Kozuki Hiyori Survives In Hiding
Status: confirmed · Technique: chekhov-explicit, negative-space
The seed
The payoff
Earliest known caller
(Not recorded.)
Why this matters
Oda introduces a hidden surviving heir with an explicit “she’s not confirmed dead” line and an unresolved age puzzle, in the same chapter that debuts a mysterious Flower-Capital figure. The setup pattern (named-but-hidden survivor + a stated reason she must stay secret) reliably precedes a reveal.
FORWARD-GUARD (updated @0955): the Komurasaki = Hiyori equation is now ON-PAGE (since @0939; consequences shown @0955) — the link to Oiran (top courtesan of Wano) is lifted and in effect.