Episode 303

"The Criminal is Boss Luffy? Chase the Vanished Great Sakura Tree" is the 303rd episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
The Sakura are blooming and a festival is to be celebrated the next day. But, Ninjin is sick and cannot go to the festival. That makes Chopper and Luffy feel really sad. The next day, the greatest sakura tree of the park disappears, and Usopp thinks it was Luffy who stole it, in order to fullfill Ninjin's wish to see the blooming sakura.

Long Summary
The episode starts with the narrator announcing the Spring has come, and some excited villagers, including Zoro, dicussing the upcoming celebration of blooming of the Sakura, which takes place once a year. Meanwhile, Chopper and Luffy are seen with Ninjin lying in bed feeling sick, and Chopper concludes he is too sick to move and better rest; Tamanegi and Piiman are disappointed with it, as they all wanted to visit the Hanami together.

All the Straw Hat Pirates are seen in their cafeteria, with Nami, Usopp and Sanji discussing the selling rate increase, and Luffy and Chopper feeling sorry for the fact Ninjin is sick and has to skip the festival. Luffy then states he would just like to find a way to show Ninjin the thousand-year Sakura. Then both Luffy and Chopper leave, with Nami noting Luffy didn't even finish his meal.

The day of the Hanami festival has finally arrived, and the people who gathered for its celebration note the Sakura has been stolen. Usopp then remembers Luffy's words and starts suspecting him to be the thief. He then visits Nami and Sanji's cafeteria and shares his theory with them. This completely enrages Nami, and she orders Usopp and Sanji to find the thief immediately. They then proceed to look for Luffy (during this segment, Wanze is seen in the background showing the peace sign to the audience).

Usopp and Sanji finally find Luffy in Ninjin's house, who's showing him a branch of Sakura, which Usopp assumes is an evidence of Luffy's theft. He then starts interrogating Luffy, who denies all the accusations. Meanwhile, Robin spots the Sakura tree on a pirate ship and quickly notifies the Strawhats about it, who rush to the location.

It is then revealed that the theft of the Sakura tree is a combined effort by Buggy and Foxy, and that they made an agreement that Buggy would steal the tree for Foxy for 10 million. However, Foxy then reveals he lied to Buggy, which prompts the latter to fire a Buggy Ball, only to be slowed down by Foxy's Noro Nor no Mi's ability. Luffy, Sanji and Usopp finally arrive to the ship and confront Buggy, who gets punched by Luffy while affected by the Noro Noro Beam, which confuses the Strawhats, as they seem to be unaware of Foxy's powers. Foxy then uses the Noro Noro Beam to slow down both Sanji's and Usopp's attacks. Suddenly, Zoro appears, who is revealed to be sleeping all this time on the Sakura tree. Foxy then attempts to use the Beam on Zoro as well, but he instead parries it with his sword, reflecting it onto Buggy, who had just used the Bara Bara Festival, thus slowing him down. Zoro then punches Foxy, who immediately afterwards sustains Sanji's and Usopp's attacks, which he had previously slowed down. Luffy then delivers the exclamation point, punching Foxy with the Gomu Gomu no Pistol (while holding a sword in his hand), which sends Foxy flying. Sanji then spots Buggy, who is still under the effects of Bara Bara Beam, with Luffy punching away at him with a Gomu Gomu no Gattling Gun (while still holding a sword in his hand), which sends the separate body-parts of Buggy flying as well.

The Strawhats then retrieve the Sakura tree, carrying it on Foxy's ship, so all the villagers, including Ninjin, can witness it, which helps Ninjin recover almost immediately. Chopper starts wondering if the effects of his own medicine have finally taken effect, but then acknowledges that the sight of the Sakura tree has cured Ninjin.

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