The Originator

The guards of the Kozuki residence arrived quickly with torches in hand. Under the firelight, everyone was horrified by the devastation in the courtyard. When they saw Momonosuke's corpse, their faces went pale, and they remained speechless for a long time.

Though the magistrate overseeing the Kozuki residence was at a loss, he knew the matter was of grave importance. Following Buggy's instructions, he first ordered people to quickly clean up the courtyard, then had Momonosuke's body placed in a cold-storage cellar to prevent it from decomposing. Afterward, he had the residence guards tightly bind Jorogumo and Hannya and keep them under strict watch.

After all that was done, he finally followed Buggy's dictation and wrote a long letter through the night, sending someone to deliver it to Kozuki Oden's military camp.

Although Kozuki Oden was leading his army in a standoff against Genji at Yamatai, he did not take the initiative to attack. Instead, he relied on the terrain and focused solely on defense, waiting for the other side's supplies to run short and force them to withdraw. That way, casualties could be kept to a minimum.

The messenger sent from the Kozuki residence in Harmony Spring had traveled through the night without rest. At last, around noon the next day, he appeared in Kozuki Oden's tent. After pulling out the letter on his person, he no longer had the strength to move, collapsing unconscious from exhaustion.

When Kozuki Oden saw that the man had been sent by the residence's magistrate, a terrible premonition faintly arose in his heart. He accepted the letter Kanjuro had picked up from the ground, his hands trembling slightly as he opened it, his palms already drenched in sweat. The moment he read its contents, his mind went blank with a boom, and