Twenty years ago, Kozuki Oden was defeated. Kozuki Toki used the power of her Time-Time Fruit to send Kozuki Momonosuke and part of the retainers twenty years into the future.
Kozuki Toki herself was an ancient person from 830 years ago. With an unknown purpose, she kept traveling forward into the future with her fruit's ability, eventually arriving in this particular era.
But the Time-Time Fruit could only move forward in time, never backward, nor could it change the location where one appeared.
Twenty years ago, when their defeat was sealed, Kozuki Toki made that decision in order to prevent them all from being wiped out.
For those who stayed behind, twenty years was an unbearably long stretch of time, long enough for the world itself to change drastically. Back then, the Beasts Pirates could only carve out a small corner for themselves, but now they had become powerful enough to contend for world domination.
But for those affected by Kozuki Toki's ability, it was nothing more than a fleeting instant. To them, the tunnel of time was like the blink of an eye, and in the memories of Kin'emon and the others, Wano Country was still the Wano engulfed in flames of war.
Before acting, Kozuki Toki had explained her ability, so Momonosuke, Kin'emon, and the rest knew what had actually happened.
In their understanding, what the Beasts Pirates had done earlier was nothing but fake. It was all for the sake of seizing the Kozuki family's regime. Once they truly gained power, their true colors would be revealed.
And Wano Country, under their twenty years of rule, should by now have turned into a living hell.
By rights, their current location should be Oden Castle. Yet what lay before them was a wilderness, which in their eyes was the "proof."
If even the once-flourishing Oden Castle had become like this, then needless to say, the rest of the land must be worse.
These youths from twenty years ago, or rather, these fossils, had no idea what something like old district relocation and reconstruction meant. What's more, in the process of reconstruction, the opinion of the land's sole heir, Kozuki Hiyori, had been respected, and the area had been turned into forest land, rather than building new structures.
"There aren't any pirate guards around. Looks like they've forgotten about us."
Raizo scouted the area. Coming from a ninja background, he was best suited for such work. The result of the investigation was good news for them: at least the traces of the past war had already disappeared.
"That's even better, but we can't let our guard down. Even Lord Oden was no match for that Kaido, let alone us. What's most urgent is to leave Wano Country first. We can't let Lord Momonosuke stay in such a dangerous place."
Kin'emon finalized the decision.
They did at least have some self-awareness. If even Kozuki Oden couldn't win against that monster, there was no way they could.
For that reason, they needed outside aid. Leaving Wano Country was their top priority. There are no guards here now, but who knows if they will be discovered after a period of time.
"We can't all leave. We need to find out exactly what's going on in Wano Country, what's become of those who stayed behind. Let's split into two groups. One group escorts Lord Momonosuke away and seeks allies who can help us.
The other group stays behind to investigate the state of Wano Country. I'm a ninja, better suited for stealth. Let me be the one to stay."
Raizo volunteered himself to remain.
Twenty years ago, Ashura Doji died in battle.
Denjiro, Kawamatsu, and Kikunojo stayed in Wano Country.
Aside from Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Raizo, Kanjuro, Nekomamushi, and Inuarashi were sent twenty years in the future. Raizo considered himself the most suitable among them to stay behind.
"Wait on that for now. We need to first understand the situation in Wano Country. Leaving here won't be easy. Before we settle on a concrete plan, we shouldn't spread ourselves too thin. That way, if anything happens, we can still look after one another. And as for outside aid….
Even Lord Oden failed. Who else out there could possibly defeat Kaido?"
They had a strange and special reverence for Kozuki Oden. Even though they had arrived twenty years in the future, they were still somewhat pessimistic. Kin'emon couldn't even think of where they should go.
"If we can get out of here, let's head to Zou Island first. After all, that's an allied nation with us, there should still be some hope."
That was Inuarashi's opinion, and based on Zou Island's past traditions, there was nothing wrong with what he said.
"Nekomamushi, what about the Vivre Card for Zou Island?"
Inuarashi's Vivre Card had been lent to Setsuna back then, so now they could only rely on the one Nekomamushi carried.
"Right here, nya. I didn't lose it this time."
Nekomamushi took out the Vivre Card, but the way it pulsed made both him and Inuarashi feel something was off.
"That's strange. Isn't Zou Island way too close to Wano Country?"
Nekomamushi still remembered the general range of Zou Island's movements. No matter how he thought about it, it shouldn't be this near. But they didn't know that in the twenty years that passed, the changes on Zou Island were no less than those in Wano Country. At their core, both places had gone through upheavals.
Aside from Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, the others didn't understand what this meant. But before the two could delve deeper into the issue, Kanjuro made a new discovery.
"Hey, hey! You guys, come look over here. What is this!"
Kanjuro had just started to feel hungry and wanted to draw something to eat. Anything he drew with the powers of the Brush-Brush Fruit would turn into a real object, food included. Though it had no flavor and eating it was like chewing paper, it still provided a sense of fullness.
