Summary:
Luffy and Tsuru give tea to Tama, who immediately feels better. They also feed her to ease her hunger. However, they are attacked by Batman, a SMILE user, and Tama is kidnapped by Gazelleman.
Luffy, Zoro, Tsuru, Komachiyo, and Kiku settle in a teahouse in the abandoned town of Okobore to treat Tama’s illness. As the child lies in bed, Kiku hands Luffy a cup of powerful medicine. The medicine is very bitter and Tama resists taking it, but Luffy forces it on her.
A little later, Kiku approaches Zoro, who is now waiting outside. He offers to treat Zoro’s injuries from his earlier battle. He tells the woman that his wounds will heal on their own, but Kiku doesn’t budge, so Zoro silently complies. Meanwhile, Tama wakes up from unconsciousness in the house. Tama assesses how she is feeling and confirms to everyone that she is finally back to good health. Luffy and the others cheer, surprised at how quickly the cure took effect. Despite Tsuro’s warning to never drink from the polluted river again, Tama’s unbearable hunger seizes again and she rushes to drink. Tsuru stops Tama in her tracks and berates her a second time.
Zoro thanks Kiku as she finishes bandaging him, and she returns her gratitude to Zoro for driving Urashi away. Back at the teahouse, Tsuru serves Tama a bowl of sweet red bean soup, but Tama refuses to accept it, unable to pay for food, let alone medical treatment. Tsuru claims that payment is out of the question, but Tama still protests being considerate of Tsuru and Kiku since food is scarce in Okoboro. After politely and repeatedly urging Tama to eat, Tsuru loses her temper and scares Tama into accepting the food, threatening to throw the soup into the dusty street otherwise.
Outside, Luffy and Zoro sit next to Tama as the girl reluctantly stares into a bowl of soup. Luffy reminds Tama that it is her birthday after all and encourages her to bury herself. The two pirates, along with Tsuru, watch as Tama takes his first sip. As tears fall into the bowl and a giddy smile spreads across her face, Tama is ecstatic as she declares how delicious the food is and that this day has been the greatest of her life. Tsuru herself is brought to tears, but Luffy ponders Hitetsu’s words about how impoverished Tama has been all this time. Luffy notes how similar the dango in Tama’s soup is to her Devil Fruit ability, but Tama replies that a dango made from her power cannot actually fill a human’s stomach.
Tama then falls asleep while Luffy rages at Kaido and the Beasts Pirates for desecrating Kuri’s land and its people. Zoro stops Luffy from nearly blowing Tsuru’s cover, but she sees through both of their disguises and deduces that they are both aliens. However, he swears not to tell anyone and begins to explain the history of the town. The vineyard once known as the Paradise Farm was created by the ruling Kozuki family to feed the village, but when beastly pirates and the Shogun Orochi usurped the throne, the farm became off limits and Okobore became dependent on the small rations they were allowed. Bakura Town, the town of officials. Unbeknownst to the group, their conversation is being spied on by the enemy.
As Tsuru continues to explain, a powerful arrow is shot at her head from a distance, which is skillfully blocked by Zoro’s blade. With Tsuru rendered speechless by fright, the arrow somehow remains in the air, still pressing against the forehead of his sword before Zoro finally deflects it, much to the attacker’s shock. The enemy reveals himself, flying high on a pair of bat wings, revealing his bat powers to SMILE. Zoro and Luffy challenge Batman, who declares his duty to silence any rebellious spirit among Orochi’s subjects, and unleashes a flurry of arrows at them. Zoro quickly deflects all incoming attacks with his sword, but Batman demonstrates his ability to freely control the flight pattern of his arrows, forcing the duo to use their Busoshoku Haki to defend themselves. Zoro ends the onslaught with an explosive sword technique. Confused, Bat-Man wonders if Zoro could be Ron’s one-eyed outlaw.
Luffy and Zoro, embroiled in a battle, leave a sleeping Tama unattended, and without warning, she is suddenly captured by another enemy. As the swift-footed Gazelleman sprints with his prize, Luffy and the others are too late to stop him, with Tama waking up horrified and screaming for Luffy to save her.