Episode 956

"Ticking Down to the Great Battle! The Straw Hats Go into Combat Mode" is the 956th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Hiyori parted ways with Zoro and Kawamatsu, and the two later inform Momonosuke and the Scabbards with him of her survival.

Zoro receives Enma and sees its destructive power. Luffy continues training his Busoshoku Haki and Zoro trains with his new sword. Meanwhile, the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance adds more numbers to their cause and finish up with their preparations.

On the day before the Fire Festival, Momonosuke and his group of retainers march to the rendezvous point to meet up with their allies.

Long Summary
Kawamatsu confirms to the Nine Red Scabbards that Hiyori was indeed alive. Then, Tama's grandfather, Tenguyama Hitetsu, gets back the sword that Luffy took from his house. Then, he takes out the Enma, the sword promised by Hiyori, which is granted to Zoro. Zoro tries out his new sword on a tree, but the sword ends up drawing more Ryuo than necessary, creating an overly-powerful slash cutting off a piece of the cliff. Hitetsu explains that the Enma is considered impossible to wield because it always uses excessive amounts of the wielder's Ryuo. Still, Zoro still trains with the Enma on some bamboo stalks.

Kin'emon then plans out the battle. Despite having four thousand men, they are still greatly outnumbered by Orochi and Kaidou's troops of about thirty thousand people.

Luffy keeps attempting to learn Ryuo by pounding sheets of metal but still struggles. Chopper decides that it is time to leave, so Luffy rides on Chopper's back to Kin'emon's group. Just then, Kin'emon receives a call from the yakuza leaders that they have amassed a total of 400 people to fight in the Onigashima raid. One day remains before the raid and Kin'emon's group leaves to go to the port early.

The Straw Hats stay behind by Yasuie and Pedro's graves. Hitetsu seems amazed that Zoro is managing to tame the Enma. He reveals that the reason Zoro can use the sword is because the Wado Ichimonji and Enma were created by the same person, Shimotsuki Kozaburo. Zoro states that he will turn Enma into a Black Blade. Back at Udon, Babanuki calls Orochi and lies to him, stating that there was no trouble at Udon and the situation is under control. However, Orochi somehow reveals that he has the new information about the rendezvous point change and that Hiyori was alive.

Luffy finally masters Ryuo by blasting a tree, and the curtains close on Wano Country Arc's second act.

Anime Notes

 * This episode's "To Be Continued" end screen has sakura petals falling in front of the text. This is to mark the end of the second part of the Wano Country Arc.
 * The anime adds the following:
 * Momonosuke imagines Hiyori as an adult dropkicking him.
 * After destroying one steel plate while in Gear 4, Luffy later trains with multiple steel plates surrounding him.
 * Another scene of Enma trying to drain Zoro's Haki during training.
 * When the alliance gains 4,200 troops, Kin'emon and his group got excited. This was not shown in the manga.
 * Tama giving Momonosuke a kasa hat.
 * In the manga after the Udon takeover, Kid and Killer do not appear until the raid begins.

Trivia

 * After this episode, a message featuring Luffy and Chopper announced that the upcoming January 4 issue of Shonen Jump would have the 1000th chapter of the manga and thanked the fans for their support up to the milestone.
 * The cover of Chapter 967 also appeared at the end of the episode to promote Arashi's song, A-ra-shi: Reborn.