Chapter Summaries

Denjiro explained how Shimotsuki Kuina had reclaimed territory in Wano and why Hiyori gave her Enma, while revealing that the current Orochi was an impostor and that Fire Dragon Ye Mu might be involved. Despite Hiyori’s belief that Wano no longer needed the Kozuki Clan, Kin’emon insisted on seeking answers, and Momonosuke agreed to go with him.

• Denjiro told Kin’emon and the others that Kuina had won the support of Wano’s samurai and reclaimed Kuri, Ringo, and Hakumai, while Ashura Doji had become a Shimotsuki retainer.
• Denjiro explained that Hiyori had given Enma to Kuina to save him and Kawamatsu, prompting Kin’emon to demand that Oden’s sword be recovered.
• Denjiro revealed that the real Orochi had been dead for years and that a Beasts Pirates Devil Fruit user had taken his place.
• Denjiro said the fruit belonged to Kurozumi Higurashi and that Fire Dragon Ye Mu had the technology to extract Devil Fruits, leading the samurai to suspect a connection between Ye Mu and Kaido.
• Hiyori said Wano no longer needed the Kozuki Clan, but Kin’emon resolved to ask Ye Mu for answers, and Momonosuke reluctantly agreed to go with him.
• Hiyori said an opportunity to meet Ye Mu had arisen, explaining why the five of them had appeared there.

Burgess entered Golden Crow Island intending to steal a Devil Fruit while Blackbeard pursued a separate plan during the tournament. Meanwhile, the Red Hair Pirates arrived, and Shanks was escorted toward Ye Mu as people on the cloud bridge called out to him.

• Burgess told Blackbeard he would claim the Devil Fruit and then headed toward the central plaza.
• The Red Force anchored offshore, and the Rainbow Kingdom extended a cloud bridge to welcome the Red Hair Pirates.
• Ayala, Saranoyo Minsen, and Vinsmoke Reiju greeted Shanks and arranged for him to meet Ye Mu.
• Shanks left Benn Beckman to manage the crew and traveled toward Golden Crow Island with the three women.
• Shanks asked after Tom and learned that Tom was recuperating on Wenmi Gudan Island while Iceburg and Franky handled his former duties.
• People along the route called out to Shanks, including someone who addressed him as a bastard and samurai who said they served Lord Oden.

Kin'emon asked Shanks to help free Wano Country, but Shanks refused to fight Kaido, so Kin'emon offered half of Wano Country to gain Ye Mu's aid. Ye Mu agreed to drive out Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi and make Momonosuke daimyo, provided a samurai placed in the Martial Arts Tournament's top ten and Wano Country ceded half its territory.

• Shanks recognized Buggy and met Kin'emon, the other samurai, and Momonosuke after Ayala arranged cloud bridges.
• Buggy used Shanks's reputation to pose as a powerful figure and led his crew toward him.
• Kin'emon and the samurai knelt before Shanks and asked him to help reclaim Wano Country from Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido.
• Shanks refused to go to war with Kaido, so Kin'emon asked him to speak to Ye Mu and offered half of Wano Country in return for help.
• Ye Mu arrived and agreed to drive Kaido and Kurozumi Orochi out and make Momonosuke daimyo, on the conditions that one of them placed in the tournament's top ten and Wano Country ceded half its territory.

Buggy reunited with Ye Mu and Shanks on Golden Crow Island, shocking his underlings with the revelation that he had sailed with Gol D. Roger. After Buggy fled, Shanks explained that he had come to meet Ace and ask about Ye Mu’s plans for the world, and Ye Mu arranged for him and his crew to attend the upcoming conference.

• Buggy approached Ye Mu and Shanks with his underlings, and Ye Mu greeted him as an old friend from Roger’s ship.
• Buggy’s underlings learned that Buggy had been part of Gol D. Roger’s crew, while Buggy and Shanks argued and scuffled like old friends.
• As a crowd gathered on the cloud bridge, Ye Mu invited Buggy and Shanks to the island, but Buggy refused and hurried away with his crew.
• Shanks told Ye Mu that he had come to meet Ace and learn what Ye Mu planned for the world.
• Ye Mu asked Ayala to arrange for Shanks and his crew to attend the upcoming conference and witness the changes ahead.

