One Piece: From Picking Up Red Hair's Broken Arm

Chapter 355 Every Word Pierces the Heart, Astounding Points [Monthly Ticket Extra Chapter Preview]

"Return?"

Kuina sneered, "What if I don't take it back?"

"Then I'll have to experience your superior skills firsthand!"

Denjiro's eyes flashed with a cold light, and with a clang, he drew his sword completely, the blade pointing directly at Kuina, his aura suddenly surging.

Even among the Nine Red-Sheathed Swordsmen, there are differences in skill level.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he's the strongest among the nine. Only the Cat and Dog Kings in their Sulong forms might be able to surpass him.

At this moment, his anger surged, and his killing intent was palpable.

"Be bold!"

"Dare to draw your sword against Lady Kuina!"

The surrounding combat troops noticed something amiss and quickly gathered around, the sound of blades being drawn ringing out as they stared at the two men with hostile expressions.

"Everyone, stand down."

Kuina spoke calmly, her hands behind her back, and glanced at Denjiro from head to toe:

"In terms of strength alone, he is indeed quite good. Even among us Fallen Ones, he could barely break into the top ten with a little effort. It's just a pity that he followed a brainless lord, which made him look stupid and annoying."

"you!"

"What's wrong? Can't figure it out?"

She turned and walked to the center of the courtyard, casually grabbing a handful of gold coins from a nearby box, letting them slip through her fingers:

"Look at this. The amount of money that Kurozumi Orochi squeezed from the people of Wano Country is enormous. For a full twenty years, where was your Kozuki family? And where was Oden for the previous five years?"

Before Denjiro could answer, Kuina's voice rang out again:
"Dancing, feigning madness, watching this country fall into hell! Like master, like servant. After Oden's death, haven't you retainers followed suit, fleeing, living a life of ignominy, waiting for that elusive destined one!"

"But not a single person has ever organized a real resistance, not even once! Not even once! Twenty years have passed, and has the situation in Wano Country changed in the slightest compared to when you first fled?"

"Now that the fallen heroes have defeated the enemy, you old retainers have finally remembered to come out and reap the rewards!"

Kuina's gaze fell on the tip of Denjiro's knife, and she sneered:
"Denjiro, you've tolerated humiliation for so many years, yet now you dare to draw your sword and point it at me. What are you trying to prove? That your Kozuki clan still has backbone?"

I think that's probably not the case!

"To put it bluntly, they think we, the fallen, are good people, saviors."

"According to the conventions of those legends and fairy tales, once the savior has completed his mission, he should return the country to you with both hands. You can then host a banquet to entertain him, and both sides will be happy, right?"

"It's a pity that reality and fairy tales are two different things. We conquered Wano Country not to become mercenaries for the Kozuki family. And if you remnants had shown this ruthlessness twenty years earlier, Wano Country wouldn't have fallen to this state."

"I……"

Denjiro's face turned pale and then red.

"No, that's not how it is, Lady Kuina!"

With tears welling in her eyes, Hiyori Kozuki mustered her courage and stepped forward to help explain, "My father... he has his own difficulties! So do we. We haven't wasted our time waiting; we've been secretly accumulating strength all these years, waiting for our opportunity..."

"Oh? Accumulating strength?"

Kuina found it even more ridiculous. "After accumulating for twenty years, all you've managed to produce are a few defeated soldiers? It's quite amusing. Since you all respect Oden so much and revere bloodlines so much, how come his daughter is only fit to be a prostitute in a brothel?"

"You are not allowed to humiliate Lady Hiyori!"

Denjiro was still in a daze, but upon hearing this, he instinctively shouted angrily.

That's why I said you're stupid!

Kuina's gaze suddenly turned cold. "I humiliated you? You're wrong, Denjiro. It was you who humiliated Hiyori, who humiliated the Kozuki bloodline!"

"According to your logic, since Oden was a naturally extraordinary person, shouldn't Hiyori also be exceptionally talented like Oden and be a born great swordsman?"

"Twenty years is plenty of time for her to hone her swordsmanship from a young age. With the hatred of the destruction of her country and the killing of her father as her motivation, and with a great swordsman like you as her master, how could she not surpass Oden and become someone who could even fight Kaido head-on!"

"I……"

Denjiro was struck dumb, his whole body trembling. He opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything; his mind went completely blank.

Guina had anticipated this and gave a disdainful sneer.

This is the advantage of using one's own weapon against oneself.

