Raizo

Raizo of the Mist is a ninja and retainer of the Kouzuki Family, being one of the Nine Red Scabbards that served the legendary samurai Kouzuki Oden during the Legendary Hour 20 years ago. He was born 55 years ago, but traveled 20 years forward in time at the age of 35.
He acts as a major ally to the Straw Hat Pirates during the Zou and Wano Country Arcs.
==Appearance==
Raizo is a very large man, standing at 311 cm (10 ft). He is also quite disproportionately wide, with his head being nearly the same width as the rest of his body. He has exceptionally pronounced cheekbones and a long, square jaw with rounded teeth. He also has thick and lightning-shaped black eyebrows as well as a crescent moon-shaped scar on his forehead that was given to him by King. He has been noted to look rather older and ugly, with no woman being attracted to him, and the prisoners in Udon were not sure he had time traveled as they could easily believe he had aged 20 years since the last time they saw him. Raizo possesses short black hair that includes a small spike at the top of his head; the hair is also partitioned into six tendrils on the sides shaped like antennae. He bears the Kouzuki Family crest somewhere on his body.
For clothing, Raizo wears a light blue kimono whose inner edges are lined by orange stripes dotted with dark blue polka dots. He also wears a green obi tied in a bowtie around his waist, a dark yellow-scaled undershirt and pants under his kimono, a purple nio-dasuki on his back, and a pair of sandals on his feet. He also wears two diamond-shaped appendages on his back whose colors alternate between light and dark blue; this apparatus appears to function as a kite.
In the past one to two decades of his life, Raizo was much smaller and his six hair appendages were shorter and shaped more like spikes.
===Gallery===
==Personality==
Raizo is a serious, honorable, and kindhearted man who cares greatly about his comrades and the people that he serves. He will work tirelessly to aid his group's objectives and has no issue with risking his life; on the flip side, he absolutely hates the idea of people risking their lives to protect him. This was shown on Zou when he was devastated to see the Mokomo Dukedom residents injured protecting him from Jack, and said he would rather they turn him in rather than continue facing danger. Raizo has a tendency to become very emotional when overcome by strong feelings, both good and bad, and will often bawl heavily. He will not hesitate to show people just how much he cares about or is grateful for them. Raizo cares greatly about the samurai code of loyalty, and although he detests Kurozumi Orochi, he did commend his rival ninja Fukurokuju for remaining loyal to the shogun.
Raizo has demonstrated himself to be quite diligent and prepared, a necessity for his profession. During the preparation period for the assault on Onigashima, Raizo was effective in formulating and executing strategies to increase the alliance's numbers, and also kept tabs on potential unresolved issues such as a lack of weapons to arm their allies with. He is not rash and will wait for the most opportune time to execute his plans, even if it takes several days. The only time Raizo was shown lapsing in his attentiveness while infiltrating enemy territory was when he reunited with his old comrade Kawamatsu in the Prisoner Mine, which resulted in him being spotted by the Beasts Pirates when the cart he was hiding behind moved. Even in emotional moments Raizo does not lapse in his judgement, as when Oden seemingly appeared before them in the present day, Raizo was one of the few Scabbards to doubt it was actually him, using logic to explain his doubt even though he wished that Oden was indeed still alive.
Raizo takes his profession seriously and does not like to showcase his skills just for performance. However, he eventually relented with the Straw Hat Pirates when he saw them sullen after his refusal. Despite claiming to not partake in such an activity, Raizo has been shown adopting the stereotypical ninja verbal tic "nin-nin" when caught up in thrilling action during ninja duties. He has also been shown referring to simple actions like hugs as ninjutsu techniques.
Raizo wishes to have a romantic relationship with a kunoichi, and his inability to attract women is something he is very self-conscious and depressed about. When he was younger, a rejection by a kunoichi drove him to leave the service of the Kouzuki Oniwabanshu and live in despair as a vagabond in Udon for some time. Over a decade later, he was shown bemoaning his master Oden finding a wife while he had no such luck.
==Relationships==
===Allies===
====Kouzuki Oden====
Raizo wished to follow Kouzuki Oden 41 years ago after living as a bandit in Udon due to being tired of living alone in the shadows. Despite not desiring to take on followers, Oden was hospitable to Raizo just like he was with the others who followed him. Raizo served Oden wholeheartedly and did anything he could to support his master; when Shimotsuki Yasuie told him and Oden's other retainers to educate themselves and become proper retainers, Raizo and the others devoted years to studying for the sake of Oden's reputation. Raizo opposed Oden illegally setting out to sea, and was cold toward his master when he eventually returned, but still remained loyal. After Oden married Toki and brought her to Wano, Raizo was shown acting jealous of his master's success with women. Raizo was present at the Legendary Hour execution in which Oden saved him and his eight fellow retainers from being boiled alive, and when Oden gave his dying wish for the Scabbards to open Wano's borders in his stead, Raizo, despite being devastated by his master's impending death, proclaimed his intention to fulfill Oden's dream and stopped Denjiro expressing the desire to die alongside Oden. In the months following Oden's death, Raizo has tirelessly worked to aid in the Scabbards' plot to avenge Oden.
