Wano Country Arc

The is the thirty-first story arc of the manga and anime One Piece, both the first and only story arc of the Wano Country Saga, and the eighth story arc of the second half of the series.
The Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance gather their forces in Wano Country and prepare for their inevitable clash against the Beasts Pirates. The history of Kouzuki Oden and his ties to Wano Country, Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger are revealed, and the Alliance assaults Onigashima to take down the allied forces of Kaidou and Big Mom once and for all. The resulting battle, as well as the events during the recent Levely, cause the world to go through dramatic changes.
==Summary==
===Prologue: Getting to Wano===
Nekomamushi and the Guardians arrived on Sphinx, where Marco resided and worked as a doctor. Marco revealed that Sphinx was Whitebeard's homeland and his last keepsake. With Edward Weevil and Buckin hunting for Whitebeard's inheritance, Marco anticipated that they would attack this place, and so elected to stay behind and protect it instead of joining the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance against Kaidou. However, he told Nekomamushi to give Luffy a message from him once he arrived at Wano Country.
Sometime later, Luffy's group read about the Levely while sailing to Wano. Nami noticed an article about Kaidou and Big Mom, but was unable to read it due to Sanji and Chopper cutting pictures out. The crew then came to a stormy area that looked like Wano, and as they sailed through it, they encountered a school of giant carp. They then came to the bottom of a massive waterfall, and Luffy grabbed onto two of the jumping carp to pull themselves up. At the top of the waterfall was a whirlpool, and Luffy had Sanji fly the others to land. When he tried to follow them, an octopus that had boarded the Thousand Sunny held him back, causing him to go down into the whirlpool.
===First Act===
====Arrival at Wano: The Plight of O-Tama and the Leftovers Citizens====
Meanwhile, Kin'emon, Law, Zoro, Usopp, Robin, and Franky had snuck into Wano's Flower Capital. Kin'emon warned the group that the shogun, Kurozumi Orochi, had agents lurking around every corner, so they would need to disguise their identities and assimilate into the populace. Franky became an apprentice carpenter under Minatomo, Usopp sold toad oil on the streets, and Robin trained to become a geisha performing for Orochi. Zoro, however, became a ronin, and was framed for several street murders. The magistrate sentenced him to seppuku and gleefully apprehended the stolen Shusui, but Zoro sensed that he was the one who actually committed the murders. With the short seppuku blade, he cut down the magistrate from a considerable distance.
Luffy and the Sunny washed up on Kuri Beach, and after coming to, Luffy immediately encountered a baboon with a sword named Hihimaru battling a komainu named Komachiyo. Close by, a group of Beasts Pirates scouts were riding to shore with a young captive girl named Tama, whom they had captured after she mentioned the Kouzuki Family when they were harassing her at the market. They attempted to take out Luffy for illegally entering the country, but Luffy quickly brought them down. One of them was still conscious and told Hihimaru to take down Luffy, but it quickly backed down due to Luffy's Supreme King Haki. Tama then knocked out the scout and submitted herself to Luffy, and in his confusion she managed to pull a piece of kibi dango from her cheek and feed it to Hihimaru, instantly taming him.
To thank Luffy, Tama helped him dock the Sunny in a hidden cave before taking him to her home to feed him. When they got to her place, she made a small meal for him out of the little rice she had. She then went out, and Luffy was suddenly confronted by her master Tenguyama Hitetsu, who thought he had stolen her small rations. Tama then came back and revealed what happened, but she then fell ill due to drinking contaminated river water to suppress her hunger. Hitetsu said that much of the country was turned into a polluted wasteland by Kaidou and his factories, and this place, Amigasa Village, had been destroyed by the Shinuchi X Drake a year ago. Tama continued living here, however, in order to wait for Portgas D. Ace, who had come during a famine four years ago and helped feed everyone. Before he left, he had promised to take Tama along with him the next time he came. Luffy revealed that Ace had died, causing Tama to faint. He then decided to go out to the nearest town to get Tama treated by a doctor, and donned a kimono. He also chose to take the cursed sword Nidai Kitetsu despite Hitetsu's protests, and set off with Tama.
Somewhere in Kuri, Beasts Pirates Shinuchi Basil Hawkins received a report that they had lost contact with their men on Kuri Beach, and Hawkins decided to deal with this himself. On the way to town, Komachiyo arrived to give Luffy and Tama a ride. They emerged from the forest into a massive wasteland, and Tama told Luffy more about the pollution in the country. Luffy then saw a woman being chased by some Beasts Pirates, only for the pirates to be cut down by someone. Luffy saw that the attacker was in fact Zoro, and quickly went to reunite with his crewmate. However, the two of them were soon confronted by Hawkins and his men. The two sides began battling, and Luffy and Zoro went after Hawkins, but he shrugged off their attacks with his Wara Wara no Mi abilities. Komachiyo then ran in and grabbed Luffy and Zoro to make sure Tama got to treatment, and Hawkins pursued them with a giant straw avatar for a bit until Zoro managed to cut down the avatar.
As Luffy, Zoro, and Tama headed to town, they were suddenly greeted by Tsuru, who was the woman Zoro had saved. Tsuru offered to repay them for helping her by taking them to her tea house and brewing an herb to cure Tama. At Okobore Town, the leftovers town, the tea house's poster girl Kiku was courted by the Flower Capital's strongest sumo wrestler Urashima, but she declined his marriage proposal. Luffy's group then arrived, and Tsuru told Kikunojo to make the healing brew. Tama was healed after drinking it, and Tsuru gave her some porridge to eat. After very reluctantly accepting it, Tama was brought to tears by its taste. Kikunojo bandaged Zoro's wounds, and Tsuru explained that all of them in the leftover towns lived with barely any food to eat. Kouzuki Oden once had a farm to feed everyone, but that farm was now used to feed Orochi and the wealthy citizens in the nearby Bakura Town; everything Okobore Town got were castoffs and leftovers from there. Suddenly, the group found themselves under attack from the Gifter Batman, who with his Bat SMILE had overheard their conversation. While they dealt with Batman's attacks, Gazelleman came in and kidnapped Tama to bring her to Bakura Town, which the Shinuchi Holed'em had planned in order to find out about Hihimaru's taming.
Kikunojo immediately mounted Komachiyo to go rescue Tama, and Luffy and Zoro joined her. She explained to them the situation in Bakura Town, and revealed that she was a samurai. On top of the mountain where Oden Castle was located, Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin spotted Luffy and Zoro from afar. When they saw the duo heading to Bakura Town, they told Law, who quickly became worried and planned to stop them. In Bakura Town, Gazelleman brought Tama to Holed'em, who decided to try testing her abilities by pulling on her cheek with pliers. Elsewhere, Urashima told the Gifter Mouseman about Kikunojo while eating, and Mouseman encouraged him to use his high status to take her by force. Luffy, Zoro, and Kikunojo later arrived at Bakura Town, and while racing down the street, they were suddenly hit by a sumo wrestler who had been knocked out of the ring by Urashima. As Urashima was dominating his opponents, he saw Kikunojo and became ecstatic, thinking she had come to accept his proposal. He had his men bring her to him, but when he silenced and degraded the lower-class spectators, Kikunojo became mad and cut off his topknot with her sword.
One of Holed'em's men told him that Urashima's topknot had been cut off, while Hawkins and his men warned the Bakura Town forces about Luffy as they headed there themselves. Back at the sumo ring, Urashima decided to attack Kikunojo for her actions, but his attack was met by Luffy. Luffy challenged him to a sumo match for Kiku, and the two of them began fighting. Luffy was able to effortlessly dodge Urashima's attacks, and knocked him out of the ring with a single Gear 3-enhanced Harite, destroying several buildings. The Beasts Pirates guards then attacked Luffy, Zoro, and Kiku, causing a fight to break out as the latter trio searched for Holed'em. Holed'em then appeared on a rooftop with Tama, angry that Luffy had sent Urashima flying into his house, and said he would kill Tama if he made a move. Law was still on the mountain when Shachi saw that a fire had broken out and Hawkins had arrived at Bakura Town, leaving him aghast.
Deep within Bakura Town, the Shinuchi and Horse SMILE user Speed collected a cart full of clean food from the Paradise Farm. She saw the fire and destruction around Holed'em's house as she went into town, and wondered what was going on. As Holed'em threatened Tama with Kamijiro, the lion head growing from his stomach, Kikunojo warned Luffy that going against Holed'em would attract the wrath of the All-Star and ruler of Kuri Jack. However, Luffy decided to take action after seeing Speed bring the food provisions cart onto the scene, and in the blink of an eye punched Kamijiro and freed Tama. Zoro attacked the pirates around the provisions cart, and Komachiyo pulled it away. When Luffy saw that Holed'em had hurt Tama's cheek, he turned around to attack the Shinuchi. Holed'em had Kamijiro breathe fire at Luffy, but it was to no avail as Luffy took him out with Gomu Gomu no Red Hawk.
As Hawkins entered Bakura Town, he was confronted by a masked Law, who intended to take him out before the fellow Supernova could recognize him. However, Hawkins quickly recognized Law by his Ope Ope no Mi power and tattoos, and after a brief clash, he removed Law's mask. He revealed to Law that he had figured out that his and Luffy's alliance had infiltrated Wano, and Law's panic only grew as Hawkins received a call that Holed'em had been taken out and Jack had been notified. Nearby, Luffy and Tama immediately started running away, and Luffy saw Speed's horse body and jumped on her. She quickly became angry, and Luffy told Tama to feed her a kibi dango, which she did. Although the dango was not supposed work on humans, it did work on Speed due to her Devil Fruit, and she happily carried Luffy and Tama away. Zoro and Kikunojo rode the provisions cart out of town, and Law hitched a ride with them in order to yell at Zoro for his actions. They took the provisions cart to Okobore Town, where they offered it to the delighted citizens. Some Gifters attempted to stop this, but they were then crushed by a massive tub of clean water that Luffy brought. As Tama ate an apple, Luffy promised her that by the time he left Wano, she would be able to eat until she is full every day, and this caused Tama to start crying as Ace had said the exact same thing.
====Ghosts of the Past: The Truth About the Kouzuki Family====
In the Flower Capital, a teacher taught some students that Kouzuki Oden and his Nine Red Scabbards had tried to commit the evil act of opening Wano's borders, but their hero, the shogun Orochi, had defeated and killed them 20 years ago. Elsewhere in the capital, Orochi's money changer Kyoshiro brought up the night Oden was killed, recalling how his wife Kouzuki Toki had sworn a curse on him. Orochi believed this was a prophecy that the Kouzuki Family would return for vengeance in 20 years, with this year being the year of prophecy, but Kyoshiro was derisive of the shogun's paranoia, believing the Kouzukis and their scabbards were all dead.
Law then told Luffy and Zoro he would take them to the ruins of Oden Castle on top of the nearby mountain. Tama bid farewell to Luffy as Speed took her back to Amigasa Village, and the villagers thanked Luffy for his actions. Kikunojo joined Law's group on the way to Oden Castle, and Luffy wondered why she wanted to go there. Zoro wandered off along the way, and when they reached the ruins, Luffy spotted graves for Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Momonosuke, and was led to believe they were dead. However, Kin'emon then appeared, queasy but very alive, and Luffy also reunited with Momonosuke and his crew from Whole Cake Island while Kikunojo excitedly greeted Kin'emon. Law and Kin'emon then took the Straw Hats inside to eat, and there, Kin'emon revealed that his group had come here by traveling 20 years forward in time. Meanwhile, a lost Zoro decided to head toward a wharf, where he took a ride on a boat.
Kin'emon talked about Oden's history, explaining that he was the son of shogun Kouzuki Sukiyaki, but had been exiled from the Flower Capital for participating in violent fights. While in exile, he went to Kuri, which was then the most lawless region in Wano, and defeated its most dangerous criminal Ashura Doji. After rounding up the other criminals, Oden was granted the title of daimyo of Kuri by his father. He gathered many of his followers during that time, including Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, after they had drifted ashore. However, he felt confined by Wano's borders and so illegally set off to sea, first sailing with the Whitebeard Pirates before joining the Pirate King Gol D. Roger and the Roger Pirates.
However, this ultimately led to his execution 20 years ago. After Oden's execution, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Kiku, and another retainer managed to escape and head for Oden's wife and two children, Momonosuke and Hiyori, in Oden Castle, but Kaidou had set it ablaze. After getting into the burning castle and finding Oden's family, Toki decided to send Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo forward in time with her Toki Toki no Mi ability while she would die here, and Kin'emon promised to fulfill Oden's wishes. They were then sent 20 years into the future, where they saw gravestones with their names on it. They traveled through the new Wano and initially despaired, but they were able to find people who were still loyal to the Kouzuki Family, and set off to sea to find more allies to fight Shogun Orochi and Kaidou, which led to them finding the Straw Hats and Law.
With the alliance now formed, Kin'emon revealed that their goal was not to wage a full-scale war, but to conduct a raid on Kaidou's home of Onigashima during the Fire Festival two weeks from now. He presented a secret message to tell recipients to meet at the Habu Port at the appointed time, which they would pass out to their allies, who were marked by a crescent moon symbol on their ankles. Zoro's group was already working to gain intel in the Flower Capital, and the rest of the Straw Hats would do the same. Kin'emon had Nami train to be a kunoichi, and summoned the master kunoichi Shinobu to train her. Finally, he told the alliance that there were three samurai they particularly needed to find, as they were each worth 100 men: Ashura Doji, Kawamatsu, and Denjiro.
====A Terrifying Force: Kaidou Appears====
Back in Okobore Town, the citizens found themselves under attack by Shutenmaru and the Mt. Atama Thieves. The thieves took their food, and Shutenmaru felt no pity for the citizens, believing that there were no heroes who would really feed and protect them. Jack then rode into town looking for Luffy and confronted Shutenmaru, saying that his crew would only let the thief live if he joined Kaidou. Shutenmaru refused and attacked Jack, and the two sparred. However, their fight was soon interrupted when Kaidou suddenly came flying in as a dragon, wanting to know where Luffy and Law were. Kin'emon's group was shocked to see Kaidou, and Law revealed why he had come, saying that he and Luffy needed to deal with this alone to keep the rest of them from being exposed. Kaidou drunkenly flew around Okobore Town, dealing lots of destruction in the process, and to stop the destruction, Hawkins raced in and unintentionally yet accurately claimed that Luffy and Law were at the ruins of Oden Castle. Kaidou immediately flew toward the ruins and instantly blew them apart with fire breath, and this caused Luffy to become extremely angry and attack him.
After the attack, Luffy raced back toward the ruins when he encountered a heavily injured Speed, who revealed that Kaidou had attacked her and Tama on the way to Amigasa Village. With no idea if any of his allies were safe, Luffy decided to try ending the plan immediately and confronted Kaidou. He spared no time in pummeling the Emperor with his most powerful attacks, bringing him back into his human form. After Luffy's onslaught, however, Kaidou got back up without any signs of damage and knocked him out with one swing of his mace.
Law attempted to bring Luffy to him, but was hit with a Seastone nail and attacked by Hawkins, forcing him to flee. Luffy knocked out several pirates with Supreme King Haki when they tried to apprehend them, and Kaidou decided to have him thrown in prison to break his spirit and make him a subordinate. Now that he was sober, Kaidou decided to go after Law later and flew off to Onigashima to drink. Meanwhile, Kin'emon had gone to Okobore Town to check on his wife Tsuru, and was happy to find her alive and well, but did not intend on reuniting with her until after their mission had been accomplished. He then spotted Shutenmaru riding away, and recognized him as Ashura Doji. In the now-destroyed castle ruins, the alliance was able to survive the blast due to Shinobu rotting the ground away with her Juku Juku no Mi abilities, and after getting out of the hole, Kikunojo prepared to tell them about the current situation in Wano. In the wastelands of Kuri, Inuarashi and his Musketeers found the injured Tama and took her to receive treatment.
An extra edition of the newspaper covering the fight was printed out, and Usopp, Franky, Robin, and Zoro were appalled when they read it. The next day, Luffy was taken to the Prisoner Mines in Udon, where prisoners tirelessly worked to build weapons for Kaidou. One mysterious prisoner was fed a poisoned fish that was supposed to be boneless, and when Luffy was brought inside the prison, a guard attempted to attack him for glaring at him. However, the mysterious prisoner spit the fish bones at the guard, taking him out. The guards threw Luffy into a cell, saying that starting tomorrow they would break his spirit by working him to death. Luffy's cell was next to Eustass Kid's, and they both swore revenge against Kaidou, causing them to realize each other's presence. Kid decided that he could do everything better than Luffy causing an outrage of a competition between these two captains.
===Interlude: Gecko Moria vs. Blackbeard===
On Kuraigana Island, Perona was elated to see news of Gecko Moria being alive. She decided to go find him, which Mihawk stated might be for the best because of some developments at the Levely. Meanwhile, Moria invaded Hachinosu with his zombie army to confront Blackbeard and find the missing Absalom, who had come to the island a few days ago. However, Moria found out that Absalom had been killed after Catarina Devon impersonated him with the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kyubi no Kitsune, allowing Shiryu to use the Suke Suke no Mi power he had stolen from Absalom to attack Moria and his army. Blackbeard then called out to Moria from his hideout, inviting the former Warlord of the Sea to join his crew and revealing recent earth-shaking events including the executives of the Revolutionary Army fighting Admirals Fujitora and Ryokugyu during the Levely and the Straw Hats' arrival at Wano Country.
===Second Act===
====The Oiran Komurasaki Arrives: An Eventful Banquet====
On Mt. Atama, Inuarashi clashed with Ashura Doji as Kin'emon, Momonosuke, Kiku, the minks, and Ashura's men looked on. Kin'emon stopped the fight, and Ashura refused to rejoin the Kouzuki Family, saying he was only loyal to Oden and the rest of his followers' absences the past 20 years left a hole too large to be filled. In Amigasa Village, Tama recovered from her injuries, and on Onigashima, Jack was berated by his fellow All-Stars King and Queen for the low offerings from Kuri.
In the Flower Capital, among news about the thief Ushimitsu Kozo and street murderer Kamazo, the Kouzuki Family's allies received Kin'emon's secret message and understood it. As this happened, Nami and Shinobu infiltrated a high-ranking official's house to spy on a covert weapons trade deal, though were caught and forced to flee. While gliding away, Nami saw that Sanji had opened a soba stand on the street. Usopp, Robin, and Franky reunited with Sanji as they ate his soba, but trouble quickly arose when three thugs from the Kyoshiro Family came to try extorting money from him. When Sanji refused, they hit a little girl's bowl out of her hands, resulting in Sanji and Franky beating two of them to the ground. The third one ran off to report this to Kyoshiro, who told him to contact Queen to send assassins after Sanji.
In the aftermath, Sanji gave the little girl another bowl of soba, and she introduced herself as Toko, laughing whenever she spoke. After eating, Toko raced off to join the oiran Komurasaki, whom she worked for as a kamuro. Robin's master came in and revealed that Komurasaki was the greatest of all oiran in Wano, and that Robin would be accompanying her to Orochi's banquet. As Komurasaki paraded through the street, she left many men incapacitated in her wake, she was attacked by a group of men whom she had swindled after tricking them into giving her money to purchase her freedom. The men were quickly taken out by a guard and exiled, and Komurasaki coldly looked down on them. In Amigasa Village, Tama asked Momonosuke about his sister Hiyori, and he replied that he believed that she was still alive and now 26 years old. However, he did not intend to reunite with her until after the war to prevent Orochi from targeting her.
In Orochi Castle, Orochi met with agents from CP0, who were trying to broker a new deal for Kaidou's weapons after Doflamingo's downfall. Orochi decided to use the immense amount of leverage he had to demand that they bring him Vegapunk to continue their trade. When Joseph protested, Orochi shot him, saying he was untouchable due to Kaidou backing him. Orochi then went to partake in his banquet, where he celebrated with Komurasaki, Robin, and many others. As the banquet progressed, Robin snuck off to try to gather information. However, she was caught by Orochi's ninja squad, the Orochi Oniwabanshu. The ninja moved to restrain her, only to find out it was a body double. As Robin ran back to the banquet hall, their leader Fukurokuju ordered them to sneak around and find her. Robin reported her situation to Nami, Shinobu, and Brook, who had also infiltrated the castle.
After Robin returned to the banquet hall, Orochi overheard Kyoshiro talking about avenging his comrades and used the opportunity to warn everyone about Toki's prophecy and the impending return of the Kouzuki Family. The guests all believed Orochi's paranoia to be lunacy, but kept quiet. However, Toko was unable to prevent herself from bursting into laughter, resulting in Orochi becoming enraged. He attempted to attack Toko with a sword, resulting in Komurasaki slapping him. Despite the grave consequences of such an action, she stood her ground and refused to apologize.
Orochi transformed into the Yamata no Orochi and tried to avoid attacking her, but his anger eventually overcame his attraction, and he wrested her into his mouth. Meanwhile, the Orochi Oniwabanshu spotted Robin running away with Toko and chased her, although she managed to overpower them with Brook's help. One of the Oniwabanshu, Hanzo, crawled into the attic and discovered Nami and Shinobu hiding out there. Shinobu incapacitated him before destroying the floor, sending it crashing down onto Orochi below and freeing Komurasaki from his grasp. The oiran then stood in front of Kyoshiro and let him strike her down in order to give her a samurai's mercy. Orochi was distraught to see Komurasaki be killed, and he started chasing after Robin and Toko. However, Nami summoned Zeus and brought him down onto the shogun, striking him with a massive thunderbolt.
====Chaos in the Capital: Straw Hats on the Move====
As Franky was working, Minatomo revealed to him that he had pawned off the blueprints to Kaidou's mansion, leaving Franky enraged. He ran off to the pawn shop, and worked to trace the passage of the blueprints from person to person. The trail went cold after a man named Rakuda revealed that a man from Kuri had stolen them from him, and Franky reported this to Kin'emon. Kin'emon took overlooking for the blueprints as the minks brought in food and weapons, they stole from the Beasts Pirates; they had forged a note to make the pirates think that the Mt. Atama Thieves had stolen it.
Meanwhile, X Drake and Page One, two of the strongest six Shinuchi known as the Tobiroppo, went through the Flower Capital to look for Sanji. Law snuck up to Sanji and told him to go hide, and they along with Usopp and Sanji ran off. However, Page One started rampaging in his spinosaurus form and attacked citizens to draw Sanji out. This worked as Sanji attacked Page One, and as Page One called X Drake for backup, Sanji assured his comrades that he would finish this quickly without being spotted as he pulled out his Raid Suit. Sanji donned the Raid Suit, and Law recognized him as the character Stealth Black from Sora, Warrior of the Sea. Sanji became invisible and attacked Page One by surprise, sending him crashing into a building. Page One transformed into his hybrid form and hit Sanji through multiple buildings with his immense strength. However, Sanji was barely hurt and attacked Page One from above, and Law, Usopp, and Franky fled the Flower Capital and headed toward Ebisu Town.
Meanwhile, Zoro walked through the region of Kibi with a taikomochi named Tonoyasu. Tonoyasu was enamored with him and stuck along after Zoro had saved him from some yakuza thugs. The two of them headed toward Ebisu Town, which was where Tonoyasu originated. At Ebisu Town, Zoro met its citizens, who all laughed constantly and refused to let their extreme poverty and hunger bring them down.
Robin, Nami, Brook, and Shinobu escaped from Orochi Castle, and after dropping Toko off in the Red-Light District went with Kanjuro to the Northern Cemetery in Ringo. There, they talked about Kyoshiro's actions, and Kanjuro wondered what to make of him, as in his time Wano's top yakuza boss was a man named Hyougoro of the Flower. Brook revealed that there was a Poneglyph in the basement of Orochi Castle, but it was not the Road Poneglyph, which was likely on Onigashima. Nami, Robin, and Shinobu then headed back to the Flower Capital to go to a bathhouse.
====Sumo Inferno: Luffy Takes on the Prisoner Mine====
In the Prisoner Mine in Udon, while an elderly prisoner named Grandpa Hyo collapsed under the back-breaking work, Luffy and Kid moved large blocks at a rapid rate and were rewarded with large amounts of kibi dango to eat. This caused the vice warden Dobon to go on a rampage due to his food reserves running out, and he stepped on Hyo as he attempted to kill Luffy and Kid in his hippopotamus mouth. Luffy and Kid quickly took him out, and although attacking a warden would result in execution, they avoided punishment due to no one seeing them inside Dobon's hippo, and they became heroes among the prisoners as Luffy carried Hyo off. The next day, Hyo thanked Luffy for saving him, and Luffy gave him some meal tickets to keep his energy up. Raizo, having infiltrated the prison, came up to Luffy to tell him that he located the keys to his Seastone handcuffs, but they were in a heavily guarded room. Caribou then went to Luffy to ask for meal tickets, offering to become his subordinate if given some, but Luffy refused.
On Onigashima, Kaidou and the Beasts Pirates were on high alert as the Big Mom Pirates were approaching Wano Country on the Queen Mama Chanter. They had attached the Chanter to the giant carp to pull them up the waterfall. However, King then flew in with the power of the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon and crashed into the ship, sending it falling back down the waterfall, with Big Mom falling into the ocean in the process. The rest of the Big Mom Pirates landed safely on the Chanter, and they wondered what would become of Big Mom. Some of them were worried that Kaidou would kill her, as the two Emperors hated each other after once being crewmates.
That morning, Chopper, Momonosuke, Tama, and Kiku walked down to Kuri Beach when they saw Big Mom washed ashore. Chopper became frantic while the other three wondered who she was. However, Big Mom revealed herself to have no memory of who she was. A day later, Chopper's group brought Big Mom to Okobore Town, where Tsuru served her some oshiruko. Big Mom took a liking to the oshiruko, and Chopper told her that there was lots of it in Udon to get her to go there. Big Mom tamed a wanizame by hitting it, and the group rode it on their long journey to save Luffy. Momonosuke resumed practicing his sportsmanship, and shouted "sunacchi" after having heard Zoro tell him about it being used in his homeland. Kiku told him not to say it, as it was a cry used by past generations in Kuri that was unbefitting of someone of his status.
