Chapter 151: Cleaning Up Wanokuni
After letting Kaido head out to attract attention, Kahn began his "cleaning" of Wano Country—literally.
Kahn wasn't the saviour of Wano Country; he was its ruler. And unlike others who were uneducated and lacked proper ruling skills, Kahn knew exactly what he was doing. Kaido's control over Wano was hidden, with Kurozumi Orochi acting as the visible leader.
But after taking over Onigashima and Wano, Kahn had no intention of keeping someone as useless as Orochi in power. Moreover, Kahn didn't allow anyone strong outside of his own forces to remain on the island.
First, Kahn read Kurozumi Orochi's memories, then had Sonia do the same. Finally, he ordered Monet to perform a mind transplant operation on Orochi. Hobak, under Gekko Moria, swapped bodies with Kurozumi Orochi using the supernatural power of the Op-Op Fruit.
Experiencing the power of the Op-Op Fruit for the first time, Hobak was so thrilled that he practically wanted to become the student of the one who performed the surgery. It was similar to how Sanji once dreamed of getting the Clear-Clear Fruit. As a brilliant surgeon, Hobak also dreamed of wielding the power of the Op-Op Fruit—an ultimate Devil Fruit that is the dream of all doctors.
With his vast medical knowledge, the user of the Op-Op Fruit could easily perform even conceptually complex operations, like swapping minds. The perfection of this ability was unmatched.
After the body swap, Hobak, now in Orochi's body, summoned Orochi's subordinates under Sonia's guidance. Monet then collected all their hearts, leaving them powerless. Once they realized that their hearts were held in another's hands and their lives could be ended at any moment, the warriors and subordinates, who were never fully loyal to Orochi, quickly surrendered.
Without the public even realizing it, Orochi and Kaido had been defeated, and Onigashima was occupied by another force. The "Cross Family" took control of Wano Country without spilling any blood.
Once the weaker, death-fearing forces were dealt with, Kahn moved on to the more stubborn fighters. The first of them was Denjiro, one of the Red Scabbards who had been undercover near Orochi. Instead of killing Denjiro outright, Kahn ordered Sugar to turn him into a doll, erasing him from the memories of everyone who knew him.
This is why Kahn had Sugar eat the Hobby-Hobby Fruit earlier. Cleaning Wano required both the powers of the Op-Op Fruit and the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
The Op-Op Fruit's ability to capture hearts made Orochi's and Kaido's subordinates surrender, forcing them to work for the "Cross Family" to survive.
They were highly familiar with Wano Country and Onigashima, making them the perfect tools for the job at this stage. These individuals would allow the "Cross Family" to seamlessly take over the political and economic power of Wano and Onigashima. Until the "Cross Family" gained enough manpower to fully digest the benefits of controlling these territories, this group's usefulness would be invaluable.
By transforming some of these people into dolls, Kahn could accelerate the "Cross Family's" control over Wano. Once everyone had forgotten about the Kozuki family and the Red Scabbards, Kozuki Oden would become nothing more than a historical figure.
After eliminating the major powers in secret, the citizens of Wano, without the strength or courage to rebel, would remain under the rule of the black-haired Orochi with ease. Following Denjiro's transformation into a doll, Kahn ordered Hancock to lead a team to capture Ashura Doji and have him transformed into a doll by Sugar as well.
Meanwhile, Kahn personally targeted Kawamatsu, one of the Nine Red Scabbards. It wasn't necessary for Kahn to deal with the Red Scabbards himself, but he chose to capture Kawamatsu to handle both him and Kozuki Hiyori, as well as the ninja, Shinobu.
Despite Hiyori being one of the famed beauties, alongside Hancock and Shirahoshi, Kahn held no affection for her, unlike the typical protagonists of other stories who would be swayed by such beauty. Without hesitation, Kahn stunned Shinobu and Hiyori with a mere glance and brought them, along with Kawamatsu, back to the Shogun's Mansion in the Flower Capital using his telekinesis.
After Hancock's team successfully captured Ashura Doji, Kahn instructed Sugar to turn Ashura Doji, Kawamatsu, and Kozuki Hiyori into dolls. Following that, Kahn found a trusted Kuja warrior and had Monet perform a mind transplant on Shinobu. Once the ninja and the Kuja warrior swapped bodies, Kahn had Sugar turn the ninja (now in the Kuja warrior's body) into a doll.
With the ninja-turned-doll, the crew of Kahn and Hancock quickly forgot about Shinobu's existence, a feeling of loss they had grown accustomed to by now. To verify, Kahn opened his prepared diary and smiled in satisfaction—Shinobu had been erased from their memories, confirming the effectiveness of this power. It was truly a remarkable combination of rule-altering abilities and conceptual manipulation.
Now, Kahn didn't need to destroy the dolls made from the Red Scabbards. Instead, the "Cross Family" could train some disposable soldiers, transplant their hearts into the bodies of the Red Scabbards, and have the Red Scabbards' hearts placed into the bodies of these soldiers. Afterwards, the soldiers' bodies could be killed or transformed into dolls, turning them into the new Red Scabbards. Alternatively, this method could wipe out the legacy of the Red Scabbards entirely.
For Kahn and Sonia, who possessed the ability to read memories, making these disposable soldiers into the new Red Scabbards was a trivial task. In the midst of these plans, a bold idea crossed Kahn's mind.
He wondered if cloned individuals had souls and whether Monet could perform a soul transplant on them. To test this, Kahn found a replicant and had Monet attempt the mind transplant operation. Unfortunately, it failed—the replicants lacked a soul.
As a result, Kahn had Monet use the cutting abilities of the Op-Op Fruit to strip Ashura Doji, Kawamatsu, and Kozuki Hiyori, now dolls, of their mobility and speech. He then sealed them in a black box for storage in Mary's Castle.
As for the ninja who had been turned into a doll, Kahn also packed her away, preparing to ship her out of Wano Country. Despite being an egoist, Kahn still had a sense of humanity. If Shinobu, like the rest of the Red Scabbards, hadn't been a brainwashed servant of the Kozuki family, Kahn might have preferred to win her over to his side.
However, Kahn knew that once Shinobu learned the full extent of what had happened, she would never work for him, even at the cost of her own life. Kahn had no desire to resort to coercion or threats, nor did he want to use Kozuki Hiyori's life as leverage to force Shinobu's loyalty.
Even after turning her into a doll, Kahn treated Shinobu differently. He planned to send her away from Wano and, later, find someone with the ability to erase memories, wiping out her recollections of the Kozuki family.
Only then would Kahn formally recruit Shinobu. If she still refused, Kahn would remove all her memories of the Kozuki family and transfer her mind into the body of a regular person, allowing her to live peacefully under his rule.
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