Chapter 163

The crew reaches Yuba after a sandstorm has battered it. The town stands deserted save for Toto, who is digging in the sand. Asked about the rebels, the old man explains that three years of drought drove them to relocate to Katorea, an oasis near Nanohana, the very city the crew departed before heading here. When Luffy says Vivi's name aloud, Toto breaks into tears and asks the princess whether she recognizes him. Stunned, Vivi places him and begins recalling their first meeting.

Vivi's flashback opens eleven years earlier. A boy named Koza begs King Cobra to end his village's drought, and when the king replies that it is beyond his power, Koza's father Toto rushes in, mortified by his son's rudeness, and pleads for forgiveness. Too proud to apologize, Koza storms out. Moved by the boy's devotion to his fellow villagers, Cobra invites them to stay in Alubarna while they decide their next step. Outside, the tearful Koza meets young Vivi, who teases him as a crybaby; their scuffle quickly becomes a friendship, and Vivi rises to sub-leader of the Sand-Sand Clan beneath Koza. One day, while looking for her leader, she stumbles upon two dangerous men.

The cover continues Jango's Dance Paradise, volume 29, Friendship, Crime, and Duty, in which Fullbody, bound by his duty, arrests his new ally Jango. Part of the Arabasta arc, the chapter pivots into Vivi's backstory, establishing the roots of her bond with the rebel leader Koza.