Recaps

After looting Marine G1 and taking thousands of slaves, Ares became a major concern for the Marines, who raised his bounty to 3.5 billion and named him War God. Ares headed for Hachinosu Island to recruit Katakuri and Jin and claim its food and treasure.

• Kong and Sengoku learned that Ares had looted Marine G1, while Saint Saturn ordered his bounty raised to 3.5 billion and gave him the title War God.
• Aboard the captured warships, Ares received intelligence about Chinjao and the Happo Navy and planned to recruit Chinjao for the Yamata no Orochi Fruit.
• Ares told Kaido they were going to Hachinosu Island to take its supplies and ask Katakuri and Jin to join them.
• Ares and his crew arrived at Hachinosu Island, where the pirates recognized him and welcomed him.
• Katakuri and Jin hurried to the port, and Katakuri excitedly greeted Ares and asked about his battles.

Ares left Hachinosu Island to form the God of War Pirates, recruiting the young Lunarian Jin while Katakuri chose to stay with his family. The crew departed with plundered treasures, leaving Katakuri determined to grow stronger before they met again.

• Ares invited Katakuri to join the God of War Pirates, but Katakuri declined so he could protect his younger brothers and sisters.
• Ares, Kaido, and Slada began looting Hachinosu Island, and Jin approached Ares to ask to join his crew.
• Ares revealed Jin's Lunarian wings, then used his Conqueror's Haki to silence those who wanted to claim the bounty on him.
• Ares welcomed Jin as a companion and promised to protect him as he worked to restore the glory of the Lunarian Tribe.
• Kaido, Slada, and Ares's subjects loaded the plunder onto their warships, and the crew departed as Katakuri wished Ares well.

Katakuri learned that Ares had earned a 3.5-billion-Berry bounty and trained harder, while Rocks vowed to hunt him down after discovering the scale of Ares’s plunder. Roger’s crew also saw Ares’s new bounty as Marines pursued them with the Celestial Dragon baby aboard.

• Katakuri read about Ares’s new War God title and 3.5-billion-Berry bounty, then resolved to train harder.
• Rocks found Hachinosu Island looted and ordered Silver Axe to investigate Ares and stop him from building a force.
• Rocks and Linlin reacted furiously to Ares’s bounty and discussed eliminating him before he grew stronger.
• Roger’s crew struggled with the red-haired baby, who peed on Roger, while Rayleigh reflected on Ares’s rescue of the slaves.
• After Marines caught up with Roger’s ship, Gaban showed the crew Ares’s bounty poster, and Roger and Rayleigh discussed the changing balance of power.

Ares invited Chinjao to join the God of War Pirates, and Chinjao accepted to spare the Happo Navy from a disastrous fight. After Chinjao severed ties with the Land of Flowers, Ares offered him a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, the Yamata no Orochi Form.

• Chinjao saw Ares's increased bounty poster and recalled how easily Ares had defeated him.
• Ares arrived with Kaido, Slada, and a vast force, then invited Chinjao to join his new pirate crew and declare his ambition to defeat Rocks.
• Chinjao agreed to join the God of War Pirates rather than risk the lives of his eight hundred soldiers, and the crew welcomed him with a feast.
• Ares advised Chinjao to withdraw from the Land of Flowers, and Chinjao contacted its king to sever their ties.
• Ares presented Chinjao with the Mythical Zoan: Yamata no Orochi Form, leaving Chinjao stunned by the offer.

Ares recruited Chinjao into the God of War Pirates and gave him a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit before leading the crew toward Wano. In Kuri, Kozuki Oden and Ashura Doji paused their fight when Ares’s fleet appeared in the sky, and Oden wondered if he could sail with the outsiders.

• Ares gave Chinjao the Mythical Zoan Yamata no Orochi fruit and appointed him captain of the Second Division.
• Chinjao ate the fruit, gained eight serpent heads, and learned that he could survive as long as one head remained.
• Ares held a banquet to celebrate Chinjao’s joining, then led the God of War Pirates toward Wano.
• In Kuri, Kozuki Oden and Ashura Doji fought amid the ruins as Oden tried to persuade Ashura to stop resisting.
• A thief spotted the God of War Pirates’ fleet flying overhead, and Oden hoped its outsiders might take him out to sea.

Ares arrived in Kuri and claimed the territory, then demonstrated his overwhelming strength against Ashura Doji and Kozuki Oden. After Ares sent Oden crashing through several mountains with one punch, the young samurai’s fate remained unclear.

