Chapter 962

Oden’s room is discovered to be a mess after his departure, though Yasuie declines seeking any compensation for the repairs. When it is also revealed that Yasuie’s money has been stolen, Orochi steps forward and claims to have witnessed Oden take it. While the Daimyo’s staff quickly believe the young servant, Yasuie himself is suspicious, knowing that Oden would have made more of a spectacle of the matter. Kin’emon and Denjiro leave Hakumai with Oden, causing him to question the two on just how far they will follow him. He shows visible discomfort when they swear to follow him as far as he’ll go, but he nonetheless allows the young men to keep traveling with him.

One night during a storm, the two stand guard for Oden outside of a building as they now feel they are his servants. He beckons them inside, berating them for suffering through such conditions on his behalf. They question Oden on just what he’s doing, who reveals that he’s been inspired to start a journal from what he’s heard of voyagers at sea. Oden then proceeds to log several of his adventures across the country. In Ringo, they encounter two brothers, Izou and Kikunojo, who are poor and dancing to make money.

They are the sons of a dancing instructor, but their family had recently been split due to the father being jailed for a crime. The brothers sobbed as they ate some of Oden’s food. In Kibi, they discovered a man who had been persecuted for cutting off the hair of people both dead and live. Known as the “Goblin of Kibi”, it is revealed that Kanjuro had been using the hair to make brushes, which he sold for a living. He attempted to do the same with Oden, and after getting beat up, began following the swordsman.

In the forests of Udon, rumors had spread of an infamous bandit that kidnapped women and beat men half to death. It however turned out to be the ninja Raizo, who had quit the Kouzuki Clan’s Oniwabanshu after a female ninja had turned him down. Raizo had been tracking Oden’s group as they moved through the region, and revealed that he had been following Oden because he felt he was at his wit’s end living in the shadows. Elsewhere in the lawless land of Kuri, Ashura Doji hears of Oden’s arrival and orders him to be captured. Ashura reveals that he despises the high and mighty, and wants to kill Oden as he has the Shogun’s bloodline.

Oden and his group (which now includes Kin’emon, Denjiro, Kanjuro, Izou, Kiku, and Raizo) sit around a fire and eat together. Kin’emon wonders where Oden has gone off to, and Raizo says that he went south to relieve himself. When someone notes that it has been a day since this occurred, Raizo brushes it off as another of Oden’s whims. However when Denjiro interjects that Kuri is to the south of their current location, the group quickly realizes Oden’s true motive. They frantically rush off to Kuri, and discover that the gate has been busted upon their arrival.

Having already entered the depths of Kuri, Oden finds himself face-to-face with a mob of combatants. The outlaws all recognize Oden, who demands they tell their boss that a samurai has arrived. Deeply bothered by Kuri’s culture of not allowing those who enter to leave, Oden battles with the outlaws as his followers desperately try to catch up to him. They eventually see a cloud of dust by the mountain and pinpoint the samurai, who is surprised that they have managed to follow him all the way here. Sitting atop a defeated Ashura Doji, Oden apologizes that he’s already finished up after fighting for a day.

As they stare dumbfounded at his feat of strength, he asks his followers if they still loved him, since he will need their wisdom and strength in ruling over the hooligans of Kuri. The news that Oden had turned the lawless region of Kuri into a hospitable place spread across Wano quickly. The feat was such that Kouzuki Sukiyaki retracted his disownment of Oden, and named him the Daimyo of Kuri. Citizens across the country and Oden’s followers rejoiced alike. Never having experienced the joys of peace, Ashura Doji thanks Oden, but this creeps him out. Oden realizes that as a Daimyo he will be assigned vassals, but he doesn’t want be given old, haughty nobles. Oden asks his followers to become his samurai, who express their gratification at the offer in tears. Six years later, and thirty three years before the present day, it is revealed the remnants of the Rocks Pirates began recruiting members for their respective crews. On Kuri Beach, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi are stranded ashore. They are discovered by a young Kawamatsu, who is unsure just what the creatures are.