Ashura Doji

Ashura Doji^[12] is a retainer of the Kozuki Family as one of the Nine Red Scabbards once led by Kozuki Oden.^[13] After Oden’s death he returned to being a criminal under the name Shutenmaru,^[14] assuming leadership of the Mt. Atama Thieves.^[2] He initially severed his ties with the Kozuki Family in the present but rejoined after witnessing Yasuie’s death.^[9]

Appearance

Ashura Doji is a very large man with light pink puffy hair that is gathered into a topknot. He wears an open kimono with flowers on it that leaves his chest exposed. He has floral tattoos on his arms and upper chest.^[1]

Gallery

Ashura Doji’s anime concept art.

Ashura Doji at age 15.

Ashura Doji at age 23.

Personality

Ashura was once a dangerous outlaw who was extremely violent in the past. He claimed that he hated people with wealthy status. After being defeated by Kozuki Oden who chose to spare his life and offered him a chance to live a peaceful life by rebuilding Kuri, Ashura became one of his most loyal followers out of immense gratitude. He and the other Nine Red Scabbards attempted to steal money from Shimotsuki Yasuie in order to support Oden.^[15] Ashura is even willing to study hard to improve himself on Oden’s behalf.

Ashura is an extremely loyal person as he still refers to Oden as “Oden-sama” even after his death.^[16] His loyalty is also seen when he patiently tried to assemble an army of samurai to support the Kozuki Family.^[17]

He is also very brave and almost fearless. When he encountered Jack in Okobore Town who is the ruler of Kuri and one of the Beasts Pirates All-Stars, the former was not afraid to attack the latter immediately and even did not fear Jack’s reputation. However, he is also cautious of Kaidou’s strength, but he will fight Kaidou if he needed to.^[18][19]

He was also a very caring person. When the samurai he had gathered tried to attack Kaidou at Onigashima, he cried and tried to stop them, but his words were in vain because they did not listen.^[17] After losing these comrades, Ashura finally lost hope and returned to being a criminal under the alias Shutenmaru and formed a group of thieves because he was disillusioned and nihilistic towards the country.

— Ashura’s disillusioned view on Wano Country

After returning to being a criminal, he became an aggressive and prideful person. He had stolen both from Wano’s Shogun, Kurozumi Orochi, and from the poorest citizens for the exact same self-sufficiency motives. He also did not care what would happen to this country due to the lack of strong and noble people like Oden. As such, Ashura was disgusted with Luffy’s heroism to feed the citizens of Okobore Town. He also refused to rejoin the Kozuki Family after they returned for their campaign to overthrow Kaidou and Orochi. Despite his callous and nihilism towards the citizens of Wano, Ashura still has some compassion as he secretly felt sympathy towards the citizens of Ebisu Town who had lost the ability to express sadness and anger from eating the SMILEs that Orochi manipulated them into eating. He was also distraught when Yasuie was executed, showing that he still cared greatly for those that were his comrades.

After deciding to rejoin the Nine Red Scabbards, Ashura became friendly with his comrades again.

Ashura is one of a few samurai known to still use the Sunacchi, which was once part of the old dialect of Kuri in Wano Country. Ashura and his men use it frequently amongst themselves and in battle.

Ashura seems to enjoy drinking alcohol.^[20] In the past, he also drank blood from a decapitated snake.

Relationships

Allies

Kozuki Family and Nine Red Scabbards

In the past when Kuri was a lawless region, Ashura Doji was confronted by Kozuki Oden, the son of Shogun Kozuki Sukiyaki. After an entire night of intense battle, he was finally defeated. Despite wishing to die by Oden’s hands as part of his own choice to live and die in violence, Oden chose to spare Ashura and reformed him by enlisting his help in bringing order to Kuri. Thus, Ashura is extremely grateful to Oden for showing him a possible future to live in peace, though was irritated when Oden kicked him in the face when he expressed his gratitude. He and the other retainers attempted to steal money from daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuie to support Oden. Even after his death, Ashura still refers to him as “Oden-sama”, showing undying respect and loyalty to the daimyo of Kuri.^[21] Ashura and the other retainers seem to get along well,^[9] except Kikunojo.^[22] However, after Oden’s death and Wano Country was taken over by Kaidou and the new Shogun Orochi, Ashura tried to support the Kozuki Family by gathering allies and waiting for the missing Nine Red Scabbards and Momonosuke to return, even though it ended up in vain because all of his allies had died at the hands of Kaidou.^[17] This led him to sever his ties with the Kozuki Family.

