Kaido's insidious words struck the hearts of the samurai like a funeral bell. The foundation of their lifelong loyalty, their very reason for fighting and dying, was cracking beneath their feet.
"How… how can that be…?" one samurai whispered, his sword trembling in his hand. "No… it's not like that…" another choked out, shaking his head in denial. "Lord Oden, he…" "Wuwuwu… Lord Oden… This can't be true…"
Doubt, once planted, was now spreading like a plague. Even the Nine Red Scabbards, the staunchest of Oden's followers, wore grim expressions, unable to find the words to refute Kaido's cruel logic.
"Wororororo…"
Seeing their faith crumble, Kaido let out a deep, satisfied laugh. But it wasn't enough. He needed to utterly destroy the Kozuki name, to salt the earth of its legacy so that nothing could ever grow there again.
"I used to think that Oden was a singular kind of fool," he boomed, his voice dripping with condescension. "But what happened next made me realize the truth. It wasn't just Oden who was a fool… it was the entire Kozuki Clan!"
As he spoke, Kaido's gaze fell upon the pale, trembling form of Kozuki Hiyori. "Tell me," he sneered, his words crafted for maximum cruelty. "Whose brilliant idea was it to make the lord's daughter a courtesan? Forcing her to serve countless men every day, and even preparing to offer her body to her own father's killer?"
The words struck Hiyori with the force of a physical blow. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the deck. Beside her, Denjiro bit down so hard on his teeth that he drew blood, his fists clenched in impotent rage. Kawamatsu's face was a grim mask of fury, but there was nothing he could do.
Kaido wasn't finished. "If that was just pathetic foolishness, then another man of the Kozuki Clan showed me a level of idiocy I could scarcely believe. Hey, Oden's retainers, can you guess who that man is? Or better yet, do you know why I was waiting here for you tonight?"
The samurai stared, their minds reeling. Another man of the Kozuki Clan? Impossible. Shogun Sukiyaki had no other sons besides Lord Oden. Could it be… Lord Momonosuke? Their eyes lit up with a flicker of hope, which was immediately extinguished by panic. If Kaido had also captured Momonosuke, then Lord Oden's bloodline would be truly finished.
But Kaido uttered a name that no one expected. "I was waiting for someone. I wanted to see if he would finally show himself to help you. After all, you are his son's loyal subordinates, and that girl is his own granddaughter. But unfortunately, it seems I overestimated him."
"What!?" everyone gasped in unison. His son's subordinates? His granddaughter? It couldn't be… but how was that possible?
"Worororo… You guessed right," Kaido roared with laughter. "The man I'm talking about is that fool Oden's own father: Kozuki Sukiyaki!"
The revelation was so shocking that the entire sea seemed to fall silent. The samurai, and even the surrounding Beasts Pirates, were stunned.
"Kaido, how dare you insult the dead!?" Shimotsuki Yasuie, who had once served Sukiyaki personally, roared in fury.
"The dead?" Kaido mocked. "Worororo… I thought he was dead too. But it's a shame, really. He's alive and well, living a better life than any of you…"
The silence that followed was absolute. Every eye was wide with disbelief. "How is that possible? Wasn't Shogun Sukiyaki killed by Orochi?" "Could he… really be alive?" "But if he's alive, why hasn't he come forward? Why hasn't he done anything?"
No one could comprehend it.
"Worororo… Yes, I'm curious about that myself," Kaido continued, his voice dripping with poison. "He's clearly alive, yet he ignored the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law. He's ignored the suffering of his grandson and granddaughter. He has watched everything that has happened to Wano Country and pretended not to see. That's why I say the entire Kozuki Clan is made of fools! So foolish that I can't even comprehend it. In the end, I could only think of one possibility: they simply don't care about you. They don't care about the lives of the samurai or the citizens of Wano. It's hilarious that you're all still willing to die for the honor of such a pathetic bloodline. Looking at you now, it's truly laughable…"
"Wororororo…"
Kaido's mocking laughter echoed across the sea, resonating in the broken heart of every samurai. When this night was over, these words would surely spread throughout Wano. From that day forward, the name Kozuki would forever be linked with the word 'fool'.
Kaido's objective had been achieved. He would waste no more time.
"Alright, I believe I've answered your question, Shimotsuki Yasuie. Do you still think I'm afraid of such fools? As for prophecies, they don't matter. In two years, I'll just send Oden's other son to hell to join you. Now, die!"
Scorching flames began to gather in Kaido's mouth.
Though their spirits were shattered, Oden's retainers did not forget their final duty. Kawamatsu grabbed Hiyori, preparing to leap into the sea. But just as they were about to move, a desperate voice suddenly cried out from the ship.
"Wait… please wait, Lord Kaido!!!"
The sudden shout made Kaido pause, his curiosity piqued. On the deck, a samurai had dropped his katana with a clatter and fallen to his knees, his face streaked with tears as he begged for his life.
"I surrender! I surrender! I don't want to die for such a foolish clan!"
The Nine Scabbards' expressions twisted in disgust. "What are you doing?!" one of them yelled. "Have you forgotten Lord Oden's kindness to you?"
The kneeling samurai immediately roared back, his fear replaced by anger. "Stop lying! Lord Kaido is right! The Kozuki Clan never cared about us! Look at what's become of Wano! If it wasn't for that fool Oden, none of this would have happened! You know it better than I do!"
His words broke the dam. One by one, other samurai threw down their weapons. "He's right! All of this could have been avoided!" "Why?" another cried out in anguish. "If Oden had led us to fight back then, we could have beaten Orochi! But he chose to dance like an idiot! Damn it… damn it all…" "My brother died trying to save Oden's daughter!" a man screamed, pointing a trembling finger at Hiyori. "Did any of you care? No! You're just like Oden! You don't care about us!" "Lord Kaido is right! The Kozuki are fools! They are not worthy of being Shogun of Wano!"
Sentence after sentence of betrayal and despair was hurled at Kozuki Hiyori and the Nine Red Scabbards. Their faces grew paler with each word, and their bodies began to tremble.
"It's not like that… It's not true…" Shinobu was still desperately trying to explain, but her voice was drowned out by the growing number of samurai surrendering. It was a mix of their terror of death and their profound disappointment in the clan they had served.
Watching the scene unfold, Kaido's plan changed. He had intended to kill them all, but now he saw a better use for them. He knew that in this world, no one hated their own people more than a traitor. These surrendered samurai could be a powerful tool for the new Shogun he planned to install.
At that moment, Kozuki Hiyori looked at the men who had once sworn to protect her now denouncing her family. The last light of hope in her eyes faded completely.
With a look of utter desperation, she stood up, shrugging off Kawamatsu's protective grip. As everyone watched in stunned silence, she looked directly at the monstrous dragon in the sky and spoke, her voice eerily calm.
"Kaido, I want to make a deal with you."
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