Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 348 Leaking Secrets
"what!"

A scream came from outside the house.

Just as Misuke and the others were about to drink a bowl of hot soup and then draw their swords to march on Kyoto, their arms trembled, and the porcelain bowl in their hands fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces with a 'clatter'.

"Damn it! What happened?!"

Yasuke frowned, and at the same time gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with his right hand.

"Captain Misuke!"

"Yes, it's those outsiders, they..."

boom--!
With a gunshot, the samurai who came to deliver the message had his chest explode, spraying out a cloud of blood mist. Moreover, the bullet retained its kinetic energy after passing through the enemy's body, and it actually shot straight towards Yasuke.

"?!"

clang--!
Yasuke deflected the incoming bullet with his sword, his face grim as he stared at the corpse lying on the ground.

These were the members of his personal guard squad, descendants of his family, and among the few people he could truly trust during this operation…

"Yo~"

"Are they all inside?"

Just as Yasuke was about to see who had done it, a relaxed and lazy voice came from outside the house. He looked in the direction of the voice—

A strange man wearing a bright yellow coat was pointing a strange object at them, which looked like some kind of concealed weapon.

Behind the man were countless people dressed in black coats, each holding the same object, their eyes cold.

"You, you are those outsiders?"

Why did you attack us?

Yasuke thought Orochi had sent people, but he didn't expect it to be a group of outsiders who were clearly not from Wano Country.

"what?!"

Tao Long was somewhat bewildered by the question.

What...don't these people have any self-awareness at all? They've already got a gun to their heads and they're still asking why?
"You ask why... of course it's because all the mess you guys were trying to make has backfired."

"You don't really think your plan is foolproof, do you? The information that masked guy provided practically revealed the color of your underwear!"

"With such a massive leak, have you people ever actually done any work of keeping secrets?"

"..."

Misuke and the others turned pale and then red with anger, but it really wasn't their fault.

The 【Oniwabanshu】 was originally established to target samurai and nobles.

While they might be slightly inferior to samurai in terms of direct combat strength, the Oniwabanshu, mainly composed of ninjas, were far superior to these single-minded samurai in terms of poisoning, assassination, and intelligence gathering.

In addition, Orochi was already wary of the various daimyo and had dispatched a large number of Oniwabanshu to various places to monitor them from the very beginning. Therefore, Yasuke and his group's plan was exposed to Orochi's vision from the start.

Orochi then took the opportunity to let the beasts handle the matter, partly to preserve some of his own power, and partly to deepen the conflict between them and the native nobles of Wano Country.

It's important to know that these warriors all have their own families behind them, and they are also important forces under the command of some great nobles.

……

"Alright, we are now going to execute you on the spot for the crime of disrupting the harmonious and friendly relations between the Beasts and Wano Country. We hope you will cooperate actively."

"Damn it, we are all noble samurai from Wano Country! You are just outsiders, what right do you have—"

"I apologize, but I want to reiterate that Beasts will not allow anyone to damage the relationship between Beasts and Wano Country, including Wano Country itself."

Tao Long smiled, while behind him came the sound of bolts being pulled in unison.

More than a hundred dark gun barrels were aimed at Yasuke and his men's heads, just waiting for the order to give these country bumpkins from Wano Country a shock like the "Hundred Beasts Typewriter".

"idiot!"

"How dare you fool us!"

Although he didn't recognize the hidden weapons these people were wielding, the undisguised killing intent they exuded sted Yasuke painfully. He gripped his family heirloom sword tightly and said fiercely, "Gentlemen, for the sake of Wano Country, let us fight to the death today!"

"Abandon fame and wisdom!"

"Abandon fame and wisdom!"
……

"What the hell are these guys yelling... never mind."

Seeing the group of samurai rushing towards them while shouting strange words, Tōrō immediately ordered them to open fire.

"Everyone, follow the tactics we discussed earlier! Maintain distance, fire in crossfire, and don't let the enemy get close!"

Although he kept joking about the samurai of Wano Country, Takayuki never underestimated them.

The exceptional swordsmanship and domineering presence displayed by those individuals during previous raids had also caught his attention.

Fortunately, these guys seem to only be good at wrapping their domineering aura around their weapons while neglecting their physical defenses, making them as fragile as glass cannons.

This is actually related to the culture of Wano Country.

In Wano Country, almost every man carries a sword and practices swordsmanship. Ryuo was originally discovered by those exceptionally talented swordsmen during their sword practice, and thus it was deeply bound to the sword from the very beginning.

Some people even regard Ryuo as a level of Kendo training.

Therefore, the Armament Haki of the Wano Country people is often used only as an offensive means, and very few people use it for physical defense.

……

"Fire!"

At Taolong's command, more than a hundred guns fired simultaneously, while the warriors wielded their longswords to parry and slash.

Dangdang Dangdang!
Sparks flew everywhere and stray bullets flew in all directions.

"Damn it! What kind of hidden weapons are these?!"

"It flies even faster than a ninja's shuriken! It's like countless senbon needles."

"Everyone, be careful!"

"what!"

A samurai was accidentally hit by a stray bullet, and his sword-wielding motion faltered for a moment. The beastmen seized on this brief opening and riddled him with bullets.

"Everyone, use your Flowing Cherry Blossoms to deflect these hidden weapons, then seize the opportunity to rush in front of that group!"

One of the more level-headed samurai shouted that these guys who only knew how to use hidden weapons would be helpless to capture once they got close.

Yasuke thought so too.

Swish-!
A spinning slash deflected all the bullets in front of him, and Yasuke seized the opportunity to take a step forward and appear in front of Taro. Then, his long sword, wrapped with domineering aura, slashed down fiercely—its power was swift and heavy, quite like the might of a swordsman.

As the captain of the daimyo's personal guard, he was naturally no ordinary person. This strike was the ultimate technique of his family's swordsmanship, the Sora-ryu style, and its power was enough to split mountains and shatter rocks!
but……

clang!
"Nani?!"

A sharp, metallic clang rang out, and to Yasuke's astonishment, Tōrō blocked the attack with just his right forearm.

The opponent also knows Ryuo, and seems to be stronger than me?!
Thinking this, Yasuke increased the force in his hand, trying to overpower the other person. But the other person did not waver in the slightest, and his arm did not even tremble.

"Wow, not bad at all!"

"You must be the strongest one among this group, right?"

"Perfect for warming myself up~"

With a powerful swing of his arm, he deflected the opponent's knife, and Tao Long seized the opportunity to rip off his coat, revealing his muscular arms.

His refined Armament Haki surged upwards, and he beckoned to Yasuke, signaling that the latter could attack again.

Since training across the seas in coordination with the Hundred Beasts' 'World War' strategy, Tōrō's strength has increased day by day. He is now more and more composed in battle and is gradually developing the aura of a powerful figure.

(End of this chapter)