Cover Page: Color Spread: A poster for the movie One Piece Film: Red drawn by Eiichiro Oda.

Momonosuke insists that he will face Ryokugyu alone to prove he is capable of defending Wano, and wounds him, only for the latter to back off after sensing Shanks' Haki. Meanwhile Law joins Robin and Sukiyaki and as they travel underground the latter reveals the underwater city is where Wano once existed and that the Pluton rests here along with the Road Poneglyph. As Ryokugyu backs off, Luffy can sense the familiarity in that mysterious Haki.

Momonosuke once again tells Yamato not to interfere with his fight with Ryokugyu. Yamato asks why but Momonosuke gets smacked to the ground by the Admiral. Raizo uses Ninpo: Maki Maki no Jutsu: Katon to burn Ryokugyu, who acts like it hurts before dropping the charade and revealing that he can make himself fireproof, citing he wouldn’t have become an Admiral if he couldn’t defend himself from such an obvious weakness. He then stabs Raizo through the chest with his roots and starts draining him, to his friend’s fury. Despite the Scabbards best efforts, they are unable to permanently cut Ryokugyu’s roots, and soon, Denjiro, Kawamatsu, and Nekomamushi get wrapped up.

Meanwhile, Kouzuki Sukiyaki and Nico Robin are joined by Trafalgar Law, who deduced their location based on their absence from the festival. They make their way further down from Sukiyaki’s secret room as the former shogun admits that Kaidou and Orochi were still able to find the Poneglyph underground because of Jack, since he is a fish-man. Robin inquires what he means, and Sukiyaki explains they will understand soon. Law asks how far down it goes and he says a few hundred years, just as the two notice a dim light coming from a glass-block window. The two take a look through it and are surprised by what they see: an entire city underwater!

Sukiyaki explains that what they are seeing is the Wano of old, specifically from 800 years ago, though he doesn’t know how it ended up in such a state. Robin says that the city looks preserved, as if the water isn’t seawater, and Sukiyaki proposes his theory: Long ago, Wano was much bigger and at sea level on the land around the base of Mt. Fuji. At some point, though, walls were erected all around, which enclosed the island and prevented rainwater from finding release, which caused the old city to become submerged. The land further up the mountain was established for settlers, and eventually became the current Wano.

The three finally arrive at their destination and discover a Road Poneglyph, marking it as the third one the Straw Hat Pirates need to reach Laugh Tale, leaving only one left. Sukiyaki then says that if one were to travel a little deeper, they would find Pluton, but he himself hasn’t seen it before nor can he show them. He does reveal, though, that retrieving it requires the removal of the walls surrounding the country, meaning that “opening the borders” is quite literal. It also means that if the walls are destroyed, Wano won’t be protected anymore, and Pluton will be unleashed onto the world. Robin asks why Oden wanted to open the land’s borders if that was to be the case, but Sukiyaki says everything he told her was what was passed down to him as shogunate, and that he doesn’t know what his son learned during his travels.

Outside the Flower Capital, Ryokugyu tells the restrained samurai that he wouldn’t have shown up if Kaidou was still in charge, claiming that his presence, no matter how horrible it was, acted as a deterrent for potential predators. He once again demands Luffy be brought before him, promising to leave after he kills him. Yamato asks Momonosuke to call Luffy and the others to take Ryokugyu down, but he refuses to involve them. He also tells Yamato that he doesn’t want to “taint” his sendoff after being imprisoned for so long, and after relying on the Straw Hats for so long, he needs to prove that he and his retainers can fend for themselves once they leave.

Momonosuke continues demanding that Ryokugyu leave, and he eventually manages to manifest Kaidou's Bolo Breath, heavily damaging Ryokugyu. The Scabbards and Yamato react with amazement to Momonosuke’s accomplishment as Ryokugyu’s tree form burns to ashes. He is able to regenerate from a sapling and regain his tree form, where he announces he will kill him if he continues to stand in his way.

However, Ryokugyu senses an incredibly strong blast of Supreme King Haki coming from Shanks, which causes him to return to normal. He reacts with surprise that the Red Hair Pirates are nearby, as Shanks himself says that he thinks that going after the new generation of pirates while they have their guard down seems tasteless, asking if the new age scares him that much. His presence convinces Ryokugyu to abandon his mission, and the samurai and Yamato celebrate their victory.

While in the Flower Capital, while everyone else is partying, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbe, who were sitting by a hillside and noticing the fight, remark that their samurai friends were amazing and how intense Shanks’ Haki was to be able to drive Ryokugyu away. They don’t know that it was him though, but Luffy has his suspicions as Shanks sails away.

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