User blog comment:JustSomeDude.../Why Zou?/@comment-24850639-20151216011216

Sorry I've been meaining to comment on this for a while, but I always somehow got sidetracked as I was typing my answer. Its a very simple question, but even just coming up with a simple answer sends my head spinning. The trip to Zou is a part of a puzzle, and its a puzzle that we're unfortunately trying to complete with just a few pieces. Worse still, we don't even really have pieces....we have fractions of pieces.

THE PUZZLE - The Downfall of Kaido and the Hundred Beast Pirates



THE PIECES

SH/Heart Alliance - The gameplan right now seems to be to go with the flow, which is actually quite literally the OPPOSITE of having a gameplan. I can cut Law a little bit of slack because so much happened and was revealed on Dressrosa that he couldn't have possibly anticipated, but it still feels like there was never really much of  plan to begin with. At the most, Doflamingo's defeat stopped the GROWTH of Kaido's army.........but he still has a flippin army of 500+. Law said their odds were probably 30% at best.......based on what? What does Law ACTUALLY know about Kaido to have been able to feel comfortable going after him to begin with? He seems to believe he could have handled Dressrosa on his own, so why send the crew to Zou? Even if things went how he originally planned, it removes Mingo from the picture and does cripple Kaido in a serious way, but he still would have been no actual match for Kaido. So the Billion Berri question, is what now Law?

Donquixote Family/The Underworld - Doflamingo and Kaido's affiliation and influence in the underworld is extremely heavy, but we still don't really get the inner workings of it. All we know is that Kaido plans on starting a world war, and Mingo's distribution network was a very essential part of it. Just how big a role did Caesar and his creations play? Is the underworld a done deal altogether without Mingo and Caesar? Where is this liqour ore Koala mentioned coming from if not Dressrosa, and what enemy of Sai & Chinjao's country was Mingo's operations helping? We've only seen the enemies Luffy & Law have made for their role in the downfall of Mingo's network, but I'm pretty sure they made some friends too, who may or may not help with Kaido down the line. Speaking of......

SH Grand Fleet - Ever since Law quoted his 30% figure, its been pretty obvious that they were going to need some more help. Sure the 9 StrawHats took down a crew of 100K, but Hody Jones wasn't a flippin Yonko. The defeat of a Yonko is going to be so much more significant than the defeat of Shichibukai and I've always imagined it as a battle that took place accross multiple locations. I dont think we'll be seeing any of them in a major role in the Zou Arc, but I can definitely see at least one of the allied crews helping out in some kind of way in one of the next 2 arcs.

The Samurai - We've been deliberately kept in the dark about these guys, and understandably so. Their roles in the Zou and Wano arcs are probably going to be extremely important. They were just mere tagalongs for Dressrosa, but now we're on the island that was actually their original destination. Just to troll us further, Oda is deliberately keeping them out of the story for now. They are currently the most important piece of this puzzle we're trying to put together, and hopefully we'll find out why in at least the next 5 chapters. There are very little actual facts that we know about these guys, so unfortunately we are mostly working on speculation based on some of the things we've seen. Here's my speculation:

Ch. 698: Momo and Kin'emons reactions at hearing the name "Kaido" speaks volumes for itself. Even before we knew what (we think) we know now, this was worth making note of. I mean they freaked out MORE than Nami and Usopp, c'mon now.

Ch. 793: Banzai trees, Kaido's subordinate yelling out for a him at a huge silhouette of a what appears to be an ancient Japanese temple......there's really only one place we know of in this series that screams Japan. I think I even read somewhere that "Wano Kuni" ("Country of Harmony") was an epithet for Japan. Definitely A base of operation, if not THE base of operations. What better country for a Yonko's base than a country the WG knows to stay away from.

Ch. 795: We now actually meet Kaido, and around his waist is a  shimenawa. In Japan this notes of something of extreme value and importance. Shogun of the Wano Country? I don't think that's bad speculation at all. Especially given how his subordinates refer to him as "Your Majesty".

 Now here are the facts: All we know, is that they were originally headed for Zou, Kaido doesn't seem to like this for some reason, and Kin'emons group disclose their mission until they reunite with Raizo or confirm his status. Thats literally it. Now if Kaido really is Shogun of Wano, I HIGHLY doubt that everyone in the country would be happy about it. He most likely didn't gain the position through honorable means, and honor is just about EVERYTHING to the Samurai. Therefore, its not crazy to imagine that there would be a group looking to rebel. This group wouldn't JUST be Kin'emon & Co., but more likely Kin'emons group was tasked with retrieving something that would help in the fight against Kaido. As for what that would be, I couldn't offer any speculation at this time. I did recently however, decide to read The Legend of Momotaro. By the way, its a complete coincidence that I looked on Mangastream this morning and they are retelling the Legend of Momotaro with One Piece characters.....or is it a coincidence? For anyone who's read it, you can't sit here and tell me that Momonosuke isn't at least SOMEWHAT based on Momotaro. This is just based on appearance, but if I'm allowed to speculate further......did Momo not fight Oni's and their King? Is the Legend not based on Edo period Japan? Are there not "Onis" currently occupying his land? *coughGifterscoughcoughJackcoughcoughKaidocough* Too much of this is starting to add up for it to seem coincidental anymore. Sure we haven't seen Momonosuke fight or even know if he can, but I'm pretty sure he's going to play a major role in bringing Kaido down some kind of way. Either that, or he is extremely important to Wano, as some kind of "Chosen One" or Child of Prophecy. We do know there was interest in him before his Devil Fruit, and once he used it for the first time flying, some hand and voice reached out to him that was never explained.

 Zou - Lastly, no conflict in this series is meant to last forever. Its been proven that if a group won't get over something for their own reasons, they WILL do it for Luffy. Luffy is going to settle the conflict between Inu and Neko, get the Mink tribe to not hate Wano anymore, and most likely enlist their aid at some point for the bout with Kaido. Based on NekoMamushi's comment in 809, there might have been some bad blood with Wano before there was even any knowledge of Raizo. We know the Mink tribe now has an incentive to help against Kaido, but exactly how they'll end up doing it, we'll just have to find out. Electro really seems to be doing the Gifters in, so maybe Raizo heard of this and is trying to learn, or enhance his own abilities. His name does mean Lightning Elephant after all, which I don't think is a coincidence either. As far as why Law sent his crew there or why we're here now, the answer still eludes me until we get more facts. It is the oldest anything we've seen so far though, so perhaps the history of the island will help.