In order to fool the traitor, Kin’emon had to first fool the allies closest to him
What prudence, what anticipation, what prescience. The betrayal of an ally that led to the death of the Lord of Wano Kuni and the fall of the nation, such wounds and the everlasting seemingly non-fading pain has created within Kine’mon a trauma so significant that he took it upon himself to doubt an ally and corner the traitor within their own web. Because of such foresight, he has saved his allies and solidified their rebellion against the captors of Wano Kuni. The stage has been set and now the actors have entered, all that is left is for Orochi and the Kaido and Big Mom alliance to fall.
Luffy, Law and Kid really do get along fantastically! Only such banter and ‘respectful’ rivalry can exist between such like-minded individuals. All of them are pissed and all are ready to explode their pent-up fury on the Beast Pirates and Orochi. Now that they know that two Yonko have allied, they may just put aside their rivalry and temporarily join together to fell a common foe, one that they realise must be eliminated for them to continue on the path they have chosen.
I love how Denjiro casually entered and systematically revealed how ignorant Kanjuro, Orochi and the Beast Pirate were against the Captain of the Nine Red Scabbards, Kin’emon. Knowledge of the traitor was apparent the moment Kaido cut Oden off when he decided to fight the Beast Pirates on Onigashima Island. With only the Nine Red Scabbards aware of the plan, the traitor could be only one of them. Kin’emon aware of this, put his plan into motion where he varied the information shared between the Nine Red Scabbards and the larger alliance in order to entrap the traitor. I always wondered why Kin’emon was so defensive and on guard when he was introduced during the Punk Hazard Arc. With Kin’emon having suffered such a massive betrayal before his time jump, it makes sense why he would doubt everyone he came across. To have been burdened with the knowledge that one of his companions was a traitor, Kin’emon would have been thinking about cornering the traitor since the moment he realised there was a traitor. What an astounding Samurai and tactician Kin’emon is.
An army and a leadership capable of liberating the Wano Kuni from its captives has finally gathered
With Orochi and Kaido unaware of Kin’emon’s plan, if Luffy and Co. can eliminate the Beast Pirates currently on the ocean and Kanjuro at the habour, they will be able to keep the element of surprise and invade Onigashima Island. With their 5,400 army, Kin’emon has effectively gave the rebellion their best shot at retaking the country back from Orochi and Kaido. There is a risk of Kanjuro attempting to use Momonosuke’s life to escape but with Shinobu also at the harbour, I wonder if she will save Momonosuke or if she has already disguised herself or a clone as Momonosuke. Very much looking forward to the next chapter.
12Dimension 