A Hard Battle Starts - Luffy vs. Katakuri

Two threads run in parallel through this installment. Deep inside the mirror dimension, Katakuri remains untouchable, turning every one of Luffy's blows back against him with larger mochi limbs. Meanwhile on Cacao Island, a disguised Sanji and a captive looking Chiffon are smuggled in by Pudding, who has secretly recruited the island's elite chefs to whip up a fresh cake. As Brulee returns to consciousness, the Big Mom Pirates ready a strike on the Thousand Sunny through the mirrors.

Luffy cycles through Elephant Gun, Grizzly Magnum, and Gigant Axe, yet Katakuri answers each with a bigger fist or foot and stomps the pirate into a crater, declaring he sees no win in Luffy's future. Pudding cuffs Chiffon to fake a prisoner transfer and hides Sanji in Rabiyan's folds, slipping past suspicious animals at the docks. Inside the Sweets Factory, she uses her Memo Memo powers to rewrite the gathered chefs' memories so they believe her wedding went off and weather wrecked the cake. Sanji parcels out the work: Chiffon on the sponge, Pudding on the chocolate, himself on a secret ingredient, all to be finished and decorated at sea before intercepting Big Mom. Back in the mirrors, a call from Perospero mocks Pedro's sacrifice, and Katakuri orders Brulee to lead an assault on the Sunny with flaming arrows aimed through a portal.

The adaptation pads several beats: Pudding swooning when Sanji smiles, citizens gushing over her beauty, a dog and pig sniffing out the hidden cook, and Sanji sketching his cake plans inside Rabiyan. Where the manga had Luffy open with Elephant Gun before his first overwhelming, the anime swaps in Grizzly Magnum and Gigant Axe instead, and adds an Elephant Gatling attempt after Brulee wakes. One crude gesture from the manga, Pudding flipping Sanji off, is softened here into a simple index finger point.