Later, after the missing Nine Red Scabbards returned, their relationship became strained. Ashura became angered and frustrated at Kin’emon and the others for having vanished for so long. Ashura said that he only respects and is loyal to someone named Oden, not to his family. In truth, he was angered because some of his comrades died in vain ten years ago. His feeling of resentment for the family was so much that he even refers to Momonosuke, who is Oden’s son without any honorifics, resulting in Kikunojo expressing his disappointment. The closest to any camaraderie Ashura expressed was that he spared them from his banditry. However, Kin’emon made it clear that he would make Ashura their ally and had no qualms framing him for theft.^[23] This only made Ashura angrier after he found out about it, but he was still lenient enough to listen to Kin’emon’s apology and pleas. Ashura then showed Kin’emon and Inuarashi the graves of fallen comrades and explained what happened to their allies after they had lost the patience in waiting for their return. Ashura finally rejoined his team again and invited his bandit group to take part in the fight against Kaidou and the Beasts Pirates.^[17]

Mt. Atama Thieves

All the members of the Mt. Atama Thieves are extremely loyal and supportive of Shutenmaru, aiding him in stealing and robbing. When Shutenmaru decided to join the Kozuki Family’s revolution, all his underlings happily agreed to join him.^[17]

Enemies

Beasts Pirates

Ten years ago, Ashura tried gathering forces to support the Kozuki Family in the fight against Kaidou. However, after his comrades threw their lives away, Ashura lost hope and seemingly gave up.^[17] Kaidou recognized his strength and wanted him to join his crew, but Ashura had no intention of joining and pledging loyalty to the Beasts Pirates. However, he is well aware of Kaidou’s strength and would try to avoid him whenever possible.

Despite his intimidation of Kaidou, he is not afraid to pick fights with the Emperor’s subordinates. When Ashura encountered Jack in Okobore Town, the former did not hesitate to attack the latter and did not even fear his reputation.

With Ashura rejoining the Scabbards, he intends to help defeat Kaidou, who was unaware of Ashura’s connection with the Kozuki Family as he only knew him as a thief called Shutenmaru.

Kurozumi Kanjuro

Ashura was previously on good terms with Kanjuro, as both served as faithful vassals of Oden. However, Kanjuro later revealed that he was of the Kurozumi Family, that he was a spy sent by Orochi all along, and that he was the one who revealed the alliance’s plans to Orochi, greatly shocking Ashura alongside the other Scabbards present. Ashura was angry when Kanjuro captured Momonosuke after Kin’emon failed to kill him.^[24]

Abilities and Powers

Overview

As leader of the Mt. Atama Thieves in the present, Ashura has complete authority over the group. Proving their combined skills at thievery, Ashura and his followers successfully raided Orochi’s personal farm whilst not able to be stopped by anyone serving the shogun (be it samurai or the Beasts Pirates). Furthermore, he proved his ability to be able to have hidden from them all along.^[25] 25 years ago, while Oden was away with the Whitebeard Pirates, Ashura assumed control of the Yakuza in Kuri as the new Yakuza boss. It was said that under his control, Ashura was able to keep both the yakuza and bandits in the region from going out of control in Oden’s absence.^[26]

Combat-wise, Ashura Doji is extremely powerful, as he was once feared as the “Strongest Monster of Kuri” (九里最強の怪物 Kuri Saikyō no Kaibutsu^? )—the most dangerous villain frequenting said Wano province in its era of chaos—until he was defeated by Oden four decades ago (the latter taking a whole night to take down both Ashura and his then-cohorts).^[27][1] Even more, in the last 20 years, Ashura claims to have become stronger.^[17]

