The third person on the Sky Screen's ranking list was not Kaido of the Beasts as virtually everyone had anticipated. Instead, the Beast King would be defeated by a junior in the future—sealed away for ten thousand years in a fate arguably more painful than death itself.
The name Kozuki Momonosuke had not previously made significant waves across the ocean. He was simply known as the son of a dead daimyo, a child scattered to the winds by Kaido's conquest. But if this boy could actually overthrow the rule of the Beasts Pirates in the future and successfully regain control of Wano Country, then he absolutely must be taken seriously by anyone with strategic awareness. The ancient surname Kozuki had entered the mainstream worldview once again, and outsiders found themselves intensely curious about this land that so fiercely advocated isolation from the wider world.
The Sky Screen began to systematically analyze the life of Kozuki Momonosuke, demonstrating precisely how a tyrant could be born from tragedy and privilege combined.
[The surname Kozuki can be traced back eight hundred years into history, but this lineage was not born noble, nor did they rule Wano Country from the beginning of their existence. The reason they were able to obtain the position of Shogun was because the ancestors of the Kozuki clan possessed exceptional talent in political positioning—choosing the winning side at critical moments.
Otherwise, how could a family that originated as mere stonemasons overturn their low status and become masters of an entire nation? Without that crucial talent for backing the right powers, there would be no great achievement of a bloodline lasting thousands of years into the future.]
[Wano Country was originally controlled by another family entirely—a group of powerful individuals who were exceptionally skilled in eye techniques and illusion arts. Their supernatural abilities could be passed down to family members through bloodline inheritance, creating a dynasty of nearly invincible rulers.
They governed the country with high-pressure authoritarian methods from within, which inevitably led to internal power struggles and family strife. In the end, they were overthrown by their own retainers—the Kurozumi clan—working in alliance with the craftsmen of the Kozuki clan. This once-mighty family became nothing more than dust hidden in the pages of forgotten history.
Relying on their superb stonemasonry skills, the Kozuki clan used the unique properties of seastone to carve the Poneglyphs—historical texts designed to record the Blank Century of history that was deliberately covered up by what would become the current World Government.
Because of their tremendous contributions to preserving the legacy of the Great Kingdom, the remnants of that fallen civilization later intervened in Wano Country's internal affairs specifically to repay the Kozuki clan's service.
In the end, the Kozuki clan relied on these powerful external forces to systematically defeat the Kurozumi clan and successfully seized the position of Shogun of Wano Country. This marked the beginning of their eight-hundred-year rule over the isolated nation.
In order to protect the dangerous secrets left behind by the Great Kingdom—knowledge that could threaten the World Government itself—they implemented a strict policy of national isolation from the very first day of their rule.
The country was controlled in the most conservative manner imaginable. The Kozuki clan employed a deliberate policy of keeping citizens ignorant and uneducated, never allowing them to leave Wano's shores. They even forbade people from sailing out to fish in international waters or engaging in any form of foreign trade.
The Kozuki clan merged seamlessly with the samurai class from the beginning, strictly controlling every aspect of civilian livelihood and the national economy. This ensured that the position of Shogun beneath their backsides could be passed down forever, generation after generation, without serious challenge.]
[This carefully buried history was eventually learned by Kozuki Momonosuke from descendants of the Uchiha clan after he successfully sealed Kaido and defeated Kurozumi Orochi, reclaiming his birthright.
When Momonosuke discovered that the supposedly noble Kozuki clan was actually just a family of stonemasons eight hundred years ago—commoners who had seized power through political maneuvering rather than divine right—his first instinct was to kill the messenger to ensure permanent silence.
He needed to make absolutely certain that in the eyes of Wano Country's population, the Kozuki clan would always represent holiness and carry the aura of saviors. They must be an existence that could not be questioned or violated. The common people should sell their own children into service, believing it an honor to serve the Kozuki bloodline for their entire lives.]
[After a celebratory banquet, Kozuki Momonosuke personally murdered a member of the Uchiha clan who had shared this historical truth with him. Originally, this individual had been Momonosuke's great benefactor—someone who had made indelible contributions to the restoration of Wano Country and the Kozuki clan's return to power.
However, facing such a benefactor whose achievements and knowledge surpassed what could be safely tolerated, Kozuki Momonosuke did not hesitate for even a moment. He killed the man without remorse.
He could not allow others to know the true secret of the Kozuki clan's origins. He had to sacrifice this ally to keep that secret buried forever.]
[It is not difficult to identify that Kozuki Momonosuke possesses an excessively suspicious character from a young age. He can maintain basic rationality when operating under high pressure and external threats, sometimes even displaying behavior befitting a benevolent monarch when circumstances demand it.
However, once his living environment becomes comfortable and superior again—once external pressure is removed—his true nature emerges. His love of luxury, his pursuit of debauchery, and his paranoid tendencies become impossible to suppress.
Not surprisingly, from the very first day of ruling Wano Country as its restored Shogun, he embarked enthusiastically on the path of recruiting a massive harem.
According to incomplete statistical records from later historians, during the period when Kozuki Momonosuke wielded power in Wano Country, the number of wives officially residing in his Shogun's mansion remained consistently above thirty thousand. Additionally, he kept nearly one hundred thousand slaves of various types to serve his household and satisfy his desires.
After his eventual death, the number of children he left behind was calculated at more than one thousand individuals. He was, in the most literal sense, a truly licentious monarch whose appetite could never be satisfied.]
[An interesting incident occurred during this debauched period of his reign. Because the Shogun's Mansion was expanded more than a hundredfold during his administration—reconstructed to accommodate exponentially more women and more slaves to serve him—Momonosuke found himself facing a peculiar problem.
