XX-level Hokage

One hand covered its mouth, while the other reached towards its absolute territory. The peacock didn't sleep a wink all night.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? You look so tired." Zhenbai asked with a smile, looking at the yawning Peacock beside her. "Nothing, I've been traveling around these past few days and I'm a bit tired. You, on the other hand, look refreshed." Peacock rolled her eyes at Zhenbai and said.

"I have a special method for sleeping, would you like to try it, Peacock?" Zhenbai asked with a smile. Upon hearing this, Peacock was instantly stunned.

The scene from last night resurfaced: Mashiro and Claire intertwined in the room, and myself outside the room.

Peacock's face instantly turned bright red, and her expression became extremely flustered. She said, "I'd never try your special method!" Then she quickly ran away.

Watching the peacock's departing figure, Mashiro smiled softly.

She certainly noticed the peacock's arrival last night, but deliberately didn't point it out.

Peacock's feelings towards her are complicated. She and Mashiro are friends in their normal state, but once Mashiro gets serious, their relationship instantly switches to that of master and servant.

Mashiro found this situation quite amusing, and thus enjoyed teasing the peacock. After teasing the peacock, Mashiro looked at the outline of the island ahead. Ohara, we've arrived.

Chapter 51: Eye Transplant Surgery

Back in Ohara, he told Robin about Lorena.

Mashiro then arranged rooms for Heather (the maid's name), Dong Aona, and Passia. Immediately afterwards, she took Claire to the hospital.

The workers only built the exterior of the hospital; the inside was empty.

Mashiro led Claire into the operating room to prepare for surgery. This was a profoundly significant attempt for Mashiro.

After using medical ninjutsu to anesthetize Claire, Mashiro removed Claire's eye and then took out a container filled with green liquid from her personal storage space.

The jar contained two white eyeballs floating inside.

This is the white eyeball that Mashiro specially kept, left over from when she created the Tenseigan.

Claire's Eye-Eye Fruit grants her the ability to see through things, and the Byakugan also has a special ability to see through things. The combination of the two will likely cause the Byakugan to undergo new changes, or even create a new eye technique.

Mashiro already had a solution for Claire's lack of chakra, storing it in her body as a chakra seal. With Mashiro implanting the Byakugan into Claire's eye socket, an eye transplant surgery spanning two worlds was completed.

Mashiro then used her medical ninjutsu to carefully examine Claire's physical condition. Finding no backlash or conflict, she woke her up with peace of mind.

Opening her eyes, Claire felt her perspective shift to 360 degrees; she could see every corner of the room, a feeling that made her very uncomfortable. "How does it feel?" Mashiro asked softly.

“It’s strange, these eyes feel very different from my previous eyes,” Claire said respectfully.

"That's normal. After all, you're used to normal eyes, and suddenly switching to the Byakugan's perspective will always feel a bit strange. The most important thing now is your ability—whether these eyes can see the fruits." Mashiro said with a light laugh.

Claire glanced at Mashiro and said, "Yes, Master." "What am I thinking right now?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

“You’re thinking, ‘The experiment seems to have succeeded.’” Clayther said respectfully, bowing his head. “Very good,” Mashiro chuckled.

Then, Mashiro pulled Claire off the operating table, brought her close to her neck, and bit down. Black lines began to spread.

Claire felt a sharp pain in her neck, but she dared not make any movement, standing quietly in place, waiting for Mashiro to complete the ritual.

A moment later, Mashiro released Claire, and a black, lifelike snowflake pattern appeared where Mashiro had bitten her. "Now, try to draw the power from your neck. Pull it into your eyes," Mashiro whispered.

Upon hearing this, Claire closed her eyes and began to sense her surroundings. A moment later, her eyes snapped open, veins bulging, and the whites of her eyes began to roll back. But at the same moment her eyes rolled back, a sharp pain shot through Claire's eyes.

Both scorching and icy, two completely different forces began to meet, intertwine, and merge. "Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Claire covered her eyes, letting out a painful scream. "Has the anomaly begun?" Mashiro muttered to herself upon seeing this.

Then she pulled Claire into her arms, and a green light surged forth, entering Claire's body. Afterward, Claire calmed down, leaving only heavy breathing.

Mashiro cut off her sense of pain.

Claire kept her eyes covered. Although the pain was blocked, she could still clearly feel the changes happening in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Mashiro remained where she was, holding Claire and gently patting her back to comfort her. Three hours passed in this way.

Claire lowered her hands.

"Is it ready?" Mashiro asked softly.

