Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country
Chapter 948: Introducing Kawamatsu the Kappa
This chapter's foreshadowing ledger — what it plants, what it pays off, and what debuts here. Locked seeds pay off beyond your ⚓ progress; tap one to reveal it anyway.
- Plants
- 2 seeds🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 dialogue-from-dead-character
- Firsts
- The 'never-opening cell' at the Udon prison holds KAWAMATSU THE KAPPA, one of the Akazaya Nine — imprisoned 13 years on Orochi's order for a 'slow execution' (fed poisoned fish swimming in the factory's polluted water)
- Kawamatsu is a Kozuki-clan vassal and a YOKOZUNA — 'the samurai and most powerful of sumo wrestlers'; he fights with 'Kappa Style' sumo (techniques: Sotomuso, Yagura Ryuo, River of Retribution; rule: 'if your feet come off the ground, you lose')
- Kiku is revealed to the prisoners as KIKUNOJO OF THE FALLEN SNOW — 'the most handsome swordsman of Wano,' thought killed at Oden Castle; 'a woman at heart' but a man
- Raizo is captioned RAIZO OF THE MIST, the rival ninja of Fukurokuju
- Hyogoro ('Old Man Hyo') is confirmed to the prisoners as HYOGORO THE FLOWER
- Queen's hobby is building 'weaponized mechanisms and viruses' — Daifugo's 'plague rounds' are a contact-communicable plague Queen engineered
- The broken-spirited Udon prisoners explain their despair: 20 years ago they fought to avenge Kozuki Oden (Daimyo of Kuri) and were crushed by Kaido; Lord Yasuie's recent execution renewed the terror
- The amnesiac Big Mom is referenced on-page as the rescue target 'Olin' of Luffy's allies (Chopper-emon's group)
Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-07-08
Summary
At the Udon Excavation Labor Camp, Luffy keeps grinding through his “flowing Haki” (Ryuo) training under Old Man Hyo, treating the swarm of attacking guards as sparring partners while his allies (the disguised “Chopper-emon” group) fret about rescuing the amnesiac “Olin” (Big Mom). Vice Warden Daifugo demonstrates Queen’s newest cruelty — “plague rounds,” contact-communicable virus bullets — to terrorize the prisoners, who explain that their spirit was broken 20 years ago when Kaido crushed their bid to avenge Kozuki Oden, and again at Lord Yasuie’s execution. A kappa-like laugh erupts from the prison’s “never-opening cell”: its occupant of 13 years is revealed to be Kawamatsu, one of the Akazaya Nine, sentenced by Orochi to a slow death by poisoned fish. As guards rush to behead him for a promotion, Raizo throws him a disguised key and his katana; the freed Kawamatsu obliterates the guards with his “Kappa Style” sumo (Sotomuso, Yagura Ryuo, River of Retribution) and reunites with Kiku and Raizo. To rally the broken prisoners, the three are urged to drop their disguises — revealing Kikunojo of the Fallen Snow, Raizo of the Mist, Yokozuna Kawamatsu, and Hyogoro the Flower — proving the Kozuki retainers are “not mere ghosts and memories” and that Orochi’s paranoid ramblings about their survival were true.
New reveals
- The never-opening cell holds Kawamatsu the Kappa, one of the Akazaya Nine (Nine Red Scabbards), imprisoned 13 years. Orochi ordered a “slow execution”: feed him fish swimming in the weapons-factory’s polluted water until he dies in agony (p8).
- Kawamatsu is a Yokozuna — “the samurai and most powerful of sumo wrestlers” — and a Kozuki-clan vassal. His “Kappa Style” sumo uses techniques Sotomuso, Yagura Ryuo, and River of Retribution; its core rule is “if your feet come off the ground, you lose” (pp10–13, 17).
- Kiku = Kikunojo of the Fallen Snow, “the most handsome swordsman of Wano,” believed killed at Oden Castle. On-page gag: “This one is a woman at heart ♡” / “What?! You’re a man?!” (p16).
- Raizo = Raizo of the Mist, captioned as the rival ninja of Fukurokuju (p17).
- Hyogoro = Hyogoro the Flower, the masked old man, confirmed to the prisoners (p17).
- Queen builds “weaponized mechanisms and viruses” as a hobby; Daifugo’s plague rounds spread a contact-communicable plague — Queen’s engineering (pp6–7).
- Prisoner despair backstory: 20 years ago they fought to avenge Kozuki Oden, Daimyo of Kuri, and Kaido crushed them; Lord Yasuie’s execution reflooded “all of the old terror and despair” (pp4–5).
- The amnesiac Big Mom is referenced as “Olin,” the rescue target Luffy’s disguised allies are debating (p3).
Foreshadowing seeds planted
Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)
Mentions / appearances
- Characters (on-page): Luffy, Hyogoro, Babanuki, Daifugo, Kawamatsu, Okiku (Kiku/Kikunojo), Raizo, Tony Tony Chopper (“Chopper-emon”)
- Characters (referenced): Queen, Fukurokuju, Big Mom (“Olin”), Kaido, Orochi, Kozuki Oden, Tonoyasu (Lord Yasuie)
- Groups: Akazaya Nine, Animal Kingdom Pirates, Kozuki
- Locations: Wano Country, Udon (Excavation Labor Camp), Flower Capital, Kuri, Ringo, Onigashima, Oden Castle (referenced)
Notable panels
- Page 1 (cover): Limited Cover Series No. 24, Vol. 1: “Escape Successful!” — the Big Mom Pirates’ cake-ship Tarte sailing the open sea (sail and candle marked “25”).
- Page 2: Map of Wano’s regions (Kuri, Kibi, Ringo, Hakumai, Udon, FC/Flower Capital, Oni/Onigashima) with Udon highlighted; Luffy drilling “flowing Haki” as Hyo coaches “Mm, not quite!!”
- Page 11–12: Kawamatsu’s “Kappa Style” sumo — Yagura Ryuo into River of Retribution — sends guards flying.
- Page 13: Intro splash — “Kozuki Clan vassal YOKOZUNA KAWAMATSU — Kawamatsu the Kappa joins the battle!!!”
- Page 16: Group-reveal splash — Kiku unmasked as Kikunojo of the Fallen Snow beside the freed prisoners; “The first step to gain their trust.”
Open questions raised
- Will the broken-spirited Udon prisoners rally behind Luffy and the revealed scabbards?
- How will the rest of the Akazaya Nine reunite ahead of the Fire Festival raid?
- What is the full extent of Queen’s “viruses” arsenal beyond the plague rounds?
- Can the guards report the scabbards’ survival to Kaido before they are silenced?