The Promised Harbor

No description for this page.

A few years before, on a calm sea, the world had just seen the beginning of the "Great Age of Pirates." Oden stands aboard Roger's ship and says, "I'm glad I came with you, Roger!" The crew around him erupts in rough affection. Buggy complains, "What're you gettin' all stiff for, ya bastard?!" Shanks says, "We're the ones thankful you're here, Oden!" Roger, drunk and laughing, tells him, "Yer drunk off your ass, Roger! Cool it!" and Crocus snaps, "Sharrap! I don't wanna hear it from a doctor that drinks like a fish!" The ship is loud, crude, and alive with the joy of the voyage.

Rayleigh calmly asks Oden, "Do you need any help with anything, Oden?" Buggy offers too, but Shanks laughs and says Buggy would only get in Oden's way. Oden thanks them by the names he has given them: "Thank you, Rayleigh, Redtaro, Buggyjiro." Buggy fumes, "Why am I always the '-jiro'?!" A note explains that -jiro is usually used for the second son in a family. Oden says he never understood why Wano insisted on keeping its borders closed, but the Kozuki must attend to it themselves. Though he has finally made his way out, he will not tell his retainers they are calling him back to become shogun. Instead, he chooses to keep the fire alive.

Oden declares that he will open Wano's borders with his retainers back home, and together they will wait twenty years for the future to come. Roger answers, "You betcha, Oden!" and Oden calls back, "You too, Roger!" Since then, twenty-five years have passed. The old promise drops away into the present, where the closed country is now scarred by conflict and the promised future is finally arriving.

The curtains rise on the Wano arc's Act Three. Leaves drift across the stage as music plays, and the scene settles on Hakumai's Habu Harbor. The harbor is crowded and festive, its great buildings dressed for departure. The country appears to be moving toward celebration, but the chapter has already tied that beauty to Oden's old vow and the day of the raid.

At Habu Harbor, Orochi basks in the perfect weather and calls it a wonderful day, almost as if the sky itself is celebrating him. His attendants praise the perfect banquet weather and announce that this year Kyoshiro will guard the capital, letting Orochi enjoy himself. The harbor is the largest in Wano, with a large quay and trees brilliant in their fall colors. The departing ships are seen off by fiery leaves, and Orochi's people call, "Shogun Orochi!" "Bon voyage!" and "Be careful!" Once a year, on Onigashima, the two great leaders who rule Wano meet with both armies in attendance for a grand banquet of forty thousand. Orochi laughs that they will have a blast.

Meanwhile, at the capital, the Fire Festival fills the streets. People shout, "Drink! Sing! Tonight is the Fire Festival!" The one time of year when the ban on drinking is lifted has arrived, and the capital erupts with music, dancing, food, and lanterns. Someone calls for sake, another wants apple candies, and others hurry through the crowd before they are late. A woman looks up at the clear blue sky and says they should see a beautiful full moon tonight. The festival is bright and loud, unaware of the disaster unfolding at the promised harbor.

The seasons of Wano can vary drastically from province to province, and the weather can change rapidly in localized ways. While the capital dances under fair skies, the rendezvous point for the final battle lies under a violent storm. The map points toward Tokage Harbor, and there the sea roars under black clouds and lightning. The promised meeting place is swallowed by rain, wind, and waves.

At Tokage Harbor, the retainers stand before a destroyed shoreline and a furious sea. Kinemon shouts, "There isn't a single ship here!" Dogstorm worries that the cat did not make it in time, and another retainer says they thought Udon had already been taken over. Even the mines are deserted. Their expected army is gone: "Where are our 4,000 men?!" Someone notices signs of an attack, and another says this harbor has clearly been hit. The waves crash over wreckage as the retainers realize they cannot do this tonight.

The promised harbor is empty. On the evening of the Fire Festival, Tokage Harbor should be full of ships and allies, but the snails are not working and no one can be reached. Kinemon stares into the storm and asks, "Where did they disappear to?!" and "Why is no one here?!" The harbor has been torn apart in just one day. The retainers look over broken ships, smashed docks, and roaring surf, asking what in the world could have happened.

Far away, the capital's festival still sings "Heave-ho!" as if nothing is wrong, but the retainers at the harbor call desperately for the people who should be there. They call, "Luffy! Where are you?!" "Hyogoro! Come in!" "Inuarashi's Musketeers!" "Law?!" and "Jibuemon, in Kibi!" The answer is only static and rain. Kinemon declares who they are through his grief: "We are the retainers of Oden Kozuki!" They have come from twenty years in the past to see their lord's dream fulfilled, to burn out what little remains of the lives that ended that day.

Kinemon pleads into the storm: "We need your help!" Forty thousand enemies stand before them, and even his will cannot make that number disappear. The others try to stop him, telling him, "That's enough, Kinemon!" They look up at the skies and the sea and say they have been abandoned by heaven itself. Why should they expect anything different from men? Still, something must have happened to their allies. The rain and waves batter the broken harbor while the retainers face the possibility that their entire plan has been crushed before it even began.

Among the wreckage, the retainers find a small rowboat that still looks serviceable. Inuarashi steps toward it, but the others shout, "What are you doing, Inuarashi?!" and "Stop that!" The storm has not ended, the allies have vanished, and Onigashima waits across the water. The chapter reveals that whatever ruined the harbor and scattered the alliance had happened the previous night. At Onigashima, Orochi is shown in shock, and the page leaves the question hanging: what happened?

No description for this page.

No description for this page.

No description for this page.