Chapter 298: The Death of Kurozumi Orochi

Wano Country, the Flower Street of the Flower Capital.

With a light clatter, the famous Oiran of Wano Country, Komurasaki, turned pale, and the teacup in her hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"How could this... be? Uncle Denjiro... is dead!?"

Oiran Komurasaki sat on the tatami mat, her expression sorrowful, muttering to herself:

"He was perfectly fine yesterday, and Kaido was being held up by outside pirates, so Kurozumi Orochi didn't have much power left... How could something like this happen so suddenly?!"

Oiran Komurasaki had another identity, which was that of the former daughter of Kozuki Oden, Kozuki Hiyori.

The reason she became an Oiran was largely to gather intelligence on her enemies, while also using the status of an Oiran to collect funds to support the poor.

Being able to become an Oiran in a place as complex and crowded as Flower Street, and never having any incidents, was certainly due to Kozuki Hiyori's own intelligence, resourcefulness, and ability to use her circumstances to socialize, but it was even more due to the protection of Denjiro.

It could be said that among the Nine Red Scabbards, the one Kozuki Hiyori was closest to was Denjiro; even Kawamatsu, who had taken care of Kozuki Hiyori since she was a child, could only be ranked alongside him.

In terms of personal feelings, compared to her father who had died long ago and her missing brother, Denjiro was more like a relative and elder to her.

Now that Denjiro had died so suddenly, for Kozuki Hiyori, it was no less a major blow than when her family was destroyed back then.

However, the current Kozuki Hiyori was no longer the child she once was; although the grief remained, her personal capacity to endure had grown much stronger, and she soon regained her composure.

"O-Toko, thank you for bringing me the news... Take this money first! I have some things to do and need to leave Flower Street for a while."

Having calmed down, Kozuki Hiyori prepared to arrange things for O-Toko first, then find a way to enter the palace. As for whether to avenge Denjiro, she planned to wait until she had gathered more information before making any decisions.

Even though her heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife after the death of her relative Denjiro, she was no longer that little girl, and having dealt with her father's killer, Kurozumi Orochi, for so many years, this Princess of Wano Country had long since learned to endure.

"Ahahaha, Sister Hiyori, what are you planning to do? Don't be impulsive!!"

O-Toko had a laughing expression on her face, but she was actually speaking quite anxiously. Kozuki Hiyori shook her head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth: "Don't worry, O-Toko. After so many years, I've endured facing Kurozumi Orochi, so how could I be so easily impulsive?"

"This time, I'm just going to scout for information, and also see what exactly these people from the outer seas who have occupied Wano Country want to do..."

If the other party continued to exploit Wano Country like Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido, then Kozuki Hiyori would find a way to deal with them; if they could treat the ordinary people of Wano Country better, then Kozuki Hiyori would continue to lie low and wait.

Back then, Kozuki Hiyori's mother used the Toki-toki Fruit to send several of the Nine Red Scabbards and her son, Kozuki Hiyori's brother Kozuki Momonosuke, 20 years into the future; counting the time, it would be less than a year away.

Although Lady Toki's prophecy had long since been shattered to pieces, at least her brother should appear after 20 years! It was precisely because of this thought that Kozuki Hiyori was prepared to observe the situation and decide whether to continue enduring.

Meanwhile, on the island of Onigashima in Wano Country, in a secret cave prison, a certain long-horned, white-haired, big-breasted woman was being dragged out, looking completely bewildered.

"Yamato, come out!"

"Ulti, what is going on? Did the old man lose to his opponent and need me to help? I don't want to fight against the Beasts Pirates' opponents."

The woman named Yamato showed an impatient expression on her face as she looked at the women who had come to pick her up, though she was a bit puzzled that, other than Ulti, she did not recognize the other women.

This Yamato was Kaido's daughter, as well as a die-hard fan of Kozuki Oden, and a user of the Okuchi-no-Makami Fruit with a quirky personality.

She had long, gradient white hair that transitioned from white at the top to green and then to blue at the tips. She wore her hair parted in the middle, with the side locks hanging naturally over her chest.

