Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 1038: Kid & Law vs. Big Mom

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2022-02-06

Summary

The Kazenbo flames race through every floor of Onigashima’s Skull Dome and the allies scramble to evacuate trapped men before the castle collapses or detonates. On the third floor Raizo struggles to hold the fire with a failing jutsu; on the first floor the former Whitebeard division commander Izo fights beside his sister Okiku and crosses paths with a CP0 agent who, despite his orders, knowingly lets him slip away. Chopper — reverted from Monster Point — reveals he gave the half-dead Zoro a medicine that doubles his healing now at the cost of doubled damage later, and Zoro forces his seizing body to move at Rightbrain Tower. Yamato sprints to the basement armory to stop the flames reaching the gunpowder, but Orochi (in a many-handed serpent state) and his loyalists are already there. On the Performance Floor, Kid and Law — though their crews beg Big Mom to stop — refuse to let the exhausted Emperor climb to the roof to aid Kaido: Law impales her with Kikoku (“Anesthesia”) and discharges “Shock Wille,” then Kid magnetizes the castle’s hoarded I-beams into the colossal “Punk Corna Dio” and slams it down on her, declaring they’d rather die than let her reach the roof.

New reveals

• Chopper (with the mink doctors Miyagi and Tristan) gave Zoro a medicine that grants a temporary burst of extreme healing in exchange for twice the damage suffered later — Chopper is alarmed it’s now “doubled” on an already crippled Zoro (p.4).
• Reverting from Monster Point leaves Chopper “teeny and weak” — the stated side effect of that transformation (p.4).
• A CP0 agent personally recognizes Izo (“We never saw each other today, Izo”), admits his job should compel him to stop a wanted ex-Whitebeard pirate, but lets him go (“Until we meet again, another day…”); Izo answers “No, CP0… don’t go yet” — implying a shared past (pp.6–7).
• Orochi has reached the armory in a multi-handed serpent state; a loyalist guards the explosives (“Don’t touch those explosives!!!” / technique “Mahoroba”) (pp.9–10).
• Law’s combo on Big Mom: a Kikoku stab (“Anesthesia”) and the electric discharge “Shock Wille”; Kid’s magnetic super-construct “Punk Corna Dio,” assembled from the castle’s hoarded I-beams, is “even bigger than Big Mom’s giant form” (pp.13–17).
• Kid & Law’s stated goal: keep Big Mom off the roof so she can’t help Kaido — “I’d rather die… than let you go to the roof!!!” (p.17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Eustass Kid, Trafalgar Law, Big Mom, Yamato, Orochi, Tony Tony Chopper, Miyagi, Tristan, Zoro, Franky, Izo, Okiku, Raizo, Fukurokuju (armory loyalist — name not legibly captioned this chapter), Hera; referenced: Kaido, Luffy, Kin’emon
• Groups: CP-0, Animal Kingdom Pirates, Kid Pirates, Heart Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates (referenced), Straw Hat Pirates, Minks
• Locations: Onigashima, Skull Dome (Performance Floor, Third Floor, Second Floor, First Floor crawl-space, First Basement, Rightbrain Tower, castle-basement Armory), Wano Country, Flower Capital
• Cover (B-plot): Germa 66’s “Ahh… An Emotionless Excursion, Vol. 3: ‘Niji & Yonji are held captive in Chocolat Town on Cacao Island’” — Vinsmoke Niji, Vinsmoke Yonji

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page + Germa-66 cover serial (Vol. 3): Niji & Yonji displayed wanted-poster-style in Chocolat Town.
• Pages 2–3 — The Kazenbo fire spreading through Third/Second floors; Raizo told to “undo the jutsu… or we will both die!!”; allies stress these flames will “kill scores of men all on their own.”
• Page 5 — Recurring Onigashima cross-section map prop (character-icon locator): Zolo & Franky pinned at “Rightbrain Tower, under the dome”; Zoro forces his seizing body — “MOVE IT!!!”
• Pages 6–7 — Izo vs the Beasts on the First Floor; the CP0 (“Aegis Zero”) encounter — “We never saw each other today, Izo.”
• Page 8 — Yamato’s “Namuji Glacier Fang”; map prop pins Yamato at “Armory, castle basement.”
• Pages 9–10 — The jolly-roger-marked gunpowder barrels; Orochi’s multi-handed serpent state at the armory (“Lord… Orochi…!!” / “Hands?!”).
• Page 12 — Big Mom’s “God of Lightning Tenjin” zaps Kid’s & Law’s crews pleading for their captains (“SAVE THE CAPTAIN!!!” / “BOSS!!!” / “SILENCE, YOU RUNTS!! THIS IS A BATTLEFIELD!!!”).
• Pages 14–15 — Law’s Kikoku stab (“Anesthesia”) + “Shock Wille!!!!” electric discharge; “Big Mom’s dead!!!”
• Pages 16–17 — Kid’s “Punk Corna Dio” magnetic colossus — “even bigger than Big Mom’s giant form” — crushing Big Mom; cliffhanger: “I’d rather die… than let you go to the roof!!!”

Open questions raised

• What is the shared history between Izo and the CP0 agent who deliberately let him go?
• Will Chopper’s doubling medicine cost Zoro catastrophically once it wears off?
• Can Yamato (and Orochi’s interference) stop the Kazenbo flames from detonating the armory’s gunpowder?
• Will Kid & Law’s combined assault actually keep Big Mom from reaching the roof — and at what cost to themselves?

Threads touched

• How Did Orochi Survive His Beheading — Orochi reappears at the armory, multi-handed serpent state.
• Why Is Kaidos Son Yamato Aiding Luffy — Yamato races to protect the island/Flower Capital from the armory explosion.