In this chapter we get some big implications about the real identity of Pluton, as well as a lot more information, so let’s break it down!

We begin the chapter during the festival, where we can see Nami celebrating the festival alongside Tama and Zeus.

We however quickly shift back to the fight against Aramaki, where Raizo unleashes an attack called Ninpo Maki Maki no Justu: Katon. In case you didn’t know, it was confirmed in the Vivre Cards that Raizo actually has a devil fruit called the Maki Maki no Mi, or Scroll Scroll Fruit, which allows him to use scrolls that can absorb and release things, which is how he was able to unleash Zunesha’s water at the end of Onigashima. In this case, he unleashes a bunch of fire in an attack called “Fire Release”. However, Aramaki responds with move called “boukarin”, which means “Forest Fire Prevention”, or in other words the act of putting out a forest fire. He then follows up by draining Raizo just like he did with King and Queen, in a move similar to Crocodile’s, by absorbing the moisture out of him like a plant would absorb water from the ground. After all, we humans are made of mostly water. The Scabbards continue to try fighting back, with Nekomamushi complaining that they have to quite literally “mow the lawn” to get to him.

We then shift back to Sukiyaki’s cell, where beyond the poneglyph in the castle there is another underground passage that leads even deeper down the country. Robin climbs up a passage to get a better view of what lies beneath Wano, but Law simply teleports there, making Robin feel annoyed she had to climb up to get a view. What lies beyond there however, is a Wano Country lying under the sea. Sukiyaki explains how this is the original Wano Country, which stood at sea level many years ago. However, after the building of the walls of the Wano Country, rainwater accumulated and ended up submerging the old Wano.

This properly explains a certain detail that was dropped at the very beginning of this saga, when Sanji mentioned that the water coming out of the Wano Country was freshwater that the giant koi known as the yumegoi, or “dream koi”, were able to swim in. Since the water was accumulated through rain, it makes sense why it’s freshwater and in fact we can even see more of those giant yumegoi swimming around in this panel. Robin also explains how this is freshwater by the fact that the buildings are really well maintained, as saltwater corrodes buildings at ten times the speed that freshwater does, so it’d be harder for wooden buildings like these to have remained intact if they were in the sea.

However, there’s something that doesn’t quite add up here. As we are shown visually, Wano originally existed at the base of Mt. Fuji. As the island got flooded with the newly built walls, the settlements were moved up closer to the peak, but here’s the weird thing. How could they have built around what looks like a very vertical mountain? After all, in this diagram, we see how a bunch of extra land was built around the side of the mountain to host all the new settlements. But how could that even be possible? We’re talking about a massive amount of land, entire islands even, being moved up a massive distance that no real human could ever realistically shift. And how exactly were these massive walls erected? So how exactly did this happen?

Well, if you really start thinking about it and take a look at a map of Wano, suddenly the answer becomes very obvious. Wano isn’t really a single island, it’s a collection of smaller islands stitched together. Each of them has their own seasons and weather conditions, as islands in the Grand Line are categorized into different seasons just like Vivi explained, meaning that it’s quite likely that each of these islands came from somewhere else in the Grand Line and were stitched together atop the land of Wano. But then who could’ve pulled this off? After all, like I said, it’s not something a normal human could’ve done. Well, who else but the country puller himself, Oars.

The legend of Oars goes a bit like this: over 650 years ago, the Ancient Giant Oars was born. Ancient Giants are known to be far taller than normal giants and with more demonic-like features such as horns and jaws. Now this stretch of time is already particularly fitting, since it’s only around a century after the end of the Void Century, meaning it wasn’t long after Wano closed its borders.

During this time, Oars would go on to fight and conquer countries, and after his victories he would take as prize not just their valuables, but the entire island he had conquered, taking them back home to his territory. This earned him the title that is often mistranslated as “continent puller”, but is more accurately translated to the “country puller legend”, as after all the only continent in the One Piece world is the Red Line, where as Oars simply pulled entire countries back with him. So terrifying was he that people began to call him the “devil” himself. Oars would conjoin all these islands that he stole to form a “country of ruffians”. Sounds familiar? Because that’s pretty much the definition of the Wano Country. A set of islands taken from different places with different climates all conjoined together to make a new country around an area where there was no land.