On top of her head grew a pair of red demon horns. Her hair was tied into a ponytail at the back, secured with two orange hairpins, and she wore gold earrings in both ears.

Paired with a fair, delicate face and a hot figure, possessing a temperament that was both innocent and firm, it was hard to imagine that a guy like Kaido could have such a beautiful daughter.

However... there was a hint of well-hidden contempt in Ulti's eyes: although Yamato was very beautiful, she didn't have much of a brain, and she didn't know if her brain had been damaged by Kaido's beatings when she was a child, but she actually worshipped that Kozuki Oden.

In any case, from the information obtained from the older generation of pirates, Ulti could not see anything worth worshipping in that fool Oden; on the contrary, his stupidity was inherited by Yamato.

"Then you've guessed wrong. The Beasts Pirates are finished, and even my original scumbag captain, that old man of yours, has already died."

Yamato was stunned for a moment, then curled her lip and waved her hand: "Ulti, you're lying to me again! That bull-headed Great Ape old man, there's no way he'd die so easily!"

"And if the Beasts Pirates were really finished, you wouldn't be this calm, Ulti!"

Although Ulti was a sharp-tongued person through and through, and would not hold back even when facing Kaido, in her actual actions, Ulti had always been very supportive of Kaido's decisions and had always believed in her captain.

It was precisely because she knew Ulti was loyal to Kaido that Yamato treated the so-called destruction of the Beasts Pirates as a joke. It is no exaggeration to say that in Yamato's heart, if the Beasts Pirates were really destroyed, even if Ulti didn't go down with them, she would certainly be devastated; how could she be as spirited as she was now?

"Little Ulti is telling the truth~~ The Beasts Pirates are indeed finished, and Captain Kaido has also died in this war... To be precise, more than eighty percent of the pirate crews in the New World are finished, and all three of the Four Emperors have died!"

With a faint laugh, the alluring and seductive Black Maria walked in slowly, wearing a black off-the-shoulder kimono.

"Are you trying to joke with me too, Black Maria?" Yamato rolled her eyes, not believing it at all. Black Maria was also a core member of the Beasts Pirates and was equally loyal. Seeing the two of them smiling and saying the Beasts Pirates were finished, how stupid would she have to be to believe it! "Forget it, I won't believe anything you say right now, just unlock your Handcuffs first!"

Black Maria took out a key and directly unlocked Yamato's Seastone Handcuffs. These Seastone Handcuffs were specially made by Kaido for his daughter; in terms of purity, they were much worse than ordinary Seastone Handcuffs, but inside the handcuffs, highly explosive dynamite had been installed.

Once Yamato left Onigashima, the explosive Seastone Handcuffs would automatically detonate, and the power was enough to seriously injure a powerhouse like Yamato; this was Kaido's restriction on his rebellious daughter.

Yamato widened her eyes, looking at the unlocked handcuffs, moving her palms back and forth several times before she reacted: "The explosive handcuffs... have been unlocked??"

"It seems that bastard old man must have been beaten pretty badly these past few days! Otherwise, it would be impossible to lift my restrictions so easily."

At this moment, Ulti seemed to want to say something else, but Black Maria gave her a smiling look, then turned to Yamato and said: "Alright, Yamato, come with me! You'll know your mission when the time comes."

"Hmph! It's just to get me to help, right? Don't think I'll be grateful just because it's this easy!"

Yamato snorted, her face full of tsundere, but in the end, she walked out.

"This person's brain is acting up again, should we remind her a couple more times!"

Following behind Yamato, Ulti whispered to Black Maria.

"It doesn't matter!"

Black Maria took a puff of her cigarette, looked at Ulti, and said with a smile: "Anyway, we are taking her directly to the Flower Capital to meet Lord Feiyu... Once she sees Lord Feiyu, I believe Yamato won't take the matter of the Beasts Pirates to heart."

"As for Yamato's strange personality, what does that matter to Lord Feiyu? Haven't we also willingly become Lord Feiyu's loyal dogs? Yamato, who has a Dog-Dog Fruit, will only become more docile!"

