Kouzuki Family

The Kouzuki Family is a powerful family that ruled over Wano Country until their downfall twenty years ago at the hands of Kurozumi Orochi aided by Kaidou. The family has existed for centuries being responsible for the original invention of the Poneglyphs and formed close ties with the people of the Mokomo Dukedom on Zou.
After Kaidou and Orochi's defeats during the Raid on Onigashima, the Kouzuki family regained their position in the shogunate of Wano, led by Kouzuki Momonosuke.
==Crest==
The crest of the Kouzuki Family depicts a bird, likely a crane or a heron, with a glowing orb in its chest and spread wings. Around the bird figure, there is a circle with four sprout-like symbols coming from it at each ordinal direction.
Retainers of the Kouzuki Family have this crest tattooed in their bodies in order to allow recognition. The crest can also be found in locations affiliated with the family.
===Emblem===
Those loyal to the family, even though after Kurozumi Orochi slandered their name, have a crescent moon tattooed on their ankles to mark their loyalty yet remain hidden in Wano.
==Members==
The Kouzuki Family was a clan of master craftsmen, specializing in stonemasonry. The earliest known ancestors created the Poneglyphs during the end of the Void Century. Confirmed members of this family are former shogun Sukiyaki; his son and the former daimyo of Kuri, Oden; the latter's wife, Toki; their son and heir, Momonosuke; and their daughter, Hiyori.
The clan has retainers loyal to the family members. All of them bear the Kouzuki Family crest on their bodies as a way of identification. Jibuemon was the retainer of Sukiyaki and remained loyal to the family even during Orochi's reign.
Notably, Oden had a group of nine extremely powerful samurai serving him as retainers, the "Nine Red Scabbards" led by Kin'emon.
On gravestones in a cemetery near Oden's Castle in Kuri, there are two unnamed gravestones presumably belonging to deceased members of the clan.
===Family Tree===
==History==
===Past===
The Kouzuki Family existed for at least 800 years. The family also formed a bond with the Mink Tribe and agreed to help each other whenever one of them in trouble. They are also responsible for the invention of the poneglyphs that are scattered throughout the world in present time. Moreover, in the distant past, they had something to do with Wano Country's closed country policy. Over 20 years ago, they ruled Wano Country. Kouzuki Oden was the son of shogun at the time, Kouzuki Sukiyaki, but Oden was exiled from the Flower Capital for getting into violent fights.
He then went to the Kuri region, a lawless area where criminals roamed free, where he defeated the strongest of them and worked to make Kuri a better place. Sukiyaki revoked the disownment, while promoting Oden to be the daimyo of Kuri. When Nekomamushi and Inuarashi drifted to Wano Country and were bullied by locals, Oden rescued and befriended them, allowing his family to honor the ancient agreement between the two sides.
After meeting with the Whitebeard Pirates, Oden joined the crew along with Izou, Nekomamushi, and Inuarashi. Later on, Oden met his wife Toki when saving her from Karma and his crew. Two years after Oden joined the Whitebeard Pirates, Momonosuke was born and Hiyori was born two years later.
The Whitebeard Pirates encountered the Roger Pirates at an island and the two crews fought. After three days of fighting, the skirmish ultimately became a gift exchange. To help Roger achieve his goal of reaching the end of the Grand Line, Oden joined the Roger Pirates along with his family, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi.
With the Roger Pirates, Oden's journey took him through Skypiea, Water 7, and Fish-Man Island. Upon Toki becoming sick, the pirates dropped her and her children off at Wano alongside Nekomamushi and Inuarashi. Oden later visited Zou with Roger and after gaining information from all four Road Poneglyphs, the crew reached Laugh Tale. After Roger disbanded his crew, Oden returned to Wano and reunited with his family and retainers.
Oden then learned about Kurozumi Orochi becoming shogun during his absence. After hearing about Orochi's oppression with the Beasts Pirates' support and the attempt on Momonosuke's life, Oden rushed to the Flower Capital and tried to kill Orochi. Oden's attack failed and he agreed to a deal with Orochi and Kaidou to spare the citizens of Wano Country. Believing in their promise to eventually leave Wano, Oden followed their terms and danced naked in the Flower Capital once a week for the next five years.
