Just as planned, Zoro exchanges the bounties of the 7 Swordsmen of Mist in the villages that offer the highest prices for their heads. He wants to get as much profit as he can while also informing those villages that he will auction the swords.
Then sometime after that, Zoro sells the 7 mystical swords. But he doesn't auction them as planned. He actually sells them back to Kirigakure, but he doesn't sell them by himself.
Zoro asks for the Land of Iron's help to sell the swords back to Kirigakure. The country will facilitate the negotiation and even help him get fair prices for the swords.
He changed his plan after consulting his best friend, the Iron Daimyo's grandson who was negotiating with the Land of Lightning for the weapon trade right last year, Shirogane Ryuki.
Ryuki wanted to show that the Land of Iron is supporting Zoro to help him avoid big problems like this. Also, it will make Kirigakure and the Land of Water indebted to the Land of Iron for helping them get their swords back.
They hold the negotiation in the Land of Iron. The 4th Mizukage, Yagura comes personally to negotiate. Zoro is also surprised to see Kisame among the Mizukage's bodyguards.
"Alright, both parties have come, so let's start the negotiation immediately." Ryuki who is accompanied by Mifune starts the meeting.
"First, let's hear what Roronoa Zoro wants as the one who requested this meeting." Ryuki gives Zoro the first chance to say what he wants.
"What I want is simple, 4 million ryo for each sword."
"THAT'S RIDICULOUS!" Mizukage's advisor shouts while standing up angrily.
"Please keep your voice down or I will stop this meeting immediately." Ryuki looks at the advisor with a displeased face.
"B-but...." The advisor finally sits down after Yagura looks at him.
"Ridiculous? I think that's a fair price for swords of those levels." Zoro is still very nonchalant about it. He has nothing to lose and he isn't afraid of them, after all.
The Mist people are silent before Yagura finally opens his mouth. "Ninja Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, is it? The price that you stated is indeed fair for those swords. But you should understand that those swords are ours, so we shouldn't pay that much for our own items."
"They WERE yours before, but not at this moment. I got them fairly after killing their users that you sent to kill me. Isn't it normal for the winner to take the losers' belongings?"
"What do you mean sending our men to kill you? We simply sent them to call you for a conversation but you actually killed them." The Mizukage advisor tries to dodge responsibility.
"Pfft! You sent your 7 Great Swordsmen just to call someone for a talk? How amusing. Even if that's really the case, then they shouldn't try to kill me when I refuse. Was it really an invitation for a conversation if I wasn't allowed to refuse? I only fought and finally killed them for self-defense because they tried to kill me."
"But you don't have any proof to claim that they were trying to kill you. What if you were the one attacking them to get their bounty rewards and their swords. After all, you are a bounty hunter and a swordsman too. So you must be tempted by their high bounty rewards and powerful swords." The advisor doesn't back down.
"Sigh, why do I need proof? They literally come to me. You sent 7 Great Swordsmen just to call a single person. Also, I haven't even gone too far from your village. I stayed for a few days there and you only called me after I left? Isn't that strange? If you really just wanted to talk with me, you could just call me when I was in Kiri. But you decided to send them to follow after me since I left the village. Isn't that fishy?"
"T-that's, we had just planned to invite you when you left the village."
"Heh, what a funny coincidence. But I don't think it matters anymore now. Whatever the case was, the fact is the swords are in my possession now. I won't give it to you unless you give me what I want. You know that I can just sell them to other villages, right? I'm sure they will be more than happy to give me more money for these swords. You must thank big bro Ryuki who told me to try selling them back to you first before trying to sell them to other villages. If you refuse my price, I can just sell them in an auction and I'm sure I will get much more than 4 million for each sword."
Zoro grins while the Mist people have dark expressions. All of them know that what Zoro says is true. He will get more profit by selling the swords in an auction because the other villages will try to get the swords.
