Denjiro could feel the blade's chill biting into his throat.
His heart hammered.
"Go on,"Arakaki Jin said softly. "Say that again. 'Loyalty'? 'My loyalty'? You think I'm your lord's retainer?"
The more he spoke, the uglier his expression became.
Kozuki Sukiyaki swallowed hard.
Kozuki Hiyori didn't dare make a sound.
Denjiro couldn't speak even if he wanted to. A thin cut had already opened on his neck. He could feel his blood being drawn out—almost as if the sword itself were drinking it.
Jin's voice turned cold.
"I'm not like you idiots," he said. "Blindly licking Oden's boots until you die.
"Remember that."
Hearing someone insult his lord, Denjiro ignored the pain in his neck and glared at Jin with pure fury.
"What?" Jin sheathed Nidai Kitetsu in one smooth motion and looked down on him. "Not convinced?"
He snorted.
"Your 'lord' went to sea. He saw the world. And he still trusted Kaido because the big dragon said, 'My ship's broken, when it's fixed I'll leave.'"
Jin's lip curled.
"Did he check? Did he confirm anything?
"Orochi waves a little threat, and your 'great lord' spends five years dancing naked in the streets.
"Five. Years."
Jin's Haki pressed down on the room.
"I'll never understand it," he said. "He could've killed Orochi first. At that time, Kaido didn't have that many solid elites.
"It wasn't hopeless. There was a chance.
"But he chose to humiliate himself until the people's hearts were gone.
"Idiot is idiot."
He spat to the side.
"I spit on that kind of 'lord'."
"You—how dare you slander Lord Oden!" Denjiro roared.
He forced himself to his feet and ripped his own blade free.
"I'll—"
He never finished.
Clang.
Jin's sword flashed once.
Half of Denjiro's katana clattered to the floor.
"Say one more word," Jin said, voice flat, "and I'll kill you.
"Then I'll make a point of erasing every last person in your bloodline."
Denjiro froze.
That wasn't a threat.
That was a promise.
And the killing intent pouring off Jin made it very clear—he meant every word.
Jin sheathed Nidai Kitetsu and turned toward the door.
"W–wait, Musashi-sama," Sukiyaki blurted. "About what I said earlier—"
"Don't push your luck, Kozuki Sukiyaki," Jin said without looking back. "Don't make me kill someone I don't need to."
"You misunderstand!" Sukiyaki felt the weight of that killing aura and forced himself on.
"What I mean is… from today onward, Hiyori is no longer officially of the Kozuki clan.
"Consider those three blades my gift."
Jin glanced over his shoulder.
"You serious?" he asked.
His gaze slid to Hiyori—a tiny girl with red-rimmed eyes and a flushed face, torn between duty and terror.
"I've thought it through," Sukiyaki said, dropping to his knees. "Ten… twenty years from now, we don't know if that battle will end in victory or annihilation.
"I have to think of the child's future too."
"Shogun-sama, you can't!" Denjiro protested.
"Silence."
Sukiyaki's shout cut him down.
The rest of his words died in his throat.
He'd wanted to say he believed in Momonosuke. That one day, Momo would lead them to slay Kaido and Orochi.
But even he couldn't spit that out with a straight face.
"Grandfather…" Hiyori whispered, looking at Sukiyaki with wet eyes.
She wanted to refuse too. But she'd been raised on Wano's rules, etiquette, the weight of status. She couldn't defy him.
Jin sighed.
"I'll be outside," he said. "Make up your minds.
"I don't have all day."
He stepped out and slid the door closed behind him.
Sukiyaki exhaled slowly once Jin's presence left the room.
He turned to his granddaughter.
"Hiyori," he said softly. "Remember this.
"From now on, you must listen to that man. He is not a bad person.
"When the time comes, if he chooses to bring you back, then you will return with him."
"I understand, Grandfather," Hiyori said, blinking fast as tears kept building.
Sukiyaki continued giving instructions.
At first, Denjiro sat there with humiliation all over his face.
But the more the old man spoke, the more his expression changed.
That final battle in twenty years… who knew if any of them would survive?
If they failed, the Kozuki line would be gone.
