Episode 801

"The Benefactor's Life - Sanji and Owner Zeff" is the 801st episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Luffy cannot reach Cracker before Gear Fourth runs out, and he is forced to hide in the Seducing Woods for ten minutes while Cracker sends Biscuit Soldiers to look for him.

Meanwhile, Sanji's argument against his family members is shut down when Judge reveals that with a single order, he can have the Baratie destroyed and Zeff killed. Sanji is deeply unnerved by this, as he remembers Zeff giving up his leg for him and acting as a real father figure to him.

Long Summary
Luffy grows tired as he continues destroying Cracker's endless numbers of Biscuit Soldiers. Cracker taunts Luffy over this, and Luffy declares he will simply destroy the Biscuit Soldiers faster than Cracker can create them. Unleashing Double Culverin, he rapidly destroys the Biscuit Soldiers one by one in a continuous motion, but no matter how fast he goes, Cracker is at the ready with more Biscuit Soldiers. After this fails, Luffy decides to try taking out all the Soldiers in a single blow, so he flies into the air and blows into his arm, activating King Kong Gun. Cracker has his Soldiers form a tight defensive formation in front of him as Luffy unleashes his giant punch, and to Cracker's shock, the King Kong Gun blasts away his Soldiers like nothing as it moves quickly toward him. However, right before Luffy can land a hit on Cracker himself, Gear Fourth runs out and Luffy is sent flying away as air spews out of his mouth. Luffy lands by a tree, and is angry with himself as he will be unable to attack for the next ten minutes.

Meanwhile, the Vinsmoke Family looks on as Sanji holds the plate that Niji had thrown at Cosette. The food that was on the plate has fallen off, and Cosette tries to assure Sanji that she will clean it. However, Sanji examines the food, complimenting Cosette on its exquisite craftsmanship as he eats it, which both appalls and flusters her. The Vinsmokes are disgusted at Sanji's actions, but Sanji is just as disgusted with them, berating Niji for his despicable treatment of food and women. This enrages Niji, who tries to kick Sanji. Judge orders Niji to stop, and he stops his kick in midair, but the force of the stopped kick is still powerful enough to blow Cosette away. As Sanji helps her back up, Ichiji says that he does not comprehend Sanji's reasoning, saying that his behavior does not fit that of a royal at all. Judge agrees with Ichiji, and wonders if Sanji's bad behaviors were caused by Zeff as he pulls out a picture of the chef. Judge reveals that thanks to Big Mom, Germa 66 now has the exact location of the Baratie and can attack it anytime they choose, killing Zeff in the process. Tamago had given Judge the picture of Zeff along with the exploding handcuffs now on Sanji's wrists, giving him the tools he needs in order to keep Sanji in line. If Sanji acts out of line, the Baratie will be destroyed and Zeff will be killed, which stuns the young chef. Judge tells him that they will be meeting with Big Mom and Pudding for lunch today, so Sanji is expected to be on his best behavior, and he reflects as his sister and brothers walk out of the room.

Sanji remembers the past, where he attacked Zeff as a young child when the captain of the Cook Pirates attacked the Orbit. Zeff easily overwhelmed Sanji and kicked him into a faraway wall, but Sanji would not give up, biting Zeff's leg declaring his dream to reach the All Blue. Soon afterwards, the force of the storm around them grew, and Sanji was blown into the ocean. To his crew's shock, Zeff cursed the young child before breaking off the mast with a kick and floating on it towards Sanji. The storm passed, and Sanji and Zeff wound up on a rock in the middle of the ocean with no animals or plants. Zeff gave Sanji a bag with five days' worth of food in it and ordered him to go to the other side of the island to watch for ships. Sanji complained that Zeff's bag was significantly bigger than his, but Zeff replied that he needed to eat more since he was an adult. Sanji went to the other side of the island, and rationed his five days' worth of food to last 20 days.

On the 25th day, Sanji ate his last piece of bread, which had grown moldy. As he ate, he remembered his attitude on the Orbit, where he failed to understand why the chefs ate the passengers' leftovers, claiming they could just throw them out and eat the abundance of fresh food they had in stock. Sanji welled up in tears at the memory, and accidentally dropped his remaining bread into the ocean, making him distraught. On the 70th day, an emaciated Sanji decided to go to the other side of the island and see if Zeff had died. After climbing up the rock formation separating them, Sanji noticed with a shock that Zeff seemed to still have lots of food in his bag, and threatened Zeff at knifepoint for his food. Zeff did not resist as Sanji cut open the bag, but the young chef was shocked as he discovered that the bag only had treasure in it. Sanji wonders in shock what Zeff has been eating, and then sees that the lower half of Zeff's right leg is missing. Zeff revealed that his leg got stuck when he swam into a shipwreck to rescue Sanji, forcing him to slice it off with the anchor chain; he had not eaten at all since they washed up on the island. This drove Sanji to tears, and after the two of them were eventually rescued, they opened the Baratie together. Zeff was very rough on Sanji as the young chef dealt with cooking and women, but the two always had a bond, and when Sanji left the Baratie to join the Straw Hat Pirates two years before the present, he tearfully thanked Zeff for all the old chef had done for him.

Back in the present, Luffy impatiently waits for ten minutes to pass so he can regain his Haki, complaining that it is taking forever. Meanwhile, Cracker creates multiple Biscuit Soldiers to hunt Luffy down, and one of the Soldiers eventually succeeds. It slams its giant Pretzel at Luffy, and Luffy barely manages to dodge, but is barely able to move as the Biscuit Soldier quickly catches up to him and prepares to make a decisive strike.

Anime Notes

 * The anime adds the following:
 * Luffy (while still in Gear Fourth) destroying more Biscuit Soldiers while Cracker continuously replaces them. He nearly lands a hit on Cracker with Gomu Gomu no King Kong Gun, but his Gear Fourth wears out at the last second.
 * After Cosette was knocked down by the wind pressure from Niji's kick, Sanji helps her up.
 * After his Gear Fourth wears out, Luffy hides from Cracker in order to recover, but one of the Biscuit Soldiers later discovers him.