"An utter dumbass?"
Everyone present froze.
In their minds, if Lucas really knew Kozuki Oden, perhaps they could still appeal to his emotions and find some common ground.
They had never expected reality to slap them in the face twice over.
The Kozuki Oden whom they regarded as a figure of honor was, in someone else’s mouth, nothing more than an utter dumbass.
"How dare you insult Lord Oden?"
Kyoshiro’s expression turned cold. His right hand instantly closed around the hilt of his sword.
A murderous aura erupted from his body.
Lucas smiled and shook the liquor gourd in his hand. He then plopped himself down on a nearby rock and said,
"What? You don’t believe me?"
"That dumbass was once a division commander of one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard, and even a crew member of the Pirate King, Roger. After returning to Wano and discovering that Kaido had conspired with Orochi, instead of seeking outside assistance, he declared that he didn’t want to burden his companions and intended to resolve Wano’s crisis by himself. Fine. There would be nothing wrong with that."
"But that dumbass, when faced with the hostages in Kaido and Orochi’s hands, actually chose to believe a pirate’s word. He went around performing that ridiculous naked dance day after day. In the end, not only did he fail to save anyone, he allowed Kaido to completely establish his foothold and seize control of Wano."
"When he later went to take revenge, he didn’t make the slightest preparation before rushing off to his death. And even when he died, he was toyed with by his enemies."
"Tell me, if that’s not an utter dumbass, then what is?"
"In your eyes, perhaps Kozuki Oden was someone worthy of admiration. But in my eyes, he was nothing more than a fool who possessed tremendous strength but not an ounce of common sense. Otherwise, Wano would never have ended up in this miserable state."
"If you insist on assigning blame for what happened to Wano, then Kozuki Oden bears half of it!"
"You’re asking for death!"
Kyoshiro roared and instantly drew the sword at his waist.
However, the moment he moved, Komurasaki reached out and stopped him.
"Uncle Kyoshiro, don’t be rash!"
Komurasaki’s eyes were already red, tears glistening in them. Her tightly clenched lips had been bitten hard enough to draw blood.
With a trace of a sob in her voice, she said resentfully,
"I know you’re strong. If I were to attack you, it would only end in my death."
"But I am Kozuki Oden’s daughter. I absolutely will not allow you to speak about my father like this."
"If you can’t give me a reasonable explanation today for why my father, who died for the sake of Wano, is so worthless in your eyes, then even if I know it means certain death, I will still draw my sword against you!"
Komurasaki picked up a samurai sword that had fallen from one of the dead shinobi. Her face was filled with resentment and determination.
Kyoshiro and Tenguyama Hitetsu were likewise stunned.
Neither had expected Komurasaki’s temperament to be so fierce.
Looking at Komurasaki’s actions, Lucas smiled.
He was not surprised in the slightest.
Komurasaki had endured humiliation and concealed her identity for more than a decade in order to seek revenge. Compared with the loathsome Momonosuke, she was more than a little stronger.
Facing the woman who had drawn her sword against him, Lucas smiled and took another gulp of liquor.
"You asked me for a reason?"
"Actually, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t need to give you a reason at all. But whenever I think about that dumbass Oden, I just can’t help giving him a piece of my mind!"
"He had the power of one of the Four Emperors, the Whitebeard Pirates, as well as the power of the Pirate King, Roger, at his disposal, yet he didn’t know how to make use of any of it. Instead, he had to put on some ridiculous display of loyalty and honor, allowing himself to be deceived from beginning to end."
"He was in such a hurry to seek revenge, yet he didn’t know how to consolidate the strength within Wano before going to war with Kaido. What kind of hero of Wano was he? What was there to admire?"
"If he had gathered Wano’s various families and factions from the very beginning, then united the daimyō of every region and assembled tens of thousands of samurai and elite warriors, with himself and the Nine Red Scabbards leading the vanguard straight toward Onigashima, wouldn’t he have at least had a chance to fight?"
"Don’t forget, the Kaido of those days wasn’t the Kaido of today. Back then, he was nothing more than a weak four-legged reptile."
"And don’t forget that one of the current Seven Warlords of the Sea, Dracule Mihawk—"
"Wait. No."
Lucas paused, then corrected himself with a dismissive wave.
"Back then, it was Gecko Moria who fought Kaido to the death in Wano. If Oden had seized that opportunity and launched an all-out attack, who knows? Perhaps Wano wouldn’t have had to suffer this fate at all."
At this point, Lucas shook the liquor gourd in his hand and looked up at Komurasaki.
"Am I wrong?"
"Shut up! You don’t understand what happened back then! Kaido had hundreds of hostages in his hands. Lord Oden did what he did to save them!"
Kyoshiro’s expression twisted as he roared.
From the very beginning, Kyoshiro had already planned to refute whatever reason Lucas gave next.
Unfortunately, every sentence and every word Lucas had just spoken struck him like an invisible hammer deep within his soul.
He simply couldn’t find a way to refute them.
"Save them?"
Lucas smiled and took another shallow sip of liquor.
"Those hundreds of people were innocent. But what about the people throughout all of Wano who were forced to suffer because of what happened? Weren’t they innocent too?"
"There were many ways to save those hostages. Yet Kozuki Oden chose the most foolish one possible, thinking he could appeal to a pirate’s sense of honor and righteousness."
"That was an absolute joke."
"Never forget: on the open seas, the law of the jungle is the rule. Raising an army and launching a campaign against one’s enemies—that is what a true ruler should do."
"One could say that Wano being enslaved and exploited by Kaido and Orochi for decades was the direct consequence of Kozuki Oden’s foolishness."
"For the people of Wano, following the son of such a shogun was itself a tragedy."
"Remember this: Wano became what it is because that dumbass ruined the country. And when he finally sought revenge, he acted on nothing but rage. He didn’t even properly arrange for the safety of his own family. He had absolutely no sense of foresight."
"In other words, Kozuki Oden wasn’t merely an unqualified ruler."
"He wasn’t even qualified to be the head of a household!"
Lucas’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, yet it echoed across the grass and refused to fade.
Whether it was the secretly concealed Kozuki Sukiyaki or Komurasaki, both were left standing there in stunned silence.
Only Kyoshiro had completely lost his usual impassive expression.
His face twisted with fury as he roared,
"You’re talking complete nonsense!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Kyoshiro tightened his grip on his sword once again and charged toward Lucas, his heart filled with fury.
"Kyoshiro, come back!"
Komurasaki shouted through her tears.
Kyoshiro froze.
It was the first time he had ever heard that commanding tone of reprimand from Komurasaki.
Was that the shadow of Kozuki Oden?
Before he could say anything, the samurai sword in Komurasaki’s hand slipped from her fingers with a clatter.
She covered her face, sank helplessly to her knees, and burst into tears.
"Uncle Kyoshiro, I’m sorry. I... I thought of so many things I could say to refute him."
"But he says my dad was an utter dumbass, and I really can’t argue with that."
"There were clearly so many ways to drive Kaido and Orochi out of Wano. So why did Father choose the most foolish method possible?"
"If that doesn’t make him a complete dumbass, then who does...?"
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