CH279 HE WATCHED , WE BLED
Ren met Yamato's gaze, his voice cool and cutting.
"I once heard Rayleigh speak of 'Pluton.' He said that when they returned from the sea, they already knew what had befallen Wanokuni. Oden understood, even then, that innocent people were suffering—crying out for salvation. And he felt it. Every. Single. Moment."
Ren's eyes narrowed.
"This country's people are in agony. And knowing that… can you still say you did everything you could?"
"But in chasing that so-called dream," the voice cut through the ocean breeze like a blade, " KOZUKI ODEN chose to look away. To ignore the suffering— because it didn't fit into his grand ideal."
"You're wrong!" Yamato's eyes burned with defiance. "Oden didn't ignore anything. He just knew— Roger's time was running out. His body couldn't hold out any longer!"
A spark lit within Yamato as the words escaped her lips. She stood taller, her voice rising like a crashing wave.
"Roger was dying— he only had a year left! That was long before he even reached the Grand Line. Oden wrote it himself, in his diary!"
It wasn't common knowledge. But Yamato knew. She had read the truth— lived with it burning in her chest.
"Roger's body couldn't wait?" The words were repeated, but this time they dripped with cold , merciless ice.
Ren stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "Even so— ten days. Couldn't they have waited ten more days before sailing? Are the Roger Pirates truly so helpless they couldn't afford that time?"
Ren gestured out toward the horizon.
"With JUST the strength of Roger's crew, they could've crushed the Beasts Pirates with ease— wiped out the threats hiding in Wano, secured the land, and handed it to a daimyo they could trust. Just ten days..."
Ren's voice dropped to a bitter whisper.
"Tell me then— what are the lives of Wano's people worth to Oden?"
"NO! Oden would never… he's not that kind of man."
Yamato's voice cracked. Her face turned ashen, and a cold dread slipped down her spine. Doubt began to stir where once there had only been conviction.
Yamato opened her mouth to defend him— but Ren cut through the silence before she could draw breath.
Ren's words fell like iron, hard and merciless.
"Someone who ignores the cries of his people, abandons his homeland in its darkest hour, and sails away chasing dreams— how can that be a man worthy of admiration?"
He took a step forward, voice laced with undisguised Disgust.
"When the adventure ends and he's weary of the sea, he returns— boldly claiming he wants to be a leader, to build a nation. Tell that to the ones who suffered under Orochi's rule. To those whose lives were crushed while he followed his fantasy."
Yamato trembled. Every word felt like a blow.
"I saw nothing but ruin. A country in tatters, where the people were left starving, broken, and forgotten."
Ren's voice echoed—cold, final— lodging itself deep in Yamato's chest like a splinter.
Yamato clutched her heart as the truth twisted inside her. The image she had clung to— the legend of Oden— suddenly felt fragile. Flawed.
She had built herself in his shadow. Lived to become the embodiment of what Oden stood for.
And now… it was beginning to feel like a lie.
She wasn't ready to let it go. Not yet.
But something inside her had shifted.
"No! Oden did everything he could!" Yamato's voice broke through the air, trembling with fury. "If it weren't for that Bastard father of mine and Kurozumi's vile threats— if they hadn't taken hostages— he wouldn't have been forced to kneel!"
She stood rigid, breath ragged, her eyes blazing with defiance.
Ren didn't flinch. He tilted his head, arching a brow, a smirk creeping onto his face. "So what you're saying… is that Oden tried, and failed— and that's why this land is rotting?"
Ren scoffed, voice dripping with venom.
"Was he weak? Or just a fool?"
"Because if failure is the legacy he leaves behind, then tell me— doesn't that make it his burden to carry?"
Yamato's fists clenched.
Ren stepped closer, his tone sharpening like a blade.
"You claim he was cornered— because of a conspiracy spun by your father and Orochi?" Ren shook his head. "Leadership doesn't bend under threats. It chooses. It sacrifices. That's the weight KOZUKI'S have to bear."
