Chapter 53: Black Charcoal’s Revenge! Double Tier-Zero! (Please keep reading!)

"A... a boy?"

Against the blood-red light of the setting sun, Shimotsuki Yasuie finally made out the figure standing atop the giant snail, his eyes widening in gradual disbelief.

So young?
Could there be some kind of mistake?
A strange sense of dissonance welled up in his heart.

"Damn brat! You're the one behind all this, aren't you?! I'll never forgive you!"

Lacking any of Yasuie's hesitation, the strongest samurai in Wano Country sprang forward the exact moment he laid eyes on Roa. "Go to hell! Oden Nitoryu: Gun - Oni-Gari!"

*Zero regard for martial arts etiquette!*

Even Roa was momentarily stunned.
Who actually fights like this?
Is skipping the pre-battle exchange not a rule in the Jianghu?

Behind him, his bodyguard Alber felt his pupils contract violently.

*Too fast!*
There was no longer time to intercept the blow for Lord Roa!

Therefore, Roa had no choice but to act himself.
Facing a monster like Kozuki Oden, there was naturally no room to hold back.

Pitch-black fur instantly erupted across his skin as the treasured blade at his waist flashed out of its scabbard.
Without any overwhelmingly massive Haki injected into the steel, a crimson current of energy instead surged forth. But the very next instant, that churning blast of pressure violently condensed, forcibly suppressed against the surface of the blade by an invisible force.

The blood-red aura was so densely concentrated it practically resembled flowing liquid, giving the entire sword an even more eerie and ominous luster.

*This sword!*
A fierce alarm bell rang instantly in the mind of the enraged Kozuki Oden.
This was no ordinary weapon!
And anyone capable of wielding such a blade was undeniably far from ordinary!

"Tiger Roar!"

Roa vaulted forward, meeting Kozuki Oden head-on like a crimson comet.
Then, he swung his blade.

The scarlet edge collided with Oden's crossed swords.
Like a roaring tiger, the power accumulated within the blade instantly bloomed as crimson lightning cracked and split the air.

*BOOM!*

The terrifying explosion unleashed a blinding radiance that far outshone the setting sun, while the earth-shattering roar drowned out all other sound.
The ground, already reduced to barren wasteland by the earlier bombardment, shattered into dust. The daimyo standing behind were nearly blown away entirely by the shockwave of their collision.

The dancing arcs of lightning suddenly vanished, and the two figures ricocheted backward like cannonballs.

Oden landed heavily back among the daimyo, while Roa stumbled back a few steps after landing atop the snail's head.

"Not bad!"
Roa wasn't the least bit surprised.
Kozuki Oden was a powerhouse on Kaido's level.

Yet, the shock Roa delivered to the samurai was far greater.

"Am I dreaming?"
Kin'emon was already drenched in cold sweat. "That boy... he actually blocked a blow from Lord Oden!"

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"
A young Kyoshiro—future boss Kyoshiro—stuttered, "He looks even younger than I am!"

The expressions of the daimyo turned grave.
Their forces had already suffered catastrophic losses in the previous bombardment.
And if the enemy, who already possessed overwhelming military might, also housed someone capable of matching Oden blow for blow...

"Don't panic!"
At this critical juncture, Shimotsuki Yasuie stepped forward to steady the morale of the troops. "He's just a boy after all! Oden is stronger!"

*Right. The clash just now clearly showed Oden having the upper hand.*
Only then did the others swallow their anxiety.

At that moment, Roa complained with a hint of grievance, "Talk about lacking manners, Kozuki Oden. I deliberately called off the artillery strike, yet you didn't even give me a chance to negotiate?"

Oden froze. The other daimyo froze as well.
*This guy knows Oden?*
*How could he possibly know Oden?*

"Seriously, what if we reached an agreement and didn't even have to fight? Think how awkward everyone would be then," Roa sighed.

"I doubt there is anything for us to discuss!" Shimotsuki Yasuie's gaze turned glacial. "Between us and the invaders, there is only life and death!"

