Chapter Summaries

Lu Li studied Yamato’s Life Return technique in Udon Prison and began to suspect that it worked by making the whole body absorb food’s energy. He made limited progress, while Yamato stayed eager to help him grow stronger and Kaido watched their lessons with mounting irritation.

• Yamato ate enough red bean soup for her belly to swell, demonstrated how she shrank it with Life Return, and let Lu Li study her breathing and movements.
• Lu Li failed to shrink his own belly but found that imitating Yamato’s breathing helped him digest faster, then spent the morning working and telling her a story about a monkey trapped beneath Five-Finger Mountain.
• Over lunch, Yamato asked about Lu Li’s Haki training and helped him study Life Return again by eating more red bean soup while he touched her stomach.
• Queen grew angry at how much red bean soup Lu Li and Yamato were drinking, while Kaido watched from Onigashima and remained displeased with Lu Li’s attention to Yamato.
• Lu Li theorized that Life Return mobilized the whole body to absorb food and store excess energy, then tried again and noticed his bloating lessen.
• Lu Li asked to study Yamato again that night, and she agreed as they continued planning to grow strong enough to defeat Kaido.

Lu Li challenged Yamato’s belief that she was Kozuki Oden by making her confront the suffering of Wano Country’s prisoners and question whether Oden had truly helped the people. He left Yamato shaken, then argued that Kaido’s rule had brought industrial progress while condemning its brutal oppression and environmental damage.

• Lu Li asked Yamato whether the hungry prisoners were pitiful, and she began to empathize after recalling how painful hunger was.
• Lu Li asked why Yamato, who claimed to be Kozuki Oden, did not help the suffering people, and her confidence in her identity faltered.
• Lu Li argued that Kozuki Oden had failed to take practical action for Wano Country, leaving Yamato confused and distressed.
• Lu Li told Yamato that the people would not love her simply for claiming to be Oden, and she admitted they had ignored her before.
• Lu Li argued that Kaido had brought Wano Country into the industrial age but enabled Kurozumi Orochi’s oppression and allowed factories to poison the land.

Lu Li challenged Yamato to think beyond imitating Kozuki Oden and to help Wano’s suffering people as herself. After Yamato shared food with prisoners and saw their gratitude, Kaido watched approvingly, while Black Maria warned that Yamato might still rebel against him.

• Kaido and Black Maria watched Lu Li explain that Kaido’s factories had brought jobs but also polluted Wano’s rivers, while criticizing Oden for failing to improve people’s lives.
• Yamato asked whether she should help Wano’s people, and Lu Li told her that his friend was Yamato, not Kozuki Oden.
• Yamato exchanged her remaining food coupons for flatbreads and gave them to hungry prisoners, some of whom thanked her while others refused her charity.
• Lu Li told Yamato that the prisoners had thanked her for her sincere kindness, and Yamato began to consider that they valued her as herself.
• Kaido laughed at Yamato’s changing outlook, but Black Maria warned that Lu Li could still be guiding her toward rebellion; Kaido said he welcomed the challenge.

Lu Li guided Yamato to question her identity and recognize that she could choose who she wanted to be while still opposing Kaido’s rule. Yamato accepted her name and reaffirmed her resolve to correct Wano Country’s wrongs, despite her complicated feelings toward her father.

• Lu Li asked Yamato to compare Sun Dasheng’s treatment of demons with and without powerful backers, leading her to realize that her own protection came from Kaido.
• Yamato told Lu Li she was conflicted about whether she was Kozuki Oden or Yamato, and questioned what she should do.
• Lu Li told Yamato that her heart and her choices—not her name or others’ opinions—defined who she was.
• Yamato affirmed that Kaido’s actions were wrong and that she wanted to correct Wano Country’s mistakes, even if that meant departing from Kozuki Oden’s principles.
• Lu Li congratulated Yamato for finding herself, and Yamato accepted that she could call herself Yamato while continuing to resist Kaido.

After Yamato asked Lu Li how to improve Wano Country, he proposed that she reclaim her status as the Oni Princess and use her authority to help its people. Yamato embraced the idea, while Kaido watched approvingly and remained curious about what Lu Li would suggest.

• Yamato admitted she wanted to change Wano Country but did not know how, and she asked Lu Li for advice.
• Lu Li put off answering until morning, while Kaido celebrated Yamato calling him Dad and dismissed Black Maria's concerns about Lu Li helping her rebel.
• The next morning, Yamato pressed Lu Li for a plan while they mined, and he told her to apologize to Kaido and reclaim her position as the Oni Princess.
• Lu Li explained that Yamato could use her status to distribute food and aid impoverished areas instead of repeatedly challenging Kaido.
• Yamato praised Lu Li as clever and asked what to do next, but he told her to handle the first step before moving on.

