The oppressive atmosphere made Kozuki Hiyori feel as though an invisible hand had clenched tightly around her heart.
She glanced back at the samurai Orochi had gathered, then at the civilians assembled outside the city.
Hiyori could only smile bitterly.
"Kyoshiro, if I had another chance to choose, I absolutely would have dealt with him last night. At least then I wouldn’t be this nervous right now."
"Don’t forget. There are quite a few people watching us here!"
Kyoshiro froze.
He had never expected Hiyori to come out with such a brazen remark.
However, looking at the constantly shifting expressions of the civilians and samurai, Kyoshiro understood perfectly why they had gathered here.
They wanted to see what would happen next.
They wanted to know whether this was the opportunity they had been waiting for—the chance to throw themselves into battle without regret and shed the last drops of their blood.
To offer their miserable, hard-won lives once more for the sake of opening Wano’s borders.
But if the only people they could rely on were hot-blooded Ashura Doji and his handful of followers, even with the former samurai who could genuinely be mobilized, they probably wouldn’t have enough strength to overthrow Orochi’s rule.
Let alone withstand Kaido and the Beasts Pirates when they returned.
"Kyoshiro, what were you two talking about? I was asking you why that fool Ashura would be stupid enough to come here and throw his life away!"
Orochi spoke again.
Kyoshiro recovered and quickly composed himself, putting on his usual playful smile.
"Lord Orochi, Lady Komurasaki was just saying that this is the first time she’s seen Wano gather such a formidable force under your command. It makes her feel very safe."
"Lady Komurasaki also said that if our enemies knew Lord Orochi had such a powerful army at his disposal, they would probably be scared out of their wits and wouldn’t even dare show themselves."
"After all, there are currently twelve thousand samurai gathered in the Flower Capital. That’s a force even Kaido would have to be wary of."
Hearing Kyoshiro repeatedly say "Lady Komurasaki," Kozuki Hiyori nearly rolled her eyes.
But to prevent Orochi from noticing anything unusual, all Hiyori could do was swallow her frustration.
For now, all she could do was hope that Ashura Doji wouldn’t appear—or that some unexpected turn of events would change the situation.
Yet just as that thought arose, Fukurokuju, the leader of the Oniwabanshu standing beside Orochi, quickly stepped forward and said with a strange laugh,
"Lord Orochi, we’ve just received word from our scouts. Ashura Doji has gathered eight hundred samurai and is currently heading this way. He should be arriving soon."
"We originally thought he might stir up some trouble. He even dared to proclaim that he would open Wano’s borders."
"But we never expected him to have only this little strength."
"Against Lord Orochi’s twelve thousand samurai, this is nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot. He’s simply throwing his life away!"
"Only eight hundred?"
Orochi froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
He walked to the edge of the city wall and looked down at the densely packed civilians gathered below.
"Hahaha! You insects! Today, I’ll make an exception and allow you to enter the Flower Capital and gather here."
"I think you all understand why you’re here."
"So that you can see for yourselves just how foolish this so-called opening of Wano’s borders really is."
"One of the Nine Red Scabbards supposedly wants to fulfill Kozuki Oden’s dying wish and open Wano’s borders."
"What a joke!"
"I’ve waited two whole days just to watch this spectacle, and now you’re telling me they’ve merely gathered eight hundred samurai to come here and die?"
"They’ve completely lost their minds. They’ve come here looking for death."
"Still, in order to keep this wonderful show from ending too soon, let us welcome these foolish samurai who have come here to die!"
His voice wasn’t particularly loud.
Yet at that moment, it seemed to carry some strange, demonic force, echoing throughout the heavens and earth without fading.
The impoverished samurai and civilians gathered here turned pale.
Following Orochi’s gaze, they looked toward the road.
At the end of it, a massive figure was slowly approaching, followed by several hundred more figures.
The faint flames of hope that had begun to burn in everyone’s hearts were instantly extinguished.
Twenty years.
They had waited twenty long years.
They had believed that an uprising led by the Nine Red Scabbards would allow them to see a glimmer of hope once more.
They had never imagined that after waiting all this time, this would be what they finally received.
They had imagined all sorts of possibilities.
Perhaps the two sides wouldn’t be evenly matched.
But surely they would at least have enough strength to fight?
Eight hundred samurai.
Even if they were led by the Nine Red Scabbards, how could they possibly stand against Orochi’s army of more than ten thousand?
If this wasn’t a joke, then what was?
The oppressive atmosphere enveloping the gathering suddenly became even more suffocating, and an indescribable despair spread through the crowd.
Hidden among the people, Yamato’s expression also changed slightly.
She tightened her grip on her kanabō.
"Lucas, should we go out?"
"Although there are more people than I expected, if I transform into Kozuki Oden, I might be able to turn the tide and restore everyone’s morale."
As she spoke, Yamato was about to step forward.
Lucas reached out and stopped her, shaking his head with a smile.
"No. Let’s wait a little longer."
"There will be a surprise."
"A surprise?"
At a nearby stall, a woman wearing a dark-blue cheongsam walked out with a little girl whose face wore a stiff smile.
Lucas was quite familiar with the identities of the two.
The woman was Tsuru, Kin’emon’s childhood sweetheart.
And the little girl with the stiff smile was the last surviving heir of the Shimotsuki Clan.
They were familiar faces Lucas had encountered on the way here.
Naturally, Lucas had also managed to mooch one of the few remaining skewers of dango from them.
In Wano, this was food more precious than gold.
Seeing the urgency on Tsuru’s face, Lucas smiled and shook the sake gourd in his hand.
"Yes. There might even be one surprise after another."
"Just look at Orochi’s expression and you’ll understand."
Tsuru and the impoverished samurai standing beside her froze.
After hearing about Ashura Doji’s great plan to open Wano’s borders, they had rushed here as quickly as possible.
They wanted to know just how much of a chance this uprising actually had.
Now, seeing Ashura Doji arrive with only eight hundred samurai, they hadn’t said anything aloud, but their hearts had already sunk.
They had no idea why Lucas was so confident that there would be another surprise.
But facing this young outsider, someone so completely out of place in their world, they couldn’t help but harbor a faint hope.
They quickly looked toward Orochi.
The moment they did, everyone’s expression changed dramatically.
Orochi had been standing at the edge of the city wall with a mocking smile.
But as he looked into the distance, his pupils suddenly contracted.
His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
Far beyond the eight hundred samurai led by Ashura Doji, densely packed figures were rushing toward the Flower Capital from every direction.
Kozuki Hiyori and Kyoshiro, who were standing nearby, were equally stunned.
Even Kozuki Sukiyaki, hidden not far away, couldn’t help blurting out,
"Is this the Is this an ambush??"
"This is one surprise after another!"
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ Chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789