The Great Voyage: The Props Master on the Straw Hat Ship

The country's residents are accustomed to wearing traditional Japanese-style kimonos, communicating with others in a relatively traditional tone, and referring to highly skilled swordsmen as "samurai."

The highest leader of Wano Country is called "Shogun," and the country is divided into several regions, with the highest leader of each region called "Daimyo."

This is a huge island with a land area comparable to the mainland. What's strange is that it has no open sea coastline, and is surrounded only by cliffs and waterfalls.

Once you go up there, you'll find the Inland Sea, which consists of two parts: the main island of Wano Country and Oni Island.

The main island is divided into six areas: Kuri, Nozomi, Udon, Suzugo, Hakumai, and Hana no To.

Originally led by the Kozuki clan, also known as the stonemason family, they were the meritorious family that inscribed the Poneglyphs and ancient scripts, and were also able to decipher the ancient scripts of the Poneglyphs.

The Kozuki family is served by five daimyo families: Amaterasu, Shimotsuki, Futsuki, Ugetsuki, and Kurozumi.

The Tenzuki family produced a Tenzuki Toki who ate the Time-Time Fruit and later traveled eight hundred years to arrive in modern times several decades ago.

When he was captured by Karma, the octopus fishman son of Whitebeard, and sold into slavery, preparing to travel through time again.

They met Kozuki Oden, who had just escaped with Whitebeard, and the two married and had a son and a daughter.

The Shimotsuki family is divided into three branches. One of them, Shimotsuki Kozaburo, fled to the open sea for some reason in his early years and illegally escaped from the closed-off Wano Country more than fifty years ago.

Later, he came to Ximo Zhiji Village in the East China Sea, where he left his legacy and named it Yixin Dojo.

His son, Shimotsuki Koshiro, was Zoro's mentor.

While Zoro was practicing his swordsmanship alone, the elderly Shimotsuki Kozaburo, who was sitting on the edge of a cliff smoking his pipe, also encountered him.

Although he did not teach Zoro any swordsmanship, he did explain to Zoro "what a sword is" and "the wisdom of abandoning name".

However, young Zoro didn't quite understand. Before leaving, Shimotsuki Kozaburo gave Zoro two swords.

He was a master swordsmith, and it is known that he forged two swords that belong to the same category of the 21 Great Grade Swords: Wado Ichimonji and Enma.

Later, both of these swords became Zoro's personal swords.

The other two branches of the Shimotsuki family remained in Wano Country.

One branch, when Kozuki Sukiyaki of the Kozuki family was still the leader of Wano Country's shogun, Shimotsuki Yasuie, the daimyo of the Shimotsuki family and the head of the Shimotsuki family, continued to serve Kozuki Sukiyaki and was a good brother to Kozuki Oden.

The last one is a daimyo in the Ringo region. He is a descendant of Shimotsuki Ryuma, the greatest swordsman and dragon slayer in Wano Country, and his name is Shimotsuki Ushimaru.

He led a group of warriors and possessed a number of well-equipped weapons in this icy and snowy tomb, making him a formidable military force.

However, these two Shimotsuki daimyo assisted the Kozuki clan in fighting against Orochi after Kozuki Oden was overthrown by Orochi of the Kurozumi family, but their efforts ended in failure due to the intervention of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors.

Afterwards, Shimotsuki Yasuie, severely injured, disappeared without a trace.

Shimotsuki Gyuumaru, along with Udon and Nozomi daimyo, Amatsuki Tempura of the Amatsuki family, and Fuuzuki Miyuki of the Fuuzuki family, were imprisoned on Onigashima after being defeated by Kaido.

After that, Kaido also locked his young daughter Yamato, along with the samurai including these many daimyo, in a cave.

They were given only a plate of food and some weapons, clearly intended to let them kill each other.

Even Yamato himself believed that these samurai would seek revenge on the daughter of the murderer who killed their master, and then fight to the death for food.

But unexpectedly, the samurai collectively gave the food to Yamato.

After spending ten days together, the samurai felt that Yamato would inherit Oden's spirit and decided to risk their lives to pave the way for her so that she could live for another twenty years.

Thus, in this road-clearing operation, all the samurai, including these daimyo, perished.

Thus, the Fengyue family and the Yuyue family completely withdrew from the stage of history.

The Shimotsuki family is reduced to just one branch: Shimotsuki Koushirou in the outer seas, who is unconcerned with worldly matters. Meanwhile, the Shimotsuki Yasuie family in Wano Country is barely surviving.

Needless to say, the Kozuki family, as the leaders, faced a situation where, with the death of Kozuki Oden, it was practically equivalent to having no successor.

Only Orochi's lineage had the last laugh.

After groveling and begging for Kaido's favor, he transformed himself into the shogun who ruled over all the islanders.

Thus, disregarding the future, they indulged in their own little lives, living a life of debauchery and decadence.

On the island, Kaido has built numerous factories, which have destroyed the original ecological environment.

Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the river, carrying pale green industrial wastewater...

It caused unparalleled damage to the entire Wano Country.

Kaido is also very enthusiastic about the power of this industrial system. When the Supernovas first entered the New World, Drake came to a snowy place that was Kaido's factory, which was managed by a highly mechanized and armed subordinate.

All signs indicate that Kaido is not averse to technology at all; on the contrary, he likes it very much. Not only is he in contact with Doflamingo, but the Beasts Pirates also have a high level of industrial technology.

Even Quinn, the second of the three calamities, is a cyborg armed with machines... a modified dragon's body.

Kaido usually builds them in relatively secluded places, such as the icy and snowy places mentioned earlier, and now Wano Country, which has a very dangerous geographical location.

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It can be said that Wano Country, after more than twenty years of devastation by Kaido, is now riddled with holes.

