that'd be interesting, and if that would be the case, he'd probably join the fight against big mom and kaido.
Exactly!
The funny thing is that when Sengoku talked about him. He mentioned him as if he's still alive (which is natural even if he was dead because Wano is isolated country and not many know of what happened with him)
BUT nevertheless, Sengoku was simply mentioning his name as a way to say "maybe since we as navy got our hands full, and we cannot send resources there, there is that pirate who lives in Wano, who used to be on Roger crew" It just kinda felt like Sengoku was implying that maybe if the event involves Oden, then he may be a good person to confront this situation.
I don't know, it just felt like this.
But regardless, I have some reasons as to why I feel he's still alive. Naturally those reasons can be countered against me since they are not completely solid evidence, BUT I'm just gonna state them cause they MIGHT be indicators or have a hint.
1- This is the FIRST TIME EVER, the SH crew knew of Oden's full backstory, BUT without us the viewers discovering it along with the SHs. Which is completely weird! IF we are not going to know Oden's flashback by having Kinemon saying it to us, and Oda offscreens it and tries to delay it for another time, THEN, the only person who we can see Oden's backstory through his eyes better than Kinemon explaining it, it would be through Oden's eyes and his point of view! Cause it will also be a good way to flesh out his days with Roger or WB. Because it might be through Oden, we get to know more about the secrets of the world, and with Kinemon explaining the flashback, we will not get the full view actually. So, instead, Oda simply teased the flashback by Kinemon BUT the whole flashback will be displayed through Oden's point of view and no one else. Otherwise, I see no reason to hide from us the story behind him, while at the same time, the SH crew members who are supposed to know information along side us the viewers, they get to know beforehand.
2- If Oden is still alive, and Oda is hiding his design, then it would make his overuse for silhouette for oden JUSTIFIABLE. Cause that would explain why he didn't introduce his design yet, as he intends to introduce him in a grandiose fashion with a great entrance, and then the reveal of his design. Or maybe even Oda will make a surprise introduction to him by revealing a specific character we saw is actually Oden himself, and that also may explain why he couldn't reveal the full design as that would expose the reveal and ruin it.
3- Lastly, Roger's crew in general. Oda wanks them to no end compared to any others. So, for Oda to make someone else to do the job for him is UNLIKE ODA when it comes to Roger and his crew. And the way last chapter Oden was giving his words to Roger about accomplishing that along with his retainers, it makes it even more heavily implied that he'll play a big role in it and not be counted out. And on top of it, the translation for the dialog seems off and suspecious. Cause one translation acted like Oden will start gaining the fruition AFTER 20 years (which should be 5 years ago from current timeline) and the other translation makes it seem like it was his ambition and dream for 20 years, which should be somewhat related to his age, and I truly doubt that Oden at that point was 20 years old.
Cause Oden left and got on WB ship AFTER he became 20, and sailed with him for many years and then sailed on Roger's ship for his final voyage which is supposed to have taken 3 years since that's what Crocus said his final voyage lasted.
Timeline is soooo important in wano in case you are wondering why I'm focusing on it, specially that there is a time travel here.
I can only guess that if Oden's plan was to start in motion 5 years ago from current timeline as one of the translation hinted at, that maybe TOKO suggested for him to change it into our time and add 5 more years because that would be the time where his fate intersects with the future pirate king. Remember that Oden knows about the true history and all of the secrets of the world and on top of it, his wife got a time-time DF. With all of that under his hands, a perfect orchestrated plan with huge plot twist is not really something impossible to pull off.
So, I feel it would be such a great thing to have. And honestly, I want to see Luffy fighting alongside a crew member of Roger's crew