-Real World-
Every member of the Whitebeard Pirates witnessed the intruder displayed in the Sky Screen's broadcast. Marco and the other Division Commanders felt genuine terror in retrospect—fortunate that Uchiha Madara hadn't chosen to attack Lady Toki during his infiltration. Even if they desperately wanted revenge for the violation, no trace of the Uchiha clan existed anywhere on the current seas. The ancient ninja had vanished like smoke, leaving only humiliation in his wake.
They could only look forward to subsequent Sky Screen releases with heightened anticipation. It would be ideal if all of Uchiha Madara's conspiracies were exposed publicly, eliminating the need for mental gymnastics and strategic speculation. Most pirates weren't qualified to engage in complex thinking anyway—they were fundamentally violent maniacs who relied on fists rather than brains to solve problems.
-Broadcast-
[Kozuki Momonosuke and his sister Kozuki Hiyori spent genuinely happy times with their parents aboard the Whitebeard Pirates' flagship. In his later life, the tyrant shogun would occasionally reminisce about existence on the Moby Dick with something approaching nostalgia. But those days were gone forever, too many precious moments buried beneath time's relentless advance.
Young Momonosuke had been the beloved son of a general since birth, doted upon by everyone who encountered him. Across this vast ocean, he met some of the world's most powerful individuals—the Roger Pirates at their peak, the Whitebeard Pirates in their prime, the elite Marines led by Garp the Hero. He traveled by ship to witness the most fantastic wonders the world offered, experiencing adventures that most people couldn't imagine across entire lifetimes.
All these extraordinary experiences made his thinking far surpass that of his peers in sophistication and breadth. Before the accident that would shatter his childhood, he was simply regarded as a remarkably smart kid in others' eyes—precocious but still innocent.
Influenced by his father's orthodox samurai philosophy, young Kozuki Momonosuke dreamed of becoming a bohemian yet powerful warrior exactly like Kozuki Oden. He envisioned his future clearly: after successfully inheriting the Shogun's position in Wano Country, he would continue the Kozuki clan's isolationist policies protecting the nation from outside interference.
If nothing unexpected occurred, he would live the "boring" but comfortable life of a privileged superior, exactly like other Kozuki ancestors throughout the centuries.
But he was far too young to understand that before his birth, his father Kozuki Oden had left tremendous hidden dangers festering within Wano Country. When the family finally returned to their homeland, everything had changed quietly during their absence. The miserable life of the Kozuki family was about to begin—suffering that would fundamentally reshape who Momonosuke would become.]
[The Sky Screen displayed scenes of childhood innocence aboard the Moby Dick: young Momonosuke playing with Division Commanders, Hiyori laughing while Whitebeard gently held her, Lady Toki watching her children with maternal warmth. The contrast between these idyllic memories and the darkness approaching made the tragedy more poignant.]
[The samurai Kozuki Oden possessed magnanimity that bordered on pathological naivety. Perhaps he'd never experienced genuine setbacks during his privileged childhood. Kozuki Sukiyaki had always provided an exceptionally superior environment for his son's growth, shielding him from consequences and hardship. People raised in such protective cocoons proved extraordinarily gullible—they couldn't recognize predators because they'd never encountered genuine malice.
When Kurozumi Orochi surrendered along with the remaining members of the Kurozumi clan, Kozuki Oden accepted them easily without significant deliberation. A pattern of path dependence operated here: Ashura Doji, who would become one of the Nine Red Scabbards, had been defeated in combat and converted through Kozuki Oden's personal charisma into a loyal retainer of the Kozuki clan.
Oden assumed everyone could be redeemed through kindness and second chances. He'd never encountered someone who couldn't be saved.
As the future Shogun of Wano Country, Kozuki Oden had ignored his seriously ill father's declining health and pressing governmental needs. Instead, he'd snuck out to sea from Wano Country to pursue personal adventure, loving freedom more than his biological father's welfare or his nation's stability.
