Even hiding indoors, one could still hear the chatter of neighbors outside—
most of it mocking that "foolish lord" for meeting such a deservedly ridiculous end.
Inside a secluded residence.
"Listen to them. This is how the people your precious late husband gave his life to protect speak of him.
Lady Toki—don't you have any thoughts at all?"
Tenma leaned in the shadows, smiling but not quite smiling, as he looked toward the corner of the room.
"None whatsoever."
The reply was cold, yet beneath it ran a suppressed tremor.
"Is that so? You say that lightly, but your pretty face looks like it's about to twist in anger."
"Tsk tsk… what a waste for him. For the sake of these ungrateful wretches, he willingly endured five years of humiliation, danced naked in the streets like a clown—and what did he get?"
"He died like a drowned dog, and people still spit on him."
Tenma strolled toward the woman with smooth, teal-blue hair.
Even dressed in the plainest kimono, Kozuki Toki's breathtaking beauty could not be concealed.
It was a gentleness and resilience that transcended time itself—enough to stir a savage urge to trample and conquer.
A classic case of Cao Wei's lingering legacy—those who know, know.
By now, Tenma's skill at manipulating hearts had grown frighteningly refined.
With his Observation Haki evolved to the point of sensing emotions, he was practically a born devil.
"My anger is because of your despicable behavior!"
Kozuki Toki suddenly looked up, raising her hands.
The cold Seastone cuffs around her wrists clattered loudly.
"Where is my Hiyori?! Why did you bring us here?!"
"Since you know what Oden died for, don't use the ignorant words of these commoners to insult him!"
Long-suppressed emotions finally erupted.
Like a lioness protecting her cubs, she poured out all the grievance and fury in her heart in one breath.
Faced with her hysterical questioning, Tenma calmly walked up to her.
"Listen carefully. I'm neither one of Orochi's lackeys, nor Kaido's drunken dogs."
"Your daughter is safe. As long as you behave, she will remain safe."
Tenma reached out and frivolously lifted her pale chin, forcing those tear-filled eyes to meet his.
"The reason I brought you here is very simple."
"I've taken a liking to you, Lady Toki."
Seeing the nakedly predatory fire in Tenma's eyes, Kozuki Toki froze.
She realized this man was not joking.
A chill shot from her feet straight to her scalp as she desperately tried to struggle backward.
"This is impossible!! This is madness!"
"What's impossible about it?"
The smile on Tenma's face brimmed with malice, his voice low and hoarse.
"Isn't this sort of thing common in this world? Your dead husband, Kozuki Oden—he wasn't exactly innocent of forcibly taking women back when he roamed the seas, was he?"
"And who knows—maybe I'll be even more excessive than he ever was."
Tenma savored the way her expression shifted from rage to fear.
Only when her body began to tremble uncontrollably did he release her chin in satisfaction.
His expression instantly changed, returning to that polished, villainous elegance—
as if the lecher just now had never existed.
"Though you truly are beautiful enough to stir one's heart, to be honest…"
"I'm far more interested in that ability of yours—to cross into the future."
Kozuki Toki shrank into the corner, shivering, not daring to respond for fear of provoking this mercurial madman.
She wasn't surprised that her ability had been exposed.
After all, she'd lost consciousness right after using it—any fool could piece that together.
"Traveling to the future… what a thoroughly broken ability."
Tenma spread his arms, as if praising a work of art.
"You can escape at any time, even interfere with the flow of history. An uncontrollable variable like that is far too dangerous."
He turned his back to her, his tone growing distant.
"Do you know this? Out on the seas there's a place known as Impel Down, a fortress said to be impregnable, where the world's most heinous criminals are imprisoned. I 'studied' there for several years."
"For certain special ability users, to prevent their powers from reincarnating after death and falling into someone else's hands, the usual method is simple—"
"Lock them up until they die. Imprison them for life. Seal that ability inside the prison forever."
"A power like future-traveling—I may not need it right now, but that doesn't mean I can tolerate it slipping beyond my control."
"So until I come up with a perfect solution, I'll have to trouble you, my lady, to live as my caged bird."
Hearing this, Kozuki Toki's face turned deathly pale.
She had sailed with Oden before; she knew the horrific legends of Impel Down well.
It was hell where one could neither live nor die.
"Don't look so despairing. I'm actually quite fond of beautiful women—I wouldn't toss a great beauty like you into some damp, dark cell to rot."
Tenma turned back, a demonic smile on his face.
"But I do need a guarantee from you, Lady Toki."
"Seastone cuffs can lock away your power, but they can't lock away your will to die. If you bit your tongue and killed yourself, that would be troublesome indeed."
Recalling classic villain lines from his previous life, Tenma felt this situation was practically tailor-made.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, like a devil murmuring temptation:
"So, my lady… you wouldn't want anything unfortunate to happen to your adorable daughter Hiyori, would you?"
"After all, the Nine Red Scabbards and Momonosuke have all been sent away. In this world, you and your daughter are each other's only support…"
Each word pierced with surgical precision, slicing straight into the softest, most fragile place in Kozuki Toki's heart.
The resolve that had already been on the verge of collapse now shook violently.
Everything unfolded exactly as Tenma had predicted—
deep down, this lady had long harbored a determined intent to die.
"Since you also come from overseas, you can't possibly be unaware of how terrifying Kaido's monstrous strength is," she said after a long silence, slowly lifting her head.
"Kurozumi Orochi's faction is greedy and brutal as well—they would never spare a widow and child like us."
Her eyes were filled with bleak resignation, attempting to use the enemy's overwhelming power to make Tenma retreat, to sidestep this absurd proposal.
"And what if I told you," Tenma said softly, a faint smile on his lips,
"that all those problems you find so despairing—I can deal with them myself?"
"What if I told you I could kill Kurozumi Orochi… and drive Kaido and the entire Beasts Pirates out of Wano?"
"Impossible!"
Kozuki Toki blurted it out almost instinctively, her tone firm and decisive.
That terrifying existence—even Lord Oden himself had failed to defeat him.
How could a man before her, younger than Oden by several years, possibly chase such a monster away?
It was nothing short of fantasy.