Five years had passed. Five years since Orochi had sunk his claws into the throne of Wano.
The land had withered under his rule. Factories rose where forests once thrived. Smoke coiled into the sky, choking out the sun. Rivers that once ran clear and cold turned black with filth, poisoned by the waste poured into them by Orochi's foreign allies.
The people of Wano bent their backs from dawn until dusk, their sweat and tears feeding the machines that belched poison. And what were they paid? Pennies. Just enough to keep them from collapsing, but never enough to live.
Where once Wano was proud and prosperous, now it staggered under the weight of greed.
---
The Shimotsuki Estate
Snow fell softly over the eternal gravesides of Ringo, blanketing the land in white silence. Within the Shimotsuki estate, father and son sat together on the veranda, steaming cups of tea in their hands. Onimaru, ever watchful, rested at their feet.
Mamoru, now ten, sat taller than most boys his age, his navy-blue hair brushing against his shoulders. His training robe clung to his sweat-soaked frame, but his eyes burned with curiosity.
"Father," he asked at last, breaking the silence, "what is the condition of Wano now? Truly?"
Ushimaru glanced at him. For a moment he considered softening the truth. But then he saw the steel in his son's gaze, the way his small fists clenched around the teacup. He must know. He must understand.
"The condition of Wano…" Ushimaru exhaled, his breath fogging in the cold air. "It worsens by the day. Pirates roam our shores. Raids grow more frequent, even here in Ringo. Kidnappings… happen more than I wish to admit. Another factory is already being built in the region of Kibi."
Mamoru's fingers tightened until his knuckles whitened. "Another one…"
His father nodded grimly. "The first raids were dismissed as the work of common bandits. But after Orochi became shogun, they increased—and it became clear these were not mere bandits. These were men aligned with Orochi. Yet… we cannot strike him. He was chosen by Sukiyaki himself. To rebel against him would be to rebel against the Kozuki line."
Mamoru gritted his teeth. "So we just… watch?"
Ushimaru's jaw clenched. His voice lowered. "We watched as factories rose upon our land. Orochi claims they create jobs for the people, but in truth they are prisons. The people thought working there would feed their families, but they were wrong. The work is torture. You toil until your body collapses, and still they force you on. Those who resist…"
Ushimaru's eyes darkened, his grip tightening on the cup. "Those who resist are made into examples."
Mamoru stared, wide-eyed. "Examples?"
Ushimaru nodded. "There was one… a man named Mizu Tomioka. He refused to continue working after seeing what the factories were doing to his family. For that, Orochi's men executed him. Him… his wife… and his children."
Mamoru's stomach lurched. His fists trembled with rage. "They killed… all of them?"
Ushimaru's silence was the only answer he needed.
Ushimaru set down his cup, staring into the snow. His voice grew heavier as he recalled that day.
"The execution lit a fire in the hearts of the people. For years we endured quietly, but that day, we could no longer stand by. Every samurai who could still wield a blade, every villager whose blood still burned with pride, they marched to the factory in Kibi. I was among them."
He closed his eyes, the memory sharp. The roar of blades clashing, the cries of men who fought not for glory but for survival.
"We fought like men possessed. Against Orochi's guards, against the pirates he brought into our land we struck them down. For the first time in years, it felt as though we might reclaim what was ours."
Mamoru leaned forward, listening with bated breath.
"But then…" Ushimaru's voice dropped. "Kaido came."
The name itself seemed to chill the air.
Ushimaru's eyes sharpened, as though he were seeing the monster before him again. "He appeared like a storm. His presence alone was crushing. His body… it was like iron ,No harder. Swords broke against his flesh. Arrows snapped like twigs. Even those of us who wielded ryuo could barely scratch him. He kept coming, blow after blow, like a beast that could not be killed."
Mamoru swallowed hard. "You fought him?"
Ushimaru nodded slowly. "I crossed blades with him. My strikes landed true. They should have cut down any man alive. But Kaido… he laughed , He endured. Even wounded, he did not falter. Like a unstoppable beast"
He set his gaze firmly on his son. "If Kaido were not so strong, we would have already reclaimed our land. His strength alone turns the tide of war."