In the Prisoner Mine, the guards were set on high alert as Kid had managed to escape, and Raizo had successfully stolen the handcuff keys. As Luffy was prodded for information, Hyo was attacked by the warden Babanuki and vice warden Daifugo, as they did not believe he earned all his meal tickets. Hyo accepted his death, as he was now happy after witnessing Luffy's act of kindness, which he had not seen in the country since before Kaidou's takeover when he was Hyougoro of the Flower. However, Luffy then rushed in and kicked Daifugo, which was seen by everyone around him. Right as Luffy made his attack, Queen arrived at the Prisoner Mine. Luffy managed to injure Daifugo despite being weakened by his handcuffs, but was quickly overwhelmed by Babanuki after the warden shot an explosive blast from his elephant SMILE's trunk. Queen then made his entrance, and Babanuki told him what was going on. Luffy and Hyougoro were brought before Queen, who decided to make their execution entertaining. Meanwhile, as Raizo drew closer to Luffy, he heard the mysterious prisoner calling out to him, and was shocked to realize that this prisoner was his comrade Kawamatsu.
Raizo had to leave Kawamatsu after being spotted, and Queen put Luffy and Hyougoro into a sumo ring. He had special collars affixed to their necks, saying that if they were forced out of the ring, the collars would go off and decapitate them. To decrease their disadvantage, he had Luffy's handcuffs removed, much to Raizo's bewilderment. A group of Waiters then charged into the ring, but Luffy quickly knocked all of them out with his Supreme King Haki. He then easily beat the Pleasures, and tried to hit them by projecting Haki from his palm like he had seen Rayleigh do, but was unsuccessful. The Gifters Alpacaman and Madilloman entered the ring, and Luffy used his advanced Observation Haki to help Hyo avoid their attacks, but continued to fail at advancing his Armament Haki. Hyougoro eventually recognized what he was trying to do, revealing that people from Wano know it as Ryuo. He then ran up toward Alpacaman and hit him with a burst of projected Haki, and offered to train Luffy in its usage.
====The Message Exposed: A Former Daimyo's Sacrifice====
Sanji, Usopp, Franky, and Law reached Ebisu Town, where they heard the news about Komurasaki's death and met Tonoyasu. Yasu revealed that Zoro had left to chase after a thief who took his sword, and during their interaction, the group realized that Sanji had left as well. Meanwhile, Nami, Robin, and Shinobu made it to the bathhouse, and as they bathed, Shinobu told them about Hyougoro, whom she knew would corral enough respect to substantially increase their numbers. However, she believed him to be dead. Suddenly, Hawkins and Drake commenced a raid on the bathhouse, and rounded up everyone with a crescent moon on their ankle, which they knew to be a symbol of loyalty to the Kouzuki Family. Nami tried hiding behind Shinobu, and Hawkins spotted her and tried to draw her out, unwittingly disrobing her. This caused Sanji to inadvertently deactivate his Raid Suit power and reveal his presence, and Hawkins and Drake recognized him as he quickly flew his three comrades out of the bathhouse. As they fled, Sanji revealed that in addition to Orochi knowing about the ankle tattoo, he had also captured Law's crewmates to lure him out.
Meanwhile, Zoro chased the sword thief, a warrior monk named Gyukimaru, to Oihagi Bridge in Ringo. Gyukimaru had already returned Shusui to Ryuma's grave, and Zoro clashed blades with him to try and get it back. After fighting for a bit, they were suddenly interrupted as Komurasaki and Toko raced onto the scene, pursued by Kamazo the Manslayer. Zoro intercepted Kamazo, who unbeknownst to the public was an assassin in Orochi's service, and was sent by the shogun to kill Toko. Komurasaki begged Zoro to help them, and he agreed in exchange for food and alcohol. Zoro and Kamazo then commenced an intense duel, and were even until Gyukimaru decided to attack Zoro again. With Zoro turning his focus to the monk, Kamazo was able to pierce him through the shoulder with one of his scythes. However, Kamazo was unable to pull it out, allowing Zoro to take it and put it into his mouth. Zoro then attacked Kamazo with Rengoku Oni Giri, striking him down. Immediately afterwards, Gyukimaru departed as Zoro lost consciousness from his wound.
Zoro woke up in a house in the Northern Cemetery, where he found himself being tended to by Komurasaki. She thanked him and told him about her and Toko's situation, and revealed that she was actually Momonosuke's younger sister Hiyori. Hiyori told Zoro about how she stayed behind in the past to ensure the Kouzuki Family bloodline kept going, and was taken care of by Kawamatsu. Zoro wondered about the alliance's next course of action now that Orochi had gained an advantage on them, but went to sleep to help himself heal.
Meanwhile, Kin'emon's group found out that Orochi had discovered the meaning of their secret messages, and in the Flower Capital, hundreds of Kouzuki Family supporters were rounded up and put into a large prison in Rasetsu Town. After Sanji's group came to Ebisu, Shinobu blamed Law's crewmates for revealing the secret, causing Law to get into an argument with her, and Law then left in anger to save his crewmates himself. Tonoyasu came up with the secret message, and asked that Shinobu's group tell Kin'emon that he would be participating in the final battle. Though he spoke to them like a familiar, Kanjuro and Shinobu were unsure of who he was. Yasu then went around helping various townspeople, and an old woman said that although his daughter, Toko, sent him money from the Flower Capital, he gave most of it away and was considered a saint by the townspeople.
In the Prisoner Mine, Luffy continued hitting opponents out of the sumo ring, but was still unable to progress his Haki. Night fell and the Beasts Pirates all retired, leaving Luffy and Hyougoro in the ring. After Luffy knocked out the guards around them with Supreme King Haki, he and Hyougoro were approached by Raizo and Caribou, whose handcuffs were the ones Raizo got the key for. Raizo was happy to see Hyougoro and told Luffy who he really was, and Hyougoro said they possessed a great opportunity in this prison, as many people were sent here for rebellion against Orochi. Winning these people to their side, including the regional yakuza bosses and Kawamatsu, would substantially increase their allies. Raizo and Caribou then acquired Queen's oshiruko stash and gave it to Luffy and Hyougoro, who ate all of it. When morning came, Queen noticed that they had grown fat, though did not suspect they had eaten his oshiruko and his subordinates were too afraid to tell him.
In the Flower Capital, Fukurokuju reported to Orochi that Ushimitsu Kozo had been caught, and Orochi was surprised to find out his identity. The shogun ordered that the thief be publicly crucified, and had it broadcast along with Komurasaki's funeral. Meanwhile, Brook found Zoro, Hiyori, and Toko in the Northern Cemetery, and he told them about the development with Ushimitsu Kozo, revealing that he was Tonoyasu. Toko immediately ran off to save her father, forcing Zoro and Hiyori to chase after her. As they watched the broadcast of Yasu's crucifixion, Kanjuro and Shinobu finally recognized him as Shimotsuki Yasuie, the former daimyo of Hakumai. Many years ago, Oden had hung around Hakumai after being exiled by Sukiyaki, and was cavalier about becoming shogun as he believed Yasuie to be better suited for succeeding his father. However, Yasuie had none of that, as he was intent on Oden living up to his father's challenge. Sometime later, Yasuie had caught the Nine Red Scabbards stealing money to give to Oden. To their surprise, he let them take the money, with the command to serve Oden well on his way to becoming the next shogun.
Meanwhile, one of Holed'em's men set fire to Mt. Atama to get revenge on the thefts that were committed by Kin'emon's group under the guise of the Mt. Atama Thieves, and Ashura Doji led his men to attack Bakura Town. With them heading out, Kin'emon and Inuarashi raced toward Bakura Town to intercept them. As they reached Bakura Town, they watched the broadcast of Yasuie's execution. Yasuie revealed to the crowd that he was actually not Ushimitsu Kozo, and only claimed to be him to get a public execution. He then claimed that he created the Kouzuki Family's secret message as a joke, and that the crescent moon tattoo was just a popular symbol from the past. This caused Orochi's subordinates to start having doubts, and as Orochi was being brought to the execution platform, he became enraged after hearing Yasuie curse him. Orochi and his men then shot Yasuie multiple times, and Yasuie accepted his death as he had managed to change the alliance's meeting place for the final battle and tell all the Rasetsu Town prisoners about it.
As Yasuie fell down to the ground dead, the Ebisu Town citizens who had made their way to the capital started laughing profusely, and Zoro was appalled at this. However, Hiyori revealed to him that they were forced to laugh due to consuming SMILEs. She explained that only one out of ten SMILEs grant animal transformation powers, and the rest forced their consumers to only express positive emotions. The Pleasures were the Beasts Pirates who ate these defective SMILEs. However, Orochi had decided to decrease the amount of suffering he saw in the country by mixing the leftover defective SMILEs in with the food that the leftovers town citizens ate, resulting in them receiving the side effects and only being able to laugh. Several of the Straw Hats and Kin'emon also learned this as they watched the broadcast, and in the Flower Capital, Orochi reveled in the laughter. He then saw Toko at the execution platform trying to revive her father with toad oil, and prepared to shoot her. However, Zoro and Sanji both came in at the same time to protect Toko.
Zoro unleashed a flying slash attack on Orochi, and the shogun froze in fear, but the attack was intercepted by Kyoshiro. As Zoro clashed with Kyoshiro, Sanji found himself under attack from X Drake. Usopp, Franky, Nami, and Robin then came into attack Orochi's men, and chaos erupted in the city as Orochi was carried away to safety. A short time later, the Orochi Oniwabanshu joined the fight, seeking to capture just one of the Straw Hats. Meanwhile, Law snuck up to the Rasetsu prison but was caught by Hawkins. Hawkins revealed that he had tied his life force to Law's captured crewmates, so Law would have to kill them to get to him.
====Big Mom Arrives: Uprising in Udon====
After Luffy, Hyougoro, and the Prisoner Mine guards watched the execution broadcast, Babanuki reported to Queen that two criminals had just been brought in. Kid and Kamazo were then brought in, and Kid was distraught to see Kamazo's state, revealing that he was Killer and was now forced to laugh all the time after eating a defective SMILE. Queen then had Kid and Killer submerged into a tub and resumed the Sumo Inferno, telling Luffy that they would stay in there until he and Hyougoro died. Luffy tried to attack Queen, but to no avail. However, Big Mom then broke into the mine, looking for oshiruko. Queen was immediately angered about her wanting to take his favorite food, and transformed into a brachiosaurus to confront her. However, Big Mom slammed his head into the ground before swinging him around by the neck and throwing him into the wall with monstrous force, leaving him defeated. As Queen flew into the wall, he knocked over the contraption holding Kid and Killer, freeing them, and also broke Kawamatsu's cell door.
The Beasts Pirates tried to contact Kaidou, but could not get a signal, as Caribou had gotten the idea to smother the Boss Tanishi that facilitated communication outside of Udon. Big Mom found Queen's oshiruko container, only to become depressed as she found it empty. Luffy then unwittingly revealed that he and Hyougoro had eaten all of it, causing Big Mom to attack them in a fit of rage as she had wanted to take the oshiruko back to Okobore Town and share it with the people there. Big Mom's attacks pushed Luffy and Hyo toward the edge of the sumo ring, and they were eventually forced out. However, right before their collars went off, Luffy managed to rip them off.
Luffy recognized that he had done what Rayleigh had done to Camie on the Sabaody Archipelago, and Hyougoro stated that he had gone beyond projecting his Haki and went a step further to using Haki to destroy objects from the inside. Hyo decided to have Luffy continue training with his life on the line by ordering him to protect him from Big Mom. Luffy tried projecting his Haki to block Big Mom's attack, but was unsuccessful and Big Mom hit him into the wall before chasing him around the entire Prisoner Mine. While Big Mom was chasing Luffy, Queen came up with a plan to try to stop her. When they returned to the clearing, Queen dove on Big Mom in his brachiosaurus form and hit her on the head with immense force. Rather than harming her, though, it restored her memories, and she recognized Queen. However, she then fell asleep, and Queen immediately took action to have her restrained with Seastone and he took her to Onigashima, leaving Babanuki in charge of restoring order. With the chaos dying, Luffy decided to take over the prison.
Babanuki ordered the prisoners to subdue Luffy, and to Luffy's surprise they did so, as they told him that they had no wish to suffer further by rebelling against Kaidou. Daifugo started shooting the prisoners with Excite Bullets made by Queen that transmitted a contagious virus known as Mummy, and some of the guards went into Kawamatsu's cell to kill him. However, Raizo came in and threw the key to Kawamatsu's handcuffs as well as his sword Soto Muso into his cell, allowing Kawamatsu to free himself and repel his enemies. He, Raizo, Kikunojo, and Chopper then joined Luffy and Hyougoro in standing against the Beasts Pirates, while Momonosuke and Tama, who were ordered to stay outside, snuck inside the mine unseen. They were able to easily overpower their enemies, but were threatened by the prisoners, who could transmit Mummy to them with just a touch. However, Luffy then grabbed all the prisoners, pointing out that they were still suffering even when helping Kaidou's crew, and said that joining his alliance's revolt would be their only shot at changing that. This won over the prisoners, and Babanuki attempted to shoot them with a powerful Excite Shell, but Luffy foresaw this and tied up his elephant trunk, resulting in Babanuki being engulfed in the explosion. The prisoners then attacked Daifugo, and Udon was successfully liberated.
In the aftermath, Kid and Killer departed from the Prisoner Mine, with Kid being finished with pirate alliances and going to look for the rest of his crew. As Chopper treated Luffy's virus, Hyougoro, Raizo, Kiku, and Kawamatsu talked to the prisoners, who despite seeing them were still skeptical that they had come from 20 years in the past. Momonosuke was then called out while he was talking to Luffy, and when the prisoners saw him, they all bowed and expressed their relief, gaining confidence at seeing a member of the Kouzuki Family still alive. Kawamatsu then headed off on his own to attend to some business, promising to reunite with everyone before the final battle. Within a day, Chopper had cured all the prisoners of the Mummy virus, and Hyougoro reunited with the four regional yakuza bosses: Omasa, Tsunagoro, Cho, and Yatappe, who nearly killed Luffy after he referred to Hyougoro casually. The yakuza bosses then declared they would go around the country and recruit the remaining rebels scattered around.
On Onigashima, the Beasts Pirates worked nonstop to feed Big Mom as the All-Stars squabbled among themselves about what to do with her. Big Mom asked King to join her crew, as his race was one of the three not present in Totto Land, but he refused. Kaidou then came and ordered for Big Mom's chains to be removed, and after his subordinates reluctantly obliged, he and Big Mom brought out their weapons and engaged in a clash so powerful it split the heavens. The two of them fought nonstop all night, and the Beasts Pirates were terrified at what might happen to Onigashima. Queen pondered escaping to return to Udon, but received a call from Babanuki. Babanuki reported that all had been settled in the Prisoner Mine, as he had been tamed with Tama's kibi dango and was now her servant.
====Pieces Falling into Place: The War Approaches====
At Bakura Town, Ashura Doji attacked Kin'emon for setting him up. Kin'emon gave a sincere apology, though pointed out that there was still hope to avenge Oden due to Yasuie's final actions. Ashura then took him and Inuarashi to show them something. He brought them to a massive graveyard in Kuri, and explained that ten years ago, these samurai had all grown tired of waiting for the Kouzuki Family to return and, despite his wishes, had set out to Onigashima to fight, where they all lost their lives. Deciding not to doubt the Kouzuki Family's reasoning for waiting 20 years, Ashura and his thieves brigade joined Kin'emon's alliance. Ashura then took Kin'emon and Inuarashi to Port Itachi, where he showed them many old ships that could be used to sail to Onigashima. Kin'emon was ecstatic to see this, planning for Franky to get the ships in working condition. Kin'emon was further overjoyed to find that Ashura also had the blueprints to Kaidou's mansion in his possession, and soon afterward received a call from Raizo about the fighters they had recruited in the Prisoner Mine. However, Raizo did note that they lacked weapons to arm all their allies with.
In the Flower Capital, Orochi was enraged to hear that the Straw Hats had escaped, though Fukurokuju assured him that the Oniwabanshu and the shogun's samurai squad the Mimawarigumi were patrolling the city. Sanji and Shinobu watched the Rasetsu Town prison, whose occupants had not been freed even as the guards continued to doubt Orochi thanks to Yasuie. Meanwhile, Law had been brought into the prison after offering himself in exchange for his crewmates, threatening to sacrifice them to kill Hawkins otherwise. Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin found Nami in Ebisu Town, and gave her a copy of the secret message that had been altered by Yasuie. Nami noticed that he had drawn lines through the snake drawing, and said she would show it to Kin'emon as she departed for Amigasa Village with Franky and Kanjuro, who had Yasuie's body in his possession.
Meanwhile, at the Enma Shrine in the forest, Zoro managed to cut down all the Oniwabanshu ninja who pursued him and Hiyori. He and Hiyori then decided to head back to Ringo, with Zoro wanting to reclaim Shusui from Gyukimaru and wishing to kill Orochi with his own hands. The next day, Zoro returned to Oihagi Bridge and clashed with Gyukimaru again, but their fight was interrupted by the arrival of Kawamatsu. Hiyori tearfully reunited with Kawamatsu, but they were interrupted again as some Beasts Pirates shot Gyukimaru to try to get their weapons back. Zoro and Kawamatsu quickly started attacking the pirates, and Gyukimaru ran away as he expressed joy seeing Kawamatsu again.
Zoro chased after him, and Kawamatsu and Hiyori talked. Hiyori told Kawamatsu that she had left him so he would stop giving all his food to her, and Kawamatsu revealed that after she left him 13 years ago, he had gone to Ringo to collect the weapons left on the graves there. While there, he had met the komagitsune Onimaru, who was the companion of the late daimyo of Ringo Shimotsuki Ushimaru. Onimaru initially opposed his effort to collect the weapons, but eventually relented due to Kawamatsu's willingness to sacrifice himself for it. Onimaru became Kawamatsu's companion and helped him stockpile the weapons, and Kawamatsu donned the alias of "Gyukimaru" to chase away grave robbers. Kawamatsu was later caught in the Flower Capital and imprisoned in Udon, and in the present, he did not expect to see Onimaru still here. He and Hiyori caught up to Zoro, who revealed that Gyukimaru had opened up a secret chamber before heading off. The trio went into the chamber, where they found all the weapons from the graves ornately collected. Kawamatsu contacted Kin'emon to tell him that they now had weapons to arm their allies with for the final battle, and outside the chamber, Gyukimaru transformed into Onimaru.
Hiyori told Zoro that he should leave Shusui with Ryuma's grave and offered to replace it with Enma, a Meito that Oden had passed down to her which was the only weapon to have wounded Kaidou. Zoro reluctantly agreed, though Kawamatsu had many reservations. In the Rasetsu Town prison, Law had overwhelmed Hawkins and cut him up, and told him to reveal what happened to his alliance with Kid and Scratchmen Apoo. Hawkins stated that Apoo had been working for Kaidou since the beginning, and Kaidou wanted to recruit him, Kid, and Killer to join his crew. He had obliged due to having no chance of survival otherwise, but Kid and Killer had fought until they collapsed. Hawkins wondered if Law had any doubts about his alliance with Luffy now that they were in Wano, but Law gave no answer as he headed out of his cell. Law told a mysterious person nearby that if their plan involved facilitating his escape, he would go along with it.
As Luffy trained in the Prisoner Mine to improve his Haki and Franky, Usopp, and the minks worked to repair the ships, the rest of the Straw Hats and Nine Red Scabbards met to discuss the strategy for the final battle. Nami brought up Yasuie's message alteration to Kin'emon, and he deduced that the lines on the snake represented legs, meaning the snake was now a lizard and thus their new meeting spot was to be Tokage Port in Udon. Zoro and Kawamatsu then revealed that Hiyori was alive, which overjoyed Momonosuke and the Scabbards. Hitetsu then arrived to present Enma and the sword Oden gave to Momonosuke, Ame no Habakiri. Momonosuke declined to take Ame no Habakiri at the moment, and Zoro took Enma, but quickly found that it instantly drained much of his Haki. Zoro managed to get his Haki back, successfully bringing Enma under his control. In the next four days, the yakuza bosses recruited 200 more people, bringing the alliance's total numbers to 4,200, which was still well short of Kaidou and Orochi's forces which were projected to number around 30,000; the alliance was also unable to find a way to free the Rasetsu Town prisoners. By the culmination of those remaining days, Luffy had managed to successfully project his Haki, and Zoro continued improving his skill with Enma. Hitetsu revealed to him that Enma and Wado Ichimonji were made by the same person, a man named Shimotsuki Kouzaburou who had illegally left Wano over five decades ago.
On the day before the final battle, Momonosuke and Shinobu joined the Nine Red Scabbards, save for Nekomamushi and the still-missing Denjiro, on a trek to Tokage Port to get ready for the raid, and Kin'emon bid farewell to Luffy after the latter arrived at Amigasa Village. Kin'emon's group then set off through the wasteland as many workers across the country spread rumors about their potential resurgence. However, at Hakumai, Apoo arrived at Wano via a gondola accessible through a cave under the waterfall surrounding the country. Accompanying him were the Numbers, a group of large, monstrous people from Onigashima, and Apoo looked forward to the upcoming Fire Festival. On Onigashima, King reported to Queen that the Numbers were coming back, and Kaidou and Big Mom were partying happily. They then announced that they had formed a pirate alliance, and would resume trying to kill each other after taking over the world; this announcement was met with great shock. Meanwhile, on the cusp of the Fire Festival, Orochi received a report that revealed that the alliance's new meeting place was Port Tokage, and that Hiyori was alive and hiding in Ringo.
===Interlude: Big News From Levely===
After the Levely ended, most of the royalty return to their countries, including the Neptune Family. However, at the World Economy News Paper headquarters, Morgans oversaw his workers frantically covering the massive events that had reportedly happened at the conference, including a death and assassination attempt. Attach handed Morgans a letter from the World Government containing bribe money to keep him from printing certain news, but Morgans refused to censor anything. Attach then pulled off his face to reveal that he was actually a Cipher Pol agent in disguise, and he attempted to silence Morgans by force, but Morgans quickly defeated him.
The news was printed out, and the Revolutionaries, Sterry, Makino, and the Dadan Family were aghast after reading a news story about Sabo. At the same time, people found out that the Seven Warlords of the Sea system had been abolished after Nefertari Cobra and Riku Doldo III proposed it and the majority of the world leaders supported it. As a result of this, large Marine fleets and forces were sent after Mihawk, Hancock, Buggy, and Weevil. On the way to Amazon Lily, Captain Koby received a report from X Drake, who was secretly an undercover Marine and captain of their SWORD unit. Drake revealed to him that Kaidou and Big Mom had formed an alliance and that he had seen CP0 in Wano.
On New Marineford, Sakazuki reported to Fujitora about Kaidou and Big Mom's alliance, and Brannew and Sengoku briefed a room of Marines about the situation. Sengoku explained that 40 years ago, powerful pirates gathered on Hachinosu to band together to take over the world, forming the Rocks Pirates. Kaidou, Big Mom, and Whitebeard were all part of this crew, and they were led by Rocks D. Xebec. The Rocks Pirates met their downfall 38 years ago during the God Valley Incident, where, unbeknownst to the public, Garp teamed up with Gol D. Roger to stop Rocks from threatening the World Nobles and their slaves. Big Mom and Kaidou's alliance would be the greatest threat to the world since that, as they had grown much stronger since their time with Rocks, and their combined bounties would be greater than even Roger and Whitebeard's bounties of over 5,000,000,000. Sakazuki then arrived and said that they could not take action on Wano at the moment, as they did not have enough forces to mount such a venture. Sengoku understood, though pointed out that the unaffiliated country was unusually important in all of this, especially since Oden, the former Whitebeard Pirate and Roger Pirate, came from there.
===Third Act===
====Oden's Log: The Great Samurai's Legacy====
On the day of the Fire Festival, Wano Country began its celebration. Orochi set sail toward Onigashima with Fukurokuju, leaving Kyoshiro and the Mimawarigumi in charge of the capital. Meanwhile, Kin'emon's group reached Tokage Port, only to find the place wrecked and their allies nowhere to be found and unable to contact them. Desperate, they cursed their luck as they planned to have the small group depart alone, questioning what could have happened on the night before.
Two days before the Festival, as Kin'emon rallied his allies, Orochi made plans of his own, sending men to destroy several bridges that connect the Wano regions and the hiding spot of the Thousand Sunny, cutting off the alliance from the Scabbards. Meanwhile, Holed'em discovered the recent theft from the farm and confronted the residents of Okobore Town. After the citizens took the blame, the town was burned down. Despite Momonosuke's pleas, the Scabbards decided to follow their plan, knowing that they would not get another chance. Momonosuke then asked them what he would do without them, and they told him that his father also started out alone, before finding and inspiring the Scabbards to became samurai.
41 years ago, in a brimming and flourishing Wano, the former Shogun Kouzuki Sukiyaki prepared to disown his 18-year-old son Kouzuki Oden due to his outrageous actions he had committed during his life. Meanwhile, Oden, who had returned from one of his failed attempts to go to sea, was enraging some citizens by cooking a pot of oden over a man's cremated remains. A young Kin'emon stole a valuable white boar from a gang and fled to the Flower Capital. Denjiro, however, told him that the wrath of his parents, known as the Mountain God, would await those who would not return it. Just as the Mountain God attacked the capital, Oden overheard their conversation and told them to give him the boar.
The Mountain God then attacked the capital, and after finding out it ate Tsuru, Kin'emon tried to attack the God in vain. Oden approached the Mountain God with the boar's offspring and cut the Mountain God in half with his Oden Two Sword Style. Since he possessed the white boar, he took the blame for it. He received a message from his father Sukiyaki, telling him he had been disowned and exiled from the capital. When Oden happily set off, Kin'emon and Denjiro became his followers. The trio went to Hakumai to meet the daimyo Shimotsuki Yasuie, who introduced them to his new servant.