Therefore, what appeared before the Straw Hat Pirates was a scene of dark clouds covering the sky, a hazy and gloomy landscape.

"So this is Wano Country..."

After listening to Link's analysis, everyone's expressions became more serious.

They have gained a deeper understanding and awareness of what is considered the world's second strongest nation.

"That's right, the current Wano Country is ruled by that thief, Kurozumi Orochi..."

After listening to Link's introduction to Wano Country, Kin'emon and Raizo were already sobbing uncontrollably.

Tears and snot streamed down their faces as they sobbed uncontrollably.

"Back then, Lord Oden lent him so much money out of compassion and loyalty, but what he didn't expect was that bastard, that bastard..."

.... ...... 0

In the end, he could no longer utter any other words.

The Kozuki family and Orochi have a deep-seated blood feud.

Whether it was the previous generation of Kozuki Sukiyaki or the Kozuki Oden they served, they all suffered at the hands of the other party.

Well, Kozuki Oden is dead, but Kozuki Sukiyaki is still alive and well.

I wonder how these guys will react when they hear this news~~~

Link glanced at the two people who were lying on the ground crying and shook his head.

"Alright, we're almost at Wano Country. Do you have any other ideas?"

Link looked at his group of carefree companions behind him.

"Go to the island, find Kaido, defeat him, and then get the Road Pose."

Luffy said, picking his nose.

"Of course, if possible, it would be best to also try its local specialties."

As he spoke, drool began to slowly trickle from the corners of his mouth again.

"I'd like to see if there are any powerful warriors on this island..."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Since this is Ryuma's hometown, there must be some powerful samurai here, right?"

He seemed to have thought of something, then shook his head:

"If there were still samurai of Ryuma's caliber, how could Kaido be allowed to run rampant here?"

Yes, that's true.

The Wano Country of today truly lacks a samurai like Ryuma, who once single-handedly shook the world with his sword.

Even with the emergence of Kozuki Oden, who was said to be no less than Ryoma, his pathetic appearance...

Well, I understand everything.

"So, you mean we don't have any plans right now?"

Jinbe looked speechlessly at his group of unpredictable companions.

569 Returning to Homeland!! National Treasure Sword! Who exactly is this suddenly appearing great swordsman?!

It seems so~

Luffy and his crew tilted their heads, pondering what exactly the plan was.

Jinbe must be feeling really exhausted just watching.

"As for the plan, it's very simple: gather like-minded people in Wano Country to overthrow Kaido's rule."

Link continued his analysis there.

"Even though Kurozumi Orochi ruled Wano Country for nearly twenty years, the boiling alive execution of Kozuki Oden before his death preserved a spark of hope within Wano Country."

Yes, although Kozuki Oden was called "the foolish prince" because of his ridiculous behavior, and his behavior was indeed very foolish.

However, it must be said that the truth behind the boiling alive punishment still shocked the minds of a group of Wano Country residents; they just love that kind of thing.

Thus, they retain their reverence for Kozuki Oden in their hearts, and can be said to have passed on the torch.

Even now, within Wano Country, there are still many samurai who once served the Kozuki family or supported Kozuki Oden.

This is also a considerable force, capable of uniting to accomplish great things.

"There are also the other Nine Red Scabbards, who can be found and united with all forces that can be united."

Link offered plenty of advice; if they needed to find someone, he had more than enough tools at his disposal.

"What about the others..."

Recalling their former companions, a hint of nostalgia appeared in Kin'emon and Raizo's eyes.

"I wonder if they are alright, Kawamatsu, Ashura Doji, Denjiro..."

Since that day they parted, only a few days have passed for them, but for others, it has been a full eighteen years.

Eighteen years have passed, and things have changed. I wonder what everyone's fate will be like now.

And~~~

They looked down and glanced at Momonosuke, who was still unconscious and had not yet woken up.

The other young master who parted ways with them back then, and who did not travel through time with them.

Princess Hiyori, also a child of Lord Kozuki Oden, I wonder where she is now...

Filled with a mix of emotions—expectation, anger, guilt, and shame—the group headed towards the docks of Wano Country.

~~~~~~~~~

The Kuri region of Wano Country was originally a lawless area, where Ashura Doji, one of the Nine Red Scabbards, once led a group of yakuza.

However, after Kozuki Oden charged in with two swords, he completely defeated him in just one day.

From then on, Kozuki Oden unified Kuri and became the daimyo of Kuri.

There is a port here specifically for ships to land, called Date Port.

Well, despite being a closed-off country, it still has a port for ships. It has to be said that Kozuki Oden's thoughts and purposes were quite clear.

After Link and his companions came up from the waterfall, they avoided the surveillance Den Den Mushi and secretly made their way to the port of Date Port.

"Finally, I'm back here again..."

Returning to this familiar place, Inuarashi, Raizo, and Kin'emon once again set foot on this land.

The latter two showed no reaction yet, their eyes filled with deep-seated hatred, for in their minds, the death of Kozuki Oden was still as vivid as yesterday.

Inuarashi, on the other hand, has been away for almost eighteen years.

Looking at this familiar surroundings once again, I couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Xiaoju traveled through time with us to get here, but in order to better deal with the situation on the island and gather intelligence, we sailed out to sea, while he stayed behind."

Kin'emon said so.

The Kiku he mentioned is Kikunojo, a successor of the Hanayagi school, and is the brother of Izo. Like them, he is one of the Nine Red Scabbards.

However, he's a top-tier cross-dresser who enjoys dressing up as a woman, and he even likes to go to women's bathhouses with the ladies!

"So, right now, we can find Xiaoju first and get relevant information from him..."

Whoosh! ! !

Before Kin'emon could finish speaking, he heard a whistling sound like the wind rushing past his ears.