Yagyu Sekikō, a native of Wano Country, is also a renowned craftsman in Wano. As a country with abundant Seastone and excellent weapon manufacturing techniques, his level of craftsmanship is unmatched by ordinary people.
It's important to know that most swords were made by people from Wano Country.
Besides being a craftsman, he was also one of his subordinates twenty years ago when Kozuki Oden was still alive.
When Oden went on his voyage and Kaido attacked, it was Oden who fought Kaido's men every day to ensure that they would not invade Wano Country.
When Oden first returned, he was full of confidence, having found his leader, and believed that he could drive Kaido out in one fell swoop.
As long as they are united, Kaido will surely be able to retreat, no matter how many casualties they suffer.
That's what Yagyu Sekikō thought at the time, even after news of Oden's defeat arrived.
If we're defeated, we can just rescue them and keep fighting.
But from that time on, things changed. Lord Oden became an idiot, spending his days dancing naked for three years, leading the people of Wano Country to believe that he was truly a fool.
Yagyu Sekikora knew that Oden had changed, but Kin'emon later told him that it was Kaido's way of coercing him. Oden couldn't bear to see the residents of Wano Country get hurt, so he agreed to Oden's request to dance naked every day.
Unbelievable. Yagyu Sekikora couldn't understand this situation at all. Now that Lord Oden was unharmed, he should continue fighting Kaido with his men.
Why did it have to turn out this way? Why stop them from continuing their attacks?
Yagyu Sekikō didn't understand, but he didn't know at the time either. Oden was the daimyo of Kuri, and he was a samurai and craftsman from Kuri, so he could only listen to Oden.
Perhaps Lord Oden was right...
Because during this period, Kaido has indeed not committed any offenses. Perhaps three years later, when Kaido retreats, they can still bring down Kurozumi Orochi, who has usurped Wano Country, and make the Shogun of Wano Country the Kozuki family.
But when the inhuman Orochi cruelly boiled Oden alive, Yagyu Sekitora thought Oden would retaliate. He believed that with a single call to arms, all the samurai of Wano would fight Kaido under Oden's leadership. But he didn't...
So many people clearly want to fight!
Why don't you fight!
Why should I accept that kind of boiling torture? That thing is clearly a trap!
But it was his lord's request, and even though he knew it was wrong, Yagyu Shiko held back, or rather, he was bewildered at the time.
The intense internal conflict had clouded his judgment. Should he rebel? But even Oden, the daimyo, didn't rebel. What right did he have to? He was just a samurai, supposed to obey his lord's orders. But this was supposed to be a fight, a rebellion.
Why don't you resist when you're about to die?
Until Oden was boiled to death and the so-called 'Nine Swordsmen' escaped, he was caught in a huge internal conflict.
Is it anger?
I'm furious at the lord's stupidity, and furious that the so-called 'Nine Heroes' are brainless?
We should still laugh, laugh with relief, thinking that the 'Nine Swordsmen' were merely following the orders of Lord Oden, and that Lord Oden himself was acting for the greater good, so we should be gratified.
These two intense contradictions completely changed Yagyu Sekikō. Three days after Oden's death, he became someone who would laugh when angry and be furious when happy, his emotions and expressions being the opposite of each other.
Then, he fled Wano Country and wandered aimlessly on the sea, joining various pirate crews. He did not rob civilians, but he would say the same things to those who protected the town, just as Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi said to Oden.
He spared those who agreed, but the invasion of the islands would continue. Watching their desperate expressions reminded Yagyu Ishikora of the past.
If Oden were still alive then, and saw the pirates invade his homeland, would he also feel such despair? Would he have rebelled, or would he have succumbed to despair?
But that's just a hypothetical. Oden is dead. That person, who was neither right nor wrong, is dead. Yagyu Sekikatora can no longer ask Oden whether he was right or wrong in person.
He could only ask these kinds of people, these naive people who believed him, whether they would regret it.
Some timidly answered that they didn't regret it, while others would fight back, but none of them were Oden.
Until now...
Until now!
He saw it! He finally saw someone who didn't believe him at all and dared to rebel!
It's not that we haven't encountered this before, but they didn't have the will to die, nor the will to have others die with them. They were just one person, which is naive. They were pirates, and even if they died alone, would they stop them from expanding their power?
But this was different; he rallied everyone around him, including the common people, and their eyes...
That was the same look in his eyes back then, a look of willingness to die. If the people of Wano Country, including Oden, had had that look in their eyes back then, would Kurozumi Orochi have really remained in the position of Shogun? Would Kaido really not have retreated?
"Captain, don't waste time talking to them, we..."
Bang!
With a sudden swing of his arm, Yagyu Shiko's punching gauntlet shattered the speaking pirate, along with those nearby, who were also killed, their blood splattering and creating a gap in the pirate group.
"Why?"
Yagyu Shiko looked at Wilbur and said seriously, "Why do you firmly believe this? Maybe I really will let you go? If you think about it this way, all you need to do is sacrifice a little dignity, just try to believe me, and you'll save the island and your lives, right?"
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