The Mountain God Incident

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The Flower Capital is thrown into terror as the giant mountain god rampages through the streets. People cry out, "What will Oden do about the giant mountain god?!" and wonder where Kozuki Oden is, calling him "the one and only" and the only adult good-for-nothing man they actually respect. Kinemon, clutching the small white boar, snaps, "Oh, be quiet!!" but the scale of the disaster starts to sink in: "Could the capital really get destroyed... Over this little thing...!?" He turns on the men who had taken the boar, shouting, "That is why... I told you to give it to me!!" They protest that the boar is worth a piece of white gold, while Kinemon thinks of finally paying his debts.

The people piece together why the mountain god has descended. Someone says, "The mountain god would only come down the mountain..." and another finishes, "...if its child was kidnapped!!" The panic sharpens: "So somebody brought its child here?!" The old belief about white boars is no longer superstition; they are heralds of the gods. The capital must return the small white boar before the mountain god's anger destroys everything. The order spreads through the streets: "Keep an eye out for a small white boar!!" But the huge boar is already bearing down on the city, snorting, "OINK OINK!!"

The mountain god devours the Flower Capital whole. Houses, people, and streets vanish into its jaws as someone screams, "It is eating humans and houses whole!!" A father cries, "Someone please help!! The boar ate my daughter...!!!" and from inside comes the daughter's voice: "Faaather!!!" All around the city, people flee under collapsing buildings and broken roofs, shouting, "Gyaaaaah!!!" "Please help me!!!" "This is a nightmareeee!!!" and "Save meeeee!!!" The incident has become a living disaster.

The men finally catch up to Kinemon. One gasps, "Huff... huff... There you are!! I finally found you!!" and another points at him: "Hey... you are the boarnapper!!" "You stole it from us!!" They tell him there is no time left: "Anyway, you must take it back to the mountain immediately!! The mountain god is heading straight for us!!" It is following the little boar's scent. The men's comrades have already been eaten because that scent was on them, and then they reveal the blow that freezes Kinemon: "Your friend O-Tsuru got caught up in this mess, too!!" They had taken her hostage while trying to get the white boar back, but on the way down the mountain, everyone was eaten. They accuse Kinemon, "This is all your fault!!"

The mountain god follows the scent straight toward Kinemon. The men warn, "That monster will come..." "Straight here..." "Because of the scent." Then the huge boar appears: "Here it comes!!!!" Its snout searches the air, "Sniff sniff," and its glare fixes on him. As death closes in, Kinemon remembers the judgments and concern around him: "He stole again? How awful!!" "I will pay you back!!" "Get a real job, Kinemon! If you stay in the yakuza..." Someone tells him, "You will probably end up dead!!" and Kinemon's answer is bitter and reckless: "Fine by me!! Nobody would care if I died anyway!!"

Kinemon's despair turns into fury for O-Tsuru. A stone strikes the mountain god, and the boar reacts. One man yelps, "Ouch!! Why did you throw a rock at me?!" But Kinemon is no longer thinking about survival. He charges directly at the monster, screaming, "Give me back O-Tsuruuuu!!!" He slashes at the gigantic snout, trying to cut his way to her while the beast towers over the street and the crowd recoils from the reckless attack.

Kinemon is knocked away but keeps trying to fight the mountain god. He shouts, "What kind of god are you?!" and then, "I will get O-Tsuru back!!" He swears, "I will slice open your stomach, you beast!!" The people beg him to stop because harming the mountain god could doom the whole country: "Stop it, boy!! If you hurt the mountain god... Wano could be destroyed!!" Yet even in that fear, someone recognizes his resolve: "That boy has guts..." Others shout, "Stop it, Kinemon!!" while the boar continues its destruction, roaring, "OINK!!"

The boar crashes through the city again, and Kinemon is thrown aside. In the wreckage, the thought of losing O-Tsuru breaks him: "If O-Tsuru dies..." "Because of me..." "Then I have no right to continue living!!" At that moment Kozuki Oden steps forward with the small white boar held out before the mountain god. He calls to the beast, "Hey, boar!! Is this what you have been looking for!?" The crisis shifts toward him, and the crowd begins to understand that Oden has placed himself directly between the monster and the capital.

