Wano Country · Flower Capital · Shogun's Residence!
Kozuki Oden, decked out in his Wind Shell shoes, zipped home in a blur of running and flying, buzzing with excitement. He burst straight into the audience chamber where his father, Kozuki Sukiyaki, held court as shogun, demanding the Devil Fruits. But Sukiyaki, fuming, booted him right back out!
"How the hell did I end up with a worthless son like you?!"
Sukiyaki's rage thundered through the halls. He'd cleaned up after this kid's messes more times than he could count—hell, he'd even shelled out a fortune from the Shimotsuki family in Ringo to snag the legendary blade Enma. Add in the Ame no Habakiri he'd forged with his own hands, and that made two Supreme Grade swords handed straight to his boy!
He figured he'd done right by the little punk. But this ungrateful whelp? Impossible to tame. Always itching to sail the seas, and now he was strong-arming his old man for the rare Devil Fruits Sukiyaki had painstakingly collected—all to hand them over to that cheapskate mentor of his, Brook!
Enough was enough!
He was half-tempted to disown the brat and start over with a fresh heir!
"Old man, what do you even need those fruits for? Brook's coughing up real Belly to buy 'em anyway—and he hooked me up with these flying shoes. Here, take a pair!"
Oden, the thick-headed lout, picked himself up, face flushed with irritation. But remembering his mission, he swallowed his pride and tossed over the spare pair of Wind Shell shoes.
"Get the hell out of my sight!"
Sukiyaki's fury hit him like a gut punch, chest heaving. He barked orders at the Royal Guard to drag his son out of the residence. This deadbeat either ghosted for months chasing sea dreams or showed up just to bleed him dry!
The idiot had no clue how precarious Wano's situation was—teetering on the edge, ripe for Brook to carve up with his velvet-gloved takeover. And the Kozuki clan still guarded the ancient secret of Pluton!
God, how Sukiyaki longed to spill it all to his fool of a son. But picturing Oden's bullheaded ten-year-old mug? The kid would blab it to Brook in a heartbeat!
What a curse!
Was this the generation where the secret finally spilled—from him and Oden both?
The boy's heart was set on running with outsiders like Brook. The Kozuki line would die with him. Sukiyaki's head throbbed just thinking about it.
Thank the kami he was only in his thirties—plenty of time to try for a Kozuki Oyama, Olin, Otang, or Omaki. Anyone but this disaster.
...
Sukiyaki stormed toward his private vault. If Oden was sniffing around his prized collection, it was time to lock those Devil Fruits down tighter than ever.
He mulled it over: Should he just feed them to his Royal Guard? Beef up his men with some real power.
But who knew what abilities they packed? Turn into monsters? That'd get them shunned by the other samurai. In Wano, "sorcerers" were dirty words—samurai were the real deal!
Animal transformations were the worst—hunted like freaks. Even lost Fish-Men or Mink folk got the blade if they wandered too close.
If these fruits granted something clean, like Redfield's lightning or Golden Lion Shiki's flight? Power without the freak show.
Sukiyaki scanned the palace grounds, eyes sharp, before slipping into his secret vault.
This was his inner sanctum. He'd forged Ame no Habakiri and the third-generation Nidai Kitetsu here, alone. He'd even carved ancient script on the walls—echoes of the Poneglyphs.
But the real treasures? Rows of exquisite porcelain dolls, each a stunning beauty. This guilty pleasure stayed buried deep—no one could know, or his shogun's dignity would crumble to dust.
...
On another shelf, two cursed blades gleamed under reverent watch. The second-generation Nidai Kitetsu, forged by his ancestor Kutsuna, who'd moonlighted as the legendary Tenguyama Hitetsu to craft famed swords.
Inspired, Sukiyaki had taken the alias Tenguyama Hitetsu to birth the third-generation Nidai Kitetsu.
But cursed blades from ominous metals always turned on their wielders. That's why he'd kept the second-generation from Oden's grubby hands!
He'd planned to trade the third for Enma with Shimotsuki Kozaburo, but tensions with the Shimotsuki clan had soured. In the end, he'd just dropped a fortune on Enma outright, keeping the third-generation for himself.
Now, both Nidai Kitetsu blades sat enshrined, alongside the two Devil Fruits he'd hunted down over the years. His crown jewels.
No one would ever wield those ill-fated blades. Let them rest in peace here.
His gaze drifted to the fruits, their swirling patterns hypnotic. If he didn't know their powers, he'd be tempted to pop one himself—just to see.
Finally, his eyes flicked to a shadowed corner. A hidden door concealed Wano's darkest secret: a passage to the ancient ruins, home to the Kozuki clan's 800-year vigil over Pluton!
Only he knew. Not even that deadbeat son of his was cleared for it!
...
"Sigh..."
Oden's face soured Sukiyaki's mood every time. He locked the Devil Fruits in a reinforced case, sealed with a Seastone clasp. No key but his own would crack it.
He draped fine silk over his porcelain beauties, boxed them up, and secured the lot. This vice couldn't see daylight!
Everything stowed away—insurance against Oden's snooping.
Even if the punk swiped the fruits, it paled next to the scandal of those dolls. A shogun caught with a doll obsession? Social suicide in Wano.
Satisfied, Sukiyaki gave the vault one last sweep and turned to leave. The entrance was disguised as a mundane treasury, stuffed with gold and baubles as camouflage...
"Triple the guard on the treasury from now on—round-the-clock vigilance!"
Sukiyaki stepped out, snapping the order at the Royal Guard captain before heading off to chew out his wayward heir.
Deep down, he still wanted to set Oden straight. The kid was his only shot, and damn if he wasn't gifted—taming a sentient beast like Enma at his age!
...
Back in the main hall, Oden had vanished. The guards reported the brat had stormed off, muttering curses, straight to the Flower Quarter's pleasure dens.
Sukiyaki swallowed his rage. The boy was beyond saving!
"Until Brook sails, that fool's barred from the residence—and he's not leaving Flower Capital!"
Sukiyaki's bellow echoed through the halls. A dozen Royal Guards bowed low and filed out, tails on the prodigal son...
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