Kin’emon hails Ashura as one of the strongest Scabbards (alongside Kawamatsu and Denjiro) and worth the strength of 100 men.^[14] Kaidou himself, an Emperor, sought to recruit him^[18][19] and Holed’em, a Beasts Pirates headliner, surmised that Monkey D. Luffy may be Ashura’s subordinate going by his power.^[5] Perhaps most impressively yet, Ashura was able to fight evenly against Jack, one of Kaidou’s three strongest men worth a 1,000,000,000 bounty, even dealing him a serious wound,^[14] and additionally matched up to Inuarashi, one of the two strongest warriors of the Mink Tribe, in a sparring match.^[3] Though strong as he may be, Ashura is well aware that he has no chance against Kaidou by himself, preferring to retreat when faced with him a second time.^[19]

Physical Abilities

Being hailed as the strongest outlaw of Kuri during his youth, Ashura can apply tremendous physical strength to his swordsmanship, able to clash with Jack, one of the three Disasters of the Beast Pirates, and even gave the latter a massive wound across his chest.^[14] Alongside his fellow Scabbards, Ashura managed to push Kaidou off his feet when ambushing him.^[28]

Despite his large build, Ashura is extremely fast, being capable of charging towards Jack in an instant.^[14]

Ashura also possesses a great amount of endurance, as he was seemingly unaffected when Jack cut him on the shoulder.^[14]

Swordsmanship

Further information: Oden Nitoryu

Ashura is an extremely skilled and powerful swordsman. With one slash, he was able to give Jack a large cut across his chest and break one of his shotel blades. He then proceeded to fight evenly with Kaidou’s right-hand man in what spectators considered to be a high-level duel.^[14] He is capable of emulating Oden’s signature Oden Nitoryu style, allowing him to wield two swords at the same time and perform one of his techniques.

Haki

Main article: Haki

Busoshoku Haki

Ashura is a master of Busoshoku Haki, which is known as “Ryuo” in Wano. He is able to harden his swords and also possesses an advanced level of this Haki, as shown when he cuts through Kaidou’s tremendously tough skin.^[29]

Kenbunshoku Haki

Ashura possesses the ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki.^[11]

History

Past

Many years ago, Ashura Doji was the most dangerous criminal in the lawless region of Kuri. When he heard that Kozuki Oden was coming to Kuri, Ashura eagerly waited for him. After Oden eventually arrived at Kuri, they clashed and Ashura was defeated after a day of intense fighting.^[27] After Oden became daimyo of Kuri, Ashura became one of his retainers.^[30]

After Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Kawamatsu joined Oden, they were running low on funds. Therefore, he and the other retainers attempted to steal money from Shimotsuki Yasuie, but they were caught. Instead of punishing them, Yasuie allowed them to take the money and encouraged them to use it to become better people for the sake of Oden and Wano Country.^[15] Following Yasuie’s advice, they educated themselves and trained to become dignified warriors. 30 years ago, they visited the Flower Capital with Oden.^[31]

After meeting the Whitebeard Pirates, Oden and his retainers were having a feast with them. When the Whitebeard Pirates left Wano two weeks later, the retainers discovered Oden, Izou, Inuarashi, and Nekomamushi to be missing.^[32]

While Oden was away, Ashura lead the yakuza and the bandits in Kuri to keep them from going out of control.^[33]

After Oden failed to kill the new shogun, Kurozumi Orochi, 25 years ago, the retainers remained loyal to him for the next five years despite Oden acting like a fool and losing the respect of most of Wano’s people. 20 years ago, Oden finally had enough and decided to take down Kaidou. The Nine Red Scabbards eagerly followed him and marched with him to Onigashima.^[34]

On the way to Onigashima, the group was confronted by Kaidou and his crew in the Udon region. In the ensuing battle, the samurai were joined by Shinobu. After seeing Oden struck down by Kaidou, Ashura was stabbed in the back. Unfortunately, the samurai were overwhelmed in the end. Oden and the Scabbards were then imprisoned in the Flower Capital and sentenced to be boiled alive in three days.^[35]

