Wano Country Arc

The Wano Country Arc (ワノ国編) is the thirty-first story arc in the series and the fourth in the Yonko Saga of One Piece, continuing from the Levely Arc.

The Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance sets in motion their plan to recruit the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates and liberate Wano Country from the control of the Beasts Pirates led by Kaido and their ally, the shogun.

Arriving at Wano: Remnants of a Land in Ruins
As the Levely took place, Nekomamushi and the Guardians came to an island in the New World. Nekomamushi went to a secret village behind a waterfall, where he found Marco healing the wounds of its citizens. Marco revealed that this place was not a part of the World Government due to being too poor to pay the Heavenly Tribute, and Whitebeard had built it up and maintained it as a sanctuary, with his crew now protecting it after his death. Marco then mentioned Edward Weevil, believing that the Shichibukai would go after this place in his search for Whitebeard's inheritance. Because of this, Marco decided to stay rather than go to Wano Country, and told Nekomamushi to give Luffy a message from him.

Meanwhile, Zoro's group reached Wano Country, and Kin'emon instructed the Straw Hats to blend in while they rallied people to their cause. If they laid a hand against the shogun Kurozumi Orochi or his subordinates, Kaido would hear about it. Franky, Usopp, and Nico Robin adopted new names and trades to blend in, but Zoro became a rōnin and was accused of cutting people down in the streets at night. He was caught and forced to commit seppuku, being also charged with grave robbing when the magistrate discovered Ryuma's Shusui in his possession. The magistrate took Shusui, and the executioner prepared to finish Zoro off once he committed seppuku. However, Zoro smelled blood on the magistrate and instead used the seppuku blade to attack him from a good distance away, before apologizing to Kin'emon.

Luffy's group was sailing when they read the news about the Levely, and they were excited to see photos of people that they knew. However, Chopper prevented Nami from reading an article about Kaido and Big Mom when he cut out a picture of Kureha. The crew was unable to contact the others, and as they approached a big storm, Nami remembered that Kin'emon had said that the weather was one of the barriers to entering Wano. An octopus then boarded their ship as they became surrounded by a school of giant koi, and they followed the koi through the current. They came to a waterfall which the koi were climbing, and Luffy grabbed onto some of them to pull the Sunny up. However, there was a whirlpool at the top, and Sanji decided to fly everyone to land. Luffy had Sanji use him as a trampoline, but before he could escape, the octopus held him back and sent him into the whirlpool with the ship.

Luffy woke up on the beach in the Kuri region of Wano Country after being washed ashore with the Sunny. He witnessed a baboon wielding a sword named Hihimaru attacking a komainu named Komachiyo, while a couple of Beasts Pirates scouts were riding nearby. They had captured a young girl named Tama, who had mentioned the Kozuki Family in their presence, when they spotted Luffy and the Sunny. They tried to attack Luffy, only for the pirate to quickly dispatch them. One of the pirates ordered Hihimaru to attack Luffy, but the latter stopped the baboon with a glare. O-Tama then knocked out the enemy pirate, and the girl managed to tame Hihimaru by feeding him kibi-dango created from her own body. Tama explained to Luffy where he was and what had happened to her, and after taking the Sunny to a secure location, she offered to feed him as thanks. She took him to her master's house, where she made some rice dishes. After he ate, Luffy was confronted by Tama's master Tenguyama Hitetsu, who was angered that he ate the rice that she rarely got to have due to spending her life weaving kasas every day. Tama explained to Hitetsu that she gave Luffy the rice to thank him, but she then got sick due to having drank some river water that was contaminated by Kaido's factories. Hitetsu revealed that she had decided to continue living in Kuri to wait for Ace, who had promised to return there.

Meanwhile, Basil Hawkins, now a headliner in the Beasts Pirates, heard about the incident on the beach. Rather than report this to Kaido, he decided to deal with the situation himself. Luffy told Tama that Ace was dead, and she was so shocked that she passed out. Hitetsu revealed that this was once a place called Amigasa Village, and around four years ago, it was going through a famine. When the people were on the verge of starving to death, Ace's ship washed up onshore, and they tied up him and his crew and stole their food. Ace befriended them and grew especially close to Tama, agreeing to take her out to sea when he returned. However, Amigasa Village was destroyed a few years later by Beasts Pirates Headliner X Drake. Luffy decided to take Tama to the nearest town to find a doctor for her, and wanted to take Hitetsu's cursed sword Nidai Kitetsu, whom his ancestor Kotetsu had forged, with him. Hitetsu protested due to fearing the sword's curse, but Luffy ran off with Tama. Komachiyo gave them a ride, and they came to a barren wasteland with one of Kaido's quarries and weapons factories in the distance. Luffy spotted several animals, but Tama told him that they were poisonous due to drinking the contaminated water. Luffy then saw Zoro saving a woman from two Beasts Pirates, and reunited with his crewmate. However, they were then confronted by Hawkins, and prepared to fight him.

