Not long after the slaughter, Rosse and the others left the village.
Although nobody minded the living environment much, if there was a better place to live, there was no need to stay in a mass grave.
And not long after Rosse and the others left, Raizo and Kanjuro appeared on the scene.
They had been tasked with tracking Rosse and his group's movements. But knowing Rosse's strength, they didn't dare follow too closely, leaving that to subordinate samurai instead.
"Bastard, that devil! He doesn't even spare ordinary people."
Raizo slammed a fist into the bloodstained ground. Looking at the bloody scene before him, his face twisted with rage.
A whole village, gone.
Now there weren't even broken walls left. The wooden houses had all been cut into small blocks, and the people… their deaths were even more miserable.
The stench of blood was so strong it made him gag.
"If you want to ambush him, you'd better be prepared to die."
Kanjuro, on the other hand, wasn't too moved. He wasn't exactly the sentimental type.
Rosse's overwhelming strength had indeed left a deep impression on him.
Facing such a ruthless powerhouse was not a good idea.
The key was, they had the weakness of Wano. Rosse did not.
No, that wasn't quite right. Kozuki Oden had just struck the Holy Land. Rosse was really here for revenge.
Kanjuro didn't know how many people lived in the Holy Land, but since it was the core of the World Government, he figured at least a hundred thousand.
This grudge was huge.
If Oden hadn't forbidden him to leave, plus with Kaido and Orochi in Wano, he'd have fled already.
"Damn it, but he can't just slaughter civilians like this," Raizo said furiously, "What did these villagers do wrong?"
"You think he's someone who cares about rules? Let's go back and report. Today he can kill a village, tomorrow he can kill a city, and the day after he can wipe out a whole region," Kanjuro gave Raizo a sidelong glance, reminding him.
Was this really the time for moral condemnation?
They were also on the kill list.
"Lord Raizo, Lord Kanjuro!", Suddenly, a weak voice sounded.
"Hm? A survivor?", Raizo reacted immediately and rushed toward the sound.
There, among a pile of dismembered corpses, lay a man whose legs had been severed, collapsed in a pool of blood, resting weakly atop the bodies of other samurai.
If Raizo and the others had come just a few minutes later, he would have been dead.
Kanjuro frowned slightly at the man's miserable state, but since the man knew his identity, he helped treat the wounds anyway.
"Your injuries are too severe. The chances of saving you are slim. Tell us any information you have," Kanjuro said calmly.
He figured this man surviving wasn't luck, but because Rosse had deliberately left him alive.
Just like the others before. Those who escaped weren't strong or fast, they were simply let go by Rosse.
Raizo, however, seemed to think differently, so Kanjuro didn't explain.
Whatever Rosse's thoughts were, it wasn't his concern.
"Lord Kanjuro… it was Lady Toki who struck. Her power was too strong… we never even saw that Celestial Dragon before she killed us all," The fallen samurai said bitterly.
"What nonsense, Lady Toki has that kind of power?", Raizo instinctively refuted. He'd heard this same claim a few times already.
But impossible.
Didn't they know perfectly well whether Toki had strength or not?
If she really had that kind of power, back when Orochi rose to power, they wouldn't have needed to run and hide.
"But it was indeed her who charged us. These legs of mine, she just waved her hand, blades of water flew out, and they sliced them off easily."
The samurai didn't know what Toki's real power was, he could only hurriedly recount what happened.
"That's Rosse's Devil Fruit ability," Kanjuro frowned, "When Lord Oden fought, there were water currents surrounding Lady Toki, blocking the aftershocks of his attacks."
"So Rosse's fruit power is to support others?", Raizo rubbed his chin, thinking.
There were many support-type fruits. Nothing surprising about that.
Even his own Scroll-Scroll Fruit had decent support abilities.
"Not sure. But Lady Toki really did side with him, and struck against Wano. That much is certain."
Kanjuro didn't want to discuss Rosse's powers further, instead directly labeling Toki's actions.
Though Rosse acted like he wanted to wipe out Wano, Kanjuro really didn't believe he would.
Slaughtering a few hundred thousand to vent anger, that was possible.
But destroying Wano outright? That was a joke.
Five million people.
If Rosse truly held such hatred, he would've started killing long ago, not waited until now.
With that realization, Kanjuro's thoughts became clear.
Rosse didn't matter. His own life didn't matter. What mattered most was the Kozuki clan being wiped out.
If Toki could be branded a traitor, the one to be punished wouldn't be her alone.
"Then what about her bloodline…", Raizo followed Kanjuro's train of thought, suddenly realizing. He pulled Kanjuro aside, lowering his voice with hesitation.
"That's not for us to meddle in. Report back to Lord Oden. If she does something excessive, her bloodline is in real danger," Kanjuro stressed.
If they could take this chance to eliminate the Kozuki bloodline, that would be perfect.
Though Oden was still young, Rosse would never spare him.
And though Oden was calling on allies, none of them compared to the World Government's might.
If they also wiped out the Kozuki descendants, then the Kozuki clan would truly perish.
"I think so too. You keep following them. I'll explain this to Lord Oden."
Raizo nodded heavily and was about to rush back.
But before he could take two steps, Kanjuro grabbed his arm.
"And if Lord Oden hesitates? What then?", Kanjuro said gravely, "The young lord carries Lady Toki's blood. But now she has surrendered to the World Government, become Rosse's woman, and even her heart has changed. If this affects the young lord in the future, the consequences will be disastrous."
"That's true… then you tell me what to do…", Raizo instantly lost his resolve, becoming even more hesitant.
He was never good at thinking, and Kanjuro's words left him spinning.
As a retainer, sharing his lord's burdens was his duty.
But Momonosuke was still Oden's bloodline. Without Oden's command, he really didn't dare act.
Seeing Raizo's hesitation, Kanjuro knew he had him. Striking while the iron was hot, he said quickly, "When you pass the message back, say I overheard Lady Toki whispering with those World Government people. The young lord's location has not only been exposed, they also want to groom him into their pawn, to use against Whitebeard and others in the future."
He deliberately left Rosse out of it. Since they couldn't monitor Rosse directly, saying it was "others" would make the story much more believable.
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