Flower Capital.
Inside the Shogun's Castle, the sounds of decadent music filled the air, mingling with the cloying scent of alcohol and cosmetics.
Geishas in lavish kimonos wore stiff smiles as they carefully poured wine for the two monsters seated at the head of the table.
One of them was the current Shogun of Wano Country, Orochi.
His face was so repulsive it could make children stop crying. At this moment, he was embracing two courtesans, boasting drunkenly about his grand ambitions for the future, occasionally letting out an unpleasant "hee-hee-hee-hee" laugh.
The other man, merely by sitting there, made the entire luxurious room feel cramped.
Blue dragon-scale tattoos stretched from his thick arms to his chest, while two fierce horns atop his head silently proclaimed his inhuman identity.
The Governor of the Beast Pirates, Kaido.
He paid no attention to Orochi's clamor, instead lifting a wine gourd larger than a water vat and taking a swig of strong liquor, thick white smoke billowing from his nostrils.
Just then, a ninja tasked with monitoring Kuri stumbled in, his expression one of utter panic.
"Sh-Shogun-sama! Something... something has happened in Kuri!"
Orochi, who had been burying his large, ugly head in a geisha's bosom, was disturbed from his pleasure. He jerked his head up, his triangular eyes filled with savagery, his thin mustache trembling with rage.
"You fool! Can't you see I'm entertaining Mr. Kaido? If those samurai are causing trouble, just cut them down!"
"N-No... it's not trouble..."
The ninja swallowed hard, his expression uglier than if he were crying.
"It's Oden... Kozuki Oden..."
Hearing that name, Orochi sobered up considerably. He shoved the woman in his arms aside, his voice rising half an octave.
"What about him? Has that bastard finally lost his patience and come to kill us?!"
"No! Not that!"
The ninja shook his head frantically, his face a mask of sheer disbelief.
"He... this morning, he stripped completely naked and danced in the Kuri marketplace!"
"What?"
Both Orochi and Kaido turned their gazes toward him.
The ninja gulped and recounted everything that had happened in the marketplace as quickly as he could.
"...Kin'emon tried to stop him, but Oden kicked him half to death! He even shouted in front of everyone, 'What do I care about the country's survival? What do I care about my family's lives?'!"
"He also said... he also said..."
"Said what?!" Orochi pressed impatiently.
"He said, 'Wano Country doesn't need a Shogun—it needs a Dance King!'!"
As the words fell.
The music came to an abrupt halt.
Orochi's comical face froze.
He blinked his small eyes, seemingly struggling to process this utterly surreal information.
One second.
Two seconds.
"Hee—hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"
A low chuckle escaped Orochi's throat, quickly escalating into uncontrollable laughter, and finally erupting into hysterical shrieks.
"Hee-ha-ha-ha! Gone mad? That arrogant Oden has gone mad?!"
Orochi leapt up from the tatami, dancing and gesticulating wildly. He grabbed the sake jug from the table and recklessly poured it into his mouth, the liquor spilling down his chin and soaking his expensive, ornate robes.
"Serves him right! Serves him right! The so-called hero! Ended up becoming a perverted stripper who loves taking his clothes off?!"
Orochi laughed until tears streamed from his eyes, spinning in circles in the hall, kicking over low tables and stomping fruit platters to pieces.
This vengeful pleasure was even more intense than killing.
"Mr. Kaido! Did you hear that?!"
Like a lapdog wagging its tail, he scurried up to Kaido, his ugly face twisted into a crumpled chrysanthemum from extreme excitement.
"This is the fate of those who oppose us! What invincible samurai, what crewmate of Roger's—in the face of reality, he's just a wild dog with a broken spine!"
Kaido glanced at the frenzied Orochi, a flicker of disdain flashing in his eyes.
He lifted his gourd and tilted his head back for a long drink.
Gulp, gulp.
"Uwohohohoho..."
Kaido set down the gourd and let out a boozy belch.
"Though I don't know which screw came loose in that guy's head... well, this counts as an outcome."
He had originally been looking forward to a thrilling, all-out battle.
After all, that man was one of the few on these seas strong enough to wound him.
But it seemed he had overestimated him.
A weakling bound by a ridiculous "promise," who ultimately had a mental breakdown under pressure, was no longer worthy of dying by his Kanabo.
"How boring."
Kaido snorted two thick plumes of white steam from his nostrils, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with ferocity.
"Since he's already ruined himself, there's no need to keep that verbal agreement."
"Pirates don't keep promises with the weak."
Orochi's eyes instantly lit up. Rubbing his hands together, he leaned in even closer.
"You mean..."
"That bullshit promise about 'leaving in five years' is now void."
Kaido casually grabbed a massive, bone-in beast leg, tore off a chunk of meat with a savage pull, and crunched the bones as he chewed.
"I don't have the patience to play house for five years with a dancing fool."
Orochi trembled with excitement.
No need to wait five years!
No more sleepless nights worrying!
Once they seized Kuri, all those stubborn laborers could be captured and sent to mine in Udon, the Kozuki Clan's treasures would all be theirs, and the entire Wano Country would completely bear the name "Kurozumi"!
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Orochi knelt on the floor, kowtowing repeatedly to Kaido. "I'll arrange for the Oniwabanshu right away..."
"No need for such trouble."
Kaido cut off Orochi's nonsense, his gaze shifting to the shadows in the corner.
