Issho

Issho, more commonly known by his alias, Fujitora, is an admiral in the Marines.

He was first mentioned by Sakazuki when the Fleet Admiral was discussing plans to deal with Luffy and Law in the Dressrosa Arc.

Appearance
Issho is a blind man with only the whites of his eyes showing. He has a cross-shaped scar on the left side of his forehead that stretches over both eyes. He has short dark hair, a mustache, and a beard. He seems to be very tall, a trait shared with other admirals.

He sports a Marine coat draped over a purple cloak and a light-purple kimono which is held up by a dark-purple belt, matching the color in his name. Issho wields a shikomizue (a Japanese swordstick) that doubles as a cane for his blindness and wears geta sandals. He also wears bandages on both of his forearms, along with handguards on both hands.

Personality
In this world... There are many horrible things that you do not want to see.

Issho appears to be a reasonable man that is very trusting of people, as seen when he believed that he kept on losing at roulette purely by chance. The moment he was told that he was being cheated and that the swindlers tried to kill Luffy for telling, he retaliated mercilessly and believed that being blind spared him from looking at the corruption in the world.

He is also responsible about collateral damage he inflicts, as when he caused a massive crater while attacking the swindlers, he immediately compensated the shop owner for the damages. He appears to follow his own ideals instead of adhering to the Marines' doctrine of Absolute Justice. However, he still follows the law, as he chose to spare Caesar Clown simply for working under Donquixote Doflamingo, although he can understand that Doflamingo could be up to something and desired to investigate further into the problem if it were not for the law and lack of solid evidence.

He is rather modest, as he barely commented on the remarks Doflamingo and Law made on his formidable reputation and display of power respectively.

During the first time he was seen in a battle, Issho was shown to be willing to use excessive force as he brought down a meteor to attack both Law and Doflamingo. Doflamingo even commented that he doesn't hold back.

He exhibits concern about the safety of innocent civilians more than his desire to arrest and punish criminals, unlike Sakazuki.

Despite his responsible personality, he seems to enjoy gambling and is not entirely serious on his duties, as he was playing roulette even when he was supposed to apprehend Luffy and Law.

Another trait Issho displayed is his ability to remain calm. Even when one of his meteorites was sent flying back at his vessel, he was eating a bowl of noodles acting as if nothing was happening while his crew panicked.

Marines
As an admiral of the marines Issho is respected among the organization.

He seems to be trusted by fleet admiral Sakazuki, who sent him to deal with the Straw Hat Pirates' and Heart Pirates' alliance, with the two captains of the groups being a notorious pirate and a Shichibukai respectively. Sakazuki even apologized when he informed Issho about Donquixote Doflamingo's false resignation from the Shichibukai.

Shichibukai
Issho revoked Trafalgar Law's Shichibukai's status when Law declared an alliance between him and the Straw Hat Pirates. He then cooperated with Donquixote Doflamingo to defeat him. Even though he clearly understood that Doflamingo was up to something, he followed the laws as he had no further evidence. Doflamingo arrived to Green Bit, alongside Admiral Issho and his battalion of Marine soldiers. In front of the Marines, Doflamingo immediately declared Caesar as his subordinate, thus drafting the rogue scientist into his crew while pardoning him of his crimes. Even though he clearly understood that Doflamingo was up to something, he followed the laws as he had no further evidence.

Having allied himself with Doflamingo, he proceeded to attack Law and the Straw Hat Pirates. Issho has shown great disgust with working with Doflamingo, and when helping him fight Law purposely tried to harm him in the process. Doflamingo shows very little respect towards his high ranking status, and enjoys being able to manipulate him for as long as possible.

Having allied himself with Doflamingo, he proceeded to attack Law and the Straw Hat Pirates. However, Issho revealed that he dislikes the Shichibukai system and plans to end it, despite being willing to help Doflamingo in protecting Dressrosa for the moment.

Pirates
As a marine he views pirates as enemies, although he is more flexible and able to look past and see their good qualities. He was willing to acknowledge Luffy's character for his help with the swindlers, though obligated to fight him he considered it "biting the hand that feeds". However, he puts the civilians' safety above the pirates' arrest. When he realized that he was being cheated by some of Doflamingo's underlings, he quickly took care of them.

Abilities and Powers
As an admiral, Issho has command over the many thousands of soldiers under his rank, his status being second highest within the entire Marine organization, just below Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. He also has the right to initiate a Buster Call on any island he deems to be a threat, as well as grant lower ranking World Government agents such a privilege. As an Admiral he has the authority to revoke a Shichibukai's title.

In terms of combat strength, Issho is considered to be one of the strongest individuals within the entire World Government structure, as an admiral is considered the "Greatest Military Power". Fujitora is at least strong enough to have Sakazuki's confidence in dealing with Monkey D. Luffy a notorious pirate, and Trafalgar Law, a rogue Shichibukai.

