Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 937: Gyukimaru on Bandit's Bridge

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-03-17

Summary

Three Wano threads interleave. On the road from Kuri to Udon, the amnesiac Big Mom (“Olin”) and Otama swap rapturous oshiruko (red-bean-soup) talk while their escorting tamed Gifters fret that her craving “is only going to make things more dangerous for Luffy” — and that denying it might restore her memory and “return her to being Big Mom.” At the Udon Excavation Labor Camp, Luffy trains his Haki against prison “Pleasures” for Queen’s amusement, recalling Rayleigh knocking back an elephant without touching it and being coached (by Old Man Hyo / Hyogoro) to “imagine you’re wearing invisible armor”; Olin gorges herself on oshiruko nearby. On Bandit’s Bridge in snowy Ringo, Zoro confronts the warrior-monk bandit Gyukimaru, who stole Shusui and reveres it: he recounts that Wano was once “the Land of Gold,” that Ryuma slew a dragon over the capital and was entombed with Shusui as the “God of the Blade” / a National Treasure, and that Shusui is a black blade forged through Ryuma’s history of battle. A hooded woman carrying the laughing child Toko begs for help: the chained-scythe assassin Hitokiri Kamazo — branded an assassin of Orochi posing as a criminal — has come to kill Toko for naming the shogun without his title. Zoro takes the job, improvises a third blade, and unleashes Three Sword Style: Purgatory Oni Giri at both Kamazo and the interrupting Gyukimaru.

New reveals

• Wano was “the Land of Gold.” In the distant past the world knew Wano as a land of gold; pirates lusted after it and World Nobles wanted to rule it (p. 7).
• Black blades are forged. Gyukimaru states Shusui is a black blade that was forged through Ryuma’s lifetime of battle — Zoro realizes that is where its black color came from (p. 8). On-page mechanism for a Haki-blackened sword.
• Ryuma’s legend, in full. He stood against foreign invaders, slew a dragon flying over the capital, was laid to rest with Shusui in a temple and consecrated “God of the Blade,” and since his death has been made a National Treasure (pp. 6–7).
• “Olin.” The amnesiac Big Mom is addressed as Olin on-page and is fixated on oshiruko (“Oshiruko is like oxygen to me!!”) (pp. 3, 5).
• Kamazo = Orochi’s hidden assassin. Hitokiri Kamazo is accused of being Orochi’s assassin posing as a common criminal, dispatched to kill Toko because she named the shogun without his title; he says he’ll do it “for a good meal and a drink” (p. 12). See Wano Phantoms.
• Luffy’s Haki training. At Udon, Luffy works to reproduce Rayleigh’s feat of knocking a beast back without touching it, coached to picture “invisible armor” — advanced Armament / internal-destruction Haki (Ryuo) groundwork (p. 4).
• Zoro is down to two swords. Zoro means to take Shusui back: “Just doesn’t feel right without all three” (p. 7).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy, Zoro (Wano alias “Zorojuro”), Otama, Big Mom (as Olin), Queen, Hyogoro (as Old Man Hyo), Toko, Killer, Gyukimaru (first appearance), Orochi (mentioned), Ryuma (mentioned), Silvers Rayleigh (recalled)
• An unnamed hooded woman shields Toko and begs the swordsmen for help (not named on-page).
• Locations: Wano Country, Udon (Excavation Labor Camp), Ringo (Bandit’s Bridge), Kuri, Flower Capital (referenced)
• Items/blades: Shusui (Ryuma’s black blade, stolen by Gyukimaru), Wado Ichimonji + Sandai Kitetsu (Zoro’s remaining two)
• Groups: Beasts Pirates “Pleasures”/Gifters (Udon prison guards and Otama’s tamed escorts)

Notable panels

• pp. 1–2 — Double-page color spread, “ONE PIECE — planning new adventures”: the Straw Hats lounging in a whimsical tableau (Luffy on a throne, Brook with telescope, Zoro holding a cat, Robin, Nami with a parrot, Franky, Usopp in a viking helmet, monkey/toucan/parrot, a “937” plate). Decorative milestone art; flagged for mirror review.
• p. 3 — Title drop; the Kuri→Udon→Hakumai route map; “Olin” named on-page.
• p. 6 — Caption: “Bandit / Warrior-Monk — GYUKIMARU”; Zoro vs Gyukimaru on the snowbound Bandit’s Bridge.
• p. 8 — “Shusui is a black blade!! It was forged through Ryuma’s history of battle!!”
• p. 11 — Caption: “Wanted Man in the Flower Capital — HITOKIRI KAMAZO”; chained-scythe debut against Zoro.
• p. 17 — Splash: Three Sword Style “Purgatory Oni Giri” — Zoro strikes both Kamazo and Gyukimaru. “Next chapter hits Mar. 31!”

Open questions raised

• Who is the hooded woman shielding Toko, and why does she fight alongside her?
• What exactly is the connection between Wano’s hidden “Land of Gold” wealth and its sealed borders?
• Will Zoro reclaim Shusui as his third blade, given it is a Wano National Treasure that the country wants kept home?
• Can Luffy actually learn Rayleigh’s “invisible armor” Haki at the mines — and in time to matter?