Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 1036: Bushido Is the Way of Death

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2022-01-09

Summary

Outside the dome at Rightbrain Tower, Zoro finishes King with Enma’s “King of Hell, Three-Sword Style” — caption “Winner: Zolo.” A flashback intercut with Zoro and Luffy’s own vows restates Alber/King’s total devotion to Kaido; Kaido half-jokingly measures the world he is building against the Joy Boy legend (“You think it’s Joyboy?!”). With King down, the Beasts Pirates despair that the lead performers and Tobi Roppo are all beaten — but “there are still two monsters in this battle” (Kaido and Big Mom). The chapter then surveys the demolition stakes: defeating Kaido drops his flame-clouds and Onigashima will fall on the Flower Capital and explode from its basement gunpowder, while Kanjuro’s “Burning Hatred” flame-dragon, on Orochi’s orders, races to blow the island up in midair — with Yamato in pursuit. Inside the castle, Usopp preaches survival over the samurai death-creed while shielding the mortally tired Kin’emon and Kiku, until Izo — a former Whitebeard division commander, and Kiku’s sibling — arrives shooting and orders Usopp to flee with them. On the third floor Raizo and Fukurokuju are locked in a paralysis-jutsu deadlock as flames close in; in the treasure repository Orochi is alive, raving and hallucinating Komurasaki. X Drake downs the Number Zanki but Apoo slips away, and CP0 debates whether to leave, still hunting Robin and naming the night a turning point for the whole world. Finally Luffy and Kaido trade blows again — Luffy’s “Roc Gun” lands, both stagger, and both, panting, admit they’re having fun.

New reveals

• Zoro defeats King (p.3–6): the bird-form All-Star plummets; caption “Winner: Zolo. Battle outside the dome, Rightbrain Tower…” The kill comes from “King of Hell, Three-Sword Style” (Enma). Kaido’s right-hand man — and the last-standing All-Star of the bout — is down.
• King’s devotion + a Joy Boy invocation (p.4): in flashback Kaido asks King (Alber), “You think it’s Joyboy?! Is the world I’m creating… really the one you wished for? Woro ro ro ro!!”; King answers “Legends are legends, that is all… No, I seek nothing from you anymore. My life belongs to you,” and Kaido tells him to “just continue to be the strongest there is!!”
• Orochi is alive (p.14): hiding in the 2nd-floor treasure repository, delusional (“Is this a dream, or waking life…?”), hallucinating Komurasaki (“Play that song for me!! The one I love!!”), and demanding Fukurokuju get him out before the island blows. The plot to detonate Onigashima in midair is on Orochi’s orders.
• Izo is on Onigashima (p.12–13): the former Whitebeard Pirates division commander arrives shooting, saves Usopp/Kin’emon/Kiku, and is shown to be Kiku’s sibling — Kiku gasps “Brother… I fear…”. Marco is also active “on the performance floor.”
• X Drake beat the Number Zanki, but Apoo escaped (p.15): Apoo flees (“Sorry, Zanki!! So long, Drake!!”); Drake — “Apoo got away… that took longer than I expected!! He was tough…”
• CP0’s world-stakes read (p.16): they debate leaving the castle, confirm they have not yet caught Nico Robin, and judge that “if the new generation should actually win this battle… it will set the course for the times to come,” tied to “incidents occurring all over the world as we speak.”
• Luffy lands “Roc Gun” on Kaido (p.17–19); both end the chapter exhausted but grinning — Luffy “I’m having fun now!!” / Kaido “So am I!!”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Zoro, King (true name Alber; defeated), Kaido (flashback + present dragon-form duel), Luffy, Big Mom (named as one of the “two monsters”), Usopp, Kin’emon, Okiku (Kiku; Izo’s sibling), Izo, Marco (mentioned, “on the performance floor”), Raizo, Fukurokuju, Orochi (alive), Oiran (top courtesan of Wano) (hallucinated by Orochi), X Drake, Scratchmen Apoo (escapes), Otama, Yamato (in pursuit), Kanjuro (“Burning Hatred” flame-dragon, his posthumous drawing)
• Numbers (Beasts Pirates giants): Rokki (labeled “Numbers Rokki,” door guard, p.8–9), Fuga (tusked giant on O-Tama’s side, fells Rokki, p.9), Zanki (beaten by Drake, p.15), Inbi (aids Orochi’s group’s escape, p.14)
• Minor: Hamlet (named ally fighting beside Izo, p.13 — identity not otherwise established on-page)
• Crews / groups: Animal Kingdom Pirates (Beasts Pirates), CP-0 (still hunting Robin, p.16), Whitebeard Pirates (Izo, Marco), Akazaya Nine (Kin’emon, Kiku, Raizo), Orochi Oniwabanshu (Fukurokuju, Inbi), SWORD (Drake)
• Fruits / weapons: Enma + Wado Ichimonji + Sandai Kitetsu (Zoro’s “King of Hell” three-sword style), Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model Yamata no Orochi (Orochi), Kaido’s dragon form, King’s Pteranodon zoan
• Locations: Onigashima, Skull Dome (Rightbrain Tower; castle 1st–3rd floors + crawlspace; 2nd-floor treasure repository; basement armory), Flower Capital, Wano Country

Notable panels

• p.1–2 — Two-page color spread (themed/decorative, not a cover-story B-plot): the Straw Hats (Nami, Luffy, Zoro, Chopper) and Beasts Pirates (King in a tiger mask, Queen as a cobra, others) in winter coats sliding/falling through a snowy European-style town; caption “EVERY DROP IN THE OCEAN COUNTS” (ocean-conservation tie-in). Credits: Translation Stephen Paul / Lettering Vanessa Satone.
• p.5 — Splash: Zoro mid-air with three swords, “King of Hell” mode; King’s flaming bird-form plummets. “WINNER: ZOLO — Battle outside the dome, Rightbrain Tower.”
• p.7 — Diagram-style recap of the dual demolition threat (flame-clouds/gunpowder vs the “Burning Hatred” midair detonation; Yamato in pursuit).
• p.12 — Izo arrives shooting and saves Usopp/Kin’emon/Kiku; the watchers ID him as “the former Whitebeard Pirates division leader.” Kiku: “Brother… I fear…”
• p.14 — Orochi alive in the treasure repository, hallucinating Komurasaki.
• p.18 — Luffy’s “Roc Gun” — a Haki-clad giant fist strikes Kaido.
• p.19 — Luffy & Kaido, both spent, grinning: “I’m having fun now!!” / “So am I!!” — “To be continued.”

Open questions raised

• By what mechanism did Orochi survive Kaido’s beheading? (Reaffirmed alive, still unexplained.)
• Will Yamato stop the “Burning Hatred” flame-dragon before it detonates Onigashima in midair?
• What are the “incidents occurring all over the world” CP0 cites, and how will Onigashima’s outcome “set the course for the times to come”?
• Have Luffy and Kaido truly reached “the limit of what human beings can achieve” — or are they about to exceed it?
• Who is Hamlet, the ally fighting beside Izo?