Despite his blindness he was still able to perfectly time his defense against the meteor he summoned and deflected it without a problem. According to Doflamingo, Issho and Ryokugyu are two very formidable and venerable beasts within the Marines. His strength was also admired by Monkey D. Luffy, when the latter watched his fight against Doflamingo's thugs. When Doflamingo tried to attack him he showed absolutely no concern and he easily blocked his attack.

Devil Fruit
When exacting retribution on Doflamingo's thugs that were cheating him because of his blindness, he used an unknown Devil Fruit power. It grants him the ability to manipulate gravity around a chosen location at his will by sending gravitational forces. Firstly, he used this power to create a gravitational force of such intensity that it caused the cheaters to be pressed heavily against the floor, which caved in to create a gigantic hole as a result. Later, he used immense amounts of gravity to accomplish other feats, such as causing a meteor to fall from the sky. After the battle against Law with Doflamingo, he used his power to increase gravity on one point to immobilize Law.

He also reverses gravity to create a circular barrier around him which repels attacks. As a testament of his power, he stated the act he performed was merely to test his strength. He usually unsheathes his sword in order to create the gravitational forces. He is also able to use his powers to levitate materials like a battleship or a rock, similar to Shiki's Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, and use the rock as a platform for levitation; though unlike Shiki's power, Issho's is not hindered by the necessity of touching the target beforehand, and he can affect both living and inanimate objects.

Haki
It was stated that all Marines ranked vice admiral or higher possess Haki, so as a higher ranked officer as well as leader of the Marines, Issho can also use the ability. In particular, Issho uses Kenbunshoku Haki to compensate for his blindness when in a fight.

Weapons
Issho wields his shikomizue (a sword blade placed in a cane-like mounting) in tandem with his Devil Fruit ability. The connection between these two factors has yet to be explained, though it seems he channels his power through the sword, as by pointing the blade at Trafalgar Law, he managed to create a gravitation field to pin down the young pirate and caused a rock to crumble.

So far, when using his sword, he is holding it with the blade downwards. If this way of holding his sword involves his technique in general or just the use of his ability remains to be seen. However, it is worth noting that the only time his mysterious ability is used is when his sword is unsheathed. Other than that, his swordsmanship level is unknown.

Due to his blindness, Issho uses the cane outside of battle to check his surroundings as he walks. Despite this, his blindness does not seem to impede him in battle.

Past
Not much is known about his past, but sometime during the two years the Straw Hats were separated, he was promoted to admiral in the World Military Draft. He joined because he wanted many things to come to fruition, one of which is to end the Shichibukai system.

Dressrosa Arc
Fujitora was dispatched by Fleet Admiral Sakazuki to deal with Luffy and Law.

Before entering the restaurant, Issho first encountered Zoro when he asked the pirate for directions to a gambling house. Fujitora was also seen gambling with some common citizens and won 15 times in a row.

He was first seen in a restaurant in Acacia, gambling with some of Doflamingo's men that were cheating. Luffy called the thugs' bluff and helped Issho. After giving his thanks to Luffy, he unsheathed a sword from his cane. As the thugs were crushed and collapsed into a hole in the ground, he said that being unable to see the world's filth could be considered an advantage of being blind. Everyone stood in awe after his display of power, the crew speculated that he must definitely have some Devil Fruit ability and Luffy immediately asked outright who exactly he was. Issho laughed and stated that for both their sakes it would be unwise to reveal who he is. As he walked off, he gave the bartender a piece of paper and told him to forward all the damage claims to the address on it.

He was later seen as a spectator at the Corrida Colosseum. He was apparently scouting out all of the big names competing in the monthly tournament, and told his subordinates that they should leave. He requested three battleships and a large number of medical officers and said that he would go to Green Bit first. Then, he asked his subordinate about the number of spectators as well as the populations of the town and country. When his subordinate asked why that was needed he replied that before counting the number of enemies they should count the number of people needing protection.

At Green Bit, Fujitora was seen leading his men to the southern beach where Law and Caesar were present. On the way, he was contacted by Sakazuki, who informed him that Doflamingo's resignation was a false report. Issho and his subordinates arrived at the exchange site at the same time as Doflamingo.



While Law and Doflamingo were exchanging words, such as how their negotiations were off, Issho noted Caesar's presence. Upon seeing Issho, Doflamingo commented on how he and Ryokugyu are beasts in terms of power. Issho explained that he is aware that Doflamingo was not following the rules as a Shichibukai and that he noticed that Caesar referred to Doflamingo as Joker. Doflamingo simply replied that if the admiral wants to investigate him, he had better be prepared to back up his claims. Issho then turned his attention to Law and stated that Law would be forgiven if the Straw Hats were his subordinates. After Law declared that he and Luffy are indeed in an alliance, Issho took away Law's Shichibukai title and used his gravity ability to bring down a meteor. Before the meteor impacted, Issho, Doflamingo, and Law used their abilities to reduce the meteor to pieces. After emerging unscathed, Issho, Doflamingo, and Law faced each other in a three-way confrontation.