Since he needed a flat spot to draw, he cleared away some weeds, but beneath the weeds, there were several tiny burial mounds.
Kin'emon.
Kanjuro.
The gravestones bore the names of those who had traveled through time. These had been erected by the most loyal retainers back then. They hadn't known exactly what Kozuki Toki had done, only that she had left behind a prophecy of twenty years into the future.
Thus, in their eyes, those who had disappeared were already dead. As a memorial, they built them cenotaphs.
"Well, this is really…"
Staring at the gravestones, Kin'emon and the others didn't know what to say.
"This is actually a good thing. If they think we're already dead, their vigilance toward us will lessen. That makes our chances of escaping even higher."
Kanjuro didn't see it as a bad thing. He then distributed some of the cabbages he had drawn to others to temporarily fill their stomachs. After a brief discussion, they also decided on how to proceed next.
Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Raizo would head into the nearby town to gather information, with Raizo tasked with looking for opportunities to hide.
Nekomamushi and Inuarashi would use the trees nearby to create a simple raft to serve as a means of escaping Wano Country.
Momonosuke, for the time being, would stay hidden in the forest. For his safety, Kin'emon thought it best not to expose him too early.
Then, using the powers of the Garb-Garb Fruit, Kin'emon disguised the ones going into town by changing their clothes. Kanjuro drew a few rough tools and left them for Inuarashi and Nekomamushi.
The deliberately disguised poor drawing skills made the drawings look like tools from the Stone Age, but they were still better than nothing.
"Everyone, remember to control your emotions. No matter what cruel scenes we witness, we must endure it. For the sake of Lord Momonosuke, it is necessary."
"Mm."
"Don't worry, Kin'emon. I'm already prepared."
Raizo and Kanjuro followed behind Kin'emon with heavy expressions as they made their way toward the outside world. Before long, they found a small trail in the mountain forest.
As the saying goes, "There may be no road in the world, but when many people walk the same way, a road is made." This small trail clearly bore the marks of human footsteps. If they just followed it forward, they would surely find a place where people gathered.
It wasn't that they didn't know Wano Country's geography, but they were uncertain how much had changed over the last twenty years.
Before long, they had already exited the forest and arrived in what was now a bustling town of Kuri. Along the way, they deliberately avoided older people, since those types might recognize them and increase the risk of exposure.
Although they had now entered an area with surveillance devices, they did not arouse any suspicion.
Queen's focus was on the outside world. Without reports of intrusions or infiltration, and without alarms being triggered in important areas, the Beasts Pirates would never suddenly launch a large-scale search of the inner towns.
Mere stray dogs from twenty years ago weren't worth stirring up such a fuss over.
"Kin'emon, are you sure this is supposed to be hell?"
The streets grew crowded with people, and the houses along the roadside were decorated with festive ornaments. It looked like some festival was about to begin.
Singing, dancing, prosperity, and peace—people were well-fed and living in stability. What lay before them was clearly a scene of flourishing prosperity, nothing that even remotely resembled hell.
If hell really looked like this, then the buses going there would probably be packed full.
"Fake… it must be fake. This is all fake, illusions they use to deceive the people…"
The thought that a usurper could spend twenty years turning Wano Country into an ideal place was something they would never believe, even if beaten to death.
After searching for a while, Kin'emon locked onto his target: a group of delinquents who didn't look very old.
Brats like this usually run around all over the place and often knew more bits of information. As a former gang leader himself, Kin'emon also knew best how to talk to such brats.
"Hey, you lot! Come here, I've got something to ask you!"
Kin'emon's mindset was still stuck twenty years in the past. If you were too soft with delinquents, they'd just think you were easy to bully. So his tone came out somewhat stiff.
"What do you want, you old-fashioned geezer? Even my grandpa doesn't dress as outdated as you do."
"Enough nonsense. I ask, you answer. If you answer correctly, this will be yours."
Kin'emon shook a bag, and a metallic clinking sound rang out from inside. Back when he was still a thug, he often used this method to obtain intel out of small-time thugs.
"Where's your cameraman? Did the program change its style again?"
The delinquent in front of him spouted words Kin'emon couldn't understand. This was also part of Wano Country's changes in recent years—providing more entertainment options so that people could better release their emotions during leisure time.
The televisions that had begun spreading across Wano Country also boosted the development of local TV programs.
Such programs, commonly known as variety shows, often used street Q & A as one of their traditional formats.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ah, whatever. Fine, I'll play along with you. What's your question? I'll definitely get it right."
The delinquent in front of him had already taken Kin'emon for the host of some comedy show. Kin'emon didn't press the issue further and started asking key questions.
"Alright, first question: What happened to Kurozumi Orochi?"
"Hah? You guys doing some retro history quiz or something? Even if I'm not good at studying, I know the answer to this one. That fraud Kurozumi Orochi was executed by Lord Wise King twenty years ago."
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