Chapter 953

Thirteen years back, a fleeing Hiyori left Kawamatsu a note of thanks and comfort, sending him on a frantic, fruitless hunt across Wano. In the present, Zoro trails the wounded Gyukimaru into a deserted town by following his blood. Pressed on why he came, Kawamatsu explains he had first traveled to Ringo meaning to end his life after losing Hiyori. There he came upon Onimaru, the komagitsune once bonded to the late daimyo Shimotsuki Ushimaru, still chasing grave robbers from the cemetery five years after his master's death.

Kawamatsu tended the injured fox, then set about lifting swords from the graves to arm the eventual fight against Kaido, weathering Onimaru's repeated bites until the animal came to accept his aim and stood with him. The two dug an underground vault, and Kawamatsu took on the name Gyukimaru before being caught during a food run in the Flower Capital. Now, Gyukimaru swings a door open for the group, revealing the chamber packed with hundreds of blades, and Kawamatsu tells Kin'emon their allies can finally be armed.

Kawamatsu's history is laid bare: he came to Ringo to commit seppuku, found Onimaru guarding the graves, and began collecting the dead's weapons for the last battle under the Gyukimaru alias until his capture. He describes Ringo's Eternal Grave custom of marking burials with swords. When Kawamatsu failed to come back, Onimaru shifted into a large humanoid to press on with the work. After two decades apart, Kawamatsu speaks to Kin'emon once again, and Hiyori offers Zoro her father Oden's blade Enma, the sole weapon ever to wound Kaido, in place of Shusui.

The cover serial's fourth part points the Fire Tank Pirates toward hijacking a vessel headed for Thriller Bark. Onimaru had once clamped down on Kawamatsu's arm and refused to release it, yielding only when the kappa swore he would keep gathering swords even without the limb, after which the fox licked the wound and kept watch. As the chapter shuts, Gyukimaru changes back into Onimaru and strolls off satisfied, hinting the disguise and the animal are the same.