Wano Country, Flower Capital, Shogun Palace.
"Swish, swish"
Just after the ninja and samurai guarding the entrance had been killed, another group appeared immediately afterward.
"A technique similar to Body Flicker?"
More than ten shuriken flew toward Rowan, but after embedding themselves into the floorboards, none of them had struck their target.
"Where did he go?"
"Intruder! Where's Lord Fukurokuju?"
"Where is he?!"
Amid the alarmed shouts, Rowan appeared behind them.
"Looking for me?"
The instant those words fell, six heads flew into the air.
Rowan sheathed his Asauchi calmly.
"I haven't attended swordsmanship class for two days already, so I can only use the simplest method decapitation."
The scene left Oden staring in shock behind him.
So decisive.
Every slash aimed directly for the enemy's life. This method of beheading had turned the courtyard into something resembling hell itself.
"What are you thinking?"
Rowan didn't even look back.
"Do you think we're playing some child's game? If you wound but don't kill, then later, because of that hesitation, the ones who die might be the retainers and subordinates who entrusted their lives to you."
"For a leader, indecision is a fatal flaw. It gets the people following you killed."
As the words fell, three more samurai appeared right where the marked kunai had landed earlier.
In a single instant, their throats were severed. Air rushed into their windpipes as the three collapsed to the ground clutching their necks, unable to produce even a scream.
"You should know which residence Kurozumi Orochi is in. Lead the way."
Rowan glanced behind him. Hearing that, Oden quickly stepped forward, and the two headed straight toward Orochi's quarters.
Meanwhile, after being helped to wash and dress by his attendants, Kurozumi Orochi sat embracing the most beautiful courtesan in the Flower Capital, preparing to enjoy a midday banquet.
Music played softly as Orochi swayed his bloated body, waving a folding fan from side to side.
Around him, every woman wore a flattering smile.
Ever since becoming Shogun five years ago, weapon factories had been established throughout Wano. Towering smokestacks now rose across Udon.
Men were forced into labor. The pitiful wages they received weren't even enough to stay alive, and anyone who dared resist was executed on the spot.
But even that failed to satisfy Orochi and Kaido.
The so-called five-year agreement had merely maintained the existing situation. After those five years, they intended to construct even more weapon factories throughout Wano.
As for wages?
As subjects serving their Shogun, working themselves to death should have been their duty, shouldn't it?
How could they possibly ask for wages?
Orochi stopped swaying and leered lustfully at the courtesan before him.
Soon.
As long as Kaido finished his preparations, they could finally reveal the truth to that fool Oden.
Then the enraged fool would gather the remaining people who still trusted him. At that point, the spy he had planted Kanjuro would pass along the intelligence, allowing the Beast Pirates to ambush them and wipe them out in one sweep!
The Kozuki clan would be completely exterminated.
And before that happened, the daimyo of each region, along with Hyogoro the Flower from the Flower Capital, all needed to be dealt with first.
Very soon now.
The day his revenge would finally be completed was close at hand!
"Bang!"
The room's door was kicked open, and two figures walked straight inside.
The moment he saw who it was, Orochi lost his grip on the sake bowl in his hand, which shattered on the floor.
"O-Oden?!"
Terrified, he panicked so badly that snot ran from his nose. His legs scrambled wildly against the floor until his back finally hit the wall behind him.
"You actually dared to break into the Shogun Palace? O-Oden, are you planning to break the agreement?! Someone like you would actually violate a promise?!"
Fear filled his voice, so much so that he completely failed to notice the black spatial mark sliding silently across the ground and attaching itself to him.
Oden stepped forward, his bloodstained swords aimed directly at Kurozumi Orochi.
"You never intended to honor the agreement, did you? Kaido is gathering his forces. From the very beginning, you never planned to keep your word, right?"
At that moment, the biwa-playing old man who had protected Orochi for the past five years, Kurozumi Semimaru, emerged from behind a folding screen. Crossing his index and middle fingers together, he erected a barrier in front of them.
In Orochi's mind, that barrier had already proven itself.
Five years ago, after Kozuki Oden returned from overseas, he had charged all the way from Kuri to the Flower Capital's Shogun Palace, yet neither Enma nor Ame no Habakiri had been able to break through the barrier.
That same disgusting, smug grin appeared once again on Orochi's face. He wiped the snot from his nose with his sleeve and glanced toward the frightened women huddled behind Oden.
