Although Kiku's actions caught everyone off guard, the others reacted quickly.
Nekomamushi instantly stood in front of Kanjuro, spreading his arms: "Kiku, calm down. What exactly happened?"
Kiku's movements did not stop at all, and he slashed Nekomamushi.
Nekomamushi's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
Just as Kiku was about to continue, Denjiro's scabbard blocked him.
He looked at Kiku with a solemn expression: "Kiku, what are you doing? You hurt a comrade!"
The others also stepped forward, standing in the middle of the group, separating the two sides.
Inuarashi's hand was already on his twin swords.
Although the Nine Red Scabbards were all retainers of Oden, their relationships with each other were good.
However, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi grew up together, and before their falling out, their relationship was the closest among them all.
Now that Nekomamushi was inexplicably slashed, Inuarashi had to demand an explanation.
"Comrade?"
Kiku reached into his robe, pulled out the secret letter, and with a flick of his wrist, the letter was pinned to the door: "I have no traitorous comrades like that!"
"This letter clearly states that all four of them are going to defect to Kaido!"
His eyes were bloodshot, and his sword energy shattered the stone table in the courtyard.
As he spoke, he tried to launch another attack.
Kin'emon roared: "Enough!"
"Everyone, calm down!"
Saying that, he raised his hand, took the secret letter from the door, opened it, and couldn't help but widen his eyes, looking at Kanjuro in disbelief.
Then he handed the secret letter to the others to read one by one.
Bang!
After reading the letter, Nekomamushi was furious.
His trident left a deep scratch on the wall behind him: "Who saw you intercept this letter?"
Nekomamushi, who was inexplicably slashed, was clearly a bit angry, and his words almost directly implied, "This letter was forged by you, Kiku."
In contrast, Inuarashi was clearly much calmer: "This... such an obvious attempt to sow discord, you wouldn't believe it, would you?"
Kawamatsu held his famous sword "Outer Unrivaled" across his chest, his relatively short stature among the nine blocking Kanjuro and Nekomamushi.
"Kiku, calm down! Anyone can forge this kind of letter."
His gill scales constantly opened and closed, clearly very anxious.
The nine individuals had already subtly formed two factions.
Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Kawamatsu clearly knew that the content of the secret letter was forged, so they naturally chose to trust Kanjuro.
As the first person to discover the secret letter and bring it back, Kiku, on the other hand, firmly believed its contents.
The others remained relatively calm; they neither fully believed nor disbelieved it, but intended to clarify the matter first.
Kin'emon pressed Kiku's shoulder: "Don't be so quick to act!"
His voice was low: "The letter only says that the four of them want to defect, but it doesn't say how they will defect."
Denjiro carefully examined the letter paper nearby: "The handwriting does look like Kanjuro's."
He turned to Kanjuro, staring intently at him: "And it says here that you are from the Kurozumi family, and your original name is Kurozumi Kanjuro. Do you have anything to explain?"
"I... how could I betray Lord Oden..."
Kanjuro knelt on the ground, his face covered in tears and snot: "That night I even drew a family portrait for everyone..."
Kanjuro suddenly tore open his robe, revealing his chest: "If you don't believe me, then cut open this body and see!"
As he spoke, he grabbed Kiku's sword and pressed it towards his abdomen, but Denjiro blocked it with his own sword.
Kin'emon lightly tapped the ground with his scabbard, and after a long time, still couldn't come up with a suitable solution.
He gritted his teeth: "Since that's the case, we'll go find Lord Oden and let him decide."
"Good! Let's go find Lord Oden!"
Kawamatsu's scales gleamed dark blue in the sunlight, one hand gripping his sword hilt: "If anyone dares to act again..."
His gaze was fixed on Kiku: "I will consider him a true traitor!"
Oden, who had finished dancing, had returned home and was playing with eight-year-old Momonosuke.
The Nine Red Scabbards entered in two groups, their faces grim.
Suppressing their anger, everyone bowed to Oden: "Lord Oden."
"Why are you here?"
Kozuki Oden asked with a puzzled expression, then dismissed it, smiling at everyone: "Come quickly and see, little Momonosuke can now complete a full set of swordsmanship."
Kiku, however, directly knelt on the ground, crying and saying: "Lord Oden, Kanjuro..."
"No, it's Kurozumi Kanjuro and the other three who want to betray you."
"You must not let them go!"
"Nonsense!"
Nekomamushi angrily interrupted Kiku, pointing to the sword wound he had received from the other party, and said to Oden: "This guy got a letter from somewhere that says Inuarashi, Kawamatsu, Kanjuro and I betrayed Lord Oden."
"After returning, he drew his sword and attacked without a word."
"I think he's completely insane!"
Kozuki Oden was completely bewildered by what he heard.
He wasn't very bright to begin with, and Kiku's current state left him stunned.
What letter?
How did Kanjuro become Kurozumi Kanjuro?
Which four want to betray me?
It was Kin'emon who stepped forward and carefully explained the whole story.
After listening, Oden couldn't help but laugh heartily: "Hahahahaha..."
"I believe Kanjuro and the others would not betray me."
He first characterized the matter, then said: "Drawing swords against each other at this time is the true betrayal."
"Lord Oden..."
Kiku still wanted to say something, but Oden raised his hand to interrupt him: "Kiku, of course I believe you."
"But if anyone has betrayed anyone—"
His Ame-no-Habakiri at his waist suddenly unsheathed, completely shredding the secret letter.
He looked around at everyone, then pointed to himself: "It's better to suspect me, this lord who let the country fall."
It must be said that Kozuki Oden was called a hero, and although his thought process was abnormal for this world, it was not entirely without reason.
After all, this kind of unreserved trust could indeed move his subordinates.
Indeed, seeing Oden's actions, the Nine Red Scabbards immediately knelt, expressing their tearful gratitude and willingness to die for Oden.
In the distance, Black, who was enjoying the song and dance, was observing this scene through his Observation Haki.
He was not surprised that the secret letter did not have much effect.
If such a simple scheme to sow discord could cause the Nine Red Scabbards to fall apart, then their original relationship would have been too fragile.
But it doesn't matter.
The seed of doubt has been sown.
When faced with important choices, can they still trust each other unreservedly?
Black's letter was not originally prepared for the current situation.
When they face a crisis of trust or a conflict erupts between them, these people will naturally remember today's letter.
And that day is not far off.