The reason things had escalated this far could ultimately be traced back to one person—
Komurasaki, the most famous oiran in the Flower Capital.
Or rather, Kozuki Hiyori.
This entire chain of trouble had been set in motion by her.
Kyoshiro sat collapsed on the floor, cold sweat having long since soaked through the back of his clothes.
Never in his wildest imagination had he expected Lady Hiyori to take such a dangerous gamble.
And he certainly hadn't expected that gamble to drag him into a situation where his own life now hung by a thread.
The story had begun much earlier.
After Yamato abolished the oiran system, public anger toward Kaido grew stronger by the day.
Families with even modest savings began hoarding money, preparing to support the eventual decisive battle against him.
Naturally, Komurasaki's income declined sharply.
Kyoshiro had actually welcomed that change.
Even without the money she once earned as an oiran, Kozuki Hiyori was completely supported by him. She had never lacked food, clothing, or anything else she needed.
Again and again, Kyoshiro told her the same thing.
Endure.
Wait.
Wait until the prophecy was fulfilled.
Wait until Kaido was defeated.
Then, and only then, could she openly step forward as a member of the Kozuki family once more.
But Hiyori couldn't bring herself to simply sit and wait.
There was one thought she had never let go of.
The position of shogun belonged to the Kozuki family.
It did not belong to Yamato.
So she acted on her own.
Hiyori infiltrated the shogun's residence and initially planned to handle the current shogun the same way she had once manipulated Kurozumi Orochi.
Unfortunately for her—
Yamato had absolutely no interest in any of that.
The arts of an oiran?
Elegant conversation?
Seduction?
Culture?
Yamato understood none of it and cared even less.
Most of her thoughts revolved around food.
So Hiyori changed tactics and tried approaching Yamato through cooking instead.
The problem was that Hiyori had been raised as a sheltered noblewoman and had virtually no experience in a kitchen.
Her first attempts were disasters.
Yamato still ate everything.
Her reasoning was simple—
wasting food was wrong.
And before long, eating whatever Hiyori cooked and watching her gradually improve became part of Yamato's daily routine.
Hiyori used those moments to casually probe her for information.
Fortunately, given Yamato's personality, most of what she said was hardly useful intelligence.
Kyoshiro had seen everything happening.
And all he could do was continue pretending not to notice.
…
Cain, however, had known Kyoshiro's true identity from the very beginning.
So from the moment he entered the shogun's residence, he had never completely lowered his guard around the man.
Before any serious discussion about Kaido began, Cain explicitly ordered Kyoshiro to leave.
Kyoshiro argued briefly, but eventually obeyed.
Not long afterward—
Kozuki Hiyori entered without permission.
Because she had spent the past year becoming familiar with Yamato, she casually claimed that she had come to prepare food for everyone and remained as though she naturally belonged there.
She even volunteered to perform a song for the group.
If the person before her had been someone else—or someone with Kurozumi Orochi's temperament—Hiyori assumed they might simply let her stay.
At worst, she expected to be politely asked to leave.
She never believed her life was in danger.
But Cain was different.
Cain knew exactly who all of them were.
And once Yamato mentioned that Hiyori had been doing this for an entire year, Cain's expression immediately darkened.
That meant Kozuki Hiyori had spent a full year embedded beside Yamato—
casually probing her for information the entire time.
Cain became increasingly irritated the more he thought about it.
'How does Yamato trust people this easily?'
'What if someone had put poison in that food?'
'She's been eating whatever this woman gives her for an entire year without the slightest suspicion.'
Cain's brows drew tighter.
Yamato was his friend.
She wanted to save Wano, and Cain was more than willing to help her. If necessary, he would put in as much effort as the situation demanded.
But if the Kozuki faction intended to maneuver behind her back and interfere with the final battle—
Cain would not allow it.
So he acted.
Without hesitation.
Yamato had barely begun to object when a black-clad figure dropped from the rafters.
Kyoshiro was wearing the same dark disguise he had once used as the Ushimitsu Kozo, the mysterious thief who robbed the rich and helped the poor.
Because his face was covered, neither Uta nor Yamato immediately recognized him.
They assumed he was an intruder and therefore didn't interfere.
Kyoshiro landed directly in front of Hiyori with his sword already drawn.
Cain's attack, originally aimed at her, instantly changed direction.
"Bella, reinforce the floor."
"Yes, Papa!"
Bella didn't understand why, but she obeyed without hesitation.
Ice crystals spread across the floor.
The More-More Fruit's power flowed through them and multiplied the durability of Cain's foothold several hundred times.
Then—
"Thunder Bagua!"
Lightning wrapped around the blow.
The strike descended far faster than Kyoshiro could possibly defend against.
