One Piece: Rayquaza of the Beasts Pirates

Let's start from this moment.

"That's right!"

Speaking of Kozuki Oden, Yamato's eyes began to sparkle, and he said excitedly, "Kozuki Oden was the most outstanding samurai I have ever seen. He was unconventional and unrestrained, but kind and brave..."

Yamato began to recount the stories of Kozuki Oden that the samurai had instilled in her, as well as her own personal experiences.

At the age of eight, Yamato witnessed the "legend of Oden's execution by boiling in a cauldron" for an hour, and has admired Oden ever since.

But when she told her father Kaido about her dreams, she was beaten and imprisoned by him.

At this point, Yamato excitedly swung the stone shackles around his hands: "To prevent me from escaping Onigashima, that bastard Kaido put these bomb shackles on me."

"I don't know if Kaido is lying to me. Who would want to blow up their own child?"

Yamato's tone was dejected: "But I dare not gamble..."

Kane remained silent; he knew the bomb shackles were real.

This is also why Yamato later completely broke with Kaido.

Honestly, Kaido bears a lot of responsibility for how Yamato has become what it is today.

Who disciplines their children by beating them until they're bruised and battered, or by imprisoning them?

The imprint of Yamato's ideology is not getting deeper and deeper.

Meanwhile, Yamato's story continues.

With a loyal audience, the girl became more and more excited as she spoke, even mentioning that she had found Oden's nautical diary in Kuri.

"Therefore, as Kozuki Oden, I must defeat Kaido."

Yamato raised his arm and shouted, then lowered his head in disappointment: "But my strength is far from enough. I am not even a match for Jin."

Kane listened patiently and then asked, "I understand, but what does this have to do with you becoming Kozuki Oden?"

"What? How can it not be related?" Yamato's bright eyes widened even more.

Having no friends, Yamato has come to regard Kane, who patiently listens to her inner thoughts, as her only friend.

She desperately wanted Kane to agree with her ideals.

Kane spread his hands: "I've summarized your ideals. The ultimate goal is nothing more than to open Wano Country to the world and let the people of Wano Country live a good life, right?"

Big and small brains were spinning rapidly.

Is that what I meant? I think so.

"But how does this conflict with me being Kozuki Oden?"

Kane bluntly stated, "Then you don't need to become Kozuki Oden. You are you, the one and only Yamato! Yamato can do these things too."

"The one and only Yamato?!" Yamato was stunned.

No one had ever said such a thing to her. Even the three samurai she met in her childhood only praised their ideal of becoming Kozuki Oden.

No one in the world is obligated to be anyone else.

Kane continued, "Besides, Kozuki Oden is nothing to you!"

"Let me tell you what I know about Kozuki Oden."

Yamato nodded, looking at Kane expectantly.

"From a young age, Kozuki Oden committed all sorts of evil deeds. At six, he began frequenting brothels; at eight, he started drinking and fighting; at fourteen, he caused a major flood by altering the river course due to drought; at fifteen, he threatened the temple abbot and went into hiding there, abducting women every night to build his harem..."

Kane scoffed, making no attempt to hide his disgust for Oden: "A good person who makes one mistake is condemned by everyone. A villain who lays down his butcher's knife is revered by all."

While Oden's previous misdeeds could be attributed to youthful ignorance, the abduction of women is an undeniable fact.

The fact that Oda added women to him who were all free women, willingly serving Kozuki Oden, is even more disgusting.

If every woman was willingly following Kozuki Oden, why would he have abducted her?

When the woman's family and husband came to her door, Kozuki Oden not only refused to admit his mistake but also wanted to fight them, showing that he had no remorse at the time.

Chapter 9 Persuading Yamato

Yamato was rendered speechless by Kane's words.

She knew that Oden had turned over a new leaf, but she never knew that Oden's past was so terrible.

"What you said is completely different from what's recorded in the diary."

Yamato frowned, finding it hard to accept.

Kane scoffed, "Who keeps a diary? Who would put their innermost thoughts in a diary?"

If diaries could be taken seriously, then even a peanut (a nickname for a person) would be considered a leader who cared deeply about his country and its people.

Before Yamato could refute, Kane continued, "Even Kozuki Oden after his prodigal son reformed was incredibly stupid. He possessed immense strength, yet he was deceived by Kurozumi Orochi and performed a naked dance for five years!"

"He did it to protect the people of Wano Country!" Yamato retorted, his face flushed.

"Then what did he protect!" Kane retorted. "Did fewer people in Wano suffer, or did their lives improve? He wasted five years! He gave up something that still had a glimmer of hope. Wasn't that foolish enough?"

