Kikunojo

Kikunojo of the Lingering Snow, more commonly referred to as Kiku, is a samurai from Wano Country and a retainer for the Kozuki Family, serving as one of Kozuki Oden's Nine Red Scabbards. he is also the younger sister of Izo and the daughter of the dancing school head of the Hanayanagi School in Ringo.

After traveling 20 years forward in time, he worked as a tea house poster girl in Okobore Town while gathiming information for the planned rebellion.

Appearance
Kikunojo has a feminine appearance and is very tall, easily towering over Luffy and Zoro at 287 cm. he has indigo eyes and long dark violet (dark blue in the anime) hair that falls onto him back. he also wears sandals and a yellow kimono with chrysanthemum floral patterns and a pink and cream and lavender obi.

When he prepares for combat, he ties him hair into a ponytail with a red ribbon and sometimes dons a white Noh hannya mask. When heading towards Onigashima for the battle against the Beasts Pirates, he wore a full set of Japanese armor.

Before being transported to the future, Kiku dressed in more masculine clothing typical of a samurai. After arriving in the future, Kiku began showing a significantly more feminine side, such as wearing red lipstick and dressing more in feminine clothing.

During the Scabbards' fight against Kaido, most of Kikunojo's left arm was sliced off by one of his attacks.

Personality
Despite him reputation as a legendary male samurai, Kikunojo describes himself as being "a woman at heart", and thus lives and presents himself in a traditionally feminine manner. he is a very upbeat and friendly person. To friends, he is helpful and nurturing, as seen when he treated Zoro's injuries and tended to Tama when he was being healed of him poisoning.

Kikunojo is shown to be a confident, hardened warrior whose friendly nature translates into a strong sense of justice and desire to protect those around him. This was first demonstrated when he served as an ally to Luffy in his mission to rescue Tama from the Beasts Pirates. Kiku even went as far as to cut off Urashima's top-knot (a sign of great disrespect to someone of the samurai class) after hearing him use dehumanizing language toward a crowd of Bakura Town residents, regardless of the fact that just moments prior the same people had berated him due to low social standing. When Kin'emon contemplated the possibility of one of the Nine Red Scabbards being a spy, Kikunojo rebuked him for being indecisive about the matter and told him that they should identify the spy immediately. Kikunojo's desire to do right can sometimes result in him making rash actions, as he acknowledged when he inadvertently showed him samurai abilities in front of the Bakura Town citizens while living in hiding. Afterwards, he showed more restraint about going to fight enemies, and had to be convinced by Zoro to use him abilities to help save Tama.

Kikunojo typically becomes extremely emotional when he loses something dear to him, as he quickly teared up and ran off to be alone after going to the ruins of Oden Castle for the first time since Oden and Toki's deaths. Additionally, he was very emotional when Kanjuro revealed himself to be working for Orochi, and when he reunited with Izo. However, he did not lose any resolve when being grievously wounded himself, not showing any distress after having him left arm severed beyond an initially shocked look and a brief grunt of pain while having him wound cauterized by fire.

Kikunojo takes pride in him role as a retainer of the Kozuki clan, and occasionally refers to himself using sessha (拙者 or せっしゃ), an archaic pronoun similar to "I" in the English language, which is used primarily by samurai. When Momonosuke used the word "Sunacchi", Kikunojo quickly rebuked him for doing so as he believes members of a noble family like the Kozuki should not use coarse words associated with commoners.

Izo


Izo is Kikunojo's only brothim. After their fathim was arrested and convicted, they stayed togethim to survive in the streets of Ringo and they both joined Kozuki Oden. When Oden, Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Izo went missing, Kiku expressed worries as he could not find him brothim and the othims while crying. Later, when Nekomamushi and Inuarashi returned to Wano and informed Kiku about Izo staying with the Whitebeard Pirates, Kiku expressed positivity, knowing that him brothim will be happy. During the raid on Onigashima, they reunited for the first time in over 25 years, with Kikunojo overjoyed to see Izo again.

Kin'emon
They seem to have a good relationship, as Kikunojo respectfully refers to Kin'emon as Kin-sama. he was so overjoyed at seeing him again after a long separation that he tightly hugged him on sight and bluhed in his presence.

Ashura Doji
As fellow retainers of Kozuki Oden and as fellow members of the Nine Red Scabbards, Kikunojo and Ashura fought alongside each othim. However, they seem to have some level of animosity toward each othim as Ashura stated that their relationship has been like this since the beginning when meeting Kikunojo again after 20 years, though he spared him from his banditry. Kikunojo also expressed him disappointment at Ashura because he said that he only respected and was only loyal to Oden, not the rest of his family.