• Ares and his group landed in Kuri, where Kozuki Oden eagerly asked them to take him out to sea and Ashura Doji demanded they leave.
• Ares revealed that he was the son of the Tsukino Family’s head and declared that Kuri belonged to him, provoking Ashura Doji to attack.
• Ashura Doji’s sword failed to harm Ares, who crushed the blade with his bare hand.
• Kozuki Oden challenged Ares and struck him with Togen Shirataki, but Ares’s body endured the attack.
• Oden unleashed Togen Juken, and Ares countered with Blood-colored Armament—Hasshoken, sending Oden flying through multiple mountain peaks.

Ares defeated Kozuki Oden, won Ashura Doji’s support, and began organizing the rebuilding of Kuri under the banner of opening Wano to the world. Oden vowed to train until he could defeat Ares, while the news of the outsiders’ plans reached the shogun, who feared an invasion.

• Ares asked Ashura Doji to help rebuild Kuri and open Wano to the world, and Ashura Doji agreed to follow him.
• Ares set his crew to work surveying Kuri, planning construction, and gathering materials for the town.
• Oden told Kin'emon and the others that Ares had defeated him, then rushed out to train so he could challenge Ares again.
• A subordinate informed Kozuki Oden that outsiders had arrived in Kuri and planned to build a town there.
• Kozuki Oden panicked and wondered how the outsiders had entered Wano and whether they intended to invade.

Sukiyaki and Wano’s daimyos learned that Ares had defeated Oden and planned to open the borders, so they considered how to stop him. In Kuri, Ares and his allies planned the region’s development, and Ares assigned Kaido to train the God of War Pirates’ members.

• Sukiyaki heard that Ares had defeated Oden and was building a town in Kuri, then summoned the daimyos to discuss driving out the outsiders.
• Sukiyaki and the daimyos agreed that Wano’s borders must remain closed and decided to investigate Ares before arranging an assassination.
• Orochi grew excited at the prospect of war and considered using the turmoil to escape his position as Yasuiie’s servant.
• Ares, Ashura Doji, Chinjao, Slada, and their allies planned Kuri’s town, agriculture, harbor, clean water, and sewage systems.
• Ashura Doji reported that strangers were investigating Ares, who told his followers to kill anyone who obstructed Kuri’s construction.
• Ares ordered Kaido to train Jin, Kuma, and other willing members of the God of War Pirates, though Kaido protested that he did not want to teach brats.

Ares assigned Kaido to train the crew and began a brutal regimen to strengthen his body with Ryuo, Blood-colored Armament, and thunder. Fukurokuju secretly watched and abandoned his mission to assassinate Ares, convinced he was an invincible monster.

• Ares made Kaido responsible for teaching the crew and sparring with Chinjao, Slada, and Ashura Doji as they trained to become the strongest pirate crew in history.
• Ares explained that Kōzuki Oden was the shogun's son and had Conqueror's Haki, and told the others to alert him if Oden challenged him.
• Ares left construction in Kuri to the others and began training by striking his body with Ryuo-coated and Blood-colored Armament-coated clubs.
• After a hundred strikes, Ares transformed into his Dragon Human Form and repeatedly called down thunder to temper his body.
• Fukurokuju watched Ares's training from the jungle, judged the assassination mission suicidal, and decided to report back to Lord Sukiyaki.

Fukurokuju reported Ares's terrifying strength to Sukiyaki and the daimyo, and Kozuki Oden confirmed that Ares had defeated him and withstood his swords. As the leaders ruled out direct assassination and feared war, Shimotsuki Ushimaru proposed settling the dispute through a series of duels.

• Fukurokuju told Sukiyaki and the daimyo that Ares could endure his own Ryuo Haki attacks and train for days without stopping.
• Sukiyaki summoned Kozuki Oden, who confirmed Ares had defeated him with one punch and could not be cut by Enma or Ame no Habakiri.
• Sukiyaki angrily rejected Kozuki Oden's suggestion to open the Land of Wano and sent him away.
• Sukiyaki and the daimyo considered assassination and poisoning but worried that either might provoke a war with Ares.
• Shimotsuki Ushimaru proposed a series of duels to decide whether Ares and his forces would have to leave the Land of Wano.

Kaido began training more than a hundred former God Valley slave children, using Ares’s punishing methods and Kuma’s Devil Fruit ability to remove their pain. After the children finished training and went to eat, Chinjao called Ares about a youngster with an important report.

