How Kanjuro Lived A Tragic Life As Orochi’s Puppet

Summary

• Kanjuro flawlessly played his role as a Kozuki retainer but was manipulated by Orochi for personal gain.
• Traumatized by his parents’ death, Kanjuro lived a tragic life seeking the perfect stage for his death.
• Despite a devastating blow, Kanjuro’s loyalty to Orochi led him to perform a final act of vengeance before dying.

Kurozumi Kanjuro is a broken man who sought the perfect stage for his death in One Piece. Traumatized by the death of his parents at a young age, Kanjuro was vulnerable and impressionable to Orochi, who sought the perfect puppet in his scheme to usurp the Kozuki Family.

Kanjuro flawlessly played his role as a Kozuki retainer, using his acting skills to get closer to Kozuki Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards. However, he was immensely loyal to Orochi and the Kurozumi family, which allowed him to be manipulated and used as a puppet by Orochi for his personal gain.

Yuudachi Kanjuro of the Nine Red Scabbards

Kanjuro’s Role Was Flawlessly Executed, as None Had Knew About His True Intentions

Kurozumi Kanjuro, initially known as Yuudachi Kanjuro of the Kozuki family, was first introduced during the Dressora arc as one of the Nine Red Scabbards and a retainer of Kozuki Oden. Before becoming one of Oden’s retainers, Kanjuro was known as “The Demon of Kibi,” as he would steal human hair, regardless of whether his victims were dead or alive. He would then use the hair to make brushes and sell them for a living. He would make this profession reasonable because of his Fude Fude no Mi, Devil Fruit.

• Kanjuro worked as a spy for Orochi, relaying all information and plans to usurp the Kozuki Family.
• Kanjuro does not resent or desire to harm the members of the Nine Red Scabbards and wishes to carry out his role.
• He also hid his Devil Fruit’s true abilities, as this would have made him seem weaker and less of a threat.

During one of his excursions, Kanjuro attempts to steal Oden’s hair, believing him to be dead; after being reprimanded by Oden, he would soon follow Oden and thus becomes one of his retainers known as the Nine Red Scabbards. During his time with the Nine Red Scabbards, Kanjuro genuinely enjoyed his time and wished to serve beneath Oden. However, the truth about who Kurozumi Kanjuro is is much sadder.

Kurozumi Kanjuro, The Undercover Spy

After the Traumatizing Death of His Parents, Kanjuro Continued to Put On an Act in Search of the Perfect Stage for His Death

As mentioned above, Kanjuro was one of the Nine Red Scabbards, serving as Oden’s retainer before his death. However, after Kurozumi Orochi usurped the Kozuki Family, he began serving Momonosuke, the shogunate heir. Throughout their time together, Kanjuro portrayed himself as a loyal and faithful retainer to the rightful heir to the throne. However, it was all an act to gain information, which he would relay to Orochi.

Kanjuro was originally from the Kurozumi Family, one of the six ruling families in Wano; however, they lost all their power when they attempted to overrun the shogunate, the Kozuki family. Believing that the current shogun would not father a son and heir to the throne, the Kurozumi Family poisoned the remaining daimyo who served the Kozuki family. However, the current shogun soon produced an heir to the throne, which quickly foiled the Kurozumi family’s plans, as they were soon shunned and lost all of their wealth because of greed.

Although many of the Kurozumi family members lost their lives during the repression, only a few survived, which were Kanjuro, Orochi, Higurashi, Semimaru, and Tama. Kanjuro lost his parents while they were performing on stage as they were part of a theater troupe. Their deaths severely impacted the young Kanjuro, and witnessing their traumatic deaths led him to become mentally impaired.

Live your life as a real Kozuki retainer, and die as a Kozuki retainer without letting anyone know!

As a result, he lost his will to live, and as a passionate actor, he surmised he could survive by constantly changing roles, as he had no will to live. Orochi quickly took advantage of Kanjuro in his vulnerable state and goaded him to live as a Kozuki retainer. After observing his desire to “play a role,” Orochi prompted Kanjuro to live and die for this role.

Thus, Kanjuro began his life, fully taking on his new role and seeking to become one of Oden’s retainers. This was easy for him to achieve as Oden had a heart of gold and had been “taking in strays” who would eventually become the Nine Red Scabbards. Although Kanjuro fully committed himself to his role, which resulted from his weak mind being taken advantage of by Orochi, not once did Kanjuro consider the members as friends or family. He had no resentment or desire to harm any of them; all he wished to do was play his role and find a place to die.

It’s me. I am the snitch!!

Kanjuro truly lived a life of tragedy, from losing his parents at a young age to developing Post-traumatic stress disorder from the event, which led him to have negative thoughts, such as wishing to die. Unfortunately, Kanjuro could never rid himself of his role as Orochi’s puppet and likely had no desire to do so, as he continued to live as a broken man, only searching for a place to die. It’s possible that to Kanjuro, playing his “role” in Orochi’s plan was a means for him to be closer to his family that passed many years before, and in this way, Kanjuro was holding onto them as he lost his “heart” when he was a child.

Kanjuro’s Final Act

Kanjuro Lived a Tragic Life, Traumatized at a Young Age and Manipulated Even After Death

Despite being near death after a devastating blow by Kin’emon during the Raid on Onigashima, Kanjuro, ever loyal to Orochi, continued to serve him even while he was on the cusp of death. As mentioned previously, Orochi is acutely aware of Kanjuro’s fragile mental state and his means of coping, which is to delude himself into playing a role flawlessly.

For his final act, Orochi goaded Kanjuro into performing a spectacular finale depicting the wrath of the Kurozumi family’s vengeance. With this, Kanjuro unleashes his final technique, Kazenbo, a large blazing monster that sets anything it touches to light; with his final “act,” Kanjuro dies with Kazenbo wreaking havoc on all it comes in contact with.

Much like many of Orochi’s other plans, Kazenbo could not set the armory alight, as Yamato could intercept it before doing so while dealing with Big Mom. Now that Kazenbo was a mere fraction of its size, it found its way back to Orochi, reporting its failure. It’s possible that Kazenbo held Kanjuro’s will as it was able to somewhat converse with Orochi. However, instead of heading to Orochi’s new “stage,” which was to kill Kozuki Hiyori, Kazenbo instead burned Orochi.

It’s possible that Kanjuro had already fulfilled his wish of seeking a stage appropriate for him to die and could no longer live as a puppet of Orochi. Unfortunately, his retribution was done after he had passed, as he still died a tragic death from being manipulated by Orochi and his schemes.

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