CHAPTER 200- The Storm That Shattered Udon

"One, two, three—run?"

Hyogoro froze in place, then suddenly tightened his grip on Cat Viper's wrist, shouting,

"Cat Viper, what nonsense are you spouting?! Don't forget—we are samurai! Even if we know we're bound to lose, my honor would never allow me to flee!"

Before Cat Viper could answer, a voice burst forth with venomous laughter.

"So much for samurai pride. A bunch of deluded fools."

From within the charging guards, Babanuki lunged out like a beast unleashed.

He had used the chaos of the charge to conceal himself—waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush. Though many believed him to be little more than a musclehead, as Udon's Chief Warden, Babanuki knew exactly what "danger" looked like.

And right now, the man who had spent the entire time calmly sipping wine from a gourd—Luo Yu—seemed like the softest target of them all.

"You brat—too bad you stood out too much. Go to hell!"

With a roar, Babanuki's massive elephant trunk glowed black as Armament Haki wrapped around it. It came down like a steel whip, whistling through the air straight toward Luo Yu.

BOOM!!

A heavy thud echoed through the prison yard.

Everyone was stunned.

The trunk—backed by raw strength and Haki—was halted, just inches from Luo Yu.

What stopped it wasn't another weapon, or a body.

It was a semi-transparent image of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, arms spread protectively around Luo Yu like a divine shield.

Cat Viper and Dogstorm's pupils shrank violently at the sight.

They didn't hesitate.

"RUN!!"

Run?

Hyogoro and the others blinked in disbelief.

Wasn't now the time to charge?

Why were they yelling to retreat before the fight had even begun?

That thought had just surfaced—

When Luo Yu slowly raised his head.

A terrifying pressure exploded from his body like a volcanic eruption.

BOOM!!!

A crushing, tangible blast of Conqueror's Haki tore through the air.

It didn't just radiate outward—it slammed into the world like a tsunami.

Babanuki, who had been right in front of Luo Yu, felt like he had been hit by an invisible mountain. His eyes bulged, blood burst from his mouth—

And then he flew like a cannonball, crashing into a wave of guards behind him.

Dozens were flattened in an instant.

The remaining hundreds of guards stared at the incoming tidal wave of Haki—

And panicked.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! A DAMN TSUNAMI?!"

Shrieking like banshees, they turned tail and ran.

Hyogoro, Kawamatsu, and the prisoners stood rooted in place.

They felt like they were drowning in a sea of chaos.

Only now did they understand why Cat Viper and Dogstorm had barked those urgent warnings earlier.

There was nothing honorable about standing still against a force like this.

Hyogoro swallowed hard—and ran.

"Damn it, you said we'd run on the count of three! Where was the three?!"

"I counted in my heart," Cat Viper yelled back without turning.

Hyogoro tripped on his own feet from frustration—but quickly got back up and kept running for his life.

He didn't look back until he was a good distance away.

And what he saw shattered his soul.

The main gates of Udon—fortress walls built with reinforced steel and rumored to be indestructible—were utterly destroyed.

BOOOOOM!!

The shockwave that followed blasted even the retreating prisoners off their feet.

When the dust finally cleared…

Hyogoro and the others stood in awe.

The giant gate—dozens of meters tall—had been blown clean off, both slabs slammed into the earth like fallen giants.

The once-orderly quarry now resembled a warzone. From Luo Yu's position at the center, the destruction spread outward for over a kilometer.

Every stone. Every wall. Every guard.

Gone.

The hundreds of guards now lay unconscious or worse, coughing blood, scattered like broken dolls.

As for Babanuki?

He was embedded in a mountainside, eyes rolled back, body limp.

An entire prison force had been wiped out.

With just one blow.

The prisoners could hardly breathe.

They stared at Luo Yu—still sipping wine from his gourd—as if he were some mythical god of destruction.

Finally, they understood.

There was no "samurai pride" against such power.

Only survival.

Behind them, where the broken gate now revealed the open world outside, Hyogoro felt his knees tremble. Not from fear—from hope.

He grabbed Cat Viper and Dogstorm, trembling.

"Cat Viper… Dogstorm… please, tell me…"

"Tell me the prophecy was true."

"That decades ago, Lord Oden's vision of a savior for Wano was real."

"Tell me—is that man Kozuki Momonosuke?!"

PFFFFT!

Luo Yu choked on his wine, spraying it out in a sudden spit-take.

He blinked, completely baffled.

What kind of brain logic was that?!

To be honest, Luo Yu had planned to meet Momonosuke on this trip.

Back in his past life, he'd been a long-time member of the "Momo Must Die" club. He wanted closure.

But now… it was clear he'd arrived too early.

And this misunderstanding?

It was completely off the rails.

Luo Yu rolled his eyes dramatically.

Then, without a word, his face sharpened and he looked toward the distant horizon.

"Cat Viper, Dogstorm, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Don't forget our agreement."

With that, Luo Yu vanished on the spot—gone like a ghost.

Hyogoro gasped.

Kawamatsu's jaw dropped.

Even the surrounding prisoners couldn't find their voices.

The sheer surrealness of it all left them speechless.

Cat Viper and Dogstorm exchanged a look and sighed.

"Boss Hyogoro… believe us, we wish he were Lord Momonosuke too."

"But think about it—would Momo-sama grow up to be that handsome?"

"And honestly… Momonosuke has a face you just want to punch. Did you feel that way about him?"

Hyogoro opened his mouth—then shut it again.

He couldn't argue with that.