Returning Victorious! Heaven and Earth Shatter (Please Keep Reading!)

What was this guy plotting?

Ian sized up Shimotsuki Yasuie.

Saying he would take him away and saying he wanted to leave with them were two entirely different things.

There was no way this guy had no ulterior motive.

"I have a feeling he's definitely plotting something."

Black Maria spoke quietly.

"Should we just kill him?"

Jack suggested.

The surrounding Samurai instantly changed expression, tightening their grips on their weapons as they moved closer to Shimotsuki Yasuie. "Don't even think about it!"

"Stand down!"

Shimotsuki Yasuie loudly stopped the Samurai. Looking at Ian, he said solemnly, "If you're worried about me, you can tie me up."

No matter what, if he went with them, perhaps he could still be of some use. If he stayed here, he could only wait helplessly for death.

"Then let's do that!"

Yamato spoke anxiously at that moment. "Take him with us, Ian! Let's hurry back!"

What are you, the King of Hurry?

Ian did not particularly care. He had been the one to suggest it in the first place. He looked at Black Maria. "Maria."

"I understand."

Black Maria caught his meaning and transformed into Beastman Mode once more. Spider silk sprayed from the huge maw on her spider lower body, instantly wrapping Shimotsuki Yasuie into a bundle.

"Lord Yasuie!"

The Samurai cried out uncontrollably, all of them clenching their fists tightly.

"Forget about me!"

Shimotsuki Yasuie shouted. "Go put out the fire! Don't let it spread!"

The raging flames were spreading downward from the top of the castle tower, illuminating the entire night sky like an enormous torch.

If no one dealt with it, the entire castle would soon be reduced to ashes. The fire would then spread through the forest on the mountain, eventually swallowing the town below as well.

"Then do your best."

Ian offered the Samurai some verbal encouragement. The next second, he transformed into the massive Golden Flying Dragon again, grabbing the spider-silk-bound Shimotsuki Yasuie with his left hand.

In truth, the spider silk was unnecessary. The gap in strength between them was absolute. Once Ian caught him, Shimotsuki Yasuie had no hope of breaking free.

"Let's go."

Ian held Shimotsuki Yasuie in one hand and Momonosuke in the other, lowering his wings as he spoke to his companions.

"Let's go defeat Kozuki Oden!"

Yamato leaped up excitedly, using Ian's wing as a foothold before landing directly on his back.

Jack and Black Maria were much more obedient, using Ian's lowered wings as stairs and quickly climbing aboard.

Then his broad wings suddenly beat, whipping up a gale that sent sand and stones flying across the courtyard. Under the unwilling gazes of the Samurai, Ian rose into the sky and flew back in the direction he had come from without looking back.

Shimotsuki Yasuie's Samurai could only grit their teeth and watch him leave.

What the future held, all they could see now was confusion.

"Waaah! Father! Come save me!"

The quiet night sky was disrupted by a series of wailing cries.

Kozuki Momonosuke, held in Ian's right hand, squeezed his eyes shut and cried until his tears were nearly dry.

"Momonosuke! Pull yourself together!"

Held in Ian's other hand, Shimotsuki Yasuie turned toward Momonosuke and shouted in frustration, "You are the son of the invincible Kozuki Oden! How can you show such cowardice before the enemy?"

"But, but—I'm in so much pain!!"

Momonosuke, whose body hurt from Ian's claws squeezing him, could not control his emotions at all. His face was drenched in tears. "Father! I want Father!"

How could Oden have such a pathetic son?

Shimotsuki Yasuie gritted his teeth inwardly.

Compared with Kaido's daughter, he was far too lacking!

They were clearly about the same age.

"Momonosuke, where are your mother and sister?"

But Yasuie could not bring himself to be too harsh, so he asked another question that concerned him.

"Waaah!"

However, the moment he asked, Kozuki Momonosuke cried even harder. "Mother abandoned me! Mother ran away with Hiyori! Wuwuwu! Father! Mother doesn't want me anymore!"

Shimotsuki Yasuie found the boy's wailing somewhat irritating, but deep down, he was relieved.

It was good that Lady Toki and Hiyori were unharmed.

She must have had no other choice. Yasuie could hardly imagine the circumstances under which Lady Toki had made that decision.

"Shut up!"

At that moment, the Golden Flying Dragon holding them both suddenly let out an irritated snort. "Cry again and I'll crush you."

