Kozuki Oden and Raizo moved carefully, keeping their presence hidden. Following the prearranged route, they passed through a specific torii gate without noticing anything amiss.
Oden had felt a fleeting sense of wrongness, but before he could investigate further, he spotted a detachment of soldiers approaching from the distance.
Nanatsuki, who had returned to Wano Country earlier, was in charge of this supply shipment. Both Oden and Raizo were familiar with the infamous "Dragon Demon" who carried a bounty on her head.
In truth, Nanatsuki had not been active on the open seas for quite some time now.
"I didn't expect the legendary Dragon Demon herself to personally deliver this shipment." Oden said casually. He had not expected Ren to keep such a powerful force stationed in Wano, even under these circumstances.
"The situation is rather unique right now. Lord Ren doesn't want anything unexpected happening in Kuri." Nanatsuki replied simply. She would have preferred to stay by Ren's side overseas, but remaining in Wano had its merits as well.
After all, Ren returned almost every month. With the Door-Door Fruit's power, distance was hardly an issue.
Once the handoff was complete, Nanatsuki escorted them out of Kuri and then severed the torii gate's connection to the outside world.
After leaving Kuri, Oden asked Raizo for a portion of the supplies. He planned to go check on his wife and children.
Raizo, his body stuffed full of scrolls, nodded vigorously. "Please go ahead, Lord Oden! I will deliver these supplies safely to Ringo!"
His expression was one of absolute determination.
"I'm counting on you. And remember — keep this between us." Oden gave his final instructions before parting ways with Raizo, heading east toward the Flower Capital.
The border guards at the Flower Capital were far stricter than those at Shimo. This was, after all, Orochi's stronghold. The Shogunate soldiers under the Shogun's direct command were fully armored and bristling with an imposing military presence.
Oden swam through the river, found a concealed spot to climb ashore, and then hurried without pause toward the teahouse district.
But that was clearly wishful thinking on his part. The original Orochi from the story might have made such a careless oversight, but the current Orochi was far too shrewd to leave such a gap in his defenses.
Thanks to Kanjuro's intelligence reports, Orochi had known everything about Kozuki Oden and his allies for some time. This naturally included the full extent of his wife Grey's combat abilities.
Grey had originally been just an ordinary girl they had met on some island. But after spending so many years on Roger's ship, weathering countless battles together, she had developed a degree of strength. Because of this, Orochi had deployed sufficient manpower from the very start.
Oden failed to find the faces he had been desperately hoping to see inside the house. Yet he clung to a fragile thread of hope.
'No one being here doesn't prove anything. Maybe they just went into hiding.' he told himself.
That was not impossible. After all, the teahouse had been attacked, so its location was surely compromised. Under those circumstances, they would have needed to relocate.
If that were the case, Grey should have left some kind of message behind.
"There has to be something!" He began frantically searching the house. Before long, he found a letter. Oden's face broke into a smile as he eagerly tore it open.
His smile froze.
The letter did contain the location of his wife and children. But the person who had left it was none other than Orochi.
"O — Ro — Chi!" He ground his teeth together, his entire body trembling as he stood rooted to the spot. Rage surged through his chest like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
He could no longer contain himself. Like a wild beast, he hurled himself through the wall of the already dilapidated teahouse and charged straight toward the Flower Capital!
At that moment, only one thought consumed his mind — kill Orochi, and save his wife and children!
He did not know exactly when Grey had been captured by Orochi. But judging by the dust that had settled inside the room, it had been at least a month. He did not dare imagine what kind of suffering the three of them had endured during that time.
[
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