Kaido had been eyeing Kuri ever since that one tea party.
Various pieces of evidence suggested that Kuri's daimyo and Inazuma's Ren were not the same person. He had coveted the prosperous region of Kuri for some time, yet even so, he hadn't acted rashly.
Although the leader of Kuri and the leader of Inazuma overseas were likely not the same individual, the two sides shared a close relationship. Kaido had deduced this much on his own.
Unlike the rest of Wano Country, Kuri's technology was remarkably advanced. Those machine-like birds that occasionally circled Kuri's skies bore a striking resemblance to Inazuma's technology.
"Perhaps Kuri's daimyo is also a member of Inazuma?"
Kaido wasn't entirely certain. But even if that wasn't the case, the daimyo's strength alone was enough to command his respect.
He hadn't made a move himself, but neither could he bear to let such a juicy piece of meat slip away. So he decided to manipulate Orochi into sending his men to test the waters first.
"Yo, Orochi. You've been living it up lately, haven't you?"
Kaido descended from the sky. His massive dragon form had swept over the Flower Capital's skyline more times than anyone could count, yet every appearance still sent the citizens into a wave of terror.
To date, Kaido had never caused any incidents within the Flower Capital proper. But not long ago, he had gotten drunk at a banquet and obliterated an entire mountain in the wilderness with a single breath!
The glow of the burning forest had raged for three days and nights from that terrifying evening, only finally dying out when the rains came.
"Life doesn't get any better than this."
Orochi took a swig of sake as he spoke. He had indeed been riding high lately — spending his idle hours in the city watching Oden dance, and whenever the pressure built up, turning to Lady Kozuki for relief.
Orochi had even brought Lady Kozuki along to watch Oden's performances more than once. Each time, he was absolutely delighted.
Lately, Orochi had been toying with the idea of fathering a child.
He had long since resolved to die. In his own mind, he was Ren's servant — and the fact that his personal affairs had delayed Ren's acquisition of Wano Country was an unforgivable sin.
Once the plan was complete, Orochi had no intention of remaining alive.
But perhaps he could leave behind one last heir for the Kurozumi clan.
Lady Kozuki was so understanding — surely she would be happy to help.
The thought made Orochi chuckle. But remembering that Kaido was still present, he restrained himself somewhat and asked instead.
"Kaido, what brings you to my door? Don't you have better things to do?"
Kaido was a busy man. Although Wano Country served as his stronghold, he spent most of his time overseas. After all, with Orochi managing things on the ground and the situation being relatively stable, there was little need for his constant presence.
"Well, Orochi — you may be the Shogun now, but there's still one piece left unfinished, isn't there?"
Kaido said. "If you can't bring Kuri under your control, you can't really say you've conquered all of Wano Country, can you?"
"Kuri? I have no interest in that place."
Orochi feigned ignorance. He knew exactly what Kaido was getting at, but there was no way he was going to move against Kuri.
He quickly added an explanation. "When I was young, Kuri was nothing more than lawless territory. I never once set foot there, so Kuri means nothing to me."
"If you've got your eye on Kuri, then go ahead and handle it yourself."
Orochi waved dismissively, flatly rejecting Kaido's proposal.
"Tch, cunning bastard."
Kaido cursed inwardly. But on the surface, he said nothing to disrupt the harmony between them — he had always been a patient man when it suited him.
Since Orochi wouldn't cooperate, Kaido would simply have to send his own people instead.
He didn't plan to go himself. The idea was to first test Kuri's actual strength. So he assembled several squads to strike Kuri from different angles simultaneously.
Among them were four individuals — the former prison guards from the Udon quarry. Ever since their last failure, their standing within the Beasts Pirates had plummeted.
That said, the Beasts Pirates ultimately respected strength above all else. Over the following years, those four had performed decently enough in skirmishes against the samurai resistance, and they had been given another chance.
Still, with fresh blood constantly flowing into the Beasts Pirates' ranks over the years, Kaido no longer placed much value on their combat abilities.
Sending them to probe Kuri was, in truth, partly a test — if they failed, Kaido wouldn't lose much sleep over it.
In Kaido's mind, taking Kuri was non-negotiable. It was only a matter of time.
He intended to make Wano Country his future headquarters. How could he tolerate an uncontrolled territory sitting right in the middle of his domain?
Sending scouts now was simply about gauging Kuri's true capabilities and testing the depth of their connection to Inazuma.
He could only hope that Deckro and the others wouldn't disappoint him.
Glug glug glug...
He sat on Onigashima, downing massive gulps of sake, his face flushed with drink.
Deckro, Wolf, Ricklos, and Bald boarded a ship at Onigashima and set out on their mission.
"This is our chance!"
Deckro was a tall, powerfully built man. He looked at his three fellow outcasts with determination.
"Kaido is paying close attention to the Kuri situation. If we can prove ourselves here, we'll get our status back for sure!"
"You don't need to tell me that, Deckro!"
Wolf's face was dark and brooding. As the user of the Hyena Fruit, his combat style was every bit as tenacious and aggravating as the beast itself.
"I think both Orochi that idiot and Kaido are overestimating this Kuri place."
Ricklos spoke up. He maintained a half-beast form at all times — a massive, razor-sharp rhinoceros horn jutted upward from his forehead, with a smaller horn on his nose. The overall effect made him look somewhat like Ashura Doji's oni form.
"You've all seen how weak the people of this country are. Even those so-called rebels have been run ragged by us over the years. I bet Kuri will be more of the same."
"Don't get careless. If your stupidity ruins this operation, Kaido won't be the only one who'll skin you alive — I won't let you off either!"
Wolf's voice was ice-cold.
He had grown thoroughly sick of Ricklos and his brainless bravado. This mission was a rare opportunity, and he had no intention of spending the rest of his life as a bottom-feeder in the Beasts Pirates.
"Stop squabbling. We're splitting up anyway — whether any of you succeeds or fails won't affect the others."
Deckro stepped between them, unwilling to let these two start fighting before the mission even began.
"If you've got energy to argue, use it to pick your approach and plan your moves!"
"Hmph. I'm taking the northern route."
Wolf sneered and chose to infiltrate from the northern coastline.