Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 1033: Shimotsuki Kozaburo

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2021-12-05

Summary

Outside the Skull Dome, Zoro fights King — and his inherited blade Enma keeps draining his Armament Haki to near-lethal levels, leaving him “held back by his own sword.” Meanwhile on the Live Floor, Queen taunts Sanji that the masked King is “a remnant of the extinct Lunarians,” a people once “known as gods” who can survive in any natural environment (pp. 4). As Zoro presses the duel (Death Lion Song, Kitetsu III, Imperial Slings and Arrows), a long flashback braids together the provenance of his swords: the “old man of the village” who sat by the coast in Zoro’s East-Blue hometown of Frost Moon (Shimotsuki) Village was the émigré Wano smith Shimotsuki Kozaburo — Kuina’s grandfather — who forged Wado Ichimonji, Enma, and Kitetsu III, and who named Enma after the King of the underworld. Zoro realizes a great blade “tests” its wielder and that his own strength, not the sword, was lacking — but if he keeps exuding Haki at this rate it will kill him. As Beasts Pirates close in, Zoro rises on his childhood promise to Kuina and to his captain, recommitting to become the world’s greatest swordsman “for a king.”

New reveals

• King is a Lunarian — Queen names King as a member of the race (p. 4); the term “Lunarian” itself first appeared in Ch. 1023: an extinct people who could “survive in any natural environment” and were “known as gods” in the distant past. (His withheld species — blank since Ch. 925 — is revealed here.)
• The “old man of the village” who sat at the coast in Zoro’s hometown was Shimotsuki Kozaburo, the émigré Wano smith — and Kuina’s grandfather (Zoro learned this “the day he died”) (pp. 11, 15).
• Frost Moon (Shimotsuki) Village, Zoro’s East-Blue hometown, was “built by pirates” and named for the Shimotsuki family — confirming the Wano↔East-Blue Shimotsuki bridge (pp. 11, 15).
• Kozaburo forged Wado Ichimonji, Enma, and Kitetsu III — all three of Zoro’s current swords trace to one maker (“You already wield Kitetsu III. That is one of mine,” p. 8).
• Kozaburo personally named Enma “after the king who watches over hell… the King of the underworld” — his greatest blade, crafted when he was young (p. 14).
• Enma drains so much Haki that “if I have to keep exuding it at this level, it’ll kill me”; Zoro concludes “a sword is honest and direct… it was my strength that was lacking” — Enma was “light as a feather” when Oden wielded it (p. 16).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Zoro — vs King outside the Skull Dome; Death Lion Song; Three/One-Sword-Style with Enma, Wado Ichimonji, Kitetsu III; recommits to the world’s-greatest-swordsman oath “for a king” — see Worlds Greatest Swordsman
• King — Lead Performer; revealed as a Lunarian; uses “Imperial Slings and Arrows”
• Queen — on the Live Floor; reveals King’s race to Sanji
• Sanji — on the Live Floor opposite Queen
• Shimotsuki Kozaburo — first on-page appearance (flashback): the “old man of the village,” émigré Wano smith, Kuina’s grandfather
• Kuina — childhood promise flashback; granddaughter of Kozaburo
• Koushirou — the dojo “Sensei” (shown, addressed but unnamed this chapter)
• Kozuki Oden — referenced as Enma’s prior wielder
• Luffy — flashback memory (“your new boss is going to be the King of the Pirates”)
• Lunarians — race explained + King confirmed as one (p. 4); first NAMED in Ch. 1023
• Shimotsuki · Shimotsuki Village Dojo · East Blue · Onigashima · Skull Dome
• Swords: Wado Ichimonji, Enma, Kitetsu III (Sandai Kitetsu)
• Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model Pteranodon (King’s fruit, referenced in combat)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page / reader-request cover art: “Tashigi dressed as a bad guy, getting defeated by baby penguins playing heroes” (by Sodasusu). Standalone reader-request splash, NOT a serialized cover-story installment.
• Page 3 — Zoro’s Enma wreathed in a black bird-shaped flame as it forcibly pulls his Haki (“Jackpot”).
• Page 4 — Queen’s Lunarian reveal; archive/library backdrop; “his people were known as GODS!!”
• Page 5 — “Death Lion Song!!!” — Zoro’s iai strike on King.
• Page 11 — Caption establishing “Zolo’s hometown, Frost Moon (Shimotsuki) Village. Thirteen years ago, East Blue.”
• Page 14 — Kozaburo names Enma: “The King of the underworld… ENMA.”
• Page 16 — Zoro’s Haki-control crisis: “it’ll kill me… How should I stabilize my Haki?”
• Page 17 — Zoro rises on his promise to Kuina and to his captain — “to be a king.” To be continued.

Open questions raised

• Why did the Lunarians die out? Queen explicitly poses the question and leaves it blank (p. 4). Who, or what, drove a race of “gods” to near-extinction — and where did they live?
• How will Zoro stabilize Enma’s Haki drain before it kills him?
• Does the Wano↔East-Blue Shimotsuki bridge imply a blood tie to Zoro himself, or only to Kuina/Koushirou’s line?
• Why was Kozaburo “the only thing I seem to be able to forge anymore” — cursed/death-grade blades?