Kirigakure can't let these swords fall into other villages' hands because then those villages will get stronger while Kirigakure is getting weaker. Also, these swords are the village's inheritance that have been passed down since the 1st Mizukage era, so they can't let outsiders get them.
"Can you lower the price? How about 2 million each?" Yagura tries to haggle.
"Half? Isn't that too much? Do you only value these swords that much? 4 million each." Zoro doesn't budge.
They keep negotiating on the price. Kirigakure tries to bring the price down while Zoro is being stubborn with his price. Their negotiation is taking too long so Ryuki needs to step in as the mediator.
In the end, they settle the price at 3.5 million Ryo and Kirigakure needs to remove Zoro's bounty. Zoro doesn't actually mind having a bounty. In fact, he is quite happy with it because it makes him look badass.
But Ryuki insisted that it's better to not have any bounty for now. At least it's better to not have any until he has enough power to be feared by all 5 Great Villages which won't be long.
Because Kirigakure doesn't expect such a price, they didn't bring enough money. So they can't make the transaction right away and need to wait for their men to deliver the rest of the money.
When they are about to end today's meeting, Zoro suddenly senses something familiar. A very faint presence suddenly approaches them. It moves very quickly underground and then moves in the wall and floor.
Zoro grins before he suddenly flashes and disappears from his seat. The strong ones in the room are surprised by Zoro's sudden movement. They can barely see Zoro's movement and they can't even react because he moves so suddenly and so fast.
In a flash, Zoro appears right beside Yagura, but no one can react. He slams his right hand into the floor and breaks it. Now the ninjas finally start reacting. They back off and point their weapons at Zoro.
Mifune tells them to not move and he himself gets ready to move anytime. Zoro doesn't react to their threats and keeps his hand inside the floor. Then he suddenly pulls something out of the floor, surprising everyone there.
What he pulls is a very pale human that doesn't feel like a human. Zoro is pulling a White Zetsu by the neck. He holds the neck tightly with his Haki-covered hand, but not too tight so he doesn't break its neck.
"You again. I see that you really don't understand what I said last time." Zoro lifts the White Zetsu high and it struggles to free itself, but Zoro's hand doesn't even budge.
"Z-Zoro-kun, you know this man?" Mifune asks Zoro with a rather surprised tone.
In fact, everyone there is surprised because not only they can't sense White Zetsu's presence even now, they also can't react to Zoro's speed at all.
"Well, we met once. He tried to recruit me to his criminal organization. I made it clear that I won't join any shady organizations, but it seems he is too stupid to understand. Though maybe he comes here for a different reason now. Oi! Why are you coming here?"
White Zetsu is a chatter, but he surprisingly becomes very quiet all of a sudden. He doesn't answer Zoro even with his neck being strangled.
"I see, trying to be tough, huh? What a stupid move."
Zoro suddenly releases his Conqueror Haki. He fills the room with his Conqueror Haki to suppress everybody except for Ryuki and Mifune. So the people from Kirigakure are also feeling the pressure.
Yagura and Kisame are brought to their knees while the others just faint. Both of them seem to be strong enough to resist Zoro's current level of Conqueror Haki, making Zoro impressed.
Meanwhile, the White Zetsu just straight up dies from the pressure. Even Zoro is surprised by this. He knows White Zetsu is weak, but not this weak. Though White Zetsu seems to have the mentality and mind of a child, Zoro never thought it would even die because of a normal Conqueror Haki.
Zoro just wanted to see if his Conqueror Haki will even affect something like White Zetsu and how much it can affect those like Yagura and Kisame. So he is quite pissed by Zetsu's death.
Seeing that there's no use on talking anymore, Zoro breaks White Zetsu's neck easily with his grip that is coated with advanced haki. The neck breaks easily like a rotten piece of wood.
Everyone except for Zoro is surprised because there's no blood coming out of Zetsu's severed neck. Though Zoro is more concerned about why this thing comes here now of all time.
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Chapter 111. Old Fools
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