Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 975: Kin'emon's Clever Trick

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2020-03-15

Summary

Present-day raid eve, continuing from the Worst Generation’s sea arrival. The Thousand Sunny reaches the rendezvous, where the Straw Hats find the rally point empty — none of the promised allies are present: the 200 capital yakuza, the 3,800 from the excavation labor camp, Dogstorm’s 200 musketeers and the Atamayama thieves’ 280 staged at Itachi Port, and the weapons delivered from Ringo. The Beasts Pirates gloat that the entire plan leaked: on Orochi’s orders they tore down every great bridge connecting the regions and sank every ship lined up at Itachi Port the night before, so even if the rebels’ friends came they could never reach Onigashima — and they reveal the feast celebrates the alliance of the Animal Kingdom Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates (“Big Mom and Kaido?!”). Luffy, Law and Kid each blast the enemy fleet apart (Bounce-Man, Room, Punk Rotten). Then the Kyoshiro Family ship (sail marked 狂, “mad”) arrives; the Flower-Capital yakuza boss “Napping Kyoshiro” — who took over the capital after Hyogoro — appears to side with the Beasts Pirates, then turns on them and disables their cannons. Recalling the 40-years-ago Mountain God incident that “only one man could have known” was caused by Kin’emon’s youthful greed (not Oden’s rampaging), he reveals himself as Denjiro, the missing Red Scabbard. Denjiro explains Kin’emon’s “clever trick”: Yasuie’s dying riddle — two lines over the belly of the Habu viper — encoded the Wharf at Habu Port (“remove the midsection” of Habuminato → hato, wharf), but Kin’emon openly misread it as Tokage Port so the spy Kanjuro would relay the decoy to Orochi. The real 4,200-strong allied force and its ships had already crossed the bridges and hidden behind the maple forest at Habu Port; the ships Orochi destroyed at Itachi Port were the ones left behind. Denjiro adds his 200 Kyoshiro Family men plus 1,000 samurai he freed from the Rasetsu prisoners’ quarters, swelling the raid army to 5,400 — and the final panel reveals Kin’emon had in fact misread the riddle entirely by accident.

New reveals

• Kyoshiro is Denjiro — the ninth Red Scabbard, alive present-day. He stayed Orochi’s trusted yakuza (“Napping Kyoshiro”) and even ensured “Orochi had me killed” so that, had he revealed himself, the hidden traitor in the scabbards’ midst could not pass it on; he kept his cover to the very end (pp. 11–13).
• Kin’emon’s “clever trick” (the title beat): Yasuie’s riddle image — two lines over the stomach of the Habu viper — symbolized Habu Port, the two lines a sign to “remove the midsection” of Habuminato, leaving hato / “Wharf.” Kin’emon deliberately read it aloud as Tokage Port in front of the group, so the unwitting spy carried the decoy to Orochi (pp. 14–15).
• The plan worked perfectly. Orochi misjudged the distance, struck “last night,” and sank only the ships left behind at Itachi Port; the 4,200 allied soldiers and the ships they needed had already crossed the bridges and lay hidden behind the maple forest at the Wharf of Habu Port (pp. 15–16).
• Denjiro liberated 1,000 samurai from the Rasetsu prisoners’ quarters and brings 1,200 fighters (the 200-man Kyoshiro Family + the freed thousand), raising the raid army to 5,400 (pp. 13, 17).
• The Onigashima feast celebrates the Animal Kingdom Pirates–Big Mom Pirates alliance — the heroes learn of the Kaido–Big Mom Emperor alliance directly (“An alliance of Emperors?!”, pp. 6).
• Orochi’s sabotage: on the Shogun’s orders, every great bridge between the regions was torn down and every boat at Itachi Port sunk the previous night, to strand the rebels (p. 5).
• The 40-years-ago Mountain God incident in the capital was caused by Kin’emon’s youthful greed — the people wrongly believed it was caused by Lord Oden’s rampaging (p. 12); the line is the tell that betrays Kyoshiro as Denjiro.
• Final gag: Kin’emon sweats — “It was supposed to be the Wharf, not Tokage Port?! So this whole entire time…” — revealing he had genuinely misread the riddle by accident (p. 17).
• Worst Generation firepower: Kid (Punk Rotten), Luffy (Bounce-Man), and Law (Room) each demolish the enemy ships in a three-captain barrage (pp. 7–9).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Kin’emon, Denjiro (= Kyoshiro — revealed), Luffy, Trafalgar Law, Eustass Kid, Franky, Sanji, Nico Robin, Brook, Nami
• Shown briefly: Kanjuro (p. 2, internal monologue + grip on Momonosuke), Momonosuke (p. 2, in Kanjuro’s grasp)
• Mentioned / referenced only: Orochi (his sabotage orders; “Orochi misjudged the distance”), Kaido (“Emperor of the Sea”), Big Mom (the Emperor alliance), Hyogoro (the yakuza boss Kyoshiro “took over after”), Tonoyasu (as Yasuie — the riddle’s author), Inuarashi (Dogstorm — his 200 musketeers), Mountain God (the 40-years-ago incident recontextualized)
• Groups / crews: Animal Kingdom Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, Kyoshiro Family, Akazaya Nine, Straw Hat Pirates, Kozuki, the Atamayama Thieves Brigade (Ashura Doji’s bandits, 280)
• Locations: Wano Country, Habu Port (the true rally point — the Wharf), Itachi Port (decoy ships sunk), Tokage Port (the decoy rally point), Rasetsu Town (the prisoners’ quarters), Onigashima (raid target), Ringo (weapons source)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title splash (B&W, not a color spread) + cover story: Gang Bege’s Oh My Family Vol. 23: “Thank You, Whoever You Are ♡” (a woman kissing a stunned Capone Bege).
• Page 3 — The Thousand Sunny (“made of wood from ADAM, the Jewel Tree!”); Franky apologizes for the sail repair; Luffy: “It’s not quite the situation we heard about…”
• Pages 5–6 — The leak revealed: Orochi tore down the bridges and sank the Itachi Port ships; the Kaido–Big Mom alliance announced (“BIG MOM AND KAIDO?!!”).
• Pages 7–9 — Triple Worst-Generation barrage: Kid “Punk Rotten,” Luffy “Bounce-Man,” Law “Room” shred the enemy fleet.
• Page 10 — The Kyoshiro Family ship (sail marked 狂); the enemy cheer “It’s Boss Kyoshiro!! We’re saved!!” before he cuts down their own ships.
• Pages 12–13 — The reveal: the Mountain-God-incident tell exposes Kyoshiro as DENJIRO; “Is that you…!!”
• Pages 14–15 — Denjiro decodes Yasuie’s Habu-viper riddle: HABU PORT → “remove the midsection” → the Wharf; Tokage Port was the decoy fed to the spy.
• Page 16 — “THE RAID ON ONIGASHIMA…”; the assembled allied army revealed at the Habu Port wharf.
• Page 17 — Army total 5,400; final gag — Kin’emon sweats, “It was supposed to be the Wharf, not Tokage Port?!”

Open questions raised

• Can the 5,400-strong allied fleet reach Onigashima now that the decoy worked, or will Orochi’s surviving forces and the Beasts cannons still close the gap?
• With Denjiro restored to the scabbards, where does that leave the abducted Momonosuke and the still-hidden Hiyori?
• How will the heroes contend with a full two-Emperor alliance (Kaido + Big Mom) waiting on Onigashima?