"Hmm," Claire said wearily. Then she opened her eyes.

Her pure white eyes were incredibly bright, and above the white surface, a black, circular pupil shimmered gently. "How do you feel? These eyes now?" Mashiro asked softly.

“I can see so many things now, so many things,” Claire replied.

She wasn't sure what the eyes' abilities were, only that they felt incredibly powerful, a feeling she'd never experienced before. "That's good. Now, just enjoy it," Mashiro said with a smile, stroking Claire's head.

“Yes, Master,” Claire replied obediently. Another week passed in the blink of an eye.

That same week, Lorena brought her student Coco to Ohara.

Subsequently, seemingly following a message from Lorena, a large number of scholars, along with their families, flocked to Ohara.

Faced with such a large number of scholars, Mashiro was not comfortable communicating with them for long, so this task was handed over to Robin.

Most of the older scholars had been acquainted with Robin's mother, Olivia, while the younger scholars were afraid of Mana's status as a Shichibukai, so Robin handled the situation very smoothly.

Accommodation was quickly arranged for all the arriving scholars.

Also during this week, various merchants sent by Stussy arrived in Ohara.

Within a week, although the population had not yet reached the level of a town, it was already starting to feel lively.

Scholars brought many books and placed them into the Tree of Omniscience free of charge. Although it only filled one wall of books, it gave this huge tree, which represents knowledge, meaning again.

"How is it?" Mashiro asked softly.

"The golden city of Shandora, the Kingdom of Dressrosa, the golden statue base on the Skypiea, Elbaf the Giant, and the Holy Land of Mary Geoise—basically, these are the places that all have at least one Poneglyph. Also, Granny Lorena told me that there's one hidden in the basement of the Tree of Knowledge," Robin replied.

"Are you sure?" Mashiro looked at Claire again. Claire nodded slightly.

"Gathering so many scholars has indeed been fruitful," Mashiro said with a light laugh. "So, Master, where do you plan to begin?" Robin asked curiously.

Mashiro pondered for a moment and said, "Let's start with the Sky Island. Call Leona for me." The White Sea is an inconspicuous area of ​​the East China Sea.

Because of the "monster current," few ships are willing to pass through this area, making it a paradise for giant sea monsters.

A young adult yellowtooth shark was tearing apart an elephant seal. Just then, a shadow fell over the area.

The yellow-toothed shark looked up and saw a giant bird, tens of meters long, rapidly approaching. Upon seeing this, the yellow-toothed shark instantly abandoned its meal and sank back into the sea.

The enormous bird was a strikingly unique shade of pink, and as it flapped its wings, pink clouds of smoke continuously spread. On its back stood two figures.

"This must be the place, Baihai?" a stunningly beautiful young woman asked softly.

“Yes, Master. I heard my mother mention before that her hometown is the White Sea, 10000 meters above the White Sea, also known as the Island of Gods.” Another red-clad figure…

"That's what the girl with the hair said."

Chapter 52: The Bells of the Golden Land

"Oh, that's fine then." The stunningly beautiful girl said, as the giant pink bird beneath her began to rise rapidly.

The two girls were Mashiro and Leona, and the one beneath them was a transformation of Senbonzakura. After deciding to go to the Sky Island, Mashiro found Leona.

Mashiro originally just wanted to ask her some specific information about Sky Island, but unexpectedly, after learning that Mashiro wanted to go to Sky Island, Suona excitedly offered to lead the way for Mashiro.

So Mashiro took Leona with her, and the two of them prepared to go to Skypiea.

Because there were only two of them, and neither of them knew how to sail, Mashiro summoned Senbonzakura and had it use the Jumei Bird Fruit.

With a change in power, they were transported to the Sky Island.

As the Thousand Cherry Blossoms rose higher into the sky, the surrounding scenery began to change continuously. Clouds and mist swirled, creating a dreamlike and ethereal scene.

“Master, have you heard of the legend of the Golden Land?” Leona suddenly asked.

The expedition leader of the Kingdom of Rubenil in the North Sea, Venbra Rolando, and the legend of the Golden Land he brought were executed because the king proved them to be false stories. His title was changed from the great adventurer Rolando to the great liar Brando.

"Actually, the Golden Land isn't a legend, but a real story that actually happened. It's just that, for some reason, the island where the Golden Land was located was washed ashore on a floating island," Leona said softly.

"Oh?" Mashiro looked at Leona, intrigued by what Leona had to say.

