"Hurry, hurry!"
With Naruto riding atop the giant Komainu's head, Yamato kept patting its back urgently.
"If we miss Kouzuki Oden's execution, I'll boil you!"
The Komainu, tears welling in its eyes, immediately ran even faster.
"Yamato," Naruto asked, clinging tightly as the wind rushed past him, "why do you insist on watching someone else's execution? I don't get it."
"Because that's Kouzuki Oden!"
Yamato said excitedly, eyes shining.
"He's the great hero of Wano Country! He even left a scar on Kaido! I've always wanted to meet him!"
"Hero…?"
Naruto became even more confused.
"If he's such a great hero, then why is he being executed? And if the person you want to meet is about to die, why do you look so excited?"
"Uh…"
Yamato froze for a moment after hearing Naruto's question, then stared ahead blankly.
"Yeah… the person I want to meet is being executed. Why am I excited?"
After thinking for a bit, Yamato suddenly nodded seriously.
"Because I really want to see him! That's why I'm excited!"
"…Alright."
Naruto was speechless. He felt that this girl was even less logical than he was.
"That's not the point," Naruto waved his hand. "The point is—why is a great hero being executed?"
"Because he's Kozuki Oden!"
Yamato became excited again, waving her arms wildly.
"To save the people of Wano Country, he bravely fought Kaido—and now he's being executed!"
"So… bravely means he lost?" Naruto asked honestly. Then he tilted his head. "And who is Kaido? Is he the big bad guy? Like a villain?"
"That's right! Kaido is a big bad villain!"
At the mention of Kaido, Yamato's expression instantly turned fierce.
"That bastard even tried to stop me from watching Kouzuki Oden's execution! Absolutely unforgivable!"
"Tried to stop you?"
Naruto caught onto something immediately.
"Why would the villain stop you? Usually, only parents stop kids from doing things, right?"
"Hm… because that bastard Kaido is my father."
Yamato nodded, then clenched her fists with a pained expression.
"Damn it. Why do I have a father like that?!"
It was obvious that Yamato was extremely dissatisfied with his father.
"Wow… so you're the big bad guy's daughter?"
Naruto stared at Yamato in shock.
"I don't get to choose something like that!"
Yamato glared fiercely at Naruto, then corrected him loudly.
"And I'm a son, not a daughter!"
"Huh?!"
Naruto was even more shocked.
"Y-you're actually a boy?!"
Such a pretty person… was actually a boy?!
"Is… is that right?"
Yamato scratched his head uncertainly.
"That bastard Kaido always says I'm his son, but sometimes I hear people say I'm a girl too."
"This…"
Naruto looked completely confused.
"So… are you a boy or a girl?"
"Of course I'm a boy!"
Yamato answered without hesitation this time.
"I'm going to become a man in the future!"
"…That's not really something you can just decide, is it?"
Naruto stared at Yamato with a complicated expression, still struggling to believe it.
Just as Naruto was about to try one last way to confirm Yamato's gender—
"We're here!"
Yamato suddenly shouted excitedly.
"We've reached the Flower Capital!"
Naruto followed Yamato's gaze and saw a city built upon massive, curved trees in the distance.
"Let's go!"
Before Naruto could take a proper look, Yamato grabbed him. The two leapt off the Komainu's back and sprinted toward the city.
They soon arrived at the execution grounds.
The area around the execution platform was already packed with people, all of them talking animatedly.
"Everyone here is so tall…"
Naruto couldn't help but marvel as Yamato dragged him through the crowd toward the front.
With Yamato's incredible strength, she easily pulled Naruto all the way to the edge of the execution stand.
Listening to the conversations around him, Naruto learned that not only Kouzuki Oden, but ten people in total were to be executed. The other nine were his retainers.
And this was no ordinary execution.
It was the Boiling Punishment—the condemned would be thrown into a massive pot of boiling oil.
A gigantic oil pot stood on the execution platform, the oil inside churning violently. Even from dozens of meters away, Naruto could feel the scorching heat.
What confused him even more was that many people were calling the hero Yamato admired by a strange name—Foolish Lord.
"Look! Kouzuki Oden is coming out!"
Just as Naruto's questions piled up, Yamato suddenly grabbed him and pointed excitedly.
Naruto looked up and saw a bare-chested man with shackles on his wrists being escorted onto the execution stand.
"That's Kouzuki Oden?"
The man was incredibly tall—almost like a giant.
He stared calmly at the boiling oil pot, showing no fear at all. Then he looked toward someone Naruto couldn't see and spoke loudly:
"I want a chance. I must survive!"
His words were met with mockery. One of the escorts sneered—
Only to suddenly slip and fall straight into the boiling oil.
In an instant, he was cooked.
Naruto froze in shock, just like everyone else.
Then Kouzuki Oden spoke again.
"All ten of us will enter the pot. You set the time. If even one of us survives, release us."
The crowd erupted in laughter and ridicule.
Then a thunderous voice echoed across the execution grounds.
"Gurararara! I'll give you one hour. Let's see you last."
"Don't go back on your word, Kaido!"
"Of course!"
Hearing the reply, Kouzuki Oden turned and walked toward the oil pot without hesitation. He jumped in—
"Waaahhh!~"
A series of agonized screams rang out.
At that moment, Naruto saw a group of strange-looking beings—cats, dogs, pufferfish, and more—rush forward, shouting loudly:
"Don't let our lord be alone!"
"Let's meet again in another world!"
Then Kouzuki Oden, standing inside the boiling oil, lifted all of them—along with the platform itself—high above his head.
The retainers burst into tears, yet none of them moved from their place.
Watching this, Naruto felt his chest tighten with unease.