Within two years after he has been exiled, Oden, Kin'emon, and Denjiro parted ways with Yasuie and started touring through Wano Country, with Oden wanting to explore the lawless Kuri. They were joined by the siblings Izou and Kikunojo, as well as the homeless Kanjuro and Raizo. One day, Oden went off to confront the criminals in Kuri, where he defeated all criminals and their boss, the most dangerous criminal in Wano, Ashura Doji. He then decided to take over the region, and together with his followers, he worked to round up the criminals and restore order. Once he accomplished this, Sukiyaki reinstated him as his son, as well making him daimyo of Kuri. Oden, needing retainers as a daimyo, then decided to grant his followers the position of retainers.
Six years later, as the former members of the Rocks Pirates started forming their own crews in the outside world, Kawamatsu discovered Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who were washed up on Kuri Beach. They left Zou 33 years ago to find Wano Country. After they washed up on Kuri Beach and were found by Kawamatsu, they were bullied by some citizens, believed to be demons. But they were saved by Oden, who stopped the citizens, and the three of them became his followers. Oden then started to run out of money, so his followers went out to steal money from Yasuie. They were caught, but to their surprise he gave them his money with the order to improve their social standing to increase Oden's respectability. They were successful in it, and three years later they were able to create a formal procession during Oden's visit to Sukiyaki in the Flower Capital.
Later that year, Oden discovered that the Whitebeard Pirates had washed ashore on Wano. He raced toward them and clashed with Whitebeard, with the intention to join his crew. Whitebeard, however, refused to let Oden join his crew, due to being concerned about his character. However, when he tried to covertly set sail at night, both Oden and Izou stowed away by riding on a chain. Whitebeard agreed to let Oden join his crew if Oden could ride the chain for three days. Oden accepted the challenge but when there were only ten minutes left, he ended up drifting away. He then washed ashore on an island, scaring away a band of human traffickers who had tried to kidnap a woman named Amatsuki Toki with the promise to take her to Wano. After she treated his wounds, Oden protected her when the traffickers returned with their leader Karma. Whitebeard then came and took out Karma when he offered Oden to join his crew, as he was impressed by Oden's willingness to protect Toki.
Oden, Toki, Izou, and the stowaways Inuarashi and Nekomamushi then sailed and adventured with the Whitebeard Pirates and one day, Toki revealed she was a time traveler who was born 800 years ago. Meanwhile, Gol D. Roger read the news of Oden joining Whitebeard and expressed his desire to meet Oden. As they sailed with the Whitebeard Pirates for four years and learned more about the world, Oden and Toki fell in love and Toki gave birth to Momonosuke and Hiyori.
However, several years ago in Wano, Orochi met an old woman who could change her appearance. She told him how the Kurozumi Family came close to seizing power before falling and offered him to help him to take the title of shogun. Orochi had amassed wealth by stealing and borrowing from Oden and Yasuie, and the old woman posed as Oden to get him a job in the shogun's castle by lying that he and Orochi were like brothers. As Sukiyaki started to ail, the old woman posed as him and she decreed that Orochi would become temporary successor as shogun until Oden returned.
Meanwhile, the Whitebeard Pirates headed towards an island where a ruckus was going on. This ruckus was because of the Roger Pirates and Roger looked forward to battling Whitebeard on his final journey. The Whitebeard Pirates were then discovered by the Roger Pirates and an excited Oden rushed and attacked several Roger Pirates before being attacked by Roger himself. Roger and Whitebeard both preferred to battle each other, imbuing their blades with Haki and then clashing with a burst of Haki, shaking everything around and even the island. The Whitebeard Pirates and Roger Pirates clashed for three days and three nights. On the fourth day, however, they ended their battle and they split the loot equally between both crews. Roger then told Whitebeard about his dream of becoming Pirate King and traveling the world and asked to borrow Oden for a year in exchange for all his treasure. The Roger Pirates later reached Skypiea and Oden wrote Roger's message beside the Shandora Poneglyph.
After leaving Skypiea, the crew eventually traveled to Fish-Man Island, where they met Neptune and Shyarly, who prophesied future events. Neptune then took the Roger Pirates to the Poneglyphs at the Sea Forest: a Road Poneglyph and Joy Boy's apology, but they were surprised to not find the one of the Ancient Weapons, Poseidon there as Skypiea's Poneglyph had said. Neptune revealed another prophecy about a mermaid who could talk to Sea Kings that would soon be born, and assumed it was his daughter that was also prophesied. Shyarly then told Roger per his request that the Mermaid Princess would be born in 10 years, much after Roger's death.
While adventuring in the New World, Toki came down with a fever and collapsed. Crocus stated that she could not continue sailing in that state, and the crew decide to dock at Wano for Toki to stay there. Upon arrival, Oden's family were greeted by his retainers who asked him to stay as well and rule Wano, but Toki demanded he must not abandon his journey for her sake. Oden rejoined the Roger Pirates on his own. The crew then departed and headed to Zou to find the final Road Poneglyph.
With the transcripts of all four Road Poneglyphs, the Roger Pirates charted course to the final island, and conquered the Grand Line, with Roger becoming the Pirate King. Oden wrote of this experience, recounting that they had discovered the truths about the Void Century, the meaning of D., and the Ancient Weapons, and he learned that Wano had once been connected to the outside world. He continued to describe Roger finding Joy Boy's treasure, prompting Roger to name this island "Laugh Tale."
Sometime after that, the Roger Pirates were disbanded. Roger ordered the crew to sail to someplace where the Marines were not waiting, and added that he will be the first one to leave the Oro Jackson. After reaching an island, Roger stepped off the ship with a tearful sendoff from his crew. Afterwards, the crew headed to Wano to drop off Oden, who declared his intention to open the borders of Wano before the day that Joy Boy appears.
In Wano, Oden reunited with his family and retainers, surprised by the love and happiness the citizen showed towards him, although he had left Wano. The retainers told him about Orochi becoming shogun and how he had been oppressing the citizens with the aid of Kaidou. After hearing about how his family was threatened, a furious Oden headed to the Flower Capital. After taking out all Orochi's guards, Oden prepared to attack Orochi, who in fear warned Oden about Kaidou's revenge, but Oden continued his assault. Oden was prevented from killing Orochi by Kurozumi Semimaru, who protected Orochi with his Bari Bari no Mi abilities, and Oden then learned the truth about Orochi's uprising from Higurashi, who posed as Oden's father using his Mane Mane no Mi ability. His actions then resulted in Orochi's allies attacking the citizens outside and Kaidou appearing at the Flower Capital. Thus, Oden started dancing naked in the Flower Capital for five years due to a contract he made with Orochi and Kaidou, losing all the faith and trust the people of Wano had for him, until he learned that Kaidou and Orochi had deceived him. After a year, he was given the news of Roger's execution, where he both cried and laughed while reading the news. Twenty years before the present day, he learned from Orochi that Kaidou had captured Hyougoro on Orochi's orders and killed the yakuza boss' wife as well as sixteen of his men and also about Orochi's plans to make Wano a producer of weapons. This spurred Oden to take action. He and his retainers set out to defeat Kaidou, when his retainers were given their group name, the Nine Red Scabbards.
After they set out, Oden and his retainers were joined by Shinobu, who had always wanted to serve the Kouzuki Family. Oden learned from Kaidou that he had placed a spy in the Flower Capital and that they had purposely made Oden dance because he was too strong at that time for Kaidou and his allies, thus weakening him and increasing their chances of victory. Oden and the Scabbards fought a ferocious battle against Kaidou and his crew in the Udon region. In the battle, Oden was able to inflict a scar on Kaidou's chest, but before he could take Kaidou out, he was tricked by Higurashi who transformed into Momonosuke and thus Oden was struck down by Kaidou. Soon after, all of his retainers were taken down as well and the battle ended with Oden and his retainers defeated. They were all imprisoned in the Flower Capital and sentenced to execution in three days by being boiled alive.
Three days later, the citizens approached the execution site and saw a large pot of boiling oil, and Oden and his Scabbards were being ushered towards it. Oden stopped and turned to face Orochi and Kaidou who were watching the event from a stage, and asked for a chance for him and his men to live. Kaidou agreed and said that if they survived an hour inside the pot, they were free to go. Oden then entered the pot and held his retainers above his head on a platform, saving them from the torture. The watchers then ridiculed Oden for his actions five years too late, and about how long it was taking him to die. Angered, Shinobu revealed the truth behind the deal Oden made with Orochi five years ago, that involved Oden dancing naked in order to stop Orochi from kidnapping and selling the citizens, and for him and Kaidou to leave Wano in five years.
Shocked by the revelation, the citizens changed their behavior and started to cheer for Oden, discovering they were surrounded by Orochi's men. Nearing the end of the set time, the citizens counted down and after an hour passed, Orochi had Oden and his men held at gun point, still in the pot. Orochi claimed to have changed the sentence a minute prior. Oden tossed his men above the crowd, saving them, and left them with his wish to open the borders of Wano to the world. Kaidou shot him and the samurai's body disappeared in the oil. Back in Kuri, news reached Toki and she recalled Oden in prison, giving her his swords for their children, and the letter he left to her before he left, asking her to use her power in preparation for a great war in twenty years' time.
Following Oden's execution, the Nine Red Scabbards raced to rescue his family in Oden Castle, which Kaidou had set ablaze as he confronted Momonosuke. Toki sent Momonosuke with Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, and Kikunojo twenty years forward in time while Kawamatsu took Hiyori to safety. Shortly after that, she appeared in front of the onlooking citizens and gave her prophecy before she died. Denjiro went to a hut, and after a long period of time emerged with his appearance having changed due to his rage. He went to the Flower Capital and started attracting followers, calling himself "Kyoshiro." As Kyoshiro, Denjiro rose to become a yakuza boss and entered Orochi's service as his bodyguard. Seven years after Oden's death, after finding Hiyori on the street, he took her in and raised her to become Komurasaki as they prepared for the day of the final battle. As Komurasaki became popular, she attracted Orochi attention, causing Denjiro to fear for her safety. He had her carry bags of fake blood on her person in preparation of faking her death to avoid the tyrant. Years later, when Kin'emon's group reached the present, Orochi and Kaidou received words of their arrival, and prepared for their counterattack, based on the intel from Orochi trusted spy, who he recruited to be his informant while preparing to live and die as a Kouzuki.
====Friends and Foes: The War Begins at Sea====
As the Scabbards left Momonosuke with Shinobu, they talked about the unavoidable conclusion that one of them was a traitor, who then revealed himself to be Kanjuro. Kanjuro revealed his reasoning behind his actions, as he was a member of the Kurozumi Family, and while he has no malice towards the Scabbards, his loyalty was to Orochi. At that moment, the Scabbards boat was confronted with vessels of the Beasts Pirates, who planned to sink the Scabbards. Angered at the revelation, Kin'emon slashed Kanjuro, only to realize it was a drawing, and that the real Kanjuro had taken Momonosuke and planned on delivering him to Orochi. Just then, to everyone's shock, the Beasts Pirates ships were attacked by the Thousand Sunny and the Victoria Punk, while the Scabbards were picked up by the Polar Tang. The allies' ships' captains prepared to strike back in a sea battle befitting pirates.
Just as Luffy, Law, and Kid stuck a devastating blow against the Beasts Pirates, Denjiro appeared. He cut off a large portion of the Beasts Pirates' ship and asked to bring his family to join the Nine Red Scabbards forces, revealing himself in the process. He revealed that he had released the 1,000 samurai trapped in the Rasetsu Town prison and brought them with him. Finally, he applauded Kin'emon's "plan": The two lines in Yasuie's message were not legs; they were cutting lines signifying cutting the center part out. When you remove the center kana of はぶみなと the result is はと or "wharf." In other words, the true meeting place was a wharf hidden in a forest of Habu Port, where the other 4,200 soldiers were waiting. Kin'emon, however, was unaware of such a deception.
With the entire raid forces seemingly accounted for, Kin'emon, in a sign of leadership, rallied his soldiers for the upcoming war. Shocked by their arrival, Kanjuro took Momonosuke and headed to Onigashima to report to Orochi, briefly facing off with Kawamatsu. Kanjuro, aware of Hiyori's status and hiding spot, told the fish-man he would target her next. Riding a beautiful crane conjured through his Fude Fude no Mi ability, Kanjuro attacked the alliance with an ink arrow raincloud. Sanji and Robin attempted to save Momonosuke, but the boy ordered the alliance to stay away and proceeded to Onigashima. Meanwhile, the Beasts Pirates' ship distanced themselves and fired at the alliance with long range cannons, destroying several of the alliances' ships. The alliance was saved with the sinking of the ship by the hand of the newly arrived Jinbe, who introduced himself as a member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
Jinbe then boarded the Sunny, and as the crew prepared to celebrate his return, the Scabbards were joined by Shishilian and Hyougoro as leaders of the alliance's forces to form a plan of attack. Law then suggested that they would split into four groups: One that would attack Onigashima from the front, two from each of its side, and one aboard the Polar Tang to submerge and attack Kaidou's castle at the back of the island head on. Law stated that the Straw Hat and Kid Pirates would not listen to the plan and strike from the front, making up the first group. Kin'emon and Denjiro volunteered to be heading the groups to attack from each side, with the rest of the Scabbards on board the submarine. Law then noticed the Straw Hats were nowhere to be found, and an explosion was heard from afar, causing Denjiro to remember the guards in front of Onigashima. However, the Straw Hats were already fighting the guards, defeating them easily and looting them for the celebration of Jinbe arrival, but Luffy stopped the party, wanting to celebrate with the entire alliance once Kaidou was defeated. The Kid Pirates then sailed past them, aiming for Kaidou's head, and Luffy ordered Jinbe to catch up to them. Meanwhile, on Onigashima, the festival had commenced as Orochi, Queen, Kaidou, and Big Mom celebrated when the Tobiroppo arrived.
====Into the Dragon's Den: Entering Onigashima====
As Law and the Scabbards submerged, the rest of the alliance reached the entrance of Onigashima. After knocking out the guards, the Straw Hats wondered where to hide their ships as the samurai disembarked, and Luffy saw the samurai ship began to sink, with Kin'emon stating that it was done since they would not need ships for the return trip, showing his determination. As the alliance crossed a bridge, they were given disguises by Kin'emon to appear like members of the Beasts Pirates in order to blend in and avoid unnecessary battles.
Meanwhile, inland, the Beasts Pirates' celebration, the Golden Kagura, was starting with Apoo playing music and Queen performing and introducing the attendees, including the unseen Big Mom Pirates. Unimpressed by his show, the Tobiroppo sat in a booth awaiting Kaidou and began to argue among themselves about who would become Queen's replacement if he would die, causing Ulti to lash out at her comrades. During their meeting, Kaidou confessed it was not him who summoned them, and King declared it was him who called them. Kaidou then had one of his Shinuchi, Bao Huang, reveal his schedule, including Big Mom's crew's arrival in Wano and their alliance with the Beasts Pirates, with Kaidou revealing a very important announcement. Kaidou then told the Tobiroppo that it was their job to find his son, Yamato, who had been missing since the beginning of the festival. Who's-Who then asked what their reward would be if they brought him back, to which Kaidou answered that they would have the right to fight an All-Star.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hat Pirates separated into smaller groups, but after hearing from Jinbe that Luffy wanted to stop Kid, since they did not know the plan, and Zoro declaring he had to find Luffy to prevent them from being spotted, Usopp, Nami, Sanji and Chopper were worried both would be lost and spotted. Outside the castle, Luffy then asked some Beasts Pirates if they had seen Kid around. They explained that they had never heard his name. Luffy noticed the massive amount of food gathered there and witnessed some Beasts Pirates spill oshiruko and make jokes about giving it to the people of Okobore Town. Enraged after seeing the spilled food, Luffy remembered how happy Tama was when she was given oshiruko on her birthday.
Furious, Luffy attacked the Beasts Pirates, drawing the attention from those around him. Zoro then arrived to lecture Luffy, and in the process drew even more attention by slicing off a building. However, after hearing Luffy's reason, Zoro joined him in rage. On the stage, Queen and Apoo figured out the identities of the invaders, and Queen offered the Beasts Pirates a chance to became one of the Tobiroppo, claiming there was someone he wanted dead, and a spot would be open, if they managed to capture the Straw Hats. With an army of Gifters approaching them, Luffy and Zoro were attacked by Apoo and were unable to identify or evade his sound-based attack. The two tried to escape but were surrounded, Apoo prepared to strike again, but Kid stepped in to attack Apoo for his treacherous actions.
With Kid's sudden appearance, the Beasts Pirates were surprised while Queen was shocked to learn another one of Babanuki's false report. Kid confronted Apoo about their alliance, with the latter ridiculing Kid's naivety on the concept of a pirate alliance and attacked him. Queen then granted the Beasts Pirates permission to kill the intruders. Hatcha of the Numbers joined the fight, knocking out some of his crew members. Kid was blown away and was about to be attacked, but Luffy saved him out of anger for Kid causing a riot. As the Supernovas tried to get away from the horde of enemies, they were targeted by Apoo, but thanks to Killer's intel about Apoo's powers, managed to avoid being hit by covering their ears. Above the fight, Who's-Who was talking with his men about finding Yamato because he wished to get rid of one of the Tobiroppo, which mirrored Queen's desire.
Meanwhile, Kin'emon's Eastern Forces reached the lake side Woman Trouble, a brothel under Black Maria's rule, and decided to split their forces, with half entering the castle to corner Kaidou and Orochi, with Shinobu suggesting they would also look for Momonosuke inside. As Kin'emon led some of his men across a bridge next to the brothel, a shadow appeared in one of the windows and the samurai hid in the water. The Brachio Tank V led by Chopper, however, was spotted by Big Mom. At the same time, the Big Mom Pirates learned about their alliance with the Beasts Pirates, but were unaware of the hidden port, as they tried to re-enter Wano via the waterfall. As they reached the top, they were once again targeted by a flying individual, who they initially believed to be King, but was Marco, who pushed the Queen Mama Chanter, sending them down the falls again. The Guardians' ship with Nekomamushi and Izou onboard ascended the waterfall.
====End of the Kurozumi Reign: Yamato and the New Onigashima Project====
Having given the Tobiroppo their mission, Kaidou joined the Golden Kagura celebrations with his ally Orochi and subordinate Black Maria, the latter uninterested in hunting for Yamato. Kanjuro then barged into the room, having struck through several of the Beasts Pirates who were unaware of his identity, in order to deliver a badly battered Momonosuke (who had attempted to escape his captor) to his master Orochi, following the final role given to him. Kanjuro informed Orochi about his failure in stopping the alliance's raid. Now panicked and not feeling reassured by Fukurokuju's reports, Orochi immediately ordered an execution for Momonosuke to be set up on the Live Stage, so he could finally stop worrying about the Kouzuki bloodline and their prophecies.
Meanwhile, at sea, Nekomamushi and Marco made contact with the Scabbards in the Polar Tang, who informed the late comers about their meeting spot at the northwest of Onigashima. Marco got rid of the message he had told Nekomamushi to deliver to Luffy (which stated he would show up late) and then listened to the mink ruler's idea to land on Onigashima. Both the Alliance's Southern and Eastern Forces advanced further inland, with the former doing so with the "help" of Usopp and Chopper luring Big Mom away and the latter detaining Sasaki of the Tobiroppo while directing some of his forces into the Skull Dome. Nami, Carrot, and Shinobu also separated from Kin'emon's group and infiltrated Black Maria's brothel, forming their own search team to locate Momonosuke. Unfortunately for them, they were suddenly spotted and ambushed by Prometheus.
At sea, Charlotte Perospero managed to climb the waterfall through the use of his Pero Pero no Mi and approached Onigashima. Within Kaidou's Castle, Ulti and Page One were searching for Yamato when one of the former's tantrums caused both to literally stumble into Luffy's way. The siblings engaged Luffy in combat, activating their Devil Fruits after sensing his impressive Haki. Somewhere else in the castle, Zoro, Kid and Killer fought off waves of Gifters. At the Live Stage, Orochi delivered a speech about Wano's history and his conflict with the Kouzuki Family as Big Mom approached the location with an army of yokai-based Homies to pursue Nami's team. Luffy managed to hold his own against the siblings until Ulti managed to hold him down. As she prepared to attack, Ulti was struck down by Yamato, who dragged Luffy away to safety.
Page One and Ulti quickly recovered from their battle with Luffy and tried to pursue Yamato, who was having a squabble with Luffy due to wanting to take him somewhere without witnesses, which the latter refused to do. Yamato took advantage of one of Luffy's attacks to escape with him into the attic, away from the Beasts Pirates' view. At sea, Law used his Devil Fruit to transport himself, some of his crewmates, and the Scabbards into Onigashima, while the remaining Heart Pirates retreated underwater. They were soon followed by Marco carrying Nekomamushi and, unexpectedly to them, Izou, who had decided to return to his homeland. Marco temporarily left to investigate something at sea while Kikunojo had an emotional reunion with her brother.
At the Live Stage, Orochi kept talking about the Kouzuki and Momonosuke's time travel. Kaidou then came onto the stage to turn the execution more interesting with his scheduled announcement: the New Onigashima Project. Meanwhile, in the attic, Luffy listened to Yamato's story and idolatry of Kouzuki Oden, having witnessed the Legendary Hour and taken Oden's journal. Yamato then took off his disguise, claimed that Luffy was reminiscent of Portgas D. Ace, and asked to join forces with him to take down Kaidou.
At the rear entrance of Kaidou's castle, the Scabbards sans Kin'emon and Denjiro confronted Kanjuro, who had predicted their arrival there and brought with him an assortment of Kaidou's forces as well as drawn soldiers of his own. The Scabbards entered combat with Kanjuro's troops while Kikunojo dealt with Kanjuro. Meanwhile, Yamato explained his relationship with Kaidou and the explosive cuffs that were forced into him as a way to prevent him from leaving Onigashima. Luffy offered to remove the cuffs, but right when he was about to do so, they overheard Kaidou's announcement through a projection in the room below the attic. Kaidou explained his plans to wage war against the World Government by claiming the One Piece and the Ancient Weapons alongside Big Mom, who coincidentally entered the Live Stage with her army of yokai Homies and a captured Nami and Carrot.
Kaidou elaborated further on his course of action, planning to transform Wano Country, a natural fortress, into a lawless nation of pirates and weapon industries, operated by slaved Flower Capital denizens, to oppose the World Government. Orochi, realizing that he would lose his dominion if such an operation were put in action, angrily protested to Kaidou about the plan, only for the Emperor to instantly behead him, to the utter shock of everybody watching. Not needing to bother with either the Kouzuki or Kurozumi's matters anymore and intending to have his son Yamato become the next shogun, Kaidou sent an ultimatum towards Orochi's followers: either join him and live or die fighting. Luffy and Yamato, who were eavesdropping the announcement's projection and loudly reacting to Kaidou's scheme and Momonosuke's situation, accidentally fell from the attic onto the floor below, with Yamato angered at Kaidou while Luffy followed his lead.
====Pirates and Samurai Finally Gathered: The Raid on Onigashima====
Outside the castle, Kikunojo managed to strike Kanjuro down. Kin'emon and Denjiro then arrived shortly after, with the former leaving his kasa over Kanjuro's body as a form of condolence. Noticing Izou's presence, Kin'emon welcomed the Whitebeard Pirates' division commander to their team as they finally invaded the stronghold. Inside the castle, Orochi's men quickly swore allegiance to Kaidou, becoming members of the Beasts Pirates. Kaidou then proposed to spare Momonosuke under the condition that he admitted that he was not Oden's son, having been previously disappointed by the boy twenty years prior. Momonosuke, in tears, admitted his heritage out of pride, even though that would lead to his execution. After spectators were surprised by an explosion produced by Yamato's then-removed handcuffs, the Nine Red Scabbards appeared behind the execution platform and managed to pounce on the Emperor before he could kill Momonosuke, officially beginning the invasion of Onigashima.
The Red Scabbards managed to penetrate Kaidou's skin, causing the Emperor to be extremely confused by it. After the Scabbards fell into the Live Stage's ground floor with Kaidou, the alliance finally showed itself to their enemies. Nami and Carrot managed to free themselves as Big Mom came into Luffy's way. The Straw Hat captain declared that he would not only emerge victorious against Kaidou, but also Big Mom and Orochi, declaring an all-out war. Kaidou began to coldly analyze the steps that the samurai had followed up to that moment thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates, accepting Luffy's proposal of a war without quarter. After transforming into a dragon and flying off, the Red Scabbards clung to the beast and flew with him to the top of Onigashima, where Nekomamushi affirmed that they knew they would get there, so they had brought all the minks, just below the full moon.
Kaidou was then joined by Jack, Nangi and many Beasts Pirates, while the Guardians and the Inuarashi Musketeer Squad as well as all fellow minks transformed into their Sulong forms and both parties engaged in a battle. In the Skull Dome, Shinobu tried to untie Momonosuke, but she was caught by King, and he sent her flying into a nearby building. However, to both his and Queen's surprise, Momonosuke was saved by an invisible Sanji in his Raid Suit. When King tried to stop Sanji, both engaged in a quick skirmish, however Sanji safely returned Momonosuke to Shinobu, before he was struck by King in his Zoan form into a building. Luffy was meanwhile surprised and attacked by an angry Big Mom, who attempted to summon Zeus back, but then realized Nami had managed to steal him again. This was for naught as Zeus could not defy Big Mom, who forced the cloud to not hold back against her. However, Franky and Brook arrived at the Live Stage before Zeus could hit Nami, with Franky running over Big Mom with the Kurosai FR-U IV while Brook cut Zeus.
The Samurai led by Hyougoro and the foot soldiers of the Beasts Pirates began fighting each other. Luffy ordered Yamato to watch over Momonosuke and Shinobu as he attempted to reach the top of the dome, where Kaidou and the Red Scabbards were fighting. Franky, fearless of Big Mom, charged a Radical Beam, but was then surprised by the sudden appearance of three of the Numbers, with Jaki having captured the Brachio Tank V with Usopp and Chopper still inside. Franky changed targets at the last second and blasted Jaki in order to release his creation and friends, but that left his back vulnerable to Big Mom, who was ready to cut him with Napoleon. Fortunately for him, Jinbe and Robin arrived at the scene and together managed to drive Big Mom away, saving Franky and allowing him to dock his two vehicles into the General Franky. As this happened, Luffy met with Zoro at the Live Stage's performance spot, ignoring Queen and trying to launch themselves to the hole in the ceiling. The All-Star, however, did not allow them to proceed, catching them while in brachiosaurus form and throwing them back down. Sanji, who had managed to survive King's attack thanks to the Raid Suit, joined with them as King himself formed an aerial blockade of flying Gifters. The Straw Hats, now fully gathered, were told by their captain to back him up as he attempted to reach the top of the dome once more.
