-Broadcast-
[Kozuki Oden's angular figure performed absurd dances before the Sky Screen's cameras, movements exaggerated and undignified. The confused citizens of Wano Country couldn't comprehend why their supposed savior behaved this way. He bore absolutely no resemblance to his once wise and powerful image—the disconnect proved cognitively jarring.
Disappointment, ridicule, lamentation, and countless other negative emotions surrounded this samurai like suffocating fog. Kurozumi Orochi periodically brought groups of subordinates to publicly "reward" Oden's performances, deliberately humiliating the former general's son. Many insignificant nobodies could now literally step on someone who'd once been untouchable.
This generation of the Kozuki clan had somehow selected such a catastrophically naive monarch—a disaster for all citizens suffering under his decisions. Oden felt self-satisfaction from performing small acts of perceived goodness, completely oblivious that Kurozumi Orochi was systematically undermining the Kozuki family's influence through reputation destruction. The brainless Kozuki Oden disappointed most observers, including his own son Kozuki Momonosuke who watched with growing disillusionment.]
[Kozuki Oden qualified as an excellent samurai by traditional metrics, but utterly failed as a competent monarch. He proved too extreme in his magnanimity, never understanding that kindness toward enemies constituted cruelty toward his own people. He recognized this truth far too late—only after witnessing innocents slaughtered because of his naivety.
The glorious image of his father shattered in young Momonosuke's eyes. His former idol collapsed under realism's harsh assault. Gorgeous clothing faded to reveal patches on increasingly tattered garments. The naturally intelligent Kozuki Momonosuke finally understood viscerally that without power backing principles, everything proved fake. The belief that moral superiority guaranteed victory had been a joke from the beginning.
Afterward, Kozuki Momonosuke became a veritable tyrant, ruling Wano Country primarily through repression and practicing survival of the fittest with ruthless efficiency. His father Kozuki Oden bore unshirkable responsibility for pushing him toward this opposite extreme.]
[Although loyal retainers didn't understand why Kozuki Oden degraded himself through naked dancing, they still gathered around him faithfully, waiting for their master to provide explanation that made sense of the incomprehensible.
The speculators who'd once clustered around Kozuki Oden's rising star eventually chose departure, joining Kurozumi Orochi's camp because their original master proved too foolish for practical ambitions. However, true loyalty revealed itself during adversity's trials. The only genuinely positive legacy Oden left for his son was the Nine Red Scabbards—that group of devoted samurai who later became the foundation of Kozuki Momonosuke's initial ruling team in Wano Country.]
[The five years in Wano Country stretched endlessly—five years that felt like fifty. Kozuki Oden faithfully kept his promise to Kurozumi Orochi with stubborn dedication, but he merely watched helplessly as highly polluting factories sprouted across the landscape like industrial tumors. During this extended period, he accomplished absolutely nothing besides dancing his humiliating naked dance while passively observing his people's suffering.
During this time, Gol D. Roger was executed by the World Government—the Pirate King's head severed in the East Blue. The newspaper announcing this world-shaking event was delivered to Oden by none other than Kozuki Momonosuke. But the samurai's response proved characteristically bizarre: he simply lay on the beach, alternating between crying and laughing, tears and hysteria cycling endlessly. Crying, then laughing. Laughing, then crying again.
Nobody could genuinely understand what thoughts churned through his mind. His unusual cognitive processes made comprehension impossible even for those closest to him. As for why he insisted on continuing the naked dancing ritual, he never explained properly to his retainers—he merely offered childish lies that satisfied no one.
His once glorious image had been completely replaced by ridiculous caricature. The Kozuki clan lost the people's support in Wano Country entirely, because most citizens wouldn't accept a monarch who was a fool—especially the kind of fool ignorant of worldly suffering while claiming to protect them. If Kozuki Oden hadn't fortunately produced an exceptional son, perhaps the Shogun's position would have been permanently severed from his bloodline.
He was a historical sinner, a mere footnote to another's victory, the most disgusting villainous clown image imaginable.]