Leona's eyes became hazy as she slowly recounted, "400 years later, on the island of Jaya, a war for control of the land has raged for 400 years without ever ceasing."

The reason for this was that the indigenous people living on this land were suddenly invaded by outsiders who claimed to be "gods". In the end, the former were defeated and driven out of their own land.

Thus, faced with the irreconcilable conflict of encroaching on other people's territory, the flames of war on this land could not be stopped and escalated.

Especially for the Sky People, who are the invaders, their strength and greed for the resources of this land are the root causes for which only war can solve everything.

For a long time, they lived high in the sky, with clouds as their ground and no knowledge of what land was. The land of the South China Sea had always been something they longed for.

When Jaya Island suddenly appeared before them, and the island's beautiful songs spread throughout everyone's hearts, this longing naturally turned into war. The songs became the signal for war between the two sides, and this cycle repeated itself, and the flames of war were lost for hundreds of years.

Therefore, even 400 years later, a god-like leader representing the Sky People appeared and proposed for the first time to end the war and live in peace with the natives, hoping to bring an end to this centuries-long conflict.

However, for the indigenous Shandiya tribe, this is absolutely impossible to propose, just as the current Shandiya chief has said.

Do you intend to erase the crimes of the past century and simply make peace?! Do you still want to occupy our land and coexist peacefully?! All the things you have done to the Shandiya people for generations, now you just want to say peace and it all disappears?

Since that's the case, then let's offer up those innocent Sky People who don't want to die as sacrifices, offering their heads and paying the same price as us. If you want to erase your past sins, then offer up everything you have now!

As a warrior of the Shandiya race, the War Demon Wapa is just like the epitome of his ancestors throughout the past. He refuses to use the name of peace to disguise the reality of invasion and vows to fight to the death to drive out any enemy who dares to rule him. This has been the belief of Shandiya warriors for hundreds of years.

In addition, as a descendant of the great warrior Calgara from 400 years ago, War Demon Wapa also carries the legacy of his ancestor, which has lasted for hundreds of years.

For the survival of their race and for the sovereignty of their territory, this was the reason why the warriors had to reclaim their homeland no matter what. But for his ancestor, the great warrior Calgara, there was another debt that he had to repay, in addition to reclaiming his homeland.

This was also Calgara's greatest regret in his life.

Four hundred years ago, on the then-undeveloped island of Jaya, a contagious disease called tree fever broke out. Suddenly, all the villagers who came into contact with it became infected and the disease spread rapidly.

Faced with a disease with a mortality rate as high as 90%, they could only regard it as a curse from an evil spirit. Therefore, they chose a young girl as a sacrifice to seek forgiveness from the great gods and remove the curse.

This is a long-standing precept followed by this traditional tribe, even though the girl sacrificed was the daughter of the great warrior, Calgara.

Just as the deity (the serpent) appeared and was about to devour the girl, an explorer from the North Sea, Venbula Rolando, suddenly appeared, killed the deity, and roared angrily: For countless scholars who have risked their lives, this sacrificial ritual is a great disgrace.

For Rolando, an explorer and botanist, curable diseases were seen as curses of evil spirits, and life, which was greater than anything else, was seen as a sacrificial offering.

This kind of meaningless self-deception born of fear of death is a heinous act that countless explorers have felt deeply about and abhorred.

Finally, awakened by Rolando's resounding voice and the warrior Calgara's tearful lament, the traditionalists ceased to reject anything from the outside world, stopped holding traditional ceremonies, and stopped sacrificing their precious lives. Under the treatment of the special medicine, amidst unstoppable laughter and tears, they understood what progress truly meant.

Thanks to their heroic act of saving the village, Noland and his companions became the greatest benefactors of the Shandya clan. And for the subsequent treatment and complete eradication...

Rolando, who was also the source of the fever, accepted their invitation and stayed there temporarily.

During this time, the campfire never went out, and the smiles never stopped. The recovered people shone brightly under the electric campfire, and the surviving tribes were revitalized by their radiant smiles.

Without the constraints of religious rules, they listened to the island's past and experienced the cultures of different peoples—a lifelong pursuit for explorers. And without being swayed by external influences, they welcomed their guests and listened to their adventures. This was the original form of the Shandiya people.

It was this respect and shared understanding that made Rolando and Calgara rare friends. Despite their different races, births, and customs, their shared characteristics allowed their friendship, which should have been tempered by time, to transcend geographical boundaries with every laugh. Even the crew of the expedition and the warriors of Jaya Island were seeing the two of them smile so freely for the first time.