Chapter 728: Little Princess
It could be said that, despite the lively fight with those ninjas earlier, Ian was just playing around!
And in playing around, he even managed to come up with something fancy—he actually pulled off the Great Fireball Technique!
This was, of course, Ian’s spur-of-the-moment creativity. The Flying Shadow card granted him the ability to control the flames of the demon world, but usually, Ian used it to fire Black Dragon Waves. In truth, if he wanted, he could spit out not only fireballs but even lightning balls from his mouth.
Oh, and there was also the dynamic light beam, the mouth cannon Black Void Flash he’d used before…
However, since it was his first time using it, the black Great Fireball didn’t have the strong flight capability like the Black Dragon Wave. After being launched, it flew in a crooked, wobbly trajectory, and its speed was very slow.
It was precisely because of this that the ninjas managed to escape disaster…
When they saw Ian suddenly spew out a massive black fireball, the ninjas were startled and quickly dodged the fireball’s flight path. But their clones couldn’t keep up, and several clones directly in front were caught by the black fireball. With a hiss, they turned into green smoke and vanished.
They were in a forest, and the battlefield wasn’t very large to begin with. After the fireball flew crookedly for a while, it soon crashed into the trees ahead.
With a booming explosion, the black demon world flames immediately raged out, covering a large area. All the trees touched by the flames turned pitch black in an instant. Then, under the disturbance of the scorching air currents, they could no longer hold their original tree shapes and collapsed into black powder…
One black Great Fireball had directly blasted away all the trees within a hundred-meter radius ahead. If someone were looking down from above, they would see that the dense forest seemed to have a chunk suddenly gouged out of it.
The ninjas, along with their remaining clones, stared blankly back at the bare, blackened explosion zone. Looking at the miserable scene and feeling the still-intense heat around them, they all shuddered in unison.
What the hell! Is this really a ninja technique?
If this is a ninja technique, then what are the techniques we’ve been practicing? Fake ninja techniques?
They didn’t know that Ian was also annoyed. He’d been careless—he shouldn’t have called it the Great Fireball Technique. No wonder he hadn’t hit a single one… Was this a curse or the will of the universe!?
At this moment, the ninjas finally came to their senses. They exchanged glances, seeing determination in each other’s eyes. They nodded in unison and gripped their weapons again.
They now understood very clearly that they were no match for this outsider, Ian. But the beliefs they held dear left them no room to retreat. They only knew that even if it cost them their lives, they had to drive these pirates away.
Seeing the ninjas’ movements, Ian’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected these guys to be so clueless. He hadn’t even gone all out against them, yet they insisted on pestering him. He just wanted to ask for directions—what was with their bitter, vengeful attitude!?
So, Ian’s killing intent began to spread…
The ninjas weren’t fools either. They immediately sensed the change in Ian’s aura and quietly swallowed their saliva. This was the first time they’d encountered such a powerful outsider…
Just as both sides were about to make a move, an anxious voice suddenly rang out, shouting, “Stop! Everyone, stop!”
Everyone turned to look. A ninja, also in disguise, emerged from the woods. He crossed his arms, signaling everyone to stop, and shouted loudly, “Outsiders! Lady Butterfly Princess wishes to see you!”
Hearing this, the ninjas immediately straightened up, sheathed their blades, and silently stepped aside.
Ian exchanged a surprised glance with Marco. There was actually a princess in this hidden ninja village in the forest!?
On the way here, Marco had chatted with Ian and told him that in the Land of Wano, the daughters of the shogun and various feudal lords were all considered princesses, uniformly addressed with the title “Hime,” which referred to women of high status.
Now, having a princess in this ninja village was quite astonishing!
He wondered which big shot’s daughter this princess was, to be staying in this remote mountain ninja village…
“Let’s go see?” Marco asked for Ian’s opinion.
Ian thought for a moment and agreed. Since they were willing to meet, it meant the other side was finally open to communication. That was a good thing, since Ian and his group only wanted to ask for directions.
So Ian sheathed his sword, and the three of them followed the ninja who had delivered the message, heading into the woods. The ninjas who had fought Ian watched his retreating back with complex expressions…
On the way, Bonney asked Ian curiously, “Ian, do you really know ninja techniques?”
