Nine Red Scabbards

The Nine Red Scabbards are a squad of nine retainers of the Kozuki Family who served Kozuki Oden. They are led by their captain, Kin'emon.

Overview
The Nine Red Scabbards are said to be a formidable group of fighters, so the made up story of Kurozumi Orochi defeating them granted him the status of a great warrior. They are led by Kin'emon, a powerful master swordsman of the Foxfire Style. Their strength has been acknowledged by likes of Kaidou, one of the Four Emperors. Jack, an All-Star of the Beast Pirates who had personally fought at least three of its members, considered them far stronger than the Tobiroppo, even well near death.

Members
The Nine Red Scabbards consist of nine powerful samurai who all served Kozuki Oden as his retainers and as his strongest followers, as three of the members were described to be worth 100 men in battle. Through teamwork and improved strength and skills of the respective members after 20 years, they were able to fight against the Emperor Kaidou and even dealt considerable injury to the latter, a feat that only Oden achieved 20 years prior.



Ashura abandoned his position as one of the Scabbards and led his own group of bandits under the name Shutenmaru. He initially refused to rejoin after Kin'emon's 20 years of absence, so Kin'emon and the others came to the decision to force him into being their ally again by any means necessary, even to the point of framing him for theft to force him back into battle. After the public execution of Shimotsuki Yasuie, Ashura got angry at Kin'emon for his actions, but after showing what happened to their allies ten years before Kin'emon and Momonosuke's return, Ashura finally rejoined his team.

Denjiro went under the alias "Kyoshiro" and formed the Kyoshiro Family, a Yakuza family that served the shogun Kurozumi Orochi. On the day of the Fire Festival, Denjiro revealed his identity to the Scabbards and rejoined them.

On the day of the Fire Festival, Kanjuro revealed himself to be a member of the Kurozumi Family and a spy for Orochi.

Oden had two other retainers who are not considered part of the Scabbards: Izou, who joined the Whitebeard Pirates while accompanying Oden in his pirating journey, and Shinobu, who became a self-proclaimed retainer (like the others did) shortly after Oden's death.

Kozuki Family Downfall


20 years ago, after Kurozumi Orochi and Kaidou imprisoned Hyogoro and killed his wife and several family members, the latest of a series of heinous acts Orochi did while he occupied the shogun position in Wano Country, Kozuki Oden gathered his retainers for retribution. The shadow the ten samurai cast from the setting sun gave the retainers the name of the Nine Red Scabbards.

On the way to Onigashima, Oden and the Scabbards were confronted by Kaidou and his crew. After a ferocious battle, Oden and the Scabbards were defeated. They were then imprisoned in the Flower Capital and sentenced to death by boiling three days later. On the execution day, Oden made a deal with Kaidou to let those who survive the execution go free and Kaidou gave him an hour. Oden stood in the boiling pot of oil while holding the Scabbards over him with a piece of wood. Oden successfully survived for an hour, but Orochi summoned a firing squad to execute them. Oden threw the Scabbards far away from him. The retainers fled as Oden met his demise.

In desperation, the Scabbards head back to Kuri as they knew Momonosuke's life would be targeted next. On their way, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were captured by Orochi's subordinates and they were left behind. Ashura and Denjiro split from the group to fight their pursuers.

Having anticipated their plan, Kaidou set the castle ablaze, leading to Momonosuke, Hiyori, and their mother Toki becoming trapped. Arriving at the inferno later that day, the remaining Scabbards entered the castle and found the family. The group organized a plan for Toki to use her Devil Fruit ability to send her son and four of the Scabbards 20 years into the future in order to take down Oden's executioners and open Wano's borders. In case the plan failed, Hiyori would stay behind so the Kozuki bloodline could survive, leading to Kawamatsu staying with her while Toki transported her son and the four Scabbards (Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo) into the future. As the castle was surrounded by enemies, Kawamatsu dug a hole into a water channel to escape with Hiyori unnoticed. For her final words, Toki made a vague statement in front of the burning castle, which Orochi interpreted as nine vengeful samurai appearing in 20 years on a moonlit night that will kill him and open Wano's borders, while others viewed it as a sign the Kozuki Family would rise again.