Oden faces the mountain god without flinching while the little white boar cries, "Squeal squeal!" and the giant answers, "OINK OINK." The ruined citizens curse him: "Kozuki Oden... That cursed child!!" "He is behind another disaster!!" Oden accepts the blame in front of everyone: "I was craving some roasted boar..." The victims beg, "Give me back my daughter!!" and "Give me back my mother!!" Another cries, "How could you do something so cruel?!" Oden answers, "I am responsible for this!!" while someone protests, "No..." With the mountain god's attention fixed on him, Oden draws both swords and declares, "Oden Two-Sword Style..."

The crowd watches in stunned silence as Oden meets the charging mountain god head-on. Someone can only whisper, "Impressive..." while another says, "We should head back." Oden's two swords carve through the enormous boar in a single overwhelming attack: "Tougen... Shira-taki!!!" The technique, translated as "Paradise Waterfall," splits the disaster open and ends the rampage in front of the ruined capital.

The aftermath reveals the scale of the miracle. "The capital may have survived, but nearly a quarter of the city was lost." It is said that an entire village worth of people was eaten by the boar, but "Miraculously, there were no human fatalities." People argue over Oden's role: "It was his fault in the first place!! He is a criminal!!" Yet others cannot deny what they saw: "What Oden did was so cool..." "We should probably thank him, but..." "He was so cool... I almost cried out in awe!!" O-Tsuru runs to Kinemon, crying, "Kin-chan, waaaah!!" Kinemon, holding her after she survives, tries to confess the truth: "Everyone listen!! I have a confession to make!!!" But Oden cuts off the point of it by walking away, saying, "That would be pointless!!"

Kinemon tries to speak, saying, "I apologize for the timing of this, but..." but Oden is already laughing at the result of the incident. He says, "Wahaha!! I see, so I have been disowned..." and adds, "Not only that, but I have also been exiled from the capital!!" The shogun's court cannot handle him anymore, and the entire Flower Capital has admitted as much. Oden mocks the decision: "How pathetic, Lord Shogun!! It looks like you..." Then he embraces it completely: "This is exactly what I wanted!!" He announces, "Time to head to the other side of the river!! I will be sleeping there by sunset!!" and casually adds, "Ah... I need to eat something..." The narration marks the moment: "By age 18, Oden had caused the Mountain God Incident."

After Oden leaves, O-Tsuru notices Kinemon crying and asks, "Are you crying, Kin-chan?" He insists, "Of course not!!" but sobs, "O-Tsuru... That man..." and declares, "I would happily die for someone like him!!" Denjiro feels the same fire, shouting, "I feel the same way!!" and "He inspired me first!!" He runs after Oden, crying, "The emotional weight is different!! I will be his first follower!!" while Kinemon yells, "Hey, wait up, Denjiro!!" The narration explains that at that moment, the men suppressed their desire to follow Oden, and that the balance of the capital tilted in more ways than one. Oden himself admits, "I envy their free spirits...!! I want to go with them, too!!" The scene then moves to Wano's Hakumai region, where attendants welcome him: "Welcome, welcome, Lord Oden!! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!! Lord Yasuie has been looking forward to your arrival!!" Oden snaps back, "Stop lying!! No way he would be happy to see me!!"

In Hakumai, Oden meets the daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuie. Yasuie greets him roughly rather than warmly: "You are correct!! I would not... Get excited over an exiled fool from the capital!!" He asks, "What do you want, Oden?!" and notices, "And you even brought some henchmen with you?" A servant throws himself across a puddle and calls, "All right, please step over me to cross the puddle!!" Another panics, "Ah!! Please hold on, there is a puddle!!" Oden points at the strange servant and asks, "Hey, Uncle!! What is with this creepy weirdo?!" Yasuie tells him, "Do not be so rude!! ...He is my newest servant." The man introduces himself with a strained smile: "My name is Orochi, I am but a humble servant." He adds, "Heh heh!! I was taken in by Lord Yasuie." The chapter ends by naming him Kurozumi Orochi and calling it "a fateful meeting."

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