Under Yamato's guidance, Gusion closed his eyes and used his haki to sense the world. Once he grasped the trick—almost as if breaking through a membrane—his mind suddenly cleared, like clouds parting to reveal a bright and vivid world.
Even without opening his eyes, he could now perceive everything around him.
"Gusion-dono, I'm coming at you."
Yamato gave a warning before throwing a punch at Gusion.
Gusion stood there, his feet unmoving. With just a slight tilt of his body and a cock of his head, he dodged Yamato's lightning-fast punch.
Yamato threw several more punches, but Gusion, eyes closed, evaded them all with ease.
"Gusion-dono, you really are a genius. You learned Observation Haki so fast—this is the hardest one, I think."
Yamato exclaimed in admiration.
But Gusion, upon opening his eyes, frowned slightly. "No, it still feels like I'm missing something."
He already had strong perception abilities and an innate combat intuition, allowing him to achieve basic Observation Haki-like effects.
For example, back in the Demon Slayer world, when he fought that explorer team, the sniper shot at him from a distance, yet Gusion dodged without even looking, using minimal movement to evade precisely.
Now that he'd learned Observation Haki, it just felt like the fog of his previous perception had lifted, making things clearer, but it didn't fundamentally change his combat power.
Gusion glanced at his space menu's skill levels. After learning Observation Haki, this skill shot straight to level 20—higher than his Armament Haki before entering this world.
He figured this was because he already had a strong aptitude for perception, and learning Observation Haki only systematized it.
"But you say it's lacking? I spent years to get to your level."
Yamato gave him a strange look. "Honestly, I used to think I learned things quickly, but you're much faster. If it weren't for the timing, I'd almost think you were..."
She paused, seeming to fall into her own thoughts.
She'd almost blurted out that Gusion was the hero mentioned in the diary, destined to come to Wano and save the country—but the diary said that would happen twenty years from now, and only eight years had passed.
She also started to doubt whether everything in that diary was true, and if she herself was really Kozuki Oden.
Gusion noticed Yamato's change and didn't rush to say more, letting her process it.
"I've pretty much learned the basics of Observation Haki. Why don't we take a break, and I'll tell you more about the outside world?"
Gusion sat down. He wasn't in a hurry to leave Wano now. Since he'd started helping Yamato, he wanted to finish what he started, and he could learn a lot from her as well.
When Yamato heard about stories, her eyes sparkled and she eagerly scooted closer. "Last time, you finished talking about Skypiea, but you never told me about Fishman Island. Is it really a city under the sea?"
Seeing Yamato's childlike curiosity, Gusion smiled and began describing the wonders of the outside world.
..
Meanwhile, Kaido, who was watching the live broadcast, was dozing off like a bored viewer binge-watching a series, wishing he could skip the dull parts.
No matter how many tales Gusion told about faraway islands, Kaido wasn't surprised—he'd been battling across the seas with the Rocks Pirates since he was 15.
He knew the world well, so Gusion's stories didn't interest him. What he wanted to see was Gusion educating his daughter.
But Gusion's stories dragged on for most of the day, and he didn't educate Yamato at all. This frustrated Kaido, who wished he could storm over and force Gusion to get to the point.
Just as Kaido, drunk and irritable, was about to lose his temper, the broadcast took a turn.
"How nice... My understanding of the outside world only comes from Kozuki Oden's diary, but the diary is pretty rough. It's not as detailed as your stories, Gusion-dono."
After hearing about another adventure, Yamato sighed. "But I do know a lot about Wano. If you're interested in Oden's deeds, I can tell you about them too."
Gusion hadn't expected Yamato to bring up Kozuki Oden on her own. From her expression, it seemed like she still idolized Oden, so he decided to prod her further.
"Sure. My knowledge of him is only from what the locals and you have told me. Why don't you tell me about Oden's childhood and how he grew up?"
Gusion went along with Yamato's suggestion, but he was already laying a trap.
When Yamato heard that Gusion was interested in her idol, she perked up immediately.
Brimming with excitement, she began: "Kozuki Oden's life was legendary..."
Yamato recounted everything in detail, embellishing with the rose-tinted lens of fandom, but the general summary of Oden's youth was simple.
At age 0, just born, Oden hurled his wet nurse across the room—Gusion couldn't help but feel inferior, thinking his own innate strength was a joke.
At age 2, he could catch two rabbits at once, showing incredible leg strength; at age 4, he hurled a boulder to kill a giant bear.
At age 6, he started frequenting the red-light districts—at first Gusion thought he'd misheard, but for Yamato, this was a point of pride. At age 6, Oden was already bedding women—how impressive is that!?