How filial indeed.
With Kozuki Sukiyaki seriously ill and unable to effectively control Wano Country, Kurozumi Orochi—nominally serving as Kozuki Oden's retainer—began gradually earning the Shogun's trust through careful performance. He eventually completed the magnificent feat of replacing the bird with a cage, allowing Wano Country to slip back into Kurozumi clan hands after decades of their exile.
Afterward, Orochi attracted powerful external support, permitting the outsider Beast Pirates to suppress domestic samurai and Kozuki clan retainers who opposed Kurozumi rule. Kurozumi Orochi's attitude of selling his ancestral land without hesitation or regret taught Wano's citizens a severe lesson about power's true nature.
Kurozumi Orochi didn't even bother maintaining pretense after consolidating control. He simply tore away the hypocritical cloak that previous rulers had worn, giving Wano's people brutal carrot-and-stick education. Work in the factories and accept exploitation. The Beast Pirates sold the weapons citizens produced while sending reactionaries into deadly sweatshops. Citizens who didn't create value for the Shogun weren't worthy of living on this land.
Soon there remained only one voice in Wano Country—compliance or death.]
[Industrial footage filled the Sky Screen: pollution blackening skies, citizens laboring in hellish conditions, samurai who resisted being dragged to execution or worse. The transformation of Wano from isolated paradise to industrial nightmare unfolded in accelerated timeline.]
[Against this backdrop of Wano Country's corruption and industrialization, Gol D. Roger approached the Whitebeard Pirates with an unprecedented request. The great pirate of the old era wanted to borrow Kozuki Oden temporarily. Roger required someone capable of interpreting Poneglyphs to impact the final stretch of the Grand Line and reach the legendary final island of Laugh Tale that he'd dreamed about for decades.
Because Roger's voyage operated on an extremely tight schedule, Kozuki Oden couldn't bring his wife and children along for this particular journey. At the suggestion of his retainers—who recognized the danger inherent in Roger's final voyage—he asked Lady Toki to take their two children back to Wano Country ahead of him.
The samurai innocently assumed that his father Kozuki Sukiyaki would care for them within the country, that family would definitely not suffer mistreatment. Based on this fatally flawed assumption, the man said farewell to the Whitebeard Pirates and boarded Roger's ship to conquer the Final Island.
He left his family to face horrors alone while he chased glory.]
[Lady Toki brought her two children back to Wano Country expecting safety and welcome. Instead, Kozuki Sukiyaki was nowhere to be found—imprisoned by Orochi, isolated from the world, effectively disappeared. The three family members could only hide desperately in Oden Castle's remaining sections, every day evading assassins sent by Kurozumi Orochi to eliminate potential threats.
The massive gap between their previous comfortable existence and current desperate circumstances made the two children profoundly uncomfortable, their worldviews shattering.
Kozuki Hiyori cried constantly, begging to return to the Moby Dick's safety. She couldn't eat or sleep properly while living in Oden Castle, existing in perpetual terror. Every shadow might hide a blade meant for her throat.
However, Kozuki Momonosuke demonstrated remarkable strength despite his young age. He consistently helped his mother with daily survival tasks and comforted his sister during her worst moments. They maintained hope together, believing the current hardships were merely temporary obstacles. As long as their father Kozuki Oden returned from his adventure, all problems could be solved through his legendary strength.
The samurai would save them. He had to.
The reason Kozuki Momonosuke and his family could live cautiously rather than simply dying immediately certainly involved the desperate loyalty of Kozuki retainers who protected them at tremendous personal cost. But more importantly, Kurozumi Orochi remained concerned about Kozuki Oden's combat capabilities. He feared that after the samurai returned and discovered his wife, children, and father all dead or vanished, Kozuki Oden would descend into berserk fury and slaughter everyone involved regardless of consequences.