====Kouzuki Momonosuke====
Like the rest of Kouzuki Oden's retainers, Raizo was fond of Kouzuki Momonosuke and saw him as the rightful ruler of Wano, as well as it's next shogun. This, alongside his desire to avenge and protect the legacy of his master Oden, made him protective of the young shogun, as he accompanied him to the future alongside Kin'emon, Kiku, and Kanjuro, and then later protected them as they set off to sea to find allies, even though he got left behind due to a storm. He was very happy to see Momonosuke and others safely make it to Zou, and was happy that they succeeded in finding allies. Raizo's faith in Momonosuke as the next shogun is just as strong as his faith was to Oden, as he brushed off Fukurokuju's insults towards Momonosuke and stated his belief in Momonosuke and his readiness to protect and serve him despite his age, knowing that he would become a great shogun and achieve his father's goals and save Wano. 
====Nine Red Scabbards====
Raizo possesses a close bond with his fellow retainers, with their group becoming known as the Nine Red Scabbards following the Legendary Hour. After being separated from Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke during their voyage out of Wano, Raizo was extremely happy to reunite with them a few weeks later. Additionally, upon encountering his comrade Kawamatsu in the Prisoner Mine, Raizo expressed great joy and gave all of his attention toward talking with him despite being in enemy territory. While plotting for the Fire Festival raid on Wano, Raizo provided important communications to Kin'emon about the developments in Udon. When Kin'emon made a mistake in interpreting the secret message pointing to which port the alliance would gather at, he tried to play it off as an intentional strategy after it fooled the spy Kanjuro, though Raizo immediately knew that he was bluffing.
====Mokomo Dukedom====
As a servant of the Kouzuki Family, Raizo possesses very good relations with the members of the Mink Tribe who live in the Mokomo Dukedom on Zou, having first met they're to-be dukes Inuarashi and Nekomamushi when they washed up on Wano and served Oden alongside him. When Raizo came to Zou and Jack and the Beasts Pirates invaded the island shortly afterward to find him, the minks, in a display of absolute loyalty to Raizo, hid him away and continuously denied that he was there. Although Jack brutally injured and nearly exterminated them over the coming days, not one of them divulged the truth. Raizo did not agree with the minks' actions and despaired to see them injured when they came to feed him, preferring that they turn him in rather than risk their lives for his sake and forcing the minks to chain him to the Road Poneglyph in order to keep him hidden. When the Beasts Pirates retreated and Raizo was freed, he expressed his immense gratitude by performing a powerful hug on a group of minks, and the minks, despite many of them still recovering from significant injuries, were happy that they had succeeded in keeping him safe. 
====Straw Hat Pirates====
Raizo met the Straw Hat Pirates when they accompanied Kin'emon's group into the whale tree on Zou. The male Straw Hats were excited to meet a ninja, and despite being less than enthused after seeing Raizo's appearance, they still begged him to perform his ninja arts for them. Raizo eventually agreed after initially refusing and making them depressed, and the pirates were left in awe at his skills. Like the rest of the scabbards Raizo holds the Straw Hats' captain Monkey D. Luffy in high regard not only for his great strength but also for his noble heart. While on Wano, Raizo worked tirelessly to infiltrate the Prisoner Mine in Udon for several days in order to secure Luffy's freedom. Later during the Raid on Onigashima, Raizo would work together with the newest member of the Straw Hats, Jinbe, to put out the fire that was burning throughout Onigashima. After the raid, he is so grateful to Straw Hats for saving his country from Kaidou that he was willing to fight someone as powerful as Admiral Ryokugyu to protect them.
====Caribou====
Raizo met the pirate Caribou in the Prisoner Mine after finding out that he had stolen the keys to his Seastone handcuffs rather than Luffy's. Out of gratitude for the ninja freeing him, Caribou aided Raizo by doing things like keeping him hidden in his swamp body and helping him execute his plans. Caribou even contributed strategies of his own to aid the duo such as cutting off communications from Udon, and Raizo thought well of him due to his assistance as well as intrigue at his Devil Fruit powers, which Raizo calls "sorcery".