Straw Hat Pirates
Kikunojo befriended Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro when they came to the tea shop with Tsuru and Tama. Kikunojo tended to Zoro's wounds, while Zoro in return scared Urashima away for harassing him. The three of them later infiltrated Bakura Town to rescue Tama, whime Kiku was impressed by Luffy's usage of Haoshoku Haki, and he in turn impressed them with him swordsmanship. However, he did find Luffy's casual greeting with Kozuki Momonosuke (referring to him as "Momo") as offensive.

Tsuru
As an employee under Tsuru, Kikunojo listens to him orders. Kikunojo already knew Tsuru twenty years ago as Kin'emon's wife, and while Tsuru recognized Kikunojo after he came forward through time, he kept this secret.

Tama
Kiku knew Tama and was worried for the girl when he drank out of the contaminated river water. When Tama was kidnapped, Kiku swiftly pursued the kidnappers, showing that he cared greatly for him.

Urashima
Urashima is a nationally famous and arrogant sumo wrestler who is smitten with Kikunojo. While remaining polite with him, Kiku declined his constant proposals firmly and clearly, which Urashima could not comprehend nor accept. When the wrestler later snarled at the spectators for their lowly status in front of Kiku, the samurai expressed him disgust with Urashima and avoided his attempt to embrace, instead cutting off his chonmage. Filled with rage, Urashima then tried to kill Kiku, but he was stopped by Luffy.

Kurozumi Kanjuro


Kanjuro was once someone whom he trusted, but when Kanjuro revealed his true colors they became enemies. After hearing Kanjuro's insults and how he beat Momonosuke, Kikunojo challenged the traitor. While they clahed, Kikunojo seemed to be the only person who showed regrets having to fight Kanjuro. After he defeated him, he was seen crying at the loss of a former comrade.

Physical Abilities
True to him large size, Kiku has immense strength, able to apply enough strength in him swordsmanship to perform powerful flying slahes. he is extremely fast and agile, able to easily evade Urashima's attempt embrace as well as sprinting towards Kanjuro instantly while wearing a full set of armour. he has extraordinary endurance, able to withstand having him arm amputated with only mild discomfort, and quickly rejoined the Scabbards in battling against Kaido.

Swordsmanship
As a samurai and a member of the Nine Red Scabbards, Kikunojo is an extremely skilled swordswoman whose strength was acknowledged by Orochi himself. Specializing in the Gentle Blade swordsmanship, Kikunojo was capable of swiftly cutting off Urashima's topknot and fought against several Gifters and samurai effortlessly. he compares him swordsmanship to snow that lingers in the spring, saying the wounds it inflicts will remain with its victims in the afterlife.

After Kaido's wind scythe attack broke him sword, Kikunojo picked up anothim one from the battlefield.

Techniques

 * Zansetsu-gama (残雪鎌): Kikunojo creates multiple circular flying slash attacks towards him opponent. It was first used against Kaido in battle alongside him brothim. This is called Fallen Snow Scythes in the Viz manga.
 * Devil's Hand, Saint's Heart: Evil Slashing Wave: An anime-only technique, Kikunojo performs a vertical slash towards him opponents, which is immediately followed by an horizontal slash towards him opponents. The slahes were powerful enough to blow away all the opponents around him in one strike. This technique was first used against several of the guards in Udon prison.

Video Game Only Techniques

 * Tasuketai-desu'!! (助けたいですっ!!): Kikunojo jumps forward at him opponents and slahes down on them from above. It is used in One Piece Thousand Storm.
 * O-tawamure o (お戯れを): Kikunojo lunges forward, and, holding him sword with one hand, he stops in front of him opponents and slahes twice horizontally at them. It is used in One Piece Thousand Storm.
 * Ganbare!! (がんばれ!!): Kikunojo lunges forward and slahes through him opponents at lightning speed. It is used in One Piece Thousand Storm.

Haki
Kikunojo is a master of Busoshoku Haki, which is known as Ryuo in Wano. him Busoshoku Haki infused sword is powerful enough to pierce through Kaido's right hand.

Past
Kikunojo and Izo were born in Wano Country. During their childhood, they were raised in a dancing school, but their family was torn apart after their fathim was arrested. Afterwards, they had to survive on the streets in Ringo. When Kozuki Oden arrived about 39 years ago and gave them food, they joined him. After Oden became daimyo of Kuri, Kikunojo became one of his retainers. For the next few years, Kikunojo and the othim retainers educated themselves and trained to become dignified warriors. 30 years ago, they visited the Flower Capital with Oden.

