Kuzan, formerly known as Admiral Aokiji, is one of the strongest characters in the world of One Piece. Introduced to the fans during the Long Ring Long Land arc, Kuzan was the first Admiral to make his way into the story. With time, he gained more relevance and shone quite a bit during the Paramount War, when the Navy and the Seven Warlords of the Sea fought against the Whitebeard Pirates. Being one of the strongest Admirals, it was no surprise that Kuzan was up for the position of Fleet Admiral.
✕ Remove Ads
RELATED: One Piece: Trafalgar Law's New Power-Up, Explained
However, losing the duel to Akainu meant that he had to leave the organization entirely. As seen during the Dressrosa arc, Kuzan has now joined up with the Blackbeard Pirates, Most likely as their 10th Titanic captain. In the recent cover story of One Piece, Kuzan was revealed to have gone on a mission with Van Augur, the Captain of the third ship of the Blackbeard Pirates. Together, the two were seen invading Whole Cake Island, the territory of the former Emperor of the Sea, Big Mom.
What Kuzan Did In Whole Cake Island
✕ Remove Ads
Being one of the strongest characters in the One Piece world, it is no surprise that Kuzan had little trouble in Whole Cake Island, given that the Yonko, Big Mom was absent. As fans know already, Big Mom headed off to Wano Country in pursuit of Straw Hat Luffy. As such, her own territory was left open and despite the likes of Katakuri being there, it clearly wasn't enough. Yonko Blackbeard saw this as an opportunity to send his forces to the island and accomplish some important tasks that he would need to get to the final island, Laugh Tale. As such, Blackbeard sent Aokiji and Augur on this important mission, as was revealed to the fans in the cover story. It must be noted that these events took place not recently but quite a while ago.
✕ Remove Ads
When the two invaded Whole Cake Island, Big Mom was still in Wano fighting a war. By the looks of it, Kuzan was treated to a welcome similar to that of Luffy. He first set foot in Chocola Town, Just like the Straw Hat Pirates did, and eventually found his way to the Seducing Woods, where Big Mom's homies usually play their tricks on all those who enter. Soon after, he was faced by Charlotte Cracker, one of the Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates. Expectedly, he had no trouble defeating Cracker and, shortly afterwards, he went and accomplished his real goal on the island.
The Capture Of Charlotte Pudding
The ongoing cover story is quite possibly the most important one in the story so far as it ties to the ongoing events of the Egghead Island arc. As fans saw previously, Pudding, the 35th daughter of Big Mom, has now been abducted by the Blackbeard Pirates and this was the doing of none other than Kuzan and Augur. The two defeated Cracker soundly and, shortly afterwards, captured Pudding. The invasion of the Germa 66 forces also played to their advantage as Katakuri and Oven, among others, were busy fighting the Vinsmoke siblings, who had also invaded the island to free Niji and Yonji.
✕ Remove Ads
RELATED: One Piece: Legends Who Are Yet To Appear
As such, Kuzan and Augur faced little to no resistance and successfully managed to capture Pudding. While some may not remember, Pudding is an incredibly important character in the One Piece world. She is a member of the Three-eyed Tribe, although not a full-blooded one. She possesses a third eye which grants her the power of reading and deciphering the Poneglyphs. This makes Pudding one of the keys to the One Piece itself. For many years, Big Mom was counting on her ability to awaken and for Pudding to be able to decipher the Road Poneglyphs and eventually sail to Laugh Tale. Now, Pudding is in within the grasp of the Blackbeard Pirates, all thanks to Aokiji. One Piece 1064 gave the fans a glimpse of Pudding in a cell in the flagship of the Blackbeard pirate crew. However, the man who captured her, Kuzan, was nowhere to be seen.
✕ Remove Ads
The Road Poneglyph
Interestingly, the capture of Charlotte Pudding wasn't the only reason why Aokiji invaded Whole Cake Island. There lies another big prize on the island, within the Whole Cake Chateau, specifically the treasure repository. In the Whole Cake Island arc, fans were introduced to this location, specifically when Brook and Pedro put on quite a show for the Big Mom Pirates. The former was able to sneak inside the repository and steal what Big Mom considered one of her biggest possessions – the Road Poneglyph. Given that the island was left unguarded when Big Mom followed Luffy all the way to Wano, it only makes sense for Kuzan and Augur to have infiltrated this room and stolen a rubbing of it as well.
✕ Remove Ads
After all, Blackbeard is one of the Yonko of the One Piece world and his goal is to get to the One Piece and become the Pirate King. To accomplish that, he would certainly need the rubbings of all Road Poneglyphs that point to the Final Island, and it is something that he is actively in pursuit of. This is evident from the fact that he ambushed Trafalgar Law in the New World recently just to get his hand on the rubbings that he had acquired over time. It makes perfect sense for Kuzan to have infiltrated the treasure repository and stolen this rubbing as well.
The ongoing cover story also confirmed Kuzan as one of the core members of the Blackbeard Pirates. Whether he has infiltrated the crew and is leaking information to someone or if he's truly interested in sailing to Laugh Tale with the crew remains to be seen. Regardless, Kuzan has already put in quite a shift for the Blackbeard crew and will only make them even stronger as they get closer to the grand treasure of the One Piece.
✕ Remove Ads
MORE: One Piece: Van Augur's Wapu Wapu no Mi, Explained