After a brief conversation, Hawkins' men quickly attacked Luffy and Zoro, initiating a battle. When Zoro tried attacking Hawkins with an air slash, the latter used his Devil Fruit power to redirect the damage to one of his men. After Hawkins conjured a giant straw entity, Komachiyo intervened and dragged the two Straw Hats away from the battle. Hawkins' straw figure pursued them until Zoro sliced it in two. After they got away from Hawkins, the woman that Zoro saved earlier introduced herself as Tsuru. Seeing Tama's critical condition, Tsuru asked Luffy and Zoro to bring Tama to her tea shop so she could make medicine for her. They later arrived at Okobore Town, where a tea house poster girl named Kiku was turning down a marriage proposal by the sumo wrestling yokozuna Urashima. Luffy and Zoro were then spotted by Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin, who were hiding on the top of a mountain.

Thanks to Tsuru's medicine, Tama was able to recover. After feeding Tama some delicious foods, Tsuru explained to Luffy and Zoro about the history of Okobore Town. A Gifter known as Batman then fired an arrow at Tsuru, but Zoro blocked it. Batman fired more arrows, and Zoro deflected them. During the confusion, another Gifter named Gazelleman abducted Tama. Luffy, Zoro, Kiku, and Komachiyo pursued the Gifter to the Bakura Town. Meanwhile, Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin informed Law of the situation. Alarmed, Law planned to stop Luffy and Zoro from causing trouble. Tama was brought before the headliner Holdem, a lion SMILE user with a lion's head named Kamijiro on his waist. Holdem wanted to know how Tama had tamed Hihimaru, and Tama tried to play dumb, but Holdem had heard about her pulling food out of her cheek and decided to try it for himself.

Meanwhile, Urashima was eating with the Gifter Mouseman in Bakura Town as he talked about his intention to make Kiku his wife. Mouseman told him that he should set an example by using his high status to take away everything Kiku held dear and force her to marry him, which pleased Urashima. He then took part in the sumo wrestling tournament, and was dominating every opponent he faced when Kiku, Luffy, and Zoro came into town. Urashima saw Kiku and had her brought before him, silencing the spectators who were disgusted at Kiku due to her low status. However, Kiku was disgusted by Urashima and cut off his topknot. Urashima immediately became enraged and attempted to attack Kiku to preserve his honor, but Luffy stopped him. Luffy challenged Urashima to a sumo wrestling match, and dodged all of Urashima's attacks before activating Gear Third and hitting him with a massive open palm, sending him flying out of the ring and through several buildings.

After finding out Luffy, Zoro, and Kiku's intentions to rescue Tama, the Gifters and samurai working under Holdem went on attack, but the trio easily overpowered them. Holdem then confronted Luffy with Tama in his lion's mouth, being annoyed that Luffy had sent Urashima crashing into his house and threatening to crush Tama with his lion's jaws if Luffy moved. As Holdem's fellow headliner Speed arrived on the scene with a supply of food from Orochi's farm, Kiku warned Luffy that if he attacked Holdem, then Jack, who had been rescued after his defeat at Zou, would be called in to intervene. However, as Holdem decided to execute Kiku, Luffy attacked Kamijiro in the blink of an eye and freed Tama. After finding out that Holdem had used pliers to pull on Tama's cheek, Luffy turned around and struck Holdem with a powerful Red Hawk punch.

Meanwhile, Hawkins and his men headed into Bakura Town, and the Heart Pirates saw the chaos taking place as Bepo got sick from eating a poisoned fish. Law arrived at Bakura Town and confronted Hawkins while hiding his face in order to stop his fellow Supernova. Hawkins quickly deduced who Law was and used his abilities to avoid Law's cuts, and as they clashed, he exposed Law's identity and revealed he knew about his alliance with Luffy. Law then overheard a call to Hawkins revealing that Jack had heard about Holdem's defeat. Meanwhile, Luffy, Zoro, Tama, Kiku, and Komachiyo ran toward the town's entrance, taking Speed's food provisions cart with them. Tama managed to tame Speed with her Devil Fruit power due to Speed eating a horse SMILE, and Law boarded the provisions cart when it passed by him, expressing his rage at Zoro for getting them into deep trouble. Luffy, Zoro, and their allies went to Okobore Town, where they gave the citizens great quantities of clean food and water to consume.

Ghosts of Wano Country: The Travails of the Kozuki Family
In the Flower Capital, students there were taught that the Kozuki Family had attempted to commit a great evil by opening the borders of Wano, but were all killed by Orochi 20 years ago. A money changer named Kyoshiro reflected that Kozuki Oden's wife had cursed Orochi to meet his downfall in 20 years, and Orochi was now living in fear since the stated time had passed.