===Enemies===
====Kurozumi Kanjuro====
Kurozumi Kanjuro and Raizo spent the past 21 years together as Oden's retainers, and Raizo got along with him just as well as he did with the others, not having any idea that Kanjuro was serving the Kurozumi Family behind the scenes. However, when Raizo became separated from Kanjuro, Kin'emon and Momonosuke on their way to Zou and ended up at Zou alone, it was Kanjuro who informed the Beasts Pirates that he was there and gave them a way to get to the island. None the wiser, Raizo was extremely happy to reunite with Kanjuro on Zou several weeks later, and Kanjuro acted the same way. Raizo was left aghast when Kanjuro revealed his true allegiance and treachery on the way to Onigashima, and thus became enemies with his former comrade. However, when the Scabbards reunited with Kanjuro on Onigashima and Kikunojo struck him down, Raizo was shown weeping with sadness at Kanjuro's seeming demise, showing that he still cared for his former comrade. However, once Kanjuro showed this lingering camaraderie was not mutual, in creating a painted clone of Oden as a cruel way to mock them that resulted in Ashura's death, Raizo became incredibly hateful of Kanjuro.
====Kurozumi Orochi and Kaidou====
Raizo possesses a strong enmity toward Kurozumi Orochi and Kaidou as part of the larger conflict between them and the Kouzuki Family. He and the other Scabbards were shocked when Orochi was appointed shogun in Oden's absence after Sukiyaki's death, and attempted to remove Orochi from power after about a year or two due to the new shogun subjecting the citizens to terrible working conditions and even executing them for not working enough. However, they and Oden's attempts to remove Orochi were unsuccessful due to the shogun being backed by the powerful pirate Kaidou. The Kouzuki Family lived under the duo's control for five years until Kaidou's attack on the Hyougoro Family caused Oden to lose his tolerance for them. Oden and the Scabbards went to war against Kaidou to eliminate him and weaken Orochi, though ultimately lost. When Oden was later killed by Kaidou and Orochi and saved his Scabbards from the same fate, they swore to avenge him and plotted another attack against Kaidou. 20 years later, when Kanjuro informed Orochi of Raizo heading to Zou, the Beasts Pirates sought out to capture the Scabbard. Despite Orochi and Kaidou's best efforts, the Scabbards were eventually able to perform their ambush against Kaidou with the intent on not stopping their assault until either they or Kaidou were dead. When they encountered Orochi after being defeated by Kaidou on Onigashima, they immediately proceeded to attack and decapitate the shogun.
====Fukurokuju====
Raizo and Fukurokuju are stated to be rivals due to their individual high-level prowess as ninja. They were first shown interacting on Onigashima, and although Fukurokuju was his enemy due to serving Orochi, Raizo stated that he did respect the ninja for maintaining his loyalty even after Orochi had seemingly been killed.
=== Others ===
==== Fukumi ====
Fukumi was Fukurokuju's younger sister who Raizo was in love with. After he rescued her on a mission, she fell in love with him too, but he naively rejected her attempts to kiss him and accidentally injured her. Her death kickstarted her brother's deep-seated hatred towards the ninja as he mistakenly thought Fukumi was cursing him on her deathbed, of which Raizo never attempted to defend himself against.
==Abilities and Powers==
===Physical Abilities===
Due to his massive size, Raizo is capable of carrying normal-sized humans on his head and shoulders with no issue. Despite his size, he is extremely fast, being capable of leaping off the walls of the Executive Tower in Udon too rapidly for any of the guards to keep up with. Additionally, he is fast enough to be able to hide with only the assistance of a smoke ball, even in large, crowded spaces. He has enough endurance to after recovering in a short time from battling Kaidou, Raizo was able to function normally. He also outlast Fukurokuju when they were both on fire despite being lit up first.
===Ninjutsu===
Raizo is a tremendously skilled and accomplished ninja, being masterful in the techniques of ninjutsu. He was reputed as a "genius" ninja even when he was part of the Kouzuki Oniwabanshu in his youth, and is stated to be the rival of Fukurokuju, the most recent captain of the Oniwabanshu. Despite his massive size, he is immensely talented at stealth and was able to infiltrate the heavily-guarded Prisoner Mine for several days while remaining unspotted for almost the entire time.
Raizo is capable of gliding using the kite-like apparatus on his back.
===Devil Fruit===
Raizo ate the Maki Maki no Mi, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to create and manipulate scrolls. He can make the scrolls grow to massive size and unroll as long as he pleases. Raizo also has the ability to seal and store objects inside them and later release them.
He can use his scrolls as a shield which can absorb and store his enemies attacks. He can then release the sealed attacks from the scroll back in the direction of his enemy to deal them damage from their own offense. He can take this utilization a step further by wrapping the scroll around his opponent's body and release the sealed attack at pointblank range from all around them.
Since Raizo is unaware of Devil Fruits, like many residents of Wano he refers to this power as .
===Weapons===
Raizo's primary weapons are shuriken, which he is capable of throwing rapidly with excellent precision. He can throw dozens of shuriken in quick succession to strike hordes of enemies, and he is accurate enough to perform parlor tricks with them by throwing them into surfaces in the shape of something like kanji.