A heavy silence hung between them before Ren's eyes locked onto Yamato.
"You speak of immortality, of heroes who rise above war. But this isn't some bedtime story, Yamato. People die. Kingdoms falls. Dreams burns."
Ren's words hit like a hammer.
"And what of Oden?" he pressed. "A commander once, a pirate among legends— Whitebeard's own Brother, Roger's own crew member. After years at sea, after all he's seen… Oden still believed in fantasy?"
Ren's voice dropped low, almost bitter.
"ODEN should've known better."
"He truly believed them…"
Ren's voice was low, but each word landed with weight.
"With all his experience— his years at sea, his battles, his scars— he actually trusted that the Beasts Pirates would honor a promise. That they'd just leave peacefully."
Ren let the words settle before continuing, his tone sharp as shattered glass.
"He stood still, fooled and distracted, while an enemy he could have crushed nibbled away at Wano's soul. Slowly. Methodically. He watched it all— this quiet consumption— unfold before him."
A bitter laugh escaped Ren's lips.
"To think someone so seasoned could be so blind... it's absurd."
Ren turned slightly sideways, his gaze distant.
"When Oden turned away from the cries of this land… when he chose silence over defiance, how many homes burned? How many lives crumbled? You speak of what he lost— but do you count what others lost in his place. 'HE WATCHED. PEOPLE BLED'?"
Ren stepped forward again, voice now thick with restrained anger.
"Even if he feared for his family's safety… even if he believed stepping down would protect them… then why didn't he leave? Why didn't he sail away with Roger and never look back? He was the heir to Kozuki's, wasn't he? Yet when he returned— after years drifting on the waves— he couldn't even face his own father."
Ren's voice hitched for a moment, but he pushed through.
"Oden's father, Kozuki Sukiyaki… Even after betrayal, after humiliation, he still believed in Oden. But, He never saw it coming. Just like me. Just like all of us."
The words struck like daggers.
Each syllable cut deeper than the last.
Yamato could feel it— her chest tight, her breath sharp.
She clenched her fists, jaw trembling.
But Yamato had no answer.
Only Silence. Utter Silence
Yamato stared at Ren, fury boiling just beneath the surface. Her hands clenched, breath short.
Then Ren spoke, each word a dagger.
"An unworthy son. A failed husband. A disgrace of a father. A king in name only. A pirate without honor..."
Ren knew exactly what he was doing— every insult slicing through the air like shrapnel.
Yamato's gaze turned lethal. But Ren didn't flinch. He welcomed it, fed off it.
"You say Oden was gentle— he wasn't. He was cold. Steel-hearted. Selfish to the core. You call him decisive— but he hesitated, doubted. Lacked courage."
Ren stepped closer, his voice steady, unforgiving.
"When it comes down to it, ODEN was just a privileged fool with a famous name, a Talent for Swordsmanship, and no idea what to do either. Inherited status, inherited power— just for show."
Ren scoffed.
"A born loser."
There was a beat of silence.
Then—
"BASTARD—!" Yamato's roar shattered the air. Her face twisted with rage, her grip tightened around the mace.
She charged.
One clean, brutal swing.
The sound echoed— cracked, like thunder.
Ren staggered, reeling from the blow.
"I won't let you speak of Oden like that!" Yamato bellowed. "Thunder... Ba... gua!"
The impact shook the ground beneath them.
She stood tall, panting, defiant.
Because no matter what anyone said— Kozuki Oden would never be that kind of man.
"CLANG!!!" Steel screamed against steel.
In the flash of raw energy— where lightning kissed the air and tension coiled like a serpent— the blade slammed into the mace.
A shockwave rippled out. Dust flew.
Two figures stood locked in place, power surging between them.
"Kozuki Oden… Kozuki Oden…" Ren growled through clenched teeth. "The name alone makes me sick!"
Neither Backdown.
Eyes sharp. Breathe steady. Pride burning.
They weren't fighting TO WIN.
They were fighting NOT TO LOSE.