There sat a massive youth.
His signature two thick braids hung over his chest, the lower half of his face covered by a metal jaw guard, and bull-horn-shaped ornaments adorned his head.
One of the Beast Pirates' Three Disasters, "Drought" Jack.
Though still young and not yet at his peak size, the oppressive aura emanating from him—like a savage, colossal elephant—was already enough to suffocate ordinary samurai.
On these seas, Jack had a resounding epithet—"Ship-Crasher."
A master of brain-dead aesthetics; when his temper flared, he wouldn't hesitate to order his ship to ram forward, whether facing a Navy Admiral or even one of the Four Emperors themselves.
Jack walked up to Kaido and knelt on one knee, his metal armor clanging against the floor.
"Boss Kaido."
His voice rumbled, carrying an undisguised ferocity.
Kaido casually pointed toward the direction of Wano Country's main island.
"Take your men, to Kuri."
"I don't care what method you use, flatten that place for me within a day. Anyone still breathing, capture them all and send them to Udon to dig for stones. Those who don't obey, kill them on the spot and use them as fertilizer for the flowers."
Jack stood up, drawing his two sickle-shaped swords halfway from his waist. The blades scraped together, emitting a sharp, grating screech.
"Understood, boss."
Orochi sidled over, adding obsequiously, "Lord Jack, that Kozuki Oden still has some skill. Would you like to take more men?"
Jack turned his head, looking down coldly at Orochi.
That gaze was exactly like looking at a pile of dog shit on the roadside.
"I'm Jack," he grunted. "Whether it's Kozuki Oden or those worthless samurai scrap metal. Anyone who blocks my path, I'll just trample right over them. Take more men? Are you looking down on the destructive power of a Mammoth?"
Orochi was choked into retreating several steps, not daring to utter another peep.
Kaido was extremely satisfied with Jack's simple and brutal personality.
"Go."
"Let those country bumpkins in Wano Country see what a real disaster looks like."
The gates of the Flower Capital swung wide open.
The flag of the Beast Pirates flapped loudly in the wind.
Jack walked at the very front. With each step he took, a deep footprint was imprinted on the stone-paved road.
Hundreds of bizarrely shaped Beast Pirates underlings followed behind.
"Listen up!" Jack drew his twin swords, pointing their tips directly toward Kuri. "The boss has spoken! Target: Kuri! Leave no survivors! Crush them all!"
"Rooooaaaarrrr—!"
The pirates raised their guns, cannons, swords, and blades, letting out a roar that shook the heavens.
The vast procession surged forth like a black mudslide, pouring out from the Flower Capital, rushing along the wilderness road, heading straight for Kuri.
...
Kuri, evening.
The once bustling marketplace was now in complete disarray.
Kozuki Oden was still dancing.
He had been dancing in the mud pit for an entire day, tireless, heedless of hunger or thirst.
Even though most of the surrounding populace had dispersed, even though someone had thrown a stone that struck his forehead and drew blood, he merely grinned foolishly with a wide-open mouth, his dance steps becoming even more vigorous.
On a distant high slope.
Kane held an apple he'd procured from who-knows-where, taking a crisp bite. It was sweet and juicy.
"Tsk tsk, this stamina. Truly worthy of a Yonko-level combatant."
Kane watched the burly man still wriggling his body, thinking that if he were captured and taken to the G-5 Base to push a millstone, his efficiency would definitely be higher than a donkey's.
Suddenly.
The ground began to tremble slightly.
Thud, thud, thud.
A dull, heavy sound came from the distance, causing even the leaves on the trees to tremble.
Kane swallowed the fruit flesh in his mouth, casually tossed away the remaining apple core, and clapped his hands.
"They're here."
At the edge of his vision, dust billowed.
A fully armed pirate force was surging along the mountain path toward Kuri.
"That's more like it, Kaido."
The corners of Kane's mouth lifted, revealing that trademark "villainous" smile.
"You agreed to five years, but the moment you see the other party is a fool, you immediately turn around and attack. That's how a pirate should be."
If Oden had been in his right mind, Kaido might have still feared his strength and influence, playing the game of slowly boiling the frog in warm water.
But now, facing a madman who only knows how to dance, any schemes or tricks would be a waste of time.
"Once this fire spreads, Kuri will be completely ruined."
With Oden finished and Kuri fallen, Wano Country's military system will collapse entirely tonight.
Next, it will be his turn as the "Justice"-upholding Navy Admiral to clean up the mess and, in the process, reap the rewards of victory.
"However, before that..."
Kane stopped in his tracks and looked back toward the distant Shogun's Castle, trembling amidst the chaos.
There was still one thing he had to obtain.
"Momonosuke must die."
This wasn't just because of that disgusting, perverted brat's nature, but to completely sever Wano Country's legitimate line of succession.
As long as the male heirs of the Kozuki Clan were wiped out, that little girl Hiyori would be nothing more than the perfect tool for manipulating a puppet regime in the future.
Kane's fig
ure stretched long in the setting sun, like a shadow cutting through the light.
He adjusted the ronin haori draped over his shoulders, his face taking on a sorrowful, compassionate expression.
"Ah, pirates wreak havoc, and the people suffer."
"To prevent the tragedy from spreading further and to eliminate the future root of this country's troubles in advance—this too is a form of... Justice."