Mamoru's hands shook around his teacup. The realization struck him harder than any blade: that even the strongest samurai of Wano, men like his father, could not defeat or so wound this monster.
Ushimaru continued, his voice low. "And as we fought, news reached us: Oden Castle was under attack. Kaido claimed to have captured Oden's son. If we pressed further, the boy would die. Our blades wavered , hearts broke. And so… we retreated."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Only the distant howl of wind through the snowy gravesides broke it.
Mamoru lowered his gaze, his navy bangs shadowing his eyes. The words weighed on him like chains.
"So the only way to somehow land a meaningful attack on Kaido…" his voice trembled, "is with ryuo?"
"Yes," Ushimaru said firmly. "Without it, you cannot hope to dent his scales. And even with it… the damage is shallow."
The boy's fists tightened on his knees. "Then I'll train ten times harder than I do now. I'll learn ryuo, my blade one day will cut through Kaido's scales like a knife cutting hot butter!"
Ushimaru studied his son carefully. The fire in his eyes reminded him of the past warriors of the Shimotsuki long gone. The fire of rebellion. He had seen them when he was but a mere child
"Abandon your name and be as a child , sunshine!! "they would say
For a brief moment, pride flickered in the daimyo's chest .He will surpass us all one day , even you teacher Jigoro.
Before Ushimaru could speak, a noise rose from beyond the estate walls. A commotion shouts, laughter, gasps.
Ushimaru set his cup aside, rising to his feet. Mamoru jumped up as well, eyes darting toward the sound.
"What's happening?" Mamoru asked.
"I don't know." Ushimaru's brows furrowed. "Lets go see."
The commotion outside swelled like a wave. Voices rose, carrying across the snowy streets of Ringo. Ushimaru and Mamoru left their veranda, boots crunching into the ice as Onimaru padded behind them.
They pushed through the crowd that had gathered, the villagers murmuring and pointing toward the center of the road.
And there he was.
Kozuki Oden.
But not the Oden of legend. Not the fierce heir who had once charged through the capital with a sword in each hand. Not the man who had wrestled with wild beasts and took over kuri that was run by ronin and bandits all by himself.
This Oden was barefoot, half-naked in the falling snow. His body gleamed with sweat despite the cold, his expression strange wild grins breaking across his face as he twirled and stomped.
The people stared in silence at first. But slowly, the whispers began.
"Is that… Lord Oden?"
"It can't be…"
"No, it's him. But why… why is he doing this?"
"So it was not rumors about how he dances naked at the capital "
A woman covered her child's eyes. "The heir of the Kozuki, dancing like a clown in the street…"
An older man shook his head, his voice bitter. "We waited for him. We prayed he would save us. And this… this is what he gives us?"
Some tried to laugh, though it was uneasy, forced. Others looked away, unable to bear the sight.
Mamoru's small hand tightened into a fist at his side. "Father… why does he do this ?" His voice cracked with confusion, his face had a complicated expression.
Ushimaru's gaze was fixed on Oden, his jaw locked tight. In his chest was a storm of sorrow and anger, though his face betrayed little. "I do not know, Mamoru," he said at last, his voice low. "But one thing im sure of is that he must have a reason for why does this "
The whispers grew heavier around them, layered with disappointment, grief, and shame.
"Was it all a lie? His strength, his pride?"
"Maybe he's been broken. Maybe Orochi has forced him into this."
"But he laughs… he laughs as though he chooses it."
"No… no, Oden-sama would never…"
The voices overlapped, hope battling disbelief. Yet beneath it all, one truth gnawed at every heart: their savior was not the man they thought he was.
Mamoru looked up at his father. Ushimaru's eyes were dark, distant, and for the first time, Mamoru felt the crushing weight of what it meant to be a samurai in a crumbling nation.
The snow continued to fall. Silent. Endless.
And above it, Oden's foolish laughter echoed across the land, a sound that would haunt the hearts of Wano for years to come.