All ten prisoners were later brought to the execution site, at which point Oden made a deal with Kaidou. After Oden stepped into the pot of boiling oil, the retainers were about to join him, but Oden grabbed a plank and ordered them to stand on it as he held them over the pot.^[36] As Oden endured the hour, he explained to his retainers the reason Wano Country was isolated and requested them to open Wano’s borders for him. Oden successfully survived the hour, but Orochi summoned a firing squad to execute Oden and his retainers. Oden once again told his retainers to open Wano’s borders before throwing them far away from the pot. The Scabbards fled with tears as Oden met his demise.^[37] As they were chased by an army of pursuers, Shinobu gave the Scabbards their weapons. After Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were caught, Ashura and Denjiro split from the rest of the group to fight their enemies.^[38] At some point, Ashura and Denjiro fought Kaidou. Ashura was able to escape and hid in the mountains.

Ten years after Oden’s death, Ashura had many friends who became too eager to fight Kaidou and Orochi and did not fully believe Toki’s prophecy about the return of the missing Red Scabbards. Thus, they impatiently went straight to Onigashima to fight Kaidou. Ashura tried to stop them from throwing their lives away, but these words were in vain, and his comrades ultimately perished at the hands of Kaidou.^[17]

Distraught at his comrades’ pointless demise, Ashura eventually lost hope, went back to being a criminal, and adopted the alias Shutenmaru.^[12] He also formed the Mt. Atama Thieves. At some point, he encountered Kaidou, in which Kaidou wanted him to be part of his crew.^[19] Ashura also managed to acquire the blueprints of Kaidou’s fortress within the Skull Dome.^[39]

A few weeks before Monkey D. Luffy’s arrival at Wano Country, Ashura and other thieves managed to steal food from the farm that Oden had established, which was now owned by Orochi.^[25]

Wano Country Arc

Ashura and his thieves came to Okobore Town, where they stole the fresh food that Luffy had given to the residents there. He was confronted by an old woman who believed that the samurai would return to protect them, and in response, Ashura prepared to attack her. However, before he could, he was confronted by Jack of the Beasts Pirates. Jack asked about the Straw Hat Pirates and mentioned that Ashura had only been left alive because Kaidou wanted him as his subordinate. He reiterated that he would never join them and then attacked Jack with a massive cut, causing the two to begin fighting. Jack managed to wound Ashura, but he was unwavering. However, their duel was interrupted when Kaidou came flying in to tell Jack to bring the Straw Hats to him.^[40]

Ashura and his gang then began retreating to the forest. Kaidou spotted him and asked him to become his subordinate. Ashura prepared for a fight, but Basil Hawkins drew Kaidou’s attention to Oden Castle. The thief was then angry at Kaidou for destroying the castle ruins,^[19] and after Luffy attacked Kaidou, Ashura told his men to retreat to the mountain before watching Luffy’s futile attempt to defeat Kaidou.^[41] After Kaidou defeated Luffy, Ashura saw the unconscious Luffy knocking out some of the Emperor’s subordinates with Haoshoku Haki and realized he had the same power as Oden. He then departed from Okobore Town.^[12]

At Mt. Atama, Ashura clashed with Inuarashi, but the fight was interrupted by Kin’emon. Ashura stated that while he admired Oden, he never swore loyalty to the whole entire Kozuki Family. However, Kin’emon ignored this claim and emphasized that he was determined to make Ashura their ally once again.^[3]

Sometime later, Mt. Atama was set on fire by one of Holed’em’s subordinates. Enraged, Ashura decided to go to Bakura Town to retaliate.^[42] He and his gang later entered Bakura Town and witnessed Shimotsuki Yasuie’s execution on the broadcast.^[43] After the execution, he was the only one of the Nine Red Scabbards to hold his tears after Yasuie’s death, and thereafter asked Kin’emon and Inuarashi if they knew about the SMILE fruits.^[44]

