As Toko and the Ebisu Town citizens laugh at Yasuie’s death, the Straw Hat Pirates learn that only one in ten SMILE fruits cause animal transformation; the other fruits only make their eaters incapable of expressing negative emotions.
Orochi took the remnants of the defective fruits and mixed them in with the wealthy citizens’ leftovers, causing citizens of leftover towns like Ebisu to consume them.
Hiyori explains it to Zoro and Brook, when a commotion starts to stir up as Toko gets onto the execution platform and tries to save her father with some toad oil.
Hiyori pleads for her to come back before Orochi spots her, and the Straw Hats are aghast to see her in danger. Orochi sees Toko and aims his rifle at her, intending to kill her for causing Komurasaki to die.
He shoots bullets directly aimed for her head, but Zoro and Sanji simultaneously break through the barrier and neutralize the bullets.
The citizens are shocked to see the two recently infamous men together, including Drake and Hawkins, and Zoro and Sanji react in surprise as they find themselves side by side for the first time in weeks.
The last time Sanji and Zoro interacted in the present time was in Chapter 722 which was released on 30 September 2013! It was 6 years ago!!
I love how Oda crafted Sanji and Zoro’s adventures through Wano in parallel before their eventual reunion. Hell, it seems like the entirety of Act 2 was building towards this.
-Both are the only members of the alliance to have their aliases revealed. It was even revealed the same way: by being accused of committing a crime – Zoro was framed so he killed the magistrate, Sanji was accused of driving business away from the Kyoshiro family, so he attacked them once they’d confronted him.
-Both had a small, relatively easy battle which resulted in them defeating their opponents – Zoro vs Kamazou and Sanji vs Page One
-Both had hints of their next power ups showcased – Sanji’s raid suit and Zoro’s black blades
-Each were seen getting angry at Orochi specifically – Zoro because Orochi was making fun of Yasu’s honor; Sanji because Orochi used the citizens of Ebisu Town’s hunger against them by knowingly feeding them the SMILE fruits.
-Both are now standing in Orochi’s way due to O-Toko’s involvement.
-Their bounties are now nearly identical, being only 10mil apart.
-Each have something that will piss the other one off – Sanji has a higher bounty while Zoro has Hiyori/Komurasaki fawning over him.
I don’t know what it’s building too but I’m excited to see what Oda has planned. Whatever happens, no doubt it’ll happen to the both of them since Oda seems to be linking their journey. I will say though, as hyped as I am to see these two go all out, both are exceedingly angry right now!
*by Therrester