During the Raid on Onigashima, he wielded two swords which he used during the ambush of Kaidou.
====Techniques====
*: Raizo possesses large quantities of shuriken which he can throw rapidly with expert precision. For example, he can make them form the kanji for .
*: A technique in which Raizo throws several shuriken very quickly. In the anime, the shuriken also electrocute the targets. In the English adaptations, this is called Lightning Shuriken.
===Haki===
====Armament Haki====
Raizo is a master of Armament Haki, which is known as Ryuo in Wano. He can harden his swords and possesses an advanced level of Armament Haki, as shown when he cuts through Kaidou's tremendously tough skin.
====Observation Haki====
Raizo possesses the ability to use Observation Haki.
==History==
===Past===
Raizo once served as a ninja in the Kouzuki Family's Oniwabanshu, but left the service after being turned down for a date by a kunoichi. Forty-one years ago, he lived as a bandit in Udon who was rumored to kidnap women and beat up men. However, when Kouzuki Oden and his followers came through Udon, Raizo begged to follow the samurai due to being tired of living in the shadows. Two years later, Oden and his followers would restore order to the lawless region of Kuri, causing Oden to be appointed as daimyo and turn his followers into retainers. Six years later, Raizo and the other retainers snuck into Hakumai to steal money from its daimyo, Shimotsuki Yasuie, due to Oden lacking it. They were caught and tied up, but to their shock Yasuie willingly gave them the money, giving them the condition to educate themselves into becoming proper retainers for the to-be shogun. The retainers trained over the next three years, and when they accompanied Oden in a procession into the Flower Capital, the citizens were amazed at their dignified behavior.
Later that year, Oden was reported to have gone after a pirate crew that landed on the coast, and his retainers quickly rushed there as well. They found Oden with the Whitebeard Pirates, and Oden said that he wanted to accompany the group out to sea, with his retainers immediately opposing this. However, two weeks later, Oden, Izou, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi went missing at the same time that the pirates departed. Four years passed, and Oden's father Sukiyaki apparently died, resulting in Kurozumi Orochi succeeding the shogunate in Oden's absence and ruling Wano alongside the pirate Kaidou. Oden, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi then returned with Oden's new wife Toki and children Momonosuke and Hiyori. Although Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were staying behind with Oden's family, Oden said he would be heading out to sea again for quite some time, leaving the retainers in dismay. Half a year later, the retainers had enough with the terrible working conditions Orochi subjected the citizens to in the weapons factories he had built throughout Wano, and most of them went to put a stop to the shogun while Inuarashi and Kawamatsu stayed behind to protect Oden's family. However, their campaign was stopped after they learned that Kaidou's forces had gone after Momonosuke in their absence, with Toki being struck in the leg by an arrow.
Oden would return half a year later, and the retainers informed him about what had changed in the past five years. Despite Toki's pleas, they told him about the pirates' attack, causing Oden to immediately take up arms and go to kill Orochi. Oden was unable to remove from Orochi from power, and began inexplicably dancing naked in the streets of the Flower Capital once a week for the next five years. Despite the immense concern of his retainers, he would not tell them his reason for doing this. However, following these five years, Oden and his retainers learned that the yakuza boss Hyougoro had been captured and his family and subordinates had been killed by Kaidou on Orochi's orders. In response, Oden immediately rallied his followers to head to the island of Onigashima to take down Kaidou. The ten-samurai force was unexpectedly met by Kaidou and the Beasts Pirates in Udon, and a great battle began, with the former Oniwabanshu ninja Shinobu joining Oden's forces early on. Despite the pirates numbering 1000, the samurai challenged them heavily; Raizo was shown fighting King and sustaining a cut to his forehead. However, they were eventually overwhelmed and captured after Kaidou successfully defeated Oden. Oden and his nine retainers were then imprisoned in the Flower Capital and sentenced to execution by being boiled alive.
On the day of execution, Oden and his followers were brought to a large pot of boiling oil. However, Oden proposed a deal that he and his men could go free if any of them withstood the boiling for one hour, which Kaidou agreed to. Oden then picked up a giant plank of wood and got into the pot, having his subordinates sit on the plank he held and stay out of harm's way. Oden managed to remain in this position as the hour passed, but said that he would still die and so ordered his subordinates to open up Wano's borders in preparation for the arrival of a figure that the whole world had been awaiting for the past 800 years. Denjiro wished to die alongside Oden, but Raizo silenced him and agreed to fulfill their master's dream. The hour finally passed, and Oden remained alive. However, Orochi then changed the deal to have the samurai executed via firing squad, and Oden threw his retainers out of the pot before being shot dead by Kaidou. The retainers immediately ran towards Kuri to protect Oden's family; however, upon arriving, they found that Kaidou and his crew had already gotten there and set Kuri Castle on fire. Raizo, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Kikunojo, and Kawamatsu went into the castle and found Toki with Momonosuke and Hiyori. Toki revealed that she possessed the power to travel into the future, but that her journey would end here with Oden. The samurai swore to fulfill Oden's dream of opening Wano's borders, and Toki transported Raizo, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Kikunojo with Momonosuke into the future.