At the Rainbow Kingdom’s opening ceremony, Ye Mu announced the formation of the Rainbow Alliance Government, joining the Rainbow Kingdom with 103 non-World Government nations. The declaration left the world shaken as Ye Mu called for an end to the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.

• Victoria Cindry opened the ceremony with a performance as fireworks honored people who had contributed to the Rainbow Kingdom over the previous four years.
• Ye Mu appeared before the crowd, and Benn Beckman observed that his new title, Flame Emperor, signaled a break from his pirate identity as Fire Dragon.
• Ye Mu recalled his goal of creating a nation without oppression or discrimination and declared that the Rainbow Kingdom had achieved it.
• Ye Mu announced the Rainbow Alliance Government, led by the Rainbow Kingdom and joined by 103 non-World Government member nations.
• The author explained that he could no longer keep up with reader comments and said the novel was nearing its end.

Ye Mu declared war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government as the Rainbow Alliance Government formed, while allied forces made coordinated displays of strength across the seas. The Marines held back from provoking them, but news that Marshall Teach and Catarina Devon had invaded Impel Down sent Marine Headquarters into panic.

• Dragon realized that Ye Mu had prepared for the Rainbow Kingdom's expansion, noting that several powerful allies were absent from the assembly.
• Fisher Tiger's Sun Pirates, Garlan Annu's Kuja Pirates, Eric's Sword Wind Pirates, and Enel's Thunder God Pirates appeared near Marine branches across the seas.
• Sengoku ordered the Marines not to strike first unless the Rainbow Kingdom attacked, recognizing the scale of its combined forces.
• A Marine reported that Marshall Teach had joined forces with Catarina Devon and invaded Impel Down.

Ye Mu announced the Rainbow Alliance Government and unveiled the island and prizes for the first World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament, including a Poneglyph that recorded the location of Laugh Tale. The Five Elders learned that Imu had broken the agreement with Ye Mu and ordered a great cleansing, beginning with the capture of Nefertari Vivi.

• Ye Mu invited people to submit ideas for the Rainbow Alliance Government's new rules and systems, then introduced the martial arts tournament.
• Ye Mu revealed a divided island arena and announced that participants who secured and held one of ten flags until sunrise would win prizes.
• Sabo asked Dragon to let him compete for the Three-Legged Golden Crow Devil Fruit, and Dragon agreed.
• Ye Mu displayed the tournament prizes: a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, a Pure Gold ring, a Devil Fruit-powered Clima-Tact, and Poneglyphs for the top ten.
• Shanks and Crocodile recognized the Poneglyphs, and Ye Mu announced that they recorded the location of Roger's treasure, Laugh Tale.
• The Five Elders received Imu's order to break the agreement with Ye Mu and begin a great cleansing, with CP0 assigned to bring Nefertari Vivi to Mary Geoise.

After Ye Mu offered the Laugh Tale Poneglyph as a prize, the Martial Arts Tournament began and drew ambitious factions into the competition. As Dragon and Shanks came to meet Ye Mu, he prepared for the World Government’s coming conflict and the end of the sea emperors.

• Jesus Burgess told Marshall Teach that Ye Mu had made the Poneglyph pointing to Laugh Tale a tournament prize, and Teach ordered him to obtain it.
• Ye Mu opened the Martial Arts Tournament, and competitors rushed across four cloud bridges toward the venues.
• Sabo set out to get the Poneglyph, while Dragon went to meet Ye Mu and Shanks told Benn Beckman to prepare to leave before the New World descended into chaos.
• Freya, Ayala, and A-Ming reported to Ye Mu that crowd control was holding, the Navy and World Government were redeploying, and Blackbeard was fighting Magellan at Impel Down.
• Ye Mu ordered preparations to expose the World Government, said the coming era needed no sea emperors, and asked Freya to contact the Whitebeard Pirates.
• Shanks and Dragon arrived to meet Ye Mu, who also asked for Dr. Clover and Dr. Olvia.

