"Lord Oden, I heard that Ashura Doji, also known as Shutenmaru, has come to this area to help build the reservoir as well," Raizo said. As a ninja, he was quite adept at gathering information.
Truthfully, he had just been eavesdropping during a break when some samurai from the Udon Magistrate who were already here happened to mention it in their casual conversation.
"Shutenmaru? Is that his real name?" Kozuki Oden asked in surprise. He had only heard of a fearsome bandit called Ashura Doji in Kuri, but he had never heard of this name "Shutenmaru" before.
"No, it seems he changed his name after losing to the daimyo of Kuri," Denjiro explained. This was the information he had gathered. "Lord Oden, should we go visit him sometime?"
Although they were working, they still had time to rest at night. They were just working off their debt, not prisoners locked in jail, so they had time to rest every day.
The suggestion made Kozuki Oden a bit tempted. He had always been drawn to powerful warriors, though so far, only a few people he had met had earned his recognition. Among these few, even fewer could compare to him.
Or perhaps, almost none.
He had long been curious about Ren's and Shutenmaru's strength, but they had only met once, and he hadn't had the chance to test himself against them then. Now that he knew Shutenmaru was in the Sacred Forest, Oden was getting rather eager.
He had been picking fights in gambling dens since he was eight years old and was always enthusiastic about a good fight.
"Let's find time to go see him."
"But, that Ashura Doji, I think he's the leader of the Udon Magistrate, right? Why would someone like him come to a place like this to build a reservoir?" Kin'emon wondered.
If he were in a position of power himself, Kin'emon would rather be living it up every day, not come to a place like this. Were the courtesans in the Pleasure Quarter not pretty enough anymore? Or had they lost their ability to dance?
"I don't know, but the samurai from Kuri are indeed different from those in other regions," Kanjuro said.
"That's true, I've never seen samurai willing to farm and herd cattle before," Oden laughed heartily. In truth, he didn't see anything wrong with it, nor did he think samurai were particularly noble.
This was also why he was willing to work off his debt through manual labor.
"Let's go visit him now," Oden said after thinking for a moment.
It didn't take long. He was the kind of person who, once he thought of something, wanted to do it immediately. To put it nicely, he was straightforward and very action-oriented.
When work ended in the evening, he picked up a sake flask and went to Shutenmaru's residence.
"Lord Shutenmaru, Kozuki Oden has come to visit."
Shutenmaru had been working hard moving bricks all day and was now lying down to rest.
"Kozuki Oden? What does that guy want with me?" He rolled his eyes. Shutenmaru didn't have much goodwill toward the Kozuki family. The Kozuki family could have pacified Kuri long ago, but they had done nothing all these years. As rulers, they were just enjoying themselves in the Flower Capital, not caring at all how the people born in Kuri survived.
He had seen the prosperity of the Flower Capital with his own eyes when he visited last time.
"Send him away, I'm not in the mood to see him!" Shutenmaru's mood wasn't good right now. Although drinking and delaying work was his own fault, being punished by Yuko and exiled to a place like the Sacred Forest was rather embarrassing for him.
"But, he's holding a sake flask..." his subordinate hesitated, whispering.
"What, sake?!" Shutenmaru suddenly straightened up, his eyes wide, saliva almost dripping from his mouth, "In that case... then I suppose..."
His speech was intermittent, but in the end, he managed to swallow back the words "let him in."
"Never mind, I won't see him. That woman Yuko may be nosy, but she's right. I can't let drinking delay Lord Ren's affairs. From now on, this great master will never drink again... cough, I'll drink less."
This man, who looked like a sake barrel, lay back down again.
But Kozuki Oden was not the type to quietly leave after being refused entry.
So he simply threw aside the samurai who tried to stop him and strode directly inside.
"Yo, so you're Ashura Doji?" He showed no awareness that he had entered uninvited, instead cheerfully placing the sake flask he was holding on the ground and speaking to Shutenmaru. As if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.
"You bastard, who let you in here?" Shutenmaru jumped up, his round eyes wide as he drew the sword hanging nearby and roared.
"Don't be so angry. My name is Oden, and I've come to be your friend," Kozuki Oden indicated the sake flask.
He had long heard that Ashura Doji was a sake lover, so bringing sake should be the right way to win him over.
But unexpectedly, Shutenmaru now got a headache just seeing sake. Without a second word, he swung his sword and chopped Oden's sake flask in half, shattered porcelain and sake splashing everywhere.
Even Oden was furious at being treated this way. He was no obedient child.
So he drew Ame no Habakiri and Enma from his waist, his gaze turning sharp.
"Looks like I have no choice but to fight today!" Kozuki Oden laughed. It was clear he not only didn't reflect on provoking the confrontation but was actually excited. He had wanted to fight Shutenmaru all along, and the reason, in his view, wasn't that important.
If Denjiro were here, he might not have let him act so recklessly, as this action would definitely make their already substantial debt even worse.
"You've got some nerve!" Shutenmaru said angrily. "Fine, let me see just how capable the son of a Shogun really is!"
Shutenmaru was very confident. He often trained with Ren, and it wasn't just Ren who had improved. His own strength had also increased significantly compared to before.
The two hadn't even formally engaged yet, but their auras were already clashing. Of course, this wasn't a collision of Conqueror's Haki; Shutenmaru didn't have that aptitude. It was merely a collision of their overwhelming presences.
Oden, however, became extremely excited.
"So you're Shutenmaru, you really are a strong opponent!"
"Less talk!" Shutenmaru shot a sideways glance at him, then jumped up and violently swung his sword down. A powerful Haki instantly flowed into the entire blade, making the sword in his hand indestructible.
"Clang—"
{
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