The samurai instantly appeared 20 years later in the ruins of the now burned-down castle, and found grave markings with their names on them while also seeing that Wano had become a desolate polluted wasteland. Despite Orochi and Kaidou's continued grip on the country, the samurai were still able to find allies who remained loyal to the Kouzuki Family. Immediately beginning to plot another attack against Kaidou, Raizo, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke set out to sea to recruit more allies to their cause; however, they were spotted by Beasts Pirates scouts right as they set sail. They planned to go to Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's homeland of Zou, whose people had been allied with the Kouzuki Family for hundreds of years.However, they were overwhelmed by a storm at sea which caused Raizo to be separated from the others. Raizo was able to make it to Zou, where he reunited with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi and met the members of the Mink Tribe living in the Mokomo Dukedom. However, a platoon of Beasts Pirates led by the All-Star Jack then invaded Zou to find Raizo, and the minks kept the ninja inside a cave to protect him.
===Whole Cake Island Saga===
====Zou Arc====
Seventeen days after Jack's invasion, Raizo was in the cave weeping with sadness due to the minks that brought him food all being injured, begging them to surrender him to the enemy rather than sacrifice their lives for him. However, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Momonosuke then entered the cave alongside Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, the Straw Hat Pirates, and Trafalgar Law of the Heart Pirates and reunited with Raizo. After being introduced to the Straw Hats and Law, Raizo was begged by the male pirates to show them his ninja techniques. Raizo initially refused to do so, but upon seeing them sullen and depressed afterward, he relented and demonstrated multiple ninjutsu moves. Raizo then left the cave for the first time in weeks with Kin'emon and Kanjuro, and wept upon seeing the devastation left in the wake of the fighting with Jack. The samurai then went back in the cave as the Straw Hats learned about the nature of the Road Poneglyph from Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. When they asked the minks how they knew so much about the Poneglyphs, the samurai told them about the Kouzuki Family's history with the stones, and this eventually led them to reveal Kouzuki Oden's death and their mission to defeat Kaidou and open Wano's borders. The samurai asked the Straw Hats and Law to aid them in this quest, and the duo eventually agreed when Momonosuke stepped up to take charge of the agreement. The new allies then celebrated the formation of their partnership, dubbed the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance.
The allies then headed out of the cave and walked down to the city. Upon arriving there, the minks happily greeted Raizo and began throwing a party to celebrate his safety, and the emotional ninja loudly proclaimed his love for all of them. However, Zou then suddenly began shaking. Momonosuke, with the help of an unusual voice in his head, was able to learn that this shaking was due to Jack's forces returning and attacking Zunesha, the elephant carrying Zou on its back. Momonosuke then commanded Zunesha to drive Jack away, and Zou quickly stopped shaking; the mink Bariete later confirmed that the elephant had sunk Jack's fleet. As everyone recovered from the sudden series of events, Momonosuke informed his retainers that he would stay on Zou a little while longer with the minks to communicate further with Zunesha while they went ahead to Wano. Later, the samurai, minks, and pirates saw off Luffy and the other members of his team as they departed Zou to head to Whole Cake Island and rescue the Straw Hats' crewmate Sanji.
===Wano Country Saga===
====Wano Country Arc====
The samurai, Straw Hats who did not accompany Luffy, and Heart Pirates traveled in the latter group's submarine, the Polar Tang, to Wano. Upon entering the country, Kin'emon instructed the pirates to blend in with the locals as they set into motion their plot to recruit allies for the final battle.
A considerable amount of time later, Luffy's group arrived at Wano, but Luffy was defeated and captured by Kaidou. Raizo infiltrated the Prisoner Mine in Udon where the pirate was being held, and scouted out the location of the key to the Seastone handcuffs put on him. He informed Luffy of this, but revealed that it was kept in a Seastone chest that was guarded at all times and so it would take some time to get it. Several days later, Raizo managed to successfully sneak in and steal the key before moving out of the Officer's Tower without anyone being able to catch him. Raizo then hid behind a cart in the mine clearing as he watched Luffy being confronted by the Beasts Pirates All-Star Queen. A voice then called out to Raizo from the dark cell right behind him, and the ninja was shocked to find out that the person inside was his old comrade Kawamatsu. However, as he was talking with Kawamatsu, the cart moved and caused Raizo to be seen by the Beasts Pirates, forcing him to throw a smoke ball to escape. After moving to a new hiding spot, Raizo watched as Queen freed Luffy from his handcuffs, leaving him in shock as he wondered whose cuffs he stole the key for.
