It makes Oden a bit more reasonable, but it still doesn't change the facts.
At the very least he should have told someone what was going on. But nope, the man didn't tell his most trusted subordinates who would literally die for him what the plan was, he didn't even tell his wife.
And I still cannot understand his rationale. Why did he think that Orochi would stop just because he said he would. Orochi was obviously a madman and Kaido was a pirate. They were extremely untrustworthy.
Because he knew that he couldn’t tell them? The entire purpose of it, from Orochi’s side, as Shonobu said, was for him to trade his standing for the lives of the people of Wano. Shinobu has
zero relevance to Oden at the time of this chapter. She only just personally met him a few chapters ago. And yet, at the
very first moment somebody shit on him in front of her, she snapped and ran her mouth, saying that he traded his dignity for their lives. What do you think would have happened had the people around him for years, that had traveled the world with him, would have done the first time they heard him getting shit on? And what would have the people thought about him after they learned the truth? Again, it was about him losing standing. Telling people was antithetical to him saving lies.
Yes, he did. Because he is a good person, and Wano people, good or evil, had typically displayed a sense of honor in their endeavors. He dealt based on what he knew.
and if we just look at what happened, I don't see how you can say that Oden was a good leader when his actions ultimately lead to Kaido securing his hold on wano. A thing that most likely lead to far more than a couple thousand deaths.
Wano was undergoing a mass famine. Things like that are known to kill millions. Lets not forget the fact that Orochi has a literal gulag in Udon, and that thousands more were enslaved after Oden's death.
Couldn't Oden have figured out some way to save the hostages? In any case, there's a reason why its a bad idea to bargain with terrorists
His actions directly saved the lives of at least 26,000 people. His actions indirectly saved the lives of many more for a period of five years, as there was zero guarantee that he could beat Kaido, and that his underlings could beat Kaido’s forces. Kaido was probably stronger, and probably would have won regardless. The risk of losing Wano then was unacceptable, because many more lives could have been lost at an earlier period. Knowing that, and that a wrong action could make things monumentally worse, Oden tried to save as many lives as he could. He had a difficult choice, and chose wisely.
You were premature in trashing him.