Chapter 366: Slaying the Evil Dragon, a Declaration of War!
Without a doubt, what was happening right now was unimaginable to the commoners inside and outside the Flower Capital.
So much so that at this moment, everyone's faces were stiff, their eyes wide open, watching the existences slowly appearing on the platform.
"Kurozumi Orochi is actually being..."
"Publicly executed? Is this real?"
And clearly, most people found it hard to even recover their senses right now.
While everyone was still in a state of shock.
They already saw that Kurozumi Orochi had been forcefully escorted to the exact center of the platform by the man named Rabbit.
There, the hard ice was being molded into the shape of an "execution platform" under flames that looked like starlight.
"Let me go! Hey, guy from The Zodiac, I've never offended you! Let me go, however much money you want, however many beautiful women you want, I'll give them all to you..."
Kurozumi Orochi yelled with a face covered in tears and snot.
Rabbit, however, acted as if he didn't hear, forcefully pushing Kurozumi Orochi onto the execution platform.
"As you all know."
His voice continued to spread throughout this quiet Flower Capital.
"Kurozumi Orochi is an evil thief who stole the power of Wano Country and colluded with Kaido."
"Executing him here today, in front of all the commoners of Wano Country, is a request made by a friend of mine."
Accompanied by his words, everyone collectively saw.
From the starlight flames behind him, a continuous stream of figures was emerging.
There was a robust old man wearing sunglasses with knotted muscles, followed by several people who looked quite ferocious at first glance.
There was a Fish-Man wearing a bamboo hat, looking like a kappa.
There were samurai holding tachi swords with resolute eyes.
"That's... that's the legend of the Wano Country underworld, Lord Hyogoro of the Flower?"
"And the four bosses of the Flower Capital!"
"That one... could that be one of the Akazaya Nine, Lord 'Kappa Kawamatsu'?"
"And the Mochizuki Six Samurai of the 'Mochizuki Town' in Kibi!"
"That's 'Fearless Yujiro'! One of the heroes of Ringo!"
A portion of the underworld living in the Flower Capital had now recognized a few of the more famous figures among them.
"Hey hey, weren't they all captured and sent to Udon?"
"Could it be that Udon has already been liberated?"
"I haven't heard anything about that—didn't a new All-Star just go to Udon?"
People almost instinctively began to discuss.
But quickly, someone realized—why these prisoners once locked up in Udon appeared here was not important.
What was important was...
"Look quickly, that thing in their hands is... is it a Light Picture Snail?"
"No way, that looks like an overseas snail, the kind called a 'Transponder Snail'?"
"Why is it burning?"
People discussed like this.
Yes.
Right now, these liberated Udon prisoners all had flames burning on their bodies.
And in their hands, they held weapons and special semi-transparent Transponder Snails.
And exactly at this moment...
"Hm?"
Accompanied by the burning sound of "whoosh", Shimotsuki Yasuie, who was trembling with excitement on the high platform, let out a confused hum.
"...Papa—it's fire."
Beside Yasuie, a little girl wearing a kimono said with a naive face.
The fact was exactly as she said.
Right now, centered on the pocket on Yasuie's chest.
A ball of flame had similarly risen and was burning fiercely.
But strangely, Yasuie himself didn't feel the pain of being burned.
He merely opened his pocket with a confused look, and then took out a thin piece of paper from it.
That was exactly the special "Day of Liberation flyer" that had been continuously distributed and passed around all over Wano Country recently.
As one of the leaders and behind-the-scenes figures of the Rebellion Army in Wano Country, Yasuie also carried this flyer with him—although he didn't know who distributed the flyers, he could be sure it must be a "comrade-in-arms" on his side.
At this moment, that flyer was burning.
While burning, the text written on the flyer was rapidly changing into a picture.
What appeared on that picture was exactly Orochi tied up on the "execution platform" right now, as well as the minions under his command.
"The commoners all over the country can see this..."
Yasuie naturally understood the meaning of Rabbit's words just now.
In this instant, the picture above the Flower Capital had probably already spread to every corner of Wano Country through this special flyer.