Having been freed by Big Mom's stray slash attack destroying the tree he was tied up to, Sasaki took note of Kaidou's fight with the Scabbards and the Mink Tribe at the top of the Skull Dome, cursing his former friend Kyoshiro for betrayal. There, The Mink Tribe in their Sulong form valiantly fought against Jack and his forces, with Inuarashi and Nekomamushi stepping up to fight him after transforming themselves. At the Live Stage, the Straw Hats engaged Goki and Juki in combat. As this was happening, King contacted the Tobiroppo to postpone the Yamato search and focus on the battle happening right now. X Drake, who was with Basil Hawkins in a room at the castle, was approached by Who's-Who, who proposed a team up between the two of them to take down Queen. This turned out to be a trap as both Who's-Who, Hawkins and Queen were aware of Drake freeing Trafalgar Law at the Flower Capital. With his cover blown and having nowhere to run, Drake fought his way into the Live Stage, where he attacked Juki at the same moment Luffy knocked Goki down. Aware of Luffy's benevolent reputation through Koby, Drake requested to join forces with him, which Luffy accepted, much to the protest of some of his crewmates.
Recognizing Luffy as the man they had fought earlier, Page One and Ulti attempted to block his way to Kaidou, but were distracted away by Nami and Usopp. Scratchmen Apoo also showed up and tried another surprise attack through his Devil Fruit ability but was foiled by Luffy's advanced Observation Haki. Disappointed about the defeat of three of the Numbers, Apoo ordered Hatcha to fight as well. However, thinking that General Franky looked like a toy, the Number was lured outside the Live Stage by Franky. Meanwhile, Zoro and Drake dueled due to the former's mistrust of the latter, but eventually decided to team up in order to prevent Apoo from summoning more Numbers. The two were then assaulted by Queen, who was targeting them from the castle's balcony.
At the top of the Skull Dome, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi managed to defeat Jack. The rest of the Mink Tribe, due to the All-Star and the strain of Sulong, were left without the strength to continue and collapsed, the same applying to Nangi and the Beasts Pirates' foot soldiers. Kaidou ordered Jack to tend himself as he attempted to burn the Scabbards with his Bolo Breath technique. Kin'emon, however, was able to cut the fire in half as well as a portion of Kaidou's mouth, declaring that neither he nor his fellow Scabbards were going to run away, being ready to die fighting. The Scabbards proceeded to land several hits on Kaidou, including slashing the scar Oden had previously given him. Meanwhile, at Onigashima's front entrance, Big Mom reunited with her eldest son, Perospero, who had joined forces with Marco to infiltrate the island. Once Big Mom reaffirmed her own alliance with Kaidou, Perospero dissolved his alliance with Marco.
Despite the Scabbard's best efforts, their attacks ended up amounting to nothing as Kaidou confidently told them they would not be able to defeat him, right before counterattacking and amputating one of Kikunojo's arms. In the Skull Dome, as Luffy, Sanji and Jinbe proceeded to the rooftop while fighting several Gifters, Queen started a viral outbreak in the Live Floor with the intent of creating chaos as he left the only existing vial of antibodies with Scratchmen Apoo, leading to a massive chase from all factions against the Supernova. Somewhere else, Shinobu and Momonosuke were found by Sasaki and his Armored Division from the Beasts Pirates, who demanded Momonosuke's head due to his influence over the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance. Before Shinobu could be killed, Yamato stepped in to protect both, willing to die for them.
Marco clashes with Big Mom and Perospero tries to finish him off but is suddenly attacked by Carrot and Wanda in their Sulong forms. Big Mom decides to leave, and heads to the Live Floor where the Ice Oni are spreading. Apoo tries to hold off the people pursuing him for the antidote but has his hands full with Zoro and Drake; meanwhile, Chopper realizes that he has contracted the virus. Elsewhere, Ulti and Page One are overwhelming Usopp and Nami, with Usopp's attacks doing little against them. After knocking out Usopp with a headbutt, Ulti agrees to let Nami live if she denies that Luffy will become the Pirate King. However, Nami refuses, and Ulti is suddenly prevented from attacking her by the arrival of Tama and Komachiyo.
Franky, with Hatcha on his trail, stumbled into Yamato's battle with Sasaki's Armored Division. Leaving Sasaki's forces for Franky to deal with, Yamato knocked Hatcha out after the latter opened a hole on the ground, with Yamato using it as an escape route while bringing the injured Momonosuke and Shinobu with him. Somewhere in the basement of Kaidou's Castle, Law found a Poneglyph, commenting that it was not the one he was looking for. Meanwhile, Luffy and Kid's groups advanced further through the floors of Kaidou's Castle, with the latter gathering scrap to use in the upcoming battle. Sanji, overhearing a woman suffering from apparent sexual harassment, decides to split up from his group in order to find the source of the voice, only to fall for Black Maria's trap.
In the Live Floor, Big Mom ignored the commotion with the Ice Oni and headed to the rooftop to rejoin Kaidou, who was violently massacring the Red Scabbards. While doing this, she let Kikunojo's cut arm fall in the Live Floor below. Zoro, distracted by his ongoing fight with Apoo and enraged that he was not assisting the Samurai, decided to unleash a finishing move on Apoo in order to obtain the antibody vial and bring Queen's stalling game to an end. As Zoro threatened Queen from afar and Marco showed up to the Straw Hats in the Live Floor, a huge earthquake struck the island of Onigashima. Yamato, who was trying to find a way out to the ocean, noticed that the island was not at sea anymore, having been brought airborne by Kaidou's power.
At the battlefield, Marco helped the plague victims by using his phoenix flames to reset the timer of the disease. Chopper, assisted by Tristan and Dr. Miyagi, made preparations to mass produce the antibody. However, Apoo rose again and persistently chased after the reindeer, only to find himself in Drake's jaws, who had completely transformed into his Allosaurus form. Drake offered to protect the doctor alongside the yakuzas, while Marco volunteered to take Zoro to the roof, which the swordsman accepted. In the Left Brain Tower central passage, Franky attacked the enemy with General Launcher, until Sasaki fully transformed into a Triceratops and knocked over the robot. In the third floor Banquet Hall, Sanji attempted to flee from the partially transformed Black Maria, who ate the Kumo Kumo no Mi, Model: Rosamygale Grauvogeli, and her female subordinates, though he seemed to be still enjoying the situation. In the Cat Café on the fourth floor, Jinbe stayed behind to face Who's-Who, the transformed Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Saber Tiger fruit user, and his feline SMILE using underlings. Elsewhere, Ulti and Page One burst out of the castle in their fully transformed forms in search of Nami and Usopp.
Meanwhile, seeing as that they could not leave the island, Yamato hid Momonosuke and Shinobu in a storeroom, where a broken dragon statue was stored. Yamato told them the story of Luffy's older brother, Portgas D. Ace, and recollected their fight and fast friendship, as well as Ace's stories of his little brother. When Momonosuke and Shinobu learned Yamato was Kaidou's son, they at first kept their distance but eventually trusted him again. Yamato talked about what was written in Oden's journal regarding his adventures and about the future, and he then gave the journal to Momonosuke. On the battlefield, Queen ordered his subordinates to restrain Marco, who was transporting Zoro, but they were easily shaken off. Queen and King confronted Marco themselves. Marco restrained them before throwing Zoro to the roof. On the fifth floor, Luffy encountered the Mink Tribe, and thanked them for defeating all the enemy pirates blocking the way to the roof, before proceeding.
====Battle on the Skull Dome: Emperors vs. the Worst Generation====
Atop the Skull Dome, Big Mom talked to Kaidou while her two homies fed on flames and the clouds. They discussed the past of how Linlin gave Kaidou his mythical Zoan fruit, as well as capturing Robin in order for her to decipher the Poneglyph's so that they can find the One Piece. The two Emperors were soon confronted by Luffy, Zoro, Law, Kid and Killer. When Luffy noticed the fallen Samurai, he walked past the Emperors and cradled Kin'emon, who cried regretfully for being unable to defeat Kaidou and passed the torch on to Luffy. As Kaidou moved into attack Luffy, Law transported the Red Scabbards away with his ability. Luffy then dodged the attack, before countering with a Gomu Gomu no Red Roc, which successfully hurt the Emperor. Luffy then declared that he will surpass both Emperors and he would become the Pirate King.
All the pirates present reacted when Luffy managed to damage Kaidou, though the Emperor soon recovered and attacked with Raimei Hakke, which Luffy barely managed to dodge even with foresight. He was immediately targeted afterwards by a Heavenly Feuer from Linlin and Prometheus, but was saved by Zoro, who used his recently learned Homura Saki to cut the flames. Law then saved Luffy from Kaidou's follow-up attack with Shambles, though mainly to berate the Straw Hat captain for making it look like he was ordered to move the samurais, when that was his intention all along. After Kid teased them about this, Luffy challenged the two to a game of chicken in the face of Prometheus's Heavenly Bonbon, which the two captains participated in after Luffy taunted them, only for all three of them ending up getting hit by the attack. Both Zoro and Killer then attacked Kaidou with Rengoku Oni Giri and Zanshu Claw, though their attacks did not injure him. The captains then got up, with Luffy and Law activating Gear 4 and ROOM respectively, while Kid used Punk Rotten. They then chained their attacks on Kaidou, with Luffy striking with Gomu Gomu no Kong Gun, Kid crushing with Punk Vice and Law using Takt to rain sharpened boulders on him. However, Kaidou quickly emerged in his dragon form and joined Big Mom in the sky to continue the fight.
Kaidou retaliated with Kaifu, which the young pirates either evaded or deflected, while Luffy struck back with Gomu Gomu no Kong Rifle, followed immediately by Kid who slammed Kaidou into the ground with Slam Gibson. Kaidou then attempted to chomp on Law, who easily evaded and pierced a Gamma Knife where he believed the heart was in the dragon. Killer then got onto Kaidou's back and did some internal damage with Kamaa Sonic, until he was struck off by Big Mom and Zeus's Indra. Kaidou then attempted to bite Killer, but then decided to redirect a Bolo Breath at Luffy after receiving his Gomu Gomu no Rhino Schneider to the face. Zoro had a reluctant Law place him in the way of the attack, cutting the breath before immediately retaliating with an Hiryu: Kaen, which ended up missing and instead cut off one of the horns from the mountain. Big Mom then had Zeus use Tenman Daijizai Tenjin, which hit all her opponents but proved ineffective against Luffy, who charged at the Emperors. Kaidou then hit the Straw Hat captain with Bolo Breath, who endured the flames in order to barrage the dragon with Gomu Gomu no Kong Gatling, which pummeled him straight back into the dome.
However, the attack ended up using up all of Luffy's Haki, leaving him vulnerable to Linlin's Haha no Hi. Zoro managed to protect Luffy from the attack, with Law using Counter Shock to halt Big Mom's movements. Kid and Killer attempted to press their attacks on Kaidou, but the dragon used Tatsumaki to repel them, as well as lifting an immobile Luffy straight into his mouth. Zoro then used Kokujo: O Tatsumaki to counter the attack, damage Kaidou and take back his captain. Kaidou, realizing Zoro possessed Enma, used Tatsumaki Kaifu to retaliate, though his opponents either dodged or repelled the attacks. He then took on his hybrid form.
Back inside the dome, the CP0 agents who were invited by Orochi spectate the chaos quietly in their private room, while commenting on the current state of the war. Elsewhere, it is revealed that Speed, alongside Gazelleman and Daifugo (who were made into Tama's subordinates with her dangos) were the ones who brought Tama to Onigashima. Tama had created a large number of dangos while traveling to the island, with the intention of having her allies distribute it to the Gifters in the midst of battle. While Speed tricked the Gifters by claiming it was medicine developed by Queen, Daifugo and Gazelleman forced the dangos into their former comrades' mouths.
Back at Franky's battle, after a General Left failed to deter Sasaki, Franky managed to catch him by the horn and then flip over the dinosaur. Just as Franky was going to follow up on that attack, Sasaki's men restrained the robot. However, thanks to Usopp, Nami and Tama appearing with a horde of "tamed" Gifters in tow, Franky managed to break free. At this point, Ulti and Page One appeared in pursuit of the three, revealing to Sasaki that the Gifters were being turned against them. Ulti attempted to attack Nami, but the Cat Burglar countered with a Thunder Lance Tempo, though it did not keep the dinosaur woman down for long. In the meantime, Usopp used Kibi Dan-boshi to shoot dangos into Sasaki's men mouths, turning them into the alliance's allies. While the triceratops was distracted by this turn of events, Franky kicked his head upwards, to unleash a Shori no V-Flash at his belly.
In the Grand Banquet Hall, Sanji, having defeated Black Maria's male subordinates, was finally captured thanks spider-woman's abilities and female subordinates, whom Sanji refused to hurt. He was then threatened to call for Robin via the Mary, Caimanlady, in order to capture her. At this point though, a cyborg Mary discovered the injured Red Scabbards and informed King that someone was trying to help them. King requested someone else to go as his hands were full dealing with Marco, with Black Maria volunteering. Black Maria started beating up Sanji in order to force him to call for Robin, but it was unnecessary as Sanji willingly did so, much to the shock of the ladies, who thought that Sanji would be defiant to the end. Just as Black Maria was about to recommence beating up Sanji, Robin appeared and used Gigantesco Mano: Spank to knock her away, while Brook, who accompanied her, froze all of Maria's webbing. With Sanji freed, he headed towards the Scabbards, at the same time as a recovering Jack, who insisted on ending the samurais himself, leaving Black Maria to deal with Robin and Brook.
Elsewhere, Yamato's group was discovered by a cyborg Mary, which forced him to hide Momonosuke in his clothes as they made a break for it. Despite their efforts, they were still spotted by Bao Huang and her Mary's, who broadcasted their location throughout the castle. Sanji, who heard this, interrogated one of his defeated opponents, and found out that Momonosuke is virtually in the opposite direction of the Scabbards. Conflicted on who to support, Sanji eventually ran in one of their directions. Meanwhile, outside the castle, Perospero managed to defeat the two Mink women after clouds covered the moon and cancelled their Sulong. Perospero then headed indoors, as he witnessed Marco holding back King and Queen all by himself and decided to support his new allies.
In the Performance Floor, the Beasts Pirates, and their new samurai recruits persistently attempted to reach Chopper, but were forced back by the alliance, predominantly X Drake and Hyougoro, who, by a side effect of the Ice Oni virus, had regained his form and strength of his prime. However, due to the phoenix flames burning up their physical stamina in order to keep them from turning, the situation for the alliance side started to degrade, with Hyougoro even preparing to commit suicide before he turned into an Oni. Everyone started to fall into despair, including the Beasts Pirates Waiters and Pleasures, when they learnt that the Ice Oni virus was intended to be used on them as they have lost their value with the loss of SMILEs. Thankfully, in spite of Queen's insistence that the 'Tanuki' was going to abandon them, Chopper came through, firing the Chopperphage Nebulizer into the battlefield, which cured everyone of the virus. When Queen questions what, how and why Chopper did this, the reindeer stated that thanks to his two years of training, he was able to make a gaseous virus designed to counteract the Ice Oni virus using the antibodies as a base. Queen then fired at Chopper when the Cotton Candy Lover lectured him on how weaponizing viruses would inevitably lead to them losing control over it. At this point, having felt betrayed at the fact that they were to be treated as expendables, the Pleasures put their bodies on the line to protect Chopper. Marco then restrained Queen, allowing Chopper, who used Monster Point, to hit the Brachiosaurus, while declaring that he was NOT a tanuki, eliciting silent apologies from all his allies, who had been continuously calling him one.
In the Right Brain Tower, Team Momonosuke fled from the enemies when Momonosuke, in a moment of self-doubt, transformed into a dragon. After transforming back, he explained to Yamato about his ability. Yamato then expressed concern for Luffy, as well as a willingness to fight Kaidou. Momonosuke offhandedly, yet correctly, stated Luffy's current condition, evoking surprise from Shinobu, as the group was nowhere near Luffy.
thumb|210px|The Nine Red Scabbards cut off Orochi's remaining heads
Elsewhere, Orochi is revealed to be alive, and together with Fukurokuju, started setting fires around the castle for the sake of revenge. Meanwhile, in the treasure repository, the Scabbards regained consciousness, and just as they were about to leave to rejoin the battle, the door opened to reveal Oden, much to their delighted shock. However, Ashura quickly exposed that the Oden in front of them was a fake, with all of them soon realizing that it was a living painting remotely controlled by Kanjuro, who was still alive. Ashura then sacrificed himself to push away the painting before it self-destructed, while the rest ran towards Momonosuke, as they realized he was being targeted. However, they soon came across Jack, with Inuarashi volunteering to stay behind in order to fight him. The Scabbards soon came across Orochi and Fukurokuju, with the former transforming in order to take on the visibly weakened Samurai, despite the latter's insistence that they flee. This proved to be the shogun's undoing, as the Scabbards instantly decapitated six of his heads before moving on, with the exception of Raizo, who stayed behind to fight Fukurokuju.
On the rooftop, the Supernovas were all wounded, and came to the conclusion that unless they separated the two Emperors, they would never make headway. The Emperors then performed Hakai, a powerful wide-ranged, unavoidable, combo attack, which the younger pirates endured thanks to Zoro, who briefly blocked it, though he sustained some serious injuries. Luffy then attacked Kaidou with a Gomu Gomu no Red Hawk, which the King of the Beasts quickly dodged. He then followed up by knocking down the young pirate, firing a Bolo Breath and then attacked with Kosanze Ragnaraku, and though Luffy barely avoided the former attack, he took the latter head on. In the meantime, Kid constructed an airtight metal box, which Law used Shambles to trap Zeus in, while Zoro used Homura Saki: Rokudo no Tsuji to neutralize Prometheus, and Killer knocked Napoleon out of Big Mom's hand and continuously attacked it in order to keep it away from its owner. Kid then got Linlin's attention by firing Punk Pistols at her, which Big Mom easily repelled before punching Kid into the ground. The captain used this opportunity to attach some scrap to her and used Repel to levitate her, which Law followed up by using Takt to launch a massive boulder at her, that pushed her off the island. Without any of her Homies to help her fly, Linlin plummeted into the open sea, though she was saved when Kaidou targeted Zoro, allowing Prometheus to pick up Napoleon and catch her before she could drown. As Big Mom praises Prometheus, while criticizing Zeus, the living Sun made a request to its owner. Kid and Killer then chased after Big Mom, when they noticed something strange going on in the sky.
Just as Kaidou swung at Zoro, Law used his ability and switched with the Pirate Hunter, before stabbing the King of the Beasts in the throat with Injection Shot. He then defended himself from Kaidou's follow up with Curtain though he was still sent flying. Zoro, while entrusting Law with the aftermath, then used his strongest attack, Nine Sword Style: Asura Bakkei: Moja no Tawamure, when Kaidou targeted the still unconscious Luffy. The attack managed to scar the Emperor, who was shocked, having thought that Zoro might have used Supreme King Haki, though the swordsman denied it before collapsing. When Law attempted to help the Pirate Hunter, Kaidou struck both of them with Raimei Hakke.
Just as the Emperor thought he had dealt with all his immediate enemies, Luffy rose again while revealing the epiphany he gained from taking Kaidou's last attack, that Supreme King Haki can also be infused into attacks. Kaidou laughed and then attacked, while stating that only the mightiest can use such a technique. However, Luffy instantly countered, using Supreme King-infused emissive Haki attacks, chaining a kick which knocked away the kanabo, a punch to Kaidou's gut followed by an uppercut, which floored the Emperor. Luffy then thanked Zoro and Law, telling them to go down, while he himself would take on Kaidou alone. The two clashed, both using Supreme King Haki in their attacks. Unfortunately, due to Luffy's inexperience in using Supreme King Haki in this way, he soon lost and was sent plummeting into the sea, with Kaidou commenting that he got carried away and should have cut of his head, since without it he couldn't break the morale of the rebels.
====Taking Down the Tobiroppo: Straw Hats vs. Beasts Pirates====
As Big Mom descended from the sky, she is now accompanied by her new special Homie, Hera, who she used to blast Kid and Killer with Fulgora, sending them both indoors, with she herself following. Law then took Zoro and Zeus indoors with his ability, while conveniently landing near Sanji, who was headed for Momonosuke. Law quickly handed Zoro to the chef, listing out all of Zoro's injuries, before he and Zeus went their separate ways in order to look for Big Mom. After wrapping up Zoro in bandages, Sanji continued heading for Momonosuke, before into Izou and Kawamatsu. As it turned out, the Scabbards have split into smaller groups, with Nekomamushi headed for Pedro's killer, Perospero; Kin'emon and Kiku raced to Momonosuke; while Izou and Kawamatsu offered to reinforce the others. With Momonosuke in Kin'emon's hands, Sanji took Zoro's advice and headed to the Live Floor. Meanwhile Kid and Killer, having been blasted a good distance indoors, quickly shook of the attack and started to actively look for Big Mom, though when they soon encountered Hawkins, who attempted to ambush them with Warbide-to. With another member of the Worst Generation in the way Killer volunteered to stay behind and fight him.
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Page One had finally caught up to Komachiyo and clung to the komainu, while Nami and Usopp desperately attempted to get him off. Usopp then used Midori Boshi: Hanabibana to remove him, followed by Midori Boshi: Baku Bokkuri in an attempt to finish him, though it failed. At this point, they ran into Big Mom, who recognized the Straw Hats and Tama, the former she threatened hostilely, though the latter she surprisingly greeted gently, as according to Prometheus' thoughts, Linlin rarely entered a Mother Mode for children under the age of ten. After she learnt of how Okobore Town, the place that helped her when she had amnesia, was burnt to the ground by Kaidou's men, she angrily knocked out the approaching Page One with a single Supreme King-infused fist.
Ulti, who witnessed the attack, started angrily running at them. Nami attempted to turn the two angry ladies at each other, but when both still designated her a target, the Straw Hats and Tama attempted to continue fleeing on Komachiyo. However, Ulti took down the lion dog with an Ul-Zugan, and slapped Tama when the girl started crying, earning the united ire of both Linlin and Nami, the former striking the Tobiroppo executive with an electrical attack. Nami attempted to follow up with Tornado Tempo, but the dinosaur woman dodged it, caught the Cat Burglar and attempted to headbutt her. Thankfully, she was inadvertently saved thanks to Big Mom's Maser Ho, which pierced right through Ulti.
As the Homies celebrated their first combo attack, Zeus appeared and is saddened when he saw a new Homie in his place. When Big Mom noticed him, he attempted to join in as part of the group, but is left heartbroken when Big Mom rejected him and had Hera feed on him. As he is being eaten, he tearfully apologized to Nami, and even attempted to attack Linlin, as a means to delay the Emperor and allow Nami to escape, though he is easily squished by his former master. Nami attempted to strengthen Zeus by giving him some Black Balls, but Hera seemingly ate him before he could, while also consuming Nami's clouds. Tama, having witnessed O-Lin's actions, is now scared of the Emperor, and attempted to run away with the Straw Hats, though when Big Mom sees this, in a twisted form of affection, resolved to kill Tama along with the Straw Hats. However just as she's about to attack, the Emperor is slammed into the ground by Kid's Punk Gibson, allowing the trio to escape Big Mom. He is later joined by Law who offered a temporary alliance to Kid in order to deal with the Emperor.
In the First Floor Attic, Momonosuke was left to hide with Shinobu, while Yamato headed to the Skull Dome while hiding a makeshift Momonosuke doll in an effort to distract the enemy. In the attic, Momonosuke read his father's journal and is shocked at the conclusion, that indicated that he really couldn't afford to die. All of a sudden, as Luffy was sunk into the sea after losing to Kaidou, he used the Voice of All Things and transmitted a message to Momonosuke, which he wished for the boy to spread to their allies, who in turn complied. As he rolled in pain from the headache of receiving the message, he was soon discovered by Kin'emon and Kiku, and promptly after by Kanjuro who used his ability to disguise himself as Oden. Though Kiku knew the truth and resolved to deal with the impostor, she still hesitated, allowing the traitor to stab her. Kin'emon then took her place and cut down Kanjuro, but then Kaidou appeared and struck down the Foxfire. As Shinobu and Momonosuke ran away, Kin'emon still attempted to fight by stabbing Kaidou with his broken blades in spite of his injuries. However, this proved to be ineffective as Kaidou impaled Kin'emon with Kiku's sword before pursuing Momonosuke. As the Kouzuki heir was carried away by Shinobu, he used a frog Mary he snatched to transmit Luffy's message throughout Onigashima, urging that Alliance to continue fighting, and that the Straw Hat captain would return to the fight and would win. At this point, Kaidou cornered the two, but before he could attack them, Shinobu used her Juku Juku no Mi ability to rot of the edge of the island and fall off Onigashima. Yamato then challenged Kaidou from atop the Skull Dome, not only to break their bonds, but also to buy Luffy some time. Kaidou then flew to the top of the Skull Dome in his dragon form before entering his hybrid form to fight Yamato.
On the Live Floor, Chopper was fighting the fully transformed Queen, slamming the Brachiosaurus on his back while in Monster Point. However, as Queen was getting support from Perospero, the battle was not going in their favor. Queen then shot a Black Coffee beam from his mouth at Chopper which the reindeer managed to dodge, before charging at the Plague, though Queen countered by cybernetically extending his neck to bite Chopper. At this point, Bao Huang transmitted the message of Luffy's defeat and "death", at Kaidou's hand which affected the Alliance's morale. Perospero immediately followed up by shooting Candy Shower, a shower of candy arrows which fell randomly all over the Live Floor. Thankfully, Sanji appeared as Queen is about to inflict a dangerous attack on Chopper and kicked the All-Star with Diable Jambe: Rotisserie Strike which sent him spinning, simultaneously deflecting all the arrows with the enemy's massive body while also knocking back Perospero. He then chucked Zoro to Chopper to have him attend the swordsman wounds, while he took over their doctor's fight. The Alliance then heard Momonosuke's message which restored their morale.
thumb|210px|Zeus, partnered with Nami, knocks Ulti out.