As the fight went on, Issho continued unleashing devastating attacks. Once Law was overwhelmed, Issho was then seen sitting next to his injured body, holding him down with his gravity ability, as Doflamingo explained the history of the Donquixote Family.

Issho later commented that he heard lightning in the distance much to Doflamingo's confusion as the weather seemed fine. Law realized that Nami's group is approaching Green Bit and told Doflamingo that he never said that the heart he was holding belonged to Caesar. Doflamingo squeezed the heart to find out and Issho was then distracted by a Marine's scream. Law quickly used this opportunity to escape by using Room. Issho calmly sat still as Law grabbed Caesar and fled with Doflamingo in hot pursuit of him.

He later sent a Marine ship flying towards the Thousand Sunny while attacking the Straw Hats' ship with meteors. Law redirected one of the meteors to the Marine ship, dealing significant damage to it. As a Marine reported the damage, Issho casually commented on his own miscalculation while eating a bowl of noodles. To his men's surprise, Issho ordered them to head back to Dressrosa, musing on how the tides have turned.



When a Marine tells Issho that a fight just broke out in the middle of town, Issho, with a concerned look on his face, tells his men to hurry.



Issho arrived on the scene just in time to block Zoro's swing at Doflamingo. He then used his ability to push Zoro underground, but the swordsman sent a flying slash towards the Admiral, which he repelled with little effort. With an unconscious Law in tow, Issho and Doflamingo head for the palace, where the admiral and the Shichibukai would have a chance to finish their conversation.

While Franky attempted to breach the toy house, Issho heard the commotion through a Den Den Mushi. Doflamingo then asked the admiral if the Marines should do something about the Straw Hats.

When the Marines made a move to arrest Franky at the toy house, Doflamingo thanked Issho. Doflamingo told him that he made a wise choice, but the admiral replied that he should not be mistaken as an ally. Fujitora stated that if Luffy decided to fight him, there would be a lot of destruction and protecting the citizens from that destruction was his "Justice" and that was what he had utilized the Marines for. As for Doflamingo, he would deal with him later. Fujitora said that he accepted the position of Admiral because there had been certain things that he wanted to accomplish and one of those things was the total discarding of the Shichibukai system. He also mentioned about a country where pirates threatened to hijack the royal throne and commented that if the attempt succeeded, it would become as vile as Dressrosa.

Doflamingo then tried to kick him. Fujitora blocked his attack and continued saying that the balance of the Three Great Powers would be shattered and if Doflamingo kept on committing crimes, the bounty on his head would increase after the Shichibukai system was abolished. After finding out his true intentions, Doflamingo assumed that Fujitora was going to kill him, but the admiral said that they should continue being friends for the time being. From that point onwards, he would protect Dressrosa and ignore all its malpractices.

Issho was later seen with Bastille as all the toys transformed back into their original forms, causing a widespread panic. He later watched as Doflamingo trapped Dressrosa in his "bird cage" while forcing random people to attack each other.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * In the anime, before he went to the restaurant, he had a brief conversation with Zoro. Zoro seemed intimidated by him and was about to unsheath his sword, but then calmed down after Issho walked passed him.
 * In the anime, Fujitora wins 15 times in the game of roulette before he eventually loses to Doflamingo's thugs. in the manga, it only shows him losing.
 * In the anime, Issho slashed his sword at Doflamingo's thugs before creating the hole. He slashed all of them, then it appeared to have no effect, but after he sheathed his sword, that is when the gravity started to get heavier. In the manga, Issho didn't slash them with his sword, he only unsheathed it to make the hole.
 * In the anime, after leaving Corrida Colosseum, Issho uses his Devil Fruit ability to retrieve a balloon for a young girl.

Major Battles

 * Issho vs. Doflamingo's thugs.
 * Issho and Donquixote Doflamingo vs. Trafalgar Law
 * Issho vs. Roronoa Zoro

Trivia

 * Fujitora has the same naming scheme (color + animal) as the three admirals before him.
 * He is the first admiral to be introduced after the timeskip.
 * His appearance seems to resemble Shintaro Katsu, more specifically his role as Zatoichi, the blind swordsman. The similarities are as follows:
 * They carry a shikomizue (cane-sword) for both walking and battle.
 * Both have a love for gambling (although Zatoichi is able to recognize whether or not he is being taken advantage of).
 * Fujitora and Ryokugyu's animal aliases (Tiger and Bull, respectively) are the representation of the northeastern quarter where the ogre that Momotarō must kill, lives.
 * In an SBS, a reader asked why Fujitora wasn't just named "Purple Tiger" (紫虎), with a simple color like the other admirals. Oda responded that he didn't like the feel or pronunciation of Murasakitora or Shitora (both meaning purple), and decided on Fujitora because it sounded cooler.

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