I Love Oden

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Kin'emon begins explaining the past at the ruins in Kuri. The place before them is identified as "Wano Country - Kuri - The Ruins of Oden Castle," and Kin'emon recalls, "This place was called Oden Castle." He clarifies that the people named it that way because Oden was beloved there: "That is what the people of Kuri called the castle that once stood here... But actually, its real name was... Kuri Castle." Inside the ruined building, he explains that the castle was called Oden Castle because the residents of Kuri loved Oden. Momonosuke realizes, "So that was Momo's father!" Kin'emon says, "Our master, Lord Oden, was quite the wild card... Despite being the son of Wano Country's shogun, Lord Kozuki Sukiyaki..." He had fought constantly and was eventually exiled from the Flower Capital, while Kuri was once considered a lawless area.

Kin'emon describes what Kuri was before Oden changed it. It was such a dangerous place that even the shogun decided to ignore its problems. Criminals and ronin exiled from their villages wandered there, formed groups to rob and kill, and spilled blood every day. The young Lord Oden went to Kuri anyway and fought the most dangerous man among the evildoers, Ashura Doji. In the end, Lord Oden defeated him. Rather than simply punish the people, Oden rounded up the ruffians, made them work, and raised them from their pitiful deeds. He forced them to learn how to be workers because the town and castle needed to be built. After some time, Shogun Sukiyaki heard of Oden's deeds, and Oden was granted the title of Daimyo of Kuri at the young age of twenty. He built a paradise farm and created a free and lively village where laughter never stopped.

Kin'emon continues by describing Oden's restless nature. Lord Oden had a habit of saying one thing: "It's too cramped here!!" He created rivers and wharfs, connected villages, and brought people together, but even the improved Wano was still too small for him. In the present, Zoro looks across the ruined terrain and notices the others are gone, muttering, "...Jeez, those guys..." He wonders, "Where in the world did they wander off to...?" and admits, "I'm amazed that they could get lost even while I was riding on that Komainu..." Then he notices a wharf and decides, "Maybe I should catch a ride!" The page contrasts Oden's old hunger for the wider world with Zoro's current wandering through the ruined land.

The story moves to a beach in Kuri, where Duke Inuarashi remembers the day he and the others first came to Wano. The location is marked "Wano Country - Kuri - On a Certain Beach." Inuarashi says, "We drifted to this land..." and recalls that Wano felt tiny to Lord Oden: "The Wano Country was a little bit too cramped... for Lord Oden." The beach brings back nostalgia, and he notes that he and Nekomamushi were once called "the talking cat and the talking dog." Everybody feared them, except Lord Oden. Inuarashi rebukes those who judge by appearance: "You all should be ashamed!! Being afraid of those who look different only highlights your ignorance!!" To him, Oden was not merely kind; he was their rescuer and master: "He was indeed our savior!! And was indeed a true hero..!! And more than anything, he was indeed our lord and master.!!"

Kin'emon tells the crew that Oden's execution happened more than twenty years ago, but for them it feels immediate. The group reacts in shock: Luffy asks, "What happened to Oden?" Carrot cries, "What a story...!! How cruel of...!!" and Sanji sits in silence. Kin'emon says, "All of this happened to the courageous Lord Oden... over 20 years ago, but...!!" Then he states the core tragedy: "Our beloved Lord Oden... was taken to the Flower Capital... and executed as a criminal." Luffy shouts, "What'd you saaaaaaay!?" Chopper explodes, "Don't joke with me!! That's dirty, Orochi!!" The memory remains sharp for the retainers: "In our eyes... it was only a few months ago." Kin'emon can still envision "the brave warrior, Kozuki Oden's final moments," and Brook calls him "an extraordinary man." The page also mentions that Whitebeard was charmed, Roger was captivated, and Oden was carried away "by that samurai of the Wano Country."

Kin'emon explains what happened after Oden was executed. Nami says, "It's pretty impressive that you guys were able to escape safely from such a crappy situation." Kin'emon answers, "Yes... but at that point, no one was on our side anymore..." The retainers escaped with all their strength and left the execution site to head toward Oden Castle. On the way, Nekomamushi and Inuarashi started to argue. They were caught by Orochi's subordinates, and Kin'emon believed their lives would be forfeit. But even then, he thought only of reaching the castle, because Orochi, who had orchestrated the downfall of the Kozuki clan, would surely target Lord Momonosuke's life next. The page then darkens: "However... Kaidou anticipated our plan..." The retainers reached the castle only to find it already burning: "And the castle was set ablaze before we could reach it."

The castle was burning while Lord Momonosuke, his younger sister Lady Hiyori, and their mother Lady Kozuki Toki were trapped inside. Voices cried, "Lord Momonosuke!" "Lady Hiyori!!" and "Lady Toki!!" Kin'emon then explains the impossible ability that changed everything. He says that there had always been rumors that Lady Toki was born sometime in the distant past. Her power is named in the narration as the Time-Time fruit, the Toki-Toki. Toki herself explains, "It's impossible for people to travel to the past... However, travelling to the future is very possible...!! I've been travelling further and further into the future using this mysterious 'Time-Time' ability." She tells Oden, "And finally, I have arrived here, at the terminus of my journey." In the burning castle, she says, "Lord Oden... therefore, this is where I shall remain." The retainers plead, "Could we stop it...!?"