Once he heard about Hyogoro's capture, Oden realized that Orochi and Kaidou never intended to honor their deal. He then gathered his retainers to march to Onigashima while leaving Yasuie to protect his wife and children. On the way to Onigashima, Oden and his retainers were confronted by Kaidou and his crew at Udon and a fierce battle took place. Oden and his allies were overwhelmed and captured, and they were sentenced to be boiled alive.
On the execution day, Oden made a deal with Kaidou to allow those who survive the execution to go free and Kaidou gave him an hour. Oden stood in the boiling pot and held his retainers over him with a wooden plank. Oden managed to survive the hour, but Orochi summoned a firing squad to execute the prisoners anyway. Oden threw his retainers away from the execution site and as the Scabbards fled, Kaidou killed Oden with a shot to the head.
Kaidou later set Oden Castle ablaze. He threatened to kill Momonosuke but decided to leave him in the burning castle. Toki used her power to send Momonosuke and his retainers Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo twenty years into the future. Kawamatsu escaped the castle with Hiyori and Toki fled to Bakura Town. Toki gave a prophecy and met her demise. With Oden's death, the family's knowledge of how to read the text on the poneglyphs and write its language ended.
After staying with Kawamatsu for seven years, Hiyori separated from him and wandered into the Flower Capital. She was found by Denjiro, who was masquerading as Kyoshiro. To protect her from Orochi and Kaidou, he began grooming her into a geisha and had her adopt the name "Komurasaki".
After arriving at the future, Momonosuke and the retainers discovered how much Wano had changed over the years, but they discovered allies they could still count on. Momonosuke and his retainers decided to travel to Zou to enlist aid from the Mink Tribe, and Kin'emon pretended to be his father in order to avoid drawing attention. However, as they departed Wano, they were discovered by the Beasts Pirates. On the way to Zou, they were shipwrecked, which caused Raizo to be separated from them. They ended up on Dressrosa, where they were chased by the guards. Momonosuke stowed away on a ship heading for Punk Hazard, and Kanjuro sacrificed himself in order to allow Kin'emon to head for Punk Hazard.
Momonosuke was kept in Caesar Clown's facility on Punk Hazard with other children he was experimenting on. Momonosuke ate Vegapunk's Artificial Devil Fruit out of hunger and ended up in the garbage dump after being chased by the guards.
===Dressrosa Saga===
====Punk Hazard Arc====
Luffy discovered Momonosuke inside the trash heap, and the two managed to escape. After escaping from the facility, Momonosuke reunited with Kin'emon, and the two headed with the Straw Hats to Dressrosa to rescue Kanjuro.
====Dressrosa Arc====
Momonosuke was put on the team protecting the Thousand Sunny because Kin'emon forbade him from going on the island. His group was attacked and turned into art by Giolla, but Brook tricked and defeated her, returning them to normal. Law then arrived and told the Sunny crew to head for Zou with Caesar, which they did. They were chased by the Big Mom Pirates during the journey, but managed to escape.
They arrived on Zou the next day, and chased off the remaining Beasts Pirates that were devastating the island. They then went to work on healing the Mink Tribe which the pirates had poisoned. However, Momonosuke did not feel well and stayed in his room.
===Whole Cake Island Saga===
====Zou Arc====
Momonosuke reunited with Kin'emon and Kanjuro when they made it onto Zou several days later, and the minks took them to Raizo's location. During this, Momonosuke and the retainers revealed the true purpose of their mission to the Straw Hats. Upon Momonosuke's request, Luffy agreed to ally his pirate alliance with the samurai and the minks, creating the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance. The Kouzuki Family then decided to head back to Wano Country with the Heart Pirates and part of the Straw Hat Pirates, under the cover of Law's submarine. However, Momonosuke decided to stay on Zou to further communicate with Zunisha, and Inuarashi agreed to stay behind with him as well.
