Flower Capital, a dilapidated tavern.
The setting sun dyed the tavern's broken wooden door blood-red, and inside, smoke billowed as several patrons stared intently at the visual den den mushi on the bar.
On the screen, Kozuki Oden, curled up in a boiling oil pot, cried out:
"I admit it! That logbook was made up by me. I was just a handyman on Roger's ship..."
"I just wanted to trick Wano Country into trusting me, then sell Wano Country to the World Government."
"Lord Kaido, I know I was wrong! Please spare me!"
A craftsman clenched his wine cup:
"Pah! What 'Light of the Samurai,' turns out he's just a spineless coward."
"Exactly... hic!"
Another drunkard swayed his head as he chimed in:
"That Kozuki Oden kid, he was never a good person since he was little."
"Go ask around in Kuri, people there hide their wives and daughters every time Kozuki Oden goes out."
An old fisherman shook his head:
"Even the visual den den mushi recorded it, so it must be true. I really didn't expect Kozuki Oden to be such a person."
...At Kuri Port, an old shipwright threw the figurehead Oden had personally carved into the furnace:
"I built ships for you for twenty years, and your begging looks uglier than a wild dog!"
...At the Hakumai gambling house, the dealer smashed Oden's signed Dice into a stinking ditch:
"From today on, only General Kurozumi's new Dice are allowed."
...Similar scenes played out across Wano Country.
Hearing people either sighing in disappointment or cursing loudly, Lady Toki held Hiyori tightly in her arms, following behind Black.
She knew that the Kozuki family's reputation was completely ruined.
On the day of the execution, only a minority of people actually witnessed Kozuki Oden's performance, but the video edited by Black had spread like wildfire throughout Wano Country.
What's more, Momonosuke was also dead, and she and Hiyori were about to become the Slave of this Celestial Dragon in front of them.
Thinking of all this, Lady Toki painfully closed her eyes.
Black, on the other hand, was in a very good mood, humming a tune continuously.
Seeing his triumphant look, Robin couldn't help but mock:
"To blacken a hero into a clown, what a despicable act."
Black looked at Robin in surprise, a look of disdain on his face:
"If you can see that idiot Kozuki Oden as a hero, then maybe you shouldn't study history anymore, I'm afraid you won't learn."
Although Robin had mocked him, Black's mood remained very good.
He just couldn't stand Kozuki Oden, he just wanted to stir up trouble, so what?
...With Oden's execution over, Kaido did not make things difficult for the Nine Red Scabbards, but instead let them go.
When the group returned to Oden's home, they found that Lady Toki and Hiyori were gone, and on the ground lay only Momonosuke's corpse, with his limbs and head severed.
"Young Master!"
They all rushed forward, trying to put Momonosuke's body back together, but it was useless.
The group discussed it and decided to bury Momonosuke first, then set off to find Lady Toki.
When they returned to the Flower Capital, they heard almost the entire city discussing Kozuki Oden's agonizing plea for mercy from Kaido.
Ashura Doji was furious and was about to rush forward to argue with someone, but Kin'emon stopped him.
The latter's eyes also burned with anger, but he quickly calmed down:
"Let's first find out what's going on!"
This process was not smooth; the people of the Flower Capital did not give them a good look after seeing them.
Sarcasm was already the mildest reaction; some aggressive elders even intended to draw their swords and duel with the group.
After much hassle, they finally learned what had happened from a shop owner who had witnessed the execution that day, and they also obtained an edited video.
The group returned to their former residence and began watching the video.
Bang!
Kiku slammed his sake bowl to the ground, then kicked over the table, drew his sword, and walked outside.
Denjiro quickly pulled him back:
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to kill all those who dare to speak ill of Lord Oden!!!"
Kiku shook off Denjiro's arm and continued to walk out.
Inuarashi stood in the doorway, earnestly saying:
"But now the entire Flower Capital is spreading this; are you going to kill everyone?"
Unexpectedly, Kiku drew his sword and stabbed.
Inuarashi reacted quickly, rolling to the side to dodge, and shouted loudly:
"Kiku, are you crazy?"
Kiku showed no intention of holding back, continuing to attack Inuarashi while roaring:
"Even now you're still putting on an act?!"
"I've long known that you guys have already sided with Kaido!"
"Tell me! Did you hide the Lady and the Young Lady?"
Inuarashi parried Kiku's blade with his two swords:
"Didn't you see how many Beasts Pirates I killed last night?"
"Lord Oden said the secret letter matter was over; are you still going to cling to it?"
"You're full of nonsense!"
Kiku's attacks became more ferocious:
"Yesterday, the Beasts Pirates had a large army set up at the port waiting for us."
"If you guys hadn't sent word to Kaido, how could he have known about our plan?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone who had originally intended to intervene stood still, silent.
Indeed, yesterday, because the battle started too quickly and was too intense, no one had time to consider this matter.
Only now, upon careful reflection, besides what Kaido initially said, the fact that the enemy appeared there at all was a very strange thing.
One must know that Kozuki Oden's plan was a direct decapitation strike against Kaido, but it ultimately turned into a frontal confrontation.
Therefore, among those in the know, there must have been at least one mole.
In this way, the credibility of the secret letter that Kiku intercepted a few days ago began to rise sharply.
Everyone looked at each other.
Kin'emon and others, who had originally been inclined not to believe the secret letter incident, also began to have doubts.
Denjiro slowly drew his sword:
"Regardless, let's get the two of them to stop first."
Clang!
Just as Denjiro was about to step forward, Nekomamushi's trident appeared before him:
"Don't even think about ganging up on him!"
At this, the other few also drew their swords.
Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Kawamatsu were all wrongly accused; they genuinely believed the secret letter was fake, and the traitor could not possibly be the three of them, much less Kanjuro.
The existing conflicts among the Nine Red Scabbards could still be suppressed while Kozuki Oden was alive.
Now, not only were Kozuki Oden and Momonosuke dead, but even Lady Toki was missing, and they couldn't find anyone to make decisions, so their individual ideas began to clash.
Clang, clang, clang!
In the courtyard, the sounds of battle rang out, and the Nine Red Scabbards began a free-for-all.
The Secret Letter Team, consisting of Kanjuro, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Kawamatsu, fought against the Loyalty Team, consisting of Kin'emon, Denjiro, Raizo, Ashura Doji, and Kiku.