Chapter 163: The Kozuki
In the forest, Kin'emon and Kanjuro crashed through the underbrush, their breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Where did that little monkey go?! I've lost sight of him completely!"
"Forget it. We'll press forward."
"I hope Lord Luffy and the others are safe."
Before Kanjuro could respond, a voice cut through the trees.
"Father! Kanjuro!"
Momonosuke burst from the foliage, his small figure trembling with exertion and emotion. The boy's eyes were red-rimmed, his face pale beneath its childish flush.
"Momonosuke!" Kin'emon rushed forward and swept the boy into his arms. "You're safe! Thank the heavens!"
"I'm so glad you're both here." Momonosuke pressed his face against Kin'emon's shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Ever since I entered this country, my heart has been in chaos. I couldn't settle down. I stayed in my room alone, and when I finally went to find everyone, they were already gone. I came looking for you and—"
"Easy, easy." Kin'emon smoothed the boy's hair. "You found us. That's what matters."
He straightened, keeping one hand on Momonosuke's shoulder. "Let's find Raizo together. We'll reunite with Lord Luffy afterward."
"Yes! Let's go!"
The town square had transformed into a gathering point. Minks streamed in from every direction—the Musketeers from the forest, the Guardians from the stronghold, civilians from the outskirts. And at the center of it all, facing each other for the first time in years, stood the two rulers of Zou.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi.
"It's over." Pedro's face had gone pale. "They're both awake. At the same time. Someone sound the alarm—no, wait, the alarm already sounded—someone do SOMETHING—"
But the two kings had already locked eyes.
"We haven't seen each other in quite some time, old cat demon." Inuarashi's voice was deceptively calm.
"You're one to talk. You've already lost a leg." Nekomamushi's gaze dropped to the Duke's missing limb—the wound still fresh, the bandages still crimson at the edges. Jack's work.
"And what of your arm?" Inuarashi nodded toward the stump where the Cat Viper's left paw had been. "At least my injury doesn't interfere with my eating. Can you still manage your lasagna with one hand?"
The Cat Viper's fur bristled. "WHAT good is a leg?! You might as well be DEAD!"
"Then allow me to send YOU to hell first!"
Blades flashed. The distinctive electric current of the Mink Tribe—the same crackling power that Zoro had felt during his skirmish with Carrot—surged between the two rulers as their weapons clashed.
"Itachi-ya! Look!" Law grabbed Itachi's arm, but he wasn't pointing at the cat-dog fight. His finger was aimed at the far edge of the square.
Kin'emon had arrived.
Robin was right behind him, her expression shifting from relief to alarm as she took in the scene before her.
"They're going to see him," Law hissed. "The minks are going to see the samurai they nearly died to protect—and they're going to realize we've been hiding him from them this entire time. This is going to be a disaster."
He raised his hand to deploy a ROOM—if he could just teleport Kin'emon out of sight before anyone noticed—
Itachi's hand closed around his wrist.
"No." The single word was quiet but absolute.
"Itachi-ya, if they see him—"
"Look at Kin'emon's face."
Law turned.
Kin'emon had stopped at the edge of the square. His eyes were fixed on the two Mink rulers—on their missing limbs, their fresh scars, the evidence of torture that marked every visible inch of their bodies. Something was moving behind his expression. Not fear. Not guilt. Something deeper.
"Residents of Zou!" Kin'emon's voice rang out across the square. "I am a retainer of the Kozuki Clan of Wano Country! My name is Kin'emon!"
Kozuki.
The token beneath Itachi's cloak pulsed. Faint. Almost imperceptible. But unmistakably real.
Luffy and the others, who had arrived at the square from the opposite direction, froze in place. Chopper's jaw dropped. Usopp's eyes bulged. They had spent the past day carefully avoiding the word "samurai"—and now Kin'emon was shouting it from the rooftops.
Kin'emon pressed on. "I am searching for a companion from my homeland! A warrior named Raizo came to this island! Has anyone seen him?! Has my comrade Raizo arrived in your country?!"
"WE TOLD YOU!" Chopper and Usopp lunged forward in desperate unison. "THIS COUNTRY WAS NEARLY DESTROYED BECAUSE OF THAT NAME! NO ONE HERE KNOWS—"
The Mink rulers moved.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi—who had been trying to kill each other seconds before—sheathed their weapons in perfect synchronization. They strode toward Kin'emon. Behind them, every mink in the square lowered their blades and followed.
The two kings sat down. Cross-legged. On the ground.
Tears streamed from their eyes.
"You've finally come."
The words were barely a whisper. But they carried across the silent square like a bell.
Memories flashed behind their eyes—the racks. The torture. Jack's voice demanding the samurai's location. The minks' unified answer: We don't know anything. There is no samurai here. Days of suffering. Limbs severed. Warriors broken. And not a single one of them had spoken.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi spoke in unison. "Lord Raizo... is safe and sound."
Usopp collapsed.
He ran to the Cat Viper, tears streaming down his face. "He was HERE?! The WHOLE TIME?! You KNEW?! You all KNEW, and you didn't say ANYTHING?!"
He grabbed the massive feline's fur. "YOU ALMOST DIED! ALL OF YOU ALMOST DIED!"
"It's alright!" The Cat Viper patted Usopp's head with his remaining paw and took a long draw from his pipe. "I apologize for keeping this secret from you as well, benefactor."
"But Wano Country and the Mink Tribe... we have been sworn brothers since ancient times. No matter what destruction we face... we will NEVER betray our allies."
He grinned, wide and fierce and utterly without regret.
Every mink in the square smiled with him.
The tension shattered. Luffy burst out laughing. Chopper collapsed in relief. Nami wiped tears from her eyes. The nightmare that had haunted Zou for weeks—the secret that had nearly cost an entire civilization its life—had transformed, in an instant, into something else entirely. Something noble.
"So that's how it was!" Luffy clapped his hands. "YOSH! That's great!"
But Itachi did not join the celebration.
He stood apart, his Sharingan deactivated, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable. His gaze moved between the three figures at the center of the reunion—Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke.
The Kozuki clan.
The old man's words echoed in his memory. "When you reach Wano, use the token to strip the Kozuki clan of their status. Free them from the name. Let them become ordinary people. And if any object... kill them."
That old man—Kozuki Chidō—had spoken of the Kozuki with something beyond disappointment. Contempt. Hatred, even. He had described a clan that had let pride enslave its people. A clan that had allowed Wano to become what it was now.
And yet.
Kin'emon had just claimed the name openly. Proudly. Before a nation that had bled for the honor of protecting a single Kozuki retainer. Momonosuke's memories—glimpsed through Tsukuyomi during their first encounter—showed a father who had fought a demon king to the death. The minks' loyalty spoke of bonds that had lasted centuries.
This doesn't align with what the old man described.
The token pulsed again. Faint. Almost questioning.
Itachi studied Momonosuke—the boy who would one day lead the Kozuki clan. He was young. Frightened. Traumatized by things he had seen and could not unsee. But he had also crossed an ocean. He had survived Punk Hazard and Dressrosa. He had refused to break.
The key to understanding this contradiction lies with you.
(End of Chapter)
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