Tonoyasu’s Sacrifice

One Piece Chapter 942 Review/Recap

If you’re wondering why I didn’t put up the latest chapter of One Piece last week, it was because I have been too busy to work on all my blogs at once. But I finally have some free time, so here is the latest chapter.

Also, there is no new chapter this week, so I think I have some leeway.

Recap

The chapter starts off with a flashback to more than twenty or so years ago, to Kozuki Oden’s youth. With the passing of his father, Oden would be the new Shogun, though his father had disowned him for his ruffian lifestyle. So he thinks that the Shogunate will pass down to Yasuie so he can fulfill his dream of leaving Wano and traveling the world.

Yasue wouldn’t hear of it, and says that his father only threw him out so he could learn how to be responsible and become the leader everyone sees him to be.

In the present, Yasuie, or Tonoyasu as we know him, tells everyone that he lied about being the Midnight Boy. He said that so that everyone would watch his execution. He then tells the people of Wano of their proud, beautiful country, and how Orochi’s merely a parasite who’s sapped it of its wealth.

To Orochi’s fury, Tonoyasu then says that he made up everything about the Kozuki Clan and the tattoos as a prank to get people’s attention.

Now, Orochi’s men suddenly think that they arrested innocent people and that Orochi’s just paranoid.

As Orochi arrives to personally kill him, Tonoyasu curses Orochi with the most badass, poetic insult I’ve ever read.

He then proceeds to laugh as he thinks about looking forward to seeing the Kozuki Clans’ vengeance from the afterlife as the guards execute him.

As the people of Ebisu Town watch, Toko can only stand there in anguish as she watches her father die. Yet all she and the people of Ebisu do is laugh, to Zoro’s confusion. Hiyori then tearfully reveals that this is all the doing of Kaido and Orochi: the SMILE fruits have robbed them of the ability to show any emotion besides laughter

Review

I will be upfront and honest: when I read this last week, I almost cried. I had a feeling that there was more to Tonoyasu than he let on, and I was right. He may have looked like a fool, but that masked how cunning he was.

By sacrificing himself, Tonoyasu managed to do three very important things. First, by saying he made up everything about the tattoos and the Kozuki Clan, now Orochi and Kaido’s men will let their guards down, thinking there is no threat. Second, that means that most, if not all, of the allies that they arrested will end up being set free, bolstering the Alliance’s forces. Third and most importantly, he made himself a matyr.

Tonoyasu was beloved by everyone in Wano, and I don’t think the people will take his death lying down. If I were them, I’d go home, grab weapon, and riot. Even if Kaido and Orochi surpress the riots to come, they’ll be distracted. All this adds up: the Alliance just had the odds tipped back in its favor.

In fact, if it wasn’t for the SMILE fruits, I would say the Alliance has a good chance of winning. If what Hiyori said is true, then those accursed fruits are even more sinister than I thought.

The second act of the Wano Arc is heating up: riots may start, the Alliance has a chance to regroup, and we all know that Luffy’s going to bust out of Udon Prison with an army of prisoners that have an axe to grind with Orochi. This might be the biggest battle One Piece has seen since the Marineford Arc, and I love it!

I Give “Daimyo of Hakumai, Shimotsuki Yasuie” a 5/5. Rest in Peace, Tonoyasu.