===Wano Country Saga===
====Wano Country Arc====
Sometime after returning to Wano, the retainers hid with the Straw Hats and briefed them on the politics in Wano before splitting way to gather allies while the pirates assimilate themselves with the residents under false identities. Their plans were interrupted when Luffy was imprisoned in Udon after being defeated by Kaidou, however, Luffy managed to escape and settle up a riot in Udon(with the help of an amnesiac Big Mom, Chopper, Hyogoro and the Nine Red Scabbards), resulting in the Udon Prison to be destroyed and many prisoners escaping, like Kid, Killer and Caribou, thus recruiting a lot of allies for the alliance. The alliance then had to mourn the death of their ally Shimotsuki Yasuie, but they managed to cause confusion in the Flower Capital, as well as discover the surviving Kouzuki Hiyori and her friend, Toko.
After gathering enough allies and weapons, with the help of Kawamatsu, the alliance prepared to start their attack on Onigashima. They set their fleet on Tokage Port, but after arriving there discovered in horror, that their entire fleet was destroyed as well as their plans were spoiled to Orochi himself. The scabbards were still determined to continue their raid, knowing there would not come another chance. On their way to Onigashima, Kine'mon wondered about a traitor among them, spoiling their plans to Orochi. Kanjuro then reveals himself as the traitor, saying he was born as a member of the Kurozumi Family and having been spying for Orochi for all the time he was a retainer of Kouzuki Oden. He then claims they should have already known that there must have been a traitor among them after several maneuvers. As Kine'mon sliced him, it was revealed as a clone, while the true Kanjuro held Momonosuke hostage and planed to bring him to Onigashima, and ships of the Beasts Pirates arrived. However, the ships were then attacked by the Straw Hat Pirates, Kid Pirates and Heart Pirates, leaving Kanjuro surprised, as he had not heard they would be going to do this. He then proceeded to take Momonosuke to Onigashima, all while the rest of the Nine Red Scabbards watched helplessly. However, they soon reunited with Luffy and the others and devised a battle strategy, in which they would strike from different points of the island, using the moment of surprise to strike at the enemy when no one was noticing. During the planning, Kyoshiro revealed himself to be the lost member, Denjiro, to everyone present, leaving everybody in shock and disbelief with Kin'emon wondering how he did not notice sooner. As they had made their preparations, the alliance then made their way towards the island, however, only Kin'emon and Denjiro remained with the ships, as the rest of the scabbards were transported to the backside of the island by Law and his crew.
Kin'emon and Denjiro landed with the alliance and the Straw Hats at the entrance to Onigashima, were Kin'emon devised a sneak strategy by using his Devil Fruit powers to disguise the alliance as members of the Beasts Pirates, so that they could use the moment of surprise while being inside the castle. Kin'emons group eventually reached the Pleasure Hall which was owned by Black Maria but they had to hide due to a rampaging Big Mom, who was chasing Usopp and Chopper inside a Brachio Tank V, but the group later continued their infiltration.
As the Scabbards (minus Kin'emon and Denjiro) landed on the island's backside, they were joined by Nekomamushi, Marco and Izou, which was the first time anybody had ever seen Izou in years, leaving especially Kikunojo in tears upon the reunion. The happy meeting was, however, soon disrupted by Kanjuro, who managed to find them, telling them about Momonosuke's incoming execution and tried to ambush them with a squad of some Beast Pirates members. The two forces then clashed eventually, which resulted in the victory of the Scabbards, but not before Kikunojo and Kanjuro faced off in a 1v1 from which Kikunojo ended up winning. As soon as they dealt with Kanjuro and the Beast Pirates, they reunited with Kin'emon and Denjiro's group. They then proceeded to make their way inside the castle and to the Performance Floor, where Momonosuke's execution was taking place. They eventually managed to get to the backdoor of the upper floor, where Kaidou and his officers, as well as Orochi, were located and sneakily ambushed everyone presented, occupying the Lead Performers before starting an all-out attack at Kaidou from each member, crashing through the front door and onto the Performance Floor into the lower floor. Kaidou, however, transformed into his dragon form and flew to the rooftop of the island, with all the scabbards hanging unknowingly onto him. As soon as Kaidou landed on the rooftop, the scabbards prepared to fight him, alongside the incoming Minks. Although the samurai managed to inflict some damage onto Kaidou, he stated they were mere shallow shadows compared to Oden not capable of hurting or defeating him and then proceeding to viciously attack them, even managing to slice off Kiku's arm in the process. The samurai failed to avenge Oden and were brutally defeated by Kaidou, but before he could kill them, five members of the Worst Generation took over from them, with Law teleporting them somewhere inside the castle. They were then tended to their wounds by Hiyori, who secretly made her way towards Onigashima, although the samurai were not able to see her.