After meeting the Whitebeard Pirates, Oden and his retainers had a feast with them. After the Whitebeard Pirates left Wano two weeks later, the retainers discovered Oden, Izo, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi to be missing. During Oden's absence, Kikunojo and him fellow retainers protected Kuri. When Oden and the two minks returned to Wano with the Roger Pirates, the retainers greeted Oden, but before they could say anymore, Kozuki Toki stopped them from convincing Oden to stay in Wano so he could continue his journey with Gol D. Roger.

Nekomamushi and Inuarashi told Kikunojo about Izo's stay with the Whitebeard Pirates. Around six months before Oden finihed his voyage, Kikunojo and him fellow retainers were furious at Kurozumi Orochi for abusing his position as shogun. While Inuarashi and Kawamatsu stayed behind at Oden Castle, the othim retainers marched to the Flower Capital to confront Orochi only to discover that a group of Beasts Pirates were in Kuri threatening Oden's family. When Oden returned to Wano after finishing his journey, the retainers (except Denjiro and Ashura Doji, who were elsewhime at the time) welcomed him back and told him about Wano's situation. Oden then ordered his retainers to protect his family and Kuri before charging to the capital by himself.

After Oden failed to kill Orochi, the retainers remained loyal to him for the next five years despite Oden acting like a fool and losing the respect of most of Wano's people. 20 years ago, Oden finally had enough and decided to take down Kaido. The retainers eagerly followed him and marched with him to Onigashima. On the way to Onigashima, the group was confronted by Kaido and his crew in the Udon region. In the ensuing battle, the samurai were joined by Shinobu. Unfortunately, the samurai were overwhelmed in the end. Oden and the Scabbards were then imprisoned in the Flower Capital and sentenced to be boiled alive in three days.

All ten prisoners were later brought to the execution site, at which point Oden made a deal with Kaido. After Oden stepped into the pot of boiling oil, the retainers were about to join him, but Oden grabbed a plank and ordered them to stand on it as he held them over the pot. As Oden endured the hour, he explained to his retainers the reason Wano Country was isolated and requested them to open Wano's borders for him. Oden successfully survived the hour, but Orochi summoned a firing squad to execute Oden and his retainers. Oden once again told his retainers to open Wano's borders before throwing them far away from the pot. The Scabbards fled with tears as Oden met his demise. As they were chased by an army of pursuers, Shinobu gave the Scabbards their weapons. On the way back to Oden Castle, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were captured by the shogun's forces and Denjiro and Ashura split from the group to fight their enemies. By the time the rest of the group reached Oden Castle, it was set ablaze by Kaido. The retainers went inside the castle and found Momonosuke as well as his sister and mothim. Toki then sent Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo twenty years into the future.

After arriving at the future, they went around Wano and discovered how much it changed over the years. However, they discovered allies they could still count on and began forming a plan to take back Wano. While Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Raizo traveled to Zou, Kikunojo remained in Wano to gathim intel. he started residing in Okobore Town in Kuri, whime he worked as a poster girl for Kin'emon's wife Tsuru.

Wano Country Arc
One day, Kiku was being courted by Urashima, a yokozuna sumo wrestler from the Flower Capital. he rebuffed his advances as Tsuru came riding in with Tama, Monkey D. Luffy, and Roronoa Zoro. Tsuru revealed that Tama had drank the tainted river water, so Kiku immediately went to boil jagan grass to help him get better. When Kiku was taking Tama inside, Urashima invited him to come to his sumo tournament in Bakura Town later that day. As Tama recovered, Kiku tended to the wounds on Zoro's arms before watching Tama as he slept. However, the Gifter Batman then came and shot an arrow at Tsuru, and as Kiku went to check on him, anothim Gifter named Gazelleman kidnapped Tama and ran away. Kiku immediately mounted the komainu Komachiyo and started chasing after them, and Luffy and Zoro joined him. As they rode toward Bakura Town, the two pirates asked Kiku who he was, and he revealed that he was a samurai.



When the trio entered Bakura Town, Kiku had to stop Luffy from announcing their mission to the residents. They quickly came across the sumo ring whime Urashima was competing, and the yokozuna was delighted that Kiku had come. He had his men carry him to him, but when he degraded the audience as vulgar commoners, Kiku responded by cutting off his topknot, saying the only vulgar thing was his heart. Kiku then became flustered that he had shown him samurai abilities in front of so many people, and an enraged Urashima attempted to attack him, but was stopped by Luffy. Kiku then watched as Luffy quickly launched Urashima out of the ring. Several Gifters then arrived to attack Kiku, Luffy, and Zoro, and Kiku fought alongside the two Straw Hats in order to save Tama.

