Summary:
Momonosuke again tells Yamato not to interfere in his fight with Ryokugyu. Yamato asks why, but Momonosuke is knocked to the ground by the admiral. Raizo uses Ninpo: Maki Maki no Jutsu: Katon to burn Ryokugyu, who acts like it hurts, before dropping the charade and revealing that he can make himself fireproof, citing that he wouldn’t have become an admiral if faced with such he couldn’t defend. an obvious weakness. She then stabs Raizo in the chest with her roots and begins to suck him up, much to her friend’s fury. Despite the Sheath’s best efforts, they fail to permanently cut off the Ryokugyu’s roots, and soon Denjiro, Kawamatsu, and Nekomamushi pack up.
Meanwhile, Kozuki Sukiyaki and Nico Robin were joined by Trafalgar Law, who deduced their placement based on their absence from the festival. They make their way further down from Sukiyaki’s secret room when the former shogun admits that Kaidou and Orochi were still able to find the Poneglyph underground because of Jack because he is a fisherman. Robin asks what he means and Sukiyaki explains that he will soon understand. Law asks how far it goes, and he says a few hundred years, just as the two notice a dim light coming from a glass block window. The two check it out and are surprised by what they see: the entire city under water!
Sukiyaki explains that what he sees is the Wano of old, specifically from 800 years ago, though he doesn’t know how it ended up in such a state. Robin says that the city looks preserved, as if the water wasn’t seawater, and Sukiyaki proposes his theory: Long ago, Wano was much larger and at sea level on the land around the base of Mount Fuji. However, at some point, walls were built all around to surround the island and prevent the rainwater from escaping, causing the old city to sink. Land further up the mountain was established for settlers and eventually became present-day Wano.
The three finally arrive at their destination and discover the Road Poneglyph, marking it as the third one the Straw Pirates need to reach the Laugh Tale, leaving only one. Sukiyaki then says that if one traveled a little deeper, he would find Pluton, but he himself had not seen it before, nor could he show it to them. However, he reveals that obtaining it requires removing the walls surrounding the country, meaning “opening the borders” is quite literal. It also means that if the walls are destroyed, Wano will no longer be protected and Pluton will be released into the world. Robin questions why Oden wanted to open the country’s borders if it was meant to be, but Sukiyaki says that all he told her was what was passed down to him as the shogunate, and that he doesn’t know what his son learned during his travels .
Outside the Flower Capital, Ryokugyu tells a reserved samurai that he wouldn’t have shown up if Kaidou was still in command, claiming that his presence, no matter how dire, acted as a deterrent to potential predators. He again demands that Luffy be brought before him, promising to leave after he kills him. Yamato asks Momonosuke to call Luffy and the others to take down the Ryokugyu, but he refuses to involve them. He also tells Yamato that he doesn’t want to “mess up” his exit after being imprisoned for so long, and after relying on the Straw Hats for so long, he needs to prove that he and his charges can take care of themselves once they leave. .
Momonosuke continues to demand that Ryokugyu leave and eventually manages to manifest Kaidou’s Bolo Breath, severely damaging Ryokugyu. Scabbards and Yamato react in amazement at Momonosuke’s success as Ryokugyu’s tree form burns to ashes. He is able to regenerate from the tree and regain his tree form, where he announces that he will kill him if he continues to stand in his way.
However, Ryokugyu senses an incredibly powerful burst of Haoshoku Haki coming from Shanks, causing him to return to normal. He reacts surprised that the Red-Haired Pirates are around, as Shanks himself says he thinks it looks tacky to go after a new generation of pirates when they have a patrol, asking if the new age scares him that much. His presence convinces Ryokugyu to abandon his mission, and the samurai and Yamato celebrate their victory.
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Jinbe, who were in the Flower Capital while everyone else was celebrating, who were sitting on a hillside and noticed the fight, remark that their samurai friends were amazing and how intense Shanks’ Haki was able to drive the Ryokugyu away. They don’t know it was him, but Luffy has his suspicions as Shanks floats away.