As Nami, Usopp and and Tama kept running toward the stage, they found out that Zeus is now inhabiting Nami's Clima-Tact. As it turned out, Nami's effort to help Zeus earlier wasn't in vain, as just as Hera was about to eat him, Nami's parting gift of Black Balls ended up pushing his soul into the Clima-Tact, turning it into a sentient weapon. Just as they reached the stage, Ulti caught up with the trio and head-butted Usopp into the ground. She caught Tama, and having realized that she was the one responsible for the Gifters' and Big Mom's actions, started to strangle the girl. Nami attempted to attack the Tobiroppo by hitting her with the stretched out Clima-Tact, but was surprised when Zeus transformed the end into a mace. Zeus then stated that though Ulti's skin is tough, her insides must be heavily damaged, and she'd just need one more strong attack to be taken down. Usopp then hits Ulti with Midori Boshi: Sargasso, causing a massive number of seaweeds to grow on her, and separating her from Tama, allowing Nami to use Raitei on her, though Ulti still managed to dodge it. However, Zeus showed his worth by redirecting the attack and homing in on Ulti, knocking her out.
This quick battle all happened before Bao Huang, who was so surprised, that instead of announcing the original message of how Momonosuke fell off the island, she instead blurted out about how Page One and Ulti were both taken out, inadvertently affecting her own side's morale. Usopp then captured her using Midori Boshi: Devil, before having Tama use the Mary's to transmit her own voice.
Though Tama was at first intimidated by Queen, she eventually managed to convey her orders to all the Gifters who consumed her dangos, which again shifted the tides of battle in favor for the Alliance. Queen, realizing that Tama was behind this, attempted to attack her, but was stopped by Sanji's Collier Strike. Tama then ran away with Nami and Usopp, as they were targeted by the Beasts Pirates, believing her to be the one responsible for the Gifters' betrayal, though she was later protected by Daifugo, carried away by Speed, while Gazelleman promised to take care of Komachiyo. Zeus, who was elated now that Nami accepted him as her partner, cleared the way for their escape. Back at the Performance Floor, Queen then shifted into his man-beast form while revealing several of his cyborg modifications, while also touching on his and Sanji's father's past in MADS. Chopper, who had turned into his new Babyjiji form under the modified Rumble Ball's side effects, discussed with Miyagi about the goat Mink's hidden ultra-regenerative medicine and it's side effect. Zoro, having heard this, demanded to have the medicine at once, due to his urgent need to rejoin the battle.
Back in the Cat Café, where Jinbe faced Who's-Who, the former Warlord initially had a hard time, due to facing not only the Tobiroppo, but all his subordinates as well. However, mass confusion occurred when the Tama's ability activated and the Gifters started turning against each other, forcing the officer to face Jinbe in a one-on-one. Who's-Who then revealed himself to be a Rokushiki user, using a dagger to fire some Hagan, which Jinbe countered with Karakusagawara Seiken. The officer dodged the attack with Soru followed by a Rankyaku, which Jinbe deflected using a Armament hardened arm. As he transformed into his Man-Beast form, Who's-Who disclosed himself to be an ex-CP9 agent who was imprisoned after making a mistake thirteen years ago, and managed to escape to form his own pirate crew. He then fired a Gagan at Jinbe, which the Fish-Man dodged. The Saber-toothed tiger then revealed that the grudge he held for Jinbe is connected to the Fish-man's new captain, the one who ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, the fruit which the former agent allowed to be stolen by the Red Hair Pirates. He then took to the sky using Geppo, before raining down a barrage of Gagan, which Jinbe dodged after deflecting one and seeing that his Armament was unable to fully block it. Who's-Who then charged at his opponent with Tekkai "Kibasen", which Jinbe countered with Gyojin Jūjutsu: Hikishio Ipponzeoi, followed by an Uchimizu, though Who's-Who dodged it with Soru. He then continued his conversation as they fought, inquiring Jinbe on what he knew about Nika, the Sun God, who was talked about by the slaves while he was tortured during captivity. He then attacked up close, barraging Jinbe with Shigan "Madara", stating that he believed the Fish-Man would know, as he was once a part of the Sun Pirates, and the Fish-Men history of slavery. Angered by this final comment, Jinbe used a full body Armament hardening strong enough to actually break the Tobiroppo's fingers, before gripping onto his opponent's wrists and using Gyojin Karate: Soshark. Who's-Who then attempted to escape using Rankyaku and Gagan at point blank range, but Jinbe simply endured it, before stepping on his opponent's tail and finishing him with Gyojin Karate Ogi: Onigawara Seiken.
Throughout all this, the CP0 agents examined the state of the war in their private Guest Parlor, using a Go board to illustrate the two sides. They noted that a total of 5,000 casualties have appeared on both sides, with the ratio between Beasts Pirates and the Alliance being 24,000:3,000. However, thanks to Queen causing the Pleasures and Waiters on his own side to revolt, the gap is actually smaller, being 20,000:7,000. When Tama activated her ability, the CP0 agents altered the board again, with 300 Headliners being tamed by Tama, with an additional 2,000 Gifters under their direct command turning against the Beasts Pirates, and a thousand additional casualties during the surprise betrayal, the gap narrowed again with 16,000:9,000 in favor of the Beasts Pirates. The agents then discussed how Who's-Who needed to be eliminated due to his defection.
In the sea surrounding Wano, after Luffy used the Voice of All Things to talk to Momonosuke, he used it again to call the Heart Pirates to save him. While they were confused on how they could hear the unconscious, drowning captain's voice, they still took him aboard the Polar Tang and attempted to resuscitate him. Though they managed to get all the water out of his body, they debated on what to do next as the Straw Hat captain was still unconscious, when Luffy revived himself and yelled for meat, much to his allies' shock.
In the Right Brain Tower, Franky had no choice but to run while fighting due to the disadvantage in numbers. However, after Tama activated her ability, Franky gained new allies in the Gifters. This allowed him to fight Sasaki one-on-one, where they both landed powerful blows on each other. Getting irritated on each other's toughness, Sasaki entered his Man-Beast form while also activating his Karakuri Rasento, before rotating his frill which allowed him to hover. He then attacked his tamed subordinates with Heliceratops, before attacking Franky with the same move. Though Franky managed to deflect the attack, Sasaki then prepared himself to charge at the mecha while spinning his frill for extra propulsion, but accidentally spun it in the wrong direction causing him to move backwards instead. The embarrassed Tobiroppo clumsily attempted to claim he did it on purpose to acquire runway space, though Franky called him out on this. Sasaki then charged at Franky with Tamaceratops, which the Franky Shogun attempted to counter with General Shield, though the collision ended up accidentally launching the mecha's shoulder-mounted rockets point black into the dinosaur man's face. Franky used this opportunity to perform a General Suplex, planting Sasaki head-first into the floor and attempted to follow it up with a Shori no V-Flash at Sasaki's unprotected and heavily bleeding belly, though the triceratops used his rotating frill to escape skywards. They then engaged in a swordfight, which proves to be Franky's weakness, as his Franken was soon snapped, forcing Franky to retreat as he prepared a General Cannon. Sasaki then charged at Franky with another Tamaceratops, but Franky managed to fire his cannon in time, sending Sasaki flying. However, this was still not enough to take the Tobiroppo down, who performed an aerial kamikaze attack, Magnumceratops, which successfully broke the Franky Shogun. Thankfully, Franky had already evacuated from the mecha, and ended the battle by launching a Franky Radical Beam directly at Sasaki's unprotected stomach.
On the roof of the Skull Dome, Kaidou told Yamato whilst fighting him that he would make a worthy addition to the Beasts Pirates' military strength, causing him to retort that that is no way for a parent to talk to their child. Kaidou told Yamato that the Devil Fruit he consumed was one he had had a tough time acquiring, and that he never planned on letting Yamato have it. Yamato told him that he ate it out of hunger and that now he cannot swim, even though he wanted to set sail. Yamato told Kaidou that even though he failed to kill him multiple times, all of his defeats have made him stronger, and that the explosive cuffs were not the only thing keeping him in Wano. Yamato declared that if he just abandoned the country, he could not call himself Oden. Kaidou stated that the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami is a rare mythical wolf and Wano's guardian deity, so it was a mistake to let Yamato eat it but also should mean that he has to protect Wano for him. Yamato, however, planned to help protect the country from Kaidou and open its borders. He then unleashed a Namuji Hyoga at his father, which Kaidou countered with Bolo Breath, saying he would not let that happen.
In the Banquet Hall, Black Maria caught Brook and Robin in her Illusion Mist, which made them see illusions of their deceased loved ones. Brook, who had gotten used to such things after decades of loneliness in the Florian Triangle, called out to Robin who is seemingly fooled by it and was approaching the images of Nico Olvia, Professor Clover and Jaguar D. Saul. However, Robin knew better and attacked the illusions with Tres Mano: Freesia revealing them to be the Gifters Tenjo-Sagari, Nure-Onna and the Numbers Kunyun respectively. The two Straw Hats then quickly retreated, as they were pursued by the Beasts Pirates, including Black Maria herself who attacked with Furisode Wanyudo, which the two dodged. Maria then set the floor on fire, forcing Robin to carry Brook and escape to the ceiling using Spider Net. Seeing that the true identity of the burning polearm is a Pug Gifter running inside the wheel and generating flames, Brook used Cold Soul to freeze him, before putting out the fires on the floor using Eisbahn. Now back on the floor, Brook offered to take care of Maria's subordinates, leaving Robin to take care of the Tobiroppo, which she gratefully accepted. As Maria mocked Sanji for his pathetic display before, Robin merely smiled, as she understood that he did it not because he was afraid to die or to betray her, but because he trusted her. She then used Gigante Fleur to create a giant clone of herself as well as several giant arms, before using Sea Dragon to grab onto Maria's spider legs. However, Maria fought back and having quickly realized that Robin will take any damage her clone does, she coated her feet with poison, forcing Robin to let go. Maria then used Marianette: Oshizumaria, using her webbing to restraint Gigante Fleur, before coming in close and punching with Oiran Knuckle. Robin soon dispersed the clone, before attempting to use giant arms to restraint Maria from behind. However, the Tobiroppo noticed this and blocked with Ikidomaria, before setting her new webbing aflame with Atatamaria, cornering Robin within the fire. As Maria took advantage of this and launched a barrage of attacks on Robin, while taunting her, claiming that she was a liability, Robin recalled her Fish-Man Karate lessons when she was with the Revolutionary Army.
She then sprouted a gigantic hand on Black Maria's back and attacked the ceiling with Mil Fleur: Fish-Man Karate: Giganteum to collapse it and put out the flames. She then used Demonio Fleur to create a giant demonic looking clone of herself to finish of Black Maria with Gran Jacuzzi Clutch. Meanwhile, in order to impede his opponents, Brook made a very narrow passage in between two large ice blocks he created. When Maria screamed as she was defeated by Robin, her worried subordinates all crowded around the narrow gap. Brook then suddenly collapsed the ice, and with all the subordinates' lined up, he defeated them simultaneously with Phrase d'armes: Orchestra. He then rushed to support Robin as she collapsed from her wounds and exhaustion.
Down in Tokage Port, Momonosuke and Shinobu had safely landed thanks to Shinobu's kite, and reunited with Luffy and the Heart Pirates. The pirates had given Luffy all of their food, yet he still demanded more, forcing them to go look for it. Fortunately, they ran into Caribou who was close by and was carrying months' worth of provisions within his swamp, which he willingly offered to them in order to ensure their victory so that he can finally leave Wano. Momonosuke was relieved to see Luffy alive and started to cry over Kin'emon's and Kikunojo's fate, but Luffy told him to not cry yet until Kaidou is beaten. He then pointed up into the air and told Momonosuke to turn into a dragon and fly him back up to Onigashima. In order to do this, Momonosuke requested Shinobu to mature his body into an adult with her ability.
====Closing in on the Capital: The Stars Take the Stage====
Though Onigashima was only fifteen minutes away from reaching the Flower Capital, and the Tobiroppo confirmed to have been defeated, battles still continue across the island. On the third floor in the castle, Raizo duel with Fukurokuju continued, with Raizo using Ninpo: Bunshin no Jutsu while he asked his opponent how he could serve someone like Orochi. Fukurokuju mocked the ninja's emotional state and willingness to follow a dead man as he landed a hit on the real Raizo with his Ninpo: Mimitabu Cracker. As the battle continued, the two ninjas' quarreled over Momonosuke's suitability to become the shogun of Wano, due to his young age. Elsewhere on the live floor, Killer managed to destroy all but one of Hawkins' straw dolls which transfer damage to another person. Killer then sliced at Hawkins but as the Magician redirected the injury to his final doll, he cryptically told the Massacre Soldier to consider whose life the doll was attached to, before revealing that the final straw doll was tied to Kid's life. Simultaneously, as Kid and Law fought Big Mom, Kid was sliced out of nowhere. Hawkins took pleasure in Killer's dilemma and wondered what he would decide to do.
On the Performance Floor, King and Queen rampaged mercilessly against the defected Beasts Pirates, with Sanji being overwhelmed and Marco exhausted. Sanji nervously waited for Miyagi's treatment of Zoro to take effect as he resumed attacking Queen. From a distance, Perospero attempted to snipe Sanji with a candy arrow, blaming the cook for forcing him to team up with the Beasts Pirates, but was attacked by Nekomamushi who arrived to avenge Pedro. Some samurai attempted to take Zoro to safety, but were confronted by King, who used Andon; however, Marco is able to hold off the attack with his Fujiazami long enough for the treatment to take effect. The now-healthy Zoro then struck King with Rengoku Oni Giri while Sanji simultaneously attacked Queen with Diable Mouton Shot, with the two of them stating that they would catch a glimpse of Luffy as the Pirate King once this battle was won. The two Lead Performers soon stood back up after Zoro and Sanji's attacks with Queen recommencing the battle with a barrage of lasers. As the two Straw Hats dodged the shots, Zoro noticed something wrong with Sanji, who revealed that he had felt strange ever since last using the Raid Suit. Zoro then blocked an attack from King meant for Sanji, with the Black Leg quickly returning the favor by defending the Pirate Hunter from Queen's Bridal Grapper. When Sanji displayed Diable Jambe, Queen started claiming that he was a modified human, though Sanji vehemently insisted that he was completely human, unlike his brothers. As Zoro clashed with King, the Wildfire's blade suddenly revealed its gimmick, turning into a swordbreaker and disarming the Pirate Hunter of two of his blades. King then followed up with a punch, though Zoro managed to defend with the sword in his mouth, before reclaiming his blades.
In the distance, Marco thought back to a story Whitebeard told him about a land of gods, when Izou rescued him from some Beasts Pirates and carried him out of the fight. The samurai, realizing that attempting to support the Straw Hats in their battles would be futile, instead turned to suppressing the other Beasts Pirates and preventing them from interfering in the Straw Hats-Lead Performer battles. As the fight continued, Hyougoro and Kawamatsu remarked about the similarities between Zoro and his resemblance to Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Shimotsuki Ryuma even stating that the swordsman returning Shusui to Wano could be considered fate.
Meanwhile, on the second floor, Jack fought Inuarashi in his hybrid form, when the dog mink managed to throw Jack into the courtyard where Ashura Doji laid. As Inuarashi claimed that he was fine dying for the incoming dawn of the world, he stepped into a sliver of moonlight and transformed into his Sulong form. At the front entrance of Onigashima, Carrot and Wanda had recovered to see Nekomamushi approach Perospero in his Sulong form. He spoke to the already deceased Pedro, telling him to sit back and watch him win the fight.
Elsewhere on the second floor, Usopp bluffed the Beasts Pirates, claiming responsibility for the blasts of Supreme King Haki knocking out the enemy (which was actually being emanated from Big Mom who was fighting elsewhere on the floor), while dubbing himself “Usohachi the Sibling Hunter”, asserting that he was the one who defeated Page One and Ulti. This also distracted them from Tama and Nami, the latter who was attempting to communicate with her crewmates and learn their status. In the Right Brain Tower, Franky had reunited with the Heart Pirate allies, and were together preventing the Beasts Pirates from trying to enter the Performance Floor. On the Third Floor, Brook attempted to flee from the out-of-control flames, with an unconscious Robin in his arms, while Jinbe fought alongside the Kid Pirates on the fourth floor and the samurai blockaded the entrance to the Performance Floor.
Down in Tokage Port, Shinobu used her ability to permanently mature the boy's body to 28 years of age. The Heart Pirates started panicking when a dragon appeared before them, believing it to be Kaidou, though Luffy recognized the creature to be none other than Momonosuke. When Luffy asked Momonosuke whether he is ready to fly him back to Onigashima, the dragon emphatically agreed, though when Luffy got on him and demanded he flew, Momonosuke froze up and refused to fly due to his acrophobia.
Meanwhile, atop the Skull Dome, with both father and child still in their hybrid forms, Yamato fired a Narikabura which Kaidou easily deflected before launching a Kongo Kabura in return that his son barely managed to defend against. As Yamato exhaustively stated that his father was trying to kill him, Kaidou passively affirmed this, saying that it was the burden of carrying Oden's name. Yamato verbally defended his admiration as he recalled the past, when he first awakened his Supreme King Haki. Having unintentionally knocked out some of his father's men, Kaidou properly recognized him as a potential threat with his mindset and locked him up in a cave with samurai who rebelled against him. Claiming to give them an opportunity to join him if they surrender, he left a single portion of food and the samurai's swords, believing they would either fight each other for the food, or kill Yamato for being his son. What neither parent nor child expected was that, once the cave was sealed, the samurai instead claimed their blades, cut the boy free of his chains and give him the only portion of food. With their actions and mutual admiration for Oden, Yamato put his trust in them, and revealed Oden's logbook, asking them to teach him what was written. Ten days later, with Yamato close to starving to death, the samurai decided to break out of the cave in order to secure Yamato's future, who promised to fight for Wano when the predicted war came, with their actions leading to their death. Back in the present, Yamato demanded to know what right Kaidou had to steal Wano's and his own freedom, with his father replying that there is no easy answer, as they clashed with simultaneous Raimei Hakkei. Yamato managed to defend against the blow with Kagamiyama, before immediately following up with Himorogiri though Kaidou quickly got up and went on the offensive, while claiming that even if he fought for Wano, no one would truly accept him as he is his blood, and that anyone who did support him died.
In the skies around Onigashima, Momonosuke has finally taken flight, however, due to his fear of heights, he refused to open his eyes as he flew. This ended up making him crash straight into the castle and straight through the Performance Floor, before ascending into the second and then third floor, before managing to get back outside, briefly shocking everyone who saw him in the process. When they were back above the Skull Dome, Luffy pointed out Kaidou, which made Momonosuke open his eyes and fly straight at the Emperor. Though Kaidou himself noticed the commotion Momonosuke caused below, he attributed it to Big Mom.
With both father and child now back in their human forms, Yamato, resolved for things not to end like this, stood back up and prepared to attack. Kaidou, noticing something large flying in the distance behind him, was briefly distracted which allowed Yamato to get close. Simultaneously, as Momonosuke flew towards Kaidou, Luffy briefly entered Gear 4: Snakeman and launched a Gomu Gomu no Jet Culverin, which landed at the same time as Yamato's Shinsoku Hakujaku, the attacks sending the Emperor flying back. Yamato, having finally noticed his allies, briefly celebrated their reunion before a fully transformed Kaidou recovered and demanded to know how Luffy survived and who the peach dragon is. As Luffy declared himself to be the man who will be Pirate King, Momonosuke screwed up his courage to reveal himself to be the future shogun, to which Kaidou in turn proclaimed that there was no need for two dragons. Kaidou then fired his Bolo Breath, which Momonosuke desperately evaded. Luffy then told the pink dragon to bite Kaidou, before jumping of him to land a Gomu Gomu no Elephant Gun on the King of the Beasts, driving his head into the ground. Though Momonosuke pessimistically tried to avoid doing as Luffy said, recalling all the trauma Kaidou made him go through, the pink dragon gathered his courage and bit his blue counterpart. Just as Kaidou threatened to attack Momonosuke, Luffy punched the blue dragon away, before asking the young shogun whether, after biting an Emperor, there was anything in the world he was afraid of, which Momonosuke enthusiastically declared no. Luffy then told Momonosuke to stop Onigashima alongside Yamato, declaring he would definitely win. Kaidou then entered his hybrid form, before he and Luffy clashed with Haki, which ended up splitting the clouds. As Momonosuke and Yamato made their leave, Kaidou attempted to stop them. Yamato managed to defend the two from Kaidou's attack, long enough for Luffy to restrain the Emperor, allowing Momonosuke to fall off the edge of the Skull Dome.
Unbeknownst to the group above, a human Mary had arrived on the Skull Dome, and broadcasted Momonosuke's identity as the peach dragon and Luffy's declaration of victory, which raised the morale of the alliance, before the broadcast was cut after she was knocked out by the pirates Supreme King Haki clash. Just prior to the clash, the moon was covered, which deactivated Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's Sulong, which ended up giving their opponents the advantage. However, after the Supreme King clash split the heavens, the two Minks were able to reactivate Sulong allowing Inuarashi to defeat Jack with Oden One Sword Style: Inu Spire and Nekomamushi to take out Perospero with Oden One Sword Style: Neko Niko Ban respectively.
As Momonosuke fell, Yamato coached him on how dragons fly using Flame Clouds, which the young shogun quickly picked up. They then noticed the bedrock starting to fall, which Yamato realized meant that Kaidou's control over the Flame Clouds supporting the island has loosened due to the Emperor himself weakening. They realized that if Kaidou were to be defeated, the island would plummet immediately, endangering not only the citizens in the Flower Capital but everyone on Onigashima. Furthermore, if the massive number of explosive weapons stocked on Onigashima were set off by the impact, the fatalities would further increase. Momonosuke attempted to physically push the island back, but Yamato dissuaded him, claiming a better idea would be for the peach dragon to produce Flame Clouds superior to Kaidou's and support the island with those. Momonosuke started getting pessimistic again, believing that his inexperience and the difference between himself and Kaidou would make it impossible to achieve such a feat, and proposed to instead stop Luffy from fighting. Yamato angrily knocked the dragon's head in response, believing that informing the captain of such a thing would only burden him, and that it would be up to two of them to stop Onigashima. He then assigned Momonosuke to create the Flame Clouds, while he headed to the Armory in the basement to reduce the damage. Yamato then climbed up the side of Onigashima in his hybrid form, before transforming into his wolf form in order to reach the Armory as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Momonosuke at first desperately attempted to create Flame Clouds bit-by-bit. However, he quickly found that it would be faster to simply manipulate Kaidou's pre-existing Flame Clouds instead.
In the Guest's Parlor, the CP0 agents were contacted by Rob Lucci, where Guernika informed the others of the second dragon fighting for the alliance, which was most likely Vegapunk's failed Artificial Devil Fruit. However, the off-island agents were not concerned about this, and instead told the Onigashima agents of their orders. By command from those above, a fleet was sent to annex the island as territory of the World Government in the event of Kaidou's defeat, though both agents expressed their disbelief for such a thing to happen. Lucci then gave orders to the on-island agents, stating that no matter which side won, Nico Robin was to be captured, to which the agents quickly complied.
On the third floor, the battle between Killer and Hawkins came to a standstill, with the Massacre Soldier unable to harm the Magician, as well as preventing anyone else from doing so for fear of hurting Kid. Taking advantage of this, Hawkins banged his head against a pillar while transferring all damage to Kid, as Killer begged the straw man to release his captain's life, even offering his own life in return. Hawkins then kicked Killer to the ground and started stomping him, as he ranted on the futility of facing the Four Emperors. However, Killer saw through him, believing that the Magician actually regretted surrendering to Kaidou, seeing that the alliance faced impossible odds and came this far. At the same time, Killer realized the weakness of Straw Man. He then chopped of Hawkins' left arm and extracted Kid's doll from it, which was only possible because the captain did not have a left arm. Hawkins then attacked, drawing the Death, Upright from the Straw Man's Card, and having his giant straw puppet attack Killer, though the Massacre Soldier easily defeated it with Zanshu Claw. Hawkins attempted to recover his straw monster by drawing another card but ended up hesitating when he realized he drew the Tower, which symbolized the collapse of the old with a hidden meaning of "a new path forward", which allowed Killer to finish him with Jin Sonic.
As Nami, Usopp and Tama descended the stairs between the second and first floor with their tamed Headliner escorts, they come across Kin'emon's disembodied legs, desperately running around looking for comrades. As it turned out, after Law separated Kin'emon with his ability back in Punk Hazard, his torso was never properly attached to his lower body, thus allowing him to survive when Kaidou impaled him. Taking advantage of this, he sent his legs out to find help. The Straw Hats caught the legs, and after indicating themselves as allies by drawing the mark of the rebellion, Kin'emon communicated with them (using farts) the dire condition he and Kiku were in. Using Hamlet as a ride, Usopp volunteered to go help them.
During the chaos, Orochi, who again survived his decapitation managed to sneak through the castle undetected, even witnessing Jack's defeat. He eventually made it to the Treasure Repository, where he barricaded himself inside with the Beasts Pirates riches. He then contacted the dying Kanjuro, directing him to use his ability to create Kazenbo, a giant burning ghost that could pass through walls and with pre-programmed directions to head for the Armory so as to cause maximum damage to all sides. After ending his call, Orochi, believing himself to be safe inside the Treasure Repository, resolved himself to wait for Fukurokuju. However, as he waited, he heard a shamisen in the next room, and when he went to look, he found that, to his happy disbelief, it was none other than Komurasaki.