• Kaido handed out wooden sticks and ordered the children to beat their own bodies, while Jin resolved to grow strong like Ares.
• Kaido demonstrated the exercise with his spiked club, and Kuma joined Jin in enduring the painful training.
• After the children completed their physical exercises, Ares asked Kuma to slap the pain out of their bodies and absorbed the resulting bubbles with Kaido.
• Jin asked Kuma to leave his pain intact next time and vowed to restore the glory of the Lunarian Tribe.
• Ares sent Kaido to feed the children, then received a call from Chinjao about a youngster who insisted on seeing him.

Ares used Kurozumi Orochi to gather information and advance his plans to take control of Wano, while Orochi and Kurozumi Kanjuro plotted to exploit Ares against the Kōzuki Family. A month later, Kuri had begun to prosper, but Chinjao warned Ares that their food supplies were nearly gone.

• Kurozumi Orochi warned Ares of a planned assassination and told him Shimotsuki Ushimaru had proposed a martial contest with General Sukiyaki; Ares rewarded Orochi and urged him to secure Sukiyaki’s agreement.
• Ares told Kaido, Slada, Chinjao, and the others to conceal their strength as they prepared to seize Wano.
• Kurozumi Orochi recruited Kurozumi Kanjuro to infiltrate Ares’s forces and spy on them while they pursued revenge against the Kōzuki Family.
• Kurozumi Kanjuro agreed to go to Kuri and seek Ares’s trust.
• After a month of development transformed Kuri, Chinjao told Ares that the food supply was nearly exhausted before the crops matured.

Ares solved Kuri’s food shortage by carrying Rusukaina Island to Wano Country and began planning its development. As his allies celebrated, Kaido proposed conquering his war-torn homeland, Wokaa Kingdom, to expand their power.

• Ares learned that nearby regions refused to sell food and decided to find supplies himself.
• Ares flew to Rusukaina Island, wrapped it in Flame Clouds, and lifted the island into the sky.
• Ares carried Rusukaina Island to Kuri and set it down near the port, astonishing the residents.
• Ares told Slada to build a town and port on the island and warned him to protect its beasts.
• Kaido proposed killing Wokaa Kingdom’s king and seizing the kingdom to strengthen their forces.

Ares decided not to attack the World Government-affiliated Wokaa Kingdom yet, but promised Kaido they would claim it once they were strong enough. After Ares moved a second island to Wano, General Sukiyaki and the daimyos grew alarmed as Ares's influence and strength continued to rise.

• Ares promised Kaido that the God of War Pirates would take the Wokaa Kingdom as their territory when they were powerful enough, then considered building a force of trained baboons on another island.
• Ares left the following day to move an island, and word of his feat spread through Wano.
• General Sukiyaki summoned the daimyos, who feared Ares could rival the Sword God Ryoma and doubted they could drive him out of Wano.
• Shimotsuki Yasuiie raised the idea of holding a duel with Ares, while Ugetsu Tempura warned that Ares's people were becoming self-sufficient.
• Several days later, Ares moved a second island to Wano, leaving Sukiyaki unsettled and wondering what he intended.

Kozuki Oden challenged Ares again after recovering and training for a little over a month, drawing crowds and the attention of Wano’s leaders. Ares arrived in Kuri to face him, while Sukiyaki feared Ares might be seeking the weapon buried beneath Wano.

• Fukurokuju told Sukiyaki that Oden had left the Capital of Flowers to challenge Ares, and Sukiyaki summoned the other daimyos to witness Ares's strength.
• Oden ignored Kin'emon and Raizo's warnings and traveled to Kuri, determined to test his progress against Ares.
• Kaido stopped Oden and warned him that he remained far weaker than Ares, while Chinjao doubted Oden understood the danger of repeated defeats.
• Spectators gathered to watch the rematch, and Sukiyaki, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, Kanjuro, and others watched anxiously.
• When Shimotsuki Ushimaru wondered why Ares had come to Wano, Sukiyaki feared that Ares wanted the weapon buried beneath the country.
• Ares arrived, confronted Oden, and asked whether he was prepared to lose again.

Ares overwhelmed Kozuki Oden in a swordless fight, copying and surpassing Oden’s own two-sword technique. Oden was carried away for treatment as the onlookers reeled at Ares’s strength.