Outside Bakura Town, Ashura learned that Kin’emon framed him for theft. He got angry and knocked Kin’emon to the ground. Kin’emon and Inuarashi apologized and once again asked Ashura to join them. Ashura then told Kin’emon and Inuarashi to follow him, wanting to show them something.^[45] When they arrived, Ashura showed them the graves of their dead comrades and explained what had happened to their allies ten years ago. He recounted how they had all lost patience and had tried to fight Kaidou, but were all killed in battle. Ashura then determined that it was time for him to rejoin his comrades to avenge those who had fallen and to also overthrow Kaidou and Orochi to restore the position of the Kozuki Family. Inuarashi and him then rejoiced and bragged to Kin’emon about how they had twenty years more fighting experience than him now. Upon being called a duo of geezers by Kin’emon, the three began arguing, much to the worry of Ashura’s henchmen.^[17]

Ashura later took Kin’emon and Inuarashi to an abandoned port and showed them ships that could carry their troops to Onigashima.^[46] Ashura then gave Kin’emon the blueprints of Kaidou’s residence. While Kin’emon was speaking to Raizo via Smart Tanishi, Ashura was surprised to hear the number of allies Raizo’s group gained at Udon.^[47] He later joined a meeting with several key alliance members at Amigasa Village.^[48]

Ashura then heard from Roronoa Zoro and Kawamatsu that Kozuki Hiyori is alive. On the day for the raid on Onigashima, Ashura marched to the rebel meeting place with Kozuki Momonosuke, Kin’emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Kikunojo, Shinobu, Inuarashi, and Kawamatsu.^[49] However, the group was shocked to see that Tokage Port was destroyed and none of their allies were there.^[50] In spite of this major setback, the Scabbards were still determined to go through with the raid, knowing that they would not get another chance.^[51]

The Scabbards set sail and left Momonosuke at the port. As Kin’emon wondered about the possibility of a traitor among them, Kanjuro then revealed that he was the mole, leaving the other Scabbards stunned at this revelation. After Kanjuro explained what he did, Kin’emon angrily beheaded him, only to learn that it was a copy and the real Kanjuro remained on the coast and that he had captured Momonosuke to bring him to Onigashima. As this was happening, the Scabbards’ boat was confronted by three Beasts Pirates’ ships, but the ships were suddenly attacked by the Straw Hats, Heart Pirates, and Kid Pirates. The Scabbards’ boat was then lifted by Law’s submarine.^[52]

When Kyoshiro arrived, the Scabbards were confused to see him attacking one of the Beasts Pirates’ ships. They were then shocked when Kyoshiro revealed himself to be Denjiro and that he freed the prisoners in the Flower Capital and the rebels gathered at Habu Port. To their relief, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance allies arrived at Tokage Port on a massive fleet to commence the raid on Onigashima.^[53]

Kanjuro then fled the scene with Momonosuke in tow on a drawn crane and briefly attacked the alliance with an ink cloud that rained down ink arrows. Momonosuke ordered the alliance to press forward to Onigashima without worrying about him. As the alliance was attacked by a Beasts Pirates’ ship with long ranged cannons, Jinbe came to aid the rebels.^[54]

After Shishilian and Hyogoro boarded the Polar Tang, the Scabbards discussed with Trafalgar Law about the plan to enter Onigashima.^[55] After the Straw Hats defeated the guards at the torii gates, the Heart Pirates and the Scabbards (except Kin’emon and Denjiro) traversed to the back of Onigashima inside the Polar Tang.^[56] Along the way, they were contacted by Nekomamushi, who just arrived and was planning to meet them at Onigashima.^[57] When the submarine got close enough, Law teleported himself and the Scabbards with him to Onigashima’s back entrance, where they were joined up by Marco, Nekomamushi, and Izou.^[58] After Marco left to check on a shadow he saw at sea, the group was confronted by Kanjuro and an army of Beasts Pirates. While Kikunojo clashed against Kanjuro, the rest fought the other enemies.^[59]

Kanjuro and the Beasts Pirates with him were defeated, and Ashura’s group were soon rejoined by Kin’emon and Denjiro. They then entered Kaidou’s castle, fought their way to the Performance Stage, and launched an all-out attack on Kaidou.^[60] While falling to the lower floor, the Scabbards managed to inflict wounds on Kaidou. As the alliance revealed themselves and attacked the Beasts Pirates, Kaidou transformed into his dragon form and flew to the roof of the Skull Dome, with the Scabbards grabbing onto him. On the roof, the Scabbards prepared to fight Kaidou with the Mink Tribe’s help.^[61]