So does that mean that Oars was the one who created the Wano Country? Potentially yes. Oars died when he wandered into the Ice Country 500 years ago and ended up dying to frostbite. Though no person was able to defeat him at the time, it was ultimately nature that ended up taking his life at age 159, which for an Ancient Giant is actually fairly young. This means that perhaps Oars might’ve taken over the Wano Country for a while to make it his territory, given how impregnable it is, but after his death his rule dissolved and the power was restored to the Kouzuki Clan.

Alternatively however, there is also another possibility. That the real “country puller” was in fact the skull at Onigashima. All things considered, while Oars is tall, he is only about 67m tall. While he is strong, it’s hard to see him pulling islands the size of something like Kuri. On the other hand, the skull at Onigashima is truly enormous, far more than Oars’s entire size, and given the size comparisons we’ve seen with Wano, it’s not unrealistic to imagine an ancient giant of that size actually being able to carry islands of that size. So it’s possible that maybe Oars had his territory in another area of the sea while another ancient giant created a territory in Wano in much the same way. Or potentially, Hogback was simply wrong about the legend of the “country puller” being about Oars when in reality it was about another ancient giant. Or even simpler, it really is just Oars and the skull at Onigashima was simply sculpted as decoration. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter much which answer it really is because all that matters is that this is likely how the Wano Country of today came to be, with a country puller taking islands from across the Grand Line to form the Wano that we know today.

Moving on however, we finally arrive at the Road Poneglyph. As Robin points out, this is our third out of four, meaning we need just one more to get to Laugh Tale. Said fourth one was found at Fishman Island by the Sea Forest, but has since disappeared, so we don’t really know where it is now. I do find it curious how the Roger Pirates were able to get their hands on this Road Poneglyph without really coming across Orochi, but we know that Oden himself never disembarked in the Wano Country so it’s possible they simply managed to find a way through or sneak in to grab the poneglyph, as Oden knew the location.

However the far bigger shock here comes in the form of Sukiyaki mentioning how just beneath this shrine is where the Ancient Weapon Pluton sleeps. Sukiyaki explains that removing the walls of the Wano Country would be the equivalent of unleashing the ancient weapon Pluton onto the world. However, Sukiyaki doesn’t understand why Oden would want to thus open the country by the time Joy Boy arrived if that would unleash the weapon, indicating that something that Oden learned overseas convinced him that the weapon would have to be unleashed.

So what exactly is the ancient weapon Pluton? And why would Oden want to unleash this weapon on the world? Well, we don’t really need to ask ourselves much, because we might very well already have the answers. Because I think at this point it’s pretty much becoming apparent that Pluton is Momonosuke.

Now now, I know what you’re gonna say, but Artur isn’t Pluton a ship? Didn’t Iceburg say that Pluton was a ship built in Water 7? Is Momonosuke actually a ship???

Okay okay, listen me out for a second and let me explain, because it’s all going to make sense. Let’s put aside the fact that Pluton should be a ship and that it’s hidden beneath Wano to explore the fact that Momonosuke is pretty much identical to Poseidon.

We know that Poseidon is an ancient weapon in the form of a mermaid who can order around the sea kings. The sea kings view the mermaid princess who has inherited the authority of Poseidon as their king, for which they follow all of her orders. This is done through the voice of all things, and while other people such as Luffy can hear the Sea Kings, they will only obey the orders of their king.

This is very much the same with Momonosuke. Zunesha is another colossal behemoth who despite its animalistic appearance is very much capable of speech and human intelligence. Other users of the voice of all things can listen to Zunesha, but are unable to command it, the only one capable of doing so being Momonosuke. Just like the sea kings, Zunesha obeys Momonosuke’s orders without question. In fact these orders are so imperative that Zunesha straight up cannot act on its own without them, as the previous holder of Momonosuke’s power almost a millennia ago during the Void Century gave Zunesha the order to walk for the next centuries because of the “crime” it committed.