Lu Li persuaded Yamato to ask Kaido for a chance to apologize, and Kaido eagerly arranged her release from prison. Yamato returned to Onigashima to face her father, but when she finally met him, she struggled to apologize.

• Lu Li told Yamato to admit she was wrong and ask to see Kaido, while Kaido prepared for their meeting by cleaning his quarters and staying sober.
• Maria learned Yamato planned to apologize to Kaido and remarked that Lu Li had persuaded her.
• Babanuki arrived at the prison and released Yamato on Kaido's orders, while Yamato promised to try to secure Lu Li's release too.
• After Yamato left, the Alpaca Man attacked Lu Li, who dodged the blows and used the encounter to train his Observation Haki and stamina.
• Yamato entered Kaido's clean quarters and, despite Kaido waiting expectantly, could only manage to say, "Father..."

Yamato reconciled with Kaido and regained her status as the Oni Princess, then persuaded him to release Lu Li. After Lu Li met Kaido on Onigashima and endured his Conqueror’s Haki, Kaido asked him to explain the shortcomings of the Beasts Pirates’ rule over Wano Country.

• Yamato apologized to Kaido, and he restored her place as the Oni Princess and heir of the Beasts Pirates.
• Yamato asked Kaido to release Lu Li, and he agreed to free him and consider him for a cadre position.
• The next morning, Babanuki escorted Lu Li from Udon Prison to Onigashima, where he met Kaido and Yamato.
• Kaido questioned Lu Li about his earlier assassination attempt and tested him with Conqueror’s Haki, but Lu Li resisted its pressure.
• Lu Li said he hoped to challenge Kaido again after growing stronger, and Kaido told him to train with Yamato.
• Kaido asked Lu Li what shortcomings the Beasts Pirates’ rule over Wano Country had.

Lu Li confronted Kaido with how the Beasts Pirates’ rule and Kurozumi Orochi’s corruption were causing food shortages and population decline in Wano Country. Kaido began reconsidering his approach, and Lu Li ended by asking why he entrusted the country to someone intent on destroying it.

• Kaido tested Lu Li about his reform plans, and Lu Li warned that Wano Country’s order could collapse within fifteen years under its current rule.
• Lu Li questioned Kaido and Black Maria about declining food production and explained that imported food was being wasted or diverted before reaching the people.
• Black Maria revealed that Wano Country’s population had fallen by three percent over five years, and Lu Li linked the decline to food shortages and poor distribution.
• Lu Li estimated that less than five percent of the Beasts Pirates’ food supplies reached the people, prompting Kaido to grow angry about corruption and theft.
• Lu Li challenged Kaido over entrusting Wano Country to Kurozumi Orochi despite Kaido’s desire for the country to produce value rather than be destroyed.

Lu Li convinced Kaido that Kurozumi Orochi and his government should be removed, then warned that factory pollution could undermine Wano Country’s future workforce. Kaido agreed to discharge the waste into the sea, and Black Maria suggested Lu Li manage Wano Country alongside Yamato.

• Kaido agreed with Lu Li that Kurozumi Orochi was an obstacle and said Orochi and his confidants should be replaced.
• Lu Li argued that Wano Country needed broader reforms and redirected the discussion to pollution from the Beasts Pirates’ factories.
• Lu Li warned that polluted water could harm children and reduce future population and labor; Black Maria recognized the long-term risk.
• Kaido rejected building a wastewater treatment site and ordered the Numbers to discharge factory waste into the sea.
• Black Maria proposed that Lu Li manage Wano Country alongside Yamato after Orochi was removed.

Kaido assigned Lu Li and Yamato to improve Wano Country’s governance and test their abilities by removing Orochi and installing Yamato as shogun. They returned to Wano Country, where Yamato claimed she had a plan to kill Orochi.

• Kaido appointed Yamato as Wano Country’s new shogun and ordered Lu Li to assist her, while restricting both of them to Wano Country for two months.
• Kaido gave Lu Li and Yamato replacement cuffs and ordered them to establish a position to take over before a grain shipment arrived.
• Lu Li identified Orochi’s powerful protectors as a threat and decided to observe the city before attempting an assassination.
• Lu Li accepted the hidden mission to kill Orochi and help Yamato become shogun, despite its deadly difficulty, because he wanted to help her and improve Wano Country.
• Lu Li and Yamato traveled by ship back to Wano Country, and Yamato said she had a plan to kill Orochi as they approached the Flower Capital.

Lu Li and Yamato entered the Flower Capital under the pretext of discussing grain supplies and meeting Kurozumi Orochi, hoping to get past his ninja surveillance and assess his defenses. They reached Orochi’s residence, where he was still reveling after a debauched feast.

