MHA Hero Time Ch 329 : Save Grandma (Patreon)

By the time Yuta and Maki were done telling their tale, Toki was flabbergasted. The story was beyond anything she could have imagined—coming from the future, her adopted grandson.

She just couldn’t believe it.

"Do you have any proof?" she asked. She didn’t outright refuse their claim—after all, in this sea, almost anything was possible. She herself was somewhat of an anomaly, after all.

"Well, I do have the same Devil Fruit as you, but I can’t use it, of course. However, I do know what you just did. I know because we’ve come from twenty years in the future," Yuta said with a smile.

The mention of exactly twenty years caught Toki off guard. She had told no one when she was sending Momonosuke and the others. No one knew except her—not even the travelers themselves.

This meant that what this boy was saying had some grounds…

"I… I can’t believe it. If you’re really from the future, then you must know, right? Tell me—what happens to Wano? Does the evil rule of Orochi and Kaido finally come to an end?" she asked, her voice shaky.

Maki and Yuta could see the desperate hope in her question. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a good answer for her.

"No… until we were there, things were the same. If anything, they got worse as time went on," Yuta replied honestly, shaking his head, destroying the hope that had begun to build inside Toki.

"Oh…" Toki looked down, eyes shadowed.

"However, I will change that. I intend to fight Kaido. And I’m not alone. There’s an alliance between the Whitebeard Pirates, another new pirate group with immense potential, and I am part of this alliance.

"The pirate I’m talking about—your son, Momonosuke—is with them. They’re sailing toward Wano as we speak. Believe me, sooner or later we will free Wano from the oppressive rule of Orochi and Kaido. I promise," Yuta said, passion burning in his voice.

If before he wished to help because it was the System’s calling and his duty as a hero, then now it was personal. A place that brought so much pain to his grandmother—there was no way he would stay still.

Hearing his passionate voice, Toki was surprised. She couldn’t believe that even Whitebeard was helping them.

For the first time, she felt that defeating Kaido might actually be possible.

She couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t sure whether the boy in front of her was telling the truth or not, but she knew one thing—she could see why she would adopt such a kind child.

However, it still didn’t make sense why these two were here. Her own case was already an anomaly—a fruit that allowed someone to travel into the future was rare enough, but one that could send people back in time?

‘A fruit like that…’ Her mind drifted to what she could have done if she could go back in time. Hundreds of years—how far away she was from her own time, a woman far beyond her era.

What would she do if she had a power like that? Who wouldn’t want to go to the past to fix the regrets of their life? She was no different. The friends and family she had left behind, her own dreams left unattained—she had many things she wished she could change.

"So, you want my help to go back to your time… is that it?" she asked, a hint of longing and uncertainty in her voice.

Perhaps this was her conviction wavering—seeing a chance to see her children one more time, a legitimate reason to do so. Perhaps it was a longing to see her husband’s dream come true.

Her own dreams had died the day she ventured into the future—a journey that had lasted for hundreds of years. But her husband’s dream still lived on. Even if he wasn’t here anymore, the two kids in front of her were proof enough that his dream remained alive.

"Yes, we have to go back before our friends start the war against Kaido and Orochi. Our coming here was a mistake, and now we’re stuck," this time Maki spoke, seeing Yuta lost in thought.

As for Yuta, he was just lost in memories—of this woman being his mother, father, grandmother, and every family he ever had. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until now.

A big part of the reason he didn’t want to meet his younger self was to avoid this exact feeling.

Toki also noticed the boy’s eyes—they reminded her of her own children.

"The castle won’t last long. We should go if we don’t want to be two feet under burning rubble," Maki jolted both of them back to attention.

"Ah, yes. We should," Yuta nodded.

However, it wasn’t up to him—it was up to Toki and whether she believed in them.

Both of them stared at her, clearly expecting her to act. Toki pondered over her choice.

Whether to believe them or not, the fact that they knew about her plan—a plan no one else should have known—told her they weren’t lying.

So now, it was only a matter of whether she wished to go along with them or not.

A long silence stretched before Toki finally let out a sigh.

"I still have one last duty to fulfill. I intend to die after that… but perhaps my life still has meaning."

…

Toki ran out of the burning castle, her long robes fluttering behind her as the sound of chaos filled the air. The cries of battle echoed through the night, and flames lit up the dark sky. Behind her, Orochi’s soldiers shouted, chasing her down the path, their footsteps growing louder. But Toki did not stop. She knew she had no time left to waste.

Her voice rang out, strong and clear, cutting through the noise around her. "Hear me, people of Wano! Twenty years from now, the moon will shine upon the land once more! Nine shadows will be cast, woven together through twenty years of moonlit nights, which will then allow people to understand the radiance of dawn!"

The crowd listened in awe, the hope in her words piercing through their despair. Even as the soldiers surrounded her, Toki did not stop speaking. "Do not give up. Endure until that day comes. The dawn will rise again!"

The moment she finished, Orochi’s men raised their guns, aiming straight at her. Toki closed her eyes, calm and ready to accept her fate. But just before the shots were fired, two figures dashed in from the shadows.

A flash of movement—then, in the blink of an eye, they were gone, taking Toki with them. The soldiers fired at empty air, shouting in confusion as the wind carried away her last words—words that would echo for twenty long years in the hearts of Wano’s people.