"Even Oden lost?"
"Is there really no hope left for this country?"
The citizens of the Flower Capital held back their tears, keeping their heads down, afraid to face the cruel sight before them. But their trembling shoulders and crumbling will dragged them deep into the abyss of despair.
It was over. The hope they had nurtured in their hearts for over a decade had been erased in an instant. Even during the past five years, some had clung to a faint thread of expectation.
They had mocked him as a fool, yet all the while they couldn't stop hoping that this man would awaken from his daze and bring a new dawn to Wano Country.
But now, the man they had placed all their hopes on — Oden — had lost.
The legendary Oden!
The invincible Oden!
In the end, he had fallen to Orochi and Kaido.
Where was the person who could defeat these two?
Where was the person who could save this country?
Or rather — did such a person even exist?
Perhaps only a god could —
"I..."
"Did I lose..."
Kozuki Oden struggled to open his eyes. His gaze, filtered through pupils dyed red with blood and through the gaps between Kaido's rough fingers, fixed on his opponent.
He could hear everything. The wails of despair rising from the citizens' hearts. Kaido's triumphant, derisive laughter.
And the cries of everyone who had believed in him!
And then — thunder!
"Cough—" He opened his mouth as if to speak, but the moment he did, a torrent of blood flooded his throat, forcing him into a fit of coughing.
"Cough, cough—"
"What are you struggling for, Oden?" Orochi strolled forward, playing the role of a clown, guiding Kozuki Oden toward his final lines. "You've already lost. The Kozuki Clan is nothing but a pack of miserable failures!"
"Cough — I may be a useless failure... but — cough — Orochi!" In the eyes of the dying Oden, a sudden light flared, as though some force had dragged him back from the brink of death. His voice surged. "But there is someone who can save this country!"
He roared, blood-spray nearly reaching Kaido's face. And his voice carried to the ears of every citizen of the Flower Capital who was present.
He was crying with grief even as he screamed through a throat already gone hoarse.
"Please save this country that is beyond saving!"
"I'm begging you!"
He ground his teeth to splinters, as though praying with his own blood — to an unknown god within the thunderclouds.
BOOM — RUMBLE —
The thunder drew closer.
"Taken too many blows and lost his mind, has he?" Orochi gave a contemptuous sneer and shook his head coldly. But in Kaido's heart, a faint sense of dread was beginning to stir.
Come to think of it — when did these thunderclouds appear?
His face darkened. He had realized that his worst premonition was about to come true.
"Be careful — he's — it's—"
CRASH — ZZZT!
Kaido had been watching the sky. His warning was still unfinished when a bolt of lightning erupted without warning.
Brilliant violet lightning tore across the sky like a blade cleaving the heavens. The branching electrical web seemed to shatter the entire world.
A bolt thicker than a house came crashing down without the slightest warning. Terrifying currents released enormous energy into the air, filling the atmosphere with a piercing, crackling shriek.
Amidst the surging thunder, it was as though a dragon had risen from the earth — spiraling lightning shattered every stone slab along the Flower Capital's streets, yet precisely avoided the common citizens.
Kaido and Orochi narrowly evaded the strike. They stood with grave expressions, gazing up at the heavens.
A purple-haired man, lightning wreathing his hands, looked down upon them with an expression of absolute supremacy. No — not just them. He looked down upon the entire world.
The citizens of the Flower Capital, who had been drowning in despair, now saw that man — the one who had torn through the night like a thunderbolt, a being akin to a god of lightning.
"...gulp..."
"There's someone... in the sky..."
"...A person? Isn't that... a god?"
"Could that be..." The deathly silence in their hearts seemed to pulse back to life, as though jolted by electricity.
The god they had prayed to had actually appeared. They had heard that the people of Kuri worshipped their lord as the Thunder God. They hadn't expected the rumors to be literal.
If he was a god — could they win?
"...Master of Inazuma, the Lightning's Ren — so you really are that lord of Kuri?"
"Lord of Kuri? That's an ancient title. I am the Musou no Hitotachi. Or, if you prefer — you may call me this country's new master — the Raiden Shogun!"
Ren's words carried not a trace of emotion. He spoke coldly, matter-of-factly, as though this were simply the natural order of things.
How could mortals question the will of a god? Let alone defy it.
"That's not going to happen. This is the one country I will never surrender!" Kaido said through gritted teeth. He had poured years of his life into subjugating this land. Even the Lightning Lord of Inazuma couldn't make him retreat.
Besides, Kaido had confidence in himself.
He was in his thirties, every ability at its absolute peak. He believed his strength was second to none — not even Shiki or Whitebeard could surpass him!
With Orochi fighting alongside him, he might well be a match for Ren.
"Enough pointless talk. Since you're pirates — let's settle this with strength!"
Kaido inhaled deeply, drawing the electricity-laced air into his lungs, then let out a tremendous exhalation that purged every trace of fatigue from his body.
Thanks to his Zoan-type recovery and a technique similar to Life Return, his metabolism spiked by dozens of times in an instant. The wounds on his body vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving not even scars behind.
He still had plenty of stamina. A Zoan user's greatest asset was endurance.
Kaido planted his feet on Flame Clouds and surged toward Ren like a moon-chasing phantom. He gripped Hassaikai in both hands and began charging before even leaving the ground — closing the distance in a single instant, his kanabo already bearing the resolve to pulverize anything in its path.
Ren watched the kanabo swell before his eyes, its barbed spikes clearly reflected in his pupils. Yet he didn't even draw the blade held in his left hand. He simply traced his right hand through the air.
CRACK.
Behind him, the entire world shattered like a mirror.
[
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