Dragon and Shanks met with Ye Mu to discuss his strength, his kingdom, and his plans for the Poneglyphs. Ye Mu revealed that he intended to end the age of pirates.

• Dragon warmly thanked Shanks for guiding Luffy, and Shanks said Luffy had chosen his own path and taught him much in return.
• Shanks told Dragon that Enel’s Ultra Instinct had matched his Observation Killing in a past fight, and that Ye Mu regularly trained his powerful companions.
• Dragon reflected on how Ye Mu had structured the Rainbow Kingdom to keep its strongest figures united and its future stable.
• Ye Mu welcomed Dragon and Shanks, recalled meeting Dragon in Loguetown twenty years earlier, and explained why he admired Kuzan and Zephyr for different reasons.
• Shanks asked Ye Mu about his goal in making the Poneglyph public, and Ye Mu declared that he would end the age of pirates.

Ye Mu explained that he planned to use the Poneglyphs and the rush toward Laugh Tale to draw pirates into the New World, weakening them while he focused on the World Government. He revealed that Blackbeard had invaded Impel Down and ended by asking Shanks about Mary Geoise’s national treasure as Dr. Clover and Dr. Olvia arrived.

• Shanks accused Ye Mu of using Laugh Tale’s secret to draw pirates into the New World, and Ye Mu compared the resulting deaths to those caused by Roger’s Great Age of Pirates.
• Ye Mu explained to Dragon and Shanks that he planned to lure uncontrolled pirates into the New World so their power and movements would be restricted.
• Ye Mu told Shanks that the era’s momentum could not be stopped and revealed that Blackbeard had invaded Impel Down to recruit prisoners.
• Ye Mu argued that the World Government’s opposition to the chaos would ensure others continued to support the Rainbow Kingdom, then asked Shanks whether he knew about Mary Geoise’s national treasure.
• A guard announced that Dr. Clover and Dr. Olvia had arrived, and Ye Mu invited them in.

Ye Mu gathered Dr. Clover, Dr. Olvia, Shanks, and Dragon to discuss the secret power behind Mary Geoise’s national treasure. Dr. Olvia began revealing the scholars’ discovery about the world’s past, leaving the group with the news that the sea level had been steadily rising.

• Ye Mu introduced Dr. Clover and Dr. Olvia to Shanks and Dragon, then asked Shanks whether he knew about Mary Geoise’s national treasure.
• Dragon guessed that the treasure was Uranus, but Ye Mu said it was something else and explained that the World Government’s calm response to his Ohara trap had puzzled him.
• Ye Mu said his research into the Poneglyphs had led him to conclude that the World Government acted arrogantly because it possessed overwhelming power.
• Dr. Clover and Dr. Olvia offered to explain the secret, and Dr. Olvia recalled how Ohara’s scholars confirmed it during an expedition twenty-eight years earlier.
• Dr. Olvia revealed that the sea level of the world’s oceans had been constantly rising.

Dr. Olvia explained Ohara’s theory that ocean currents and the Knock Up Stream formed a cycle that regulated sea levels, but warned Dragon and Shanks that the world had twice faced catastrophic rises in sea level. She revealed that Nika and Joy Boy had saved the world from those crises, which were caused by the National Treasure of Mary Geoise.

• Dr. Olvia told Dragon and Shanks that, without intervention, rising seas would eventually submerge every landmass except the Red Line, but said the world had a natural system to prevent it.
• Dr. Olvia described an enormous underground cavern where seawater gathered, heated near the planet’s magma, and erupted as the Knock Up Stream.
• Dragon and Shanks recognized that Olvia’s explanation accounted for the Knock Up Stream, Island Clouds, Sky Islands, and the air above the world.
• Dr. Olvia explained that the cavern and ocean currents formed a cycle that regulated sea levels and created the Calm Belt.
• Dr. Olvia warned Dragon and Shanks that the world had suffered two catastrophic sea-level rises, each nearly destroying it.
• Dr. Olvia said Nika and Joy Boy had saved the world from those crises and identified the National Treasure of Mary Geoise as the cause of the disasters.

