-Real World-
Kozuki Oden's final enviable performance—the infamous Cauldron Cooking Punishment—prepared to unfold across the Sky Screen's display. But at this moment, certain viewers had already suffered complete psychological breakdowns. It turned out everything had been conspiracy from the very beginning! Kurozumi Orochi had pretended to be weak and deceived everyone for so many years. The feeling of being treated as pawns by the Beast Pirates proved utterly humiliating.
Onigashima, Beast Pirates Headquarters
The Beast Pirates knew the Cauldron Cooking incident's details more intimately than anyone—they'd witnessed it firsthand, even participated. The Sky Screen didn't need to broadcast that particular segment for their education. However, the revelations about Kurozumi Orochi proved completely beyond imagination. It turned out this guy had been pretending to be a subservient grandson and puppet all along! Nobody knew what conspiracies he'd been orchestrating with Uchiha Madara behind closed doors.
"It turns out that this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes—Kurozumi Orochi—is so damn cunning!" Drought Jack's voice thundered through the hall, always brave to the point of recklessness. "I must beat the shit out of him personally and make him spill everything he knows!"
The massive All-Star actually volunteered to march directly to the Shogun's Mansion in Wano Country shortly after returning to Onigashima. Everyone within earshot rolled their eyes at this declaration. This reckless man refused to use his brain at critical moments, actually proposing to cause unnecessary trouble.
"Jack, you'd better stay exactly where you are," Queen interjected with exasperated patience. "I'm genuinely afraid you're no match for Kurozumi Orochi based on what we've seen. You'll end up becoming his hostage, and I'll have to waste resources rescuing you. Now that Lord Kaido and King can't return from the Devil's Triangle, you need to exercise more caution than usual."
With the departure of the two strongest combatants, Plague Queen currently represented the smartest person among the Beast Pirates' remaining leadership—admittedly not a high bar. He maintained unusual calm now, refusing to be blinded by shame and anger. They must remain unchanged in the face of all changes, waiting for subsequent Sky Screen content to clarify mysteries. Some secrets would remain forever mysterious if the broadcast didn't help solve them directly.
Suppose Jack could fight Kurozumi Orochi to a stalemate—that seemed optimistic given new revelations. But there was a legendary ninja backing this man! This whole posture of pretending to be a pig while secretly being a tiger proved absolutely unbearable. Queen feared their "partner" possessed backup plans that would only result in the Beast Pirates suffering consequences.
The two parties currently maintained excellent cooperative relations. They wouldn't easily turn hostile unless major differences in interests emerged. The Beast Pirates and Wano Country absolutely could not descend into internal chaos. If that scenario materialized, only outsiders would benefit. The Marines and World Government wouldn't miss opportunities to exploit the situation.
"Are we just going to allow Kurozumi Orochi to hide in Wano Country plotting behind everyone's backs?" Black Maria—the Spider Woman—looked decidedly unhappy with the situation's implications.
That old pervert Kurozumi Orochi had apparently plotted against Lord Kaido from the very beginning. He genuinely deserved death for such audacity. He'd successfully rebelled against Kozuki Oden once already—there was zero guarantee he wouldn't stab the Beast Pirates similarly in the future. This kind of profit-seeking animal couldn't be won over without providing sufficient benefits that outweighed alternatives.
"What exactly is Joyboy? What the hell is this so-called Sun God?" Queen turned his attention to another problematic subordinate. "Who's-Who, now represents the perfect time for you to make meaningful contributions to our understanding."
But facing inquiries from upper leadership, Who's-Who—the saber-toothed tiger Zoan user who'd endured prolonged torture and interrogation—didn't know how to respond appropriately. From the very beginning, he hadn't believed the Sky Screen's contents! Everyone was being deceived by whoever controlled the broadcast, each of them manipulated into madness through carefully crafted lies.
He had to make one final effort, desperately hoping to awaken his former companions' critical thinking and prevent the Beast Pirates from falling into the Sky Screen's linguistic traps.
"Brothers, please listen," Who's-Who pleaded, voice carrying genuine desperation. "You absolutely should not believe a single word displayed on the Sky Screen! Joyboy is definitely not Lord Kaido! And I don't even know anything about the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Gum-Gum Fruit) I was supposedly escorting years ago!"
Ever since the name "Joyboy" appeared in Who's-Who's life, he'd experienced nothing but misfortune. The first time, he'd lost his position within the World Government and become a prisoner. The second time—right now—he was about to lose his position in the Beast Pirates and become a prisoner again. He constantly felt someone was targeting him specifically, that fate itself proved cosmically unfair to this former CP9 genius.
