Chapter 817

Far out at sea, a battered Jack tears up a newspaper printing his own obituary, very much alive after clashing with the Marines. On Zou, Kin'emon bares the Kouzuki crest tattooed on his back, the same mark the minks recognize from Raizo. Nami notes that both rulers carry it too, hinting at bonds deeper than anyone guessed. The reunion pleases everyone until Inuarashi and Nekomamushi resume snapping at each other.

Momonosuke breaks up the quarrel, scolding the rulers and invoking his father's grief at seeing old friends so divided. The two prostrate themselves before him, baffling the Straw Hats. Kin'emon then clarifies that he only posed as the boy's parent: Momonosuke is actually the son of Lord Kouzuki Oden, daimyo of Kuri, and the true heir the others serve. Luffy shrugs off the boy's title, and for Momonosuke's sake the rulers grudgingly clasp hands in truce.

The minks lead the group up the whale-shaped tree to a hidden stairway, where Raizo waits chained to a red poneglyph. Far from the dashing ninja the men imagined, he has an oversized head and a homely face, deflating the eager pirates. Robin spots the Kouzuki crest on the wall and puzzles over the stone's unusual color, which serves some different purpose. Pressured to perform, Raizo insists ninja are not entertainers, then relents with a smoke jutsu, a clone, and flower shuriken, leaving the crew spellbound.