Law decided to take Luffy and Zoro to the ruins of Oden Castle atop a nearby mountain, and planned to show Luffy the "ghosts" of Wano Country. Speed took Tama back to Hitetsu while Luffy, Zoro, Law, and Kiku rode Komachiyo up to the castle ruins, but Zoro went off somewhere along the way. When they reached the top of the mountain, Law showed Luffy the gravestones for the Kozuki Family, including Kin'emon, Momonosuke, Kanjuro, and Raizo. Luffy initially thought they were dead, but Kin'emon and Momonosuke then came out to meet him. Kiku embraced Kin'emon right as the group that had sailed to Wano with Luffy arrived at the ruins as well, and Law took them inside to talk.

There, Kin'emon revealed that he, Momonosuke, Kanjuro, and Raizo had escaped from Orochi's takeover by traveling 20 years forward in time. Back then, Oden had been beloved among the residents of Kuri, as he had brought order to what was once a dangerous, lawless region. As he sat on a beach in the present, Inuarashi remembered when Oden had taken in him and Nekomamushi after the two of them had washed ashore and everyone else feared them. However, after Oden left Wano to sail with the Whitebeard Pirates and Roger Pirates and later returned, he was executed by Orochi. Kin'emon, Kanjuro, Raizo, Kiku, and another retainer saw this and attempted to return to Oden Castle, but Kaido had set it ablaze. They managed to find Oden's wife Kozuki Toki with Momonosuke and his sister Hiyori, and Toki used her Toki Toki no Mi abilities to send her son and retainers forward in time, while Toki chose to stay behind in the castle to die. Momonosuke and his retainers later found themselves in the present-day polluted Wano, but managed to find samurai who were still faithful to the Kozuki Family. They then went to sea to find allies, and with these allies now gathered, Kin'emon planned to stage a raid on Kaido's home island Onigashima on the night of the Fire Festival in two weeks.

Kin'emon and Kiku explained about the Fire Festival and how the decisive battle would play out. Kin'emon then gave Luffy's group specific tasks to do, provided them new clothes, and summoned the kunoichi Shinobu to guide them. Meanwhile in Okobore Town, Shutenmaru and his gang were taking food from the citizens and they were soon confronted by Jack, who told Shutenmaru to become Kaido's subordinate. The thief responded by cutting Jack, initiating a fight. The battle was interrupted when Kaido, appearing in the form of a dragon, arrived. As Kaido ordered Jack to capture Law and Luffy, Law alerted the group in Oden Castle to his presence.

A Terrifying Force: Kaido Appears
Since Kaido was only going after him and Luffy, and the incident in Bakura Town would not change that, Law decided to go and deal with Kaido without exposing the rest of the alliance's presence, although he had to chase after Luffy who had gone to protect Okobore Town. As he flew over Okobore Town, Kaido confronted Shutenmaru, revealing himself to be drunk in the process. Jack feared that Kaido would decimate Kuri in his drunken rampage, and Hawkins came in and stated that Law and Luffy were in the ruins of Oden Castle, not knowing that they were actually there. Kaido flew right toward Oden Castle and instantly destroyed it with a single blast of fiery breath as the terrified alliance attempted to flee from it. Enraged at seeing his friends being potentially hurt, Luffy jumped over Kaido and hit him on the head with Elephant Gun.

After Kaido was sent crashing into the ground, Luffy rushed back to the mountain to check on his friends. He came across an injured Speed, who told him that Kaido attacked her and Tama. Law tried to tell Luffy to flee, but Luffy instead chose to fight Kaido. The Yonko tried to attack Luffy with his fire breath, but Luffy dodged and used Elephant Gatling. Kaido turned to his human form and Luffy activated Gear Fourth and assaulted Kaido with Kong Organ. Luffy's attacks were ineffective and Kaido struck Luffy with his mace, rendering him unconscious with a single blow.

Story Impact

 * Marco makes his first appearance after the timeskip.
 * Nekomamushi has found Marco, who works as a doctor at Whitebeard's home island.
 * Because of the threat of Edward Weevil likely coming to the island Marco refuses to go to Wano Country, but gives Nekomamushi a message to pass on to Luffy.
 * It is revealed that Bakkin and Whitebeard used to be on the same ship some 40 years prior to the present time.
 * Basil Hawkins is revealed to be Kaido's subordinate.
 * Hitetsu reveals that Tama had met Ace four years ago.
 * Ace promised to come back to Wano and let Tama join his crew.
 * Nidai Kitetsu is shown to be in the possession of Hitetsu and is taken by Luffy.
 * The Beasts Pirates have conquered Wano Country completely, turning most of it into wasteland.
 * Hawkins' Devil Fruit is revealed to be the Wara Wara no Mi.
 * The Kozuki Family once ruled Wano Country over 20 years ago.
 * Jack is revealed to be the ruler of the country's Kuri region. He was also saved from his shipwreck after his failed attack on Zou.
 * A prophecy from Oden's wife states that nine figures who worked under Oden would take Orochi's life and open the borders of Wano Country in 20 years.
 * Kin'emon revealed that Momonosuke, Kanjuro, Raizo, Kiku, and himself have time traveled 20 years from the past due to Kozuki Toki's Toki Toki no Mi.

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