• Sukiyaki and Shimotsuki Ushimaru were shocked by Ares’s immense physique, and Ushimaru suspected he had used the Tsukino Family’s sword-forging methods on his body.
• Kozuki Oden challenged Ares with Enma and Ame no Habakiri, but Ares mocked him for failing to forge them into Black Blades.
• Ares repelled Oden’s Oden Two Sword Style: Gun—Imitation Demon with Swordless Style—Sweep the Army, sending Oden flying more than a hundred meters.
• Oden attacked with Togen Juken, and Ares copied the technique as Swordless Style—Togen Juken, striking Oden with a devastating flurry of wounds.
• Kin'emon carried the fallen Oden away for treatment while Kaido, Jin, Sukiyaki, and the others reacted to Ares’s overwhelming victory.

After defeating Kozuki Oden, Ares publicly challenged General Sukiyaki’s rule and called for Wano to open its borders. Sukiyaki left humiliated as Kanjuro and other young people joined Ares in Kuri.

• General Sukiyaki and the daimyos recognized that neither they nor their forces could match Ares, and Ushimaru noted that Ares had learned Oden’s sword style in battle.
• Ares accused Sukiyaki of lacking the strength to protect Wano and declared that he would strengthen the country and open its borders.
• Kaido and Ashura Doji backed Ares as Kuri’s people condemned Wano’s rulers for neglecting them and failing to protect the country.
• Fukurokuju and Ushimaru restrained Sukiyaki from confronting Ares, and Sukiyaki ordered his group to leave.
• Ares invited people who wanted Wano’s borders opened to join Kuri, and Kanjuro announced that he would follow him.
• Ares recognized Kanjuro as a Kurozumi spy but decided to let him join and potentially use him to feed information to Kurozumi Orochi.

After Oden lost to Ares again, he vowed to train harder while Ares continued preparing to take control of Wano. Sukiyaki agreed to a wager that excluded Ares from the duels, unaware that Kurozumi Orochi had already told Ares about the plan.

• Oden woke injured and learned that Ares had defeated him using Oden's own sword style, then vowed to improve.
• The next day, Oden headed to the mountains to train as passersby whispered about his crushing defeat.
• Ares continued training and considered how to take control of Wano without provoking widespread conflict.
• Sukiyaki summoned the daimyō and agreed to Shimotsuki Ushimaru's plan for a wager, with Ares excluded from the duels.
• The daimyō discussed the wager's terms and planned to investigate Ares's subordinates, unaware that Kurozumi Orochi had already informed Ares.
• Ares rewarded Kurozumi Orochi for the intelligence, and Orochi asked for a position once Ares became Wano's general.

Ares rejected Kurozumi Orochi’s plan to poison Wano’s samurai and prepared for a fair duel, assigning Kaido to face Kozuki Oden. After receiving an invitation from Sukiyaki, Ares traveled alone to the Capital of Flowers, where Fukurokuju welcomed him at the shogun’s residence.

• Kurozumi Orochi proposed poisoning the samurai, but Ares refused and insisted they lose fairly.
• Kaido asked to fight first, and Ares told him he could face Kozuki Oden.
• Fukurokuju delivered Sukiyaki’s invitation, and Ares agreed to meet the shogun in the Capital of Flowers.
• Ares traveled to the capital alone, reflecting on Wano’s resources, history, and the need to secure the country.
• People in the Capital of Flowers recognized Ares and whispered about his defeat of Oden and changes in Kuri.
• Fukurokuju greeted Ares at the shogun’s residence and offered to lead him inside.

Ares argued that Wano should open its borders and proposed building a new town as a buffer, while his Conqueror’s Haki and insults enraged the samurai. The chapter ended with Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Shimotsuki Yasuiie challenging Ares to a duel, which he dismissed.

• Ares confronted Sukiyaki’s proposal to keep Wano isolated and unleashed Conqueror’s Haki that shook the hall and frightened everyone present.
• Ares proposed moving an island to create a buffer town where Wano’s people could learn about the outside world, and Kozuki Oden supported him.
• Sukiyaki angrily silenced Oden, while Ares declared that Wano’s samurai were too weak and that he could defeat them all alone.
• The samurai drew their swords and demanded to fight Ares, but he mocked them by comparing them unfavorably to Ryoma.
• Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Shimotsuki Yasuiie challenged Ares to a duel, and Ares said he was not interested in fighting them.

Ares challenged Wano’s samurai and daimyos to attack him together, intending to shatter their confidence and spur them to grow stronger. He left them defeated by a single strike, shocking Sukiyaki and the others.

