One Piece Teases Oden's First Pledge to Wano

The Wano Country arc has been one of the biggest storylines in the history of One Piece. Following the Straw Hat Pirates' time skip wherein each crew member attempted to grow their strength through rigorous training, the legendary pirate group vowed to reunite completely in the feudalistic, isolated nation. While there are many new characters that they have encounter during their time in this new land, perhaps none have a bigger impact on the country itself than Oden, the legendary swordsman who sailed with both Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger! Now, the most recent chapter of the manga ventures into Oden's past and teases one of the warrior's first pledges to his country.

In Chapter 961 of the manga, Oden is seen fighting against the "Mountain God", a giant boar that is so large it begins eating both people and buildings as it searches for its stolen child. With the deity destroying the capital city, Oden himself springs into action during this flashback and manages to lay low the larger than life boar with his patented move, "Paradise Waterfall". However, for Oden's trouble, he is banished by his father, the Shogun at the time, from the capital city and promises to travel the countryside.

Though only 18 at the time, Oden let this experience change his life as he eventually vowed to open up the borders of Wano Country to become a part of the world rather than kept isolated from it. Unfortunately, his dream for Wano did not come true as Oden was executed during his return to the country decades later, laying the groundwork for Kaido and his Beast Pirates to take control of the country.

Oden's spirit lives on through the Straw Hat Pirates however as both Luffy, and several members of his crew, are looking to defeat Kaido and restore the country of Wano to a time of peace.

What did you think of the latest chapter of One Piece? How do you feel about the early days of Oden? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the Straw Hat Pirates!

Eiichiro Oda's One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.