But to their disappointment, several days passed and Kozuki Oden still hadn't returned.
Instead, their informants in the Flower Capital brought back a disturbing report — that very night, a commotion had broken out in the capital.
And by the following day, the Kozuki Oden they so revered had gone completely mad.
Shimotsuki Yasuie and the others wore grim expressions. They speculated that something terrible must have happened — otherwise, why would the great Kozuki Oden suddenly lose his mind overnight, dancing like a fool in the Flower Capital?
"Raizo! What exactly happened after you and Lord Oden went to Kuri?!" Kin'emon lowered his voice, but his right hand was tightly gripping Raizo's collar as he demanded answers.
Over the past few days, Yasuie and the others had sent several men who kept low profiles to the Flower Capital to verify the informants' reports. They had even tried to make covert contact with Kozuki Oden to understand his plight.
But Kozuki Oden ignored them completely. He didn't exchange a single word with anyone.
He simply appeared on the streets of the Flower Capital at the same time every day, rain or shine. His face was painted in the most ridiculous fashion as he performed an ugly, degrading dance.
Orochi would even organize crowds to come and cheer him on. When he was in a particularly good mood, he'd toss Oden a few coins.
Every time that happened, Kozuki Oden would drop to his knees with a look of pure delight, thanking Orochi for his generosity.
More and more people across Wano Country learned that the prince they had placed their hopes in was now dancing like a buffoon day after day, trampling the dignity of the Kozuki name beneath his feet.
Kozuki this, Oden that — it was all nothing more than a pathetic joke.
They, the people who had placed their faith in someone like this, were every bit as foolish as Kozuki Oden himself.
"I... I don't know either."
Raizo's face was bruised — Kin'emon had hit him. If Kanjuro and Kikunojo hadn't held Kin'emon back, the man might have drawn his sword right then and there.
"Raizo, tell us exactly what happened back there. From start to finish." Kanjuro urged him gently.
Raizo faithfully recounted everything exactly as it had occurred. In truth, he was just as heartbroken about Oden's behavior as the rest of them. Every time he saw more people turning against Kozuki Oden, every time he heard the growing torrent of insults directed at their lord, the pain in all of them was unbearable.
"Lord Oden went to where his wife was, and then this happened. Could something have happened to her?" Kanjuro analyzed.
At those words, Kin'emon's expression darkened further.
He had been the one to choose the location where Oden's wife was staying. If something had happened to her there, he knew he couldn't shirk the responsibility. But then again...
"How would Orochi know where his wife was living?"
This didn't hold up to scrutiny. They had returned to the country in secret, and besides their own group, no one else knew the woman's true identity.
"Could someone in Kuri have leaked the information?" Kin'emon still hadn't suspected a mole among them, instead directing his suspicion toward Kuri — a place he had never been fond of. "The people in Kuri knew about his wife's existence!"
"That seems unlikely. Only we knew where she was staying," Kanjuro said with a sigh.
"Perhaps it wasn't a leak at all. Maybe it was just bad luck," Kikunojo offered.
"After all, the Flower Capital is under Orochi's control. His people are everywhere. Having his wife, Lord Momonosuke, and Lady Hiyori staying in a place like that was risky to begin with."
The four of them made their way back to the tea house where she had been staying and found it in complete ruins. Kin'emon was consumed by guilt.
Afterward, they sneaked into the capital and found Kozuki Oden, who had just finished his daily performance.
"Lord Oden, what happened? What about your wife, and Lord Momonosuke..." Kin'emon's face was streaked with tears — torn between his shame at facing his lord and his desperate hope that Oden would pull himself together.
It had been several days since Kozuki Oden had last seen his retainers. Seeing them now stirred a storm of emotion within him, and he couldn't hold back his tears.
But he forced himself to suppress those feelings.
He hadn't forgotten Orochi's threats. Unwilling to let his wife suffer any further harm, he could only conceal the truth. Putting on a half-mad, half-foolish grin, he spoke:
"Oh, if it isn't Kin'emon? Did you come to the Flower Capital to watch my performance?"
"Sorry about that, but I've already finished my dance for today. If you want to see more, you'd better come earlier tomorrow."
The four of them were devastated. In unison, they cried out: "Lord Oden, how could you become like this..."
"It must be Orochi! He's forcing you, isn't he? Lord Oden, is he using your wife's life..."
Kin'emon was speaking with increasing passion when Oden violently cut him off.
"My wife? She's already dead. And Momonosuke, Hiyori — they're all dead too!
Hahahahahaha... I suppose this isn't so bad..."
He laughed out loud, then turned and walked away without looking back. He left the four of them frozen in place, entirely at a loss for what to do.
A long time passed before Kin'emon suddenly broke down in tears, collapsing to the ground and repeatedly smashing his forehead against it.
"Damn it — this is all my fault!"
"If it weren't for me — if I hadn't suggested placing her in the Flower Capital..."
"Useless good-for-nothing that I am... Lord Oden took me in, and I repaid him with this..."
"I deserve to die!"
Kin'emon wept, and in a moment of reckless despair, before Kikunojo and the others could react, he drew his blade and drove it straight into his own stomach.
Blood spilled across the ground.
"What are you doing, Kin'emon?!" The other three shouted in unison, throwing themselves on him to stop him from tearing the wound wider.
But even so, he had already run himself through completely.
"Let go of me!"
"I, Kin'emon, have failed Lord Oden! I've failed his wife! I've failed the young master and the young lady!"
"Let me atone with my death!" he cried out. The anguish in his voice was genuine.
"Is this all you've got, Kin'emon?" Kanjuro said angrily. "You're an embarrassment!"
"We're all devastated about what happened to his wife. But if we're talking about blame, the rest of us who didn't stop you are just as responsible!"
"That's right! This isn't your fault alone!"
"But if we die here and now, what face will we have when we see her in the afterlife? Tell me, Kin'emon! If we don't kill the ones responsible for her death, how will we ever face her?!"
Kanjuro played his role to perfection. Watching his performance, it was hard to believe he was actually a mole.
Those words struck Kin'emon like a thunderbolt.
"Lord Oden has fallen, but we can't afford to do the same!"
"We have to pull ourselves together! Destroy Orochi and Kaido, take back Wano Country, and avenge her!"
[
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