Save O-Tama - Straw Hat, Bounding through the Wasteland!

Standing in the tree above Hitetsu's home, Luffy is haunted by the memory of Ace dying in his arms at Marineford. He asks the old swordsmith where food, water, and medical care can be found, intent on getting help for the ailing Tama. Hitetsu points him toward a town beyond the wasteland but cautions that Beasts Pirates patrol the route. Undeterred, Luffy lets the smith swap his conspicuous foreign clothes for a kimono, obi, and topknot. Spotting a purple-tinged blade on the wall, Luffy claims it for the trip, prompting Hitetsu to chase after him: the weapon is Nidai Kitetsu, a cursed great grade Famous Blade forged by his ancestor Kotetsu. Luffy ignores every plea, even tossing the smith aside by the nose, and rides off on Komachiyo.

When Tama wakes, the sight of Luffy reignites her grief over the news of Ace's death, and she pummels him, refusing to believe Ace would break the promise to return for her. Luffy can only repeat the painful truth. Far off, Zoro remains a wanted fugitive in the Flower Capital while he camps in the wilds, roasting heaps of hunted game. Tama warns Luffy not to eat the local animals, whose flesh is tainted by polluted river water, and explains that the shogun and Kaido hoard an untainted private farm. Luffy notices a woman being pursued by two Beasts Pirates, and Zoro swiftly cuts the attackers down. The two friends reunite joyfully, though Luffy's snatched bite of Zoro's poisoned meat explains the swordsman's stomachache. Then Basil Hawkins and his men arrive, blades drawn.

The anime layers in several original beats: Luffy briefly recalling Ace's death, his use of Observation Haki to locate both Hitetsu's sword and the approaching Hawkins, and Zoro feasting in the wilderness before sensing Tsuru's danger through the same Haki. Tsurujo debuts this episode. Zoro's rescue of O-Tsuru, glimpsed only from afar in the manga, is extended and shown up close. Likewise, the manga did not depict Hawkins drawing his cards while gauging the odds that Luffy was responsible for two Beasts Pirates vanishing at Kuri Beach.