One Piece Cliffhanger Sets Up Yamato’s First Test of Strength

One Piece has begun splintering Luffy and his allies throughout Onigashima as they settle into their major fights for the Wano Country arc’s third act, and the newest chapter ends of a cliffhanger that sets up Yamato’s first real big test of strength. Yamato has been one of the major surprises in this battle at Onigashima so far as it was revealed that Kaido’s son not only despised his father, but also wants to fight on the side of the Kozuki clan after seeing Oden bravely carry out his execution 20 years ago.

Although we know he’s on Luffy and the others’ side, we still don’t know much about what kind of strength or abilities he’ll bring to battle. After setting up a potential fight between Yamato and a member of the Tobi Roppo in a previous chapter of the series, the newest chapter of the series takes this one step further as it leads into Yamato’s first real test of strength since his debut.

Chapter 994 of the series picks up right after the cliffhanger which saw Yamato save Shinobu and Momonosuke from the Tobi Roppo’s Sasaki, and Yamato continues to stare down Sasaki and the others. Sasaki refuses to back down while laughing that all they need to do is kill Momonosuke to complete their mission, but Yamato refuses to back down as well. Seeing this, Shinobu asks Yamato to save the young lord but Yamato vows to save her as well.

Yamato remembers seeing Shinobu protest against Oden’s execution 20 years ago, and he’s been inspired by Shinobu and Oden’s story ever since. Noting that Oden’s tale brought tears to his eyes, Yamato’s been regretting the fact that all he could do was watch when Momonosuke was nearly killed by Kaido back then as well. Fighting off Sasaki’s underlings, Yamato declares his goal to Momonosuke.

Officially introducing himself with his “other name” (besides calling himself Kozuki Oden), Yamato tells Momonosuke that he would die for him as he takes a grand stand against Sasaki and the Armored Division of the Beasts Pirates. Now it’s clear we’ll finally be seeing Yamato fight in action, so what are your thoughts on this cliffhanger?

Are you excited to see Yamato finally get into the fight in the war for Wano? How are you liking the battle at Onigashima in One Piece so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!