The retainers accept that if travel to the future is truly possible, they can still fulfill Oden's wishes. They swear, "Then we will definitely fulfill Lord Oden's wishes. We will definitely take down Orochi and Kaidou... and open up this country's borders!!" Toki entrusts Momonosuke to them: "I'm leaving Momonosuke... in your care." A great sound marks the leap, and the next moment they stand in the ruins with no castle around them. One asks, "Huh... what just...!?" Another panics, "Is this a dream? Where are we?!" They ask, "Where is the castle?? What about the fire?? And what about Lady Toki?!" and "What about Lady Hiyori?" The smoke and fire are gone, but the questions left behind are worse: they have escaped the flames by losing the world they knew.

The truth settles in at the graves. Momonosuke cries, "Where is my mother?! Tell me, Kin'emon!!!" The retainers look at worn-out grave markers and understand: "So the tales of Lady Toki's powers... were all true..." Kin'emon says, "We've landed in the Wano Country... 20 years after that incident!!" They have been thrown into an unknown world. When they travel through Wano to understand its current state, they find the country transformed beyond recognition. The same land where they once served Oden now feels foreign, and Kin'emon admits, "We were truly in an unknown world." The page is not a triumphant escape; it is the moment the survivors realize that the price of reaching the future is losing twenty years, Toki, Hiyori, the castle, and the Wano they once knew.

The future Wano they discover is ruined by Kaidou and Orochi's rule. Kin'emon describes factories lined up row by row, countless smoke streams rising into the air, undrinkable water, and rations controlled by those in power. The daimyo and villages are gone, the land has become a vast wasteland, and the Kozuki name is scorned. Luffy quietly says, "We were wrong." Kin'emon explains that they realized this was no longer the Wano Country they once knew. They thought they would be unable to find people to fight alongside them, but then a voice answered the prophecy. Jibuemon of the Kibi, a former retainer of the shogun, appears before Momonosuke and says, "You are Lord Kozuki Momonosuke, is that correct?" He had waited twenty years: "I believed Lady Toki's words... and waited here for this day!!"

Jibuemon had searched for proof of the old retainers and for the remains of the Nine Red Scabbards, but found none. He says he had doubts, but Lady Toki's final words indicated that the Kozuki family would rise again in twenty years. Momonosuke, startled by the mention of her, says, "My mother...!?" The loyalists who waited for the prophecy then pledge themselves to the returning heir. They say, "Even if there was a one in a million chance...!! We had hope that you would appear 20 years from that day...!! If you are willing to lead the fight against Orochi...!! ...then we will stand by your side and fight when the time comes!!" Kin'emon understands that even after two decades, allies remain. He says, "Unbelievable... Even though 20 years have passed, we still have allies we can count on." Those allies reveal the crescent tattoos on their ankles and promise, "No matter where we are, or what we are doing... we all have tattoos of the mark of the moon on our ankles, and shall wait for your command...!!"

Back in the present explanation, Kin'emon says they had to work in secrecy. He entrusted O-Kiku with gathering intelligence on the enemies, while he and the four known allies set out to recruit more forces. But leaving the country was itself treated as a crime, and they were spotted and pursued. On the way to Zou, they had no navigational skills and immediately shipwrecked, losing their vessel. There, they parted with Raizo, who cried, "Let us meet on Zou!!" Later, barely escaping with their lives, they drifted to Dressrosa, where they were chased by Doflamingo, who was working with Kaidou. In the attempt to catch up to Lord Momonosuke, who had accidentally boarded a mysterious ship, they also became separated from Kanjuro. Kanjuro calls from the past memory, "Do not worry about me. Save yourselves!!"

Kin'emon explains how their desperate journey brought them into contact with Luffy's group. When they arrived at Punk Hazard, another one of Kaidou's pawns was there, and Kin'emon himself was "dismantled" by Law-dono, who is now their ally. Kin'emon admits, "It was truly a desperate situation...!! And that is where I met all of you...!!" The memory flashes through Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, including Luffy's stunned "....!!" and the moment someone asks, "Who is it?" while a dragon-like figure speaks. Kin'emon looks back and says, "Thinking back on it, we went through crisis after crisis. But it was absolutely a blessing to meet all of you." Their secrecy has even helped them: "Even though Orochi's troops know our names... we are saved by the fact that they do not truly believe of our presence. They think that we are ghosts."

Kin'emon turns the explanation into the current military plan. The most important part is secrecy: "The most important part of this plan is to not be exposed." Luffy answers, "Ok, got it." Kin'emon says that thanks to everyone avoiding suspicion, they have not been put on wanted posters and have been able to reenter the country without anyone suspecting a thing. A side remark interrupts the seriousness when someone says, "Even I didn't realize it, and I'm one of your allies...!!" and another apologizes, "Sorry, that was my fault...!!" while Sanji shouts, "Hey!! Stop flirting!!" Kin'emon lists their present forces: "The Straw Hat crew led by Luffy-dono, the Heart Pirates led by Law-dono," two groups from the Mink Tribe, the Musketeers led by Inuarashi and the Guardians led by Nekomamushi, plus samurai recruited with the will to rebel. Ideally, he says, "our forces would need to be 5000 strong!!" but "waging a war is not our intention."

Kin'emon states the goal clearly: "Our goal is to gather information in complete secrecy and take the commander's head!!" The target is Kaidou, and the timing is fixed. "The plan will commence in two weeks' time!! On the night of the Fire Festival..." he says. "We will commence the raid on Onigashima..." The page then reveals the island in the distance and explains it as the place "where Kaidou resides." The final panels show Inuarashi, Luffy, Momonosuke, and Law facing the plan with hard expressions. The chapter ends by shifting from the impossible truth of time travel to a concrete operation: gather allies, stay hidden, and strike Onigashima during the Fire Festival.

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