At age 8, he got into drunken brawls with gamblers and beat up a whole group of adults; at age 9, he was blacklisted by the yakuza, set fire to their casino in anger, and was arrested for violent assault.
At age 10, as a prisoner, he worked at the quarry—the very prison Gusion was now in. Thanks to the Kozuki family's talents, he eventually became head stonemason.
At this part, Yamato looked at Gusion with worship, asking if Oden wasn't amazing, even being a stonemason. Gusion could only twitch his lips and nod.
At age 14, Oden diverted a river during a drought, causing a massive flood and becoming a wanted man again.
And the highlight: at age 15, he threatened a temple abbot and hid out in the temple, abducting respectable women every night to form a harem. The women were usually already married, which incited public outrage and led to the infamous Harem Uprising. Oden fought back with joy.
Yamato told this part with the same idol-worshipping fervor.
"Stop!"
Gusion held up his hand, looking odd. "Yamato, don't you think there's something wrong with this?"
"What's wrong? Isn't this exactly what everyone likes—a real hero, Kozuki Oden?"
Yamato looked puzzled.
Gusion held his forehead, feeling that the people of Wano—and Yamato herself—were a bit off. How could they consider someone like this the hope of their country, a destined hero?
"Yamato, do you think abducting married women and forcing them to do those things is heroic?"
Gusion asked seriously.
Yamato replied without hesitation, "Isn't it? He's Kozuki Oden—everyone loves him, so whatever he does must be right."
Gusion nearly gagged. So a privileged kid, using his status as the shogun's son to evict monks and abduct women, forcing himself on them in a sacred place—this counts as right?
"Have you ever considered how those women felt? Or their husbands? Don't you think Oden's actions were monstrous, ruining other people's happiness?"
Gusion pressed further.
This time, Yamato paused. Clearly, she had at least some basic ability to think. She instinctively realized something was wrong, but because of her gender identity issues and lack of understanding about men and women, she couldn't articulate what exactly it was.
"Let me give you an example. Oden's wife, Toki—you know her, right?"
Gusion tried another approach to help Yamato understand.
Yamato nodded. "I was lucky enough to meet her once. She's a beautiful, strong woman."
"Good. So, imagine: while Oden was alive, your father Kaido kidnapped Toki and forced himself on her. Would that be a heroic act?"
Gusion gave the example.
Before Yamato could react, on Onigashima, Kaido smashed his sake jug in a rage.
"What is this brat saying!? How could I ever do something like that!?"
Kaido was furious. He had a fearsome reputation as a pirate, but he prided himself on fighting fair. When the old hag interfered in his battle with Oden, he was livid.
That's why, after the fight, he didn't bind Oden, even treated his wounds, and put him in a lightly guarded prison, returning his swords.
His meaning was clear: if you break out, let's fight again.
But Oden was stubborn. He felt a loss was a loss, so he chose to die in the boiling pot. Kaido couldn't stop him—after all, victory goes to the winner, and he wasn't sentimental. If Oden was dead, so be it.
Despite being a pirate, Kaido never had Oden's promiscuous tastes, never forced any woman to do anything. As one of the Four Emperors, the world's strongest creature, why would he need to?
At 47, he only had one daughter, Yamato, so his private life was actually quite clean.
Now, Gusion using him as an example truly enraged him.
"I stormed into the castle and didn't even kill Oden's son, let alone touch his wife. This brat..."
Kaido's expression darkened, murderous intent swirling.
"Don't be so angry—he's not really accusing you, just giving an example so Young Master Yamato can understand."
Black Maria, watching the broadcast with Kaido, poured him more sake to calm him.
But she, too, glanced at the screen with a strange look, thinking this guy is bold, daring to gossip about Kaido in their own territory.
Back in the cell, Yamato finally reacted, blurting out, "That's absolutely despicable! Too vile! Damn Kaido, he wouldn't really do that, would he? Is that why Oden fought Kaido!?"
Gusion wasn't surprised by Yamato's answer, though hearing it in person was still a bit exasperating.
On the other end, Kaido spat out his drink and choked, his hand trembling as he pointed at the screen, speechless.
To make the world's strongest creature's hand shake with anger—only Yamato could do that.
"Calm down, calm down, I can already guess what Gusion is going to say next."
Black Maria patted Kaido's back and soothed him, feeling that Gusion was leading Yamato.
Sure enough, Gusion continued in the cell, "So now you get it. This is despicable behavior, not heroic at all."
Looking at the shell-shocked Yamato, he drove the point home: "So why is it that when Oden does it, you see it as glorious and heroic, but when your father does it, it's utterly vile?"