Meanwhile, deep within Wano Country, in a secret chamber at a temporary hideout.
Flickering candlelight cast restless shadows across the walls, illuminating nine figures seated in a circle, each wearing a different expression.
The Nine Red Scabbards, Kozuki Oden's most loyal retainers, had crossed twenty years of time, life, and death.
At last, they had reunited here.
Kin'emon, leader of the Nine Red Scabbards, knelt at the head of the gathering, leaning slightly forward with both hands braced hard against his knees.
He had meant to close his eyes and rest before the decisive battle, but now his teeth were clenched, and beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.
In his mind, that hellish scene in Dressrosa a few days earlier played over and over.
Their young lord Momonosuke, who had once innocently called him "Father," had been tossed into the air like garbage by that man. Then a blade flashed...
Two small halves of a mutilated body, spraying painfully vivid blood, fell helplessly to the ground.
And there were Gern's final words, so calm they chilled him to the marrow.
"Shouldn't the things I conquer... belong to me?"
"Young lord...!!"
Kin'emon suddenly opened his eyes and let out an agonized growl.
He pitched forward, striking his head against the floor as his hands clawed desperately at it.
His entire body shook violently in a textbook Orz pose, cold sweat soaking his back.
"Kin'emon!"
"Lord Kin'emon!"
Denjiro, Kikunojo, Kawamatsu, Inuarashi, Cat Viper, Izo, and the others immediately gathered around him, concern written across their faces.
Raizo and Ashura Doji also watched from the side with somber eyes.
"I'm fine... I'm fine..." Kin'emon gasped, forcing himself upright again, though he could not conceal the anguish and desolation on his face.
He looked around at his companions, his voice hoarse. "It's just...