Later that day, Raizo discovered that he had the key for the handcuffs of a pirate named Caribou, and freed him from them as the two of them teamed up. Caribou used his Numa Numa no Mi ability to hide Raizo inside his body, and when night fell, the duo approached the ring where Luffy along with Hyougoro were trapped to fight in Queen's "Sumo Inferno" game. Raizo briefly caught up with both Luffy and Hyougoro, and the latter offered his assistance in the upcoming war, revealing that this entire prison contained thousands of people who were put here for rebelling against Orochi and so could easily add multitudes of allies to their cause. Before going back into hiding, Raizo and Caribou fed Luffy and Hyougoro with Queen's oshiruko stash. Raizo then watched a broadcast of Orochi and his men executing Yasuie as the former daimyo used his final words to aid the alliance's cause, and the ninja wept in sadness while expressing gratitude for his actions.
Caribou then got the idea to use his swamp powers to take out the Den Den Mushi facilitating communication from the prison to the rest of the country, and Raizo was able to take advantage of the chaos this caused to infiltrate the Officer's Tower again and steal all the keys so he could free Kawamatsu. Raizo broke out of the tower after acquiring the key to Kawamatsu's handcuffs as well as his sword Soto Muso, and threw the two items into his comrade's cell, allowing Kawamatsu to break free after 13 years of imprisonment. Raizo then ran into Kikunojo, who had come to the prison to rescue Luffy, and Hyougoro told the two of them to remove their disguises so the prisoners could see that the prophecy of their return had come true. Upon doing so, Raizo and Kikunojo then prepared to fight alongside Kawamatsu, Hyougoro, Luffy, and Luffy's crewmate Tony Tony Chopper to take control of the prison. The band of allies managed to overpower the Beasts Pirates, with Raizo assaulting his foes with shuriken as well as giving keys to free the imprisoned pirate Eustass Kid. However, the prisoners became infected with Queen's virus Mummy and turned against the samurai and pirates for their own safety; however, to Raizo's shock, Luffy took all of them head-on and managed to convince them to fight for their freedom. With the prisoners now on their side, the insurgents proceeded to quickly defeat the Beasts Pirates and seize control of the Prisoner Mine.
Following the battle, Raizo and Kawamatsu faced scrutiny from the prisoners over Luffy being a pirate, as well as doubts over whether the former actually traveled through time. However, Momonosuke then appeared before the crowd from his hiding spot, causing them to realize the prophecy was true. With the issues settled, Kawamatsu departed, promising to reunite with the rest of the Scabbards by the time of the final battle in 8 days. The next day, Raizo was impressed as he watched the young girl Tama use her Devil Fruit ability to tame the Beasts Pirate Gifters and use them to trick the rest of the crew into thinking everything was fine in Udon. Raizo then contacted Kin'emon to inform him of the massive development in Udon, though raised the concern that they lacked a sufficient stockpile of weapons to arm their new allies with. Two days later, Raizo went to Amigasa Village in Kuri, where he reunited with all of the Scabbards except Nekomamushi and Denjiro as well as members of the Straw Hats, and Kin'emon gathered all of them together to hold a strategy meeting. Kawamatsu revealed that Oden's daughter Hiyori was still alive, and the other Scabbards cried with happiness at the news. The Scabbards plotted to meet at the promised destination of Tokage Port, with Kin'emon saying that Yasuie had altered the secret message before his execution to point to it rather than the original destination of Habu Port. When the day before the raid came, the Scabbards, Shinobu, and Momonosuke headed off to Tokage Port in order to get it ready for the rest of the alliance to arrive.
Upon arriving at Tokage Port the next day, however, the Scabbards found no one there and all the ships destroyed in what had seemingly been an attack. Inuarashi found a small boat that was still intact, and with no time left to regroup and try again, the Scabbards set sail with the intent of making a last-ditch effort to avenge Oden, leaving Momonosuke with Shinobu on the shore. As the Scabbards navigated the stormy waters, Kin'emon began strongly considering the possibility that one among their number had been leaking information to the enemy. In response, Kanjuro revealed that it was him and that he was a member of the Kurozumi Family. The Scabbards were then confronted by three Beasts Pirates battleships, and Kin'emon beheaded Kanjuro, but the Scabbards then discovered that the Kanjuro among them was actually a drawing as the real Kanjuro appeared on the shore and captured Momonosuke. Fortunately, however, the Straw Hat, Heart, and Kid Pirates then arrived to save the Scabbards from the Beasts Pirates, with the Heart Pirates having the Polar Tang surface underneath the Scabbards' boat. As the Scabbards' pirate allies took on the Beasts Pirates, the Kyoshiro yakuza family then arrived and pledged their support to the Kouzuki Family, with their leader Kyoshiro revealing himself to be Denjiro. Denjiro revealed that not only had he freed a thousand samurai who were imprisoned in the Flower Capital for their loyalty to the Kouzuki Family, but the rest of the alliance's forces were sailing right behind him as Yasuie's altered message had actually instructed them to go to the Habu Port wharfs rather than Tokage Port like Kin'emon had thought.
