Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 952: Hiyori and Kawamatsu

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-08-04

Summary

At Bandit’s Bridge in Ringo the next day, Zoro is still locked in combat with the weapon-hoarding warrior-monk Gyukimaru, who insists Zoro’s black blade Shusui is a stolen national treasure of Wano — its removal “incurred the wrath of the god of the blade” and began the country’s slide under enemy control, with Nico Robin looking on bewildered. A leaping fish-man halts the duel; Hiyori recognizes him as Kawamatsu. The scene cuts to Onigashima, where Kaido and Big Mom have brawled all night, and Queen takes a transponder-snail call from “Warden Babanuki” of Udon reporting the prisoners are safely locked up — a lie: the Excavation Labor Camp has been quietly seized. Caribou helped, the warden Babanuki has been tamed with millet dumplings, Chopperemon cured the camp’s plague, and ~3,500 prisoners, plus the freed Hyogoro and the yakuza bosses of every region, now back Luffy — who has also recovered the stolen plans to Kaido’s mansion on Onigashima at the ruins of Itachi Port, Kuri. Raizo reports it all to Kin’emon, who resolves to make Amigasa Village the alliance’s base and stresses they still need swords (Orochi outlawed weapons). Back at Ringo, Kawamatsu and Hiyori reunite — he raised her after her parents died, and she ran away years ago only because she feared he was starving himself to feed her — before armed men arrive seeking revenge on Gyukimaru; Zoro cuts them down to protect Hiyori while Gyukimaru flees again.

New reveals

• Shusui is a stolen national treasure of Wano. Gyukimaru: its removal from Wano “was the start of all of our misfortune,” it “incurred the wrath of the god of the blade,” and “since then, each region suffered loss after loss… until the country itself fell under enemy control” (p. 3).
• Kawamatsu is on-page identified as a fish-man — a bystander’s “A fish-man…?” as he lands (p. 4). (Previously only the “Kappa” epithet was on-page.)
• Hiyori is shown alive in the present day, raised in hiding by the kappa Kawamatsu after her parents died (pp. 4, 14–15); she fled him years ago because she feared he was starving himself to feed her.
• The Udon Excavation Labor Camp has been secretly taken over. The warden Babanuki is tamed with millet dumplings (“It works on animals and animal sorcery users”) and now feeds Queen false “all locked up” reports; Caribou assisted; ~3,500 prisoners are secretly free (pp. 6–8, 12).
• The yakuza bosses of every region rally to the cause under Boss Hyogoro: Snake-Eyes Yatappe (Kibi), Ocho the Bottle Gourd (Ringo), Split-Hat Tsunagoro (Hakumai), and Blood-Writing Ohmasa (Udon) (p. 9). Their trust was won by Chopper curing the camp plague and by Hyogoro invoking Lord Momonosuke (p. 8).
• The plans to Kaido’s mansion on Onigashima — stolen by “the man from Kuri” — were the alliance’s doing all along; Luffy holds them at the ruins of Itachi Port, Kuri (p. 11).
• Kaido and Big Mom have fought all night on Onigashima with no resolution (p. 5).
• Kin’emon will make Amigasa Village the alliance base; weapons are scarce because Orochi criminalized owning them, so acquiring katanas is now a priority (pp. 12–13).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Zoro · Gyukimaru · Kawamatsu · Kozuki Hiyori · Nico Robin · Luffy · Hyogoro · Caribou · Babanuki · Queen · Kaido · Big Mom · Raizo · Kin’emon · Tony Tony Chopper (as “Chopperemon”) · Momonosuke (referenced) · Orochi (referenced) · Snake-Eyes Yatappe · Ocho the Bottle Gourd · Split-Hat Tsunagoro · Blood-Writing Ohmasa · Ringo (Bandit’s Bridge) · Onigashima · Udon · Kuri (ruins of Itachi Port) · Amigasa Village · Kibi · Hakumai

Cover: Limited Cover Series No. 24 — Gang Bege’s “Oh My Family” Vol. 3: “What My Wife Wants, I Want” (Capone Bege / Charlotte Chiffon / Big Mom).

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page / Limited Cover Series No. 24: Gang Bege’s “Oh My Family” Vol. 3, a large figure (Big-Mom-like) riding a wave on a cake-and-balloon contraption marked “25.” (Cover-story B-plot — defer to cover-tracker.)
• Page 3 — Gyukimaru’s “god of the blade” / Shusui-national-treasure speech; Robin reacts (“What god?!” / “Shusui?!”).
• Page 4 — Kawamatsu lands; “A fish-man…?”; Hiyori: “Kawamatsu?! Is that you?!”
• Page 5 — Kaido vs Big Mom raging on Onigashima (“RAAAAH!!!”).
• Page 8 — Chopperemon thanked for curing the plague; “Boss Hyogoro!!”; “all he had to do was bring out Lord Momonosuke.”
• Page 9 — the four regional yakuza bosses introduced by region (Kibi / Ringo / Hakumai / Udon).
• Page 11 — Luffy unfurls the recovered plans to Kaido’s mansion on Onigashima at the ruins of Itachi Port, Kuri.
• Pages 14–15 — Kawamatsu and Hiyori’s reunion / her childhood backstory (raised by a kappa).
• Page 17 — Zoro slices the revenge gunmen (“SLICE!!”); Gyukimaru runs away again; Hiyori: “Master Kawamatsu… I’m so glad…!!!”

Open questions raised

• Who is the “god of the blade,” and is Shusui’s theft literally tied to Wano’s downfall, or is that folk belief?
• Why was Kawamatsu in Ringo guarding the bridge area, and what is his relationship to Gyukimaru (both “monks”/blade-keepers)?
• Will the secretly-freed Udon army and the tamed warden hold until the Fire Festival raid?
• How will the alliance arm thousands of samurai when Orochi has criminalized weapons?