As more and more beautiful women came to surround him, the Shogun became genuinely troubled each day about which woman he should choose to sleep with that night. The burden of choice became psychologically exhausting.
Finally, under the obsequious flattery of his close ministers, he agreed to implement a ridiculous solution proposed by his retainers.
Every day, Kozuki Momonosuke would ride in a cart pulled by a ram, giving the right of selection to the animal itself. He would allow the ram to wander freely through the mansion grounds. Wherever the sheep chose to stop in front of a lady's chamber gate, that woman would receive the honor of the Shogun's nocturnal visit.
This random and supposedly fresh approach to selecting partners lasted for many years, and the man thoroughly enjoyed the unpredictability every single time.
However, some clever ladies of the mansion quickly devised a corresponding strategy to improve their chances. Since sheep naturally love to eat salt, these women began inserting bamboo branches outside their chamber doors and sprinkling concentrated salt water on the ground directly in front of their gates. This attracted the greedy ram and thus successfully "seduced" the Shogun into selecting them.
This absurd story serves as a perfect microcosm of Kozuki Momonosuke's thoroughly debauched lifestyle and the corruption that defined his reign.]
[During Momonosuke's administration, Wano Country completely reversed its ancient tradition of drowning female infants. Previously, impoverished families had strongly preferred male children who could provide physical labor, viewing daughters as financial losses that consumed resources without providing adequate return.
However, because the Shogun was so obsessively fond of collecting beautiful women, any female child with decent looks could potentially make an entire family's fortune by entering the Shogun's mansion. This created a genuine baby boom focused specifically on daughters.
Couples came to regard having female children as extraordinarily precious. It represented perhaps the worst taste among all possible bad tastes—commodifying daughters as lottery tickets for potential wealth and status.]
[Momonosuke's paranoid and suspicious side began erupting with increasing frequency more than ten years into his rule. During one incident, the Shogun visited the home of a meritorious official to honor his service. However, after drinking heavily, Momonosuke unexpectedly had sexual relations with both his own retainer's wife and daughter.
After sobering up and realizing what he had done, he did not feel any shame or remorse for violating the family that had served him loyally. Instead, he felt only terror that this scandal might be exposed and damage the carefully cultivated reputation of the Kozuki clan.
This time, Momonosuke chose to murder the entire family of his victims, including the loyal retainer himself. He firmly believed that only the dead could keep secrets permanently.
However, committing such a cruel and excessive act only amplified Kozuki Momonosuke's paranoia to pathological levels. He began constantly suspecting that people around him were subtly hinting at what he had done, reading hidden meanings into innocent statements.
He would obsessively examine every single word spoken by his retainers, analyzing phrases for double meanings or veiled accusations. His tyrannical and suspicious nature could no longer be adequately suppressed or hidden.
As long as any subordinate said something that could be interpreted as wrong or disrespectful, Momonosuke would punish them without hesitation—no matter how many contributions they had made in the past, no matter how loyally they had served. In his increasingly twisted perception, the past was the past and the present was the present. Human lives meant nothing more than numbers in his hands, statistics to be manipulated.]
[One particular favored lady was being spoiled in his arms during a court gathering, enjoying his attention and affection. Simply because she made an innocent verbal mistake in front of Kozuki Momonosuke—said something he interpreted as subtly mocking—he ruthlessly severed her head in front of all his assembled retainers without warning.
The blood that spurted from her neck stained his body and clothing completely crimson. In the horrified eyes of the witnessing retainers, Momonosuke appeared exactly like a blood-soaked devil made flesh.
Such a moody and tyrannical ruler would commit even more excessive atrocities in the future.]
[The epithet "Kozuki the Barber" is not a joke or mere propaganda from his enemies. It is an accurate statement of historical fact regarding what Kozuki Momonosuke actually did.
After defeating the combined coalition forces of the Beasts Pirates and the Kurozumi clan, he ruthlessly carried out systematic liquidation work and began slaughtering lives on a truly massive scale.
The remnants of the Beasts Pirates fell beneath the sword one after another, executed without trial or mercy. The ninjas who had maintained any connections whatsoever with the Kurozumi clan had their entire families killed, just as their former master Orochi had once done to others.
Later, the scope of the bloody liquidation was expanded again and again. It came to include merchant groups that had provided any services to the Beasts Pirates during the occupation. Poor laborers who had worked simply to survive and feed their families. Women who had been violated and exploited by members of the Kurozumi clan.
No one could be spared or escape from the hell that Wano Country had become. For an extended period, people were executed daily across the island. Tens of thousands of individuals were implicated in the purges.
As for whether innocent people existed among the condemned—whether some had genuinely had no choice about their actions during the occupation—no one in power cared enough to investigate. Guilt was assumed, and the sword fell regardless.
Drunk on the power of total victory, Kozuki Momonosuke convinced himself that everything he did was absolutely correct and righteous. Everything the Shogun commanded was right by definition, simply because he commanded it.
Even though some of his retainers privately realized that the executions had become excessive—that they were murdering people who posed no actual threat—these supposedly loyal men did not lay down their blood-stained blades. Instead, they joined enthusiastically in the ranks of executioners, becoming accomplices to atrocity.
But who truly cared about the lives of common people? They were just cold numbers in ledgers, living resources to be exploited, born to serve as cattle and horses and make contributions with their labor and lives.
Without these expendable masses carrying society's burdens with their blood and tears, how could the Kozuki clan possibly live peacefully and prosperously in the future?]
{Editor here: This might be the worst interpretation of Momonosuke I read in fanfic; I just don't get the overly hate on Momo, I did some research and see that although it not because China hate Japan, they can differentiate Wano from Japan. It mostly because the long time it take for Wano arc to be finished. I appreciate the comment later after this week update as you continue reading this if I should I continue}