"Continue! Keep playing, keep dancing! Don't mind us!"
The courtesans looked fearfully at Oden. Intimidated by Orochi's authority over the years, the women eventually picked up their instruments again with trembling hands.
Orochi smugly poured himself another bowl of sake.
"Oden, as long as you don't violate the agreement yourself, then naturally I'll keep my promise as well."
"Kaido is just a pirate. Once he gets what he wants, he'll leave. And I'll leave too. Go back to your Kuri and wait!"
Standing behind Oden with Kin'emon's face, Rowan saw hesitation appear on Oden's profile.
So just like Kaido had once said in his memories, people like Oden, Whitebeard, and Roger might possess overwhelming strength, but they also carried stupidity and naïveté.
King the Wildfire and Queen the Plague had already gathered at Onigashima. Was the Beast Pirates' military assembly supposed to be for some kind of banquet?
"Will... will you really leave?"
The instant the words fell, blood sprayed into the air.
"AAAAAH! MY HANDS!"
Kurozumi Semimaru screamed miserably as both of his hands dropped to the floor from the wrists. The barrier vanished, blood splattering everywhere.
Having appeared beside him in an instant, Rowan avoided the spray of blood. The moment he finished slashing, he reappeared behind Orochi, his blade pressed horizontally against the shogun's throat.
The sudden reversal caused the entire room to fall silent.
The trembling women playing music dropped their instruments and curled up in the corners, too terrified to even raise their heads.
"K-Kin'emon?! How is this possible?!"
Orochi's scream had completely cracked in pitch.
Even Oden looked at Rowan in shock.
"Wait!"
Rowan smiled faintly.
"I know. You still want answers from him. Don't worry, I won't give him any hints."
The way the two spoke was nothing like a lord and his retainer. Orochi's eyes darted frantically between them. Having lost all sense of safety, there was only one thing left in his mind now survival.
"You... you can't kill me!"
"I'm allied with Kaido! If you kill me, the Beast Pirates will never let Wano go!"
"Oden! Oden, make Kin'emon stop, hurry!"
"Do you want Wano to be destroyed?!"
"Oden!"
At this moment, Kurozumi Semimaru, who had lost both hands and could no longer form his special gestures, rolled around screaming in agony. Blood dyed the floor red, yet not a single person paid him any attention.
Rowan found the noise annoying, so a single kunai sent him straight into the prison.
Compared to the Celestial Dragons, the sin value was pitifully low, but no matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat.
At that moment, Oden spoke.
"Orochi... the spy you planted beside me... who was it?"
Rowan raised his brows slightly.
This fool actually seemed a little smarter this time. He hadn't directly asked whether Kanjuro was the hidden traitor.
At the same time, Oden's question caused Orochi to freeze momentarily, and Kanjuro's face instantly appeared in his mind.
"Hm."
A cold flash swept past.
One of Kurozumi Orochi's ears dropped onto the floor.
"AAAAAHHH!!"
As Orochi screamed miserably and instinctively tried rolling away to ease the pain, the icy blade immediately pressed against the side of his head.
In an instant, Orochi forcibly endured the agony, sweat pouring from his forehead.
"You only need to answer the question. Thinking too much will only make someone with your personality think about how to lie."
"For every question, you have two seconds to answer. If you exceed the time limit, I'll cut off your left ear next. Two seconds later, I'll cut off one finger. After ten fingers come the toes, then the wrists, ankles, limbs..."
After speaking, Rowan glanced at Oden.
"Start again."
Oden took a deep breath and looked back at Orochi.
"The spy you placed beside me... who was it?"
The moment the question ended, the counting of the devil at his side also began.
"One... two."
"AAAH!"
Orochi's other ear was severed and fell to the ground.
"It hurts!!"
"One... two."
"AAAH!"
A finger was nailed to the floor by a flying kunai, severed cleanly.
Immediately afterward, the demonic counting continued without pause.
"One"
"It was Kanjuro! Kanjuro!"
Oden's eyes widened violently, and his grip on Ame no Habakiri tightened until the blade trembled.
"If you dare speak nonsense, I'll kill you immediately!"
Panting heavily, Orochi collapsed limply onto the floor.
It wasn't as though he lacked power.
He possessed the Mythical Zoan, the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi. In that form, he had several extra lives.
But would extra lives matter against the two monsters in front of him?