[Ratatoskr · Lineage Factor Creation · Barrier-Free Broadcast Transponder Snail]
[Ratatoskr · Lineage Factor Creation · Ability Transmission Paper]
Yasuie could almost imagine—at this moment, the countless people who hid or picked up the flyers, everyone's gaze was already fixed on the picture.
They would all witness this liberation, witness this... "public execution".
"Yes, Toko."
Yasuie looked at his adopted daughter.
His hand gripped the fiercely burning paper tightly: "It is fire."
He seemed to be able to see the fiercely hot flames burning across the entirety of Wano Country at this moment.
At this very moment.
The public execution had already begun.
Without any prelude, without even any superfluous words.
Right in front of the many Transponder Snails, Rabbit slightly raised his hand.
VMMM!
From his hand, flames condensed, slowly turning into a sword.
Squelch!
He brought the sword down, severing Kurozumi Orochi's head with a single slash.
At the same time...
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Continuous sounds echoed together like the reverberations of a musical movement.
The commoners of Wano Country saw almost with absolute clarity—at this moment, those Udon prisoners who walked out of the flames similarly wielded their respective weapons and severed the heads of a portion of the "Oniwabanshu" and "Beasts Pirates" members.
Everything happened too fast, so fast that after Kurozumi Orochi's head fell to the ground and his headless corpse began to limply collapse, the people present and the people throughout the entire country who had just begun to watch this execution found it somewhat hard to recover their senses.
It's over just like that?
That Kurozumi Orochi, just died like this?
Perhaps it was because everything came too easily, or perhaps the hatred was simply too deep.
In short, at this moment, people only felt a sense of emptiness in their hearts.
And Yasuie frowned even deeper.
"Too hasty, this is not enough!"
He said in a low voice.
Yes—it was not enough.
He knew this very well.
To liberate this country, to ignite the hope and flames of resistance in people's hearts, to dispel the despair of so many years, just an execution like this was not enough—it needed more power, more momentum, more... a sense of ceremony.
"Hm?"
But quickly Yasuie discovered the anomaly within.
Rabbit didn't stop after severing Kurozumi Orochi's head.
He continued to raise his hand.
At the same time...
VMMM!
At his feet, that Kurozumi Orochi who seemed to be "dead" clearly began to change—scales began to grow on his body, and in just a moment he turned into a massive, ugly giant snake.
And on the body of that giant snake grew a full eight heads.
Although one was severed right now, the remaining seven heads all widened their eyes simultaneously, revealing a ferocious look.
"No, impossible... I clearly didn't activate my ability, how could you possibly know..."
He discovered in horror that under the burning of that flame on his body, he actually couldn't control his ability.
The vitality belonging to the Mythical Zoan "Yamata no Orochi Fruit" was activated by Rabbit's flames, forcing him, who originally planned to play dead, to activate his ability out of bodily instinct.
But clearly—the current Rabbit had no interest in answering him.
"As you all know, Kurozumi Orochi relied on schemes to obtain the position of Shogun, causing this country to suffer."
"Shimotsuki Ushimaru, Kozuki Oden, Amatsuki Toki, Shimotsuki Kouzaburo..."
He continuously chanted the names of those who died in the past because of Kurozumi Orochi's schemes.
At the same time, from behind him...
VMMM!
Yamato, with two horns on her head, had already slowly walked out.
She didn't reveal her appearance, nor did she wield the kanabo she inherited from her father.
On the contrary, right now she held a tachi in her hand, and wore a Hannya demon mask resembling a Shura on her face.
That posture was very clear.
What she represented at this moment was not "Yamato" or "Oni Princess", but represented the Kozuki Oden she worshipped, and the warriors of this country who had died because of Kurozumi Orochi.
She raised her hand, and then under Kurozumi Orochi's horrified gaze... brought down the tachi in her hand.
Squelch!
Another head flew off.
The samurai behind Rabbit also swung their swords again, slaying another batch of Oniwabanshu and Beasts members.
"Kurozumi Orochi cooperated with the Beasts, turning this country into a wasteland that only knows how to produce weapons."
"The land of this country has become barren and wild. The lives of this country have to exhaust all their strength just to survive. For the ordinary people of this country, even eating their fill is an extravagant hope."
