Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 953: Once a Fox

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-08-19

Summary

In Ringo, the snowbound northern region of Wano, the grown Kozuki Hiyori reunites with her old caretaker Kawamatsu at Bandit’s Bridge and recounts the region’s history: Ringo and neighboring Hakumai were overseen by the Shimotsuki clan, and its late daimyo, the swordmaster Shimotsuki Ushimaru, always traveled with a fox. That fox — Gyukimaru, a shapeshifting koma-fox — has guarded Ushimaru’s grave alone since Kaido destroyed Ringo. Ringo’s custom of “Eternal Graves” buries each person with a katana grave-marker, many of legendary make, in ground so cold the dead are preserved for centuries. Kawamatsu has been “grave-robbing” these blades to amass a hidden underground cache of katana — enough to arm thousands of warriors for the war Oden foretold against the Animal Kingdom Pirates — while Onimaru, who reveres the dead, fought to stop him. Meanwhile Zoro tracks the wounded thief who stole Shusui to Bandit’s Bridge; the “Gyukimaru” he chased poofs into Onimaru. Kin’emon arrives and reunites with Kawamatsu, the weapons cache solving the alliance’s armament problem. Hiyori then offers Zoro a trade: return Shusui to Wano, and she will give him Enma — her late father Oden’s sword, the only blade ever to wound Kaido.

New reveals

• Ringo’s late daimyo: Shimotsuki Ushimaru — a master of the sword who always traveled with a fox companion; killed when Kaido brought about “Ringo’s downfall” (p. 5).
• The Shimotsuki clan oversaw both Ringo and Hakumai, “famed for their hardiness” (p. 5).
• Gyukimaru — the koma-fox companion of Ushimaru; a shapeshifting kitsune that has guarded its master’s grave alone for over five years since Ringo fell, fighting off grave-robbers (pp. 7-8).
• The “Gyukimaru” Zoro chased is Onimaru in disguise — the fox transforms back (“POOF”) on p. 17; it had taken the name and form of the Bandit’s-Bridge warrior-monk.
• Eternal Graves — Ringo’s custom: its cold keeps coffined bodies “preserved for centuries”; Ringo folk are gifted a katana at birth and buried with it as a grave-marker; some of these blades are “of legendary make,” making grave-robbery a constant problem (pp. 6, 8).
• Kawamatsu’s hidden katana cache — he has been pulling the grave-marker swords and hiding them underground to arm the coming rebellion; Orochi confiscated all of Wano’s weapons over the last 20 years, so the cache solves the alliance’s weapons shortage — enough katana “for every last one of them,” to recruit thousands of soldiers (pp. 10-11, 13, 16).
• Hiyori reunites with Kawamatsu, then Kin’emon reunites with Kawamatsu (pp. 4, 16).
• Enma named — Hiyori offers Zoro the legendary katana Enma, “the katana I received from my late father” (Oden), “the only one to have ever wounded Kaido,” in exchange for returning Shusui to Wano (p. 17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Zoro (alias “Zolojuro”), Kawamatsu, Kozuki Hiyori, Gyukimaru (first appearance), Shimotsuki Ushimaru (first mention, shown in flashback/portrait), Gyukimaru (name; revealed as Onimaru’s disguise), Kin’emon, Kaido (referenced — destroyed Ringo, wounded by Enma), Orochi (referenced — 20-year weapons confiscation), Kozuki Oden (referenced — Hiyori’s “late father,” Enma’s original owner), Ryuma (referenced — Shusui’s grave-owner).
• Locations: Ringo, Bandit’s Bridge (in Ringo), Hakumai, Flower Capital (flashback silhouette + “the capital”), Udon (referenced — “after Udon… a large influx of manpower”), Wano Country.
• Groups / concepts: Shimotsuki clan, the Animal Kingdom Pirates (Kaido’s Beasts), Eternal Graves custom, Enma, Shusui.

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page. Limited Cover Series No. 24, Gang Bege’s Oh My Family Vol. 4: “Enemy Ship Seized!! Off to Thriller Bark” (Capone Bege cover-story; → cover-tracker).
• p. 2 — Flashback: Hiyori’s farewell note “To Kawamatsu, thank you for everything, I will be fine. Hiyori”; townsfolk wail “Lady Hiyori!! Princess!!” over a sunset silhouette of the Flower Capital as she vanishes.
• p. 3 — Caption “PRESENT DAY, RINGO”: Zoro follows the thief’s bloodstains through the snow.
• p. 5 — Map of Ringo/Hakumai; the reveal of daimyo Shimotsuki Ushimaru “always traveled with a fox companion.” “Fox…?”
• p. 7 — The koma-fox is named Onimaru, companion of the deceased daimyo.
• p. 17 — “POOF” (どろん): “Gyukimaru” transforms back into the fox Onimaru; Hiyori names Enma, “the only one to have ever wounded Kaido.”

Open questions raised

• Is the Ringo Shimotsuki clan linked by blood to Zoro’s East-Blue Shimotsuki Village (Koshiro / Kuina)?
• Will Zoro accept Enma and return Shusui — and what does Enma’s Kaido-wounding history mean for the coming fight?
• How did Onimaru, a fox, learn to shapeshift and assume a human identity — natural kitsune lore, or something more?
• How many warriors can Kawamatsu’s hidden cache actually arm, and where is it?