Chapter 1004: Kibi Dango

On Onigashima, the Shinuchi Speed hands a sack of kibi dango to a group of Gifters, telling them the dumplings are Queen's special tonics that strengthen the body and speed healing, and Briscola backs the claim after eating one. A flashback fills in how Tama talked Speed into carrying her to the fortress, churning out batch upon batch of the taming sweets even as she wore herself ragged, every dumpling intended to add another ally for a Wano stripped of Kaidou and Orochi and ruled by Momonosuke as shogun. Speed, along with Gazelleman and Daifugo, pledged to fight in her name and lay low until the moment was right.

Returning to the current moment, the pair of Gazelleman and Daifugo scatter the dango through the Gifter and Shinuchi ranks, pulling figures like Mizerka and Poker under Tama's sway. Inside the Skull Dome's right-brain tower, Franky is having a rough time against Sasaki when Tama, Usopp, and Nami appear atop Komachiyo, apparently running from a swarm of Gifters.

That flight turns out to be a setup. Tama commands the Gifters to back Franky, and amid the chaos his captors among the Armored Corps suddenly lose hold of him, freeing him to slip past Sasaki's charge. Realizing a Devil Fruit is responsible, Ulti dives at Nami, who counters with Thunder Lance Tempo, aware all the while that it cannot put down so durable an enemy. Usopp picks off more Armored Corps by sniping dango into their mouths with Kibi Dan-boshi, swinging them over, and Franky seizes the gap to gash Sasaki using Shori no V-Flash.

Over where Black Maria holds court in the banquet hall, she keeps Sanji fast in her webbing and orders him to summon Robin via a subordinate able to carry his voice through the whole castle, dangling his freedom as the reward. Her real aim is to seize Robin, maim her, and then finish her off. A message then reaches Black Maria: Bao Huang has tracked the wounded Nine Red Scabbards to the Treasure Repository, and she volunteers to go end them. Bao Huang, though, catches sight of a tenth person in the chamber, someone quietly nursing the samurai's wounds.

The chapter at last reveals how Tama got to Onigashima, riding aboard Speed's vessel, and that Gazelleman and Daifugo were also tamed by her before the three swept fellow Beasts Pirates into her ranks. It likewise sets Black Maria's hunt for Robin in motion and hints at the unknown helper attending the Scabbards in the treasure room. Answering a reader's request, the cover shows a monkey and a squirrel with cheeks stuffed full as Chopper passes out his Rumble Ball candies to them.