Flower Capital, the Shogun's Palace.
"Captain Fukurokuju… why do you look like you've lost your soul?!"
"Captain?!"
"What's wrong with him? He won't even answer us!"
"..."
The palace staff stared at Fukurokuju in confusion. No one could understand how the captain of the ninjas…
could look this utterly dazed, as if he'd been possessed.
Bang!
Fukurokuju bumped into someone and jolted. When he looked up, Sukiyaki was standing right in front of him, brow furrowed as he demanded with authority, "Fukurokuju where is your discipline? Your vigilance as a ninja?"
"Are you truly fit to hold the position of leader of the Oniwabanshu?!"
"Sukiyaki-sama!" Fukurokuju dropped to his knees at once in a formal bow.
Sukiyaki said flatly, "Inside. We'll talk in the room."
Inside the chamber.
All the daimyo turned their eyes to Fukurokuju behind Sukiyaki, eager to know what progress he'd made investigating Tengetsu Ares.
Sukiyaki's irritation boiled over. "Fukurokuju don't tell me your assassination failed?!"
"..." Fukurokuju fell silent for a moment, then forced out, "Sukiyaki-sama… that man, Ares… Ares is a monster."
At once, the room filled with frowns. Nobody liked that answer.
Sukiyaki barked, "Then what exactly did you see?!"
"I… I saw Ares using a massive kanabo coating it in Ryuo and hammering his own body over and over. And then he transformed into a terrifying, feral beast and controlled lightning, striking himself again and again. He trained for hours without stopping…"
"One night. An entire day and night. Two days and nights…"
As Fukurokuju spoke, fear clung to his face like a shadow he couldn't shake. It was clear he was terrified of Tengetsu Ares.
The moment the report ended
the daimyo turned pale.
Shimotsuki Ushimaru's eyes widened. "Hey Fukurokuju, are you joking?! Who the hell beats their own body with a Ryuo-coated kanabo? Isn't he afraid of dying?!"
"That man… that man's body is harder than steel," Fukurokuju replied.
At that, Uzuki Tempura slumped to the floor. "How is that possible… Ryuo can strike the inside of the body. He can really withstand it?!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie stared in disbelief. "You're lying, aren't you? Fukurokuju are you just trying to dodge the assassination by making up something this absurd?!"
Fūgetsu Omusubi clicked his tongue. "One night… two nights… just how terrifying are his Haki and his body?!"
"..."
Fukurokuju's smile turned bitter. "I'm not lying. If you'd seen it yourselves… you'd be terrified too!"
Fukurokuju didn't sound like he was faking it.
Sukiyaki's face darkened, brows knotted tight. "Tengetsu Ares… is he truly that frightening?"
At that moment, Shimotsuki Yasuie offered, "Shogun Sukiyaki, Kozuki Oden fought him, didn't he? Summon Oden and ask him. Then we'll know."
At the mention of that "unfilial son," Sukiyaki's expression turned ugly. But to confirm the intel, he immediately ordered his men to call Kozuki Oden.
Not long after
Kozuki Oden arrived, wrapped in bandages from head to toe.
The moment they saw him, every daimyo's expression shifted.
Kozuki Oden was the famed warrior who once cut down the "Mountain God" in a single stroke, his name echoing across region after region.
Yet now…
he looked miserable, wrapped in gauze like a walking mummy.
Sukiyaki's face twitched in shock. "Oden are those injuries really from Ares?!"
Oden sat down and immediately started stuffing his face with the food on the table. "Yeah. That guy's terrifying. He beat me with one punch. Strongest person I've ever seen."
With Oden's confirmation, the daimyo fell into grim silence.
Sukiyaki pressed again. "And his body was it terrifying?"
"No."
Sukiyaki froze. Fukurokuju froze too.
For an instant, it felt like Fukurokuju's lies had been exposed
until Oden set down his sake jug and continued, "Not terrifying."
"It was absolutely terrifying."
He slapped Enma and Ame no Habakiri onto the table with a loud clack, his face deadly serious. "Back then, even with these two blades, I couldn't cut his body open. Even my strongest technique got crushed by his fist…"
"But one day, I'll beat him!"
"..."
In the room, only Oden's voice remained.
Everyone else fell silent.
Shimotsuki Ushimaru, a swordsman himself, felt his scalp go numb. "You're saying… even Enma and Ame no Habakiri couldn't hurt him?"
Those were Ō Wazamono a tier below only the Saijō Ō Wazamono.
Blades that could cleave steel like paper.
Shimotsuki Yasuie's eyes trembled. "They're Ō Wazamono… and you've already grasped the Breath of All Things. How could it be…"
"How could you not even cut his skin?!"
They were shaken beyond belief.
Perhaps if Oden went to sea, fought, and returned years later at his peak, he could wound Ares.
But right now…
this Oden was still a king in a closed pond.
Against a top-tier monster, he wasn't enough.
Oden smacked his lips. "If you don't believe me, go try yourselves. But that guy wants to open the country "
"Silence!!"
Sukiyaki erupted. "Don't even think about opening Wano! Even if I die, I will never allow it! That is Wano's will for centuries!!!"
"..." Oden blinked, startled by how violent his father's reaction was.
But he was used to it.
His old man refused to open Wano and refused to let him sail.
Sukiyaki immediately had Oden thrown out.
Inside the chamber
the air grew heavy again.
Sukiyaki rubbed his temples, voice strained. "So the direct assassination plan won't work. Then what poison?!"
"But would poison even work?!"
He wasn't convinced.
And poisoning was even more disgraceful than an assassination attempt. If it enraged Tengetsu Ares and sparked an all-out war in Wano…
that was the last thing Sukiyaki wanted.
For a while, everyone was trapped.
Headaches. No answers.
People said a strong dragon couldn't suppress the local snake.
But the dragon called Ares was…
a monster beyond monsters.
Then Shimotsuki Ushimaru suddenly said, "What if… we propose formal matches?"
"Even if Ares is strong, his subordinates won't all be as strong as he is. Best two out of three or best three out of five. We're not without a chance."
The suggestion made Sukiyaki's eyes brighten before caution returned.
"It's not a bad idea. If we win, we can force them to leave Wano. But if we lose…"
"If we lose even once, can we accept the conditions he'll demand?"
Shimotsuki Yasuie spoke quietly, "Sukiyaki-sama, let's set that aside for now. First we learn more about Ares's side, and see if there's a better way…"
No one dared suggest war.
Ares had tens of thousands of men.
And the strength to drop Oden with a single punch.
If war truly began…
what Wano would become afterward none of them could predict.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
The story's already ahead on Patron. Go there if you want to catch up faster!
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"