Rabbit's words continued, his tone calm and objective, yet capable of making everyone feel their hearts surge.
As his words reached this point, another batch of figures walked out from behind him.
It was Ace wearing an orange hat, and his "Spade Pirates".
Besides that, a purple-haired little girl was currently following beside Ace.
That was exactly O-Tama.
"Can you do it?"
Right now, Ace held O-Tama's hand and asked softly.
O-Tama looked at that Kurozumi Orochi who was angry and desperate because two of his heads had been severed.
"That's the 'Orochi' the Master talked about."
She clenched her fists.
In her mind, she remembered everyone in Amigasa Village, and her parents who died in the weapon factories.
"O-Tama... O-Tama can do it!"
She nodded seriously.
Ace also grinned.
"Then, watch closely."
He chuckled and took off his hat, placing it on O-Tama's head.
Then...
Whoosh!
Flames extended from his fingers, turning into a scorching long sword.
"Flame Martial Blade: Kasa Sword!"
He raised his hand and looked at Kurozumi Orochi.
"Who... who are you, wait... wait a minute—Ah!"
Kurozumi Orochi's horrified inquiry didn't receive an answer; one of his heads was severed again, and even before it hit the ground, it was incinerated into charcoal by the flames.
"No! No! I don't want to die! I can't die here!"
Having three heads severed continuously like this made him go completely crazy.
He tried to shake his snake body, seemingly wanting to escape.
But clearly.
"Tyrannical and ferocious—countless people have died by his hands."
Squelch!
"Despicable and vile—the number of people who perished because of him is uncountable."
Squelch!
"He is a snake groveling in the evil dragon's nest, a minion, a part that must be cleared to liberate this country."
Squelch!
With every sentence Rabbit uttered, one of Kurozumi Orochi's heads would be severed by him, Yamato, or Ace.
Four, five, six...
Squelch!
When the seventh head was severed, the blood of the Oniwabanshu and Beasts had already dyed the entire platform crimson.
Kurozumi Orochi's body had collapsed to the ground, his only remaining last head breathing faintly.
At this point, Rabbit didn't hesitate at all.
He stepped forward, stepped on Kurozumi Orochi's head with one foot, and raised the sword in his hand.
"Don't... don't..."
Ignoring the request of this non-human entity right now, he said softly.
"This is exactly what I want everyone to see."
He seemed to be speaking to this country.
"Whether it's the evil dragon or his minions—they are not immortal, invincible beings."
"Look at his ugly state, look at this bright red."
"The path of liberation is inevitably accompanied by blood, and now... the enemy's blood has run dry."
"This is the declaration of war!"
As his words fell, he brought down that final slash.
Kurozumi Orochi's last head flew high up, and then fell heavily to the ground.
"After the execution, we will declare war on the Beasts, declare war on Onigashima, declare war on the evil dragon."
"We will head to Onigashima to slay the evil dragon."
As the words fell.
Rabbit raised the sword in his hand, holding it high.
"I ask people of common understanding, comrades, to ignite the flames of war along with me, and along with me... liberate all that is bound!"
Sparks of flame drifted down from the blade, like a swaying flag.
The voice fell.
"..."
"..."
The entirety of Wano Country fell into a dead silence at this instant.
Old people, children, samurai, farmers, pawns... all commoners, regardless of age, youth, completeness, or disability.
Everyone looked collectively at the people on the screen, that flame, and that flag.
Kurozumi Orochi's head and corpse seemed to become the steps guarding him at this moment.
In everyone's mind, they recalled the scenes of those slashes falling just now.
They only felt that the shackles that had oppressed them, bound them, and made them fearful over these years... seemed to be shattered to pieces amidst those slashes just now.
Rising from the shackles, replacing them...
Was a fiercely burning flame!
That flame was not just burning on their bodies, but was truly burning continuously from within their bodies.
One, two, three... countless single sparks gathered together, illuminating the Wano Country that was entering the night as brightly as day.
Then...
"Liberation!"
"Liberation!"
"Liberation!"
Angry roars rang out.
☆☆☆
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