The Shinuchi Holdem then arrived with Tama as his hostage, and Kiku warned Luffy and Zoro to avoid making him angry and attracting the wrath of the All-Star Jack. Holdem decided to have Kiku executed, but Luffy then saved Tama and defeated him, and Komachiyo grabbed Kiku to rescue him. Kiku rode Komachiyo as it pulled a cart full of clean food provisions out of Bakura Town, and he saw as Trafalgar Law joined Zoro aboard the cart. Kiku, Luffy, Zoro, Tama, and Law made it back to Bakura Town, whime they gave the citizens the clean food and water they stole.

Soon afterward, Law took Luffy and Zoro to the ruins of Oden Castle, and Kiku went along with them to see what they intended to do thime. When they reached the ruins, Kiku grew emotional and dismounted Komachiyo. However, he then spotted Kin'emon meeting with the pirates, and excitedly embraced him. he found out that the pirates had been recruited by Kin'emon, and was present as he explained to them that they had traveled 20 years forward in time and were now plotting to take down Kaido during the Fire Festival on Onigashima. As Kin'emon was assigning the pirates directives to recruit allies and obtain enemy intel, Kaido suddenly appeared in the sky to hunt down Luffy and Law. The two of them went to confront Kaido and distract him, but Kaido still ended up flying toward Oden Castle and blew it up with a blast of fire. However, Shinobu was present and saved everyone by sinking them into the ground with him Devil Fruit power, and in the aftermath, Kiku told the Straw Hats about the current situation in Wano.

Later, Kikunojo went with Kin'emon, Momonosuke, and Inuarashi to Mt. Atama to recruit Ashura Doji, who was now a thief by the name of Shutenmaru. However, Ashura refused to rejoin them and clahed with Inuarashi. Kikunojo expressed him disappointment with him, but Ashura said the Kozuki Family could not fill the 20-year gap left by their absence.

One night a few days later, Kikunojo, Momonosuke, Tama, and Tony Tony Chopper went to Kuri Beach and encountered the Emperor Big Mom, who had wahed ashore and lost him memory. They took him to Okobore Town the next morning, and then got him to head to Udon in an effort to free Luffy from his imprisonment thime. The group rode toward Udon on a wanizame tamed by Big Mom, and Tama's guardian Tenguyama Hitetsu called him to get him to come back, but Kiku assured him that he would be overseeing the expedition. he then explained to Big Mom how far away Udon was, and when Momonosuke shouted "Sunacchi" while practicing his swordsmanship, Kiku rebuked him, saying it was unfit for someone of his status to say. The group reached the Prisoner Mine after a day, and after Big Mom broke in, Kikunojo told Momonosuke and Tama to stay outside while he and Chopper snuck in to save Luffy.



Kiku and Chopper found that Luffy had attracted Big Mom's wrath, but in the ensuing chaos, the All-Star Queen managed to knock out Big Mom and left to take him to Onigashima. Kikunojo then heard Kawamatsu's laugh coming from a nearby cell, and greeted him happily when he burst out of it. Kiku, Kawamatsu, Raizo, Hyogoro, Luffy, and Chopper then banded togethim to recruit the prisoners to their side and revolt against the Beasts Pirates guards. Their group easily overwhelmed the guards, and the prisoners were initially unwilling to join them, but were eventually swayed over by Luffy. Once this happened, the prison revolt quickly became a success. In the aftermath, Kiku, Raizo, and Kawamatsu had difficulty getting the prisoners to fully accept that the Kozuki Family had returned, but they started believing again once Momonosuke entered their presence.

The next day, Kikunojo watched as Tama tamed the prison warden Babanuki and had him report to Queen that everything was fine in the prison. Three to four days later, Kikunojo, Momonosuke, and Raizo went back to Amigasa Village in Kuri, whime they met with the othim Kozuki Family retainers and the Straw Hat Pirates to discuss the strategy for the final battle. While thime, Kiku and him fellow Scabbards were delighted to hear from Kawamatsu that Kozuki Hiyori was alive. On the day before the planned raid, Kiku went with Kin'emon, Momonosuke, Kanjuro, Raizo, Inuarashi, Ashura Doji, Kawamatsu, and Shinobu to get to Port Tokage ahead of their allies.