This is very similar again to the Sea Kings, who stand watch at both the calm belts and Fishman Island, attacking any ships that come by but never harming the island itself or the fishmen on it, a fact that has been very visibly pointed out, despite the island being filled with plenty of people just like the ships they normally attack. Again, this is likely due to the previous holder of the power of Poseidon asking the sea kings to protect Fishman Island, the fishfolk, and its Road Poneglyph from the World Government, just like Zunesha protects the Mokomo Dukedom, the minks, and its Road Poneglyph. Even more important is the fact that both Fishman Island and the Wano Country, and also the Mokomo Dukedom, were all allies of the Great Kingdom and by extension likely Joy Boy himself, with Shirahoshi and Momonosuke both being part of the royal bloodline of these allies.

But it goes a lot further than that. Because as Otohime explained legend says that one day someone, a new Joy Boy, would appear and guide Shirahoshi to bring a change to the world for good. In the hands of evil, an ancient weapon could sink the world into darkness, but in the hands of a new Joy Boy, they could help bring the Dawn of the World. So this means that the ancient weapons, despite being weapons, are likely what is needed to bring the Dawn of the World, which is also likely why the Government tried to hide their existence for so long. And as you might remember, Yamato made a specific comment about how Momonosuke has to live at all costs, as he is one of those who will help bring the Dawn of the World. This already would indicate that Momonosuke is an ancient weapon, but Yamato goes even further and in a later chapter confirms that Momonosuke’s ability to speak with Zunesha is THE reason why he will be able to bring the Dawn of the World. In other words, Momo’s control over Zunesha, just like Shirahoshi’s control over the Sea Kings is what will bring the Dawn of the World, which practically but confirms that Momonosuke is the same as Shirahoshi… an ancient weapon. But then, how does this tie with Pluton? Well, it ties very easily, actually. If you remember from just a few chapters ago, Momonosuke told Zunesha to not open the borders of the Wano Country yet, and Zunesha decided to respect this choice.

This dialogue indicates that Zunesha is the one that is needed to open the borders of the Wano Country, which is likely why it showed up there in the first place. Which makes sense because Zunesha is simply colossal and we’ve seen the sheer power of that size, so Zunesha is likely the only thing that could realistically bring down those massive walls of rock, quite literally opening the country. This would give an answer as to where Zunesha has been walking all this time, to get to the Wano Country in order to release one of the weapons. And this could even potentially explain what Zunesha’s crime really was: what if Zunesha refused during the Void Century to unleash the ancient weapon in fears it could hurt people, and because of that the Dawn of the World could not be brought and the opportunity was missed. So Zunesha was ordered to walk for centuries until it could reach Wano again to unleash Pluton again. I’m just speculating here as a couple things don’t add up, but it could be something among those lines.

And that kinda explains everything. If the ancient weapon is hidden beneath Wano, then that means that Momonosuke is the only one who can unleash it upon the world. In that way, Momo may very well be the key to unleashing an ancient weapon, which makes him an equivalent to Shirahoshi. Keep in mind, while Shirahoshi is Poseidon, the actual weapon part is the sea kings, something completely separate. Similarly, Momo himself isn’t a ship or a weapon himself, but he is the only one capable of unleashing it upon the world. So just like Shirahoshi, more than being the weapon itself, Momo acts as the key that unleashes that weapon upon the world.

And that also explains why Oden wanted to open the borders of the Wano Country to unleash the weapon. If Pluton is released, it will bring the Dawn of the World, which is Joy Boy’s ultimate objective, so by the time that Joy Boy would reach the Wano Country, the borders would need to be opened so that he can guide Pluton, or Momonosuke, to unleash the weapon onto the world. And Luffy has indeed guided Momonosuke very well, but Momo understood wisely that the time to release the weapon isn’t here quite yet, as the final war hasn’t yet begun, so he wants to wait just a little further before exposing the Wano Country and unleashing the weapon, though that day is clearly not far.

