Wano Country Arc

Spanning the entire Wano Country Saga, this story is the lone arc of its saga and the eighth chapter in the back half of the series. Oda structured it formally into three numbered acts, each separated by a short interstitial, an unusual format that mirrors the country's own theater traditions. The narrative gathers the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance inside a closed-off land ruled by the tyrant Orochi and policed by Kaidou's Beasts Pirates, building toward a single decisive assault on the fortress island of Onigashima during the Fire Festival.

Two of the Four Emperors, Kaidou and his ally Charlotte Linlin, defend Onigashima together, making the raid the most lopsided battle the crew had ever attempted. The arc weaves the present-day war with extensive flashbacks to Oden, his voyages alongside Whitebeard and Roger, and the secret history of Wano itself, framing the country as a place sealed away from the world for eight centuries.

Luffy's group reaches Wano by climbing a waterfall, only for the captain to be swept off the Sunny and washed ashore alone. He rescues a starving girl named Tama, learns how Kaidou's factories have poisoned the land, and reunites with his crew piecemeal while Kin'emon explains the plan: a coordinated strike on Onigashima rather than open warfare. The samurai reveal that Kin'emon, Momonosuke, and several retainers traveled twenty years through time after Oden's execution and the burning of his castle, escaping by Toki's power so they could rally allies in the future. When a drunken Kaidou flattens Oden's ruins and crushes Luffy in a one-sided clash, the captain is hauled off to the Udon prison mines alongside Eustass Kid.

The middle act shifts to espionage in the Flower Capital, where the crew gathers intelligence and the oiran Komurasaki, secretly Oden's daughter Hiyori, defies Orochi at his banquet. Luffy breaks free of the prison and forges his own faction, while allies slowly assemble despite Orochi's paranoid hunt for the Kouzuki bloodline. The third and longest act delivers Oden's full life story through his journal, then launches the raid itself. The alliance crosses to Onigashima during the festival and fights its way up the Skull Dome, confronting the All-Stars, the Tobiroppo, and the two Emperors. Kid and Law combine their awakened powers to put down Big Mom, while Luffy duels Kaidou through repeated defeats. After his heart seemingly stops, Luffy awakens his fruit's true nature as the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, entering Gear 5 and finally hammering Kaidou into the earth as Momonosuke tows the falling fortress to safety.

With both Emperors driven beneath the island into the magma below, Wano is liberated and Momonosuke claims his birthright as shogun, vowing to dismantle the factories and rebuild. He chooses, for now, to keep the borders closed, honoring his people's safety over his father's unfinished dream. Hiyori avenges Oden as Denjiro beheads the burning Orochi, and the country's schools begin teaching the truth about the Kouzuki family at last.

The wider world convulses in the aftermath. New bounties crown Luffy, Kid, and Law at three billion berries each, and both Luffy and Buggy are elevated to the rank of Emperor. Robin and Law learn from the still-living Sukiyaki that the ancient weapon Pluton sleeps beneath Wano and that opening the borders would unleash it. Sabo's alleged role in events at the Levely sparks rebellions across eight nations, Shanks drives off the Admiral Ryokugyu with a burst of Conqueror's Haki, and Buggy unites with Crocodile and Mihawk to form the Cross Guild. The alliance formally dissolves, and the three Worst Generation crews part as rivals, each setting off in pursuit of the One Piece.