Chapters · Water Seven › Long Ring Long Land

Chapter 308: Obstructive Tactics

Arc: Long Ring Long Land · Saga: Water Seven · Released:

Summary

The Donut Race (Davy Back Fight Round 1) reaches its obstacle gauntlet. Both boats — the Foxy Pirates’ Cutie Wagon and the Straw Hats’ Barrel Tiger — hit Long Coral Reef, a “current maze” of coral spires and small whirlpools where the boats keep getting flung in and spat back out. On shore, captain Foxy unleashes a barrage of deception: a Smoke Screen (“his devilish interference”), then White-Out Blitz / “Coral Blind” to blind the racers inside the reef. Nami counters by reading the currents — finding the spot where the whirlpools will carry the Barrel Tiger cleanly through (“see how great our navigator is?!”). Past the reef looms the Long Ring Whirlpool; Usopp fires his last Impact Dial to rocket the boat clear (and over Long Cape, where the boats “fly”). The Cutie Wagon claws back when Capote the fish-man combines his Fish-Man Karate with the shark Monda’s tail-fin into a “Twin Fishpower Engine,” doubling speed by plowing through the coral. Foxy keeps cheating: Bogus Sign Blitz (a fake “DONUT RACE → GO RIGHT” course-marker) and a series of Bogus Goal Blitz fake finish-lines, but the Straw Hats — and even the Foxy crew — see through them. At the final stretch (Long Ring Bamboo Grove Cape), Usopp’s plan: have Robin topple the giant bamboo with “Flower Shuriken” so the boat can ramp/bridge over the cape; Porche counters with a “Cutie Baton.” Both boats converge on the real goal in a dead heat — and the chapter cuts away on the cliffhanger “WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS?!” (the Donut Race winner is not yet revealed). Throughout, the Davy Back Fight MC Itomimizu narrates the race.

New reveals

• Donut Race obstacle terrain (named on-page): Long Coral Reef — a coral “current maze” full of small whirlpools that fling the boats in and out (pp. 2, 6, 8); Long Cape — a tall promontory the boats jump/“fly” over (p. 10: “They’re not accelerating… they’re flying!”); the Long Ring Whirlpool beyond the coral (p. 9); and Long Ring Bamboo Grove Cape (“Long Bamboo Grove Cape,” p. 15), the giant-bamboo final stretch.
• Foxy fights with pure deception this chapter — not a Devil Fruit. His on-shore “interference” arsenal: a Smoke Screen (“And his devilish interference!!”, p. 7); White-Out Blitz / “Coral Blind” to blind the racers inside the reef (p. 7); Bogus Sign Blitz — a fake “DONUT RACE GO RIGHT” course-marker meant to misdirect (p. 12); and a run of Bogus Goal Blitz fake GOAL finish-lines staged short of the real goal (pp. 13–14). His power is still not shown or named (pp. 1–18). (Inference: these are the “something evil” he promised @0307 — gamesmanship/trickery, not yet a fruit.)
• Nami reads currents to navigate the reef. She locates where the whirlpool currents will carry the boat through (“if we enter at the right spot, the currents will carry us through… it’s a current maze,” p. 8); commentary lionizes the Straw Hats’ navigator (p. 8). She also sees through Foxy’s bogus signs/goals (pp. 12–14).
• Capote’s “Twin Fishpower Engine” — the marlin fish-man Capote combines his Fish-Man Karate with the shark Monda’s tail-fin to double the Cutie Wagon’s speed, plowing straight through the coral (“With Fish-Man Capote’s muscles and the shark’s tail-fin… they double their speed!”, p. 11).
• New Hana-Hana technique: “Flower Shuriken” (Hana Hana no Mi) — Robin sprouts bladed flower-petals to fell the giant bamboo at the cape, executing Usopp’s bridge/ramp plan (“Flower Shuriken!!” / “FOOF FOOF”, p. 16).
• Usopp’s Impact Dial is spent. He fires his last Impact Dial to clear the Long Ring Whirlpool (“Use the Impact Dial” p. 9; later “No more Impact Dial!” p. 14), exhausting the Dial arsenal Nami smuggled down from Skypiea.
• Porche’s “Cutie Baton” (p. 15) — a thrown-baton attack used during the final dash. (Whether this is her Devil-Fruit power or just a prop is not clarified; her fruit remains unnamed.)
• The Donut Race ends UNRESOLVED. Both boats converge on the real goal in a dead heat; the chapter closes on “Round one of the Davy Back Fight, the Donut Race… is nearing its conclusion!! WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS?!” — the winner is not revealed this chapter (p. 18).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats (racers): Nami, Nico Robin, Usopp aboard the Barrel Tiger; crowd-side crew cheering (Straw Hat Pirates).
• Foxy Pirates: Foxy (on shore, running the interference), Porche, Capote, Monda (aboard the Cutie Wagon), Hamburg (coaching), Itomimizu (Davy Back Fight MC, narrating the race) (Foxy Pirates).
• Events/concepts: Davy Back Fight (Donut Race, Round 1 — finale), Hana Hana no Mi (Robin’s “Flower Shuriken”), Dials Skypiean Sea-Shell Technology (Usopp’s last Impact Dial), Fish-Man Karate / “Twin Fishpower Engine” (Capote + Monda).
• Location: Long Ring Long Land — named race geography: Long Coral Reef, Long Cape, Long Ring Whirlpool, Long Ring Bamboo Grove Cape.
• Title splash: Chopper (lying in a tide-pool ringed by sea-cows/dugong-like creatures and crabs — decorative title-page one-off).

