That member of the Orochi Oniwabanshu heard the other side trying to shift the blame and was completely dumbfounded.
"You Beasts Pirates guys really know how to point fingers. You're the ones controlling the harbor, and you're the ones with informants overseas. Whether Kozuki Oden has returned to Wano or not—that's something you should know better than anyone!"
Di Corolo thought about it for a second and realized that was actually true. The words caught in his throat.
"Hmph, forget about these trivial matters. You'd better hurry up and kill a few more people to make up for your blunders. Otherwise, when Lord Gokokumyo returns, you'll be in serious trouble!" The Orochi Oniwabanshu member didn't waste any more words on the Beasts side.
They had only come to help on Orochi's orders—they weren't here to take the fall.
His gaze swept over Kin'emon and the others, who were already in retreat.
The four head jailers were largely unharmed, but among Oden's retainers, one was almost certainly not going to make it.
The other two—one was missing a hand, and the other had been run through the chest. Things did not look good.
"You lot are staying here tonight!"
He stepped forward, his long blade trailing behind him. From the darkness, several more Orochi Oniwabanshu members flanked them, swarming in like wild dogs.
The wounded Kin'emon and his group were nothing but prey in their eyes. The wild hounds bared their fangs and claws—given the slightest opening, they would tear these people's throats out!
"Damn it!" Denjiro ground his teeth and roared in a low voice. Among the four of them, he was now the only one who could still fight. Kin'emon could barely hold himself up, but Kikunojo...
This beautiful man was now completely lost in grief. Not only had he lost his sword hand—even if he still had it, it would be hard to say whether he could pull himself together anytime soon.
Someone had to make a stand, or all four of them would die right here!
"Kin!"
Denjiro shouted, "Get Kiku out of here! I'll hold them off!"
"What? But... cough..." Kin'emon started to say something, but blood from his pierced chest had apparently seeped into his windpipe, sending him into a violent coughing fit.
"How touching, but not a single one of you is getting away!" Di Corolo had no intention of letting them escape. Losing the quarry was already a grave offense. If they couldn't even kill a few decent enemies, they had no idea how they would face Kaido's fury.
"Rhinoceros, Charge!"
He stomped on the ground, and his entire body shifted into a fully beastified form. A ferocious, rampaging rhino charged forward like an armored tank, as if intent on crushing everything in its path!
His target was Kin'emon, who was already trying to flee, and Kikunojo, whom Kin'emon had tucked under his arm.
Neither of them had any fight left in them. If he landed the hit, he could crush them both into paste in a single blow!
"Not a chance!" Denjiro lunged forward to stop him.
But a flash of blade light crossed his field of vision, forcing him to halt. The Orochi Oniwabanshu's swordsmanship was skilled, but Denjiro still managed to evade. The blade sliced off a lock of his black hair and left a shallow cut across his face.
Dodging one strike didn't mean he was safe, though. Never forget—the Orochi Oniwabanshu fought as a pack!
In his hasty evasion, Denjiro failed to notice the attack coming from behind. Two Orochi Oniwabanshu members leapt high into the air, their blades piercing straight through his chest!
The descending Oniwabanshu drove Denjiro's body into the ground. Blood-soaked long swords embedded themselves in the rocky earth, pinning Denjiro to the surface.
"Denjiro—!"
In the distance, Kozuki Oden noticed what was happening and let out a thunderous roar.
It felt as though a fire was burning inside his chest, making his throat feel like cracked, parched earth. The energy stored within his body surged like a volcano on the verge of eruption!
"Denjiro—!"
Kozuki Oden had now become the center of the entire world. Though he had initially found Kin'emon and Denjiro and the others rather irritating, after spending so many years together, he had long since come to see them as brothers.
Yet now, Izo—who was like a little sister to him—lay on the ground, half her body mangled beyond recognition. Kikunojo's eyes seemed to have lost all color, held up by Kin'emon like a lifeless puppet.
Denjiro, who was always like a little caretaker, was pinned to the ground. Even so, he was still looking toward Kin'emon and Kikunojo with concern!
"Stay AWAY from them—!!!"
Kozuki Oden's furious voice rippled outward in crimson waves, spreading across the entire quarry!
Every enemy the wave passed through nearly rolled their eyes back and collapsed on the spot! There were plenty who could resist, but even they felt as though their brains had been smashed by a giant hammer.
Di Corolo, who had been charging toward Kin'emon and Kikunojo, was suddenly struck as if by an invisible force, sent tumbling backward!
THUD—
This armored tank of a monster shook his dizzy head, a look of astonishment spreading across his face.
"This is... Conqueror's Haki!"
He barely shook off the dizziness before Kozuki Oden—that monster—had already leapt high into the sky, descending like a wrathful demon!
"Stay away from my brothers!"
"Oden Nitoryu: Spring Cross!"
Two blades overlapped as Kozuki Oden seemed to slice through the flowing clouds of the high heavens! Tremendous sword energy swirled above his twin swords, cascading like the clouds of the nine heavens themselves!
He crashed down like a meteor, slamming into the ground between Kin'emon and Denjiro. The force released from that single point whipped up gale-force winds. The chaotic gusts howled like kamaitachi, cutting down any approaching enemies—either cleaving them in half at the waist or splitting them wide open!
The four head jailers, seeing how dire things had become, had long abandoned their assault on Kin'emon and pulled back. But even so, they were still shredded by the wind blades and left riddled with gashes!
The wild dogs of the Orochi Oniwabanshu, however, did not flee out of fear!
They bore the Seal of Orochi and were Ren's diehard loyalists. Though they currently answered to Orochi, they fought with the resolve of death warriors!
At the very instant Kozuki Oden descended from the sky, these Orochi Oniwabanshu members released their long swords and threw themselves onto Denjiro's back, using short wakizashi to slit his throat.
Of course, as the price, all three of those Oniwabanshu members perished under Oden's sword energy.
A trade of three for one. Yet no trace of satisfaction or excitement appeared on Kozuki Oden's face—only boundless rage.
He wanted nothing more than to slaughter every last jailer and reinforcement!
But Hyogoro stopped him.
Onigashima's reinforcements were almost here. If they didn't leave now, the losses would only grow more devastating!
"Retreat!"
[
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