Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Wano Country

Chapter 999: The Sake I Brewed to Drink with You

Arc: Wano Country · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2020-12-20

Summary

A connecting color-poster (the “1000 LOGS” / “ONE PIECE” two-part poster) opens the chapter. In flashback, Yamato narrates how — years ago, before Luffy set sail — Ace came to Wano alone declaring “I’ve come to take Kaido’s head!!” Finding Kaido away “on an expedition,” Ace flattened the island’s defenders and freed a haul of abducted children; Yamato (then a chained child the onlookers call “Kaido’s daughter”) challenged him, lost, and was told by Ace not to let Kaido “chain your heart too.” Yamato smashed the giant dragon statue — “a symbol of Master Kaido’s power” — crying “I want to live as free as Oden did!!!”, and the two drank and laughed together as Ace praised the rising rookies (Kid in the south, Law in the north, Bege in the west) and his little brother Luffy, “the toughest of all,” who “won’t be setting sail for a few years yet.” Ace left the broken statue as “a warning to Kaido” and a promise to return. In the present, Yamato tells this to Momonosuke and Otama; the group learns Ace was Luffy’s brother and Roger’s son, and Momonosuke calls their bringing Luffy to Wano “an act of fate.” On the Performance Floor, Marco drives off the Beasts Pirates and flies Nico Robin and Brook toward the castle, only to be blocked by Lead Performers Queen and King, whose ancient-Zoan dragon fruits are captioned. A second flashback aboard Whitebeard’s ship reveals Oden was the Second Division Commander before Ace (the post left unfilled for years), with Marco and a Whitebeard-era Blackbeard present. On the roof, Big Mom recharges on Prometheus’s flames and orders Kaido to spare Nico Robin (to read poneglyphs), references Pudding’s dormant third eye, and — discussing where to drop Onigashima — reminds Kaido she gave him “that legendary model of the Fish-Fish Fruit” the day the Rocks Pirates fell at God Valley. The two Emperors name their true goal: the One Piece.

New reveals

• Ace came to Wano years ago to “take Kaido’s head” (p. 3): a one-man raid during his time as a Whitebeard 2nd Division Commander, before Luffy set sail. He flattened the defenders, freed abducted children (pp. 4–5), and left.
• Ace ↔ Yamato bond (pp. 5–8): Yamato (a chained child, called “Kaido’s daughter” by onlookers, p. 4) challenged Ace, lost, and was told not to let Kaido “chain your heart too” (p. 6). Yamato smashed the dragon statue (“a symbol of Master Kaido’s power”), declaring “I want to live as free as Oden did!!!” (p. 6) — the root of Yamato’s freedom-idolization.
• Ace named rising rookies (pp. 7–8): “Kid in the south… Law in the north, Bege in the west,” plus his “massive” little brother Luffy, “the toughest of all,” who “won’t be setting sail for a few years yet” — dating the flashback before Luffy’s debut.
• Ace’s promise (p. 8): he left the smashed statue as “a warning to Kaido” and a vow to return “the next time I show up here.” Kaido was furious “but never saw Ace in person.”
• Oden was the Whitebeard Pirates’ Second Division Commander before Ace (p. 12): Marco — “You know who used to be the second division commander before you… and why the position was unfilled for so long!!” Whitebeard “considered moving on Wano many times” but “only learned of Lord Oden’s death several years after it happened.”
• Blackbeard (Teach) shown in flashback as a Whitebeard Pirate alongside Ace (p. 13): “I get wanting to take out a big shot though, Commander Ace!! …and Oden was plenty tough!!”
• Queen’s fruit = Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Brachiosaurus Model (p. 14, Lead Performer caption); King’s fruit = Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Pteranodon Model (p. 15, Lead Performer caption). Both block Marco from the castle.
• Present-day reveal to Wano’s people (pp. 9, 16–17): Ace was Luffy’s brother and Roger’s son; the group that “brought Luffy to Wano” did so as “an act of fate.” Yamato notes Luffy’s name carries the “D” in the middle. Otama already knows Ace is dead (Luffy told her bluntly) and trains as a kunoichi because “I believed in Ace.”
• Big Mom keeps Robin alive to read poneglyphs (p. 17) and references Pudding’s dormant “true (third) eye” (p. 18). Kaido holds a Road Poneglyph (Big Mom: “So your Road Poneglyph isn’t there?”, p. 18) and plans to set Onigashima down on the Flower Capital as a “nice capital.”
• Big Mom gave Kaido his devil fruit — “that legendary model of the Fish-Fish Fruit” — “on the day Rocks fell into ruin at God Valley” (p. 19); “You owe me for life, Kaido!!” The alliance’s stated goal is the One Piece (p. 19); Kaido: “It’s too early to be showing your hand, no?”