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title splash: “Chapter 308: OBSTRUCTIVE TACTICS.” Illustration of Chopper lying on the seabed/tide-pool, surrounded by a ring of round seal-/dugong-like sea creatures and small crabs (one creature with a fanged mouth open). Standalone decorative title page — not a cover serial (logs to Long-Ring-Long-Land-Title-Page-One-Offs).
• p. 2 — “Porche’s Cutie Wagon is in the lead! … The race is heating up! The teams have just reached Long Coral Reef!” “Hot on their heels is the Straw Hats’ Barrel Tiger!!” Nami/Robin: “We shouldn’t just rush in without thinking” — “There are strange currents forming around it!”
• pp. 2–5 — The boats keep getting flung into and back out of the reef’s whirlpools (“The Cutie Wagon circled back?!” / “They came back out again!”). Nami: “I knew these currents were weird. Increase speed!!”
• p. 7 — Foxy’s interference: Smoke Screen (“A smoke screen!!” / “And his devilish interference!!”), then White-Out Blitz / Coral Blind (“Let’s see if you can get through this maze of coral blind!”) — but the Barrel Tiger gets through “easily.”
• p. 8 — Nami reads the reef like a current maze: “If we enter at the right spot, the currents will carry us through… the whirlpool on the other side of the reef is creating a series of smaller whirlpools inside it.” Commentary: “See how great our navigator is?!”
• p. 9 — Beyond the coral is the Long Ring Whirlpool; Usopp told to “Use the Impact Dial” → “VWOOM!! The Barrel Tiger accelerates again!!”
• p. 10 — At Long Cape the boats jump: “They’re not accelerating… they’re flying!” The Barrel Tiger splashes down with “a miraculous lead.”
• p. 11 — Foxy: “We underestimated them, Porche. Hold on!!” Capote + Monda: “Combine! Twin Fishpower Engine!!” — “With Fish-Man Capote’s muscles and the shark’s tail-fin… they double their speed!” plowing through the coral.
• p. 12 — Bogus Sign Blitz: a fake “DONUT RACE → GO RIGHT” course-marker. Nami: “Okay! We’ll go right!” → ”…OR NOT!!” (she sees through “the Boss’s special — Bogus Sign Blitz!”).
• pp. 13–14 — Bogus Goal Blitz: Foxy stages fake GOAL finish-lines (“This finish line is a fake!!” / “They even saw through the bogus goal blitz!”). Both crews see through them; Foxy keeps trying (“Are you stupid?! I told you that won’t work!”).
• p. 15 — Final stretch at Long Bamboo Grove Cape. Usopp: “I’ve got an idea, Usopp!!… Can you knock over that bamboo?” — the plan to ramp/bridge the cape; Porche readies a “Cutie Baton.”
• p. 16 — Robin “Flower Shuriken!!” (“FOOF FOOF FOOF”) — bladed petals fell the giant bamboo. “What?! Flower magic?!”
• p. 14 — Usopp: “No more Impact Dial!” — the Dial arsenal is spent.
• p. 17–18 — Both boats converge on the real goal (“the goal’s right there!” / “Pull up alongside them!”). Crowd: “Nami and those guys are gonna win!!” Final caption: “Round one of the Davy Back Fight, the Donut Race… is nearing its conclusion!! WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS?!”
• p. 19 — SBS Question Corner (non-story): Q on Wapol eating the whole crew + “Miraculous Fusion” (the “Gagon” gag, Vol. 17); Q confirming the “monster” in Ch. 299 references the real Brocken spectre / “Glory” (“Goraigo”) phenomenon. Not story content.

Open questions raised

• Who wins the Donut Race? The chapter ends mid-finish with both boats neck-and-neck (p. 18) — Round 1’s outcome (and which crew loses a member, per Davy Back Fight stakes) is unresolved.
• What is Foxy’s actual power? Through 0308 he fights only by deception/interference — no Devil Fruit shown or named (the slow-beam power and its fruit name are still withheld).
• Is Porche’s “Cutie Baton” her Devil-Fruit power or a thrown prop? (p. 15.) Her fruit remains unnamed.