A Great Adventure in the Land of the Samurai

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On a certain beach in Wano, the stranded Sunny sits near the shore while two enormous beasts clash nearby: a lion-dog and a sword-wielding baboon. The air is full of growls, barks, and the baboon's "Kii kii!" Luffy stands between the animals and his ship, irritated less by danger than by the possibility of damage. He says he does not know what kind of wild animals they are, but tells them, "Don't ram into my ship!! Got it?" As the two creatures keep fighting, Luffy suddenly remembers the chaos that brought him here. The chapter begins not with a careful landing, but with Luffy alone on a beach, the Sunny grounded, and Wano's animals already turning the arrival into a brawl.

Luffy remembers the moment the Sunny reached Wano. The crew had finished climbing the waterfall with the ship, saw land, and then was suddenly caught in a whirlpool. Sanji told the others, "Hold on to me!! I'll fly us over to land!!" while Chopper cried, "Wait a minute, Sanji!! Take us, too...!!" Sanji refused because the others were too heavy, but Luffy jumped onto him and yelled, "You can jump on my stomach, Sanji." The others were swept in different directions as the octopus played its strange sounds, and Luffy shouted that he would follow behind soon. Back in the present, Luffy realizes the octopus is gone, too. He has made it to land, but the rest of the crew and their Vivre Card are missing.

Luffy tries to understand where he ended up. He wonders whether he is at the top of the waterfall or whether he fell down, then asks, "Did I actually make it to Wano...?" He searches for the Vivre Card and finds it is gone, probably lost in the sea, but shrugs that there is nothing he can do about it. Further inland, a group of rough men accuse someone of being an attendant of the evil Kouzuki Clan and demand the return of their rice. The victim begs, "Please forgive me!! Please let me go!! And please give me back my rice!!" The scene cuts from Luffy's confusion on the beach to the local oppression deeper inside Wano, showing that the country is dangerous before he even knows its layout.

The attackers on the beach turn out to be scouts tied to Kaido's forces. One grabs his subordinate and snarls, "Shut your mouth. We're on a mission right now!!" Their lookout spots the Sunny and says, "Look! There's a ship on the beach!!" They realize a ship has entered the country illegally and that this is exactly the head-liner report they feared. Seeing only one person from the crew, they decide to put Luffy to sleep with a tranquilizer and bring him back as a useful addition to the work force. One points out that their baboon is there too, but has still not taken care of the komainu. They fire on Luffy with a rifle, thinking they have him in their sights, only for the situation to immediately turn against them.

Luffy reacts faster than the scouts can understand. He avoids the shot, charges in, and crushes them with a single blow, sending men and beast flying across the beach. The girl being attacked watches in shock as Luffy turns the ambush into a rout. The scouts are stunned, and one of them cries, "That bastard..." before trying to shoot again. Luffy grins and asks, "Who the hell are you?" while another man mutters, "No-nothing...!!" The page makes the power gap plain: Wano may be unknown territory, but ordinary underlings and their weapons cannot intimidate Luffy. His first action in the country is to protect his ship and incidentally save a stranger.

The fight around the beach keeps escalating. Luffy knocks back one enemy, comments that the beach is noisy, and watches the komainu and baboon continue their battle. One of the enemies orders, "Baboon!! Deal with the komainu later!! Catch that guy!!" only to change his mind and say it does not matter anymore, telling the baboon to kill Luffy instead. Luffy stands calmly while the massive creatures clash around him, and the girl he saved watches from the ground. The swords, claws, barking, and shouting make the beach feel like a battlefield, but Luffy treats it as a nuisance. The moment is classic Luffy: he arrives in the middle of local conflict and immediately disrupts the hierarchy by being far stronger than anyone expected.

Just as the baboon prepares to attack, Luffy notices something strange. The animal that seemed monstrous suddenly hesitates as a little girl approaches. Luffy asks why it is chickening out, and the girl calmly praises it: "Good boy." She is introduced as O-Tama. The baboon, which had been roaring moments earlier, freezes obediently in front of her. Luffy stares as the tiny girl controls the enormous creature with confidence. The scene turns from battle to mystery: Tama is clearly not just a helpless victim. Her presence changes the behavior of the animals and hints that she has an unusual power tied directly to taming them.

Tama formally surrenders to Luffy, raising her hands and saying, "What, you ask... I'm surrendering!! I'm surrendering to you!!" Luffy asks what she is doing, and she promises, "I won't hurt you, you know!" Then she sees an opportunity and asks whether he can please lend her some of his time. From her cheek, she pulls out a small dumpling with a pop, explaining it as a kibi-dango. Luffy is startled: "Whaaaat?! She pulled off her cheek!" Tama offers it to the baboon, saying, "Here! Eat this, Mr. Baboon!" The baboon eats the dumpling and instantly becomes tame. Luffy realizes she is an ability user, and Tama beams that she finally managed to convince the "raging baboon of the mountain" to be on her side.

