Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 928: Introducing Komurasaki the Oiran

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2018-12-24

Summary

The chapter opens in the Udon Stone Quarry — a Beasts-Pirate prison-labor camp in Wano — where a seastone-cuffed Luffy is buoying the other prisoners: he shares his food-exchange tickets despite the guards, and the longtime prisoner Old Man Hyo thanks him for a heroic rescue the day before. The con-man Caribou (bounty 210,000,000) is jailed here too and begs to be Luffy’s “henchman” in an escape, while elsewhere Eustass Kid — also imprisoned — defiantly proclaims that he will be the one to destroy Kaido. Off to the side, Raizo reports he has located the key to Luffy’s cuffs (locked in a guarded sea-prism-stone box) and pledges to procure it, though it will take time. The scene shifts to the Flower Capital for the procession of the oiran Komurasaki, “Greatest Courtesan of Wano.” A flashback-style montage shows her cruelty: a string of wealthy old men (chief among them the doomed Bingo) bankrupt themselves — selling homes, families, everything — believing she loves them, only for Komurasaki to spend their money and discard them with open scorn (“To me, a man is nothing more than a dog that fetches me riches… I have only scorn for the poor man”). The yakuza boss Kyoshiro beats and ejects the ruined Bingo, who is then banished from the capital in Shogun Orochi’s name for being too poor to “buoy the economy.” Finally, at Amigasa Village in Kuri, Momonosuke confides to Otama that he has a younger sister, Hiyori, who would be 26 if alive — no one has confirmed her death — and that he cannot go searching for her until the war is won, because if her identity were known, Orochi would hunt her down.

New reveals

• Luffy is a prisoner in the Udon Stone Quarry, Wano — in seastone cuffs (which permit weak movement so prisoners can still labor), doing forced quarry work, and quietly buoying morale by sharing his food-exchange tickets (p. 2-4).
• Old Man Hyo — captioned “Longtime Prisoner” — is the frail elderly inmate Luffy rescued the previous day (p. 2).
• Eustass Kid is imprisoned in Udon and vows that “the one who gets famous for destroying Kaido will be ME!!!” (p. 5). He confirms he lost an arm in a clash with the Red-Hair Pirates — not to Big Mom, whom he says he never went after (p. 5).
• Caribou (bounty 210,000,000, “Wet-Haired”) is jailed in Udon and begs Luffy to let him tag along in an escape, claiming he’s been here longer and “knows things” (p. 4).
• Raizo is working to free Luffy: the key to the seastone cuffs is kept in a sea-prism-stone box under guard and closely watched; Raizo pledges to procure it but warns it will take time (p. 3).
• Komurasaki, “Greatest Courtesan of Wano,” is introduced — an oiran of the Flower Capital who lures wealthy men into total ruin, takes their fortunes, then scorns them (p. 6-16).
• Kyoshiro, a Flower Capital yakuza boss, runs the business behind Komurasaki, protecting her and brutally ejecting her bankrupt suitors (p. 12-13).
• Orochi’s Flower Capital banishes the impoverished: those who “cannot buoy the economy” are exiled from the city (p. 16).
• Momonosuke has a younger sister, Hiyori, who “if alive would be 26 years old now”; her death is unconfirmed (unlike their mother’s, which was witnessed). Momonosuke refuses to seek her until the war is won, lest Orochi target her (p. 17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

(None resolved on-page this chapter.)

Mentions / appearances

Luffy (Udon prisoner) · Hyo (first appearance — “Old Man Hyo”) · Caribou (reappears, Udon) · Eustass Kid (reappears, Udon) · Raizo (named; reports on the key) · Oiran (top courtesan of Wano) (first appearance — the oiran) · Kyoshiro (first appearance — “Boss Kyoshiro”) · Bingo (first appearance — ruined suitor) · Momonosuke · Otama (“Tama”) · Kozuki Hiyori · Orochi (referenced — Shogun) · Kaido (mentioned) · Big Mom (mentioned — Kid arm rumor, p5) · Kozuki · Udon · Flower Capital · Amigasa Village · Kuri · Wano Country

Komurasaki is recorded only as the oiran Komurasaki, and Kyoshiro only as the Flower-Capital yakuza boss. Their later-revealed identities are NOT on-page in this chapter and must not be asserted here.

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page request illustration (B&W): “The kids watching the hero stage show ‘Love Franky’,” by Fire Yamamoto. Reader-request art, not a serialized cover story.
• Page 2 — Establishing caption “UDON, WANO” / “STONE QUARRY”; intro of “Longtime Prisoner Old Man Hyo.”
• Page 4 — Caribou intro card: “Captain, Caribou Pirates — Wet-Haired — Caribou — Bounty: 210,000,000,” with an on-page “Caribou Refresher” recap.
• Page 5 — Eustass Kid revealed imprisoned in Udon (“K…K-K-Kid!!”), vowing to be the one to destroy Kaido.
• Page 6 — “FLOWER CAPITAL”; the oiran’s procession is announced.
• Pages 8-9 — Komurasaki manipulates the besotted old man Bingo into selling everything he owns.
• Page 12 — Intro of “Boss Kyoshiro,” the tattooed yakuza boss.
• Page 13 — Kyoshiro beats and ejects the ruined, weeping Bingo.
• Page 14 — Procession splash: “GREATEST COURTESAN OF WANO — KOMURASAKI THE OIRAN,” in full oiran regalia (a young attendant girl walks at her side).
• Page 16 — Komurasaki’s cold close-up: “I have only scorn… for the poor man.”
• Page 17 — “AMIGASA VILLAGE, KURI”; Momonosuke reveals his sister Hiyori to Otama.

Open questions raised

• Who is the oiran Komurasaki, really, and what lies beneath her displayed cruelty?
• How can Momonosuke, an apparent child, have a sister who “would be 26”? What does the age gap mean?
• Is Hiyori alive, and where is she hidden in Wano?
• Will Raizo procure the key in time to free Luffy (and Kid) from the Udon mines?