Kanjuro drew a bird to carry himself and Momonosuke in the air, and successfully escaped from the alliance by assaulting them with a shower of ink bullets. The remaining Beasts Pirates ship seemingly retreated, but then began assaulting the alliance's ships with long-range cannons. However, their ship was suddenly destroyed by the fish-man Jinbe, who had arrived to join the Straw Hats. As they approached Onigashima, the Scabbards and pirates plotted to split their forces into three, with the Straw Hat and Kid Pirates leading a head-on assault on the front entrance of Kaidou's fortress while Kin'emon and Denjiro would lead the samurai forces around the Skull Dome to the secret rear entrance; the rest of the Scabbards would travel to the rear of the island on the Polar Tang with Law and be directly transported to the rear entrance by him. As they were finalizing the plan, the Scabbards then watched in shock as the Straw Hats made it to Onigashima and proceeded to quickly take out the Torii Guards. As the alliance forces made their way into the island, the Scabbards and Heart Pirates submerged underwater to sneak around to the back. While still underwater, Inuarashi received a call from Nekomamushi revealing that he and the Guardians had just arrived to join the raid. Upon reaching the rear of the island, Law successfully teleported the Scabbards onto land and they quickly reunited not only with Nekomamushi, but with Izou as well.
The Scabbards' happiness was short-lived, however, as Kanjuro came out to confront them with several samurai accompanying him. Kikunojo clashed with Kanjuro and managed to defeat him before Kin'emon and Denjiro arrived, and Raizo wept over his fallen former comrade. The Scabbards and Izou then entered Kaidou's fortress and successfully made their way to the Live Stage, where they charged at Kaidou and forced him off the stage as they drove their weapons into his body with killing intent. Many of the Scabbards' strikes were able to pierce through the Emperor's tough skin due to their Ryuo matching that of Oden in strength, and Kaidou emerged from the attack bleeding, though still ultimately quite healthy. Kaidou then transformed into his dragon form and flew up to the roof of the Skull Dome to give him more space to fight, and the Scabbards grabbed onto him to follow him up there. Jack led a platoon of Beasts Pirates to the roof to back up Kaidou, while the Scabbards were joined by the Mokomo Dukedom forces who used the full moon in the sky to activate a powerful transformation known as Sulong. The minks and Jack's forces proceeded to wipe each other out, and when Inuarashi and Nekomamushi used their own Sulong forms to defeat Jack, Kaidou then stepped in to confront the Scabbards himself. The Scabbards once again proved able to cut Kaidou with their Ryuo, and when the Emperor tried to annihilate them with a blast of fire breath, Raizo used his Maki Maki no Jutsu to intercept and redirect the attack with a scroll, which successfully damaged Kaidou further. However, Kaidou managed to retaliate by unleashing blades of wind before transforming back into his human form. While in his human form, Kaidou proceeded to easily overwhelm the Scabbards with his kanabo, leaving them bloodied and unconscious.
Soon afterwards, Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Law, Kid, and Killer arrived on the roof to confront Kaidou and Big Mom, and Law teleported the Scabbards into the Treasure Repository inside the castle. There, their injuries were tended to by a mysterious person, who disappeared by the time they regained consciousness. The Scabbards seemed to recognize the person who had treated them, but could not believe the person's seeming identity. They prepared to head out and continue fighting in the war, but to their further shock, they were suddenly greeted by what appeared to be a living, healthy Kouzuki Oden. "Oden" claimed to have been sent into the future by Toki's powers, and most of the Scabbards believed him, but Raizo and Ashura Doji quickly raised their doubts about his legitimacy, with Raizo reminding his comrades that Toki could not send people into the past and that Oden certainly died 20 years ago. An attack by Ashura quickly revealed "Oden" to actually be a drawing made by Kanjuro, and Kanjuro spoke through the drawing to reveal that he was heading to find and kill Momonosuke before he died of his wounds. The Oden drawing then lit a large amount of dynamite under its garment to blow up the Scabbards, but Ashura managed to tackle it out of the room and sacrifice himself in the explosion to save his comrades. The Scabbards were left with intense rage over Kanjuro's actions and prepared to go and find him to protect Momonosuke, but were then confronted by Jack. However, Inuarashi stayed behind to fight the All-Star and allow the rest of the Scabbards to go on ahead.