On the second floor, the battle against Big Mom was going badly as, thanks to Basil Hawkins, Kid gained a massive headache and was unable to fight properly. Law used Shambles to get in close and land a Counter Shock on Big Mom, however, he was soon struck down by Prometheus's Stollen Feuer. Linlin then used Hera and Napoleon to perform Marma-Raid on Kid. Though they both got back up again, Kid briefly lost his metal arm when Killer cut of Hawkins arm, which he later recreated. After Killer won against the Magician, all of Kid's ailments he received from Hawkins cleared up, allowing him to fight at full strength. The two pirates at some point strategized to make use of their awakened abilities, despite the severe drain to their stamina and the vulnerability afterwards if they do, seeing as they have no other way to bring her down. As the fight continued, they soon found themselves on the Performance Floor, with Kid being blasted back by Big Mom's Ikoku. As Big Mom went after him, Law used his awakened Devil Fruit ability, K-ROOM: Anesthesia. This allowed him to coat his blade with a ROOM that could pierce through a person without hurting them, before performing an operation from within them, which he promptly did to Linlin, with Shock Wille, causing the Emperor severe internal damage. Kid promptly followed up with his own awakened ability Assign: Punk Clash, which made Big Mom herself highly magnetic, and caused all the metal around her to fly at her at high velocity, burying the Emperor under a pile of steel beams. However, she soon got up and used Soul Pocus on the nearby Beasts Pirates, stealing their souls and using them to turn the steel beams into Homies. She then consumed a year of her own life to empower herself further before continuing the fight.
Drake managed to chase Apoo all the way to the Cave Chamber, where the Roar of the Sea is now backed up by the Numbers Inbi, Fuga, and Zanki. Figuring out that Drake was most likely a Marine spy, Apoo offered him an alliance of his own, and proposed to sweep in and claim victory with the artificial ancient giants once the fighting reaches its conclusion. However, Drake was not tempted and continued to fight, as he dodged Apoo's Scratch: Don, and revealed he understood the secrets of the Oto Oto no Mi. However, soon Yamato burst in and, though confused at what the Supernovas were doing there, even briefly clashing with Drake, after confirming that both sides were currently unaffiliated to the Beasts Pirates, he continued running to the armory, but now with Fuga following him. Apoo also followed him, persistently attempting to persuade him to his side, while Drake chased after him. However, when the group reached the basement's second level, Brook and the now conscious Robin fell from above, landing in Fuga's hair. Due to attempting to flee the flames as well as the CP0 agents who were seeking to capture Robin they leapt all the way from the second floor to the basement's second level. The agents jumped after the Straw Hats, however they ended up being smothered and burned by Kanjuro's Kazenbo. As the Kazenbo headed down, Yamato realized that it was headed for the Armory, and redoubled his efforts. Ironically, thanks to the Kazenbo, a wall of flames now separated Robin and Brook from the agents, with the Straw Hats using this opportunity to flee. Apoo foolishly decided to antagonize the agents by taking their pictures and declared that he would sell them to Morgans, which resulted him being struck down by Guernika's Shigan. When Drake confronted them, they revealed they knew who he worked for, before attempting to attack him as well. However, Guernika ended up receiving a Don from Apoo, who had managed to survive the attack using Armament Haki. With the agents eager to eliminate them, the two pirates reluctantly teamed up against the CP0.
In the Dome Interior of the Performance Floor, Sanji does his best to fend of Queen's Bry Pan, while the brachiosaurus-hybrid demanded the cook to use his Raid Suit, as he was curious about Judge's technology. When Sanji refused, Queen fired a Black Coffee from his tail, though the Black Leg dodged and landed a Diable Jambe: Bien Cuit: Grill Shot on the Plague's belly, knocking him back. Queen then transformed into his full beast form, before launching only his head, neck and tail part at Sanji with Brachiojaurus, and then wrapping up the cook with Brachiotoguros before he could react. Demanding he would only let Sanji go if he used the Raid Suit (which Sanji refused again), Queen in the end let loose his coils after he unintentionally had the Brachio Launcher attached to his torso portion fire onto himself, twice. However, the freed Sanji soon got up, and though he had several broken bones, he was actually able to quickly fix them right before Queen slashed at Sanji with his massive blade. However, it was the blade that shattered, and Sanji soon came to realize, much to his horror, that he might be somehow awakening the modified superhuman abilities of his brothers'. Afraid he might turn into heartless people like his brothers', Sanji fled in order to buy time to organize his thoughts, though Queen continued to pursue him. As he ran away, some of the Beasts Pirates fired at his head, though instead of killing him, Sanji claimed it only hurt.
Sanji ran all the way to the Pleasure Hall in the Left Brain Tower, where he stumbled upon a geisha, O-Some, who was looking for her pet mouse, Chuji. However, Queen, who was stalking Sanji using his stealth function and had a grudge against O-Some for rejecting his advances, snuck up on and attacked her. Before Sanji knew it, the girl was suddenly sent flying and started bleeding. Sanji left her with her fellow geishas, but they thought he was responsible. Due to the suddenness of the attack, Sanji thought that he had a lapse in memory when it occurred and feared that he might have had actually been the one responsible, believing that he had started turning into a heartless being like his brothers'. After Queen turned up, transforming from his beast form to his hybrid form, Sanji made a decision. Believing that the Raid Suit was the thing that altered his body by awakening his latent modifications, Sanji resolutely destroyed it, before calling Zoro. Fearing the worst, Sanji requested Zoro, (who was in the midst of combat) that if after the battle he wasn't himself, for the swordsman to kill him. After Zoro agreed to it, Sanji hung up, before suddenly disappearing in front of Queen's eyes, and attacking him with Hell Memories.
However, Queen soon got back up, claiming that Zoro wouldn't be able to win against King, as the Wildfire was a Lunarian, the last of an otherwise extinct race who was considered by some as gods. When Sanji asked how they almost became extinct, Queen just told Sanji to ask "history" himself, before firing a laser at him. Queen suddenly used Sparking QUEEN, which Sanji dodged; followed by Henry QUEEN that landed on Sanji. As Queen barraged Sanji with Sparking QUEEN again, which the cook desperately avoided, the Plague boasted how he had already perfected Germa technology and that he only wanted Sanji to wear the Raid Suit in order to prove his superiority over Judge.
He then grabbed Sanji with his extendable arm and used Winch QUEEN, however, the Black Leg managed to break Queen's extendable arm before using Flanchet Strike to send Queen away. Sanji discerned that his kicks were actually doing damage to Queen, but the Plague then turned invisible using Sanji's Raid Suit ability, Stealth Black. Sanji disappeared in response, which Queen realized wasn't the ability of technology, but simply super high movement speed, though the cyborg believed that when Sanji reappeared, he would be exhausted. Just then, Chuji appeared in the seemingly empty battlefield, followed by O-Some, who was once again looking for the mouse. Queen, still petty about her rejections, approached her while invisible and planned to once again attack her, when an enraged Sanji, who now understood that it was the dinosaur-man who attacked O-Some earlier, struck first. By combining the Armament Haki he trained with the power, speed and the exoskeleton of his newly modified body to the fullest, Sanji created a stronger form dubbed Ifrit Jambe, which emitted not only flames, but lightning as well. Sanji chained a series of kicks, culminating in Bœuf Burst, which blew Queen off of Onigashima. After Sanji returned Chuji to O-Some, having collected the mouse during the fight and kept it safe in his jacket, he suddenly collapsed from exhaustion, surprising the girl who immediately called for medical help, which he later received.
In the Performance Floor, Zoro managed to cut a portion of King's mask, which enraged the Calamity, who entered his hybrid form and started to fire off indiscriminate cutting attacks, which hurt friend and foe alike to get at Zoro. His attacks were powerful enough to send Zoro flying into the Right Brain Tower, where Franky was, who managed to catch the swordsman. Franky offered to help, but the swordsman instead requested he stay away, which the cyborg easily agreed to. King then flew at Zoro at high-speed attacking with Tankyudon, which the Pirate Hunter attempted to counter with Ul-Tora Gari, and though the Wildfire pushed back Zoro in this clash, his mask was further damaged by the swordsman. Zoro then realized that he was being pushed of the island, so he used the recoil from Two Sword Style: Clear Lance to push himself back on the island. As the battle continued outside the Skull Dome, Zoro received the call from Sanji, and though he accepted the request, he told the cook to come back alive.
King then took some distance, and using a bizarre natural technique of the pteranodon, launched a Tempuraudon at Zoro who barely evaded it. The Pirate Hunter then attempted to ground King with Kokujo: O Tatsumaki, but the Wildfire managed to defend against it. King then obliged Zoro by engaging him in a swordfight, though as they fought, the Pirate Hunter desperately tried to figure out King's secrets in order to defeat him, even as he was being knocked back. Suddenly, Zoro heard Hiyori's shamisen, which triggered Enma to start sucking out his Haki. Zoro forcefully stopped the sword, when King suddenly came up right before the swordsman in his human form in a defenseless position. Not knowing what King was thinking, Zoro stabbed at him, which resulted in a massive explosion on contact, with King coming out of it unscathed. Zoro managed to defend against it with Haki, before striking back with One Sword Style Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson, though the attack appeared to do nothing to King. Zoro attempted to switch back to Three Sword Style as King prepared another Tempuraudon in his beast form, but just as he drew Enma, the sword once again started to suck out its wielders Haki, causing the swordsman to lose focus and allowing his opponent's attack to graze him. This caused Zoro to lose his swords, and as he recovered them one-by-one he recalled details about each of them.
However, King did not plan to let up, delivering a burning kick at Zoro just as he retrieved the Sandai Kitetsu, then transforming into his hybrid form to send a Barizodon from above, just as the swordsman collected the Wado Ichimonji and was retrieving Enma. The attack ended up sending him into the basement, and actually gave Zoro time to connect the clues of his own weapon. He realized that the certain old man in his village, who was Kuina's grandfather and who taught him Sunacchi, was none other than Shimotsuki Kouzaburou, who illegally left Wano, became a pirate and later established Zoro's hometown, Shimotsuki Village. He was also the blacksmith who forged Wado Ichimonji and Enma. Recalling the words of the blacksmith, Zoro realized that Enma was testing him and that he had to go all out with his Haki, even going so far as to release his Supreme King Haki. When King inquired about if he intended to be a king, Zoro agreed as he recalled his promise to Luffy and Kuina to become the world's greatest swordsman.
Zoro managed to land another hit and damaged more of King's mask, having realized a secret of King's physiology; the presence of flames on his back indicated a decrease in speed but a boost in defense, whilst the absence implied the opposite. King then tore the rest of the mask off, when some of his conscious subordinates recognized his traits and mentioned that the World Government had offered 100,000,000 for any information on lunarians, which caused the All-Star to burn them with Karyudon. Zoro then invited King to continue their fight outside, with the Wildfire accepting, launching a Barizodon which the Pirate Hunter managed to deflect. Zoro then demonstrated his new En-Ō Santōryū: Rengoku Oni Giri, which King dodged while recalling how he first met Kaidou while they were both held prisoner on Punk Hazard as test subjects, where Kaidou freed him and gave him the name King. In the present, King immediately responded with a Karyudon, which Zoro in turn dodged. King then attempted to again use his swordbreaker mechanism, but Zoro managed to emit Haki in order to push his opponent away before he could be disarmed. The All-Star then snuffed out his back flames to plant a high-speed kick on Zoro, though the swordsman instantly responded by successfully landing a Yakkodori in return. As both combatants have reached their limits, King launched his Omori Karyudon, but Zoro's En-Ō Santōryū: Ippyakusanjo Hiryu Jigoku not only sliced the fire dragon in half, but hit King as well, slicing off his right wing and sending the Wildfire falling off of Onigashima. As King fell, he regretfully recalled his oath to Kaidou to make him the King of Pirates. Zoro simultaneously recalled his own oath to Luffy as he resolved himself to become the King of Hell, before using Clear Lance to propel himself back on Onigashima and collapsing shortly after.
====The End of an Age: Surpassing the Emperors====
In the crawlspace between the 1st and 2nd floor, Usopp desperately defended Kin'emon and Kiku, from a continuous stream of Beasts Pirates. While the two prone samurai insisted that he either save the other one and get out of there, or to save himself, Usopp vehemently declined and scolded them on how he hated the samurai pride and self-sacrificial ways. Just as he was about to be overwhelmed, Izou appeared and held back the enemies for them, allowing Usopp and Hamlet to take the incapacitated samurai away. The information of the Calamities' defeats soon reached Joseph in the Guests Parlor, who in turn informed the other two agents, just as they defeated Zanki and Drake, though Apoo and Inbi managed to get away. Joseph ordered them to quickly kidnap Robin since, on the off chance the Worst Generation succeeded, the repercussions would be immense, though all the CP0 agents seemed to think it was unlikely as they could not imagine the Emperors losing. They soon encountered a heavily injured Izou, who had just succeeded in defeating the Beasts Pirates in the crawlspace and had just descended to the first basement floor. The agents who opted to let him go in order to fulfill their own mission, yet the former Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates decide to stand in their way.
In Mary Geoise, the Five Elders briefly complained about the most recent Levely, before turning their attention to Wano. Due to the unexpected intensity of the battles, they fully believed that they could get away with kidnapping Robin and that the CP0 had already secured her. Their conversation then shifted to their fears of a certain Devil Fruit "awakening," one whose identity even they were unaware of; the original name of which the World Government changed centuries ago, in order to erase its existence from history. Meanwhile, in the seas around Wano, a lookout of the Wano occupation fleet noticed the giant silhouette of Zunesha but mistook it for an island.
On the performance floor, Law and Kid's battle against Big Mom continued though it proved to be going badly for the Supernovas. Having knocked them down she continued to attack them, eliciting pleas for her to stop from their respective crews. They then attempted to retrieve their captains, which provoked Big Mom to use Tenman Daijizai Tenjin on them, before attempting to fly back to the roof to assist Kaidou. However, Law used his awakened ability K-ROOM: Anesthesia: Shock Wille to inflict more damage on her which caused the I-beam homies to target him. Thankfully Kid used his own abilities to incorporate the homies into Punk Corna Dio, and charged the bull construct into her smashing her against a wall. Both captains then stated their resolve to die before letting her go to the roof, before starting to bicker amongst themselves.
Big Mom soon got up and used her ability to fix her broken arm, before attacking the magnetic construct with Maser Saber, slicing it in half. Kid then used his awakened ability Assign to pin Linlin to a tower before again attempting to crush her with the bull construct, though Big Mom instead breaks the tower, swings it around and uses it to block the attack. Big Mom then uses Bahoho: Misery to turn the energy of the Maser Saber into a giant homie Misery and had it indiscriminately attacked her enemies. However, Law used Takt to drop a tower on her, giving him an opportunity to stab her with K-ROOM: Anesthesia, this time lengthening Kikoku to the point it pierced straight through Onigashima and deep into the Wano mainland. Though she tried to stop Law with haki-enhanced punches, Law endured it and used Puncture Wille, which created a massive hole through the island as well as a giant pit on the mainland. Kid then appeared above Big Mom and fired Damned Punk, a huge railgun construct, at her, which pushed her into the hole.
Yet the Emperor endured this, grabbing the edges of the hole and used Soul Pocus in an attempt to steal the souls of those around her and use them to empower herself. In response to this, Law used the awakened ability R-ROOM: Silent, to nullify all noises she produced and cancel the effect of Soul Pocus on their nearby crewmates, after which he vertically bisected Misery who was attempting to save Big Mom. Kid in turn fired an even stronger blast of Damned Punk, which pushed Linlin through the hole. As she fell through Onigashima and into the pit created by Law's earlier attack, she thought of Roger and the One Piece, while also swearing revenge on Law and Kid and after she stated that she would not die from this, experienced a massive explosion that no one could hear due to the effects of Law's abilities. The two pirates then collapsed from exhaustion while their crew celebrated. Noticing the damage to the roof occurring from the fight between Kaidou and Luffy, Kid questioned whether Law would be able to battle the other Emperor afterwards, which the Surgeon of Death denied, claiming that if the King of the Beasts won, he wouldn't have the strength to resist him.
On the second floor, Jinbe was seen catching and supporting the burning ceiling before it collapsed on some of his samurai allies. In the Performance Floor, Chopper finally recovered from the side effects of his newly modified Rumble Ball, and instantly started worrying about Zoro, who he knew should be suffering from twice the damage he received prior to taking the Mink's super-recovery medicine. When the explosion in the armory occurred, he and his allies were all caught off balance and ended up stumbling. The same applied to Robin and Brook who were fleeing from the flames. As for the Pirate Hunter himself, he had gained consciousness, but was immobile due to drugs side effect and seeing what seemed looked like the grim reaper standing above him, getting ready to reap his life. He was later seen on the very edge of Onigashima, bloodied and unconscious, when the bomb in the armory was set off and caused the rocks which he was lying on to collapse and for him to fall with them. Fortunately, Franky, who had run all the way through the Right Brain Tower looking for the swordsman, managed to catch Zoro with Strong Right, just as he fell over. Usopp had managed to reach the castle's basement with Kin'emon and Kiku while riding on Hamlet's back. Nami took shelter with Tama, Marco, Speed, and the unconscious Komachiyo and Hihimaru in the Forehead floor baths, while not sparing any sympathy for Zeus who was weeping over Big Mom.
On the third floor, Raizo and Fukurokuju's fight had come to a stalemate. Despite being surrounded by flames, both sides had each other under Ninpo: Kanashibari no Jutsu, with the two enemies demanding the other to undo the paralysis technique first. Though the flames reached Raizo first, he stubbornly refused to release the technique. The two ninja's both endured the flames, though Fukurokuju handled the heat worse, instantly proclaiming his pain shortly after catching fire, while Raizo didn't even flinch despite being completely engulfed. When the castle abruptly shook due to the explosion caused by the battle between Linlin and the Law-Kid combo, Fukurokuju tumbled over while engulfed in flames and screaming for water, whilst Raizo remained standing, thus earning his victory. With his opponent burnt up and unconscious, Raizo started rolling around in an attempt to put out the flames, when Jinbe found him. Recognizing an ally, Raizo bemoaned to himself of how "preparations" for something were almost complete.
In the second floor Treasure Repository, Orochi wondered whether "Komurasaki" being alive was some kind of dream and asked her to play her famous song, to which Hiyori agreed. When the explosion occurred at the finale of the battle against Big Mom, both were surprised as Orochi also toppled over. Now anxious, and wondering about what happened to Fukurokuju, and whether the ninja betrayed him, he became quickly irritated when "Komurasaki" continued to calmly play the shamisen. He then started scolding her for continuing to play in such a life-or-death situation and criticized her wearing the mask when she did, even questioning whether she was alive or a ghost. He was so engrossed in screaming at her that he noticed too late when the ceiling collapsed on him, and his inability to transform. With Orochi now helpless, Hiyori calmly revealed several things to the shogun, such as how she secretly used Seastone nails on him to nullify his Devil Fruit ability, how she never loved him, and how she is the daughter of Kouzuki Oden.
In the basement area, Kazenbo continued to phase through floors, gradually getting closer to the armory. When Yamato noticed Rokki sleeping while guarding the door to the armory, he ordered Fuga to charge straight through Rokki and the door, allowing him to enter, while Fuga also pinned down Rokki. He finally reached the armory, and seeing Kazenbo just moments away from making contacts with some bombs, he used Namuji Hyoga to freeze the explosives, before striking the sentient painting with Mahoroba when it attempted to melt through his ice. Kazenbo then directed its flames at him, which Yamato endured. When Law pierced through the island with Puncture Wille, Yamato was shocked to see the hole appear through the armory, and even more so when Big Mom fell through said hole, completely silently. As Linlin plummeted, in a bid to stop her fall, she inadvertently grabbed one of the massive bombs and set it off, with the resulting explosion not only briefly stunning her, and blowing off a massive chunk of Onigashima's base, but also caused the majority of Kazenbo to dissipate, except for a small sentient wisp, that escaped to report to Orochi of its failure. Thankfully, Yamato used his freezing abilities to prevent the other bombs from being set off. With the armory now open to the air, Yamato started talking to Momonosuke who was still attempting to tow the island in the opposite direction of the Flower Capital using Kaidou's Flame Clouds. He then revealed that Zunesha was close by, having heard it using the Voice of all Things, revealing that the giant elephant is willing to fight on their side. Though Yamato is amazed, Momonosuke goes on to state his doubts. Having read his father's journal, Momonosuke understood why he must continue surviving, but as Oden has torn out the most important part from the journal, he couldn't understand why his predecessor wanted to open Wano's borders, and whether he would still want to if he could see Wano now. Seeing only danger for his people if he opened the borders and unwilling to put his citizens through such things, he openly stated that he did not wish to follow his father's will, before asking Yamato if he thought he was a coward.
In the castle basement, Izou's battle concluded with a double knockout against Maha, with Guernika heavily injured. Though frustrated at this development, Guernika still planned to continue the mission to capture Robin, when he received a call from the Joseph. He conveyed a new order from the Five Elders, to assassinate Luffy, much to Guernika's shock, who claimed that it would be impossible for him to intrude in Luffy and Kaidou's duel. Joseph agreed, stating that the order was to prevent the worst-case scenario. As the two agents talked, X Drake had recovered enough, and approached the Guernika from behind, resolving not to die without showing some kind of results. Drake then stabbed Guernika in the back with his sword, which elicited him to ask the undercover Marine, why. The Red Flag responded by claiming that this was his justice, to which the agent claimed he was jealous, before freeing himself with Soru and felling Drake with a Shigan just below his throat.
Atop the Skull Dome, the battle between Luffy and Kaidou continued, as the former stubbornly attempted to land a blow on the latter despite the Emperor, now in his hybrid form, knocking him back. Luffy finally managed to land a Gomu Gomu no Roc Gun, even though Kaidou managed to land a blow on him first. Both pirates collapsed, but soon rose again while laughing, with each of them expressing how they were having fun. Kaidou reverted back to his human form and started to chug some alcohol, and when Luffy expressed his annoyance, believing that doing so would weaken the Emperor, Kaidou stated the alcohol would make him stronger and demonstrated his Shuron Hakke, where his drunken mood swings dramatically improved his combat abilities. Afterwards, Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Roc Gatling clashed with Kaidou's Gundari Ryuseigun, with both pirates landing blows on each other, though Luffy broke the stalemate with a kick to Kaidou's gut. When Big Mom was defeated, the two pirates were in the midst of a clash of haki-infused attacks, with Luffy being pushed back. Sensing that Linlin lost her battle, Kaidou emitted his Supreme King Haki in rage, though Luffy expressed how impressed he was that Law and Kid managed to win. Kaidou then recalled how the two first met, before entering his Naki Jogo mode and bursting into tears, though Luffy responded by entering Gear 4: Snakeman, and barraging Kaidou with Gomu Gomu no Hydra, stating that Kaidou's ambition meant nothing to him, how this was his final Gear 4, and how he wasn't stopping till he drove the King of the Beasts out of Wano.
Kaidou is seemingly unable to respond to the omni-directional Hydra attack, and contemplates how such an attack should be impossible due to the innate nature of rubber, as he slowly transitions to his Amae Jogo mode. Kaidou manages to escape the attack, using Nusubito Jogo and advanced Observation, before transforming into his full beast form, grabbing Luffy in his mouth and flying high into the sky. He then let go of Luffy before firing a point-blank Bolo Breath straight down, which blasted the Straw Hat captain all the way through Onigashima. Thankfully, Luffy managed to only escape the attack by transitioning into his Boundman form and flying back to the top of the island. He then got above Kaidou and landed a Gomu Gomu no Over Kong Gun on the Emperor, which disrupted the Bolo Breath the dragon was preparing to fire. However, Kaidou quickly recovered, entering his hybrid form and using Satsuriku Jogo mode to floor Luffy with Hourai Hakke. With Luffy resolving to end this with one final hit, he quickly bounced back and charged at the Emperor with another Over Kong Gun, with Kaidou dashing at him whilst preparing another Hourai Hakke. However, Guernika suddenly appeared and locked Luffy's attacking arm by grabbing on to it and using Tekkai, allowing Kaidou to knock the Straw Hat captain down. The agent escaped the strike, releasing just before the Emperor hit, whilst Kaidou could only attack in despair, as he relived another exciting battle being sabotaged by outside influence, just like during his duel against Oden.
With the final strike, Luffy was defeated with his heart stopping and body deflating, his "presence" disappearing, which was noted not only by those present, but by Momonosuke and Joseph below. Kaidou then faced Guernika, who accepted his fate as Kaidou struck him down, before descending into the Skull Dome. There, he announced his victory whilst declaring Luffy dead and demanding to know where Momonosuke was, raising the morale of the Beasts Pirates, while the alliance's forces were full of disbelief, except for Law and Kid who also couldn't sense the Straw Hat captain. When Nami denied Kaidou's statement, he fired a Bolo Breath at her, which Marco managed to block. Declaring how he planned to enslave Wano's entire populace, which brought further despair to the alliance members, Kaidou again demanded for Momonosuke's head. The revitalized Beasts Pirates then aimed for Law and Kid, though their crew members came to their rescue, with both captains resolving to continue fighting despite their exhaustion.
In the 2nd Floor Treasure Repository, the trapped Orochi started pleading for his life, claiming how he always admired Oden and that everything was Kaidou's fault, however Hiyori didn't believe a word he said. She stated how her father always kept his words, comparing him to Orochi who never did, before taking of her mask to reveal her angry, tear-ridden face as she declared her pride as a Kouzuki. Orochi continued to beg for his life, until a wisp of Kazenbo appeared to report to the shogun. Believing the tides have turned, he ordered the flame to burn Hiyori, however the weakened wisp could only reach Orochi, setting him alight, whilst Hiyori declared that "the dawn will come."
Outside of Onigashima, Momonosuke and Yamato argued fiercely, as Momonosuke contemplated surrendering. However, Yamato earnestly believed that fighting to their last breath would be preferable, as giving in would mean slavery, and thus no one would be saved. At this point Zunesha started talking to Momonosuke, claiming it could hear the "Drums of Liberation" which signified the awakening of Joy Boy. This statement shocked the pink dragon, who realized that the "voice" that Zunesha could hear was none other than Luffy's, which lead him to realize that Luffy was also Joy Boy.
