Chapter 168: The Past of the Kozuki
"Kin'emon. I owe you an apology."
The moment Itachi's eyes met his, Kin'emon felt a chill run down his spine.
"An apology, Itachi-dono? For what?"
Itachi raised his hand and pointed at the small figure behind the samurai. "I had doubts about your identities. So I examined your lord's memories."
"EH?!" Kin'emon spun around. Momonosuke had already burst into terrified tears.
"Kin'emon! He—he—!" The boy's voice cracked with remembered terror. "When you weren't there, he grabbed me by the throat! He made me faint! He—he—!"
Momonosuke broke down completely, sobbing into his sleeves. That moment—Itachi's grip around his small throat, the crimson eyes boring into his soul—had merged with older horrors. The fall of Wano. His father's death. The flames. The screaming.
"MASTER MOMONOSUKE!"
Kin'emon's blade was out before anyone could react. Raizo and Kanjuro seized his arms, struggling to hold him back.
"Kin'emon! CALM YOURSELF!"
"Think rationally!"
"Let GO of me! What did you do to Momonosuke-sama?! YOU—"
"Kin'emon!" Usopp and Nami stepped between the samurai and Itachi. "Calm down! What are you doing?!"
"From the moment he first saw me, Momonosuke's eyes held a fear I couldn't explain." Itachi's voice was utterly calm. "Now I understand why."
Kin'emon strained against his comrades. "You MONSTER—"
"Hey." Zoro's blade was suddenly pressed against Kin'emon's advance. "Watch your mouth."
"Calm down, all of you!" Franky raised his iron fists. "Itachi always has his reasons. Look at the kid—is he hurt? Check him before you start swinging swords around!"
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Kin'emon. We brought you all the way here. Itachi's our nakama. Whatever he did, he had a reason."
"That's right." Nami planted her hands on her hips. "I was there. Itachi didn't hurt Momo. He just talked to him. Check for yourself if you don't believe me!"
Inuarashi and Nekomamushi exchanged glances before stepping forward. "Please, everyone! This is neither the time nor the place for conflict between allies. Kin'emon—Momonosuke-sama bears no physical wounds. The Straw Hats escorted you across the sea. You must consider this rationally."
Raizo, who had been examining Momonosuke, finally spoke. "Momonosuke-sama is unharmed. There are no injuries whatsoever."
The fight drained out of Kin'emon. His sword clattered to the ground. Slowly, heavily, he knelt before the Straw Hats.
"I understand. I am deeply sorry. Benefactors... I became... I became overwrought where Momonosuke-sama is concerned. Please... please forgive me."
"It doesn't matter." Itachi waved a dismissive hand, offering Kin'emon a path back from the brink. "But I have a question. You've traveled with us. You've fought beside us. And yet... you haven't told us the truth."
The silence was absolute.
"When I learned that truth for myself... was that wrong of me?"
Kin'emon trembled.
Usopp stared at him. "Kin'emon... you've been hiding something from us?"
"Kin'emon," Robin's voice was gentle but firm, "why were the Beast Pirates hunting a samurai? What did they want with Raizo?"
The kneeling samurai's entire body shook. His teeth clenched so hard they creaked. Finally, he slammed both fists against the ground.
"My lords... I never intended to deceive you. It's because... because..."
"Kin'emon!" Inuarashi stepped forward. "Allow us. Let us tell the story from the beginning. Along with the history of this Poneglyph."
Nekomamushi gestured at the red stone. "But this requires the consent of Momonosuke-sama."
Every head turned toward the small boy. The Cat Viper—wild, unruly, ungovernable—was asking permission from a child.
Momonosuke looked around the hollow. At the minks who had bled for his family. At the pirates who had carried him across the sea. At the dark-haired man whose eyes had once pierced his soul. He was afraid. But he was not stupid. These people had power. Power that could help.
"Nekomamushi. Yes. Tell them."
"As you command, Momonosuke-sama."
"We begin with this stone."
The Cat Viper's voice echoed through the hollow, reaching every ear.
"These steles... were forged by the Kozuki clan of Wano Country."
"The Kozuki?" Robin pointed at the crest carved above the red text.
"That's right. The Kozuki family have been stonemasons for generations. For centuries, they have collected and processed the world's hardest minerals. They are capable of working even Seastone—a material that defies conventional tools. And eight hundred years ago... they cast these indestructible, immortal books. The Poneglyphs. The true history of this world."
"The Poneglyphs were created by the Kozuki clan?!" Robin's voice was barely a whisper.
Itachi's eyes widened fractionally. The old man's words echoed in his memory. "Inherit the Kozuki forging ability." Kozuki Chidō had not been speaking in metaphor. He had meant it literally. The Kozuki were the architects of the world's hidden history.
"EH?!" Luffy pointed at Momonosuke. "So those stones Robin's been looking for... your family made them?!"
"Not me!" Momonosuke's voice cracked. "My ancestors! From eight hundred years ago!"
"Then do you know what's written on them?"
Kanjuro answered. "As for the content... anyone who can read the script carved into the stone can understand it. What the Kozuki clan passed down through the generations was the ability to read and write that script. The Voice of All Things, rendered into language."
"But unfortunately..."
The three samurai lowered their heads. Their teeth clenched. Their fists trembled. Even Nekomamushi and Inuarashi wiped at their eyes.
"That ability was passed down to Momonosuke-sama's father, Lord Oden. And in his generation..." Kin'emon's voice cracked. "...it was lost."
"Oden?" The name stirred something in Nami's memory. "Itachi mentioned that name. After he spoke with Momo. He said Momo's father... died. In a battle."
Kin'emon's jaw tightened. "Yes. Oden-sama... he..."
"Hey." Luffy's voice softened. "If it's too hard to talk about..."
"HE WAS EXECUTED!"
Kin'emon's roar silenced the hollow.
"Killed by the shogun of Wano and the pirate who stands behind him! He sacrificed himself to save our lives—the lives of his retainers! He boiled in oil for an hour while holding us above the flames, and when the hour ended... when the hour ended..."
He could not finish.
Cold sweat broke out across the Straw Hats' faces. An hour in boiling oil. Holding his retainers above the flames the entire time. The sheer, incomprehensible will that must have required.
"It's just as you said." Law turned to Itachi. "Everything matches."
The second path. Wano Country. Itachi and Law had already decided before this conversation began. Now the necessity was confirmed beyond doubt.
"The Beast Pirates," Kin'emon rasped. "They rule Wano now. Kaido. The shogun Orochi. They've turned our homeland into a weapons factory. They've enslaved our people. And they killed our lord."
He raised his head. His eyes were wet but burning.
"Please. I know we have no right to ask more of you. But please... help us reclaim Wano. Help us defeat Kaido."
(End of Chapter)
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