Summary:
About three years ago, Ace came to Onigashima with his crew to fight Kaido and battled Yamato while Kaido was away on an expedition. During their fight, Ace learned of Yamato’s desire to leave Wano, and together they damaged Kaidou’s large dragon statue. Back in the present, Marco takes Zoro to the roof of the Dome, confronts the King and Queen. In doing so, he remembers how Whitebeard refused to return to Wano and fight Kaida, not letting Ace do it alone, with the crew thinking that the damage and casualties would be too great even if he wanted revenge on Kozuki Oden. .
On the roof of the Dome, the recently arrived Big Mom tells Kaidou to kill all the Straw Hats he likes, except for Robin, who she needs to read the Poneglyphs. Kaidou tells her of his intention to place Onigashi at the location of the Kozuki family’s castle in the Flower Capital, and she questions the location of his Road Poneglyph, wanting him to repay the favor she did by giving him her Devil Fruit in God’s Valley. 38 years ago.
In a Portgas D flashback, Ace and his crew, the Spade Pirates, came to Wan where, despite the pleas of Ace’s crewmates, he immediately began fighting the Yamato. Ace demanded that Yamato reveal himself before Yamato told him to do so first. Ace introduces himself to him and announces that he has come to take Kaidou’s head. Yamato reveals to Ace that Kaidou and his crew left Wano on an expedition, so he won’t find any members of the Beasts Pirates on the island, while also revealing that Kaidou is his father. Yamato tells Ace to stand up when Ace notices the explosive cuffs on his wrists.
The Ace crew tells him that they should leave and return the kidnapped children to their families. However, Ace says that it doesn’t make sense that someone as strong as Yamato is not a captain and wants to settle the dispute. Yamato agrees and says he was bored for a while. They clash again and Ace yells that Yamato can’t choose his father and if he hates Kaidou so much why does he allow him to handcuff not only his wrists but his heart. This prompts Yamato to strike the Dragon statue and declare that he wishes he could leave Wano and set sail to the sea for adventure like Kozuki Oden did. Ace is so impressed that he also hits the statue with his fire.
They then share a bottle of sake, where Yamato tells Ace that he wants to leave as soon as he gets his handcuffs off, before asking what it’s like outside of Wano. Ace admits that there are many people who make a name for themselves like Cavendish, and while he himself makes a name for himself, there are many others like Eustass Kid, Trafalgar Law and Capone Bege, but he is not the toughest of them all. I haven’t set out yet: his brother, who Ace is convinced will be massive.
Back in the present, Yamato explains to Momonosuke and Shinobu how they both broke the dragon statue and how Kaidou was furious. Momonosuke was surprised to hear that the previous pirate tried to save Wan, before asking what Yamato meant when he referred to Kaidou as “father”. Yamato reveals his heritage, causing Momonosuke and Shinobu to retreat in panic. Yamato tries to calm them down by saying that he hates Kaidou and thinks of himself as Kozuki Oden, but this confuses them even more. Despite this, they still accept Yamato as a friend and question why he told them about Ace. Yamato explains that Ace died two years ago and continues to tell him about him again. Elsewhere, Tama reveals to Nami her own history with Ace and how hard she worked to become a kunoichi, as well as how unkindly Luffy told her he died. Nami apologizes and says that’s just how Luffy is, before saying that Ace’s death was painful for Luffy as well, confusing Tama.
On the performance floor, Queen orders her men to stop Marco, who reluctantly does so despite treating their illness. Deciding not to face Kaidou, Marco tells Robin and Brook to run into the castle while he takes to the skies carrying Zoro in his full phoenix form. Marco thought back to the past and how when Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he begged Whitebeard to go to Wan. Whitebeard refused, revealing that the reason the position of Commander of the 2nd Division, previously held by Oden, had been vacant for so long was because they did not learn of his death until several years later. Marco admitted that they thought about making a move on Wano, but were worried about the loss of life that would result. Ace demands that he go alone as he made a promise, resulting in a fight between him and Whitebeard, with Whitebeard calling Ace arrogant for thinking he could stop someone Oden couldn’t even defeat. After Ace is defeated, Marshall D. Teach laughs that he understands the feeling of wanting to take down a big shot like Kaido, before Marco corrects him that Ace isn’t doing it for the sake of it. Ace decides to get stronger, with Izou and Marco asking Ace that if he is allowed to go, he should take them with him. Back in the present, the King and Queen transform into their dinosaur forms as Marco approaches the hole. Queen tells Mark that he can’t just assume he’ll be able to fly right past them and that all the samurai are probably dead now, while King adds that once Oden’s son is dead, the battle will be over. Marco counters that the two of them are foolish to think that since they are fighting the New Generation. Queen tries to shoot Marco with a gun in her mouth, but the shots just go right through him.
Returning with Tama and Nami, Tama is shocked to learn that Luffy and Ace were brothers, and begins to feel guilty about what she told Luffy about him earlier. Nami assures her that if he was that upset, he would have said something before moving on to the plan she came up with. At the same time, Momonosuke learns from Yamato that Ace was Gold Roger’s son and Luffy’s brother, as Yamato asks if Momonosuke brought Luffy to Wano. Confirming this, he says that it must have been an act of fate if Luffy was chosen out of all the pirates in the world. Yamato also adds that Luffy goes by the name “D.”, which confuses the two.
Atop the Skull Dome, Prometheus and Zeus recharge by consuming fire and lightning, respectively, before Big Mom tells Kaidou that he can kill all the Straw Pirates except Nico Robin. Kaidou asks Big Mom if Charlotte Pudding can read Poneglyphs, but Big Mom says no and doesn’t want to wait any longer. She asks where he plans to drop Onigashi, and he reveals that he will drop her at a castle in the Flower Capital that stands as a symbol of Kozuki. Big Mom says that if he does this, a lot of people will die, but he doesn’t mind because he can get more slaves. Big Mom asks if the Road Poneglyph is in the Flower Capital, but Kaidou tells her that he’s playing too fast for that. Big Mom yells at him not to insult her because even after all this she still considers him a little brother.