• Yamato proposed disguising herself as a courtesan to assassinate Kurozumi Orochi, but Lu Li rejected the risky plan and suggested a formal visit instead.
• Lu Li explained that Yamato’s status as Kaido’s daughter could secure them an audience while helping them avoid the Oniwabanshu Ninja; he also considered the protection of Kurozumi Semimaru’s Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
• Lu Li noticed they were being watched and claimed Kaido intended to send Orochi more grain, while Yamato played along and enjoyed the Flower Capital’s snacks.
• A ninja invited them to the Shogun’s residence, and Lu Li reprimanded him for addressing Yamato disrespectfully before allowing him to lead the way.
• Lu Li and Yamato arrived at Orochi’s residence, where a steward received them and led them upstairs while Lu Li searched for signs of hidden defenses.
• They reached the top floor and found Kurozumi Orochi seated amid the aftermath of a feast as courtesans hurried away.

Lu Li assassinated Kurozumi Orochi and Kurozumi Semimaru, then helped Yamato claim the shogunate with the Oniwabanshu’s submission. Yamato named Lu Li her military adviser and gave him equal authority to govern Wano Country.

• Yamato and Lu Li approached Orochi during his orgy while Semimaru and Fukurokuju watched over him.
• Semimaru sensed Yamato’s killing intent and raised a barrier as Lu Li drew Prison Demon and Yamato released Conqueror’s Haki.
• Lu Li used Cloud Steppers to pass through the barrier and cut off Orochi’s head, then killed Semimaru with the same slash.
• Fukurokuju attacked Lu Li but was blocked by Bakudo #81, Severing Void, and Lu Li declared Orochi had been executed under Kaido’s orders.
• Yamato claimed Kaido had appointed her shogun, and Fukurokuju and the other Oniwabanshu ninjas knelt and pledged to follow her.
• Yamato appointed Lu Li her military adviser with equal authority to govern Wano Country.

Lu Li helped Yamato consolidate power after she killed Kurozumi Orochi, ordering a crackdown on Orochi’s officials while preserving the ninjas as a useful force. Yamato was formally made shogun with Kaido’s endorsement, and Kaido rewarded Lu Li with a Zoan Devil Fruit.

• Lu Li instructed Fukurokuju to arrest Orochi’s core subordinates, preserve the ninja corps, and prepare lists of its members and Orochi’s trusted allies.
• Kaido learned that Lu Li had bypassed the Barrier-Barrier Fruit user and killed Orochi, then ordered grain shipments accelerated and planned to endorse Yamato as shogun.
• The Oniwabanshu arrested Orochi Group officials, and more than a thousand were executed publicly in the Flower Capital.
• Kaido descended as an azure Dragon and witnessed Yamato formally become Wano Country’s shogun.
• Kaido praised Lu Li for his plans to improve Wano Country and handed him a Zoan Devil Fruit as a reward.

After earning Kaido’s trust, Lu Li received an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit and a new mission to improve Wano Country while increasing factory output. He began organizing famine relief, while King delivered grain and warned Lu Li to prove himself.

• Kaido rewarded Lu Li with an Allosaurus-model Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, and Lu Li hesitated to eat it because he wanted to preserve his ability to swim.
• Yamato urged Lu Li to take her adventuring after Wano’s problems were resolved, and Lu Li cautioned her that he might someday disappear.
• Lu Li received a hidden mission to improve Wano Country within two months, with rewards including a strategist position and extended stay time.
• King arrived in the Flower Capital with grain and told Lu Li not to disappoint Kaido’s expectations.
• Lu Li ordered the security forces to send sixty percent of the grain to storage and distribute the rest to famine-stricken cities.

Lu Li laid out a three-step plan to relieve Wano Country’s famine, expand Kaido’s factories, and improve infrastructure, while using imported grain and factory work to address the country’s polluted farmland. Kaido and his officers debated the proposal, then Kaido approved its factory expansion and ordered the Numbers to assist Yamato after finishing their waterway work.

• Lu Li allocated sixty percent of the delivered grain to the treasury and the rest to famine relief, prioritizing Kibi and Kuri.
• Lu Li proposed feeding famine victims, employing them in new factories, sending other workers to mine in Udon, and using the remaining labor to build roads, bridges, and reservoirs.
• Lu Li’s grain carts departed for famine-stricken regions under the Oniwabanshu’s watch, while Kaido and his officers read his proposal on Onigashima.
• Queen, Jack, and other officers objected to giving grain away, but Black Maria and King argued that relief would protect Kaido’s people and supply workers for expanding factories.
• Kaido concluded that Lu Li’s plan would double the factories, accepted King’s assessment that it was feasible, and ordered the Numbers to take orders from Yamato after finishing their waterway work.