Aftermath
The group was publicly announced to be defeated by Orochi and the group was regarded as being killed and all burned alive in Oden Castle. Having doubts about Toki's final words, Jibuemon searched the ruins for the remains of the Nine Red Scabbards but was unable to find them. While Denjiro was believed to have survived, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi left Wano and returned to Zou barely clinging to their lives while continuing with their quarrel.

After his appearance changed, Denjiro gathered followers and formed the Kyoshiro Family. With his new position as a yakuza boss, Denjiro entered Orochi's services to gain his trust.

After seven years of being taken cared of, Hiyori chose to part ways with Kawamatsu, resulting in Kawamatsu turning to suicide for failing his mission. However, upon arriving at Ringo, he encountered Onimaru defending the graves and after healing the komagitsune, Kawamatsu started gathering the swords of the deceased warriors in preparation for the war against the Beasts Pirates. He was later caught stealing and imprisoned in Udon's Prisoner Mines, where he was forced to only eat poisoned fish.

Denjiro discovered Hiyori after she was found in the streets of the Flower Capital and brought to his residence. He then took her in, revealed his identity to her, and raised her in Kawamatsu's place.

A decade after Oden's execution, Orochi's opposition grew impatient with having to wait another decade to revolt, prompting Ashura to plead with them to continue waiting. Unsuccessful, he watched on as his allies sailed towards their target, resulting in them being killed. Distraught at his comrades' pointless demise by the King of the Beasts, Ashura eventually lost hope, went back to being a criminal, and adopted the alias Shutenmaru. He also formed the Mt. Atama Thieves. At some point, he encountered Kaidou, in which Kaidou wanted him to be part of his crew. Ashura also managed to acquire the blueprints of Kaidou's fortress.

In Search of Allies
Months ago, after 20 years had passed since Oden's execution, Momonosuke's group arrived at the ruins of Oden's Castle. Traveling around Wano, the group eventually encountered Jibuemon and were informed that allies of the Kozuki Family had tattoos of the moon on their ankles. Deciding to gather in secret, Kikunojo donned the alias O-Kiku and was entrusted with gathering intel of their enemies. The rest of the group set sail to recruit allies. After being spotted leaving Wano by the Beasts Pirates, they were pursued by the crew. Due to the group having no navigational skills, they were immediately shipwrecked on their way to Zou, leading to them losing their vessel and Raizo being separated from the group. Barely escaping with their lives, they drifted to Dressrosa. Kin'emon and Momonosuke pretended to be father and son to hide their identities. There, they were chased by Kaidou's associate Donquixote Doflamingo, leading to Momonosuke hiding in a ship that departed to Punk Hazard. Kanjuro got captured in order to allow Kin'emon to pursue Momonosuke.

Punk Hazard Arc
After tracking Kozuki Momonosuke to Punk Hazard, Kin'emon encountered Trafalgar Law of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who used his abilities to separate Kin'emon's body, until he was reassembled with the help of the Straw Hat Pirates, who also helped him locate and rescue Momonosuke. The two then traveled with them to Dressrosa.

Dressrosa Arc
On their journey, Kin'emon explained he set his goal in Dressrosa to locate his friend, and then proceed to Zou for yet another ally. After finding Kanjuro, the two helped save the country from Doflamingo's reign, before continuing with their new allies toward Zou to reunite with Raizo and Momonosuke.

Zou Arc


Upon reaching Zou, Kin'emon and Kanjuro were separated from the group and only joined later, much to the Straw Hats' fear of the samurai encountering the Mink Tribe. However, the truth about Kin'emon's allegiance with the minks was revealed. Momonosuke also ended the feud between Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. The relationship between the minks and the Kozuki Family brought upon the formation of Kin'emon's desired forces in the form of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance, and the group made plans to meet back at Wano Country.

