Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Zou

Chapter 816: Dog vs. Cat

Arc: Zou · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2016-01-18

Summary

A warning bell rung by the mink Bariete signals that two samurai are loose in the Mokomo Dukedom, and the minks scramble to keep their wandering rulers from finding them. The dukedom’s two rival lords — Inuarashi (Dogstorm) and Nekomamushi (Cat Viper) — collide in Kurau City and, each now missing a limb, fall into a snarling duel, demanding the visiting samurai surrender “Raizo.” Kin’emon, unable to watch the bloodshed, shouts to stop the fight and exposes himself, declaring his name and that he is a servant of the Kozuki Clan searching for his compatriot Raizo. Terrified the minks will kill him, Kin’emon vows to cut his belly if Raizo is found there — only for the dukes to reveal that Raizo is alive and well. The minks endured the destruction of their millennium-old city rather than betray a comrade, because they have been sworn brothers of Wano’s Kozuki Clan since long ago. Meanwhile Momonosuke reunites with Kanjuro, and Luffy and the hiding Straw Hats look on, stunned.

New reveals

• The two rulers of the Mokomo Dukedom are Inuarashi (Dogstorm), “King of Dogs,” and Nekomamushi (Cat Viper), the “monster cat” — long-standing rivals who fall to fighting the moment they meet (p. 8–11).
• Each ruler is now missing a limb — Dogstorm a leg, Cat Viper a paw — scars implied from the catastrophe that wrecked the dukedom (p. 8–9).
• The Mokomo Dukedom fell into ruin because someone attacked it over the false accusation that the minks were “harboring a samurai” (p. 2, 5).
• Raizo is alive and well — the minks hid and protected him the whole time (p. 14–16).
• The Minks have been “like brothers to the Kozuki Clan of Wano” since long in the past, and would never sell a comrade to an enemy “no matter what should befall us” — their city is a millennium old (p. 16–17).
• The world’s rumor that Zou is a “man-hating” land actually refers to the minks (p. 4).
• Whale Forest and Kurau City are named districts of the dukedom; Right-Flank Fortress is a mink stronghold (p. 3, 5, 6).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy · Kin’emon · Kanjuro · Momonosuke · Inuarashi (Dogstorm) · Nekomamushi (Cat Viper) · Wanda · Pedro · Bariete · Nami · Brook · Tony Tony Chopper · Raizo (named, alive, not shown) · Trafalgar Law (referenced: “according to what Sir Law said”) · Minks · Zou · Mokomo Dukedom · Whale Forest · Kurau City · Right-Flank Fortress · the Kozuki Clan of Wano (referenced) · the Thousand Sunny (referenced, p. 7)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title spread “Dog vs. Cat.” Cover-serial banner: “DECKS OF THE WORLD, 500-MILLION-MAN ARC, VOL. 10: WATER SEVEN — YOU FINALLY DID IT…” Art shows Water Seven figures crowded around a WANTED poster (Luffy’s new 500-million bounty news).
• Page 2 — Silhouettes of a tiger and a wolf/dog (Cat Viper and Dogstorm) framed over the line about the dukedom’s ruin; the bell tolling.
• Page 8 — Two-panel face-off splash: Dogstorm and Cat Viper meet for the first time in years, each missing a limb. (Mirror candidate — “Dog vs. Cat” iconography.)
• Page 12 — Full-tier panel: Kin’emon shouting “CEASE THIS SQUABBLE!!!”, exposing himself to the dukes.
• Page 15 — ”…ALIVE AND WELL!!!” — the reveal that Raizo is safe; Luffy, Wanda, Momonosuke and Brook react.
• Page 17 — The dukes’ declaration of the millennium-old Mink–Kozuki brotherhood; final “BOOM!!” To Be Continued, Vol. 82.

Open questions raised

• Who razed the Mokomo Dukedom, and how did the minks survive an assault that cost both rulers a limb?
• Why have the Minks of Zou and Wano’s Kozuki Clan been sworn brothers for a thousand years?
• Where exactly is Raizo hidden, and why is he so important to the Kozuki cause?
• What is the nature of the day/rivalry between Zou’s two co-rulers?