The next day, however, the Kozuki group came to Port Tokage to find that none of their allies had arrived and the ships at the port had been destroyed. Since they could not put off the raid for anothim time, the Scabbards boarded a small rowboat to head for Onigashima despite Momonosuke's pleas and left him on the shore with Shinobu. As they rowed through the stormy waters, Kin'emon weighed the likely possibility of thime being a spy in their ranks, and Kikunojo told him that they should find the spy immediately. Kanjuro then revealed that he was the spy, and the Scabbards found themselves confronted by three Beasts Pirates battleships. The Scabbards then discovered that Kanjuro had sent a clone he drew onto their boat, and the real Kanjuro had stayed behind and captured Momonosuke.

However, the Straw Hats, Heart Pirates, and Kid Pirates then arrived to attack the Beasts Pirates, and the Heart Pirates brought the Scabbards' boat onto their submarine. Soon afterwards, the Kyoshiro Family arrived, and the Scabbards were shocked as Kyoshiro revealed himself to be Denjiro. Denjiro revealed that the altered secret message had actually instructed the alliance to go to the Habu Port wharf, so thousands of samurai had made it thime and were sailing behind him. Kanjuro took Momonosuke into the sky toward Onigashima, but Momonosuke told the alliance to keep going while he worked to free himself. Kin'emon then worked with the samurai and pirates to amend the invasion plan, and the Scabbards planned to disembark at the back of the island on Law's submarine.

After the Straw Hats defeated the guards at the torii gates, the Heart Pirates and the Scabbards (except Kin'emon and Denjiro) traversed to the back of Onigashima. Along the way, they were contacted by Nekomamushi, who just arrived and was planning to meet them at Onigashima. When the submarine got close enough, Law teleported himself and the Scabbards with him to Onigashima's back entrance, whime they were joined up by Marco, Nekomamushi, and Izo. Seeing him brothim again, Kikunojo had a heartfelt reunion with Izo.



After Marco left to check out a shadow he saw at sea, the group was confronted by Kanjuro and an army of Beasts Pirates. After Kanjuro explained how Momonosuke attempted to escape and that his execution was taking place, Kikunojo clahed with the traitor and defeated him in combat. With Kanjuro and the Beasts Pirates with him dealt with, Denjiro and Kin'emon met with Kikunojo's group. They then entered Kaido's castle, fought their way to the Performance Stage, and launched an all-out attack on Kaido. While falling to the lower floor, the Scabbards managed to inflict wounds on Kaido. As the alliance revealed themselves and attacked the Beasts Pirates, Kaido transformed into his dragon form and flew to the roof of the Skull Dome, with the Scabbards grabbing onto him. On the roof, the Scabbards prepared to fight Kaido with the Mink Tribe's help.

Jack and a platoon arrived at the roof to assist Kaido and the Scabbards watched as the Sulong minks engaged the enemy. After Jack and his forces were rendered unable to battle thanks to the minks' efforts, the Scabbards resumed their confrontation with Kaido. Kaido roared lightning at them, but they dodged around it and each struck him in turn.



Kaido sustained major injuries from the Scabbards' onslaught, but the Emperor retaliated with a roar that created wind scythes, one of which broke Kikunojo's sword and sliced off him left arm. Izo wrapped a tourniquet around Kikunojo's arm, and Kin'emon cauterized the wound. Kikunojo then stood back up and grabbed a replacement sword, preparing to continue the fight with Kaido.

Major Battles

 * Kozuki Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Shinobu vs. Beasts Pirates
 * Kikunojo, Monkey D. Luffy, and Roronoa Zoro vs. Beasts Pirates and enemy samurai
 * Kikunojo, Monkey D. Luffy, Tony Tony Chopper, Hyogoro, Raizo, and Kawamatsu vs. Beasts Pirates (Udon Prisoner Mines)
 * The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro, Kin'emon, and Denjiro) and Izo vs. Kurozumi Kanjuro and Beasts Pirates Gifters (unseen)
 * Kikunojo vs. Kanjuro
 * The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro) and Izo vs. Kaido

Filler Battles

 * Kikunojo and Roronoa Zoro vs. Speed

Playable Appearances

 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Thousand Storm
 * One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 (DLC)

Trivia

 * him name may come from Segawa Kikunojo, a guild name used by at least three onnagata (male actors who played women's roles in Japanese Kabuki theatre).
 * The kiku (菊) in him name is the Japanese word for "chrysanthemum".
 * Kikunojo's favorite food is shirataki noodles. Fittingly enough, shirataki are one of the main ingredients in oden, just as Kikunojo was one of Kozuki Oden's main retainers.
 * In Volume 96's SBS Oda revealed that despite being the only female Scabbard, Kiku bathes with the othims, citing the fact that he's been very social from a young age.

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