Kin'emon, Kiku, Raizo, and Kanjuro—these four Akazaya Nine were the most likely suspects when it came to being the source of information for Shogun Kurozumi Orochi.
Among them, Kin'emon stood as the leader of the Akazaya. His wife, Tsuru, remained behind in Kuri's Abandoned Village, quietly offering support to the resistance long before it formally took shape. Even when their efforts seemed doomed to collapse, she never faltered in her faith.
Furthermore, during the Mountain God Incident, Oden had saved Tsuru's life. Denjiro, who revered Kin'emon like an older brother, admired him to the point of near-idolization…
And if there were something amiss with Kin'emon, Denjiro was confident he would have noticed it.
As for Kiku, she had been taken in by Kouzuki Oden at a young age, alongside her elder brother, Izou. The two had been raised in Oden's household and had virtually no opportunity to come into contact with individuals like Orochi. In fact, Izou had once gone so far as to join Whitebeard's crew, hoping to stop Oden from setting sail.
Kiku, too, revered Kin'emon with unwavering loyalty. The odds of her being a traitor were extremely slim.
Raizo, the ninja, had originally been a member of the Oniwabanshu, Wano's secret ninja force under the shogunate. After being abandoned by a female ninja, he left the Oniwabanshu in disgrace and became a mountain bandit. Eventually, unable to endure that lifestyle, he came to serve Oden.
In truth, Raizo had once served Kouzuki Sukiyaki, Oden's father and the former shogun of Wano.
Raizo's personality was… blunt, to put it mildly. It wasn't surprising that someone like him couldn't fit in with the covert and politically-charged Oniwabanshu. Yet now, that same unit had fully defected to Kurozumi Orochi.
That made Raizo, with his ties to the Oniwabanshu, a possible suspect.
And yet—during Oden's harrowing execution in the "Boiled Alive" punishment, it had been Raizo who first understood the deeper meaning behind Oden's last wish:
"Let Wano open its borders in my place."
Raizo had cried out,
"Your dream is now ours to carry!"
Could someone like that really be a traitor?
Then there was one left...
"Evening Shower" Kanjuro.
Both Shimotsuki Yasuie, Denjiro, and Rosinante had once analyzed Kanjuro in detail—and it was Rosinante who had noticed a critical flaw.
Kanjuro was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user, with the power of the Brush-Brush Fruit (Fude Fude no Mi)—allowing him to draw objects and bring them to life. Food, animals, even weapons could be created through his art. The more realistic the drawing, the more effective and potent its manifestation would be.
And yet, Kanjuro's artwork... was terrible.
His creations constantly teetered on the brink of being too shoddy to even materialize. It was so bad that people began to wonder how his Devil Fruit worked at all.
Such a powerful ability, squandered so completely—it was a travesty.
For a samurai supposedly devoted to improving himself for his lord's sake, how had this ability not improved at all over the years?
That glaring contradiction had caught Rosinante's attention.
As the former "Corazon" of the Heart Pirates and Wright's top intelligence officer, Rosinante's instincts were razor-sharp.
Kanjuro wielded a full-length katana, and his scabbard ended in a calligraphy brush, which he used to activate his Devil Fruit powers. But according to Denjiro—himself a swordsman—Kanjuro always fought with his right hand, but drew with his left.
It was such a minor detail that almost no one would've noticed… but once Rosinante pointed it out, both Denjiro and Yasuie's hearts sank.
Drawing requires precision—far more than swordplay. If someone was naturally right-handed in combat, they should logically also draw with their right. It wasn't impossible to draw left-handed… but it was a suspicious inconsistency.
And more importantly—
This Devil Fruit was perfect for transmitting information.
If Kanjuro had intentionally drawn with his left hand to hide his true capability, then he was almost certainly a spy.
After discussing the matter, Rosinante put forward a crucial hypothesis:
"If a mole suddenly found themselves in a new environment, wouldn't their first instinct be to report back to their master?"
The answer was obvious—of course they would.
So, if Kanjuro was the traitor, then the moment he arrived in the Wano of twenty years later, his first action would've been to alert Kurozumi Orochi.
That meant keeping close surveillance on those who "time-traveled," and monitoring for any unusual behavior around the time they appeared, could prove their theory.
Unfortunately, although Rosinante was no longer in Wano, the evidence had already begun to confirm his suspicions.
Denjiro had learned that Orochi had immediately sought out Kaido's protection, and Denjiro himself—still acting under his role as Orochi's personal guard—had been summoned to ensure Orochi's safety.
Would Orochi have taken such drastic measures within less than a day of Kin'emon and the others' arrival without extremely accurate intelligence?
"To confirm this... we'll have to let Momonosuke-sama remain near the possible traitor. Dammit, what a risk!"
Denjiro clenched his jaw. But his blind admiration for Kin'emon left him less concerned about Momonosuke's safety.
"As long as Kin'emon-dono is there… with our noble leader watching over him, Momonosuke-sama will not be harmed!"
Denjiro gathered his composure and turned to Señor Pink beside him.
"Thank you for your help, Pikenosuke-san. I leave the rest in your hands—including the safety of the princess."
"You can count on me," Señor replied with a confident nod.
He, too, was aware of the intelligence they'd uncovered, and was thoroughly impressed with Rosinante's deduction:
"The Marine HQ should've received the intel by now. Until new orders arrive, I'll personally keep these individuals under surveillance."
"My wife is watching over the princess, so there's no need to worry there. But if Orochi makes a move… how should we respond?"
"There's no need for concern. That coward Orochi wouldn't dare act immediately."
Denjiro smirked coldly.
"The very moment he received the information, he ran crying to Kaido. He even summoned me to protect him…"
"He's practically scared out of his mind. By the time he calms down, we'll have gathered firsthand intel. He won't have the chance to act
"With the Calamity of Arms watching Kaido's movements, we'll have ample time to respond. As for Orochi, he won't be able to hide anything from me.
"If we're aware of both parties' moves, we can keep Kin'emon and the others safe even without direct contact!."
"Good. As of now, the resistance knows that Denjiro-dono is still alive, but no one knows your true identity… Please, keep it that way—even from Kin'emon himself!"
"Of course."
The two men bowed respectfully to each other, then parted to carry out their respective missions.
...
Meanwhile, in Orochi's chambers, Flower Capital...
"They're here! The dead have returned!"
"The power of Toki's ability… it's real!"
Orochi was trembling as he presented his intelligence report to Kaido, who was seated nearby, swigging sake.
"They came from twenty years ago—those five appeared out of thin air!"
"Is that so?" Kaido gulped down a massive swig of sake, unimpressed. "They came out of that burning castle? You sure no one's pulling your strings?"
"No! Look at this letter!"
Orochi suddenly exploded in a frenzy, barking orders at his subordinates:
"Keep patrolling the coastline! Someone might try to flee the country!"
The underlings bowed and rushed off.
Kaido, now intrigued, sat up straighter.
"Don't kill them right away. If they've survived this long… maybe we can squeeze some answers out of what's left of the Kouzuki scum."
"Gufufufufu!"
Orochi chuckled darkly.
"A perfect performance! As a 'loyal retainer' of the Kouzuki clan… he's almost ready to die carrying that name."
"This 'mole'... is beautiful. So loyal it makes me sick. Gufufufufu!"
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