As soon as they had recovered, they were faced with a seemingly well and fit Oden standing in front of them, leading to all but Ashura and Raizo be in tears. Both, however, saw through the illusion and told the others that this was not the real Oden, but rather a drawing made by Kanjuro who tried to use the copy to buy time to fulfill his mission to kill Momonosuke. As the copy tried to attack the samurai, Ashura stepped in to protect the others, taking the step in the abdomen while simultaneously pushing the drawing outside a window, but not before it could incent some explosives, catching both itself and Ashura in the following explosion. The others, however, had no time to mourn Ashura, as they prepared to save Momonosuke from Kanjuro. Outside the room they were then greeted by Jack, who defeated the Minks who protected the storage. Inuarashi then volunteered to face off against Jack, to buy the samurai some time as well as getting revenge for what Jack did back on Zou. 
Reluctantly, the samurai then proceeded to move on to the Perfomance Floor, but to their surprise, they encountered Orochi and Fukurokuju, who were setting the castle on fire to take revenge on Kaidou for having betrayed them earlier. Horrified to see the samurai and fearing the prophecy spoken by Toki could come true, Orochi transformed using his Zoan Fruit and tried to kill the samurai, however, they swiftly decapitated every single head and then proceeded to move forward, with Kin'emon only replying Orochi's soul would be judged in hell. Raizo then decided to stay behind, facing Fukurokuju off in a 1v1 for having betrayed Oden.
The group then split up once more, with Kin'emon and Kikunojo heading to the second floor basement because they wanted to deal with Kanjuro directly while the rest of the samurai would head further into the castle and onto the Performance Floor.
The ones remaining towards the Perfomance Floor were Izou, Nekomamushi and Kawamatsu as Denjiro had split from the group earlier. However, Nekomamushi then received word that murderer of Pedro was also on the island, which then fueled Nekomamushi's thirst for revenge and he too split from the others, which left Izou and Kawamatsu to head to the Live Floor.
==Trivia==
*The bird depicted in the Kouzuki crest is likely to resemble a heron. In Japanese literature, herons are hailed for their patience and determination, as they stand motionless for a long time before finally striking their prey. This reflects the willingness of their retainers to wait for two whole decades before striking at Kaidou and Orochi.
*A pattern similar to the family crest was presented on Luffy's samurai outfit on the cover of Chapter 310. The cover also features a pink oriental dragon, which is something that Momonosuke can turn into.
**Luffy would later wear an almost identical set of armor while in Wano.
*In Chapter 816, the clan was introduced as the "Kogetsu Family". However, the subsequent chapter changed it to "Kouzuki". Both share the same meaning and kanji characters. This is fixed in the Volume release, where the dialog was changed to "Kouzuki" in Chapter 816.
*The name Kouzuki contains the kanji for and .
*The male members of the family seem to have a food theme to their names: and oden are both Japanese dishes while "momo" (the first part of Momonosuke's name) means "peach".
*Toki's 800-year-long travels and her last feat of sending Momonosuke and his retainers to the future via the power of the Toki Toki no Mi serve as the first canonical incidence of time travel in the series. It is the second overall, with the first being the Rainbow Mist in the non-canon Ruluka Island Arc in the anime.
*The legendary swordsmith Kotetsu is a confirmed ancestor of Sukiyaki and his line, but it is unknown if he was part of the Kouzuki bloodline or if his descendants married into it.
==References==
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Category:Wano Country Families