第139回：The Exposition of One ‘Man-Killer’ Shinobu

It’s interesting to consider whether or not Kaido’s fall at Oden’s hands here is counted among one of his supposed ‘7 losses’ or not. Would Oden really have been able to get off a killing blow if not for Higurashi’s deception? The role of that distraction is one we can only attempt to speculate on the full impact of for now but what we *can* take away from their clash is that Kaido abides by a classic pirate rule: in battle, anything goes.

What we’ll see in Luffy and Momonosuke’s confrontation with Kaido is the blending of samurai and pirate rules: support from comrades (ie. anything goes) with an honorable win against an opponent who clearly outclasses them. Is it fair to call the win honorable if its many vs one? Even our real-world sports like boxing are divided by weight class and therefore fighting at a disadvantage may be considered an honorable victory. After all, if Luffy went 1v1 with Kaido and came out the victor, Luffy would inherit the title of ‘strongest creature’ and his journey to find the One Piece wouldn’t be half as interesting. Think about it. If Luffy’s the strongest…who can stand in his way?

Luffy’s own unspoken set of rules for conflict are neither as stoic as a samurai nor as underhanded as those of a pirate. By following this unique blend of policies, Luffy doesn’t fit into the mold of a traditional pirate, freeing him from reader-defined role expectations and allowing him to surprise us with his emotionally-infused victories. That said -regardless of how we readers define him- the system of beliefs making up Luffy are *to him* what it *truly*

GATZ!? IS THAT YOU!? If so, what diet are you on buddy!?

I’m interested in seeing where this goes because we have yet to learn where Momonosuke heard (what I assume) are Kaido’s words to him regarding his father:

Where does this come into play and why would Kaido have an interest in Momonosuke? He appears to be throwing Oden’s life away so what’s his motivation to eliminate the Kozuki line? Does he somehow find out about Oden’s ability to read the Poneglyphs?

And not to overshadow Oden’s last stand here, but Shinobu is also a world-class heroine in this chapter via her outburst of TRUTH to onlookers. At the start of the arc I mentioned that even if the Strawhats topple Kaido and Orochi, they’ll still have an uphill battle winning over the hearts of the citizens of the capital who seem to be prospering under Orochi’s rule. While we’ve seen that the aristocracy regards Orochi somewhat apprehensively, the general public are more difficult to please, especially with Orochi’s reeducation system. However! Shinobu’s actions here suggest that there should be an underground sect of Kozuki sympathizers who will rise up when the time arrives, making the acceptance of Momonosuke’s birth rite seem far more realistic and acceptable among the commoners. Shinobu, you’re one of the saviours of Wano! It took more than 20 years, but your actions on that day may very well contribute to the freedom of Wano!