Dr. Clover explained to Shanks and Dragon that the Clan of Gods created the world and its peoples with the World Tree, until Nika led a rebellion that nearly ended in the world's destruction. He then described how the World Tree seeds were divided among the survivors, leaving the Lunarians to suffer hunger and eventually degenerate into humans.

• Dr. Clover reassured Shanks and Dragon that Mary Geoise's national treasure was not invincible, then began recounting the world's history.
• Dr. Clover said the Clan of Gods used the Lineage Factor and the World Tree to create Uranus, Poseidon, the Lunarians, the Fish-Men, and the Giants.
• Dr. Clover explained that Nika awakened his will and Haki, freed the enslaved peoples, and stopped the Clan of Gods from drowning the world by joining with the World Tree and creating the Red Line.
• Dr. Clover said Nika left five World Tree seeds before dying, and the Lunarians, Fish-Men, and Giants hid the weapon that harnessed the tree's power.
• Dr. Clover recounted how the Giants planted their seed as Treasure Tree Adam and the Fish-Men planted theirs as Sunlight Tree Eve, while exiled Lunarians carried another seed to Sky Island.
• Dr. Clover said the remaining Lunarians could not obtain Uranus's seed, suffered hunger and bodily degeneration, and some eventually became humans.

Dr. Clover explained to Shanks and Dragon that Joy Boy had created Pluton and Devil Fruits in an attempt to revive the World Tree, but his plan was interrupted by a war with Nefertari Imu and the ancestors of the Celestial Dragons. After Zunesha failed to raise the submerged island, Joy Boy abandoned the war and left his dream and the means to revive the World Tree for future generations.

• Dr. Clover said all humans descended from the Creators and identified Joy Boy as a regressed Lunarian from the Sky Islands.
• Joy Boy reached the Red Line, learned to operate the Clan of Gods’ machine, and created Devil Fruits for Pluton.
• Joy Boy sought the World Tree’s energy and found the dead tree’s submerged island, while Uranus empowered Nefertari Imu to unite the humans against him.
• Joy Boy created Zunesha to raise the island, but the ancestors of the Celestial Dragons started a war while the creature grew.
• After Zunesha failed to raise the island, Joy Boy ended the war, hid the island in a cavern, and left Poneglyphs, his power, and Pluton’s Devil Fruit as keys for future generations.

Dr. Clover explained how the World Government used the machine called Uranus to control Fish-Man Island and how Uranus and Poseidon were tied to Devil Fruits and Sea Kings. The group realized that activating Uranus could command Devil Fruit users, but Ye Mu warned that the greater danger was another flood capable of drowning the world.

• Dragon asked whether Laugh Tale lay inside the enormous undersea cavern, and Dr. Clover explained that Joy Boy had left the Grand Line as a path for future generations.
• Dr. Clover said the World Government had sealed the gap above Fish-Man Island, taken Sunlight Tree Eve, and lied that it transmitted sunlight from the surface.
• Dr. Clover explained that the World Tree produced light and warmth by absorbing heat, and that the World Government’s machine created the night on Fish-Man Island.
• Dr. Clover revealed that Uranus and Poseidon had opposing Lineage Factors, that Poseidon’s scattered Lineage Factor created Sea Kings, and that Uranus’s Lineage Factor was used to make Devil Fruits.
• Dragon realized Uranus’s inheritor could control Devil Fruit users, and Dr. Clover confirmed that the World Government could command them before they awakened.
• Ye Mu told the group not to worry about Uranus being used against them yet and warned that its activation could cause a flood that drowned the world.

Racers charged across four cloud bridges toward the Martial Arts Tournament islands, where they searched for numbered flags and a chance to claim the Poneglyph. After the first contenders reached the islands, Buggy’s group and Momonosuke’s samurai found flags marked two and four.