Jack and a platoon arrived at the roof to assist Kaidou, and the Scabbards watched as the Sulong minks engaged the enemy. After Jack and his forces were rendered unable to battle thanks to the minks’ efforts, the Scabbards resumed their confrontation with Kaidou.^[62]

Kaidou roared lightning at them, but they dodged around it and each struck him in turn. After Raizo reflected Kaidou’s Bolo Breath back at him, four of the Scabbards—Ashura, Denjiro, Kin’emon, and Inuarashi—replicated Oden’s Nitoryu stance and struck Kaidou’s scar with the same attack that made it.^[63] Kaidou then retaliated with a roar that created wind scythes aimed at the Scabbards.^[64]

Continuing the battle in human form, Kaidou began overwhelming the Scabbards^[65] and later incapacitated them. Big Mom, Eustass Kid, Killer, Zoro, Luffy, and Law later arrived at the roof. Upon Luffy’s request, Law teleported the Scabbards to a safe place.^[66] They were placed in the treasure room on the second floor, where a mysterious person tended to them.^[67]

The Scabbards later recovered and regained consciousness, but the mysterious figure already had left. Before they left the treasure room, they were shockingly greeted by what appeared to be Oden.^[68] However, Ashura immediately suspected that this was an impostor and told this to his comrades who believed it was legitimate. When Kin’emon tried arguing against this, Ashura punched him out of the way while unsheathing his sword and cut “Oden” in the face. Oden did not bleed after the cut, causing the Scabbards to realize that it was one of Kanjuro’s drawings, and the drawing stabbed Ashura through the chest with one of its swords. Ashura briefly laid on the ground while the Oden drawing clashed with Denjiro and spoke on Kanjuro’s behalf, but then the drawing lit some explosives under its garment. Ashura immediately took action and tackled the Oden drawing, sending both of them crashing out of the room, and told his comrades to stop Kanjuro from going after Momonosuke. Ashura maintained his grip on the drawing even as it stabbed him, and the explosives then detonated, engulfing both of them in a massive explosion, which left Ashura heavily injured and unconscious.^[69]

Major Battles

• Ashura Doji vs. Kozuki Oden
• Kozuki Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Shinobu vs. Beasts Pirates
  • Ashura vs. King
• Ashura and Denjiro vs. Kaidou
• Ashura vs. Jack
• Ashura vs. Inuarashi
• The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro, Kin’emon and Denjiro) and Izou vs. Kurozumi Kanjuro and Beasts Pirates Gifters (unseen)
• The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro) and Izou vs. Kaidou
• The Nine Red Scabbards (minus Kanjuro) and Izou vs. Kanjuro (Kozuki Oden drawing)

Filler Battles

• Ashura, Kin’emon, Raizo, Kikunojo, Inuarashi and Shinobu vs. Queen
• Ashura vs. Holed’em

Anime and Manga Differences

In the manga, Ashura and his band of thieves only caught one of Holed’em’s men setting fire to Mt. Atama. In the anime, Ashura and his group fight against Holed’em and his men, and Holed’em starts the fire while clashing with Ashura.^[70]

Trivia

• Like O-Tama, he speaks in a dialect that is unique to a specific region of Japan. This area is known as Kagoshima, one of the prefectures created during the Meiji Era as the country transitioned from the isolationism enforced by the Shogunate.
• The names Shutenmaru and Ashura Doji are likely a reference to Shuten-dōji, a mythical oni leader from Japanese legends.
• The middle kanji of his alias, “天” (ten^? ), is the Japanese kanji for “Heaven”. This same kanji is seen on the sake bottle he carries.
• Ashura Doji’s favorite food is mochi kinchaku.^[10] Fittingly enough, mochi kinchaku is one of the main ingredients in oden, just as Ashura was one of Kozuki Oden’s main retainers.

References

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