Summary:
The Straw Hats, Law, and the Samurai make it to Zou, but a monkey named Bariete suddenly falls on them, knocking Kin’emon and Kanjur off the dragon. The pirates reach the top of the elephant and the dragon they affectionately call “Ryunosuke” transforms back into a drawing.
The Straw Hats and Law enter the Duchy of Mokomo, a seemingly abandoned town that has been partially damaged. Luffy leaves alone and the others are attacked by a mink rabbit named Carrot. Suddenly, a mink dog appears, stopping Carrot, and the pirates see that he is wearing Nami’s outfit.
The Straw Hats, Law, and the samurai Kin’emon and Kanjuro ride Kanjuro’s dragon on the back leg of a large elephant to reach Zou Island on its back. However, the dragon quickly tires and struggles to hold the elephant’s leg and slides back down into the Thousand Sunny. Cheering the Straw Hats on, Usopp calls it “Ryunosuke” and continues to climb, though his progress is lost. As Ryunosuke continues to climb, Luffy wonders how Sanji and their other crew members got to Zou, and then asks Kin’emon and Kanjur why they want to go to Zou in the first place. The samurai revealed that Zou was their original destination after they left the land of Wano, and they wanted to reunite with Momonosuke and also find out if their friend Raizo ninja, who had been separated from them at sea, had made it here. All the pirates are amazed to hear about the ninja and wonder what his powers are.
Kanjuro jokes with Kin’emon in response, and the riders suddenly see a little monkey named Bariete falling towards them. The Straw Hats and Law dodge the falling monkey, but Kin’emon and Kanjuro are distracted from playing and are hit, causing them to fall off Ryunosuke. The pirates call out to the samurai who reveal that they are fine and tell them to continue. Monkey then yells at the samurai for trying to enter Zou without permission, and the Straw Hats try to tell Ryunosuke to go back and get the samurai. However, after seeing how much Ryunosuke is suffering, they decide to continue to the top. As the sun sets, Luffy goes to sleep while Ryunosuke approaches the top. The sleep causes Luffy to lose his grip on Ryunosuke and Usopp tries to grab him, but only grabs his backpack as Luffy falls down. As he falls, Luffy wakes up and grabs Ryunosuke’s horns, but this causes Ryunosuke’s front legs to lose their grip, causing him to bend backwards. The Straw Hats encourage him to grab his leg again and after much effort, Ryunosuke manages to do so and continues climbing. As the pirates near the top, Ryunosuke makes a final upward push and they successfully reach Zou. However, Ryunosuke transforms back into a drawing, and the pirates mourn this except for Zoro and Law, who only saw it as a cheap drawing and wanted to focus on the island they’re on.
The pirates walk towards the gate to a place called Mokomo Dukedom and Luffy pulls himself up to the top of it, allowing him to explore the entire dukedom. Usopp joins Luffy as the others walk through the gate, the gates of which have been destroyed. Luffy jumps off the gate and goes off to explore on his own, while the other pirates explore the seemingly abandoned duchy, noting that the ground is poorly walked and that there is heavy damage all around, including faint traces of gunpowder and gas. Meanwhile, a mink rabbit named Carrot spies them from behind a bush and is shocked that they managed to get past Bariete. Elsewhere, Luffy is running through the deserted city, wondering where everyone is and calling out for Sanji’s group. Carrot ambushes the other pirates, managing to avoid Zoro’s slash and clash with his sword, but suddenly a giant crocodile-like creature bursts onto the scene. It is ridden by a mink dog who tells Carrot to stop her attack as they need to deal with an intruder in the Whale Forest. Usopp is then shocked to notice that the mink is wearing Nami’s top.