• Ace and Sabo raced ahead on the bridge to Flame Island, each declaring his intent to claim the Devil Fruit.
• Buggy led his crew across the dangerous bridge to Lightning Island, while Wano samurai ran nearby.
• Gecko Moria charged toward Mist Island as Capone Bege and Drake followed him for their own reasons.
• Crocodile flew toward Floating Island and considered seeking allies, drawing the attention of Eustass Kid and Jewelry Bonney.
• About twenty-five minutes later, Buggy’s crew found the flag marked two, and Momonosuke’s group found the flag marked four.

Buggy and the Wano Country group entered Thunder God Island and fought to reach their flags as the Martial Arts Tournament’s melee began. Across the islands, Moria and Bege battled over flag number 7 until a dinosaur carrying it fled, leaving Moria in pursuit.

• Buggy led his followers through the lightning on Thunder God Island, but a bolt struck him and sent him crashing near flag number 2.
• Kin'emon, Kikunojo, Kanjuro, and Raizo protected Momonosuke and flag number 1 as fighters swarmed toward them.
• Ye Mu’s tournament became a chaotic melee across the four islands, with competitors searching for flags and battling over them.
• Moria attacked the Fire Tank Pirates guarding flag number 7, while Bege answered with cannon fire and his giant Big Father fortress.
• Moria used Doppelman to evade Bege, then struck him with Shadow Horn Spear, but the flag vanished after Absalom took it.
• A green dinosaur knocked out Absalom, grabbed the flag, and ran off, so Moria chased it while Bege stayed behind.

Kid challenged Crocodile on Floating Island, while contestants on Flame Island rushed toward a flag despite the island’s scorching heat. Across Golden Crow Island, spectators and the royal families of 103 countries watched the tournament, which would determine political rewards for the countries whose retainers endured.

• Crocodile sent MR.1 to defend flag 6 as he watched contestants fall, then noticed a swarm of weapons flying toward them.
• MR.1’s Dust Slash failed to stop the weapons, and Crocodile struck their attacker with a fist of sand before Kid appeared and challenged him.
• Kid began fighting Crocodile and told Killer to handle the Devil Fruit user, while Bonney watched from hiding and dismissed Kid as an idiot.
• Contestants on Flame Island endured the heat and charged toward flag 1 when it appeared.
• Spectators on Golden Crow Island watched the battles on giant screens as the royal families followed the tournament, hoping their retainers would last until morning and earn them greater standing in the Rainbow Political Alliance.

As the tournament battles stretched into the night, Lucci and Kaku moved to seize the number 1 flag from Ace and Sabo, while Jesus Burgess attacked the exhausted Akazaya Nine at the number 4 flag. Crocodile overwhelmed Kid on the Floating Island, leaving Buggy’s group unchallenged at the number 2 flag.

• As the fighters grew tired, Lucci and Kaku targeted the number 1 flag, with Lucci taking Ace and Kaku agreeing to face Sabo.
• Ace and Sabo called out Lucci and Kaku as the CP9 agents launched their attack.
• The Akazaya Nine defended the number 4 flag through a day of fighting, while Momonosuke hoped to reclaim Wano Country by dawn.
• Jesus Burgess appeared above the Akazaya Nine and dropped a massive boulder toward them.
• Buggy and his men stood unchallenged at the number 2 flag, relying on Buggy’s reputation to deter opponents.
• Crocodile defeated Kid with his sand powers, and Killer rushed to support the badly wounded Kid.

Ye Mu and Freya discussed the tournament’s growing chaos and the plan to draw powerful factions toward the New World. The Wano Country samurai faced mounting attacks, and Ye Mu hinted that they still had a chance to endure.

• Ye Mu returned to the box and told Freya that his discussions were finished and the others had left.
• Freya said the Marines, World Government, pirates, and Revolutionary Army were each expected to obtain a Poneglyph, while Ace’s role was drawing more pirates toward the New World.
• Freya asked whether Ye Mu planned to help the Wano Country samurai drive Kaido away, and Ye Mu asked if they could hold out until the end.
• The Wano Country samurai became targets because they lacked the fearsome reputations of contestants such as Ace, Buggy, and Sabo, and they were guarding the flag for fourth place while protecting a child.
• Freya asked whether the samurai had no hope from the start, and Ye Mu replied that they did.