"Alright, since you've positioned Kozuki Oden as a amurai,' let set aside his incompetent role as Shogun and have a proper chat about him strictly as a samurai."
Sherwin was in no rush to rescue Yamato. He sat down cross-legged directly opposite her, leaning his face on one hand and resting the other on his knee as he spoke in a deliberate manner.
When he mentioned that Kozuki Oden was an incompetent Shogun, Yamato clearly showed an urge to argue. However, her mouth hung open for a long time without a word coming out, and she eventually closed it slowly.
Evidently, Sherwin previous analysis of Kozuki Oden had already been relayed to Yamato by the talkative Fujitora. Compared to the brainless fans back on Earth, she did have one merit: she was at least capable of listening to reason.
Seeing Yamato reaction, Sherwin nodded in satisfaction. It was good that she could be reasoned with otherwise, after talking until he was blue in the face,
if she had resorted to the usual fanatical tactics of "I'm not listening" or "setting the facts aside," Sherwin feared he wouldn't be able to resist drawing his blade and cutting her down.
"As a samurai, Kozuki Oden wasn't as pathetic as he was as a Shogun. But if you want to claim he was the greatest, the most outstanding... hmph..." Sherwin gave a cold, disdainful sneer.
"That simply lying with your eyes wide open."
"Nonsense!" Yamato tried to stand up, but only managed a small hop because she lacked the strength. Even sitting on the ground, she countered excitedly,
"When Lord Kozuki Oden and the Scabbards fell into the hands of that bull-headed gorilla Kaido, he carried his subordinates single-handedly and endured an hour of the boiling execution! With such heroic spirit, how could he not be called the greatest and most outstanding samurai?!"
Hearing the term "bull-headed gorilla," Kaido Meow ears twitched instinctively.
He suddenly felt a sudden urge to change his name.
"However, the reason they ended up in this situation was Oden fault in the first place." Sherwin reached out and rubbed the big cat head, continuing to speak slowly and methodically:
"The mistakes committed by General Oden were to be made up for by the samurai Oden... if you look at it that way, this samurai Oden actually did a pretty good job."
After clarifying the cause and effect for Yamato, Sherwin didn't waste too much effort arguing with her over this matter.
The legendary hour of the boiling execution was the origin of Yamato worship of Oden to her, it was like a "white moonlight" first love, filled with filters accumulated over time. Therefore, he simply acknowledged the performance of the samurai Oden in that specific event.
Furthermore, the execution by boiling was indeed one of Kozuki Oden highlight moments, even if he was still being played for a fool by Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi at the time.
"But..."
Sherwin shifted the conversation.
"If that alone makes him the greatest samurai, where does that leave Shimotsuki Ryuma? For a samurai, setting aside life and death is certainly respectable,
but if one cannot win or protect the weak, can they truly be called the greatest? Kozuki Oden did indeed go to his death calmly,
but in the struggle against Kaido and Orochi, were there few samurai who went to their deaths calmly? And if you really count it up,
all those samurai who died did so because they chose to believe in General Oden, which is why they faced such a catastrophe..."
Looking at Yamato, who tried to speak several times but couldn't stammer out a single word, Sherwin questioned her once more:
"As a samurai, failing to defeat the enemy, failing to protect the people, and not even having the foresight to 'choose a lord'—having nothing but hot-blooded passion and will worth mentioning—how can such a samurai be called the greatest or the most outstanding? Never mind Ryuma, who has already become a legend even now, Issho performance as a samurai is superior to his."
"Oden... he... he unified Kuri and defeated the Mountain God before Wano fell! He even traveled to Laugh Tale with the Pirate King!"
Yamato was utterly defeated by Sherwin series of questions. She stammered for a long while before remembering to dig up Kozuki Oden past achievements, though this time, she strictly avoided mentioning words like "great" or "outstanding."
Heh... as expected, when brainless fans try to whitewash their "Idol," they always use the same old tricks. Sherwin shook his head with a mocking smile.
Since you're the one who started bringing up old accounts...
"However, when Oden was doing those things, his status was that of a Daimyo, a Shogun—anything but a samurai," Sherwin followed suit and began digging into the past.
"What exactly was he doing during his Samurai' phase?"
Yamato looked completely dazed.
Clearly, her understanding of Oden began with Kaido invasion of Wano, supplemented at most by the diary she picked up later. As for the absurd things Oden had done in his earlier years, Yamato was entirely in the dark.
This situation was actually quite similar to those young fangirls on Earth. The idols they see are "finished products" already packaged by companies and presented with a perfect image as for what those idols did before, they have no idea at all.
And so, like those social media accounts on Earth that specialize in exposing scandals, Sherwin "kindly" began to educate Yamato on Kozuki Oden "glorious past"...
"Fighting while drunk, causing floods that led to being wanted, seizing temples, taking women to build a harem... these were the things Kozuki Oden did during his samurai period."
Compared to those self-media types, Sherwin still had some integrity, so he followed up by adding:
"Although some of those incidents were misunderstandings or had extenuating circumstances, overall, the trouble he caused during that period far outweighed his contributions.
That why his father kicked him out of the Flower Capital, which eventually led to him unifying Kuri and becoming the Daimyo of Kuri."
"It normal to make mistakes when young, but Oden mistake was that he never managed to properly find his place.
During his samurai period, he failed to be a proper samurai, and by the time he became a somewhat excellent samurai, his status had already shifted to that of a ruler, like a Daimyo or Shogun."
Sherwin shook his head, offering a relatively objective summary: "If there hadn't been external interference like Orochi and Kaido, perhaps Oden could have slowly learned how to become a qualified Shogun after returning from overseas.
But unfortunately, there are no 'if in this world. The reality is that because of Kozuki Oden' Wano Country ultimately fell into the hands of Kaido and Orochi."
"...So, you also think Oden was an excellent samurai, right?"
After a long silence, Yamato blurted out this sentence, making Sherwin roll his eyes in exasperation.
So after everything I said, that the only part you heard?!
Fortunately, Yamato main purpose in saying this was just to save face for her idol, not to continue arguing with Sherwin.
She quickly added: "You're here to deal with my bastard father, right? Please, let me help too!"
As she spoke, she held out her chained hands toward Sherwin. "The mistakes Oden once made will be made right by me, the son of Kaido, who has inherited his will and his name!"
"Wait a meow!"
∑(=ΦДΦ=)
Kaido Meow finally couldn't stay calm any longer. He slowly tilted his head in confusion. "Did you just say... the son of Kaido... meow?"