Kurozumi Orochi also plotted additional conspiracy during this period. He ordered his subordinates to disguise themselves as Kaido's men while attempting to assassinate Lady Toki's family repeatedly. His purpose was manufacturing enmity between Kozuki Oden and Kaido, leaving absolutely no room for reconciliation between the two powerful figures. Once genuine conflict erupted, the Beast Pirates couldn't continue watching passively—they'd be forced to help the Kurozumi clan destroy the Kozuki clan completely or risk looking weak.
Kozuki Oden possessed documented records of fighting the era's top combatants. Although he'd been defeated by both Edward Newgate and Gol D. Roger in single combat, wasn't surviving encounters with such overwhelming power itself a testament to extraordinary strength?
While desperately waiting for his father's return, young Kozuki Momonosuke maintained beautiful fantasies about Kozuki Oden. He believed wholeheartedly that once the samurai came back, everything would immediately improve. The samurai's return would force Kurozumi Orochi to obediently surrender the Shogun's position. The samurai's return would restore the family to their rightful superior lifestyle.
During this hiding period, Kozuki Momonosuke studied the swordsmanship his father had left behind, practicing with deteriorating training manuals and attempting to follow illustrated techniques. His dream of becoming an orthodox samurai hadn't been extinguished by hardship—if anything, suffering made him cling more desperately to that identity.
Unfortunately, he was blinded by passion and determination at that time, completely lacking natural talent for blade work. Forcing himself to learn swordsmanship produced half the effort with twice the difficulty, his skills improving not at all despite dedicated practice.
Later, when trained by Douglas Bullet in completely different combat methods, Kozuki Momonosuke would fully understand this fundamental limitation. He would never be a samurai in this lifetime, regardless of desire or heritage. The famous sword Ame no Habakiri could only hang decoratively on his body, a symbol of extraordinary status rather than a functional weapon.]
[Training montages showed young Momonosuke struggling with sword forms, sweat pouring down his face as he attempted techniques beyond his capability. The Sky Screen emphasized his earnest dedication and complete lack of aptitude—a cruel combination that guaranteed failure.]
[During his time sailing with Roger's pirate crew toward history's culmination, Kozuki Oden did return to Wano Country once—briefly, hurriedly, with priorities that revealed his true character.
He rushed to copy the contents of the Road Poneglyph's red historical text, that crucial piece of information Roger required to reach Laugh Tale. But he completely ignored the billowing black smoke pollution that industry brought to Wano Country's previously pristine environment. He dismissed the obvious signs of massive societal transformation occurring under Orochi's rule.
Once again, Kozuki Oden chose to temporarily abandon everything—his father, his wife, his children, his nation—for the sake of adventure and personal glory. The pattern repeated because he'd never faced consequences severe enough to change his behavior.
Afterward, Gol D. Roger conquered the Grand Line and achieved recognition as the Pirate King across the entire ocean. However, not much time remained before this legendary figure's death from incurable illness. At the journey's end, Roger offered to return to Wano Country with Kozuki Oden, helping his friend deal with the traitors who'd seized control during his absence.
But Kozuki Oden refused the offer.
He wanted to enter Wano Country without calling for external help. The samurai insisted he could solve everything personally. After landing on the island, the first priority was checking on his wife and children's welfare. Then he would rush into the Shogun's Mansion to confront Kurozumi Orochi and settle accounts.
The reason the samurai felt such confidence after adventuring with Roger's pirate crew for an extended period was simple: at that point in history, with the strength Kozuki Oden had developed, even if young Kaido the Beast and Kurozumi Orochi combined their forces, they wouldn't be sufficient to defeat the samurai in direct combat. Within Wano Country's borders, Kozuki Oden could reasonably believe himself invincible.
He was the strongest. He would save everyone. How could he possibly fail?
But in the swirling vortex of Wano Country's politics and betrayal, Kozuki Oden was not the hero who would save the nation from darkness.
History was destined to let some people down.]