Kane sometimes even wondered if there was something wrong with the feng shui of Wano Country.

Let's not even mention the series of actions that Kozuki Oden could not have performed without suffering a stroke for ten years.

His gang of thugs were also incredibly skilled, numbering in the hundreds.

Back then, Shimotsuki Yasuie gave Kozuki Oden a sum of money. After the money was swindled from Oden by Kurozumi Orochi, those thugs didn't try to steal the money back from Kurozumi Orochi. Instead, they tried to steal from Shimotsuki Yasuie and were caught red-handed.

In other words, Shimotsuki Yasuie was good-natured and loyal. Not only did he not mind, he also gave them a sum of money and taught them etiquette, making them qualified samurai.

Otherwise, whether or not the Nine Heroes of the Crimson Sky still exist is another matter entirely.

Yamato was taken aback. His faith crumbled quietly. It seemed that the path of becoming Kozuki Oden to liberate Wano Country was no longer viable.

She murmured dejectedly, "What should I do? I want to fight back, but I can't beat Kaido."

Kane made a startling statement: "It's simple, apologize to your father, replace Kurozumi Orochi, and become the Shogun of Wano Country!"

Yamato is actually someone who possesses a treasure trove but is unaware of it.

Kaido had always wanted her to become the shogun of Wano Country, but Yamato was poisoned by Kozuki Oden and kept resisting and opposing him.

"Ugh~ Me, me?" Yamato pointed at himself, shaking his head like a rattle drum. "I'm no good. I don't know how to govern a country."

"What's so difficult about governing a country? No matter how badly you do it, can you be worse than Kurozumi Orochi?"

Kane encouraged him, "Think about it, once you become the shogun, won't you be in charge of everything in Wano Country?"

"As long as you don't harm the interests of the Beasts Pirates, you can open your own country and improve the lives of the people. Your father won't stop you. If all else fails, you can find someone to help you."

With Orochi's masterpiece as a precedent, even if Yamato were to fall into a slump, the people of Wano Country could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Do you need someone to help me?"

Yamato glanced at Kane furtively and thought it wasn't a bad idea.

Just as she hesitated, Kane grabbed Yamato's hands and encouraged her sincerely, "Yamato, for the sake of Wano Country, become a shogun!"

Yamato was already leaning towards Kane's suggestion, but...

"But, but my relationship with my father is terrible."

"Actually, Kaido has always loved you," Kane said, revealing a fact that Yamato couldn't believe.

"How is that possible? He not only beat me up, but also locked me in the dungeon and put me in sea stone bomb shackles!" Yamato exclaimed in disbelief.

"So, are you dead?" Kane retorted. "You should know Kaido's attitude towards his enemies."

Yamato lowered his head, unsure of what to say.

"Besides, you said you wanted to become Kozuki Oden, and Kaido treated you like a son and like Oden. Isn't that good enough?"

The members of the Beasts Pirates always refer to Yamato-sama as their young master.

"Maybe...it seems I was a bit ungrateful?" Yamato's pretty face flushed red.

So, I've been misunderstanding my father all these years?

Thinking about it carefully, over the years, apart from beating me half to death every time, my father doesn't seem to have done anything too outrageous.

"I've decided to give up on Kozuki Oden; I'm going to become the one and only Yamato!"

After his passionate speech, Yamato instantly deflated, grabbing Kane's arm as if grasping at a straw and asking, "But what should I do next?"

"Simple, just listen to me..."

Banquet hall.

Yamato bowed deeply to Kaido, who was in the main seat.

"Father, I was wrong!"

"I shouldn't have wanted to become Kozuki Oden. I am Kaido's daughter. I've been out of my mind all these years. Please forgive me!"

Everyone was stunned, caught off guard by Yamato's sudden attack.

Over the past decade, they have witnessed countless times Yamato being beaten to the point of near death by Kaido.

Even that level of domestic violence couldn't change Yamato's mind, has she taken the wrong medicine today?

Jhin glanced furtively at Kane, who had come in with Yamato.

is it you?

In the main seat.

Black Maria, who was pouring wine for Kaido, forgot to stop, and the wine spilled all over the table, but Kaido was no longer interested in it.

Is this still my daughter Yamato, whom I can't steam, boil, or flatten?

Kaido, who had just pulled out half of his spiked club, shoved it back into his cloak and pressed, "Say that again?"

“Father, I know I was wrong,” Yamato said loudly.

"Maria, did I hear that right?" Kaido turned to confirm.

“No.” Black Maria nodded.

That's good.