Condemned to Boil

At Kuri, the family prepares for the execution's consequences. Momonosuke reaches for food, but Toki warns, "Don't, Momo-nosuke! It hasn't been tasted for poison yet!" The boy asks, "Why is my life being targeted?" and Toki answers with the burden he has inherited: "Because your father is a grand person... and you, are the man who will someday carry the burden of this country." Meanwhile, Yasuie eats calmly, but the air is heavy. When someone says, "Here you go, Momono-suke-sama... Hiyori-sama," Momonosuke realizes the truth: "Today... Father... is he truly going to..." Hiyori, still small, asks only, "Big bro?"

At the Flower Capital, a huge pot of boiling oil bubbles beneath the execution platform. The officials announce, "We will now proceed with the public execution... of Kozuki Oden and his 9 retainers!!" The crowd treats the spectacle like entertainment. Men shout, "Quick! It's very rare to see someone getting boiled!" and "They throw them in oil! It will be over in an instant!" while another says there is all the more reason to hurry. Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards stand above the pot, framed by flames and steam, with the country watching what it believes is the end of traitors.

The people watch the smoke and judge Oden harshly. Some say, "In the end, they couldn't defeat Kaido," and "Even the 'idiot lord' couldn't do it..." Others add, "I thought he was really strong," and "Who was he even?" Orochi, Kaido, and their men sit in view of the execution. Oden, seeing no other path, speaks to Orochi directly: "I want a chance to get through this! I must live no matter what." He is not begging for his life out of fear. He is trying to survive because Wano's burden is still not finished.

Orochi mocks Oden: "Eh!! Get in! Begging for your life like this, you're a funny guy." Oden steps into the boiling oil anyway. The liquid erupts around him with a hiss, and he screams, "Ahaaah!!" then "Gyaaaaah aaaahh!!" The pain is immediate and monstrous. Steam and oil splash so violently that the crowd recoils, and someone shouts, "Get away! Don't get close to us!" Oden falls forward into the pot, burning and smoking, yet he has not given up the bargain he is trying to force from Orochi.

Oden states the terms from inside the boiling oil: "The ten of us will enter this pot. But you shall free the ones who survive... The time you decide!!" Orochi laughs because the point of the punishment is that they die instantly, but Kaido accepts the challenge in his own way. He says, "Bring me a clock!" and gives Oden one hour: "You have one hour! Wororororo!! Try to survive that! It's even too long for a regular bath!!" Oden asks, "You will hold your word?" and Kaido answers, "Of course!" The execution becomes a wager measured by the clock.

Oden endures the oil and tells his retainers to climb onto a plank. He roars in pain, but still gives orders: "Get on this plank, you guys!" His men protest, "We can't leave our master alone!" and "Let's go!" but Oden's command is absolute. He lifts the plank and holds all nine retainers above the boiling oil while he alone remains submerged. Even on the brink of death, he jokes and pushes forward, while the others realize he means to carry them into the next world if needed.

The retainers kneel on the plank above Oden, begging him to stop. They shout, "Please stop this, Lord Oden!!" and "It should be us, Lord Oden!! We will carry you!!" Oden snaps back, "Shut up and stay still! That's an order!!!" Even as he burns beneath them, his duty as their lord remains stronger than their shame. The oil boils around his shoulders, and every face on the plank shows horror, grief, and helpless obedience.

Orochi complains that the retainers are not submerged in oil, but Oden says, "But all ten of them are in the pot! I have no complaints!!" The crowd begins to understand the impossible strength before them. Someone says, "He's carrying nine well built samurai like that!?" and another answers that to do such a feat in boiling oil, he must have colossal strength. A watcher calls it a waste. Smoke and steam rise while Oden's body darkens from the heat. One of the retainers can only whisper, "Lord Oden..." as the country watches the man they mocked carrying everyone.

The clock ticks while Oden continues to stand. Orochi laughs, "What's the matter? It hasn't even been one minute yet, you know?" and the retainers cry, "Lord Oden, let us down!!!" Kaido watches in silence as the oil keeps bubbling. Onlookers ask, "What kind of skin does he have?" The impossible endurance changes the mood. Oden has become the center of the capital, no longer an idiot dancing in the street, but a man whose body refuses to die.

The retainers still complain and tremble, so Oden threatens them through the pain: "Keep complaining and I'll punch you Raizo!! All you have to do is let yourselves be carried!!" Nekomamushi shakes the whole plank, and Oden warns, "Stop moving, Neko! You are shaking everything up!!" The smoke is hot enough to kill them even above the oil. Four minutes pass, and Orochi's men grow bored. One says, "I was told this would end immediately," and another says they expected more screams. The crowd waits for the "Idiot Lord" to die, but Oden continues to hold everyone up.

Shinobu suddenly steps forward with a sword, and the crowd panics: "She's dangerous! She's got a sword!!" "A kunoichi?!" Someone asks, "Who is that woman?" while Orochi shouts, "What idiot lord!? Say that again and I'll kill you!!" Shinobu, choking on smoke and fury, cries out, "You're the idiots!!!" Orochi orders, "Urgh! Stop it!" but it is too late. The crowd begins to ask what is stirring her up like that, and one of Kaido's men identifies her: "Captain, that's Shinobu!"

Shinobu tells the people the truth they never understood. She screams, "To whom do you think you owe this peace you're living in today!? You will only realise once you have lost Lord Oden! You will see how much he protected you from danger!!" She explains that Orochi is neither a shogun nor a dictator in the ordinary sense: "Orochi doesn't want to stand on top of others." He wanted revenge on the country itself. Orochi confirms it without shame: "I received the rank of shogun!! In order to destroy this country!!! And in order to exact my revenge!!!" The peaceful ignorance of Wano begins to crack.

Orochi exposes the root of his revenge. His old man broke the law and was made to commit seppuku, but the people treated every remaining Kurozumi as if they carried the crime themselves. They were chased down by vigilantes, beaten, thrown into rivers, and killed. Orochi admits he was scared to sleep. Even though the one who committed the crime was dead, anyone who bore the name Kurozumi was treated like a criminal. That is why, in Orochi's mind, all the people of Wano deserve punishment. Oden listens in silence as the country's hidden hatred and Orochi's twisted answer are laid bare.

Shinobu continues with what Oden discovered in the back room: offerings to Kaido, countless weapons, and hundreds of kidnapped people. Those people are sold, used for fun, or simply killed; once they are taken, their lives are over. Oden was furious, but Orochi made a proposal. If Oden went to war, he would lose, and the kidnappings would continue. The enemy had never cared about Wano as a country; they only wanted revenge. Anyone could see that victory was not the only thing at stake. Oden's choice to dance was a desperate bargain to save lives while waiting for a promised departure.

Shinobu finally explains Oden's five years of humiliation. Every week, at an agreed time, he danced naked as a sign of apology toward the Kurozumi family. All the while, he visited every town each week to see if there were any changes. He believed Orochi's promise that they would leave the country after five years, after the shipbuilding was completed. Even though he lost everything, Oden continued dancing because each time he did, he saved 100 lives. Shinobu demands the crowd answer: "So who's the idiot lord?!" Oden, still burning in the pot and carrying his men, says through tears and rage, "I dare you to repeat it!!"

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