Wano Country Arc
After Luffy's group arrived at Wano, they met Kin'emon at the ruins of Oden Castle, who revealed to them his true story. Shortly afterward, Kaidou arrived at Kuri, and after Luffy lost to him, Kin'emon saw Ashura Doji at Okobore Town, and went with Inuarashi to try and recruit him but to no avail. Meanwhile, Raizo was sent to help Luffy break out of the Udon Prisoner Mines.

After meeting an amnesiac Big Mom, Kikunojo traveled to the Udon region with her, Momonosuke, Tama, and Chopper to rescue Luffy. Back in Udon, Raizo encountered Kawamatsu and decided to break him out as well before being discovered and forced to hide. When the Beasts Pirates retired for the night, Raizo freed Caribou and reunited with Hyogoro, and the group decided to free other prisoners who are opposed to Orochi's rule.

Meanwhile, Kin'emon and Inuarashi tried to entice a fight between Ashura's group and the Beast Pirates stationed in Bakura Town, resulting in Mt. Atama being set on fire and Ashura heading to Bakura Town for vengeance.

Later, most of them witnessed the public execution of Shimotsuki Yasuie and broke down in tears at seeing his demise. This finally made Ashura open to talk with Kin'emon and Inuarashi.



Back in Udon, Chopper's group arrived and caused a disturbance with Linlin attacking Queen. During their fight, Kawamatsu's cell was damaged. Using the commotion as a distraction, Raizo and Caribou managed to disable Udon's communications. With Big Mom regaining her memories, knocked out, and taken to Onigashima, Luffy was left free, and he planned to take over Udon. However, Babanuki turned the prisoners against Luffy. Raizo freed Kawamatsu from his chains and they reunited with Kikunojo, who forced the prisoners off of Luffy. On Hyogoro's suggestion, Raizo and Kikunojo revealed themselves to rally the prisoners, which they succeed in doing and take over the Prisoner Mines.

Kawamatsu temporarily separated from the group to take care of some business. Elsewhere, Ashura showed Kin'emon and Inuarashi the graves of those who died fighting Kaidou ten years ago. After recounting that event, Ashura decided to rejoin the Scabbards.

Back in Ebisu Town, Kanjuro promised to give Yasuie a proper burial. Ashura took Kin'emon and Inuarashi to an abandoned port in Kuri and showed them ships they could use to transport their troops. Kawamatsu returned to the Ringo region, encountered Zoro and reunited with Hiyori. Meanwhile, Raizo's group in Udon gave a false report to Queen, and then caught Kin'emon about the recent events. Kawamatsu checked on the hidden weapon stash.



The Scabbards (except for Nekomamushi and Denjiro) gathered in Amigasa Village along with several other key members of the alliance to begin a strategy meeting. As the day of the Fire Festival drew close, the Scabbards led the alliance in various ways. Finally, on the day before the battle, seven of the Scabbards headed toward their meeting place with Momonosuke and Shinobu. They later found Tokage Port in ruins, with their allies absent and unable to be contacted. Desperate, the Scabbards head out on a small boat, preparing to continue the fight by themselves. The Scabbards set sail and left Momonosuke at the port. As Kin'emon wondered about the possibility of a traitor among them, Kanjuro then revealed that he was the mole. Kin'emon angrily beheaded him, only to learn that it was a copy and the real Kanjuro remained on the coast and that he had captured Momonosuke to bring him to Onigashima. As this was happening, the Scabbards' boat was confronted by three Beasts Pirates ships, but the ships were suddenly attacked by the Straw Hats, Heart Pirates, and Kid Pirates. The Scabbards' boat was then lifted by Law's submarine.

Denjiro later arrived with his yakuza family. He revealed his identity and rejoined the Scabbards. He also revealed that the rebels gathered at Habu Port and they then arrived on a massive fleet to commence the raid on Onigashima.

