The Final War

The Flower Capital, Kozuki Oden's execution site, was now a complete mess.

Kaido casually tossed aside the pistol in his hand, glanced at the oil cauldron still belching astonishing heat ahead, where a corpse floated and bobbed, and the monster couldn't help but murmur softly, "Kozuki Oden... what a remarkable man."

"Boss Kaido, what about those guys?"

Queen sidled up to Kaido's ear. "That bastard Oden just wouldn't behave, even in death!"

Moments earlier, Kozuki Oden had stood in the boiling oil, holding his samurai aloft for a full hour.

But Kaido hadn't honored their bet and set him free.

Still, Oden used every last ounce of his strength before dying to fling the Red-Sheath Samurai, plus a female ninja attached to them, far away.

Those lucky survivors had carved a bloody path through the pirates and samurai surrounding the venue and were now long gone.

"I'll take the Numbers and chase them down."

Queen volunteered eagerly.

"Mm."

Kaido nodded.

Though the thorn in his side, Kozuki Oden, was dead, leaving his retainers alive would be trouble. First, try to recruit them; if not, eliminate them all.

"One more thing, Kaido,"

Kurozumi Orochi, drenched in cold sweat, sidled over. "The daimyo from the various regions have also gathered their forces. They've formed an alliance in Kuri and are already marching on the Flower Capital."

"Are these samurai idiots?"

Queen sneered. "Kozuki Oden didn't wait for them, and they didn't think to join him?"

It was true—the samurai of Wano Country were no pushovers. If the daimyo now moving had acted alongside Kozuki Oden earlier, even if victory remained out of reach, they'd have dealt massive damage to the Beasts Pirates!

But instead, Oden charged in first to die, and the daimyo only started moving belatedly.

Wasn't this just suicide?

"Ughahahaha, how amusing!"

Kaido laughed heartily. "King, gather the men. Time for some fun."

"Yes, Mr. Kaido." King nodded calmly.

"Oh, right," Kaido added with a sly grin. "Those two brats kept running to Oden a few days ago, didn't they? That foolish girl Yamato even begged me to spare him. Since that's the case, we'll bring them along this time!"

"This—"

King hesitated, but ultimately nodded. "Understood, Mr. Kaido."

"Ughahahaha!"

"War?"

Sirius looked up at King standing before him, wondering if his ears were playing tricks. "Uncle King, are you serious?"

He pointed at his own face. "We're still kids."

"Less talk. This is Mr. Kaido's order."

King's voice was as cold as his expression when he wasn't eating. "Get ready. We leave immediately."

With that, he turned and walked away without a word.

"Sirius, do we have to fight the samurai?" Yamato asked unhappily.

Among those samurai, many might be Oden's friends.

Sirius shrugged helplessly. "I don't want to either, but this is Uncle Kaido's call. We can't refuse."

Yamato puffed out her cheeks like a little pufferfish.

Sirius couldn't resist poking her cheek and said with a smile, "How about this—once we're on the battlefield, we focus on self-defense. Unless we're attacked, we won't actively strike at the samurai, okay?"

Sirius did consider Oden a friend, but that didn't mean the samurai of Wano were his friends too.

This attitude was the best he could manage.

Before Oden was his friend, Kaido was still Sirius's benefactor.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm." Yamato nodded vigorously. "Let's do that!"

King told the two to prepare, but there wasn't much to get ready. Sirius slung Enma over his back using the sword bag Oden had given him, and Yamato followed suit, shouldering Ame no Habakiri—she was used to carrying a spiked club around anyway.

The Beasts Pirates gathered in the great plaza before the Tenshukaku. By the time Sirius and Yamato arrived, the pirates were mostly assembled. King was maintaining order, though Queen was nowhere to be seen.

Sirius led Yamato over and stood beside King—they naturally didn't have to mingle with the common pirates.

"Ughahahaha!"

Thunder rolled from the sky as a massive dragon emerged from the clouds, lowering its head. "Everyone here? Then let's move out."

"Understood, Mr. Kaido."

King nodded, then looked at the pirates gathered before him. "All hands, listen up. We move out."

"O!!!"

The pirates' roar shook the heavens.

Everyone knew this war was an unquestionable battle of certain victory, so of course there was nothing to fear.

Led by the Pillars, the pirates turned and marched forward along the main road of the Flower Capital.

King leaped into the air, transforming into a massive pteranodon as he soared skyward.

"Hey, what about us?"

Sirius looked bewildered. Were they supposed to run all the way there on their little legs?

Fortunately, Uncle Kaido had no such intention. From the sky, a crimson Flame Cloud swept down, directly wrapping around Sirius and Yamato.

The Flame Cloud carried them upward, landing them squarely on Kaido's back.

"Ughahahaha!"

Kaido's thunderous voice echoed in their ears. "Oden gave you his two swords? Looks like you two get along pretty well."

"Hmph."

Yamato snorted, refusing to speak to her father, still angry.

Sirius, on the other hand, grinned. "Uncle Oden's a generous guy."

"Ughahahaha! Then you'd better work hard to get stronger, brats!"

Kaido laughed heartily. "If you end up not being worthy of those blades, I won't let you off!"

Sirius couldn't help but marvel inwardly at how tangled the relationships between these uncles were.

Kaido was fast, but he had to match the pace of the pirates traveling on foot below, so he didn't fly all that quickly.

And so, the Beasts Pirates' force advanced toward Kuri at a speed neither too fast nor too slow.

It took about a day. By the afternoon of the second day, they had entered Kuri's territory—and then the enemy appeared.

As if expecting their arrival, the samurai had already formed up on a plain in Kuri, waiting for the Beasts Pirates.

"Ughahahaha!"

Kaido, who had been soaring through the clouds, descended to appear before all the samurai, laughing loudly.

"This is the final battle! Samurai, do your best to entertain me!"