You can't have the benefits of bloodline theory while shirking the responsibilities that bloodline theory should bring.

"Yes, but..."

Denjiro clutched his head in anguish, and it took him a long time to gather his thoughts:

"But Lady Hiyori is ultimately just a weak woman. I only want her to live a better and safer life. How could I possibly be so heartless? If... if Lady Momonosuke hadn't left, I definitely would have done it..."

"Do they differentiate between men and women at times like this?"

Kuina looked at him as if he were an idiot:
"What, am I a man?"

She, Shuangyue Guina, idolized Lord Xianuo since childhood, and diligently practiced swordsmanship day and night.

Now, at the age of seventeen, he is ready to fight the Emperor!
This is a living, breathing counterexample, the best possible one!

"Besides, have you really made Hiyori's days any better or more peaceful?"

Kuina stepped closer, continuing to press for answers:

"One of the last bloodlines of the Kozuki family was sent to be a prostitute by you! You call it infiltration and accumulating power? What a joke! Isn't this the greatest defilement and betrayal of her bloodline?"

"If this is what you call loyalty and protection, then this kind of loyalty is utterly disgusting!"

"You've raised the daughter of the esteemed Kozuki Oden into a caged bird, a creature that only knows how to depend on others and waste its youth in the world of pleasure! Is this the result of your twenty years of accumulating power? Is this how you explain your actions to the Kozuki bloodline?!"

Although deep down, they all have the blood of Wano Country flowing in their veins.

But having grown up in the East China Sea, she truly couldn't understand the thought process of these samurai.

It's like if Lord Shano's rebellion against the World Government failed, and he died a heroic death, leaving behind only a beautiful and precious daughter.

However, in order to gather more high-level intelligence, she and her executives, including Smoker and Jack, sent Lord Shano's daughter to Mary Geoise to be used as a plaything by the Celestial Dragons.
So weird!

If she were to actually do something like that, how could she possibly face Lord Xia Nuo?

"Shut up! You are not allowed... You are not allowed to insult Lord Hiyori like this! And you are not allowed to insult my loyalty to Lord Oden!"

Denjiro's eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a beast-like growl. His hand holding the sword trembled violently with extreme anger and a kind of shame that had been exposed.

The tip of his knife was still waving, pointing at Kuina.

But that murderous intent seemed somewhat hollow inside, as if the object of his sword strike was more like the crumbling belief within himself.

"What do you know! You don't understand! You have no idea what we've been through! You don't understand the pain and sacrifices we've endured!"

"Pain? Sacrifice?"

Kuina scoffed, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt.
"How does your suffering compare to that of the people of Wano Country, who struggle to survive in villages and towns outside the Flower Capital under the rule of Kaido and Orochi, where starvation is rampant and people are so desperate they would exchange their own children for food?"

"Compared to those civilians who were captured and enslaved by animals, and worked to death in mines and factories, what about them?"

"Your sacrifice is to make the lord's daughter sell her body!"

"And you, these self-proclaimed loyal and brave retainers, have been hiding in the shadows, watching helplessly as this country has rotted and stinked beyond redemption in the twenty years you've waited!"

She took another step forward, her invisible aura pressing down on Denjiro like a tsunami, her voice suddenly rising, filled with thunderous fury:

"Listen up, Denjiro!" "What this country needs is real change, not a restoration of a corrupt old dream! Since you, the Kozuki clan, have no power to save this country, you are no longer qualified to rule it!"

"Your so-called pain and sacrifice are nothing but a fig leaf to cover up your cowardice and incompetence in my eyes!"

"It was you losers who personally pushed Wano Country into hell, and now you dare to dream of climbing back to your noble position by stepping on the fruits of victory earned by the fallen heroes with their blood and sweat? Bah! Shameless and despicable! Keep dreaming!"

Clang!

There was a crisp sound.

Denjiro could no longer hold onto the sword; it slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground with a feeble groan.

He seemed to have his spine removed, staggering back a step, his face as pale as paper, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

Kuina's words were like the sharpest knife, piercing deep into my heart.

It shattered the beliefs he had held for twenty years, the loyalty he was so proud of, and the sense of righteousness that had sustained him through his humiliation.

Denjiro turned his head in a daze.

He saw Hiyori Kozuki hurriedly lower her head, her eyes filled with tears of grievance and deep embarrassment; that gaze pierced him like needles.

He suddenly remembered those years when he watched young Hiyori force a smile and perform for the guests, while he could only clench his fists in the shadows...