Sometime during the festival, Nekomamushi arrived with reinforcements that included Marco and Izou after Marco interfered with Big Mom Pirates arriving to Wano. He was able to connect with the Scabbards (minus Kin'emon, Denjiro, and Kanjuro), who were in Law's submarine, through a Den Den Mushi for an update on the situation so he could meet up with them. Kin'emon and Denjiro disembarked on Onigashima with the rest of the rebel forces and split into two groups as they made their way into Kaidou's stronghold.



When Law's submarine got close enough to Onigashima's rear entrance, Law used his ability to transport himself and the Scabbards with him to the backside of the island, where they were able to regroup with Nekomamushi, Izou, and Marco. After Marco left to check on a shadow he saw at sea, they confronted the traitorous member, Kanjuro, and his forces. It led to a battle with all of them fighting the Beasts Pirates while Kikunojo fought Kanjuro alone. Kin'emon and Denjiro met up with the rest of the group after Kanjuro and the Beasts Pirates with him had been defeated. With the traitor out of the way, the rest of the members plus Izou made their way to Kaidou and the All-Stars to fight them head on.



As the all-out war began, the Scabbards fought Kaidou on the roof. Despite some success in wounding Kaidou, the samurai were ultimately overwhelmed. After Law, Kid, Killer, Zoro, and Luffy arrived at the roof, the Scabbards and Izou were teleported away from the roof by Law's powers. The wounded samurai were placed in the treasure room at the second floor and were tended to by a mysterious figure. The Scabbards later recovered and regained consciousness, but the mysterious figure already had left. Before they left the treasure room, they saw who appeared to be Oden.



This Oden turned out to be a fake drawing created by Kanjuro, who survived his duel with Kikunojo, although grievously wounded. The Scabbards wondered how Kanjuro could control this fake drawing, with Kanjuro revealing he can do it from afar, although it drains a lot of his energy. Kanjuro had this Oden wound Ashura before revealing a stock of explosives, intending on killing all scabbards at once. However, Ashura sacrificed himself by crashing himself and the drawing out of the window, telling his comrades to protect Momonosuke from Kanjuro, engulfing himself and the drawing in the explosion, with Ashura laying motionless on the ground. As the Scabbards prepared to find Kanjuro, they were surprised to find Jack in front of the door. Inuarashi then stepped forward and told his comrades he would deal with Jack, as a revenge for the events which happened back on Zou. As the others then proceed to find Kanjuro, they stumbled upon both Orochi and Fukurokuju, who set the castle ablaze as revenge for Kaidou betraying Orochi earlier (unbeknownst to the Scabbards). As Orochi taunted them for their foolishness in trusting Kanjuro all this time, while being surprised to find out that Kyoshiro was Denjiro all along, as well as boasting about his superiority over them in their weakened state, he prepared to finish the Scabbards off by transforming into his Zoan-Form. The Scabbards, however, made short business and cut off his seven heads, with Kine'mon saying he will be judged in hell as they had no time to deal with him any more. They would then have to leave another member behind, as Raizo challenged Fukurokuju for his betrayal to the Kozuki Family as well as serving under Orochi, with both ninja preparing for a duel.

Trivia

 * While not explicitly stated, Toki's prophecy about nine figures coming to take back Wano Country from Orochi and the Beasts Pirates is heavily implied to refer to the group.
 * After Kanjuro's betrayal, Izou—even if not an official member—joins the Red Scabbards in the fight against Kaidou, making them still a nine people group, thus able to fulfill the prophecy.
 * Episode 970 Image 2.png of the Scabbards' favorite food is a different ingredient used to make oden (which is also the favorite food of Kozuki Oden himself).
 * The Scabbards' mission to kill Kaidou to avenge their master Oden is similar to the actions of the 47 rōnin in Japan at the beginning of the 18th century, in which 47 samurai plotted revenge against the man who caused their master to die. To do so, they laid low and blended in with the public for two years to catch their target off-guard.

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