The Shogun's trembling hand clutched the armrest of his throne as the women approached. His eyes darted around the room, searching for escape, but he already knew there was nowhere left to run. His lips quivered, twisted, then curled into a wide, manic grin.
"Y-you think cornering me is enough to win?" Orochi hissed, voice cracking. "I am the ruler of Wano! No one... no one can topple me!"
Then, with a grotesque surge, his body began to swell. His neck stretched like taffy, and a wet, tearing sound echoed as flesh split apart.
Eight colossal serpents reared above the throne, each with fangs glistening, eyes glowing red with madness. The once-pitiful Shogun now loomed like a nightmare beast, yet the laughter spilling from his many throats carried the same cowardice and insecurity as his human form.
The central head lashed forward, bellowing with Orochi's trembling arrogance.
"Do you see now? This is the true might of the Shogun! Tremble before me!"
Another head snapped its jaws and spat venom onto the floor, where it sizzled through the wood.
"I'll bite off their arms first! Hahaha! Let's see how they swing their swords when they're nothing but stumps!"
A third head leaned low, its forked tongue darting toward Kuina, eyes wide and bloodshot. "That one… the swordswoman. She looks too calm! Cut her down first! She's dangerous, she's plotting something, I can see it in her eyes!"
A fourth head broke into high-pitched laughter, almost hysterical, as it whipped around to face Doll. "Pretty face, isn't it? I'll peel it off slowly! Yes, Orochi-sama will be the fairest in Wano!"
Another head, trembling with paranoia, jerked its gaze toward the shattered doors.
"It's a trap! They're distracting us while the others sneak in! The rebels are everywhere, I can hear them! Kill them quickly! Kill them before they kill us!"
A sixth head reared back, puffing itself up with hollow bravado. "You insects dare defy me? My scales are impenetrable!"
A seventh head hissed with a more pathetic tone, shrill and pleading.
"Stay away from me! Don't come closer! I'll crush you all if you so much as take another step! I'll… I'll devour your families too! No one defies me and lives!"
The last head twisted low, its eyes narrowing with venomous spite as it fixed on Gion.
"You… the one with the smug smile. I'll make you scream first. I'll rip your tongue out so you can't laugh at me, then make you watch as I kill the others."
The throne room reverberated with their overlapping voices, a chaotic chorus of rage, paranoia, and cruelty.
Each head embodied Orochi's fractured psyche: arrogance, cowardice, pettiness, and madness.
But the three women did not flinch.
Gion tilted her head, lips curling into a knowing smirk. Her sword gleamed as she raised it. "So this is the great Shogun? Eight heads, eight mouths, and not a single word worth listening to. You're nothing but a coward with a loud voice."
Doll's expression was colder, sharper. Her eyes trailed over the serpentine form with clinical detachment. "A Mythical Zoan in the hands of this garbage… what a waste. Power like this deserves someone with ambition, not a coward clinging to Kaido's shadow."
Kuina slid her blade free of its sheath with a sharp shing, her stance lowering. Her eyes burned with focus, but a small, mocking grin tugged at her lips. "Luffy was right. He predicted you'd be a Devil Fruit user. But no matter how many heads you sprout, you're still the same pathetic worm."
The central head roared in fury, fangs snapping shut inches from Kuina as spittle flew.
"You dare call me pathetic? I am the Shogun of Wano! I can slaughter your families with a word!"
Another head screeched, eyes darting wildly. "Don't listen to them! Kill them! Kill them now before they cut us down!"
The eight heads lunged forward at once, their massive jaws crashing down like thunder. The air filled with the stench of venom, the hiss of scales grinding across the floor, and Orochi's manic laughter.
But the women stood unshaken.
Gion's sword carved the air, sparks igniting as steel met scale.
Doll stepped aside with flawless precision, her blade slashing upward in a brutal arc.
Kuina's strike was sharper, faster, her killing intent blazing in her eyes as she met the first head head-on.
The room shook with the clash as steel rang against fangs.
The beast's laughter turned to snarls of frustration as each head was parried, slashed, and forced back by the trio's unrelenting blades.
...
The throne room was a storm of chaos a moment ago, but in the end, it took barely any effort for the three women to overwhelm him.
Slash!Crack!
One head went tumoring, a shriek echoing as its voice was silenced.
Shing!
Another neck severed clean, spraying sparks of energy as Kuina's blade cut through.
Bam!
A third head collapsed against the wall, its jaw shattering under Doll's merciless swing.
The monstrous eight-headed beast quickly dwindled. Seven heads were carved down in swift, precise strikes, the air filled with Orochi's screams of pain and outrage.
Now only one head remained, its eyes bulging with terror, venom dripping from its fangs.
The surviving head thrashed wildly, its voice breaking into a desperate shriek.
"W-wait! STOP! Don't kill me! You can't kill me... I'm the Shogun of Wano!"
But the three women didn't even flinch.
Orochi's panic escalated, his tone switching from arrogance to pitiful begging. "F-Fukurokuju! Oniwabanshu! Where are you, you useless worms?! Get in here and protect your master!"
His voice cracked, echoing in the bloodstained hall, but only the silence answered him.
The beads of sweat poured down the snake's brow. His fangs clattered as he stammered louder, desperation spilling into threats.
"Kaido! Yes, Kaido will avenge me! You don't know what you're doing… If you kill me, Kaido will tear this land apart! He'll kill you all, he'll... he'll burn Wano to ash!"
But the women's eyes were like steel, unblinking, and unmoved.
Orochi's pupils shrank. He saw no fear in them. His words weren't reaching them. So, in the wild desperation of a cornered rat, he spat out the one truth he should have never dared to reveal.
"The World Government! Y-yes! They're buyers! They buy the weapons we make in Wano! If you kill me, you'll be killing their partner too! You'll be branded traitors!"
Gion's smirk vanished instantly. Her grip on her sword tightened, her sharp eyes narrowing like blades themselves.
"What… did you just say?" Her voice was low, cold, and dangerous.
Doll's jaw clenched, her usual playful charm gone. She stepped forward, her gaze icy. "So it's true. Those weapons flooding the black markets… The World Government itself is buying from scum like you."
Orochi's surviving head twisted frantically, eyes darting between them as he realized too late what he had admitted. "I—I didn't mean it like that! You don't understand! It was business! Just business! I had no choice!"
Kuina said nothing. She stepped forward with silent grace, her blade still dripping with serpent's blood. Without a word, she snapped a pair of seastone cuffs around Orochi's thick, scaly neck.
Clank!Clink!
The sound rang like a death knell.
Orochi's thrashing instantly weakened, his remaining head sagging as the Devil Fruit's power drained from him.
"NO! NOOO! Not the cuffs! Don't do this to me... I'm Kurozumi Orochi! I'm the Shogun! You can't—" His voice broke into pitiful sobs, tears streaking down his scaled face.
But the women didn't spare him an ounce of pity.
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
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