Oden vs Kaido

The counterattack begins with the sound of strings and footsteps, as Oden's retainers march out under the title call of "Au son de la contre-attaque!" Oden stands at the head of the group with the Nine Red Scabbards behind him, while Toki remains with Momonosuke and Hiyori. Momonosuke reads a book about swordsmanship, and the children watch their father leave. The mood is no longer humiliation or delay; Oden has chosen battle, and the samurai who followed him through disgrace now move as one.

Oden reaches the battlefield and finds Kaido waiting. Kaido says, "Here he is, what a surprise...!!" but Oden sees through the situation immediately. Kaido admits, "There might well be a spy inside your palace, Wororororo..." Oden explains that he was on his way to Kaido's deserted land to cut off his drunk head and that he did not plan an intense fight. Kaido answers that he does not want to transform his new home into a battlefield, so he came to meet Oden's group instead. The two forces face each other in the open, and the battle Oden tried to avoid has been forced upon him.

Oden realizes the five-year promise was a lie and shouts, "Kaido!!! It was all a lie, eh?" Kaido confirms it without remorse: "That's right... Wororo. It was all a lie." He explains that if Oden had teamed up with Hyogoro upon his return, the samurai and gangsters all over Wano could have gathered as enemies, and at that time Kaido's side was at a disadvantage. They were short on men, and a war then would have become excruciating for them. Oden understands that his years of endurance were used against him, giving Orochi and Kaido the time they needed to strengthen their hold on Wano.

Kaido describes what Oden could have been if he had stayed true to his name: a dangerous psycho who was not afraid of casualties. He says Oden is like Whitebeard and Roger, powerful but with a certain softness, because he chose the path that did not harm anybody. Kaido mocks the result: "You are the same!! The fool who dances and dances!!" Oden, naked, mocked, and despised for five years, stands before him with nothing left, not even his family's name's authority. Yet Oden does not regret the choice he made that day. Instead of arguing about the past, he says, "Let's talk about the imminent future, instead."

The Beasts Pirates roar with weapons raised, but Oden charges through them with his swords drawn. His eye is fixed on Kaido, and the Nine Red Scabbards follow behind him into the mass of enemies. The panel becomes a rush of bodies and blades: Oden cuts his way forward, while his retainers split the battlefield beside him. The battle is not a clean duel at first; it is a full clash of Oden's handful of samurai against Kaido's army.

Oden and the retainers carve through the enemy line. One voice orders, "March forward, step back Lord Oden!!" as men are thrown aside. Kaido's side begins to panic: "Wait, there are 'samurai' here?! Aren't they too strong?!" Another tries to restore order: "Do not panic, we outnumber them!!!" The faces of the Scabbards show no hesitation. They have waited through five years of shame and now fight with the pressure of everything Oden endured.

At Kuri, Yasuie arrives after receiving Oden's letter. He says, "I received Oden's letter. He asked me for help... because his wife and children are in danger...!!" He sits with Toki and the children, and asks about Momonosuke's age. Then he gives the grim instruction: "O-Toki, you must prepare yourself... If Oden is beaten... then it would be the end... of this country!!" The battle outside Wano's walls is not just a fight for Oden's pride; if he loses, Wano itself will lose its future.

Shinobu bursts into the battle, cutting through enemies and announcing herself with, "Forgive my impudence, but I came to your aid!!" Oden recognizes her and says, "Shinobu?!" She explains why she came: "You must have forgotten, but when lord Sukiyaki was still alive... I stayed on duty at the palace because I had faith in the return of the Kozuki family, but..." She has left the palace because Orochi's forces have finally swallowed it. The unexpected ally arrives not as a spy, but as someone whose loyalty to the Kozuki clan survived inside enemy walls.

Shinobu says that the Kozuki family and Fukurokuju's forces finally fell into Orochi's hands. Her dream had been to serve Oden, but she could no longer stay at the palace. Oden's group is surprised, but Shinobu says she cannot blame anyone for losing faith in "a fool of a lord." She turns to the eleven rebelling samurai and asks to join them: "Let me join you!!!" Kin'emon recognizes her resolve, telling her, "You did not choose the easiest path, Shinobu!" The group accepts another person willing to gamble everything on Oden's battle.

One thousand pirates stand in Oden's way, and someone warns, "There are strong people!!" But the battle lasts long, and Oden's endurance far exceeds what his enemies imagined. He fights through the army and reaches Kaido himself. With Oden Nitoryu, he declares, "The only head I want to slice off is yours!!" Kaido's dragon body towers above him, but Oden is close enough to strike. The entire battle narrows to the confrontation Yasuie feared and Wano needs.

Oden attacks Kaido's dragon form with "Togen Totsuka!!!" and the invincible master Kaido is sliced. The blow cuts deep, sending Kaido crashing down as his men scream, "The invincible master Kaido was sliced!!" Oden tells him, "Do not set foot on Wano ever again!!!" and moves to finish the fight. Then a voice calls, "Help me, father!!" and Oden sees what appears to be Momonosuke in danger. He turns for one instant, and the deception destroys his advantage.

Oden looks back and says, "Momo..." while the false Momonosuke cries, "Father!!" It is a trap. The old hag Higurashi has used the Clone Clone Fruit to impersonate Oden's son, and the distraction gives Kaido the opening he needs. Kaido strikes Oden from behind with his club, crushing him into the ground. Orochi laughs, Higurashi cackles, and the fake child smirks. Oden does not lose because Kaido overwhelmed him in a clean duel; he loses because his love for his child is used against him.

The dense forest of Udon catches fire during the incredible battle and remains aflame for five days before rain finally falls. Oden and his nine subordinates are captured and incarcerated at the Flower Capital. Accused of plotting against the Shogun, they await judgment while the people, oblivious to the details, condemn them severely. Some say, "It was too late to act after disappointing us like that..." The public does not know about the false promise, the hostage threat, or the deception that ended the fight. They see only the fallen man they had already learned to mock.

The Flower Capital reacts to the capture with cruelty and confusion. Some complain, "That means we won't see him dancing naked in the street every week!" Others call it "almost a shame" and say he was "an exhibitionist." Orochi's side even mocks Shinobu: "I don't know this woman, she doesn't work for me!" Elsewhere, Shinobu is threatened: "You wanted to kill me, didn't you?" "Who sent you?! Who are you?!" "Die kunoichi!" At Kuri, Toki keeps the children calm. Momonosuke asks, "Mother, is father going to come home soon?!" and Hiyori says, "I made an origami balloon for daddy!" The news finally arrives in the capital: "The sentence of the samurais has been decided!"

The sentence is announced in full: "The 10 maleficent samurais are going to be executed in 3 days by being boiled alive in a pot!!!" Oden sits behind bars, battered but unbroken, while the names and faces of his retainers are framed as condemned men. The chapter ends not with victory, but with the method of execution itself. Oden's fight has failed, the country has misunderstood him, and the next stage of Wano's tragedy has been set.

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