Meanwhile, back in Mary Geoise, one of the Five Elders questioned whether it was really necessary to anger Kaidou while sacrificing an agent, just to sabotage Luffy. However, the others commented that it was necessary to prevent Luffy's Devil Fruit from awakening, revealing that, what was thought to be the Paramecia-type Gomu Gomu no Mi, is actually the Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, a fruit named after a god. They also commented how the World Government had been attempting to secure the fruit for over 800 years, but it has always escaped their grasp, even believing that it was by the will of the Zoan fruit itself had been evading them. The Elders went on to explain that awakening reveals the true power of the Devil Fruit, and how it grants the user greater physical strength as well as freedom to their fighting style, which is only limited by their imagination, claiming that there is no power in the world more ridiculous.
Atop the Skull Dome, Luffy started twitching, as his heart slowly started to beat again, picking up speed until it started to beat to a certain rhythm, which in turn lead to him transforming. Luffy soon entered a new form, and started laughing and jumping around, and whilst still confused at how he survived, he commented to himself how he felt full of power, and instinctually believed that he could do anything, declaring his new power as Gear 5.
Luffy's awakening was noticed by others besides Momonosuke, including Sanji, Kid, Law, Hyougoro and Marco, who notified the nearby Nami and Tama about Luffy's survival. When Luffy reached a spot directly above Kaidou, he released a blast of Supreme King Haki which knocked out a good number of Beasts Pirates, before reaching down with an inflated fist, grabbing Kaidou and then comically pulling him back up. He then inflated his other arm and started swinging Kaidou's around before repeatedly slamming the dragon's head into the ground. Kaidou quickly recovered from his dizziness, thanking Luffy for surviving before releasing a Bolo Breath at him. Though Luffy acted comically shocked, he reacted quickly to the attack, stretching the ground beneath him and bouncing the breath back. Kaidou endured the counterattack, and then apologized for their sabotaged battle, though Luffy didn't take it to heart, instead requesting to finish this battle.
As Kaidou observed Luffy bouncing around on the rubbery ground, the Emperor thought that Luffy awakened his Devil Fruit abilities, but was confused as his physical transformation was more akin to a Zoan-type awakening than a Paramecia-type. He then swallowed Luffy whole in his dragon form, but Luffy started bouncing around in his stomach, before expanding with Gomu Gomu no Fusen, which inflated Kaidou as well and caused them both to float like a helium balloon. Luffy soon escaped from Kaidou's stomach, by using Gomu Gomu no Dasshutsu Rocket to stretch his arms through Kaidou's eyes, grabbing onto his snout and propelling himself out through the dragon's mouth. As Luffy deflated his balloon, he ended up in the thunder clouds, but as he descended, he used Gomu Gomu no Gigant to become a literal giant. Kaidou then bit onto Luffy, but the Straw Hat pirate in turn grabbed onto Kaidou's head and tail and used Gomu Gomu no Nawatobi to use the dragon as a literal jumping rope. Kaidou then repelled his opponent with Bolo Breath, which blasted the giant man away, however Luffy quickly shook off the charring and literally ran on air while creating a burning trail in midair to get back to the Skull Dome. Kaidou, now back in his hybrid form, smashed the charging Luffy's head straight through the Skull Dome with Kosanze Ragnaraku. After Luffy squeezed his head back through the hole, he deflated from his giant form, while Kaidou commented how everything Luffy does is something out of a comic, before declaring that the Straw Hat could not defeat him. Luffy tried to remain defiant, but the transformation wore off, causing the rubber man to experience a severe amount of exhaustion, fatigue and aging simultaneously. Kaidou too, expressed his exhaustion by taking a knee, and when Luffy admitted how close to death he felt, the Emperor suggested the young pirate to accept his fate. However, Luffy refused while reentering his awakened form, claiming that he didn't fear death and declaring that they were not done as he remembered those who believed him, which included Momonosuke, Tama, Kin'emon and Pedro. Kaidou accepted his decision, and struck at Luffy, but the sun god comically warped around the Hassaikai. Kaidou then struck again with Luffy warping and absorbing the hit with both his body and rubbery ground, before bouncing away. The Straw Hat pirate then sprung back at Kaidou with a Haki-infused punch that stretched straight through the Emperor's head.
As Luffy bounced around trying to think of a name for his new attack, Kaidou asked the Straw Hat captain who he was, which the sun god in turn affirmed that he was Monkey D. Luffy, the future Pirate King. Kaidou then explained about the Devil Fruit's awakening, before commenting about everything he lost in this war, though Luffy in turn stated that he was going to take everything that Kaidou had taken back. The Emperor responded by attacking with Gundari Ryuseigun, with Luffy taking all the hits, before responding with a barrage of punches of his own which warped Kaidou's body as well. Luffy then noticed the smoke from the flames below, with Kaidou mentioning how Luffy's allies would all be burnt to death within his burning castle, the Straw Hat captain simply stated that he could leave everything to his crew so all he had to do was concentrate on defeating his opponent. In response Kaidou released a Kaifu which Luffy dodged.
Within the castle, the fire had grown to the point that many of the combatants were more focused on escaping or putting out the blaze rather than fighting each other. At this time, Chopper had reunited with Nami in the Performance Floor; Robin and Brook were surrounded by flames in the Basement; Usopp was elsewhere in the Basement with Hamlet and the two immobilized Red Scabbards, using Midori Boshi: Sprinkler in a futile attempt to put out the flames; Sanji escorted the oiran's in the Left Brain Tower, looking for a safer place; while Franky ran through the Right Brain Tower with some tamed Gifters, looking for Chopper in order to save Zoro. Furthermore, the Heart Pirates were also attempting to escape the flames on the First Floor; some of the Minks were trapped on the Third Floor; with some of the Kid Pirates carrying an immobile Killer descending from the First Floor; while Apoo was seen scolding Inbi in the basement, after the artificial ancient giant failed to break through the wall they were attempting to escape through, due to the intense heat.
Throughout all this chaos, Jinbe and Raizo prepared to carry out a plan to save everyone. As it turned out, during Raizo's stay at Zou, the ninja used his Maki Maki no Mi abilities to store an immense amount of water from Zunesha's eruption rain. He did this in hopes of never allowing what happened to Kuri Castle twenty years ago to ever happen again. On the Fourth Floor, Raizo used Ninpo: Maki Maki no Jutsu: Elephant's Bath Return to unleash the eruption rain at Jinbe, who took control of the deluge and spread it around the castle with Mizugokoro: Gyojin Jujutsu: Kairyu Ipponzeoi, putting out as much of the fire as possible.
Elsewhere in the castle, the combatants have come to the conclusion that the shaking meant the island was soon going to fall. However, after Hyougoro stated that Luffy's victory may mean their death, while Kaidou's triumph would only slightly extend their lives, and questioned his allies of their preference, the samurai made their peace and cheered for Luffy, for the sake of their loved ones on the mainland. In the Treasure Repository, the shaking managed to dislodge the Seastone nail from the burning Orochi, who then transformed with the intent of taking Hiyori down with him. A flashback is then shown of various things that Orochi did to Wano after Oden's execution: how Orochi directed the troops to Kuri as the Nine Scabbards fled, with Kaidou and the Beasts Pirates attacking and killing everyone in Kuri castle before setting it ablaze; how the other daimyo and their troops fell to Kaidou while Orochi laughed in the backline; how Orochi enslaved every able-bodied man, built weapon factories and polluted the land, making it impossible to farm, all to make more weapons for Kaidou; and how Orochi laughed gleefully as the starving citizens of Ebisu Town who became Pleasures after eating the failed SMILE fruits. Back in the present, just as Orochi was about to attack Hiyori, Denjiro appeared and decapitated the shogun, while embracing Hiyori who cried into his chest.
As Luffy and Kaidou's battle continued, Luffy grabbed a lightning bolt and threw it at Kaidou, with Gomu Gomu no Kaminari, but the Emperor dodged before striking the Straw Hat captain back. Luffy grabbed onto another lightning bolt and used it to bounce back at Kaidou with a flying kick, but the King of the Beasts struck his opponent into the ground, with the sun god turning the surface into rubber to cushion the blow. However, he ended up bouncing back straight into Kaidou's Daiitoku Raimei Hakke, which sent him flying into the clouds. As they were fighting Kaidou commented how a powerful ability is not enough, with Roger proving this, as Haki was the one true power to conquer the seas. Despite being sent into the clouds, Luffy grabbed onto Kaidou's chest and held on, though this gave away his position, allowing the fully transformed dragon to counterattack with Tatsumaki Kaifu and Bolo Breath. However, Luffy did not defend himself, and instead called out to Momonosuke to move the island, as the sun god brought down a Haki-infused fist the size of Onigashima down on Kaidou.
Kaidou encased himself in an avatar resembling a larger version of his dragon form, composed of flames hot enough to melt rocks, confident that Luffy would melt to nothing before the attack hit, though Luffy stated that he would never make contact with the technique as his own attack used emissive Haki. With that, Luffy brought down his Gomu Gomu no Bajrang Gun which Kaidou faced head on with Kaen Daiko: Shoryu: Kaen Hakke. As the two clashed, a flashback revealed Kaidou's past: how at 10 he became his homeland's strongest soldier; how at thirteen he started questioning the Celestial Dragons, and how his king attempted to forcibly trade Kaidou to the Marines for the right to attend the Levely; how he frequently escaped and was caught by the Marines, which earned him a starting bounty of 70,000,000; how he became renown of Hachinosu at fifteen and soon recruited by Rocks, with the Rocks Pirates ending up being defeated by Garp and Roger when he was twenty-one; how at thirty-one he was approached by Kurozumi Higurashi to assist Orochi in taking over Wano; and how, after Yamato mentioned it, Kaidou talked to King about Joy Boy being the one who will defeat him, to which King replied that would never happen. In the present, as the two attacks clashed, Kaidou questioned what kind of world that the Straw Hat captain planned to create, to which Luffy replied that it would be one where his friends would never go hungry. With that resolve, Luffy's fist broke through Kaidou's technique, punching him deep into the ground.
Meanwhile, as Luffy and Kaidou fought outside, Yamato begged Momonosuke to create Flame Clouds, as the island was soon going to fall. As the pink dragon desperately attempted to make the Flame Clouds, he banished his pessimism and resolved himself to do so after he recalled his last moments with his mother, as he begged her and Hiyori to go with him into the future, but was eventually convinced to go to the future by Kin'emon's heartfelt plea. When Luffy called out to him the move the island, Momonosuke was shocked to see an island-sized fist coming down from the sky. As the water of Zou that Raizo and Jinbe used to put out the flames suddenly flooded out, it doused the flame clouds prematurely, causing the island to plummet. This gave Momonosuke just the boost he needed to create a large amount of flame clouds, which he wrapped around the island and quickly towed out of the way of the clash of attacks between the two pirates, just as Luffy overpowered Kaidou and smashed him into the ground where Onigashima just was. Momonosuke then gently landed Onigashima on the ground before he himself collapsed in exhaustion.
====A New Day for Wano Country: Shogun Kouzuki Momonosuke====
Luffy, now victorious, immediately fell unconscious, leaving Yamato to catch him as he fell from the sky. Inside Onigashima, Nekomamushi, who witnessed the end of Luffy's battle, announced how Momonosuke saved Onigashima, as well as Kaidou's loss, and declared the alliance's victory. Though some disbelieving Beasts Pirates still attempted to continue the battle, Yamato talked them out of it, claiming he would personally take them down if they didn't yield. As the alliance celebrated their victory, Chopper suddenly gained an influx of patients, with Usopp arriving with Kin'emon and Kiku, and Franky with Zoro, though thankfully Miyagi and Tristan came to assist him. Outside, Momonosuke talked to Zunesha, declaring that he would not open the country's boundaries yet, with the elephant respecting his decision. Meanwhile, in the capital, the Festival was reaching its end, with the partygoers watching the sky-boats with their wishes written on them float away. Hitetsu, who accompanied Toko to the Festival, recalled how just as she finished writing the wish on her own boat, she inquired about her father's death. Hitetsu had explained why he sacrificed himself, which led to Toko changing her wish from "I want to see Daddy" to "Daddy, Thank You", which the blacksmith happily yet tearfully approved of. All of a sudden, throughout the island, everyone felt a tremor. Due to both the Emperors being hammered straight through the earth and into the magma chamber below the island, this caused a reaction which ushered an underwater volcanic eruption of the coast of Udon. This led to the citizens to finally notice Onigashima just outside the Flower Capital, causing them to wonder what Kaidou was up to now.
At this point, Momonosuke flew in with Hiyori, Shinobu and the Red Scabbards announcing that the eruption was a signal of the end of Kaidou, though upon seeing him, the citizens started to flee, believing he was actually the Emperor. Declaring he wasn't the pirate, Momonosuke descended in front of the castle and transformed back into a human with a poof of smoke. "Komurasaki" and "Kyoshiro" then appeared from the smoke with the citizens instantly recognizing them. As the other Scabbards appeared, the citizens realized something big was happening and used a Picture Tanishi to broadcast the event all over Wano. Momonosuke then made his appearance and declared the threat of Kaidou and Orochi were finally over, that Wano was finally free and that he would abolish the factories and restore the country, before declaring himself Shogun, eliciting tears of joy from the populace, his subordinates and his sister.
Meanwhile, inside Onigashima, Yamato introduced himself to the Straw Hat's as Kaidou's son, prompting aggressive reactions from them. He then reintroduced himself as Kouzuki Oden and Yamato, before mentioning that he might be joining their crew, which drew out a variety of reactions from the Straw Hat's (with the exception of Chopper who was treating the unconscious Zoro and Luffy), though Jinbe stated that they wouldn't be convinced without their captain's confirmation. Yamato, alongside some tamed Gifters, then corralled some prisoners who attempted to escape, which elicited Usopp to question Tama about the effectiveness of her Devil Fruit power. Tama then explained that her ability only lasts a month, after which, the tamed animal would either revert back to normal, or remained tamed, depending on what the animal chooses. To this, the nearby Speed responded that she would be glad to stay by the girl's side even after the effect fades, which Tama herself approved of, though not as a servant, but as a mother. The Picture Tanishi then displayed Momonosuke's speech, which caused Tama to have flashbacks to when her parents died in the factory; how she made a living trying to sell straw hats; and how she met Hitetsu, who gave her hope that the Kouzuki clan would return and restore the country. Recalling all this caused Tama to breakdown and cry into Nami's chest, as she also remembered Luffy's promise to allow her to eat as much as she wanted every day.
Elsewhere within Onigashima, Basil Hawkins dragged himself to X Drake and inquired if he was from the Marines, with the Red Flag refusing to answer. Drake in turn asked the Magician about his fortune telling, which stated that he would be fine if he didn't betray Kaidou, to which Hawkins replied that since he didn't stand besides Kid and Killer when they confronted the Emperor, and instead gave in, that he had no right to ally himself with them again even he foresaw the outcome of the raid. Drake then recalled that Hawkins predicted a certain man would have only 1% chance to survive till tomorrow just as the raid began, and when he asked about it, the Magician confirmed he was referring to himself.
In Mary Geoise, the Five Elders now stress over the multiple crisis they have to control, including the revival of Nika, the fall of two of the Four Emperor's, and the aftermath of the Revolutionary Army's attack. They inquire about Zou's disappearance after the battle and having learnt that Wano is still not opening its borders, they complement the shrewd one who made the decision, as they now have no way to send a major force to occupy the nation. They then ordered Guernika to continue his mission to kidnap Robin, but just as he complied, the transmission signal was intercepted, with someone demanding the CP0 to not move. Sometime later, they seemed to have encountered Big Mom's ship, before losing all communication, but not before Guernika sent out a picture of Luffy in his Gear 5 form. A week later, the Five Elders directly contacted the Marines who published the bounties, scolding them for including the picture of the awakened Luffy, as well for not excluding the D. in his name, and demanding they stop the press and reprint the posters, but it was too late, with Morgans releasing the posters anyway.
A week after the raid, Wano, and the warriors who fought in the battle were close to recovering. With Orochi and Kaidou gone, several changes were made, including the education, which now told the truth about Oden and his retainers: and the food situation, with food and clean water now being available to everyone. Several rumors were also being spread, such as Hiyori's story with Kawamatsu and Denjiro, and because of Luffy's request to hide identity, as he didn't want to be regarded as a hero, the people of Wano now call him "Joy Boy" and Momonosuke claimed he already left the country as everyone praised him for defeating Kaidou. In Ringo, Kin'emon proposed building a temple to enshrine Oden, as well as the Daimyo's who fought for him, and included his two retainers that died in the battle, Ashura and Izou, which earned Kawamatsu and Marco's approval. At Tokage Port in Udon, the Thousand Sunny, Victoria Punk and the Polar Tang, as well as the General Franky were all nearly fully repaired, with their respective pirate crew relaxing close by (though only Franky and Usopp were working on the Sunny).
Law and Kid both warned their crew against unwinding, stating that the news of their exploits will almost definitely spread out and that they should be on their guards. Apoo then appeared with Inbi, revealing he leaked information about the raid, before giving them a newspaper that detailed their status. The paper disclosed that all three pirate captains gained a 3,000,000,000 bounty, while Luffy and Buggy were crowned the new Emperors. This prompted Kid to head to the Flower Capital to pick a fight with Luffy, with the other pirates going after him to join the festivities.
====The World Shifts: Wano Stands Alone====
Elsewhere, Sakazuki called Ryokugyu, demanding to know where he was, to which the Admiral casually confirmed that he was flying towards Wano, to which the Fleet Admiral then demanded that Admiral to not make things worse, which Ryokugyu nonchalantly agreed to. Later, Sakazuki was in a meeting with Kizaru and the Director of the Marine Bureau of Investigation, Tensei, discussing about the Revolutionary Army and their attack on Mary Geoise. They revealed how they declared war by destroying the symbol of the World Nobles, the Hoof of the Celestial Dragons, before facing the Marine Admirals Fujitora and Ryokugyu, before retreating with their ally, Bartholomew Kuma who was successfully rescued from his enslavement, and Sabo allegedly murdering Nefertari Cobra afterwards. During the commotion, Vivi went missing and someone attempted to murder Charlos, with Mjosgard supposedly covering for the attacker. These incidents earned Sabo the title of Flame Emperor, and caused an upsurge of revolutions worldwide, with eight nations simultaneously rebelling while their kings were still on their way home.
In the castle, Luffy and Zoro finally awakened, much to the joy of their crew and friends, and demanded meat and booze respectively. Yamato also partook in their meal, having deprived herself of food and baths as he performed a Wano-style vigil, praying for their recovery. Momonosuke also joined the Straw Hats and informed them that he was going to have the whole country participate in a banquet to celebrate their recovery, though his presence was initially met with confusion from the two formerly comatose Straw Hats. Zoro noticed that he and Luffy weren't dirty which elicited Hiyori to reveal that she was the one who cleaned him regularly, causing Sanji to get jealous and pick a fight with the swordsman. However, this in turn made Zoro remember their promise when Sanji called the swordsman during their duels with the All-Stars, prompting an all-out fight with Sanji, who belatedly stated that he didn't need Zoro to kill him anymore. The Straw Hats then entered the baths together with their friends (with Yamato joining the men's bath). In the evening the castle provided a gourmet banquet for them, however everyone except Jinbe couldn't bother waiting two hours for the carefully prepared food, and instead joined the festivities in the city. Luffy then lead everyone in Ninja-Mink-Pirate-Samurai Alliance into a cheer, dragging Kid who ran in to pick a fight to toast together with him. Immediately after the toast, Kid pushed Luffy away and revealed his intentions, showing his rival the news of his bounty and position as an Emperor, much to the Straw Hats surprise.
In the castle, Robin has slipped away from the party, and found a secret room with swords, kokeshi dolls and a wall covered in Poneglyph text. Tenguyama Hitetsu then approached her, revealing that he was the one who made those items, having once been imprisoned in the cell and that he was in fact Kouzuki Sukiyaki. He explained that by the time he escaped, Oden was already dead, and the country had changed immensely, and that he had no intention of revealing himself to Momonosuke due to the shame of his failures. Robin then interrupted him as he was going to continue his story, inquiring whether, as the Poneglyph in Arabasta Kingdom stated, the Ancient Weapon Pluton was on the island, to which he affirmed. The two were later joined by Law who noticed they were missing and the three descended a series of stairs hidden in his secret room to reach the Road Poneglyph and Pluton. As they descended Sukiyaki allowed them to look through a crawl space, where much to their surprise, they found a whole city on the sea floor. Sukiyaki then explained that 800 years ago, Wano was originally a larger island at sea level, with one massive double summit volcano, known as Mount Fuji. However, a massive wall was built around the island for unknown reasons, with rainwater filling eventually all the way to the top of the walls, before overflowing. Land was established around the larger peak to form the current Wano, while the smaller peak became Onigashima. The trio then reached the bottom, in an underwater cavern, where Sukiyaki revealed the Road Poneglyph and claimed that Pluton was further ahead, though he never saw it himself. He then explained that to release Pluton, one needs to take down the walls protecting Wano, which is what “opening the country's borders” truly meant. When Robin enquired why Oden would do that, Sukiyaki explained that his own knowledge is what was passed down from his ancestors, and that he didn't know what his son might have learned during his travels.
Ryokugyu landed in Udon, where he used his Mori Mori no Mi ability to cover the entire region in vegetation and attacked the Prison Mine where all the Beasts Pirates were being held and sucked out their vitality using roots he made with his ability. After calling in a battleship to Wano and commanding his subordinates to not mention this to Sakazuki, Ryokugyu then started moving onto the Flower Capital to take out Luffy, in order to gain Sakazuki's approval. However, the Red Scabbards (sans Kin'emon and Kikunojo) and Shinobu sensed him and recognized him as a Marine and an enemy of Luffy's, stood in his way. Ryokugyu then attacked them with Kinniku Mori Mori, all the while ranting how, since the country was unaffiliated to the World Government, no one on the island had any human rights and that he would have no problem slaughtering the civilians' if it meant getting to Luffy, claiming genuine support for the World Government's discriminatory politics. At this point, Yamato appeared and knocked Ryokugyu down with a Haki infused swing from Takeru, proclaiming his disgust at the Admirals remarks, and declaring himself as Kaidou's son, Yamato. Momonosuke then flew in and attempted to fire a Bolo Breath, which failed, and instead charged at the Wood Man and bit him, declaring that he would drive the Admiral away, even telling Yamato to stay out of the fight. Ryokugyu managed to capture Momonosuke in his roots, prompting Raizo to attempt to free him with Ninpo: Maki Maki no Jutsu: Katon, however Ryokugyu defended with Bokarin before catching the ninja with a root and draining his vitality, and then proceeded to capture most of the others with his roots and branches. When Yamato proposed to bring in Luffy and the crew, Momonosuke refused and forbade him from fighting as well, wishing to prove that Wano could defend itself without the Straw Hats. In a moment of desperation and frustration, Momonosuke finally unleashes a Bolo Breath, which burned straight through the Wood Man, and setting the Admiral's body on fire. However, Ryokugyu managed to revive himself from a sprout, and just as he was going to transform and continue attacking, it was cancelled out after feeling a burst of Supreme King Haki aimed at him. Realizing that it was Shanks, Ryokugyu decides to retreat quietly.
In the seas outside Wano, the Red Hair Pirates arrive, and having read the news on Luffy, discussed whether they would go see him, as he now definitely qualified as a great pirate, with Yasopp hesitating to see Usopp, and Limejuice complained about Kid. Shanks in the meantime recollected how the last time they were here they sent of Oden, before gazing at Luffy's wanted poster and recalling how they first stole the Gomu Gomu no Mi, and his time with Luffy, including how he lost his arm. In the end Shanks decided against meeting Luffy, instead planning to confront Bartolomeo who had been going around his territories and replacing their Jolly Roger with the Straw Hats. He then told Benn Beckman it’s time they make their move and claim the One Piece. However, when he sensed Ryokugyu was preparing to get serious against Momonosuke, Shanks, recalling Luffy, Momonosuke, Hiyori and even Uta as children, decided to interfere with a burst of Supreme King Haki directed at the Admiral, which prompted Ryokugyu to retreat. Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Jinbe witnessed the scene in pride of Momonosuke's courage, while also wondering the source of the massive Haki burst, they had sensed then. Shortly afterwards, Yamato met up with the observing Straw Hats and stated his intention to stay on the island, as threats as strong as Ryokugyu may pop up again, claiming he would come up with an excuse to placate Momonosuke if he asked. Just as Luffy agreed, as it would take a load of his mind, Marco flew up and said his goodbyes, stating he found a passing ship close by (a.k.a. the Red Hair Pirates) who would be willing to take him home. When Luffy wished to express his thanks for the Summit War of Marineford, Marco just brushed it off and flew away, but not before mentioning how Ace would be proud of his little brother if he could see him now.
====The End of an Alliance: The Pirates Depart from Wano====
Raizo and Shinobu are rushed back to the castle for treatment after being dehydrated by Ryokugyu. Kin'emon is likewise there and apologizes for his absence, revealing he was visiting his wife, O-Tsuru, to check on her after the destruction of Okobore Town. Though the rest of the Red Scabbards are understanding and don't blame him for it. Carrot is summoned by Inuarashi and Nekomamushi who explain that she will be the new duke of the Mokomo Dukedom, having decided to stay in Wano to help look after the kingdom, much to her shock. They've based their decision on that she carries the spirit of Pedro in her and her experience after her time with the Straw Hats. Wanda and the Three Musketeers vow to help her watch over Zou as well, to Inuarashi and Nekomamushi's approval that their home is in capable hands. Meanwhile, Sukiyaki has revealed to Momonosuke and Hiyori that he is alive, news that brings joy to the two to know another of their family has survived. Sukiyaki assumes the other Scabbards knew of his survival which they confirm, though silently Kin'emon reveals he was the only one who wasn't aware of this. Sukiyaki tells the group he doesn't intend to retake his title as shogun and will continue to live among the people as Tenguyama, requesting they remain quiet over his identity. Over with the Straw Hats, Robin has told Luffy about Pluton, but Luffy shows no interest in it. They're greeted by Shinobu who has recovered from Ryokugyu's attack and even regained her slim figure. She also reveals she's taken Tama under her wing as a kunoichi apprentice. However, all are unaware that Caribou has been eavesdropping on their conversation and, intrigued at what he heard about the Pluton, he intends to tell a certain person about it.