Hearing this, not only Marco but also the ninja leading the way pricked up their ears.
Ian smiled and said, “How could that be? I’m not a ninja!”
Ian was right. He suspected that ninja techniques were probably a basic skill, which was why he rarely drew cards from the Naruto series. He had seen Naruto series cards appear in the fragment shop before, but considering he couldn’t use them even if he got them, he hadn’t bothered to collect them.
The ninja ahead turned his head and gave Ian a resentful look… But Ian ignored him.
They continued weaving through the woods, and gradually, the area opened up. A settlement carved out in the forest soon appeared before the three.
It was a very small village. All the buildings were wooden houses, with few stone structures. The architectural style had strong Wano characteristics.
The village had about a few hundred residents, and almost all of them were masked ninjas—both adults and children. When Ian and his group appeared, the children in the village all stared at them curiously, while the adults watched them with wary eyes. These were two completely opposite gazes.
But one common point was that none of them recognized Ian as the newly crowned Four Emperors. Not even the famous Phoenix Marco of the Whitebeard Pirates was known to them. Whether this was because the ninja village was in seclusion or because all Wano people were like this, if it was the latter, then their information was incredibly isolated…
Under the ninja’s guidance, the three walked through the village under the watch of many eyes, arriving outside the largest wooden house at the center.
Here, Ian noticed a difference. Outside this wooden house, dozens of samurai wearing wooden clogs, carrying long swords at their waists, and with their hair tied in topknots, stood guard.
When they saw Ian and his group appear, these samurai all instinctively placed their hands on their sword hilts.
To these people, Ian and his companions were just pirates, and the people of Wano generally had a poor impression of pirates. Although the order to meet these three pirates came from the “Butterfly Princess” inside the wooden house, no one could guarantee that these pirates wouldn’t try to harm her once they realized her noble status.
After all, there had indeed been incidents in the past where pirates attempted to kidnap the daughters of Wano’s feudal lords…
“Please leave your weapons here!” A samurai stepped out from the crowd and said sternly to Ian.
Among the three, only Ian carried weapons, so the comment was directed at him. Hearing this, Ian raised an eyebrow and said, “What did you say!?”
“Please leave your weapons!” the samurai repeated, and along with him, all the other samurai tightened their grips on their sword hilts.
“And if I refuse?” Ian said coldly.
Ian could understand the hostile attitude of Wano’s people toward outsiders and pirates, but this was going too far, wasn’t it? Attacking outsiders without asking any questions—what was the difference between that and encountering savages?
Not only Ian, but even Marco and Bonney were frowning now. Being stared at with such suspicion and vigilance everywhere they went was really annoying.
Just as the atmosphere was about to tense up again, a voice came from inside the wooden house, saying, “Alright, don’t worry. Let them in!”
The voice was clear and sounded like a young girl’s, and it seemed she wasn’t very old…
At her words, the samurai bowed their heads and made way.
The ninja who had led them stepped forward, pushed open the door of the wooden house, and gestured for Ian and his group to enter. Ian snorted coldly, then walked into the house with Marco and Bonney.
Once inside, Ian saw a girl dressed in gorgeous long robes, sitting quietly in the center of the room in a formal kneeling posture.
She was a very pretty… little girl! She looked to be only about twelve or thirteen years old, with glossy black hair that fell from her temples to her right shoulder. The hair at the back of her head was tied up with a red bow, a typical Wano princess hairstyle. Her long robe spread out on the floor, covering a large area. She had her hands folded on her knees, sitting very formally, but she looked at Ian and his group with curiosity.
“Hello, outsiders!” She sized up the three with her big eyes and said, “I am the daughter of Nidoki, the daimyo of ‘West Kamino’ in Wano. My name is Nea! You can also call me Butterfly Princess!”
As soon as she spoke, Ian realized the difference between this princess and the others. Her speech was smooth and casual, not so traditional in tone. It seemed she had had some contact with outsiders.
“West Kamino?” Marco pondered the name but couldn’t recall it after thinking for a while. He really knew very little about Wano’s geography, so he gave up and said, “Princess Butterfly, we are just passing through here. We intend to go to ‘Kuri.’ Could you tell us which direction to go?”