Sukiyaki wasn't betraying anyone.
He was preserving a single branch of the family.
A seed.
Outside, Jin smoked in silence.
Bringing her back isn't a loss, he thought.
Once I kill that little pervert someday, I'll have a princess in hand to "legitimize" things.
'Holding the emperor to command the nobles,' right? Use the Kozuki to justify taking Wano…
He chuckled to himself.
He'd also heard the rumors about what lay under Wano.
Pluton.
Another one of the Ancient Weapons.
That thing's off-limits, he decided. Poke that nest and the Five Fossils on top of the Red Line will personally come down to kick my teeth in.
And that thing sitting behind them… the one pulling the strings… no thanks.
He took another drag.
He had no interest in playing "enemy of the world."
That was Sun God business.
Or Dragon's problem.
You really think a government that's lasted 800 years doesn't have extra lives and hidden cards?
There was that Uranus rumor.
Unknown numbers of monsters lurking in Mary Geoise.
Nope.
He'd carve out his own territory one day, sure.
But he wasn't trying to solo the world.
He just wanted to live well in this insane ocean, make money, get stronger, and die cleanly in his own bed.
Marry a few wives. Eat good food. Watch the sunset from a porch somewhere.
That's enough for me, he thought.
Leave the "punching gods" nonsense to the actual protagonists.
Time passed.
Finally, Hiyori stepped out, a small bundle on her back.
Her eyes were swollen and red.
She clearly didn't want to leave.
Jin took the bundle from her and slipped it into his bracelet.
"Say your goodbyes," he said. "Who knows when you'll be back."
Hiyori turned.
Sukiyaki stood in the doorway, trying—and failing—to look dignified.
"Take care, Hiyori," he said. "Live well."
Denjiro knelt, forehead to the floor.
"Lady Hiyori," he said. "Please stay safe."
Hiyori didn't speak.
She bowed deeply to both of them.
Then she turned and followed Jin into the night.
Their silhouettes melted into the darkness.
"…I should go," Denjiro said quietly. "Dawn's almost here.
"If Orochi doesn't see me, he'll start wondering."
Sukiyaki nodded.
"Thank you, Denjiro," he said. "Spying at that man's side… it's not just your body that suffers, is it?"
"It's not," Denjiro admitted. "But if Lord Momonosuke truly returns to defeat Kaido…
"Then anything is worth it."
He left.
Sukiyaki sat back down, alone in the dim room.
"…It'll work, won't it?" he murmured to himself. "It has to."
By the river, Jin and Hiyori boarded a small wooden boat.
Jin pulled some food from his bracelet and set it on the low plank table.
"Eat something," he said. "We've got to use the night to slip out of Wano.
"Once the sun's up, it gets annoying."
"Yes, Musashi-sama," Hiyori said, bowing earnestly.
She picked up a small piece of cake and nibbled.
She hadn't eaten all night.
Without food, she wasn't sure she'd even make it to sunrise.
"You don't need to bow every three seconds," Jin muttered. "Too much trouble."
He set his hands on the oar, and the little boat surged forward, riding the current toward the port.
He could have just flown out as a dragon.
But that was a giant glowing target.
He was trying to sneak in and sneak out.
Not announce himself with fireworks.
It was the darkest stretch before dawn.
Most sentries were nodding off.
The searchlights were lazily sweeping the same patch of sea over and over, too lazy to move.
Maybe the Beasts Pirates had gotten complacent.
Maybe they just really didn't care.
Either way, Jin's boat slid through the gap and out into open water without so much as a shout.
Once they were far from the waterfall and Wano's towering walls, Jin stood up.
Hiyori stood as well, hands clasped, obedient and silent.
Jin sighed.
He really wasn't suited for childcare.
He'd dump her on Stella as soon as he could.
He bent his knees and jumped.
Hiyori's eyes widened as Musashi-sama rose into the air—
—and his body stretched, scales blooming, golden light flaring.
In an instant, a massive golden dragon hovered above the boat.
For a heartbeat Hiyori almost screamed.
Memories of that night—flames, a shadow in the sky, a dragon spreading its jaws—flashed through her mind.
If not for the color, she might have broken down on the spot.
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