"Locals are so cold-hearted. It really breaks the heart of a pacifist like me," Roa sighed, tilting his head back toward the sky. "Big Brother Kaido, it's your turn. Does this Kozuki Oden guy live up to your standards?"

The samurai all froze in confusion.
Then, with rising terror, they watched as a colossal entity slowly lowered its head from the clouds above.

"Uororororo! So there are warriors like this among the samurai!"

The massive Azure Dragon grasped the flame clouds, slowly descending in altitude as its laughter boomed like peals of thunder. "Kozuki Oden, is it?! Your opponent is yours truly!!"

Merely by making his entrance, he reduced the samurai to paralyzed statues.
Even someone as powerful as Kozuki Oden now furrowed his brow, his expression turning grave.

"Y-You've gotta be kidding me! There's another one?!"
The corpulent Kozuki retainer, Ashura Doji, had a trembling voice. "A dragon? What kind of monster is this?! Is it some kind of sorcery like Kin'emon's?"

Because Wano Country had remained isolated for too long, they lacked even the concept of Devil Fruits, referring to them collectively as sorcery.

"And,"
Gritted Kikunojo, a retainer who dressed as a woman despite being male, "that brat called him Big Brother!"

Common sense dictated that an older brother must be stronger than his younger brother, right?
*This is bad.*
*This is catastrophically bad!*

If a single brat was already terrifying enough, now that an even stronger monster had appeared, how on earth could they hope to win?

"Calm down!"
It was him again—Shimotsuki Yasuie stepped forward once more, shouting, "If even we give in to fear, who is left to protect this country?!"

The gathered samurai snapped out of their daze.
*Indeed. Only them!*
They were this country's final line of defense!

"Things have come to this; there is nothing left to do but fight!"
Shimotsuki Yasuie gripped his sword tighter, his eyes burning with resolute determination.

"Shimotsuki Yasuie is a remarkable man," Roa praised sincerely.
It was just a pity he had been dragged down and ruined by a liability like Kozuki Oden.
*Rest assured, we're here to avenge you this time.*

"That's right! At this point, there's no way out!"
The daimyo of Kuri, Yugiri Tempura, shouted loudly, "Fight, samurai!"

"Fight!" the samurai roared in unison.

"You guys sure know how to hype yourselves up," Roa smacked his lips. "Don't make us look like the ultimate villains here."
Let's get one thing straight: after arriving in this country, *they* were the ones who attacked first. That guy named Shimotsuki Ushimaru made the first move.
And right now, *they* were the ones trying to ambush them.

"That thing in the sky is mine!"
Kozuki Oden kept his fierce gaze locked onto the divine dragon above. "You guys stall that brat as best you can! Once I deal with this long worm, I'll come back and help!"

"Yes, Lord Oden!"
His retainers stood directly behind him, the man named Kanjuro seemingly standing right at Oden's direct blind spot with casual indifference.

With Kozuki Oden at the center, the samurai drew their swords one after another, preparing for this final stand!

However—

"Ugh!"
The daimyo of Shimotsuki, Fugetsu Ogi, suddenly twisted his expression, clutching his stomach with a muffled groan. "What's... what's happening?"

A stabbing agony suddenly flared in his gut, a pain unbearable even for a warrior of his caliber.
Not just him; the other daimyo and ronin leaders likewise clutched their stomachs with violently altered complexions.

"Poison! Someone poisoned us!"
As the underworld boss of Wano, Hyogoro of the Flower Flower had witnessed every dirty trick in the book and immediately realized the cause.

"Poison? Poison powerful enough to take down every single one of us—" Yasuie frowned.
When on earth would these outsiders have had the chance to poison them?
The only logical possibility was that someone on the inside had colluded with them!
That must have been how that boy knew Oden's name!

*But when?*
Yasuie suddenly recalled that prior to this, they had all eaten—

"Guhehehehe! And with that, it's over!!"

Following closely behind Shimotsuki Yasuie, Kurozumi Orochi suddenly burst into wild laughter. His body expanded, his head split, and his neck elongated, transforming in the blink of an eye into a grotesque eight-headed monster.

