Meeting Kozuki Oden, Again

Morning finally arrived, and I walked up to the gates of the house before I started knocking.

I didn't hear much from within the house at first, but soon, I heard footsteps making their way towards the gate. Promptly after, the gates groaned as they slowly opened, only to find a .....boy? I think it was one of Oden's retainers; the guy who looked like a girl.

"Hello?"

"I'm here to meet Oden, you mind taking me to him?"

Although it wasn't my first time meeting Oden's retainers, it was my first time meeting him in particular. I don't think that I'd seen him when we first landed on Wano, but I could have been wrong.

Anyway, I slowly followed him into the house, finally stopping in a room at the very end of the corridor.

Opening it, I found Oden and Toki playing around with Momonosuke and Hiyori, the two children had grown quite a bit. However, they all froze and looked at me when I entered the room.

Oden's smile widened as he turned to look at me. 

"Pipsqueak!! It's been a while!!!!" Oden immediately set Hiyori down and lunged at me with his arms wide open.

I stepped to the side and let him run through the doors that the retainer had just closed. Leaving a human sized imprint as a result, the children laughed at the sudden turn of events. However, Toki was far from amused, her brow furrowed at the sight of Oden running through the door. Then it furrowed further when she turned to look at me, almost as if she wasn't happy at the sight of me.

After Oden calmed down and had finally sat down, he had the family leave the room so that we could talk in private, and boy we had a lot to talk about. At least that was what I had believed anyway. Toki came in with a tray of drinks so that we could drink while we talked.

"What brings you here, Pipsqueak? Aren't you supposed to be with Whitebeard?"

"Actually, I was on my way to meet Whitebeard, he just happened to be near Wano. So I figured that I may as well visit."

"That's good to hear! I'm happy to see that he's still alive and kicking! As you can see, we're doing pretty well for ourselves back here as well!"

"Well?" I asked almost humorously.

Looking at Oden, he was wearing nothing but rags. The outfit that he had on was patched with different patches. Even Toki and the kids had the same kind of outfits on, clearly indicating that they were deep in poverty.

"Doesn't look like that to me, it looks to me that you're getting scammed, and you don't even know it," I replied.

"You got it all wrong, Pipsqueak! Orochi said that all he needed was five years so that he could leave Wano!" Oden laughed confidently.

"And you believed him?" I asked.

"The people of Wano value their honor! There's no way that Orochi would stoop so low as to break his word!"

"How sure are you that he isn't going to? Did he give you some form of leverage for assurance?" I asked back.

"No, but he promised!" Oden laughed it off casually.

I was beginning to get frustrated with him, he clearly knew that Orochi was oppressing the people of Wano, but showed no signs of distrusting him whenever it came to promises. 

"What happens if he doesn't honor his promise?" I asked.

Oden stopped at his tracks and thought about it for a while, it was obvious that he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Listen, Orochi isn't going to uphold his part of the promise. He's not going to leave Wano just because he promised. If there's any time to attack Orochi and kill him, it's probably now."

At this point of time, I heard multiple people crowding near the doorsteps. Probably trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, I could practically hear them whisper at each other to shut up.

"There's no way, he gave me his word! A man's word is his honor!" Oden remarked stubbornly.

"What good is a man's honor if he doesn't have any to begin with?" I asked, "Judging from all that has been happening, its clear that the man is a crafty individual. So what makes you think he'd actually follow through with it?"

"If he doesn't, I'll kill him anyway!" Oden huffed before chugging down a cup of sake.

"Kill him? With all that military power that he's been gathering, are you sure you can?" I asked him.

"Bah! What's it to you anyway?! There's no need for you to intervene in Wano's affairs!" Oden remarked angrily.

"Do you wish to save Wano?" I asked calmly.

"I'm saving Wano as we speak!" Oden snapped.

"No, you're not, if anything; I think you're killing Wano by your inaction," I replied aloofly.

"He's holding hostages!!! What am I to do when he has my people in ropes and chains?!" Oden asked furiously.

"He's working with Pirates, the Beast Pirates at that, what the fuck makes you think that those were the only hostages he held?" I asked coldly.

"What if he kills them then? Are you going to pay Wano back for the lives lost?!" Oden roared.

At this point of time, Oden had been getting more and more worked up about this topic. I could feel his concern for the people of Wano, he just didn't know how to go about saving it.

If only he could see that Orochi had been taking Oden for a fool, this conversation would have lost any meaning of happening. 

"Your inaction is going to only fuel further death and oppression. You might as well rip the bandage off early and work on the damages that had happened after," I replied consoling him.

Oden drunk some more booze before recomposing himself.

"I don't want to cause a war that can be avoided. This is the best way we can go," Oden concluded.

"Are you sure that you won't regret this?" I replied vaguely.

I couldn't see his expression at that point of time, but I could feel that he was still conflicted over this issue. 

"This could mean the end of your family, and this is the way you want to handle it?" I asked.

"No matter the situation, I am still the Lord of Wano. I believe that this is the best way to go about things," Oden affirmed.

"Well, since you are the Lord of Wano, get rid of Kaidou then;" I remarked.

"Orochi said that he needed Kaidou's help to get ready to leave Wano," Oden rejected.

"And the Weapon factories? Are they also to help Orochi leave Wano as well?" I asked.

Oden didn't say anything and kept on pouring himself a drink. I quietly sipped mine with my eyes closed. I was beginning to sense some soldiers making their way towards the manor. 

"It seems that you have visitors," I remarked.

For the first time in a while, Oden looked up at me wearily.

"Don't worry, I'll handle them for you. It's the least that I can do for you," I remarked before slowly getting up, "I'm sure you already know how to contact me, if you're ever in need of help; Call."

With that, I walked towards the window before leaping towards the direction where the soldiers were coming from. Killing intent slowly leaking from my body.