As for the weapon itself, then is it a ship? Quite likely yes, it’s possible that it’s a massive warship hidden beneath Wano. As for how could such a destructive weapon bring a new era and a new Dawn is hard to say, as we don’t have any official answers. However, if we start theorizing, then that can easily lead us into the famous theory of destroying the Red Line and the Grand Line to form the All Blue and connect all the seas and their people together. By commanding the sea kings, Shirahoshi can remove them from the Calm Belts and perhaps even help change the currents of the Grand Line, making it accessible to anyone without being forced to enter from Reverse Mountain. At the same time, the ship could be used to destroy the Red Line. After all, it was said that Pluton was a weapon capable of wiping an island in one blast, and since the Red Line is after all a fusion of several different islands as Nami once explained, then Pluton could use a barrage of fire to bring it down, using ancient technology that has been lost to time.

But I think it’s important to also accept the possibility that Pluton maybe isn’t a ship in the traditional sense. After all, it’s now proven that Crocodile was completely wrong about Pluton being in Alabasta, so it’s possible that Iceburg saying Pluton was a ship could also be a mistake. After all, he was basing that knowledge on the blueprints that Tom left behind, but we know through Franky that those blueprints were left behind to create a counterweapon should any of the ancient weapons be set free by someone evil, just like Otohime feared could happen, so while they are presumably the blueprints of the original Pluton, it’s also entirely possible that some facts were lost to history and that the truth is slightly different. Essentially, while Pluton is likely to be a ship hidden beneath Wano, I’m just saying to be open minded enough that some of the historical details might be slightly different from what came at the present. But regardless, one thing is clear: though it’s not obviously official, it feels like it’s becoming apparently clearer that Momonosuke is the only one that can unleash this weapon upon the world, for which his continued survival is essential for the Dawn of the World to arrive one day.

Anyway whew, that was a lot to go through, so let’s switch back to our battle against Aramaki, where we get another great moment of character development from Momonosuke as he wishes to be a model shogun and be able to protect the country by himself and his people, which is fitting since we were just talking about Pluton, just like he vowed he would do for so long. He manages to finally unleash a Bolo Breath, as naturally he has all the elemental powers that Kaido would have, since his fruit is a perfect clone of Kaido’s, once again proving that Vegapunk’s cloning experiment really was a perfect success. Aramaki however manages to regenerate through a sprout, since he is a Logia after all. He prepares to strike back but he is suddenly caught in a wave of Conqueror’s haki from far away.

This turns out to of course be Shanks, who is standing at the borders of the Wano Country. Now, it makes sense that he could tell Ryokugyu was there through really good Observation haki, but did Aramaki also sense him through observation or did the haki somehow let him understand it? After all, there is this bubble that crosses through the screen when he realizes, so was Shanks somehow able to make his voice be heard or was his haki just that recognizable? After all, in the following page Luffy recognizes that haki as well, mentioning how he just felt a nostalgic face from that haki as he begins to blush, meaning that he could tell who that haki was. Is Shanks able to make his presence felt so much that people can recognize his haki?

Anyway, as he emanates his haki, Shanks begins to recall all the children that he has helped raise. There’s of course Luffy, right after he cut himself under his eye in Chapter 1 (featuring Yasopp in the background too), as well as Momonosuke and Hiyori from his time in Roger’s crew. Furthermore there is a fourth figure shrouded in silhouette, but its distinct shape makes it very apparent this is Uta, Shanks’s daughter from One Piece Film RED. This not only exists to hint at the important of the movie, but outright means that Uta herself is canon, being the first character outside of Shiki (and his crew) from a movie to become canon, as all the other ones like Zephyr, Tesoro, or Bullet currently aren’t. Shanks asks the Government if they are so scared of the coming “New Era”, which is relevant because it both references the new era that will be brought by the Dawn of the World, but is also the title of the main song of Film RED, “Shin Jidai”, or “New Era”. In this song Uta speaks of an era that is to come which will change the world, one that will be achieved by delivering never-ending music in the form of a tale.

Sound familiar? Yes, One Piece Film RED will no doubt be giving us a lot of really juicy information regarding the end of the series and the film is basically around the corner, as it’s coming out next week! I’ll be there on premiere day to watch the movie so I’ll let you know all you need to know about it! We are finally almost there as a New Era finally begins!