Shimotsuki Yasuie, living in hiding as Kanjia, took in an abandoned baby girl and resolved to protect Wano’s people despite his doubts about its new shogun. In Salvage Village, Lu Li delivered generous food relief and told the villagers that Yamato had arranged it, leaving them wondering why the new authorities were helping them.

• Kanjia returned to Salvage Village with an abandoned baby girl and decided to raise her despite the villagers’ concerns about their lack of food.
• Kanjia reflected on Wano’s suffering and resolved to protect its people after the baby’s smile renewed his hope.
• A villager told Kanjia that the authorities had brought disaster relief, so he followed the crowd to the village entrance.
• Lu Li oversaw a distribution of rice and other food, ordering an extra half portion for Kanjia because he had a baby.
• Lu Li told the villagers that Yamato had applied to the Beasts Pirates for the food and asked them why they thought she had given it to them.

Lu Li persuaded the people of Kuri to accept Yamato as a benevolent shogun by distributing food, then recruited Shimotsuki Yasuie to govern Kuri. Yasuie accepted after choosing the people's welfare over loyalty to the Kozuki Family, and Lu Li outlined a plan to create jobs and stabilize Wano Country.

• Lu Li told the people of Kuri that Yamato had killed Kurozumi Orochi and distributed food to spare them from hunger, and many villagers knelt to praise her.
• Kanjia realized that Yamato's food relief could win the people's loyalty and make them stop longing for the Kozuki Family.
• Lu Li recognized Shimotsuki Yasuie in the crowd and asked him to become the daimyo of Kuri or return to govern Hakumai.
• Lu Li challenged Yasuie to choose between loyalty to the Kozuki Family and serving the people, and Yasuie agreed to govern Kuri.
• Yasuie asked how Wano Country would support its people after the food ran out, and Lu Li proposed factories, worker training, wages, and a stable food market.

Lu Li persuaded Kanjia that factory work and imported food could relieve Wano Country’s famine, then put him in charge of building factories in Kuri. After arranging food distribution and infrastructure, Lu Li returned to the Flower Capital, where Yamato asked how the factories could be completed quickly.

• Lu Li explained to Kanjia that Wano Country’s recurring famines came from limited farmland and population growth, and that Kaido’s power could ensure a steady supply of imported food.
• Lu Li told Kanjia that factory jobs would provide wages for food and that the Beasts Pirates were digging separate channels to carry wastewater out to sea.
• Lu Li gave Kanjia the Kuri factory plan and assigned him to oversee construction, while Kanjia agreed to find capable people to help.
• Lu Li traveled through towns and villages to inspect food distribution, while Yamato helped residents across Wano and gained their trust.
• Lu Li and Yamato met in the Flower Capital, where Yamato questioned whether the large factories could really be built quickly.

Lu Li used Pica and King to accelerate factory construction in Wano Country, winning Kaido’s approval and raising his standing in the Beasts Pirates. He introduced new factory wages and promotion rules for workers, and Kaido agreed to test the model in a few factories while Lu Li expected cheaper food and better treatment to improve production.

• Lu Li told Yamato that he had asked King to borrow Pica from Doflamingo for a month so Pica could use the Stone-Stone Fruit to build factories.
• King produced steel rebar while Pica shaped boulders around the frames, and Wano Country’s factory count doubled by Pica’s third week there.
• Kaido praised Lu Li and Yamato’s results, gave them extra grain for the construction workers, and allowed Lu Li’s new factory rules to be tested.
• Lu Li posted tiered job roles, wages, training, and promotion opportunities, prompting workers and people across Wano Country to seek factory work.
• Kaido objected to the generous worker conditions but permitted a one-month trial, while Lu Li anticipated that lower food prices and performance-based pay would improve productivity.

Lu Li explained to Kaido and the Beasts Pirates executives why the new factories outproduced the old ones, despite employing inexperienced workers. He began arguing that paid, voluntary workers were more productive and less costly than slave-like labor, leaving the executives to consider the economic effects of slavery.

• Kaido summoned Lu Li to explain a report showing that the new factories had increased combined output by thirty percent in two weeks.
• Lu Li clarified that the weapons and Sea Stone factories had each exceeded the old factories' output by fifty percent, while the Artificial Devil Fruit factory had only matched its previous output.
• Lu Li explained that skilled new workers performed well in familiar crafts but needed specialized training for Artificial Devil Fruit production, and he advised against assigning old-factory craftsmen to train them.
• Lu Li told the executives that workers' initiative and improved conditions made the new factories more productive than the old factories, where low wages, hunger, beatings, and injuries created a vicious cycle.
• King questioned why free workers were better than slaves, and Lu Li challenged the executives' belief that slave labor had a low economic cost by comparing slave-based countries with feudal ones.