Battle of Yamatai (1)

At Kozuki Oden's request, Buggy led Hawkins and the others, along with the team escorting Jorogumo and Hannya, to the battlefield at Yamatai.

Kozuki showed no mercy toward the assassins who had killed his son. He ordered Jorogumo and Hannya be beheaded and their heads hung from the tall poles outside the camp.

Buggy pushed aside the curtain and entered the main command tent. Looking at Kozuki Oden seated in the place of honor, he paused in slight surprise.

Kozuki Oden had grown shockingly gaunt. His face was haggard, and the hair at his temples was half black and half white. He looked like an old man with one foot in the grave, utterly different from how he had been just days ago. Who could have imagined that he could change so drastically in such a short time?!

What surprised Buggy most, however, was Kozuki Oden's bearing. He had once seemed refined and mild, always able to handle any matter in an orderly fashion no matter the circumstances. Yet now, he radiated a cold, gloomy aura...

Put simply, he had gone dark.

"You're here, Buggy..."

As Kozuki Oden spoke, the invisible coldness and gloom around him seemed to dissipate.

Buggy fell silent for a moment, then said apologetically, "Kozuki, I bear some responsibility for this as well."

"No, I should thank you for capturing those two Izumo assassins." After saying that, Kozuki rose and bowed. "And thank you for coming to help this time."

Buggy stepped forward and helped him up. "No need to be so polite. Since I'm here, I'll certainly do everything I can."

A long-absent trace of a smile appeared on Kozuki Oden's face, though it still looked forced. After talking for a while, he began giving Buggy a brief overview of the enemy.

The Seii Taishogun,