Translator: PapaSmurf0700
Eighteen years before the present day, in the Land of Wano.
The magnificent estate of Kozuki Oden, situated within Kuri Castle, was engulfed in a raging inferno. From the deeply scorched timbers, it was clear the fire had been burning for some time. Not far from the mansion, a lone warrior fled desperately into the night, a small child clutched tightly in his arms.
The boy was dressed in the traditional attire of a samurai's son: a pink kimono, simple wooden clogs, and a red scarf tied neatly around his neck. Curiously, the top of his head was shaved in the chonmage style, with a small topknot at the back. This child was Kozuki Momonosuke.
"Lord Momonosuke, please, do not despair," the warrior said, feeling the boy's quiet sobs against his chest. "Though I do not understand why Lady Toki changed her mind, I swear I will protect you! Even if it costs me my life, I will see you to safety!"
This samurai was not one of Oden's famed Nine Red Scabbards, but he was a loyal retainer nonetheless. His only thought was to fulfill his final duty. Yet, despite his brave words, a grim reality weighed on him. He could handle one or two pursuers, but if they were surrounded by a large force, he knew he might fail even if he sacrificed himself. In his arms was Oden's heir, the boy who could one day reclaim his title as daimyo. The latter was the more likely and far more dangerous possibility.
At this thought, the samurai held Momonosuke even tighter and pushed his speed to its absolute limit.
"Mother…" Momonosuke whispered, clinging to the warrior's clothes. His eyes were fixed on the burning mansion, which grew smaller and smaller with every passing second. The thick, black smoke and towering flames brought back the terrifying moments from just before.
"Lord Momonosuke! Lady Hiyori! Lady Toki!"
As Momonosuke and his sister Hiyori huddled in their mother's arms, surrounded by fire, the Nine Red Scabbards had finally reached them. It was then that Kozuki Toki revealed her secret. She was a time traveler, born more than 800 years in the past, a user of the Paramecia-type Time-Time Fruit. For reasons she did not explain, she had to reach the Wano of the future, and so she had traveled through the ages until she was rescued by Oden, where she finally found a home.
She told them this because she intended to send them forward in time. Before his final battle, Oden had left her a letter. Its message was simple: if he failed to defeat Kaido, then in eighteen years, someone would appear who could. Someone who would liberate Wano and open its borders to the world.
The Scabbards, hearing this, swore to protect Momonosuke and travel with him to the future. But just as Lady Toki activated her power, her face contorted in shock, and she pulled Momonosuke back.
"I saw a light," she had said, her eyes wide with a terrifying vision. "A blinding, golden light. If I send you there, you will…"
She never finished the sentence. But Momonosuke, young as he was, saw the truth in her eyes. I will die. Or perhaps, an ending even worse than death.
It was for this reason that Lady Toki had abruptly changed her plan. She sent only a few of the Scabbards, including Kin'emon, eighteen years into the future. Then, she commanded her other retainers to take Momonosuke and Hiyori and flee in separate directions. This sudden change was why Momonosuke's escort was not a Scabbard, unlike the warrior tasked with protecting Hiyori.
Before he was taken away, his mother held him one last time, fighting back her own tears. "No matter what happens, do not be afraid," she had whispered. "On any road you walk, you will never be alone."
As for Lady Toki herself, her decision had been made the moment Oden died. The gentle woman rode her horse into the town of Hakumai, and facing the burning castle, she proclaimed a prophecy to the people of Wano: "Like the moon, you are ignorant of the dawn. If there is one hope, it is this: In twenty years, on a moonlit night, nine shadows will be cast, and you shall know the brilliance of the dawn."
She was then cut down by the surrounding members of the Beasts Pirates.
Back in the present moment of the past, Momonosuke and his protector were about to escape the Kuri region when a monstrous enemy blocked their path.
"Guhehehe! And where do you think you're going?!"
Standing before them was a man with a burly frame and an unusually large head and mouth. He appeared bald, save for a purple topknot on the left side of his head. This was none other than Kurozumi Orochi, the man who had conspired with Kaido of the Hundred Beasts to seize control of Wano. He was also a user of the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata-no-Orochi.
He looked at the trembling Momonosuke and let out a vile laugh. "Guhahaha! That oaf Kaido may not bother with children, but I have no such reservations."
Orochi waved a hand, and his soldiers began to close their circle, approaching the two step by agonizing step. "It's truly irritating. Even after all this, there are still fools completely devoted to that bastard Oden."
A sinister smile twisted Orochi's face. "If I let a little devil like you live, how could I ever sleep soundly? Get them!"
At his command, the warriors rushed forward.
Clang!
The samurai protecting Momonosuke drew his sword. He was no Scabbard, but to be entrusted with this task, he was a powerful warrior in his own right. Holding Momonosuke in one arm, he met the charge head-on, blocking a strike and instantly countering, cutting down several men who had left themselves open. His goal was to create a breach, a sliver of hope.
His ferocity took the enemy by surprise, and after several desperate clashes, he carved an opening. Though his back was now crisscrossed with fresh wounds, his expression remained resolute. He prepared to make a break for it.
At that moment, Orochi moved.
He transformed into his eight-headed serpent form, a horrifying sight that made Momonosuke cry out in terror. Like vipers striking from a pit, the eight massive snake heads lunged at the lone warrior.
"Damn you!"
The samurai swung his blade, deflecting two heads, then leaped into the air to evade three more. But it was his limit. The remaining heads clamped down, one on his shoulder, the other on his head. With a sickening crunch, the warrior's life was extinguished. But even in death, his left arm held Momonosuke in an unbreakable grip.
"Guhehehe!" The serpent heads of Orochi laughed, their coils tightening around the dead samurai and the petrified boy. "Stop struggling, little brat! If you want to blame someone, blame your father! I will not know peace until you are dead!"
PS from author:
Let me clarify the timeline and why Oden spoke of eighteen years instead of twenty.
In the world of One Piece, prophecies exist, yet the future is not fixed. With the appearance of Bai Ye, the course of fate itself has shifted. What Oden or Roger foresaw decades ago was bound to change once the Straw Hat Pirates and Bai Ye entered the story.
It is, simply put, the law of cause and effect.
This is also my interpretation of Momonosuke's fate. I considered many possible endings for him. At one point, I thought of having Bai Ye use his powers to erase Momonosuke's more undesirable traits. But after much thought, I chose another path.
Is Momonosuke truly important? Does it matter whether he lives or dies?In truth, it does not.
What matters most… is his absence.