Tama explains that the incident happened while she was returning from shopping in town. The evil people had the baboon with them, and Koma-chiyo attacked it to protect her. That is why the beasts were fighting. She begins to say that when all of her belongings were taken away, she was so frustrated that she said something taboo, and then stops herself, remembering that Luffy should keep this in mind if the Kouzuki family comes back. Luffy understands only that she nearly got herself into a situation where she could never return home. Tama then tells him she wants to repay him somehow, and Luffy immediately answers that he is hungry. She happily decides to make him a meal.

Tama reassures Luffy that his ship will be safe where it is, because no enemies will be able to locate it there. She rides Koma-chiyo with the newly tamed Baboon-maru alongside them and explains that there are pirates she hates and pirates she likes. Luffy, she says, is one of the kind and strong ones. The page introduces Luffy's new companions: Koma-chiyo, the komainu, and Baboon-maru, the new member she has tamed. Tama says she and her master are the only people who still live in the nearby place and that she wants to become an enchanting kunoichi someday. Luffy asks if there is a village on the mountain, and she answers, "No, not anymore!!"

Tama brings Luffy to her home, a dirty, small place that stinks. She admits this is a little rude of him to notice, but she still prepares food. Luffy sits in front of fresh steamed rice and thanks her for the meal. Tama urges him, "Please dig in, big brother!!" and tells him she is bringing it now. Luffy devours the rice immediately, calling it yummy and asking for more, only to learn that this was all of it. Tama says they do not have side dishes either. When Luffy asks whether she will eat too, she smiles and says that in order to become a kunoichi, she must make sure her body is very light. Luffy accepts the excuse at first, not yet understanding what it cost her to feed him.

Luffy realizes too late that Tama lied. She did not make much food, but she made it for his sake. When he says he is full and thanks her, she snaps, "You're a bad liar!!!" and says she is going to wash her hands. Then her master bursts in, furious, and asks, "Who are you, you bastard?!!" Luffy thinks for a second that this might be Usopp, then corrects himself: "No, you're not him!" The man sees the empty rice tray and shouts, "Did you eat the rice?! How dare you...!!" Luffy answers plainly, "I did." The warmth of Tama's hospitality turns into guilt as her master discovers that she gave away food she could barely afford.

Tama's master explains how severe her poverty is. She weaves bamboo hats all day, and even if she manages to sell all of them, she does not know whether she will have enough money to last the day. She eats millet most of the time, and twice a year, on her birthday and New Year's Day, she is allowed to eat rice. Today, he sent Tama into town so she could buy rice for her eighth birthday. Luffy finally understands why the meal mattered. Tama begs her master to stop and apologizes for cooking the rice without permission, crying, "Please don't bring shame to me!! But this person saved my life!!" Her master calls Luffy a foolish man and asks whether he knows how many days it has been since the child has had food.

Tama tries to make amends by offering to weave more bamboo hats, but her body fails her. She coughs and collapses while begging, "Please forgive me!!! Please let me repay big brother Luffy properly...!!!" Luffy rushes to her and asks for water, but her master shouts, "Tama, you fool!! Did you drink the water from the river to suppress your hunger?!" He explains that the rivers in this country are contaminated by waste from Kaido's factories and that for a young girl like Tama, drinking the polluted water is the same as drinking poison. Tama could have lived elsewhere, he says, but this child has been waiting here. The page turns her poverty from sad to lethal and ties it directly to Kaido's rule.

Tama's reason for remaining in such a poisoned place is revealed: she is waiting for the person who promised her that they would come back again. Her master names him as "a pirate named Ace." Luffy freezes at the name, stunned into silence. Elsewhere, Kaido's forces receive a report that communications with the scout group at Kuri Beach have been lost. They do not know how many people are there, but they know a group disembarked. The question is what they should do, Head-liner. The answer comes from Basil Hawkins of the Beasts Pirates, identified as a Headliner. He tells them, "Don't report this... to Kaidou-san yet. I'll go."

The final page lingers on the shock of Ace's name and the movement of Kaido's forces. Luffy can only say, "Wha..." as Tama's master explains that the girl has been waiting for Ace's promised return. At the same time, the report from Kuri Beach reaches Basil Hawkins. The scouts know a group of people disembarked, but they have lost contact and do not yet understand who arrived. Hawkins, calm and unreadable, decides not to inform Kaido yet and says he will go himself. The chapter ends with two threats converging on Luffy: the emotional weight of Ace's past in Wano, and a Beasts Pirates Headliner moving to investigate the Straw Hat captain's landing.

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