One of the heads snapped forward, sinking its jaws straight into Shimotsuki Yasuie who stood nearest to him.
When it tried to lunge at the others, the daimyo and ronin, having regained a shred of wariness, bit through the pain and scrambled out of range.

"OROCHI?!"

Cold sweat poured down Kozuki Oden's forehead, partly from the poison's grip, but mostly from sheer bewilderment. "What are you doing?!"

"What am I doing?"
The central head of Orochi laughed hysterically. "Taking my revenge, of course, Kozuki Oden! This is the revenge of the Kurozumi family!!"

"Kozuki—"
The expressions of the various daimyo darkened even further.

Many years ago, long before the reigning shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki was even born, the previous shogun struggled to produce an heir and was once believed to be facing the end of his line, at which point the shogunate would pass to other daimyo houses.
Back then, the Kurozumi family—then a powerful regional clan—harbored crooked ambitions, plotting to poison the other daimyo to seize the shogunate.

Yet all their meticulous preparations were reduced to nothing by the birth of Kozuki Sukiyaki. The Kurozumi family lost everything overnight, reduced to miserable stray dogs living in perpetual terror.
Had those supposed remnants of the Kurozumi somehow staged a comeback?

"This guy actually has a Mythical Zoan?"
Kaido, who had descended to a certain height, looked down at Orochi's treacherous move with a cold, dismissive sneer.
Such a waste.

"Don't mind me!"
Trapped within Orochi's jaws, Shimotsuki Yasuie fought through the agonizing pain and roared at the top of his lungs, "Fight, Oden! Fight!"

Oden instinctively tightened his grip on his swords, "Yasuie!"

"Hahahahaha! Kozuki Oden! You might not care about Yasuie, but what about him?"

A smug, triumphant laugh echoed from the distance.
Oden instinctively whipped his head around, spotting an emaciated old hag standing on a nearby ridge, holding a blade against the neck of a tightly bound man.

Oden's already ghastly complexion instantly turned as pale as paper. "Father?!"

The daimyo were likewise plunged into utter despair.
*How was the Shogun captured?!*

To prevent him from biting his tongue to commit suicide, Kozuki Sukiyaki had his mouth gagged, his own face twisted in bitter anguish.
*Forgive me, Oden. Forgive me, everyone. Forgive me, Wano Country.*

"Hehehe, if you don't want Sukiyaki to die, Kozuki Oden," Kurozumi Higurashi cackled maliciously, "commit seppuku!"

Oden's pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"No! Lord Oden! Absolutely not!"
Ashura Doji roared, clutching his aching stomach. "I'm a stray dog who crawled out of the gutters, so I know scum like this best! If you give in to their threats, not only will Lord Sukiyaki die, but all of us will die too! Wano will be completely stolen by them!"

"That's right, Oden!" Hyogoro urged desperately, "Don't let them sway you!"

Kozuki Oden, who had never faced a single setback in his entire life, whose every endeavor had always sailed smooth winds, plunged into a harrowing internal struggle at this exact second.

And thus, right at this moment—

"What?!"
Kaido in the sky couldn't help letting out a gasp of utter shock.

The Kozuki retainers froze completely in their tracks.
And Kozuki Oden looked down, dazed.

He saw it.
A crimson blade tip protruding straight through his chest.

Oden turned his head in a daze, looking toward the person holding the sword.

"Kanjuro... what are you doing?"

The Kozuki retainer, nicknamed Kurosan Kanjuro, held the blade, tears streaming down his face as he backed away in apparent terror. "I'm sorry, Lord Oden, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

Even Oden's other retainers subconsciously loosened their grips on their sword hilts for a fraction of a second, believing he must have had some hidden hardship.
But the very next instant—

"Just kidding!"

Kanjuro's tearful expression morphed in a flash into one of distorted, malicious glee. "Didn't Lord Orochi say it? This is the revenge of the Kurozumi family!"

"Though for me personally... this is the most flawless grand finale of a performance!"

"Oh my," Roa watched the scene unfold with a sigh of appreciation. "Hostages, sneak attacks, two Tier-0 supports catering to just one guy of yours—Kozuki Oden, dying here is worth every bit of it."