picked up the tea and took a sip, and then asked casually.