BOOM!!
The floor exploded beneath them.
Kyoshiro was smashed straight through it, sword and all, and crashed into the room below.
Broken wood and shattered tiles rained over him.
His sword flew from his hand and embedded itself in a pillar several steps away.
Cain dropped through the hole after him.
He landed in front of Kyoshiro, looked down at the man lying helplessly among the broken boards, and rested his weapon against his throat.
"I left you alone because Yamato still needs you to keep the people of Wano under control."
Cain's voice was cold.
"But I didn't expect you to expose yourself first…"
"Kyoshiro."
Kyoshiro sat amid the shattered timber with his left arm hanging at an unnatural angle.
Pain pulsed through his body in waves.
Cold sweat soaked him from head to toe.
His mind still rang from the impact.
When he had left the meeting earlier, he had clearly stopped Lady Hiyori from entering.
But all she had said was, I'll go find out what they're planning.
Then she had ignored him and gone inside anyway.
Kyoshiro had nearly lost his mind.
He hurriedly changed into his old night attire and concealed himself nearby.
When Cain attacked Hiyori, Kyoshiro drew his sword almost entirely on instinct.
He had saved her.
But his arm had been ruined in the process.
Yet what truly chilled him wasn't the broken limb.
It was Cain.
That overwhelming pressure.
The sheer force behind a strike delivered without hesitation.
The way every attack felt as though it had been thrown with killing intent.
It was almost exactly like Kaido.
Kyoshiro had once thought Yamato's supposed younger brother might represent a weakness they could exploit.
Instead—
Cain fought like another Kaido.
Then Cain spoke his name.
Kyoshiro's pupils contracted violently.
He opened his mouth, desperately searching for some explanation.
Cain continued before he could speak.
"Or perhaps…"
"Should I call you Denjiro?"
The words struck like thunder.
For an instant, Denjiro felt as though the sky itself had collapsed.
Cain didn't give him time to recover.
"And the woman upstairs…"
"If I remember correctly, she should be Kozuki Oden's daughter."
"Kozuki Hiyori."
Another blow.
Denjiro struggled to his feet.
His voice trembled.
"You…"
"How do you know?"
Above them, Uta leaned over the edge of the hole Cain had smashed through.
"Cain, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. This'll be over soon."
Cain glanced upward.
"Oh, and take Yamato to a doctor first."
"Have Bella freeze that woman."
"If this guy could react that quickly and protect her the instant I attacked, then this clearly wasn't some spontaneous decision."
His eyes hardened.
"For all we know, they could've been slipping something into Yamato's food all year."
Uta nodded and disappeared from view.
Cain turned back toward Denjiro.
"You should consider yourself lucky we're on the second floor."
"Yamato and the others didn't hear any of that."
His voice remained level.
"But out of every possible mistake you could've made…"
"You chose to target Yamato."
Cain's eyes narrowed.
"In a way, she's basically my older sister."
If she and Ace eventually ended up together, that would become even more literal.
Cain left that part unsaid.
"She's too trusting."
"If you tell her something with a straight face, she'll probably believe you."
"So before you people have a chance to fully reveal yourselves…"
"I'll deal with you first."
His voice never rose.
That made every word feel heavier.
"I'm fighting Kaido because Yamato needs help."
"That's it."
"But if I defeat Kaido only for the Kozuki family to swoop in afterward and steal everything she fought for…"
Cain's gaze turned cold.
"…then I can change plans right now."
"I could join forces with Kaido instead."
"And wipe out every remaining Kozuki loyalist before dealing with him afterward."
Cain's dislike of Kozuki Hiyori and Kozuki Momonosuke had always been exactly that—
dislike.
Personal disgust.
Nothing more.
It had never reached the point where Cain felt they absolutely had to die.
But they had chosen to move against Yamato.
And Cain had never been the type to torture himself with endless questions about who deserved death and who didn't.
Besides—
he didn't necessarily have to personally handle everything.
As long as the Kozuki family remained, Yamato could never truly secure the position of shogun.
Wano's devotion to the Kozuki name ran far too deep.
Cain had no intention of allowing them to quietly return at the end and claim the fruits of Yamato's struggle.
If you were going to remove a threat—
you removed it completely.
And so…
…
"Well, well…"
"So the Kozuki brat has been hiding in Wano all this time!"
"Run."
"Go on, run."
A man watched from high above.
"Let me see how long you can keep going."
Denjiro, now missing one leg, fled desperately through the night with Kozuki Hiyori held tightly in his arms.
Behind them came a black tide of Beasts Pirates Gifters.
And soaring highest above the pursuit, looking down upon the two fugitives—
was King the Wildfire.
--------
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