Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 964: Oden's Adventure

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2019-12-01

Kozuki Oden flashback (Oden’s youth voyage). The arc/saga frontmatter is held constant — the flashback is a sub-framing, not an arc flip.

Summary

The Oden flashback continues: a young Kozuki Oden, hungry for the wider world, begs Whitebeard to take him to sea, but Whitebeard refuses — Oden has tried to kill him dozens of times, has “no skill for sailing,” and isn’t the type to serve another. When the Whitebeard Pirates slip out of Wano Country in the night (leaving a treasure chest in thanks), Oden chains himself to the departing ship and is dragged out past Wano’s falls. Whitebeard sets a brutal test: cling to the towing chain for three whole days and earn a place aboard. Battered nearly to death and misshapen by the sea, Oden vanishes from the chain only minutes from passing — and washes up on a far island where slavers (the Cephaloctopus Pirates under Captain Karma) are cornering a woman, Amatsuki Toki. Mistaken for an “umibozu” sea monster, Oden scares the slavers off and is nursed back to health by Toki, who confesses her lifelong dream to reach Wano and reveals she was born about 800 years ago yet is only 26, leaping forward through time. When Karma’s slavers attack again, Whitebeard’s ship returns; Whitebeard finally welcomes Oden aboard, and Toki, along with stowaways Dogstorm and Cat Viper, joins the voyage. Oden’s world is blown open by everything he sees. In another sea, the Great Pirate Roger reads a newspaper about the new samurai out of Wano and grins: “I’d like to meet this fellow!!!”

New reveals

• Whitebeard refuses Oden — repeatedly. Oden admits he tried to kill Whitebeard “dozens of times” and has “absolutely no skill for sailing”; Whitebeard tells him a man who wants to sail should get his own ship (pp. 2-3).
• Whitebeard’s worldview lesson to Oden: the world is so vast you could count islands “and not finish until you’re past ten or 20 million” — Oden, raised in closed-off Wano, had thought there were only five islands in the world (p. 3).
• The three-day chain test: Oden chains himself to Whitebeard’s ship as it departs; Whitebeard wagers that if Oden can cling to the towing chain for three whole days through the open sea, he’ll let him come aboard (pp. 4-7).
• Oden as the “umibozu”: battered and misshapen by the sea, Oden washes ashore and is mistaken for a sea monster — and in that state he scares off slavers and saves Toki (pp. 11-12). Toki nurses him back to human form (“so you’re human after all”).
• Amatsuki Toki — the woman’s full name is given on-page (p. 10); she wields a sword, is hunted by slavers, and her deepest childhood wish is to travel to Wano (p. 12).
• Toki is from the distant past: she states she was born “about 800 years ago,” is “26 years old,” and that her means of escape is to “jump to the future again” (pp. 10, 17) — an on-page demonstration of her forward-only time-leap.
• Captain Karma & the Cephaloctopus Pirates — a six-armed slaver-pirate captain who tries to sell both Toki and Oden (p. 13). Oden marvels at the six arms (“I never saw a human being like that in Wano”).
• Inuarashi (Dogstorm) and Nekomamushi (Cat Viper) snuck aboard Whitebeard’s ship ahead of time to join Oden’s voyage (p. 14) — their youth shown.
• Oden joins the Whitebeard Pirates: Whitebeard welcomes him (“Welcome aboard!!”); Toki also asks to stay and is accepted (pp. 14-15).
• Roger’s interest: the Great Pirate Gold Roger, reading a paper about “a samurai from a closed-off nation,” declares he’d like to meet this fellow (p. 17) — seeding Oden’s later transfer to the Roger Pirates.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Kozuki Oden (shown — flashback)
• Whitebeard (shown — flashback; young, recruits Oden)
• Marco (shown/named — “Wait, Marco!!”; pulls Oden up, p. 5)
• Kozuki Toki (shown/named — as “Amatsuki Toki,” her maiden name, p. 10)
• Inuarashi (shown — as “Dogstorm,” stowaway, p. 14)
• Nekomamushi (shown — as “Cat Viper,” stowaway, p. 14)
• Izo (mentioned only — “brother Izo,” among those who vanished with Oden, p. 6)
• Captain Karma (shown/named — new; Cephaloctopus Pirates captain, p. 13)
• Roger (shown — “The Great Pirate Gold Roger,” p. 17)
• Whitebeard Pirates
• Cephaloctopus Pirates (new — slaver crew)
• Toki Toki no Mi (ability shown — Toki’s forward time-leap)
• Wano Country

Notable panels

• p. 1 — Title page “Oden’s Adventure.” Cover story: Gang Bege’s “Oh My Family” Vol. 14 — “We’re gonna shoot you with Kiss-Kiss cooties too!!” (1-page cover header).
• p. 5 — Marco named; Oden dragged over Wano’s falls clinging to the towing chain; Whitebeard’s “if you can cling for three whole days” wager begins.
• p. 10 — “Amatsuki Toki” name caption; Toki cornered by slavers, “I’m trapped. Time to jump to the future again.”
• p. 11 — Oden, misshapen from the test, mistaken for an umibozu sea monster, scattering the slavers.
• p. 13 — Cephaloctopus Pirates / Captain Karma title card — a six-armed slaver-pirate captain.
• p. 14 — Inuarashi (Dogstorm) & Nekomamushi (Cat Viper) revealed as Oden’s stowaways; Whitebeard welcomes Oden aboard.
• p. 17 — Gold Roger reads of the Wano samurai: “I’d like to meet this fellow!!!” (final-page reveal).

Open questions raised

• What did Toki witness ~800 years ago, and why does she keep leaping forward through time? Does her origin connect to the Void Century / poneglyph lore?
• Why is Toki’s lifelong dream specifically to reach Wano?
• Will Roger and Oden meet? (Roger’s closing line sets up the transfer.)
• Who is Captain Karma, and is the slaver thread (Cephaloctopus Pirates) over?