"Exactly!"
Yamato stood up unsteadily, as if mentioning something incredible. "I am Kaido son, also known as Yamato! However, please call me Kozuki Oden! That is the name and identity I am currently using!"
Even though she had reluctantly accepted Sherwin assessment of Kozuki Oden, the single-minded Yamato still hadn't given up on inheriting his name. In her simple mind, the logic went like this:
Become Kozuki Oden → Reclaim Wano Country in the name of Kozuki Oden → Find the Kozuki Momonosuke who escaped back then → Return Wano Country to the Kozuki clan.
In this way, Wano Country would finally "return to the right track."
After proudly declaring her identity, Yamato slumped weakly back against the wall and gave Sherwin a silly grin. "Hehe... do you have any food? I haven't eaten anything for a long time."
No wonder Yamato looked so drained of energy, and...
Sherwin glanced at the shackles on her wrists.
If he wasn't mistaken, those shackles were likely the low-purity Sea Stone shackles worn by the slaves in the Udon Quarry.
Actually, when reading the manga, Sherwin had wondered why Yamato, given her strength, hadn't removed the shackles herself like Rayleigh had.
However, after arriving in the world of pirates and learning the advanced application of Armament Haki, he understood...
No one had ever taught Yamato the "Internal Destruction" method of using Armament Haki. Coupled with the draining effect of the Sea Stone on her strength, Yamato had been firmly restricted to Onigashima by a pair of explosive shackles.
Thus, Sherwin did not immediately take out food for Yamato. Instead, he reached out and grabbed her shackles...
"Wait..."
Yamato had just opened her mouth when the shackles in her hands were already crushed by Sherwin.
The shackles mixed with Sea Prism Stone were indeed much harder.
"Watch out! They'll explode!!!"
She could only shout the warning as fast as she could.
However, Sherwin, who had known about this for a long time, had already flung the shackles away after crushing them.
"Boom—!"
The thrown shackles exploded as expected, blowing a large hole in the ceiling of the first basement level.
Since there was no floor directly above the dungeon, it didn't blast all the way through, but the power displayed by this bomb was already no less than the Jumpy Dumpties that Klee Meow usually used...
Under the weakening effect of the Sea Prism Stone, and given that the New World had patched the "bombs don't kill people" loophole, Yamato likely wouldn't have survived that blast.
"That bastard bull-gorilla! He really intended to kill me!!!"
It was obvious that Yamato had realized this too.
Although she had always wanted to cause trouble for her father, Yamato had previously held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that the claim about the shackles containing bombs might just be Kaido trying to scare her—or that the blast wouldn't be that powerful, perhaps only enough to blow off her hands at most.
But with the explosion that had just occurred, Yamato hopes were finally and completely crushed.
"I understand everything now! That guy isn't a father anymore!!!"
Yamato roared in shock and fury, a trace of indiscernible disappointment and sadness hidden deep within her eyes.
Sherwin also twitched his lips, feeling quite speechless...
Even though back on Earth, the various actions of Kozuki Oden and his brain-dead fans had led to "Kaido-sensei" being held in high regard among readers, in reality—once you stripped away the rose-tinted glasses caused by a hatred for Oden faction—he was simply a pure villain according to the setting.
At most, he was just relatively powerful.
When it came to the relationship with Yamato, Kaido situation was just as bad as hers. Putting explosive shackles meant for slaves on his own eight-year-old daughter, locking her in a stone cave to starve for over ten days, and deliberately orchestrating her to fight to the death against hostile samurai...
Kaido patience for his daughter was even less than for those he sought to recruit.
If those Wano samurai hadn't proactively given their food to Yamato and risked their lives to help her escape before she starved to death, Yamato would have died in that stone cave at the age of eight.
In Sherwin view, Yamato initial admiration for Oden was driven more by her own kindness and her yearning for samurai.
The actions of those Wano samurai in the cave were the primary factors that truly influenced her and solidified her resolve to oppose Kaido in Oden name.
Well... and that "Horcrux" journal likely played a huge part too.
As for the theory that "calling Yamato his, proves Kaido is actually a good father," Sherwin saw it more as Kaido utter indifference toward his daughter.
Of course, to say Kaido didn't care about Yamato at all wouldn't be entirely true either it was just that Kaido "survival of the fittest" ideology made it impossible for him to show much warmth to a rebellious daughter.
In Kaido "simple" mindset, if Yamato would just obediently follow his arrangements, it didn't matter whether she wanted to be a daughter, a son, or even rename herself Kozuki Oden.
But if she remained stubbornly set on opposing him, then this daughter might as well just drop dead...
In short, while a Yamato infected by the Oden virus was indeed an unreliable daughter, Kaido was equally unqualified as a father. Kozuki Oden wasn't even the primary factor in why the two sides had reached this point.
Even without Kozuki Oden, there would have been a Shimotsuki Oden, a Fugetsu Oden, or an Amatsuki Oden. This father and daughter, with their completely different values, were bound to have a falling out sooner or later.
The daughter wanted to overthrow her father rule, and the father didn't value his daughter life in the slightest... truly a family of filial piety and fatherly love...
Sherwin complained inwardly as he took food and water from his bag and handed them over.
"Thank you."
Yamato wiped the tears from her face, took the food, and began to swallow it in large gulps.
Beside her, Kaido Meow looked up at the huge hole blasted in the ceiling, his brow furrowed.
Having spent plenty of time taking care of those little troublemaker cats in the Research Commission and raising many Palicoes back in the Monster Hunter world, Kaido Meow simply could not understand why the other Kaido would treat his own child this way.
"Hunter..."
(=ˇˇ=)
Withdrawing his gaze, Kaido Meow spoke to Sherwin with a solemn expression, "Please, you must let me fight the other Kaido one-on-one, Meow!"
"Another... Kaido?"
Yamato raised her head, food crumbs still clinging to the corners of her mouth, and looked at Kaido Meow in confusion. "Are there really two of those bull-headed gorillas?"
"Not a bull-head, and not a gorilla. I am a cat," Kaido Meow replied with a straight face, pointing at himself. "My name is also Kaido Meow."
"Ah... ah..."
Yamato stared slack-jawed at the Felyne in front of her, whose demeanor and temperament inexplicably bore a striking resemblance to her own father. Her simple mind couldn't quite process the situation for a moment.
"If it just the same name, there really no need to fight that bull-headed... uh... no need to fight him specifically."
After stammering for a good while, Yamato finally managed to sort through the situation and offered a well-intentioned warning:
"As much as I hate to admit it, my bastard father strength is terrifying. Even Oden back then, or Uncle Issho, were no match for him."
"You needn't worry about that."
Sherwin patted Yamato on the shoulder. "When they finally clash, you'll understand that this is about much more than just a name."