Kozuki Momonosuke fell silent at once.

Watching Kozuki Momonosuke cower like a quail, Shimotsuki Yasuie could not help feeling a surge of frustration at his lack of resolve.

Oden, just how did you raise your child?

Naturally, Ian had no idea what Shimotsuki Yasuie was thinking. He merely felt relieved that it was finally quiet.

He had not wanted to bother with Momonosuke in the first place, but the brat could really cry. Was that to be expected of Kozuki Oden's son? His stamina was certainly nothing to scoff at—he had wailed nonstop the entire way.

"Faster, faster! Ian! Hurry up and speed up!"

Yamato had climbed onto Ian's head again, excitedly patting the sapphire on his forehead.

"I told you, this is already full speed."

Ian answered calmly, "Besides, we don't know where the battlefield is. If we fly too fast and miss it, don't blame me."

Honestly, the chances of running into them were very low. They were flying straight back, while Kozuki Oden and the others had to head for the port, which meant taking a detour.

Still, Ian was a little worried.

Kozuki Oden might have had something wrong with his brain, but everything below his head was truly top-tier.

He was a genuinely elite powerhouse whom Teacher Kai still could not forget even twenty years later.

Even Teacher Kai had no guarantee of victory against him.

What if his butterfly effect caused Teacher Kai to lose now?

Yamato had no idea what Ian was thinking.

The little girl was still completely immersed in the excitement of finally getting to fight the great villain she had been thinking about for years. "Hehehe, the day has finally come! Evil Kozuki Oden! Await Lord Yamato's righteous judgment!"

I told you, we're the villain faction.

Ian did not reply, merely flying onward in silence.

"But is it really okay for us to go?"

Black Maria spoke softly. Perhaps because she had only recently joined them, she was always very cautious around Ian and the others, not even daring to speak too loudly. "Lord Kaido clearly told us not to go."

"It's fine!"

Yamato turned back with a confident expression. "Dad dotes on me the most! Besides, we're going to help him!"

Where did you get the confidence to say you'd be helping?

Ian's lips twitched.

I don't know whether he dotes on you or not, but if we really go over there, Teacher Kai will definitely make us hurt all over.

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Jack stood on Yamato's side. The simple-looking man wore an eager expression. "How spectacular will the fight between Boss Kaido and Kozuki Oden be?"

Spectacular was probably not the right word. After all, in the original story, Teacher Kai had won rather dirty, even if he had not wanted to.

What was even more ridiculous was that although he still regretted not having had a fair fight with Kozuki Oden more than twenty years later, he had another chance to fight him now, twenty years earlier. Yet he did not take it, directly having Kozuki Oden executed instead.

As for Teacher Kai... Ian felt he was hard to judge.

Ian leisurely flapped his wings, and before long, he could see the coastline in the distance.

Not far ahead was the sea, and beyond that lay Onigashima.

But Ian did not know that several hours after they left—

Inside the keep of Oden Castle, whose lower half had barely been preserved through the desperate efforts of the samurai, a woman suddenly emerged, carrying a sleeping girl in her arms.

"Lady Toki!"

The samurai who had yet to leave were utterly stunned.

Completely beyond Ian's expectations, the woman who had suddenly returned, Amatsuki Toki, held her daughter and solemnly said to the samurai, "I would like to ask something of you all."

Time returned to a little earlier. On Ian's side, they had already entered the Udon region once more.

As long as they passed through the edge of this area, they would reach the inland sea, and then Onigashima.

Rumble!

A thunder-like roar suddenly came from far off to their left.

Hm?

Ian instinctively turned his head.

The sound seemed to be coming from a very distant place.

"Ian!"

Yamato sprang to her feet, her round little face filled with boundless surprise. "Look!"

Ian had already seen it.

No way!

Something like this could happen?

Between the distant mountains, flames shot into the sky and pierced the heavens. Thunder crashed down from the firmament like torrential rain, while fierce winds swept across the peaks and tore entire forests into the air.

Crescent-shaped black shockwaves sliced upward, cleaving even the dark clouds apart.

The commotion was so immense that Ian could see it clearly—and hear it clearly—even from where he was!

Teacher Kai, do you really not want us getting involved?

We just had to run into this?

But with a racket like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart, I'd have to circle all the way outside Wano Country to pretend I didn't see it, wouldn't I?

"Ian! Hurry over there!"

Oh ho.

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