Wano Country, on the streets of the Flower Capital, this originally bustling street was now surrounded by a large crowd, and the entire intersection was packed tight.

In the center of the street plaza, a three or four-meter-high platform had been built, and a group of ordinary Wano Country citizens were whispering below, looking at the big-headed figure on the platform.

Although he looked disheveled, with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, foaming at the mouth like a mentally disabled person, the citizens below still recognized that the person tied to the platform was their Shogun, Kurozumi Orochi.

Two female soldiers skillfully pinned Kurozumi Orochi to the ground, and without even reading out any of Kurozumi Orochi's crimes, one of the female soldiers nimbly picked up a huge broadsword and chopped off Kurozumi Orochi's head with one stroke.

The many ordinary citizens of Wano Country watching let out screams mixed with terror, and for a moment, various expressions of relief, anger, and fear appeared on their faces.

Some hated Kurozumi Orochi's rule and were overjoyed to see his death, while others looked at the group of "outsiders" showing off their power and killing their country's ruler for no reason, their hearts filled with rage.

But the vast majority of the ordinary people, looking at Kurozumi Orochi's dead, staring head, only felt timid and fearful in their hearts, transferring the awe they originally had for Kurozumi Orochi onto this group of outsiders.

After all, over the years, Kurozumi Orochi had constantly brainwashed the ordinary people below, and many really thought that this Shogun was a two-sword style Great Swordsman and the protector of Wano Country.

Since that is the case, wouldn't the outsider who could easily behead him be even more powerful? A sense of awe was born from this.

A female soldier kicked Kurozumi Orochi's head, sending it flying into the crowd below; amidst bursts of exclamations, many people dodged the giant head, but there were also some citizens who squeezed right through and began to stomp and smash the big head: "Damn you, Kurozumi Orochi, look at you now!"

"Heaven has eyes! Kurozumi Orochi, you have finally met your retribution!"

"Die, die, die, damn Kurozumi Orochi, damn the Kurozumi Clan, you all should have died out long ago!"

Most of the citizens of Wano Country were complete fools; because the country had not been opened and they had never broadened their horizons, they spent their whole lives spinning in circles in this small place of Wano Country, naturally believing whatever the Shogun of Wano Country said, treating Kurozumi Orochi's words as absolute truth.

But regardless, a country this large would not lack smart people; these individuals had long since recognized the true face of Kurozumi Orochi, not to mention that the incident of Kozuki Oden being boiled happened only 20 years ago, and many older citizens of Wano Country could still remember the hatred from back then.

These people were the main force currently turning Kurozumi Orochi's head into pulp, and in just a moment, that big head was already smashed to pieces, with white and red smeared all over the ground.

The female soldier who executed Kurozumi Orochi watched this scene unfold with her own eyes, and without making any attempt to stop it, she coldly left the execution platform.

On the outskirts of the execution square, Kozuki Hiyori covered her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes, her face revealing an expression mixed with joy: "Father, Mother, I hope your Soul can see this scene in heaven; Kurozumi Orochi's rule has finally come to a complete end!"

Although she did not know what the personalities of these people from the outer seas were truly like, regardless, the enemy who killed her parents was finally dead.

However, Kozuki Hiyori soon thought again that the faction of Uchiha Feiyu, who killed Kurozumi Orochi, was actually also her enemy; the status of Denjiro in her heart was truly not necessarily any less than that of her parents who passed away when she was young.

If Kozuki Hiyori was still filled with a mix of joy and worry, then Yamato, who was also standing on the outskirts of the square, was already wearing a blank expression, the whole person plunged into a state of bewilderment.

"Th-th-that, isn't that guy Kurozumi Orochi?! What is going on? Kurozumi Orochi, how was he just cut down like that! What on earth does that bastard old man want to do?"

Facing Yamato's inquiry, Ulti just rolled her eyes: "Even if I told you about this kind of thing, you wouldn't believe it! If you want to know the truth, come with me to the Ten-shukaku!"

(End of this chapter)