He kept telling himself that this was a necessary sacrifice, a humiliation endured for the sake of restoring the nation.

But at this moment, under Kuina's ruthless exposure, that noble facade was completely torn away, revealing the undeniable humiliation and defeat beneath.

indeed.

Twenty years have passed, and what exactly have we been protecting?

Pfft!
Overwhelmed by the immense mental shock and overwhelming self-doubt, Denjiro's knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, utterly powerless.

He braced his hands on the cold stone slabs of the courtyard, his shoulders heaving violently as he let out a suppressed whimper, like that of a wounded beast.

"Lord Oden..."

He lost, he lost miserably!
Not only in terms of martial prowess, despite being fellow swordsmen, he was completely suppressed by Kuina's fierce aura, but also in terms of his beliefs and soul, he was utterly defeated by her.

"I was originally going to draw my sword and test your swordsmanship to see just how big the gap is between us."

Kuina's cold voice rang out again, "But now it seems there's no need for that. A swordsman whose beliefs have collapsed may not even be able to unleash half of his strength. Winning easily is meaningless."

"Now, put away your swords, take your little princess and leave this place. Never again consider yourself a vassal of the Kozuki family! Under the rule of the Fallen Ones, Wano Country will open its seas and gradually improve its situation, but from now on, it will have no further connection with the Kozuki clan!"

Leave this country?

Denjiro raised his head, trembling, just about to say something.

"Mr. Denjiro..."

Hiyori had already grabbed his sleeve, shook her head, and her eyes were filled with tears.

"I understand."

Denjiro took a deep breath and slowly sheathed his sword:

"I have offended you today, but please remember your promise. Lord Oden may have made mistakes, but his love for Wano Country is real, and so are ours. I entrust this country and its people to you!"

After saying this, he bowed deeply, then turned and left with Hiyori.

"and many more."

Guina narrowed her eyes and suddenly spoke.

The two of them paused.

"Take this."

Kuina took out a bag of gold coins from her bosom and tossed it over: "Don't misunderstand, the treasure chests placed here are all going into the national treasury and will be used for post-war reconstruction. Even I have no right to take them."

"This is my own money. I'm giving it to you because of your last words. It's enough for you to find a place to start over. Remember, don't act in the name of Kozuki again. This is for your own good."

Denjiro took the money bag, remained silent for a moment, and then bowed again.

……

After the two had walked away, a member of the combat regiment couldn't help but approach and whispered:

"Lady Kuina, are we just going to let them go like this? What if they do something later..."

"It doesn't matter."

Kuina stood with her hands behind her back, smiling as she said:
"Lord Shano said that it has always been the people who chose the Fallen Ones, not us Fallen Ones who chose them. The hearts of the people are everything. In a few months, Wano Country will completely become the Wano Country of the Fallen Ones."

"As for the Kozuki clan, which ruled for hundreds of years, they were already extinct long ago when the country needed them but received no response."

……

Night falls.

On a small road on the outskirts of the Flower Capital, Denjiro and Hiyori walked silently.

"Where...are we going now?"

Rihe asked softly.

"Let's leave Wano Country first."

Denjiro sighed, "I plan to go find Neko and Inu first, talk to them, and then go to the area under the rule of the Fallen Ones to see for myself what the outside world has become."

"But."

Hiyori bit her lip: "Father's last wish..."

"Miss Hiyori."

Denjiro stopped and looked at her intently:
“That female swordsman is right. Our Kozuki family has indeed failed this country. Letting the Fallen Ones take over Wano Country now is a better outcome for both the people and Lord Oden’s last wishes.”

He turned around and looked at the lights of thousands of homes gradually lighting up in the distance, listening to the faint sounds of laughter and joy drifting over, and even wondering who had started the fireworks.

Bang——pop!

Zi La La ~
It was dazzling and colorful.

"Look, they can live just fine without us."

Hiyori stared blankly into the distance, tears silently streaming down her face.

She was still unwilling to accept it.

Even Denjiro said so, so what else can be done? The era of the Kozuki clan has truly come to an end...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Holy crap, the Kozuki clan is fucking invincible!"

Meanwhile, on the small hill where Kin Inari Shrine is located.

Xia Nuo sat cross-legged, staring at the system panel. He couldn't help but utter a curse word that he hadn't used in a long time, and he was completely dumbfounded.

On the information feed in front of him, a reminder appeared because of his recent act of sacrifice:
[You sacrificed Kozuki Oden's diary and gained 10000 points.]

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(End of this chapter)