Unfortunately, the heartfelt warnings from this future traitor not only failed to serve as cautionary advice—they instead brought beatings and kicks from his former companions. They all believed Who's-Who was plotting something similar to Kurozumi Orochi's schemes. They couldn't trust a single word escaping his lying mouth.
Queen, possessing the quickest mind among remaining leadership, suddenly experienced a revelation. Could it be that the traitor Foz Foz had joined the Beast Pirates with malicious intentions from the very beginning? He might even be an undercover agent sent by Uchiha Madara to infiltrate their organization! In any case, this saber-toothed tiger's imprisonment had been far too comfortable recently. He definitely required severe torture to extract more information.
Who's-Who noticed Queen's fierce eyes boring into him and felt chills running down his spine. He sensed something terrible approaching but genuinely didn't want to die as an innocent victim of misunderstanding.
Wano Country, Shogun's Residence
Another wronged party suffered similar fate. Kurozumi Orochi's subordinates examined their master with reevaluation in their gazes. Each ninja seemed to perceive hidden depths in him suddenly, and the scrutiny felt distinctly creepy from the receiving end.
At this moment, Kurozumi Orochi no longer possessed mental capacity for playing with beautiful courtesans. He desperately wanted to explain to everyone that this was all a tremendous misunderstanding! As for the so-called legendary ninja Uchiha Madara, he'd never even seen a single hair from that ancient monster!
"You're all wrong—completely, utterly wrong!" Orochi's voice cracked with stress. "It turns out Who's-Who was telling the truth all along! We've all been deceived by the Sky Screen's manipulated content! You have to believe me!"
But regardless of what their master said, the ninjas comprising the Orochi Oniwabanshu all wore expressions that screamed "I understand perfectly." They acted incredibly smart, convinced that Kurozumi Orochi was simply maintaining his cover in front of them. They'd play along with their master's performance. Who didn't know how to act the fool when necessary?
These ninjas with questionable backgrounds had never imagined Kurozumi Orochi would one day become such a powerful backing. So what were they waiting for? They absolutely must align themselves completely with someone secretly colluding with legendary figures. What an opportunity this represented!
In the past, Kurozumi Orochi had been very approachable with subordinates—casual, even familiar. But now the Orochi Oniwabanshu didn't dare anger this lord. What if he casually twisted their heads off like that maid shown in the Sky Screen broadcast? That would constitute unjust death of the highest order.
They'd genuinely underestimated Lord Kurozumi previously, clearly. The Lord treated them as outsiders by not sharing his plans, which only made the Shogun seem even more mysterious and impressive to the Oniwabanshu's perspective.
Some even fantasized optimistically: if they could serve this lord exceptionally well in the future, they might gain introduction to the person backing him. Perhaps they could learn genuine ninjutsu from the legendary ninja himself! Then the Orochi Oniwabanshu would dominate the seas! The once-declining ninja profession would shine brilliantly across the ocean again!
The Komurasaki oiran—in reality Kozuki Hiyori in deep cover—snuggled in Kurozumi Orochi's arms, observing her "patron" with renewed calculation. Seeing everyone's reactions made the woman reconsider her assumptions. She wanted to leverage her beauty to extract more information. The woman refused to believe Kurozumi Orochi's interest in her was purely theatrical. Could their entire relationship really be just mutual acting? That seemed too difficult for a beautiful woman to accept—it denied her fundamental charm.
The elderly Fukurokuju stepped forward with exaggeratedly flattering expression painting his features.
"My lord, we will obey you absolutely in the future. You are the sky itself above Wano Country—our guiding star and ultimate authority."
His subordinates kept heaping praise and pledges of loyalty, but Kurozumi Orochi couldn't feel any happiness from their devotion. He knew exactly what kind of person he truly was—mediocre, opportunistic, dependent on others' power. The Sky Screen was deliberately putting him on the fire, roasting him alive politically. When Kaido eventually returned from the Devil's Triangle, how would the Beast King deal with him? Whether he could even survive that confrontation remained terrifyingly unknown.
"Please believe me!" Orochi's voice rose with panic, explanations tumbling out desperately. "Everything displayed on the Sky Screen is fake! Complete fabrication! My Devil Fruit ability isn't remotely that powerful!"
On one hand, the Shogun looked increasingly flustered, continuing his frantic explanations with mounting desperation. On the other hand, the Orochi Oniwabanshu kept nodding enthusiastically, agreeing with everything: "Yes, yes, of course! Whatever the boss says is absolute truth!"
Their thoughts, however, ran completely opposite to their words: Kaido, the Beast? That reckless brute isn't even worthy of carrying Lord Kurozumi Orochi's shoes!