“G-General Orochi—”
Fukurokuju’s eyes were filled with disbelief, but he quickly reacted, dropping heavily to his knees without hesitation.
“My Lord, I, Fukurokuju, am willing to lead the Omnyoban and five thousand subordinate ninjas to swear allegiance to General Yamato!”
With their leader kneeling, the remaining samurai and servants in the main hall immediately reacted, prostrating themselves on the ground and clamoring:
“We pledge allegiance to General Yamato!!”
“We swear to follow General Yamato to the death!!”
Kain slowly paced, finally stopping in front of the kneeling Fukurokuju, his eyes lowered, filled with amusement.
“Then, as a loyal subordinate of General Yamato, do you have any important intelligence about Orochi that you need to report to me?”
He knows General Orochi’s Berry ability?
No, that’s impossible. That’s a secret even Kaido doesn’t know!
Fukurokuju’s body stiffened. He couldn’t quite grasp Kain’s intentions for a moment, so he could only probe, “My Lord, I know the location of General Orochi’s treasure room, and I am willing to hand it over to you.”
“What a pity. Wrong answer, Fukurokuju.”
Kain looked down from above, his tone suddenly turning cold: “You are truly loyal. Orochi’s trust in you was not misplaced.”
“My Lord, I don’t understand?” Fukurokuju raised his head, his face full of innocence and bewilderment.
Kain just shook his head coldly, too lazy to press Fukurokuju for answers.
He wouldn’t get Fukurokuju’s sincere allegiance until Orochi was completely dead.
In the original work, Fukurokuju was originally a ninja of the Kozuki Family, but later betrayed them and defected to Orochi. After Orochi was decapitated by Kaido, he then defected to Kaido.
He seemed like a triple-faced traitor, but in reality, he adhered to one principle.
That is, the Omnyoban must serve the current General.
For this, he even dared to feign compliance with Kaido.
Kain no longer paid attention to the kneeling crowd, silently turning around, his gaze once again Lock-On to the “remains” in the wall cavity.
He bared his Dragon Claw, and the surging energy within him transformed into flames, condensing once more.
“Fire Blast!”
Boom!!!
A giant ‘big’ character constructed from flames, like a brand from hell, roared towards Orochi’s limp corpse.
Just as the flames were about to engulf the corpse, a miraculous scene occurred.
“Ah ah ah ah ah… It’s burning me to death!! Mercy! Have mercy!!”
Orochi, who was originally dead, suddenly Bounced up from the bottom of the pit like a live shrimp doused in boiling oil.
He rolled and wailed frantically in the raging flames, his voice so shrill it distorted: “Let me go! I don’t want the General’s position, I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it all to you!! Stop burning me!!”
At the brink of death, Orochi could no longer bother to hide, directly using his Berry ability.
His short, stout body rapidly expanded and twisted as if inflated, scales growing wildly on his skin. In an instant, a monster with an eerie grass-green body and seven dragon-like snake heads appeared.
However.
“W-why can’t I put it out?” One of the snake heads let out a desperate shriek.
Orochi discovered in horror that the flames Kain released clung to his massive Yamata no Orochi body like a maggot to bone, and no matter how he rolled back and forth, the flames still couldn’t be extinguished.
“Oww—!!!”
“Hot! So hot!!”
“Save me! Someone save me!!”
The seven snake heads let out a chorus of shrill, confused wails.
Oh? Is the burning effect triggered?
Kain stroked his chin with interest, but soon lost it.
No other reason, Orochi’s appearance was truly too pathetic.
The kind Lord Kain couldn’t bear to see him like this.
So…
“Air Blade.”
Kain casually swung his Dragon Claw, and several invisible but incredibly sharp air blades precisely sliced across the Yamata no Orochi’s heads.
Thump thump thump…
The Yamata no Orochi’s wildly flailing body suddenly stiffened, and its seven enormous snake heads rolled to the ground in unison.
“One, two, three… seven.”
Kain leisurely, as if counting spoils, used the tip of his Dragon Claw to poke each motionless snake head on the ground.
After confirming there were seven, he nodded in satisfaction: “Adding the one that was killed by Extreme Speed, that’s eight lives in total. Yes, that’s correct.”
Orochi died, without a ripple.
“Truly beyond redemption, to transform all seven heads at once just to die. However, this might be the last good deed you’ve done in your life, saving me the trouble of guarding your corpse here.”
Kain sneered, turning to look at the stunned Fukurokuju: “The old king is dead. It’s time to welcome the new king’s ascension.”
Fukurokuju snapped out of the shocking changes before him and immediately prostrated himself again: “I await your command, My Lord!”
“Hmm, your tone is much more sincere this time.”
Kain nodded in satisfaction, then took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly: “Freezing Wind!”
A biting cold wind spewed from Kain’s mouth, sweeping through the entire hall.
Wherever the cold wind passed, the flames instantly extinguished.
The hot air rapidly cooled, even condensing a thin layer of frost on the ground.
“Your Lordship’s might!”
Fukurokuju buried his head even lower, utterly submissive.
Kain remained calm and composed, as if he had only done a trivial matter. He waved his Dragon Claw: “Let’s go, follow me to the top floor. It’s time for those samurai and ninjas still fighting for Orochi to face reality.”
After all, the samurai and ninjas there were now his strength.
The group had just walked out of the main hall’s dilapidated door.
“Lord Kain!” A clear, joyous voice rang out.
Kozuki, who had been waiting in the shadows of the corner outside the hall, quickly appeared.
From the moment Kain emerged, Kozuki knew that Orochi had lost, and the shadow cast over the people of Wano Country was about to dissipate.
“Who is it?” Fukurokuju reacted extremely quickly, instantly stepping into his role, guarding in front of Kain.
Even though he knew his strength was far inferior to Kain’s.
But, that was the meaning of the Omnyoban’s existence.
“It’s alright, Kozuki is my friend.” Kain said with a smile.
Fukurokuju stepped back half a pace as instructed, but the vigilance in his eyes had not completely dissipated. He lowered his voice, dutifully reminding him: “My Lord, this woman is a courtesan recently introduced to the city to perform by Kyoshiro. And Kyoshiro is a loyal guard of Orochi.”
The implication was that Kozuki’s loyalty could not yet be guaranteed.
“No matter.” Kain waved his hand casually, turning to look at Kozuki: “I am now going to announce Orochi’s death to the people of Flower Capital. Do you want to come along?”
“It is my honor!” Kozuki barely hesitated.
Kyoshiro, in the distance, sighed incessantly at the sight.
After Kain entered the hall, he found Kozuki, who was alone. He originally wanted to take her away directly, but he didn’t know what kind of spell Kain had cast on her, as she insisted on waiting outside the hall until Kain and Orochi’s battle ended.