Chapter 965

Oden was surprised to hear that, and Whitebeard told him that, in a way, Wano was still free. Two years after Oden and Toki joined the Whitebeard Pirates, Toki gave birth to their son, whom Oden named Kouzuki Momonosuke. Izou advised that they return to Wano for Momonosuke’s safety since Oden now had a bounty on his head, but Oden and Toki assured him that they would be fine. As this happened, Nekomamushi read the newspaper and noted that it never reported on events in Wano, wanting to know how their comrades were. Some time later, Whitebeard decided to split his growing crew into divisions, and he appointed Oden as the leader of the second division, which Oden was not enthused by.

The Whitebeard Pirates continued exploring new islands and taking in new people, including an orphan named Teach. The more Oden saw during this voyage, the more he wanted to continue adventuring. Back on Wano, the four daimyo went to the Flower Capital to gather around a critically ill Sukiyaki. Sukiyaki decreed that Oden was to succeed him as shogun, but he would appoint an acting regent to rule while Oden was away. For that position he chose Orochi, who he believed was like a little brother to Oden.

Yasuie was surprised to see Orochi there, as well as to hear of him having that kind of relationship with Oden. Orochi graciously accepted Sukiyaki’s bestowment, promising to redeem the Kurozumi Family from his grandfather’s treachery. However, over 13 years before this, Orochi had been approached by an old woman who foresaw that he would become shogun. She asked if he knew what had happened to his grandfather, and Orochi stated that he was executed for committing treason. The old woman laughed this off, saying that attempting to gain power was not a crime.

She revealed that in his grandfather’s time, the Kouzuki Family did not have an heir to the shogunate, leaving the leaders of the daimyo families including the Kurozumi Family as the top choices to succeed the shogun. Orochi’s grandfather worked to make himself the front runner by poisoning the other daimyo, and their deaths grieved the shogun and drove him closer to death. However, the shogun managed to unexpectedly father an heir, Sukiyaki. Orochi’s grandfather’s plot was eventually exposed and he was sentenced to commit seppuku, with his family losing their power and wealth and living in squalor. After hearing this story, Orochi was entranced by the idea that he could have become shogun and blamed Sukiyaki for preventing this.

The old woman then revealed that she could change her appearance with the Mane Mane no Mi and presented Orochi with the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi, saying she would give him the power to become shogun if he followed her instructions. Orochi agreed, and the woman commanded him to gather up gold and start manufacturing weapons in order to gain powerful allies. Orochi first went to Hakumai, where Yasuie agreed to let him work for him. Orochi eventually disappeared, taking all the gold in Yasuie’s safe with him. He then went to Kuri, where he asked Oden to lend him money many times.

Despite his retainers warning him against it, Oden always obliged. Later, Orochi went with Oden to the shogun’s castle, where Oden requested that Orochi be given a job there, saying he was like his little brother. However, Oden was actually the old woman in disguise. In the current time, after he had been declared Sukiyaki’s temporary successor, Orochi laughed with the shogun, whom the old woman was posing as. During the fourth year of Oden’s voyage, the Whitebeard Pirates noticed the sea creatures fleeing in panic from an island, and they talked about checking it out as Oden and Toki tried to calm the crying Momonosuke and Hiyori. The crew docked at the island, and found even the land animals running away. On the other side of the island, the Roger Pirates had brutally beaten a group of Marines when Buggy alerted them that the Whitebeard Pirates had arrived. Roger decided to go and confront them, as it may be the final time he would get to encounter Whitebeard.