I just think it's weird that everyone takes it for granted that Yamato even wants to be a part of the crew... Yamato wants to live free and go on adventures, which might not equate with the Strawhats agenda of going to Laughtale (which Yamato may already know the secrets of through Oden's journal) and starting a war. Yamato could have a specific reason for believing Luffy will give them a ride, and see Luffy as a ticket out of Wano. The easiest possibility that comes to mind is that Kaido hid a Road Poneglyph somewhere outside Wano (Law and Robin haven't found them in the Flower Capital or Onigashima), and Yamato could lead Luffy there. Acting as a guide also fits with myths of Japanese wolves, see
this.
I'm just trying to think shorter term here. It could always come around like with Yamato saying "you gave me freedom, now let me pay you back by taking you to the Road Poneglyph" to which Luffy could say "don't you want to join us?" etc... but the fact that Yamato asked
very differently from how Robin did could be significant.
Yeah i agree too. Nice analysis. I believe Yamato is gonna join the crew. While Yamato hasn't asked to be a Straw Hat explicitly yet, among all the worst gen crews currently on Wano, Luffy's the only crew Yamato has set her eyes on and would want to leave with. She's shown zero indication of wanting to go with Law or Kidd's for example.
That's why the person she decided to meet first in the alliance was Luffy in the attic.
I think her flashback with Ace where he told Yamato Luffy's dream and his words of wanting to be Pirate King and finding the One Piece was what made Yamato pick Luffy, that, and also the news she would have read in the papers of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates exploits and accomplishments would've also helped reinforce her choice. The fact that she recognizes members of the crew like Franky from the bounty posters shows that she has a particular interest in them. And i don't think this is a new thing either, after the Paramount War and the Straw Hats return after the timeskip, the name Straw Hat Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates have garnered enough fame and recognition that other people would like to join them, like the Grand Fleet and Jinbe for example.
I don't think Yamato would mind Luffy going straight for the One Piece and not circling the world again, returning to places they have already visited and give her a tour of the four blues and the grand line just for her sake, at least not immediately. I think what she wants right now is defeating Kaido and kicking him out of Wano, so she can clear Oden's name then leave with Luffy, hoping that her helping him will gain his trust.
Whether or not Yamato wants to go straight to Laugh Tale after joining, she definitely wants to join Luffy's crew. She doesn't or probably won't settle for anything else or less. Because Oden joined Whitebeard and Roger's crew, Luffy is the only one among the worst gen right now who would be comparable to them. Yamato even thought before that Ace was gonna lead the new era, which is why she wanted to leave with Ace. If her stich of wanting to be Oden remains true after this arc, she'd only want to join Luffy's crew and no one else. She probably also got a boost in her desire to go on adventures from reading Oden's journal and all the places Oden's been to with Roger, no doubt that it would have had a great affect on her.