One Piece Chapter 959: Samurai

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Two days before the final battle, the alliance in Amigasa Village counts its strength: "Our forces are 4,200 strong!!" Kinemon praises everyone and orders them to use the time left to prepare before moving toward the rendezvous point. The gathered fighters shout that they will meet at the promised port. At Kuri's Port Itachi, the crews ready the ships. Franky insists they make sure enough ships are ready for 5,000 people, and the workers answer that he can count on them.

Franky says the Straw Hats will board the Sunny for the final battle and then head to Amigasa Village to meet up with the rest of the crew. The shipwrights thank the helpers, calling them amazing shipwrights, and the fighters cheer that they will crush the Beasts Pirates. Across Wano, more preparations continue. O-Chou is bringing weapons from Ringo, and the rebels gather anything that can serve as armor, including weapons that were once going to be exported.

The plan depends on timing. If the alliance gathers too early, they will draw unwanted attention, because on the day of the final battle Orochi's procession will march from the Flower Capital to Port Habu before he departs for Onigashima. Once Orochi leaves for the Fire Festival, the capital will begin celebrating and no one will pay attention to the rebels. Still, government officials will remain on the mainland, so the alliance must proceed carefully and avoid alerting Onigashima. In Amigasa Village, the crew tries on armor. Brook proudly says, "This armour is for true warriors!! Yohohoho!!" while others ask if they can really wear it.

The Straw Hats and allies dress for battle, though not everyone is impressed. Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy beam in samurai armor, and Luffy shouts, "Kaido, huh? Now there's no way... I won't cut him down!!" Brook says he feels much better about their chances, while Robin dryly comments that they look like insects. Sanji refuses armor because it would slow him down, and Zoro says he might need his own outfit to lower his bounty after all. When Zoro draws Enma, Sanji snaps, "Whoa!! You wanna go at it, then?! I'll kill you!" and the others panic over the two of them clashing before the raid.

The alliance discusses the weather. Orochi mentioned that Onigashima's entrance is always in winter, but Nami explains that the seasons are not very consistent on the mainland either. Wanda says that whether they can use Sulong will depend on luck; the weather conditions matter more than the climate itself. There will definitely be a full moon that night, but if clouds hide it, it will not be much use. Shishilian notes that if all the minks can fight the way Carrot did, it will be a major advantage. Regardless, Wanda says Master Nekomamushi and the Guardians must return in time. Luffy is quiet, troubled by something else.

Luffy is worried because Big Mom is in Wano, but Jinbe still has not arrived. He remembers leaving Whole Cake Island and entrusting the rear guard to Jinbe. Back then, Jinbe told him, "Don't forget... Jinbe!! I am your captain now!!" and Luffy answered that they would wait for him at Wano, shouting, "You must come!!" In the present, the others reassure him that Jinbe took care of his loose ends so he could join them and that he will be a welcome addition. Luffy insists, "He's definitely alive!!" and "He'll come!!"

Outside the gates of the Flower Capital, in Ebisu Town, the witching-hour boy had come the previous night. People wonder whether there was news of a robbery in the capital, but instead find money left behind. In Kuri's Okobore Town, hunger and suspicion mingle. The people know the mountain hideout of the thieves and brigands was burned to the ground, and ask why they would continue to steal food from the farm instead of coming for revenge. When Holdem, a Beasts Pirates headliner, appears, some villagers fear the rebels may be responsible for the missing food and cannot give them away, while others do not know what to do.

O-Tsuru steps forward and takes the burden herself. She tells Holdem, "Just do not lay another hand on these people!! I will show you the way!" Holdem seizes her, and she says he will see whether he follows her, though it will be a long journey. O-Tsuru thinks of Kinemon and refuses to let the Beasts Pirates thwart the plan: the rebels must have gathered many people to require all that food, and although she could hardly believe Kinemon had returned when she met Kiku again, she will not allow the Kozuki clan's chance to be destroyed. The villagers shout that there is no need for O-Tsuru to cover for them, but she tells them getting enough food to eat had been a dream come true and none of them would mind dying after that.

On the night before the final battle, messengers fly through the dark and rain. One reports, "It's true after all... It's really here..." while another orders him to stop lollygagging and do as told. At Kuri Beach, a bomb destroys a site by the shore, and the report comes back: "It's been destroyed!!" The saboteurs laugh, pleased that the work is excellent. The first blow against the raid has landed before the alliance even reaches the port.

The sabotage spreads. The great bridge linking Kibi and Udon is destroyed, and the saboteurs immediately move to the next target. Another group reaches the great bridge linking Ringo and Hakumai, and as smoke rises someone shouts that they can repair it later. At Kuri's Port Itachi, the ships burn and break apart. The order is cold and clear: "These ships will never sail again!!" Another voice laughs, "Good, just as planned! Muhahaha!" The routes and vessels the alliance needs are being erased one by one.

Orochi had heard the reports and understood what they meant, even though he had not seen the samurai himself. The thought that the retainers could really have leapt twenty years forward through time is almost impossible to believe, but the reports have been accurate. He admits that making matters worse, Yasuie had caused discord among his retainers by turning the secret message into a laughingstock, and it had seemed like a prank. Now Orochi no longer cares whether others take his words seriously. As long as he is the one with power, the truth is enough for him.

Orochi lays out his trap. If he blocks every route leading to Port Tokage, he wonders what the 4,000 gathered rebels will do when not a single person shows up. The ghosts of the Red Scabbards will know true despair once they realize they have been abandoned, and they will not even be given the chance to take revenge. In the present, the storm batters Udon's Port Tokage while the retainers stand before empty seas and broken hopes.

At Tokage Harbor, some try to stop the retainers: "Stop it, all of you!!" and "If we go now, it will just be suicide!!" They beg to try again at a later date, but Kinemon says they cannot afford to wait another year. The capture of Udon will be exposed, and Kaido will send his entire army to hunt down each rebel. They will never get another chance to do this discreetly. The people of Okobore trusted them enough to fight this final battle, and their town was burned to the ground for it. There will be no more stolen food either.

The desperation becomes personal. A retainer cries, "My wife was there!!" Another begs Momonosuke, "Please let us go, Lord Momonosuke!!" Someone asks whether Momonosuke would really command them to run away again and live the rest of their lives in shame. Momonosuke protests, "What will become of me, then?!" but the retainers answer from their own lives. His father was alone at first too. If they never met Lord Oden, none of them would have become samurai; they were just a ragtag group of amateurs. They cannot let the chance bought by Oden's life disappear.

The retainers decide that, as Lord Oden's samurai, they must carry out their duty until the bitter end. Oden's old words return: there is a reason Wano has been isolated for hundreds of years, and that reason is deeply connected to the Kozuki clan. In time, its purpose will be fulfilled. To make the tides of the world turn, they must open Wano's borders. The story then turns back to the past: thirty-nine years ago, in the Flower Capital, the man whose dream drives them all is about to enter the stage.

In the Flower Capital thirty-nine years ago, people panic at the approach of one infamous and charismatic man. They shout, "Hide your wives!!" "Hide your daughters!" "Close up shop!!" and "Hide the livestock!!" Kozuki Oden has returned, and the city erupts around his silhouette. Some yell that he failed to set sail again, others tell him to hurry up and die already, and he complains that the country is too cramped and suffocating. The chapter ends with young Oden's overwhelming presence filling the capital.

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