Several days pass and the people of the Flower Capital have begun restoring the kingdom. Momonosuke goes to greet the Straw Hats but finds they've all left with Hiyori explaining they've all said their goodbyes to the others save for Momo and Kin'emon. At Tokage Port, the Straw Hats, Kid Pirates and the Heart Pirates are loading up supplies for their ships. Law declares their alliance has come to an end and the three crews are now rivals in finding the One Piece. Luffy, Kid and Law all pick their directions with Law going Northeast and Luffy and Kid wanting to go East. Luffy and Kid draw lots to determine who takes that route, which Luffy loses. During the argument, Kid shows, via newspaper, that Buggy has made a group called the Cross Guild, a bounty hunting group who issue bounties on Marines for pirates to hunt. Among their members being Sir Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk to Zoro's confusion to why he would join Buggy. As Kid declares it's every man for himself once they leave Wano, Law gives Killer a Poneglyph rubbing he got from Kaidou, citing they've earned it. In need of someone to translate it, Killer suggests going to look for a certain man with a burn scar which peaks Luffy's and Robin's interest, though Kid refuse to disclose any information about him. Law seems likewise familiar with the individual in question but remains quiet.
Back at the castle, Momo and Kin'emon hear Yamato on the roof. Yamato declares she is going to go to the Straw Hats and intends to live the same way as Kouzuki Oden.
Momonosuke, Kin'emon and Yamato race for the port on Momonosuke's dragon's form to confront the Straw Hats, with Yamato mentioning that he will stay in Wano and explore it a bit before heading out to sea, having already told the Straw Hats his decision. While surprised to hear this, the two samurai have no problem with it, focusing more on their anger at Luffy for not directly saying goodbye to them. Momonosuke thinking Luffy a hypocrite for his definition of freedom while reminiscing about their time together from through the whole ordeals. The three eventually arrive at Tokage Port as the pirate crews are about to set off. Momonosuke and Kin'emon tackle Luffy to express their anger, before Momonosuke tearfully breaks down and begs Luffy to stay. Explaining if it wasn't for him, he would've never found the courage to help free Wano Country from Kaidou's grasp. Luffy calls him a crybaby in response but assures Momonosuke he'll be fine, giving him a copy of the Straw Hat Pirates' flag to fly over Wano. He tells Momonosuke that when times get tough, just look at it and remember their adventures to lift his spirits up and that if trouble should come, let their enemies know they're allies of his crew. Luffy parts with an invitation to Momonosuke, Kin'emon and Yamato that they can come sail with them whenever they feel ready for it.
The Straw Hats, Kid, and Heart Pirates depart with the Straw Hats formally wishing Momonosuke, Kin'emon, and Yamato well. As the latter three see them off, Momonosuke proclaims to Kin'emon that he'll surpass his father which Kin'emon is more than happy to see for himself. The Straw Hats and Heart Pirates start to head to Hakumai to take the elevator down but are insulted by Kid for taking the safer route and accept his challenge of sailing over the waterfall to the horror of their respective crews. Meanwhile, at a theater in the Flower Capital, the teacher who took Sarahebi's place is telling the audience of the Battle of Onigashima and how the Red Scabbards and Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance help defeat Kaidou, Big Mom and Orochi. In addition, Kaidou and Big Mom have become known to the people of Wano as "Dragon King" and "O-Lin the Great Yōkai" respectfully. In the finale, he closes on Orochi's dying words of proclaiming the Kurozumi's will continue to curse the island for generations. Hiyori however counters with a play on words of her father's dying breath: "The Kurozumi's were made to burn!", dealing the final blow to the false Wano Shogun and ending his tyranny once and for all. Much to the jubilation of the theater's audience at this recount acne. Thus, after twenty years of strife, peace has returned to Wano, the rightful royal family has returned, and the arc closes with Momonosuke asking Yamato and Kin'emon where they should put the flag as the curtain closes on this particular chapter of the series.
==Story Impact==
*Several characters make their first appearances in the manga after the timeskip. The characters (in the order they were reintroduced) are: Marco, Gecko Moria, Avalo Pizarro, Catarina Devon, Marshall D. Teach, Stainless, Izou, Lucky Roux, Limejuice, and Hongo.
**Ryokugyu is fully seen for the first time.
*More information about Devil Fruits is revealed.
**The Five Elders are shown to possess knowledge on the true nature of Devil Fruits, namely the secret property of Zoan fruits.
***Zoan Devil Fruits have a will of their own and they wonder whether because of this, the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika has always managed to elude the World Government.
**According to Kaidou, a Devil Fruit Awakening happens once one's mind and body catch up to one's powers.
*More information about Haki is revealed.
**Armament Haki is known as "Ryuo" in Wano Country.
**It is revealed that there are two advanced applications of Armament Haki that one can achieve:
***The ability to project Haki from the body, allowing the user to strike objects without making physical contact with them. This was first seen being used by Sentomaru in the Sabaody Archipelago Arc.
***The ability to destroy objects from the inside by grabbing them. This was first seen when Silvers Rayleigh destroyed Camie's slave collar in the Sabaody Archipelago Arc.
**Advanced Supreme King Haki allows one to "infuse" their body and weapons with their conquering spirit in a way that is very similar to Armament Haki.
***Kaidou states that only a handful of people are able to achieve this ability, including himself and Luffy. Others who demonstrate this ability in the arc are Big Mom, Whitebeard, Roger, Yamato, and Zoro.
**Haki can nullify an enemy's Devil Fruit powers that affects the user's body. This is expanded upon more in the Egghead Arc.
**It is revealed that Armament Haki only protects the surface of a user and cannot protect their insides.
**Kaidou states to Luffy that Devil Fruit abilities cannot conquer the world, only Haki could as it reigns supreme.
**Shanks showcases the ability to unleash a powerful burst of Supreme King Haki from far away, doing so on Ryokugyu.
*More information about the Roger Pirates is revealed.
**The voyage of the Roger Pirates to Laugh Tale is shown.
***It is revealed that Oden's wife Kouzuki Toki was born during the Void Century and traveled to his time with her Devil Fruit. This explains and proves Momonosuke's statement in the Zou Arc that he had met Roger.
***The final island in the New World accessible by Log Pose is revealed to be Lodestar Island.
***During his voyage with Roger, Oden was the one who wrote Roger's message on the Poneglyph in Skypiea.
***A Road Poneglyph was once located in the Sea Forest next to the one with Joy Boy's apology.
***Joy Boy left behind a treasure at Laugh Tale. Roger and his crew's reaction upon stumbling into Joy Boy's treasure was simply laughter. This led Roger to name the island after what he considered a "funny story," referring to whatever happened to Joy Boy.
***The world referred to every treasure Roger gained as "One Piece."
***Oden decided to open Wano's borders because he believed it would create a massive change in the world, and his specific purpose for doing so is to welcome a specific person to the country.
**Kaidou confirms to Luffy that Roger was not a Devil Fruit user.
*Though Big Mom was able to get back Zeus from Nami, his continued failures resulted in Big Mom creating a new homie called Hera with lightning powers to replace him. She takes her soul fragment back from Zeus and Hera eats his body.
*Several of the Straw Hats developed/revealed new special abilities during this arc.
**Luffy trains his Haki abilities and awakens his Devil Fruit.
***Luffy masters the Advanced applications of Armament and Supreme King Haki.
****Luffy manages to unconsciously utilize the second advanced application of Armament Haki, and achieve the first after training.
****Luffy gains the ability of advanced Supreme King Haki after realizing Kaidou can use it as well.
***Luffy awakens his Devil Fruit and gains a new form, Gear 5. In this form, Luffy demonstrates the ability to instantly change his size and bulk and make the area around him, other living things and even lightning malleable to stretch it like rubber.
****The Five Elders reveal amongst themselves that the other name of the Gomu Gomu no Mi is the Mythical Zoan Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and had previously changed its name to hide its true name.
****Due to awakening his Devil Fruit, Zunesha told Momonosuke that Luffy is Joy Boy after hearing the Drums of Liberation.
****Kaidou points out that Luffy's awakening has elements of both Paramecia and Zoan fruits.
**Shusui is stolen and returned to Ryuma's grave, and at the behest of Kouzuki Hiyori, Zoro leaves it there in exchange for receiving Enma, an O Wazamono sword that once belonged to Hiyori's father Oden.
***Zoro displays the ability to cut fire like Kin'emon. He originally first developed an interest in the Foxfire Style during the Punk Hazard Arc after he witnessed Kin'emon utilize it against Smiley.
***Kaidou suspects Zoro possesses Supreme King Haki, but Zoro is unaware of what Kaidou is referring to. This theory is later confirmed as Zoro becomes aware of this power and uses it to knock out some of the Beast Pirates.
***His combining of Armament and Supreme King Haki allows Zoro to create a more advanced form of his Three Sword Style, the "King of Hell Three Sword Style".
**Zeus' soul was able to survive Hera's attack and had permanently merged with Nami's Sorcery Clima-Tact, becoming Nami's partner, and also giving the Clima-Tact the ability to transform into more combat-oriented forms and the ability to merge his consciousness with the weather clouds to turn their attacks into homing attacks.
**Sanji decides to utilize the Raid Suit that his family gave him in the Whole Cake Island Arc. With the suit's power, he achieves his dream of being able to turn invisible. However, his body starts to feel different after using it a second time, and is discovered that he has awakened the same enhancements as his siblings due to recovering quickly from Queen's attacks. He destroys his Raid Suit canister after realizing it awakened his dormant genetic modifications and to cut ties to his family for good. Now his eyebrows have been twisted to the other direction just like his siblings, albeit temporarily.
***By combining the power of his new exoskeleton and drastically increased strength with Armament Haki, Sanji is able to create a more powerful version of Diable Jambe called Ifrit Jambe.
**With Caesar Clown's help, Chopper was able to improve the effects of the Rumble Ball, lengthening its duration time (and by extension his Monster Point) to 30 minutes. However, the new side-effects would cause Chopper to temporarily regress to an infant-based state known as "Babyjiji".
**Robin uses a new technique she learned from Sabo and Koala. The technique is part of the Fish-Man Karate art.
*Ace's adventures in Wano Country are explored, which was first mentioned during the Marineford Arc.
**He met a young girl named Tama, to who he made two promises: to let her join his crew the next time he comes back but only when she becomes a kunoichi and to make Wano a place where she can eat every day.
**He learned how to make a kasa, which he later made one for Little Oars Jr.
**He met Kaidou's son Yamato who also wished to join his crew.
**Yamato reveals that Ace once came to Onigashima to kill Kaidou. However, Kaidou was away on an expedition at the time, so they never encountered each other. He and his crew rescued abducted children from the mainland. He and Yamato fought briefly until they bonded.
**It is revealed that Yamato gave Ace his Vivre Card.
*It is revealed that the Kouzuki Family once made up the Wano shogunate, meaning that Momonosuke is the rightful heir to the shogunate. He officially declares himself as the new Shogun of Wano after telling the people that Kaidou, Orochi, and the Beasts Pirates were all defeated by the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance.
*It is revealed that Oden's execution and Orochi and Kaidou's takeover of Wano occurred two decades ago; Momonosuke, Kin'emon, Kanjuro, and Raizo, along with Kikunojo, were sent twenty years forward in time and Momonosuke's group immediately set out from Wano to find allies, with Wano having long since become a polluted wasteland.
**The Whitebeard Pirates found out about Oden's death several years after it happened. They talked about going to war with Kaidou, but Whitebeard never approved as they feared the loss of innocent life. Ace planned to get stronger to face Kaidou and Izou and Marco asked him to bring them along with him.
*Kanjuro is revealed to be a member of the Kurozumi Family and an undercover operative for Orochi who has provided him information about the Kouzuki Family's actions, explaining how Jack found Zou twice and confirming Inuarashi's suspicion that someone with them was giving the enemy information.
*The Levely comes to an end.
**Fujitora and kings Nefertari Cobra and Riku Doldo III are successful in their campaign to dissolve the Seven Warlords of the Sea system. Dracule Mihawk, Boa Hancock, Buggy, Edward Weevil, and Bartholomew Kuma are stripped of their titles and protection, and the Marines attempt to arrest the former four.
***Following the dissolution, several bounties of the former Warlords were increased due to them being wanted criminals once again. Mihawk's new bounty is 3,590,000,000, Buggy's bounty was increased to 3,189,000,000, Crocodile's new bounty is 1,965,000,000, Teach's bounty was increased to 3,996,000,000, and Hancock's new bounty is 1,659,000,000.
***The World Government intends for the newly founded SSG to replace the Seven Warlords of the Sea among the Three Great Powers.
**Sabo's group attacks Mary Geoise on the fourth day of the Levely. It was later revealed that the Revolutionary Army has freed Kuma and Sabo has apparently assassinated Cobra. The news of this leaves the Revolutionary Army in an uproar and those who know Sabo in complete distress. As a result, Sabo has gained massive global influence and Revolutionary soldiers start rallying around a large picture of Sabo's bounty poster. This entire event would later be seen in a flashback during the Egghead Arc.
***Nefertari Vivi is stated to have disappeared during the time of the murder.
***Charlos was a victim of a failed assassination attempt from an unknown assailant and Donquixote Mjosgard seemingly assisted Charlos' attacker in escaping. The World Nobles are currently deliberating Mjosgard's actions.
*The "Rocks" first mentioned in the Levely Arc are explained in full. They are revealed to be a former pirate crew led by Rocks D. Xebec called the Rocks Pirates, which included Whitebeard, Kaidou, and Big Mom in their ranks.
**The crew was dissolved 38 years ago because Monkey D. Garp and Roger teamed up to stop them.
**It is revealed that Big Mom gave Kaidou the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu on the day the Rocks Pirates fell, which was Kaidou's life debt to her.
*Big Mom meets with Kaidou for the first time in 38 years. They decide to temporarily rekindle their old comradeship and pursue their former crew's goal of taking over the world.
**Kaidou plans to start the New Onigashima Project, which involves him and Big Mom looking for the Ancient Weapons and the One Piece. He also plans to move his base to the Flower Capital, transform Wano into a pirate nation, and have Yamato become shogun after he betrays Orochi.
***Kaidou's dream is to plunge the world into war due to his hatred for the World Nobles. He was placed in custody of the Marines in exchange for allowing his country to join the World Government. However, he would escape and meet Whitebeard on Hachinosu, joining the Rocks Pirates. Years later after their defeat, he accepted Higurashi's offer to ally with Orochi in Wano.
****As he is passing out, Kaidou remembers once telling King that Joy Boy is destined to defeat him.
**Big Mom requests Kaidou to keep Robin alive as she decides not to wait for Pudding's power to awaken.
*Brook finds a Poneglyph in the basement of Orochi Castle.
**Robin heads to the basement and encounters Hitetsu, who is revealed to be Kouzuki Sukiyaki. He was imprisoned under the castle basement by Orochi for decades until he managed to escape. When Robin reveals what she previously learned about Pluton in the Tomb of the Kings at the Arabasta Kingdom, Sukiyaki confirms to Robin that Pluton is indeed in Wano Country. Law joins them, and Sukiyaki shows them an underwater part of Wano and the original Wano Country located at the feet of Mt. Fuji. Sukiyaki confirms that Pluton rests below the ancient city and shows them the Road Poneglyph below the mountain.
***Sukiyaki also asks Robin to keep his true identity a secret due to the shame he feels for being partly responsible for Orochi's rise to power as the Shogun. However, he later reveals his true identity to his grandchildren and reunites with Momonosuke and Hiyori. Sukiyaki states his intention to pass down his knowledge to Momonosuke before returning to seclusion.
***During the Void Century, Wano Country used to be located at sea level, until walls were raised alongside its borders, eventually causing the country to flood due to rainwater and forcing the inhabitants to move upwards Mt. Fuji, leading to modern Wano's existence.
***The meaning of Kouzuki Oden's objective to open the country's borders means liberating Pluton from its current state and unleashing it in the world.
***The Beasts Pirates were aware of the Poneglyph's location thanks to Jack, who was able to explore the underwater ruins due to being a Fish-Man.
*The dissolution of the alliance between the Kid Pirates, Hawkins Pirates, and On Air Pirates is explained. Scratchmen Apoo is revealed to have been working for Kaidou since before the alliance's formation, being the informant for the Beasts Pirates, and set up Kaidou to confront the other two crews.
**Basil Hawkins is revealed to be a Shinuchi of the Beasts Pirates after the former alliance's dissolution.
***Hawkins reveals he foresaw Kaidou's defeat but was too prideful to turn back to Kid after betraying him the first time.
**After unsuccessfully rebelling against Kaidou, Killer's will was broken and he was fed a faulty SMILE fruit by Orochi, which grants him no powers but takes away his abilities to swim and express negative emotions.
*X Drake is revealed to be an undercover member of the secret Marine unit SWORD, of which Koby is also a member.
**Drake joins the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance after betraying the Beasts Pirates due to Queen and Who's-Who wanting to kill him and accused of helping Law back in Rasetsu Town.
*Gecko Moria is revealed to the world to be alive, and Perona leaves Mihawk to reunite with him.
**The Blackbeard Pirates have killed Absalom, resulting in Shiryu receiving the powers of the Suke Suke no Mi.
**Devon is revealed to have eaten the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kyubi no Kitsune.
**When Moria attacks the Blackbeard Pirates to find Absalom, Blackbeard invites Moria to join his organization.
***He seemingly refused to join, as it was later revealed in the Egghead Arc that Moria was imprisoned on Hachinosu and Perona intends to free him.
*The Blackbeard Pirates plan to set sail and take someone or something that is getting apprehended by the Marines.
**In the Egghead Arc, it is revealed that Hancock is the "someone" they wanted to capture to steal her Devil Fruit, the Mero Mero no Mi.
*Izou's early life is seen, and it is shown how he came to leave Wano and join the Whitebeard Pirates.
**During the Raid on Onigashima, Izou died fighting Maha with his body later being buried alongside Oden, Shimotsuki Yasuie and Ashura Doji, who also died during the Raid.
*Jinbe is revealed to be alive and joins the Raid on Onigashima. He is also confirmed to be the Straw Hat Pirates' official helmsman.
*After arriving at Wano with Nekomamushi, Marco and Izou join the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai-Alliance and aids the Straw Hats in their battle against the Beasts Pirates.
*Kaidou is revealed to have a son named Yamato who intends to fulfill Oden's wish after witnessing the Legendary Hour and discovering his journal.
**Yamato expresses a desire to leave Wano with Luffy's crew. However, he decided not to go with the Straw Hat Pirates for the moment as he decided to travel around Wano like Oden once did before setting out to sea as he still knows too little about the world.
*Big Mom reveals that the Numbers came from Punk Hazard, and they are failures from experiments trying to recreate the ancient giant race.
*Law finds a Poneglyph in the second basement floor of the castle.
**He revealed his full name to Robin at an earlier point and also reveals his intent to learn the truth about the Will of D.
*It is revealed by CP0 that Vegapunk's artificial Devil Fruit was made using Kaidou's Lineage Factor during the time when Kaidou was held captive by the Marines.
*It is revealed that Queen is a former member of MADS, the research team that included Sanji's father, Judge, which was first mentioned by Yonji during the Whole Cake Island Arc.
**It is revealed that Queen is able to use the Vinsmoke brothers' Raid Suit abilities.
*Who's-Who is revealed to be a former member of CP9 and explained that he was imprisoned thirteen years ago due to failing to guard the Gomu Gomu no Mi, which was stolen by the Red Hair Pirates.
*King is revealed to be the only known survivor of the Lunarians. According to Marco, the Lunarians were fire-igniting people who lived at the top of the Red Line long ago. Queen explains that the Lunarians were once known as "Gods" because of their extreme resilience that allowed them to thrive anywhere. King's subordinates claim that the World Government are willing to pay 100.000.000 to anyone who may have information about live Lunarians.
**It was revealed in the Egghead Arc, that while he was held prisoner in Punk Hazard as a research subject prior to his escape, Vegapunk got ahold of King's blood and his Lineage Factor was used in the creation of the Seraphim to grant them the Lunarian Tribe's abilities.
*Momonosuke becomes an adult after asking Shinobu to use her Juku Juku no Mi ability to mature his body so he can become a bigger dragon. As a result, he is now 28 years old.
*Guernika talks to Rob Lucci, who is leading a fleet towards Wano Country. According to Lucci, Wano will be placed under the World Government's control if Kaidou loses in the war. CP0 is also given orders to capture Robin, and eliminate Luffy, by the Five Elders, at once due to the potential danger he possesses if he succeeds at defeating Kaidou.
**Guernika has returned to the World Government fleet outside Wano and reported the events to the Five Elders.
**The World Government fleet outside Wano was seemingly attacked by the Big Mom Pirates.
*Law and Kid reveal they have awakened their Devil Fruits sometime in the past.
*Big Mom implies that the One Piece in some form may be found in Wano Country.
*Momonosuke reveals that Zunesha was a companion of Joy Boy, and the crime it committed occurred 800 years ago.
*Momonosuke reveals to Yamato that Oden tore out pages with crucial information from his logbook for an unknown reason. Because of this, he is afraid to open up Wano to the rest of the world due to the potential danger it may face. However, he later decides to hold off on opening Wano's borders for the moment.
*Orochi dies during the Raid after being killed eight times by Kaidou, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Denjiro.
*Following the Raid on Onigashima:
**Momonosuke takes his rightful place as shogun.
**Luffy, Law, and Kid's bounties are raised to 3,000,000,000 each.
***Luffy's wanted poster now depicts his awakened form, which was taken by Guernika, and despite the Five Elder's wishes, the picture and the D in Luffy's name are used in the new wanted poster.
**Luffy is now known to the people of Wano as "Joy Boy" as he asked Momonosuke not to give his name.
**Luffy and Buggy have replaced Kaidou and Big Mom as new members of the Four Emperors due to their respective defeats.
***Buggy has joined forces with Mihawk and Crocodile in a group called Cross Guild, which has begun putting bounties on Marines.
**After reminiscing about stealing the Gomu Gomu no Mi and his time in Foosha Village, Shanks decides not to reunite with Luffy just yet but instead decides to go after Bartolomeo, who had been ravaging his territories, and the One Piece.
**Inuarashi and Nekomamushi appoint Carrot to become the new leader of the Mokomo Dukedom, as they intend to stay in Wano with Momonosuke.
**Franky and the rest of the Straw Hats learns from Robin that Pluton is in Wano.
***Caribou eavesdrops on the discussion and states that he must alert a certain someone about Pluton and Poseidon.
**Tama becomes Shinobu's apprentice and Luffy promises her that she can join his crew when she masters ninjutsu.
**The Straw Hat, Heart, and Kid Pirates prepare to leave Wano on different routes.
***Law gives a rubbing of Wano's Road Poneglyph to the Kid Pirates.
****It is revealed the Kid Pirates had previously stolen a rubbing of Big Mom's Road Poneglyph from one of her Sweet Commanders.
***The Straw Hats and Heart Pirates are no longer in an alliance, having achieved their original goal of defeating Kaidou.
***Kid and Killer mention a "man with a burn scar" that could be key to the war for the One Piece.
***Big Mom is now known to the people of Wano as "O-Lin the Great Yōkai" and has become a legend in the country after learning of her role in the battle.
**Luffy gives Momonosuke his flag and states to him, Kin'emon, and Yamato that if any of them wish to join his crew as pirates, to let him know so they can come back to pick them up, on the condition they are ready for it.
==Trivia==
*This arc is split into three acts, seemingly to replicate theatre. 
**Act 1 is chapter 909 to chapter 924, and episode 890 to episode 916
**Act 2 is chapter 925 to chapter 955, and episode 917 to episode 956.
**Act 3 is chapter 956 to chapter 1057, and episode 957 to episode 1085.
*This is currently the longest arc in the manga and anime at 149 chapters and 191 episodes, having surpassed the Dressrosa Arc's previous record of 102 chapters and 118 episodes.
**The manga for act 3 alone at 101 chapters surpasses every arc in the series save for the Dressrosa Arc and has the same number of chapters as the East Blue Saga covering six arcs.
**The anime for act 3 alone, at 128 episodes, surpasses every arc, including Dressrosa.
***If act 3 was its own saga it'll be fourth in place, followed by Whole Cake Island Saga in third at 143 episodes and Dressrosa Saga in second at 168 episodes.
***If act 3 was its own arc it'll be second in place, followed by Dressrosa Arc in third at 118 episodes and Whole Cake Island Arc in fourth at 95 episodes.
*This arc currently has the most anime openings, including OVER THE TOP, DREAMIN' ON, We Are!, PAINT, and Saiko Totatsuten.
**New Genesis was briefly used as an opening to promote One Piece Film: Red, but only in the Japanese broadcast.
*This arc had the most Zoan fruits revealed in a single arc (excluding artificial ones).
**Every known canon consumer of a sub-class of the Zoan type (Ancient, Mythical, and Artificial) appear in the arc.
**This was the second arc in the entire series to introduce any Mythical Zoans.
***Luffy's fruit is also revealed to have been a Mythical Zoan before being reclassified as a Paramecia.
*This arc has shown the greatest number of Supreme King Haki users, past or present.
*This arc is the second in the series (after the Fish-Man Island Arc) to introduce something into the official Canon that was originally seen in an anime filler arc. First there is the first canonical use of time travel with the Toki Toki no Mi (though only revealed in a flashback), after the previous concept of time travel was used in the non-canon Ruluka Island Arc. Lastly there is Luffy's ability to grow giant which was first seen at the end of the Z's Ambition Arc (with the help of his ally Lily Enstomach) was reintroduced into the official canon as one of his Gear 5 abilities.
*Two anime film tie-in arcs aired during this arc: Cidre Guild Arc and Uta's Past Arc.
==References==
==Arc Navigation==
==Site Navigation==
pl:Saga o Kraju Wano
ru:Арка страны Вано
fr:Arc Pays des Wa
ca:Arc del País de Wano
es:Arco del País de Wano
Category:Story Arcs