Yasuie Shimotsuki, Daimyo of Hakumai

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The story turns back to the past, when Hakumai alone among Wano's regions had a true harbor, where good and bad ships alike arrived. Yasuie taught that this made Hakumai the gateway of the country and that its samurai had to be an iron force of righteousness. His men roared with pride at the sight of Wano's fearless samurai. Yet Yasuie also understood the burden placed on Oden: the whole country spoke of the passing of Sukiyaki Kozuki, but if Oden lost himself in admiration and self-pity, Yasuie would rise as shogun instead. Oden, driven out of the castle and singing that his blood meant nothing now, was still reminded that he remained the son of the shogun.

Yasuie beat sense into Oden with the blunt affection of a lord who expected more from him. He called him an imbecile and told him that the future of the Kozuki clan would one day rest on his shoulders. When Oden protested that he wanted to sail the seas and that isolationism was terribly stifling, Yasuie silenced him until he proved himself a warrior. Lord Sukiyaki's disownment, Yasuie said, was strictness born of love. He demanded that Oden show his true worth. From the crowd below the execution platform in the present, people cry out that they were born in Hakumai and are glad Lord Yasuie is still safe.

The present reveals how far Yasuie has fallen in appearance and status. People ask if the bound man is truly the former daimyo of Hakumai, Yasuie Shimotsuki himself, now living as a jester in Ebisu Town. The authorities announce that the man committed robbery in the town just last night, has terrorized the capital as Midnight Boy, and is sentenced to execution as a sacrifice to die alongside the courtesan Komurasaki. Some in the crowd think it must be a lie; they expected him to die anyway, but he says he might as well claim a little fame on the way out.

Drake reports that the townspeople of Ebisu have made their way into the Flower Capital. The officials realize Yasuie is far more important than they imagined. At the entrance to the capital, the people of Ebisu beg to see him, crying, "Let us see Tonoyasu!" and "Yasu! You can't die on us!" Guards try to turn them back and call them paupers, but the townspeople shout that if Yasu goes, no one will support them. Their loyalty makes clear that the penniless people do not see him as a thief; they see him as the man who kept them alive.

Yasuie laughs that the illustrious shogun is an utter fool. Orochi's decision to broadcast the execution may cause riots, but Yasuie turns the broadcast into a stage. The guards warn him to watch out, and the people bristle at his words, but he tells everyone to look around at the beauty of the Flower Capital and the splendor of Wano. Standing before the gathered city, he begins to speak not as a condemned thief but as a former daimyo addressing the country.

Yasuie says the vistas and citizens of Wano are its pride, protected for generations by the Kozuki family. Orochi, riding toward Rasetsu Town, hears the words and snarls, "Orochi Kurozumi... that bastard." His men hurry him along, warning that Yasuie has started blathering. Yasuie then turns the accusation directly on Orochi: "Do you hear me, Orochi?! These vast forests! The prairies! The rivers and the villages! All you have done is sully them with the dirt of your greed!"

The crowd is stunned by Yasuie's insult. Some call him a pest, others plead with him to stop and curse him for saying too much. Yasuie refuses to back down. He brings up the picture puzzle card that has caused so much commotion and says he must apologize to everyone for it. The Kozuki name has been dead for twenty years, he claims, with no forces left to carry out revenge, and therefore the supposed secret signal was nothing more than his doing. He declares, "I made this!" while thinking of the disgrace the Kozuki loyalists have suffered.

Yasuie calls the whole affair a prank. Twenty years after Oden died, Orochi had asked the four remaining daimyo whether they would serve the Kurozumi name or fight. To the crowd's shock, Yasuie describes himself as the man who was indebted beyond measure to Oden. Shutenmaru and others understand what he is doing and call him utterly laughable, not because he is foolish, but because he is taking the blame onto himself. By claiming the moon tattoo and riddle were a cowardly plot thrown together by a jester, he turns Orochi's arrests into an overreaction.

Yasuie explains that before the monster Kaido appeared, revenge was impossible because Wano burned. The daimyo and people of every town and hamlet took up arms without hesitation, but against Kaido they were crushed. Against his own will, Yasuie lived through it all and hid away in Ebisu Town. He says he plotted a childish little plan and asks forgiveness, but his real move is clear: Orochi's cowardice was greater than even he imagined, because Orochi panicked and threw everyone with that moon tattoo into prison, creating a scandal from nothing more than a passing trend.

Orochi reaches Rasetsu Town in a rage, shouting that he will perforate Yasuie's insides. Yasuie sees him and greets him calmly: "There you are, Orochi. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Orochi asks for last words, and Yasuie composes his curse. His final insult is precise: "A man of small measure will never be more than the Oden he cannot stomach!" Then he laughs and says that is about it, leaving Orochi humiliated before the entire country.

Across Wano, the hidden allies understand Yasuie's sacrifice. He thinks of Kin'emon, Momonosuke, and the Nine Red Scabbards, hoping his act will be enough. By claiming responsibility for the altered rendezvous point and calling the card his own prank, he gives their captured comrades in Rasetsu a new cover. He knows Orochi's soldiers will not listen to complaints now, but this is as much as he can do with what little life remains. For twenty years, Kaido's head has gone unclaimed, and Yasuie's final work is to clear the rebellion's path before he dies.

Yasuie turns his speech into a last command: cover the eyes of the children, because the last daimyo of the Kozuki shoguns, a foolish jester of Ebisu Town, will now head into that good night singing. He urges the rebels to go to Onigashima and avenge their dear shogun. He asks whether they await the good news on the other side, while O-Toko runs through the crowd calling, "Daddy!" and others cry "Yasuieeee!" Even at the edge of death, Yasuie keeps smiling.

The guns fire. Yasuie is riddled with bullets on the execution post, apologizing to O-Toko and asking her to forgive her father for leaving her behind. The crowd erupts: "Tonoyasuuu!!" "Yasu!" "Lord Yasuie!" O-Toko reaches the scene and screams, "Daddy! No!" while Yasuie's body falls silent. The people of Ebisu are ordered driven from the capital, and the grief of Wano gathers around the fallen daimyo.

Then the horror deepens: the people laugh. O-Toko sobs, "Dad's... he's dead!" but her face is stretched into laughter, and the crowd answers with broken, uncontrollable smiles. Zoro is enraged, asking what the hell is funny when a man has just died, while the citizens cry and laugh at the same time. Hiyori reveals the truth: all their expressions except smiles have been stolen. The smiling people of Ebisu cannot show sadness, pain, or grief on their faces. They can only smile, and it is all the fault of Kaido and Orochi's SMILE fruits.

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