• Ares mocked the samurai and invited the daimyos, Kozuki Oden, Sukiyaki, and the ninjas to join the fight against him.
• Sukiyaki agreed to the match and secretly sent Fukurokuju to summon the Oniwabanshu.
• Ares led the gathered samurai and ninjas to an open space and told them to attack him all at once.
• Kozuki Oden charged first, followed by the other samurai, whose swords were covered in dark flames.
• Ares unleashed his New Martial Style—Elbaf Spear, sending the attackers flying and injuring them with one blow.
• Sukiyaki stared in disbelief at how completely Ares had defeated the group.

Ares defeated the strongest samurai in Wano, leaving Sukiyaki and the daimyo shaken by the gulf in their strength. He demanded all of Wano in a five-on-five wager, and Sukiyaki was left to decide how to respond.

• The samurai regrouped and attacked Ares with their strongest techniques, but he blocked their slashes and said they were weaker than Rayleigh and Redfield.
• Ares defeated Kozuki Oden and the daimyo, and Sukiyaki and the samurai accepted that they could not beat him together.
• Sukiyaki challenged Ares to a five-on-five wager, offering Hakumai and recognition as a daimyo if Ares won, while demanding that Ares leave Wano if he lost.
• Ares rejected the offer as insufficient and demanded the entire Land of Wano, declaring that he wanted to open its borders and strengthen it.
• Ares left Sukiyaki to consider the wager, while Shimotsuki Ushimaru and Shimotsuki Yasuiie warned that they could not stop him by force.

After Ares defeated a coalition of Wano’s daimyō and ninjas, Oden became fascinated by the combat techniques of the world beyond the seas, while Orochi worried that Ares might claim the shogunate. Back in Kuri, Ares prepared to train with Seastone restraints as the wager with Sukiyaki approached.

• Sukiyaki visited the underground Poneglyph chamber and prayed that his ancestors would protect Wano as the Kōzuki Family faced a perilous wager.
• Oden returned injured after he and several daimyō and ninjas lost to Ares, then recalled Ares’s techniques and grew more eager to explore the world beyond the seas.
• Orochi overheard that the coalition had failed to defeat Ares and worried that Ares might become shogun, though he hoped to earn the rank of daimyō.
• Ares told his companions that Sukiyaki had not yet accepted the wager, then asked Ashura Doji to make several sets of Seastone handcuffs and ankle cuffs for training.
• Kaido eagerly asked Ares to let him train with Seastone restraints too.

Ares accepted Sukiyaki’s terms for a five-match wager, including a three-hour limit that favored Wano, after deciding he could counter the restrictions with reinforcements. The duel was set for the night of the Fire Festival two months later, and Ares ordered his crew to keep their plans secret and prepare for Wano’s next moves.

• Chinjao asked to try Seastone training, and Ares told Ashura Doji to have craftsmen make more training gear, handcuffs, and shackles.
• Fukurokuju delivered Sukiyaki’s challenge letter, which set five matches, restricted each fighter to one match, and declared any duel lasting over three hours a draw.
• Kaido, Slada, and Chinjao objected to the time limit, but Ares agreed to Sukiyaki’s conditions and signed the letter.
• After Fukurokuju left, Ares explained that he could bring reinforcements, and the crew guessed he might enlist Whitebeard and Golden Lion.
• Ares told the crew to keep the plan secret and prepare for Sukiyaki’s moves, while reminding Ashura Doji to deliver the Seastone shackles when they were ready.

Sukiyaki prepared Wano's daimyos and doctors for a confrontation with Ares, while Ares trained in Seastone shackles before leaving Kuri. On Sphinx Island, Whitebeard discussed Ares with his young crew, then suddenly stopped as Marco walked into his leg.

• Sukiyaki received Ares's signed invitation, retrieved Shusui, and ordered Fukurokuju to gather Wano's daimyos and best doctors for the coming duel.
• Ashura Doji brought Ares Seastone shackles, and Ares began training in fifty-percent-purity shackles to suppress his strength and abilities.
• Oden, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, Kanjuro, and the others recovered and began sparring to prepare for the Fire Festival duel two months later.
• After a month, Ares entrusted Kuri's affairs to his subordinates and flew away in his blue dragon form.
• Whitebeard brought Marco, Jozu, and Vista to Sphinx Island and told them he expected Ares to reappear and surprise everyone.
• Whitebeard suddenly stopped walking, causing Marco to bump into his leg and fall onto his butt.