[On the appointed day marking five years' completion, Kozuki Oden came before Kurozumi Orochi. He knelt down and bowed his head low, begging the thief before him to fulfill the promised agreement. He'd gritted his teeth and endured this humiliation across five years solely to reach this moment. He still fantasized pathetically about becoming Wano Country's savior, rescuing people from the dark villain's grasp.
That someone so innocent and naive could survive until now in these turbulent seas defied logic. One couldn't help but acknowledge that sometimes individual destiny proved absurdly fortunate. Kozuki Sukiyaki, Edward Newgate, and Gol D. Roger had protected this fool so thoroughly that Kozuki Oden forgot the world's basic operating rules entirely.]
[Kozuki Oden received the answer he least wanted to hear from Kurozumi Orochi's sneering mouth: the usurper would not honor the agreement made five years prior. Not only had Orochi occupied territory previously guarded by Oden's friend, he'd systematically killed that friend's younger brother and wife. He now officially confronted his former master Kozuki as declared enemy, making Oden realize with crushing finality that samurai held no value in the modern world anymore.
Muttering contemptuously about "children playing samurai games," Kurozumi Orochi departed after delivering his mocking verdict. Kozuki Oden remained kneeling on the spot, weeping bitterly with shoulders shaking. The humiliation endured across five years hadn't purchased any mercy—it had only made enemies more aggressive while implicating innocent people in his failures.
The agreement sworn in the Kurozumi family's name had been a joke from the very beginning. People like Kurozumi Orochi never believed in oaths or honor. As long as benefits proved sufficient, he'd abandon anything—principles, promises, basic human decency.]
[With tears of profound regret streaming down weathered cheeks, Kozuki Oden decided to attack the Beast Pirates directly as final desperate gambit. He fantasized that if he could kill this fake Joyboy—this corrupted liberation fighter—he might finally understand the true purposes driving the Uchiha and Kurozumi clans' alliance.
For Wano Country's sake, he must defeat Kaido. He gathered his most core subordinates to confront the Beast Pirates, hoping to destroy the entire organization in one decisive battle. However, before arriving at the intended location, a traitor leaked critical intelligence. The battlefield location changed at the last moment, and the samurai found themselves surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy combatants.
Another retainer who learned of this development turned back immediately to protect Kozuki Oden's family instead. This independent action quietly altered history's course—without it, Kozuki Momonosuke would never have survived to adulthood.
Although Kozuki Oden managed to injure Kaido during their confrontation—leaving an indelible sword scar across the Beast King's torso that would never fully heal—he still ultimately failed. Defeated by conspiracy and trickery once again, he became the enemy's prisoner. His final performance approached rapidly.]
[Kaido regarded Kozuki Oden as his defeated opponent, a threat neutralized. He locked the samurai in a prison with surprisingly lax security—either genuine carelessness or deliberate psychological cruelty. Even Lady Toki, a weak woman who hadn't wielded blades for many years, successfully infiltrated the facility to see her husband one final time.
Kozuki Oden understood he possessed minimal time remaining before execution. After sharing brief farewells with his beloved, the man entrusted both legendary swords—Enma and Ame no Habakiri—to others for safekeeping. He hoped desperately they could be preserved for his children, particularly wishing his son Momonosuke would follow in his footsteps as a samurai warrior.
But fate was destined to disappoint this father's final wish. The samurai class began systematic decline starting precisely with Kozuki Momonosuke's rule. This rentier class lost its social foundation and eventually withdrew from history's stage piece by piece. The so-called Bushido spirit was shelved, changed beyond recognition by later generations who'd never experienced its original context. They lost the genuine spirit Kozuki Oden had embodied despite his many catastrophic failures.]
[In this turbulent era, history was destined to abandon tremendous numbers of people—Kozuki Oden numbered among them. Too many individuals found themselves helpless against larger forces, and history's wheel rolled forward without nostalgia or mercy for those crushed beneath.
Even though Kozuki Momonosuke came to power many years later and restored Kozuki rule over Wano Country, even though he made extraordinary efforts to beautify his father's experiences through official historical revision and state propaganda, he ultimately couldn't remove the "fool monarch" label from Oden's legacy.
Kozuki Oden became a foil for his own exceptional son's achievements and a laughingstock for future generations who studied his decisions with academic bemusement at such concentrated naivety.]