Chapter 948

In the Prisoner Mines, Luffy gleefully fights off the rushing guards while drilling his Armament Haki, but Babanuki orders the prisoners themselves to subdue him. They comply, explaining that although they enjoyed his defiance, they hold no hope of toppling Kaido and Orochi; their failed uprising twenty years ago cost them everything, and Yasuie's execution renewed their despair. Daifugo demonstrates Queen's Excite Bullets by shooting a distant inmate, whose burning spreads through skin contact, and threatens to shoot anyone clinging to Luffy.

From his cell Kawamatsu urges Luffy to give the prisoners hope. Babanuki names him a member of the Nine Red Scabbards, condemned to a slow death by poisoned fish on Orochi's orders. As the guards move in for the kill, Raizo leaps from the Executive Tower and, gliding past, tosses in the handcuff key and the sword Soto Muso. Freed, Kawamatsu scatters his captors with his Kappa-ryu style.

Kawamatsu is freed and makes his first full appearance, vomiting up the poisoned fish he was force-fed. Raizo and Kiku reveal themselves to the prisoners; Raizo is named Fukurokuju's ninja rival, and Kiku dons a mask to be recognized as Kikunojo of the Lingering Snow, disclosed as a trans woman, to Luffy and Chopper's surprise. Luffy reunites with Chopper and Kiku. Hyogoro counsels the pair that only by displaying their true identities can they win the prisoners' loyalty, and Kikunojo vows to silence Babanuki before he can warn Kaido.

This chapter launches the cover serial "Gang" Bege's Oh My Family, opening with the Fire Tank Pirates aboard Tarte 25 in "A Successful Escape." The prisoners' refusal to rebel ties directly to their crushed revolt of two decades earlier, framing why Luffy's outsider defiance unsettles rather than inspires them at first.