Zoro and Brook, who had been having their own time in life, slowly got up and each placed a hand on their swords. Nami already had her staff, and Sanji set his food plate aside while the rest became serious.

Even Luffy had a different look on his face, though he was eating whatever Sanji had served. Everyone on the ship could tell that there was suddenly a powder keg ready to burst when Ken placed the blade on Kanjuro's shoulder.

"Hahaha... Ken-san... I like the joke," Kanjuro said, sweating while Kinemon could feel the unrest slowly developing. He had placed his hand on his sword's sheath while Momo slowly hid behind Kinemon.

"Joke? Let me ask you a question. What is your full name? The actual name."

"Kanjuro... That's my name, and I was brought up as an orphan," Kanjuro said.

"I will ask you again. What is your name?" Ken asked, and this time the temperature in the surroundings started to rise. This made Kin'emon more serious and ready to run away with Momo and Kanjuro. But he was also confused because Ken was supposed to know everything, including their backgrounds, which they had previously talked about.

"Ken-dono, I think there is some misunderstanding."

"You think I don't know about the Scabbards and your whole team, who are supposed to be the retainers of Kozuki Oden?" Ken asked.

"Uh! That's not what I meant, Ken-dono. But he is also one of the retainers; it is quite disrespectful to us what you are doing," Kin'emon said. Ken didn't bother to answer him; instead, he looked at Kanjuro, and this time there was no mercy in his voice as he spoke the following words.

"You were raised in the theater all your life, so all in all, you have a pretty good idea of how to act and fake yourself. Heck, you were even ready to die with Oden when push came to shove. It was all because of your loyalty to that person. You were ready to go to any lengths so that you could be one of the Scabbards. Now, if you have a little bit of self-respect left in you, come clean with your name. I am saying this because even if you deny it, you will die by my hands, but that death will be the most horrifying death possible for you. I will skin you in the open sun while putting salt on you after your skin is ripped off. I will take off your nails one by one and then proceed to break your fingers slowly, one day at a time, and then send you to an open white space where you will meet no one, and the only color you will see for the rest of your wretched life will be white. But if you admit your fault, I will give you a quick death and let your soul rest in peace just because of your loyalty to that person."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

The more Ken spoke, the more terrified the people around him were. Even the Straw Hats were dumbfounded by how cruel Ken could be, but none of them spoke against Ken and let him finish.

"Isn't that a bit too much?" Nami laughed nervously as she said.

"He is darker than me," Robin replied.

"Ken, remind me not to be on the bad side of you," Chopper said as his legs shook and he stood behind Usopp, who himself was shaking in fear.

Kin'emon was ready to attack, but before he could do so, Brook and Zoro's swords were placed on Kin'emon's neck. They moved so fast that Kin'emon couldn't even move an inch without blood flowing down.

Momo had already started crying and went straight to Luffy, complaining and pulling his cheeks, pleading with him to stop Ken. Luffy was silent and didn't say a word. He had more trust in Ken than he even had in himself, and whatever he was doing, there must be a reason.

"Ken-dono, Luffy-dono, I thought we could trust you."

But none of the Straw Hats responded as everyone waited for Kanjuro's response.

"This is so wrong. We came on the ship hoping to go to Wano. We don't want any disturbance," Kanjuro said while trying to get out of the situation and change the topic. But in response, all he got was a long cut on his neck, blood flowing down. Kanjuro got more scared and tried hard to respond quickly by drawing a bird since he was holding the brush in his right hand and had a paper.

This move made the drawing come to life, and soon they saw a huge bird made of white color. But there was a change this time. Unlike his usual crude arts, the bird was lifelike and beautiful. This was enough proof that the Straw Hats needed, if they had any doubt before.

Even Kin'emon, who was being held down, was very surprised to see a realistic drawing from Kanjuro. For the first time, he doubted something. When the bird appeared and dove forward to take a bite at Ken, a tail grew out of the back of Ken.

The dragon tail moved and swatted the bird in open air, making the bird turn into ink and splash all over the place. Nami conjured magic so that her clothes didn't get any ink.

"So now you can draw. All of Dressrosa, you made everyone suffer," Ken said. "Last chance, come clean. You have seen how I fight; I will burn you to the ground if you don't tell us your full name."

Kanjuro was ready to make another drawing, but before he could do so, Ken proceeded to cut the brush in half with a simple swing and then laid a huge gash on his abdomen. Kanjuro had to dodge a bit to avoid being hurt too much, but there was still blood, which stained his white cloth.