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

Ace (flashback — one-man Wano raid; befriends Yamato; 2nd Div. Commander) · Yamato (present narrator + flashback child) · Kaido (present — roof; absent in flashback, “on an expedition”) · Big Mom (present — roof; recharges on flames) · Marco (present — saves Robin & Brook; flashback — advises Ace) · Blackbeard (flashback — Whitebeard-era “Commander Ace” exchange) · Kozuki Oden (referenced — former 2nd Div. Commander; idol) · Otama (present — knows Ace is dead) · Momonosuke (present — “act of fate”) · Nico Robin (present — flown to the castle by Marco; Big Mom wants her alive) · Brook (present — flown to the castle, “Bone-man”) · Queen (present — Brachiosaurus fruit caption) · King (present — Pteranodon fruit caption) · Komachiyo (present — with Otama’s group) · Prometheus (present — Big Mom eats his flames) · Charlotte Pudding (referenced — dormant third eye) · Luffy (referenced — Ace’s brother; Roger’s son) · Eustass Kid · Trafalgar Law · Capone Bege (all three name-dropped by Ace as rising rookies) · Roger (referenced — Ace’s father) · Whitebeard Pirates · Animal Kingdom Pirates · Big Mom Pirates · Straw Hat Pirates · Rocks Pirates (referenced — fell at God Valley) · Onigashima · Skull Dome · Wano Country · Flower Capital (referenced) · God Valley (referenced)

Notable panels

• Pages 1–2 — Special two-part color poster (”…E 1000 LOGS” / “ONE PIECE”): the Straw Hats (Zoro with bandana + sword, Sanji, Chopper visible) amid a mountain of gold treasure, captioned “Complete this special One Piece poster by combining it with the one included with the next chapter!” — the chapter-1000 milestone connecting poster. See …E 1000 LOGS — the chapter-1000 connecting poster. Visual-mirror: this poster is the third saga-milestone instance of the Crew Triumphant-Amid-Treasure Title Spread Bookend Composition (after the Ch 100 “Legend Begins” and Ch 598 “Two Years Later” spreads) — Zoro foreground, Brook’s skull motif top-corner, the crew embedded in a scattered-gold field.
• Page 3 — Title page; flashback opens with Ace arriving at Wano in a storm: “I’m Ace!! I’ve come to take Kaido’s head!!!”
• Page 4 — Young Yamato (chained, horned) tells Ace Kaido is away “on an expedition”; onlookers: “That’s Kaido’s daughter?!”; wide shot of the flattened defenders, Ace’s sword planted in the ground.
• Pages 5–6 — Yamato challenges Ace and loses; Ace: “Why do you let him chain your heart too?!”; Yamato smashes the dragon statue — “I want to live as free as Oden did!!!”
• Pages 7–8 — Ace and Yamato drink and laugh; Ace lists the rising rookies (Kid/Law/Bege) and his brother Luffy; Yamato narrates the broken statue was Ace’s “warning to Kaido.”
• Page 9 — Present: Yamato (“I told you I’m Oden… but I hate him!!”); Momonosuke processes “Kaido is my father”; Otama’s kunoichi resolve (“I believed in Ace”).
• Pages 10–11 — Performance Floor: Marco fights the Beasts Pirates and flies Robin & Brook toward the castle; “He’s carrying one of Straw Hat’s guys!!”
• Pages 12–13 — Flashback aboard Whitebeard’s ship: Oden named as the prior 2nd Div. Commander; Blackbeard (Teach) present as a Whitebeard Pirate.
• Pages 14–15 — Lead Performer captions: Queen (Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Brachiosaurus Model) and King (Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Type, Pteranodon Model) block Marco; “You’re pitting yourselves against the new generation now!!!”
• Pages 16–17 — The group learns Ace = Luffy’s brother = Roger’s son (“an act of fate”); Yamato: Luffy “has the letter D in the middle”; Big Mom recharges on Prometheus’s flames and tells Kaido to keep Nico Robin alive.
• Pages 18–19 — Big Mom & Kaido on the roof: the Road Poneglyph, the Flower Capital as a “nice capital,” Pudding’s third eye, and the chapter’s climax — Big Mom gave Kaido “that legendary model of the Fish-Fish Fruit” at God Valley; their goal is “THE ONE PIECE.”

Open questions raised

• What is the full name/model of Kaido’s “legendary Fish-Fish Fruit,” and what exactly happened between Big Mom and Kaido at God Valley to put him in her debt?
• Will Ace’s old vow to “take Kaido’s head” be fulfilled by Luffy — completing the brother’s unfinished business?
• Can Marco hold off both King and Queen while Robin and Brook reach the castle (and Kaido’s Road Poneglyph)?
• Why does the post-Oden Second Division seat (and Ace’s inheritance of it) matter — is it pure parallel, or a thread Whitebeard deliberately preserved?
• Does Big Mom intend to awaken Pudding’s third eye, or rely on Nico Robin, to read the poneglyphs she covets?