This was a 10/10 chapter, at least in terms of enjoyment.
Kaido has begun to take things more seriously. He's starting to get visibly irritated at the Worst Generation opposing him. If I could describe this chapter in one word, it would be "defiance." Kaido, the eastern dragon god; who stands over these new gen pirates, demands they stay down and submit.
Zoro, the conqueror, faces all the hardships despite his broken bones. He refuses to allow Kaido to harm Luffy. This shows how important Oda views Zoro's dedication. Zoro needed to basically dead but not to be forced to leave and leave things to Luffy. Zoro's level of devotion is still alien to Kaido, who believes pirates can only be coerced into obedience. Zoro's resolve is channeled into Asura, which he uses to permanently scar Kaido. The second to ever do so. Kaido mentions conquerors haki, which would explain several things for Zoro. For starters, it explains the various strange instances of where his aura is mentioned.
Overwhelming figures with weaker spirits.
Taming Enma. No one but Oden, another CoC user, has done.
Asura in specific is assuredly related to haki, as the first time it was used, Kaku concluded it manifested through his force of will.
And now we have Kaido wondering if Zoro has CoC after that attack.
Zoro's attack leaving a scar is also akin to Oden. The fact none of the Scabbards could permanently scar Kaido could mean that the ability to actually put down Kaido rests on those who possess CoC.
All in all, Zoro possessing CoC is a done deal. But is he done for the arc? Far from it. Zoro's role is not done. The other Straw Hats still have their fights to complete. In some cases, haven't even begun them. Zoro will form a black blade this arc, as will be mentioned later with Luffy, Zoro's power progression this arc is tied to forming a black blade, and his contribution can't be done until he has. Wano is the arc where Enma boasts the most narrative importance, and the impact of blackening it after Wano would be lessened.
The Kaido/Zoro panel on conquerors gives off an ominous feeling; that Zoro still has unfinished business before these battles are done. Zoro has spent most of the battle on the roof on the defensive. He was more concerned protecting Luffy and the others than attacking head on, and the first real kill shot he had on Kaido missed.
Asura itself flew by relatively quickly, with Zoro experiencing what might've been a haki bloom just before collapsing. Zoro will need to make use of that bloom in what is his and the others most important battle yet. Oda allowed us to see his best to a degree, but he needs more than his best, he has to go beyond it. Onigashima is still hurling towards the capital, and we all know of the legends about things flying over the capital. It may not come to pass, but Oda doesn't write things without a reason.
But for now, he'll need to rest, and he deserves it after all he's done.
Ok, on to Law, it's nice to see him playing nicer now with the Straw Hats, believing Zoro's life is more important than the plan. While Zoro is the conqueror in the equation, Law is the D. The natural enemies of gods. He proves a nuisance to Kaido and not bowing to his demands either. He has plans to learn more about his heritage, which is what's motivating him to go further than before.
Kid and Killer officially become team players and, at least, friendly rivals to the other Supernova. They swallowed their pride on fighting Kaido for their vendettas and instead pour their strength in helping the Alliance win. They've finally found allies who they can trust on compared to before.
It further adds to the arc's overall theme of loyalty. And at the same time, if Kid and Killer can manage to defeat Linlin, that would allow them to stay competitive with Luffy and Zoro, their counterparts. But we will see what the future holds for them now that they are far less antagonistic figures.
Linlin is still in the battle thanks to Prometheus. The biggest development is Prometheus wanting to sever ties with Zeus. Later, we see Kid commenting on the clouds.
If I had to guess, Linlin plans on replacing Zeus with a new cloud homie. Law will likely go down along with Zoro, but he could take Zeus with him, as he wouldn't know Linlin is forming a new homie, and it's better to prevent her from arming herself with one if he can help it. This brings Zeus even closer to returning to Nami.
Ok, the big one: Luffy's new level of conquerors. For years we wondered what conquerors haki's worth was. Is it really just a fodder control technique? Now we see how dangerous this haki is, and Luffy now realizes what he really needed to learn in order to beat Kaido. Hyogoro's bewilderment back in Udon what Luffy did can now be explained. He is an armament haki expert, but since he does not possess CoC, and the fact conquerors can't really be trained, it's understandable why he couldn't fully grasp what Luffy was doing.
This does make sense, as conquerors grows as the individual grows, even if they aren't aware of it. Luffy, after his grueling fights in Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark, exuded minor conqueror's against Duval's pet and scared it.
He then knocks out a few Amazons after his experiences in Sabaody and in a more stressful situation.
After his ordeal in Impel Down, he was able to effect an even larger radius when Ace was about to be executed.
After the timeskip, he now has control of it, and is capable of knocking out 50,000 fishmen, and tame animals with it.
In Wano, after his fights on Dressrosa and WCI, he is capable of conquerors subconsciously, even using it after being knocked out by Kaido.
It's as Rayleigh said -
Luffy has never stopped putting himself in dire situations, and he has continuously met them head on. This has allowed his conquerors to become stronger passively along the way. He just had to know exactly what he was doing. He suspected it was the same as CoA due to the visual similarities of what Rayleigh and others were doing, but in reality, he was referring to conquerors.
Luffy is now facing Kaido as a great pirate. More than anywhere else in the story, he is exuding Pirate King energy. And thus Luffy's quest to damage Kaido without damaging him is complete. His decisive battle has started, and I expect minimal interference from below outside of Yamato, who has loose ends to meet with their father, and possibly Zoro.
Zoro was the conqueror while Law was the D. Luffy brings both together, and demonstrates the greatest level of defiance to Kaido, and intends to win. Conqueror who conquers conquerors. The D that will bring about change.
While the chapter was good, the scan job did a horrendous work on the character art. So many of Zoro's panels look atrocious. I can't wait for Viz.