Yamato's glare was fierce— unyielding.
No mercy. No hesitation. Attack became defense, defense turned into a counter.
CRACKLE—
The very air split apart.
Red lightning tore through black. Sparks danced around them like spirits of war.
And then—
A cold shimmer— a blade like frost— ripped through the clash, slamming into Yamato hard.
She staggered.
"CLANG!!" Metal roared.
The sound was raw, primal— like the forge of a god colliding with the battlefield of Mortals.
Blow after blow, they clashed like titans, fury bleeding from every strike.
Each hit, each parry, a declaration: 'I WILL NOT FALL'.
They were no longer just two people.
They were forces.
Unstoppable. Unrelenting.
And neither would break.
They stood, locked in combat— not just in body, but in will.
Neither yielded. Neither Backdown.
"Asshole… Asshole…" Yamato's voice cracked— not just with fury, but with something deeper. A wound reopened.
Yamato gripped her mace as though it were the last anchor to her conviction and charged forward like a storm unleashed.
"CLANG?!"
Ren's blade met the assault with the swiftness of lightning, its arc sharp, deliberate.
Each strike carved through the air, cutting through not only the atmosphere but through the haze of rage that clouded the battlefield.
Without hesitation, Ren blocked Yamato's Haki-infused blows. His blade never wavered. His spirit did not flinch.
And then, as their weapons collided again, Ren looked Yamato dead in the eye.
"You praise Kozuki Oden like a saint. But I wonder— what exactly did he do to deserve such worship?"
Ren stepped forward, blade pressing against the force of Yamato's fury.
"You say ODEN died with honor. You say he was a hero."
Ren's voice dropped, sharp as steel.
"But from where I stand, he was born with every advantage. The son of a general, heir to a throne. A man who carried a GOLDEN SPOON from the day he drew breath."
Ren's words cut deeper than ACE.
"What did Oden do for this land? What did he change for its people? What pain did he bear for them, whom did he save?"
Yamato's eyes widened— not from the blows, but... from the doubt that threatened to creep in.
Ren continued, "The Kuri you talk about, that land of hope and peace... It wasn't him. It wasn't Oden who reclaimed that lawless hell."
Silence fell— charged, crackling with tension.
"And yet you defend him, die for his name, as if his ghost can answer the questions the livings still ask."
Yamato's gaze flared like wildfire, fury twisting her expression as she gritted her teeth and spat out, "The land hs rotten not by fate— but by the poison of my Bastard Father's hands."
Her voice trembled with pain masked as rage.
"The people of Wano… they held up the Kozuki name with bleeding hands, tightened their belts while nobles feasted in silence. They gave everything— so the Kozuki could sit high on their thrones, warm in silk, fat on rice, untouched by hunger or fear…"
Ren did not flinch. Cold as a winter blade, he replied,
"And for what? Years of privilege— un-earned, un-questioned.
They reigned in towers of pride, but forgot the land that birthed them."
Ren stepped forward, his words like thunderclouds.
"They were guardians, not gods. It was their duty to shield the people, to give them more than crumbs in return. But now— look. Even the living walk like ghosts, hollowed by sorrow. Tell me, is that not worse than death itself?"
The silence crackled between them.
"People placed their Trusts in Kozuki Oden's hands," Ren continued, his voice growing sharp with contempt, "but what did he return to them? Hope? Or ruin?"
"I'm no hero. I make no grand claims. I lack skill, I lack vision— but at least, I... don't dress my shame in righteousness and CALL IT LEGACY."
Ren turned, his voice rising like a storm.
"ODEN DIED, yes. But not alone. He dragged his family, his allies, his kingdom— into the pit alongside him. Men of honor followed him, and were buried with his mistakes. The daimyos, the loyal— consumed by his failure."
"And now you kneel to that memory as if it were gold, blind to the rust beneath. You praise a ghost that shattered his own altar."
Ren scoffed, low and bitter.
"To worship a man who doomed his nation—
You must've had your brain kicked by a donkey."