Chapter 518: The Women of the Kozuki Clan Are No Less Formidable

"Do you think the men of the Kozuki clan are the only ones who are heaven-defying? The women of their family are no less formidable."

Zhang Jie of *Water Margin* raised an eyebrow and offered a reminder.

"Uh..."

After this reminder, the other Zhang Jies thought of the women from the Kozuki clan who had appeared,

and when they recalled the actions of Kozuki Hiyori, the younger sister of Kozuki Momonosuke, they were also left speechless.

When this beautiful woman first appeared, she roared at the usurper Kurozumi Orochi,

and many people who saw this scene immediately assumed she was a "heroine who could not be bent by force."

Later, because she slept with the Three-Sword Style user Roronoa Zoro,

everyone happily paired her up with Zoro as a couple.

However, with the conclusion of the Wano Country arc in *One Piece*,

they discovered that Kozuki Hiyori might actually be the most shameless and brazen person in the Kozuki clan.

The story begins with Kozuki Momonosuke and the others being sent twenty years into the future by Kozuki Toki's Time-Time Fruit ability.

Because Kozuki Hiyori did not leave with her brother Kozuki Momonosuke, but chose to stay in Wano Country instead,

Kawamatsu, a retainer of Kozuki Oden, took responsibility for her food, clothing, and shelter.

Every day, Kawamatsu would find food for Kozuki Hiyori and play music for her to help her relax.

This care lasted for seven years.

Yet, later on, Kozuki Hiyori simply left a small note and disappeared without a trace.

In the end, the loyal Kawamatsu chose to commit suicide because of this,

but fortunately, Gyukimaru, another of Oden's retainers, appeared in time to stop him.

Later, because Kawamatsu went to the Flower Capital to search for Kozuki Hiyori and steal fried tofu, he was locked up in Udon Prison.

Locked in prison, Kawamatsu survived the thirteen years of his imprisonment by eating rotten fish and drinking wastewater.

When he finally saw Princess Hiyori again thirteen years later,

Hiyori gave her reason for leaving: Kawamatsu always gave her all the food he found,

and she was afraid Kawamatsu would starve to death, so she chose to leave him.

When Kawamatsu heard that the reason she almost drove him to suicide—and left him to eat rotten fish and drink wastewater for thirteen years in the dark Udon Prison—was so "gentle,"

he could only silently say, "Thanks to you, Your Highness, I have actually gained quite a bit of weight."

From this, it is evident that Kozuki Hiyori is a person who is self-centered.

She believes that what she does is right, and she will choose to do it without hesitation.

She never considers the feelings of others, nor does she consider what kind of consequences her actions might bring to others.

According to the thinking of a normal person, if she were truly afraid that Kawamatsu would starve to death because he couldn't find food,

if she wanted to leave, she would have left long ago, rather than waiting seven years after being cared for to choose to leave.

Furthermore, a stronger person would surely think of working together,

solving the problem with Kawamatsu, such as taking the initiative to look for food.

Even if she were too young at the beginning to have the ability to look for food with Kawamatsu,

a person with a conscience would choose to eat a little less and share a portion of the food with Kawamatsu.

Even if Kawamatsu, as Oden's retainer, insisted on refusing, she could have eaten just a portion,

then pretended she was full, and let Kawamatsu eat the remaining food so he wouldn't starve to death.

Looking at it this way, Kozuki Hiyori's reason for choosing to leave Kawamatsu was not as high-sounding as she claimed.

When we thought Kozuki Hiyori left Kawamatsu to do something grand and earth-shattering,

she ran off to a brothel alone without a word.

From the stunned expression on Kozuki Hiyori's face after Denjiro revealed his identity later,

it is clear that Kozuki Hiyori ran there to do something grand and earth-shattering without even knowing that Denjiro was the boss of the brothel.

From this, it is evident that Kozuki Hiyori's goal was quite clear:

She didn't become a geisha in the brothel because she was forced to steal information from Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido; she simply liked the profession.

Only under the care of Denjiro, who still retained his loyalty to the Kozuki clan,

did Hiyori live a life of luxury, yet she never once thought of looking for Kawamatsu, who was still struggling on the line of survival.

Denjiro told Hiyori that he would do his best to protect the Princess's safety,

and his purpose in saying this was also to hope the Princess could live a stable life under his protection.

However, something even more intriguing happened afterward:

Even though she knew Denjiro could play the role of Ushimitsu Kozo to rob the rich and help the poor,

Kozuki Hiyori insisted on cuddling with old lechers to swindle them out of their money.

Her approach was almost as if she were competing with Denjiro to see who could make money faster.

When she gave the money to Denjiro, Denjiro himself was also completely bewildered.

Even though she knew she could just give the information to Denjiro after stealing it,

she insisted on cuddling with Orochi to imitate Denjiro's information gathering.

These could all be explained by saying Kozuki Hiyori didn't want to be a freeloader,

and wanted to contribute to their Kozuki clan's efforts to overthrow Orochi and Kaido.

But finally, when combined with the fact that Orochi's information was easily extracted by Robin in a single night,

while Kozuki Hiyori had been lurking for a full 20 years and hadn't managed to extract a single piece of useful information,

it is not hard to see that Kozuki Hiyori might really just like the geisha profession.

If she didn't truly like the profession, then it can only be said that Kozuki Hiyori's talent for information theft is near zero.

As for how much she likes her profession?

This can be seen from a short conversation she had with Zoro.

Although Zoro was Kozuki Hiyori's savior, the act of cuddling and sleeping with a stranger the moment they met,

is something that any woman who values her chastity would likely not do.

Previously, when Zoro was lying in a hospital bed injured, Perona, who was taking care of him, slept slumped over the bedside for the night.

From this, it is evident that Kozuki Hiyori is already well-versed in such behavior.

Later, when the naive boy Zoro was startled, Kozuki Hiyori blurted out,

saying, "Men will drool with joy when they have me sleeping by their side."

Looking at it this way, Kozuki Hiyori is very confident in her professional skills.

For example, when someone praises you for being handsome, you might think the other person has some ulterior motive,

or that there is something fishy about the situation, but when a large group of people surrounds you, saying you are incredibly handsome,

at that moment, you would very confidently believe that you are a super-handsome guy with off-the-charts looks.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Kozuki Hiyori has already received the approval of many men,

which is why she could say such things so confidently and naturally in front of Zoro. ===== CHAPTER 519 =====

Or perhaps there is something fishy about the situation, but when a large group surrounds you, telling you that you are incredibly handsome,

at that moment, you will very confidently believe that you are a super-handsome guy with off-the-charts looks.

Therefore, it is highly likely that Kozuki Hiyori has already received the approval of many men,

which is why she could say such things so confidently and naturally in front of Zoro.