The Scabbards then ran into Orochi, and the shogun tried to take down the samurai himself by transforming into the Yamata no Orochi. However, the Scabbards proceeded to decapitate all of his heads with a quick combined attack, and as the others continued moving, Raizo stayed behind to confront the Orochi Oniwabanshu leader Fukurokuju.
Raizo questioned why Fukurokuju would serve a man as wretched as Orochi, but Fukurokuju responded that it was his duty to serve the shogun and that Raizo and his comrades were serving nothing more than a ghost. Raizo used Bunshin no Jutsu to create multiple images of himself at once, but Fukurokuju was able to spot his real body and attack it with his earlobes. Fukurokuju then criticized Raizo's emotions for getting in the way of his effectiveness as a ninja, but Raizo objected to this viewpoint. Both ended up in each other's paralysis jutsu, restricting them from moving any further, demanding each one lifts theirs first. When Raizo's nio-dasuki caught fire, Fukurokuju mocked his survivability due to the flames, to which Raizo only insisted on him being immune to fire due to his background as Oden's vassal. When the flames reached Fukurokuju as well, he plead for Raizo to release the paralysis, but Raizo remained resolute and succeeded in outlasting Fukurokuju. Although both ninja collapsed, Raizo remained conscious and reaffirmed that ninja should be free.
Shortly after, Jinbe found Raizo, who explained that his preparations were already done. From one of his scrolls, Raizo unleashed a large volume of water which he had obtained while on Zou, Jinbe then used techniques to spread the water quickly throughout Onigashima. The water was successfully spread throughout the Skull Dome and extinguished the raging fires. Afterwards, Nekomamushi announced that Luffy had defeated Kaidou and that Momonosuke had safely landed the island.
When a volcano erupted where Onigashima once sat, Momonosuke flew with his sister and retainers into the Flower Capital in order to calm the panicking citizens. As the citizens marveled at the return of the Nine Red Scabbards, Denjiro then announced Momonosuke as the new Shogun of Wano Country. After broadcasting a speech to the whole country, Momonosuke, along with his retainers, entered the shogun's castle. A week later, Raizo was enjoying the ongoing festivities when Luffy, who had finally woken up, raised a toast for the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance and Wano citizens.
When the Kouzuki Retainers noticed Admiral Ryokugyu's approach, several of them, including Raizo, went out to stop him from entering the Flower Capital. Using his Devil Fruit powers, Ryokugyu attacked the samurai and announced his intent to go after Luffy. They were joined by Yamato and Momonosuke, and the retainers became distressed as Ryokugyu restrained Momonosuke. Raizo would attempt saving Momonosuke from Ryokugyu's grip with Ninpo: Maki Maki no Jutsu: Katon, only to be taunted by Ryokugyu for trying to exploit such an obvious weakness. Raizo was then stabbed by one of Ryokugyu's branches and had his nutrients sucked out, leaving him as a hollow husk, much to the horror of his comrades. However, he was later able to recover back to his full strength and rejoined his fellow comrades alongside Yamato when Momonosuke took his position as the new Shogun of Wano.
==Major Battles==
*Kouzuki Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Shinobu vs. Beasts Pirates
**Raizo vs. King
*Raizo, Monkey D. Luffy, Tony Tony Chopper, Hyougoro, Kikunojo, and Kawamatsu vs. Beasts Pirates (Udon Prisoner Mines)
*The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro, Kin'emon, and Denjiro) and Izou vs. Kurozumi Kanjuro and Beasts Pirates Gifters (unseen)
*The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro) and Izou vs. Kaidou
*The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro) and Izou vs. Kanjuro (Kouzuki Oden drawing)
*The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro, Ashura and Inuarashi) and Izou vs. Kurozumi Orochi
*Raizo vs. Fukurokuju
*Raizo, Denjiro, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, Kawamatsu, Shinobu, Yamato and Kouzuki Momonosuke vs. Ryokugyu
===Filler Battles===
*Raizo, Kin'emon, Kikunojo, Inuarashi, Ashura Doji and Shinobu vs. Queen
*Raizo vs. Solitaire
==Merchandise==
===Video Games===
====Playable Appearances====
*One Piece Treasure Cruise
*One Piece Bounty Rush
==Trivia==
*Raizo appears to be a homage to the depiction of ninja in various media, including that of the Naruto manga series by Masashi Kishimoto.
**Both of his voice actors had voiced a Naruto character. His Japanese voice actor voiced Might Guy, while his English voice actor voiced Maroi.
**When the Straw Hats first met him, they ask him about various jutsu, which are referred from Naruto series like shadow clone jutsu and summoning jutsu.
*Raizo's favorite food is stuffed with . Fittingly enough, fishcake is one of the main ingredients in oden, just as Raizo was one of Kouzuki Oden's main retainers.
==References==
==External links==
* – Wikipedia article on Raizo's occupation.
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