Chapter 970

Within the Udon region, the Nine Red Scabbards and their lord Kouzuki Oden hurl themselves at the Beasts Pirates. A vicious struggle follows, ending in the rout of Oden and every ally at his side. Bound and dragged to the Flower Capital, the whole group is handed a sentence of death.

Hoping to catch a drunken Kaidou off guard near Onigashima, the Scabbards instead meet an enemy already armed for war, warned by a spy planted in Oden Castle. Only now does Oden grasp that five years of peace rested on lies, a truth Kaidou confirms while sneering that soft feelings for civilians once weakened Roger and Whitebeard too. Oden carves through the opening wave, and Shinobu drops from the trees to fell a gunman before joining him, raising the tally to eleven blades against a thousand foes. Astonishingly, Oden slices Kaidou's neck with Oden Nitoryu: Tougen Totsuka and slams the giant down. As the finishing strike nears, a cry that seems to come from Momonosuke freezes him, and Kaidou, back in human shape, wrecks him with a mace.

The false Momonosuke proves to be Higurashi wearing another face, and the stolen instant lets Ashura Doji take a blade to the back while the rest are swallowed by numbers. So fierce is the clash that Udon's woods catch fire, blazes that endure until rain arrives five days on. Oden and his nine retainers land in a capital prison, though Shinobu walks free after he disowns any bond with her. The chapter also shows Yasuie having shielded Oden's family in his absence and traces Raizo's crescent scar to King. The verdict is set: within three days the captives will be boiled alive before a public crowd.