After Kurozumi Semimaru's barrier had been broken, he no longer even dared face Oden, much less the "Kin'emon" capable of bypassing the barrier itself.
"I'll tell you everything! I'll tell you all of it!"
With both ears severed, Orochi's face was now drenched in blood. The hand missing a finger throbbed with unbearable pain, while cold sweat poured from his forehead.
"One... two."
"I already said it!"
"AAAH!"
Another finger dropped to the floor.
Rowan still kept the blade pressed against the side of Orochi's face while continuing his countdown.
But this time, before Rowan could even finish saying "one," Orochi completely broke and began spilling everything like beans from a cracked jar.
"Kurozumi Kanjuro. His parents were members of a performance troupe in Wano, and they were implicated and killed during the Kozuki clan's purge of the rebels."
"Long ago, I arranged for him to go to Kuri. By doing something as trivial as stealing hair, he caught your attention, eventually became your retainer, and earned your trust."
"Kanjuro was born an actor. He could completely immerse his heart into the role he played. No one could ever notice anything strange about him."
Oden's expression became extremely ugly.
Although he had mentally prepared himself since yesterday, now that he understood the details, he felt even more foolish and naïve.
If Kanjuro truly was the spy, then it also meant that from the very beginning, they had never intended to leave Wano.
"So the agreement from five years ago... you never intended to honor it, did you?"
"Once the time came, you planned to completely rule Wano, didn't you?"
That question caused Kurozumi Orochi to stiffen. His mind spun frantically as he tried to think of an answer.
He could admit Kanjuro was the spy. Since Oden had already asked about it, suspicion clearly existed already. That chess piece was ruined.
But admitting that they planned to break their promise once the deadline arrived?
He didn't dare.
Because he knew very well that Kaido was now his only chance at survival. As long as the other side still held concerns, he could continue living. Even if he became a prisoner, he could still search for another opportunity later.
"One"
That devil Kin'emon!
Orochi didn't dare hesitate. Enduring the pain, he forced out a smile toward Oden.
"How could that be? Kaido is a great pirate from overseas. How could someone of that strength fail to honor an agreement?"
"Kaido is a pirate. He has no desire to govern a country. Wano simply possesses the mineral resources he needs. Once he's finished plundering them, he'll naturally leave."
"Oden, you've personally experienced Kaido's strength. If you break the agreement yourself, then once Kaido becomes enraged, he'll destroy all of Wano!"
"At that time, how many people will die? As a member of the Kozuki family, your clan has ruled this country as shoguns for generations. Your people dying in war, Wano falling into flames and chaos... is that really what you want to see?"
Oden's brows furrowed deeply.
And Orochi spoke faster and faster, joy gradually appearing on his face.
He believed he could survive.
"Think about it. If you kill me now, then the promised day will be void."
"Five years! You've danced that humiliating dance for almost five whole years! Are you really going to give up now?"
"For a worthless, lowly life like mine, you'd plunge all of Wano into war? Once Wano loses, everyone will become slaves of the Beast Pirates. Every single person will work themselves to death in Udon's mines..."
"Oden... is it really worth it?"
"As long as you wait until the agreed day arrives, I guarantee it! I guarantee Kaido and I will leave Wano!"
The manipulative words echoed continuously, while Oden's face grew worse and worse.
He unconsciously followed Orochi's words, scenes of Wano consumed by war flashing through his mind.
"So your mouth really is impressive. Ever since your childhood in Shimotsuki Yasuie's estate, you've relied on this tongue of yours to manipulate people."
Rowan slowly raised his blade.
Kurozumi Orochi trembled violently.
"Kin'emon! Your lord hasn't even spoken yet! You can't kill me!"
In the next instant, the form of the Yamata no Orochi appeared.
He feared death. In this form, he could die several more times.
"BOOM!"
A violent burst of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward before compressing into the Asauchi.
Fushan!
At the peak of speed, a flash of cold light swept across the necks of the Yamata no Orochi.
The instant Rowan landed, all eight heads had already fallen to the floor.
Within his Observation Haki, a trembling figure still hid behind the folding screen.
"You've been hiding back there this whole time, and Orochi never intended to expose you either. The Clone-Clone Fruit... was he planning to leave Kozuki's revenge to you?"
"AH!"
The blade swung down, splitting the folding screen cleanly in two.
In the corner, a figure crouched there, trembling uncontrollably with their head lowered.
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