Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 1057: The End

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2022-08-07

Summary

The Wano arc reaches its curtain call. Intercut throughout with a kabuki play in the Flower Capital that retells the samurai saga for the populace, the Straw Hats prepare to leave Wano. At Tokage Port in Udon, Yamato tells Momonosuke she has already declined Luffy’s invitation to sail — she means instead to walk the whole of Wano on foot the way Oden first did, learning the country before one day taking to the sea, and she vows to “surpass Kozuki Oden.” Momonosuke — now Shogun of Wano — is devastated that the Straw Hats would leave without a word, and in adult-dragon form he races after the departing Thousand Sunny to catch them. Crashing down crying and reverting to a small naked boy, he begs them to stay; Luffy, Kin’emon, and the crew tease and console him, and Luffy hands him a Straw Hat Jolly Roger flag to fly over Wano: a sign that the country is under the Straw Hats’ protection — “if anyone messes with my crew… they’ll know.” Luffy promises to come collect Momonosuke himself the day the boy wants to become a pirate. The crew sets sail — Law and Kid part ways too, the Worst-Generation alliance dissolving as enemies-again — and instead of dropping back down the waterfall they came up, they route to Hakumai’s formal port to take the lift down. The play, meanwhile, reaches its climax: Denjiro cutting down Orochi, Orochi’s dying Kurozumi curse, and Princess Hiyori delivering her verdict upon the burning tyrant. The cast bows, the narrator dedicates the saga to the samurai “regaining their lost glory,” and the chapter closes: “The End.”

New reveals

• The Wano arc ends. Title: “The End.” The chapter is framed as the final act of a Flower-Capital kabuki play (“This has been the saga of mighty samurai… regaining their lost glory to shine as before”), closing on a “THE END” / “To be continued!” card (p. 16–17).
• Yamato will not sail with Luffy — yet (p. 3, 10). She has already turned the crew down: “Oden started his travels of the world by walking about the country, didn’t he…? I’ll follow the same path, and eventually it will take me out to sea!” She declares “I will surpass Kozuki Oden!! Someday… in the future…” Momonosuke vows to be there to witness it.
• Momonosuke is Shogun of Wano and can shift between his adult dragon and child forms at will. He chases the Sunny in dragon form, then reverts to a crying boy begging the crew to stay (p. 7–8).
• Luffy gives Momonosuke a Straw Hat flag (p. 9–10): “Fly this flag over Wano!! If anyone shows up causing trouble, let them see it!!! …They’ll know that if anyone messes with my crew…” He also promises: “If you ever want to go to pirates, just say the word and we’ll come right along and pick you up!!”
• The Worst-Generation alliance disbands. Luffy, Law, and Kid part as the ships scatter — “See ya later, Traffy!” / “Shut up.” / “…we’re total enemies. If people die, so be it. If we ever run into each other again out there…” (p. 6).
• Departure route (p. 11): rather than crash down the falls the way they entered, the crew heads for Hakumai’s formal port “to take the lift down”; Zoro and Jimbei needle Luffy about taking the “safe and secure” route.
• The play’s recap of the finale (p. 12–15): Denjiro slices Orochi in two; Orochi, “whom all thought burned to death,” lives on through malice and is finally undone; he curses Wano — “The wrath of the Kurozumi clan will curse this country unto its last generation” — and Princess Hiyori, fan in hand bearing the Kozuki seal, delivers her verdict: “Kurozumi was born… to burn!!!”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats (departing): Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook, Jinbei — aboard the Thousand Sunny
• Wano: Momonosuke (Shogun), Yamato, Kin’emon
• Allied captains parting: Trafalgar Law (Heart Pirates), Eustass Kid (Kid Pirates)
• Referenced / play-depicted: Kozuki Oden, Orochi (Kurozumi), Kozuki Hiyori, Denjiro, Kaido — portrayed by actors in the kabuki retelling; Akazaya Nine; Kozuki, Kurozumi
• Locations: Wano Country, Tokage Port (Udon), Udon, Hakumai, Flower Capital, Onigashima (play), Habu Port (play narration)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Cover serial: “Germa 66’s AH… An Emotionless Excursion, Vol. 16: ‘Caesar’s Poison Gas Attack!!’” — the ongoing Germa 66 / Vinsmoke cover story; a swordsman silhouette amid poison smoke and a hand marked “C” (Caesar).
• Page 2 — Frame device: a kabuki narrator opens “the story of the loyal samurai vassals… who fought bravely to avenge the death of Kozuki Oden!” — the whole chapter is intercut with this play in the Flower Capital.
• Page 7–8 — Momonosuke’s farewell: the adult dragon crashes after the Sunny, reverts to a sobbing naked boy: “Pleez stay with me foreverrr!!! Don’t leeb meeee!!!”
• Page 9–10 — The flag: Luffy presents the Straw Hat Jolly Roger to the new Shogun to fly over Wano.
• Page 14–15 — The play’s Hiyori: an oiran actress as Princess Hiyori delivers “Kurozumi was born… to burn!!!” to a weeping, cheering crowd.
• Page 16 — Full-cast splash: the assembled players (Kaido, Orochi, the scabbards) bow as the saga concludes.
• Page 17 — “THE END.”

Open questions raised

• Will Yamato actually leave Wano and take to the sea — and will she join the Straw Hats when she does?
• With Wano concluded and Momonosuke flying the Straw Hat flag, what is the crew’s next destination?
• Where do Law and Kid head now that the Worst-Generation alliance has dissolved?