Finding Oden

"Like we'd give an answer to a mongrel like you!"

This was getting old. 

"I'm trying to be nice about this.....but it's clear that this isn't working," I replied aloofly.

Everyone within the room immediately began shifting uncomfortably as I said that. The ninjas were about to make a move on me when I immediately let out my bloodlust. 

They all immediately froze where they stood as sweat poured out of their skin. I added a bit of Conqueror's Haki to my bloodlust to make it even harder to move at the moment. 

"Now.....I won't say it again, where is Oden?"

Orochi squirmed and squealed before he replied. 

"I don't know! I just know that he doesn't live far off from the Capital!"

Looking into Orochi's emotions, I could tell that he was telling the truth.

'Looks like I'll have to do this myself..'

I slowly removed my bloodlust before leaving the castle. I left the same way I came in, through the door. 

By then everyone already knew that they didn't have the power to stop me. However, just as I was leaving the facility, I did hear Orochi say something rather interesting.

"Get that bastard Kaidou on the line! Tell him that it's an emergency! Also, find the identity of that bastard as well! I'll skin him alive!"

I ignored everything else after and quietly walked down the streets of the capital. Since Orochi was next to useless, the next move was going to have to be asking around for his whereabouts.

It was nighttime so it was hard to find any passersby's, but I also had a plan for that as well.

There were plenty of bars and brothels that happened to be open at the moment. The only thing that I had to keep an eye out for was the temptation.

So, I made my first stop at the tavern, and sure enough; there were plenty of individuals that had happened to be enjoying their drinks.

I walked towards the bar before grabbing a seat and asking for something to drink. 

The bartender was looking at me with a rather weary gaze.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The Bartender asked.

"Nope, I'm just a passerby who's looking for someone.."

"Who might that individual be?" The bartender asked curiously.

"Kozuki Oden, the former Lord of Wano."

The bartender's face immediately contorted to an expression of disgust and hatred.

"Why do you want that useless piece of garbage?"

"Just wanted to pay an old friend a visit, that's all."

"He's your friend? Are you as useless as him as well?" The bartender hissed angrily.

"You have quite some hatred for him, what did he do for you to hate him?" I asked curiously.

The bartender's grip on the plate that he had been holding tightened as he looked at the floor.

"He was supposed to liberate us....instead this piece of trash stands outside and dances around naked, making a fool of himself. He's been doing this for months since he came here, that bastard!" The bartender's voice was laced with hatred as tears slowly began forming in his eyes.

"Something happen before this?" I asked softly.

"My wife....she was sent to those factories that bastard Orochi had helped those pirates build. She never made it back..." The bartender choked as he tried to stop himself from crying.

Orochi had already began to enslave the local citizens of Wano. If my sense of time was accurate, then Oden should have already stormed the capital and tried to kill him initially. Only to be stopped by that guy who had been using the barrier-barrier fruit before Luffy's biggest fan had been able to get.

Then he was blackmailed by Orochi to dance around the capital naked. Under the promise that he would be leaving the country after five years. That was a lie, he ended up facing Kaidou, only to be killed in battle. 

Fortunately, this was about three or four years into the future, meaning that it was possible to prevent that from happening. However, that was only under the condition that Oden was willing to accept my help.

"Well, do you know where he lives?" I asked the bartender.

He immediately wiped his tears before restabilizing his breathing. I gave himself some time before he started talking again.

"I heard some rumors that he had been living on a hill that happened to be nearby a town, but the rumors only come from the ronin that happen to be nearby. There's no clear indication that he actually lives there," The bartender confessed.

"That's more than enough for me," I finished my drink before leaving the payment with a hefty tip, "I'm sorry to hear about your wife."

The bartender gratefully took the money before nodding in my fleeting direction. 

With that, I vanished into the darkness.

I was still able to see clearly through the night. So I immediately went about looking for a nearby hill that looked habitable. In the distance, I heard shouts and commands coming from numerous soldiers as they left the Lord's castle to enter the capital town.

"Find him! Do not engage, he's too strong for all of us!"

I guess Orochi had already snitched on me to Kaidou. Funny thing was that Kaidou wasn't going to be able to do jack shit about me, unless he got stronger.

Walking through the woods, I spread my Observation Haki as far as possible to sense any living organisms that happened to be nearby. However, other than the natural animals that happened to live in the habitat, there wasn't any signs of Oden or his family.

'Maybe he lives farther than here'

I immediately spread my wings and began flying about. My Observation Haki scouring and looking for any presence of human life. For a while, there wasn't any signs of human presence, until I spotted something interesting.

A singular human presence was resting on a tree, there wasn't any movement that had indicated he was on the hunt for an animal. However, it didn't look like he had his guard was down completely.

'Maybe he knows...'

Landing next to the tree. I looked up and landed my gaze on the man.

He had a rather fairly built appearance, but on his face was a red mask that covered his entire face.

"Hey, you mind telling me where Oden's at?"

The man immediately jumped before landing on his head. He took a bit to get back up on his feet before taking a stance and looking at me wearily. At least I assumed because I still couldn't see the man's face.

"W-who the hell are you?!" The man asked.

"Just a man who's looking for Oden, have you seen him?"

"If you take this direction all the way, you should be able to see his house not too far from here," the masked man replied.

"Thanks,"

I didn't waste anytime and immediately took to the skies, and headed to the direction that he had pointed to me before.

It didn't take me long to finally see a hill not too far, and there was strong indication of human life there as well.

I landed right before the gates. I didn't want to enter the house at this time because it was too late, so I decided that I was going to wait until morning.