Great chapter. Wonderful winter Wano color spread featuring all the Strawhats even Jinbe changing outfits. Six statues wearing red and Wano hats, possibly referring to the remaining six Scabbards after Ashura, Inu and now Raizo were left behind. The teapot Tanuki returns stepping on his own giant frozen--Tama also looking adorable but running around in a yukata that barely protects her while the Strawhats show off big warm jackets is just silly.
Orochi comes back to life just to get killed one chapter later. April Fools!:yasu: He was right to wet himself every night at the thought of the Scabbards returning, they immediately killed him without any thought. Yet it looked so good. Orochi's animal form has a tail and legs similar to Page One's from behind. The legend of the Yamato no Orochi says all heads have to be cut at the same time or they'll just keep regrowing. I counted five heads but six necks, maybe hiding the last one is Orochi's cheat code to stay alive. Fukurokujo states Orochi already died once, so Orochi could simply have 8 lives total like Brook was given a 2nd life by his DF. I would be fine with Orochi dying eight times as long as each death is more humiliating than the last.
The battle of the big brains begins: Fukurokuju vs Raizo. Do kunoichi prefer heads with extra length or width? There's no particular reason stated for why Fuku betrayed the Kozuki but remains loyal to Orochi now, but he would fallen to Hyogoro otherwise so it's a good move. Back in Udon, Raizo was stated to be Fuku's ninja rival and now their fated ninja duel is finally at hand. This is a bizarre rivalry since Raizo practically spent his entire life with Oden, then just skipped 20 years, which should theoretically give Fuku a massive advantage. But Raizo seems to posses the Maki Maki devil fruit, strong enough to return Boro Breaths at Kaido, so this doesn't look like a losing battle in the vein of Inu vs Jack.
Now we know why Luffy was smiling at the end of 1008 - he's got Roronoa Zoro. This chapter delivers the team work and coordination I was craving to see from the 5vs2. Big Mom and hybrid Kaido unleash what surely could be the single strongest attack in the series, a tribute to old Dorry and Brogy's fish holer. Because we still don't know Kaido's age, Big Mom the "hag" and Kaido the "brat" makes it seem like there's a generational gap between them. Luffy predicts it, MVP Zoro briefly stops it to save the SN, and Law saves Zoro. I question how Zoro putting his swords up can block an AOE attack like barrier haki. It's still a magnificent sequence showing how two Yonko with a ranged attack could obliterate the Rooftop Five and Onigashima itself if they took this fight a little more seriously.
Right on schedule, Big Mom gets trolled. Luffy distracts Kaido as every one else gets to work on getting rid of Big Mom. It turns out nobody even wants to fight the poor hag, and Law faces a heavy nerf for the same reason Vergo haki coated his entire body. Kaido does a creative stunt where he uses his very long tail to spring into the air, spins his club like a copter, then nails Luffy with a sky Bagua. I am loving this more agile and limber hybrid Kaido. The rest of the Supernova disarm BM of her homies, Killer obtaining his own Enma, and I especially like Kid's best invention so far which looks like a Faraday cage for Zeus. Kid harpoons the whale to bait Big Mom, armed with only her fists now, into to trashing him before repelling her into the sky along with half of his arm and Law pushes her off the island with a rock. All in all, a clever strategy to take advantage of how clumsy and homie-dependent Big Mom is as a fighter.
Orochi slayed, Big Mom ringed out, Kaido all alone against the Rooftop Five. 1009 was HELL...if you're a villain
. Luffy taking multiple clubbings, Kid taking a pummeling from Big Mom, Zoro with a feat that will be unmatched for some time. Unbelievable that they just keep going, but there's a hint at the end of the chapter that Zoro might be ready to drop out. Big Mom mentioning the sea below, even if we don't see it, suggests the size of Fuji in 1006 was a ruse and Onigashima is moving at a snail's pace. Kid could keep Zeus and Napoleon trapped with his powers, with Prometheus useless to save BM underwater. Big Mom might do something unexpected such as take off her kimono and turn it into a flying carpet like Pudding's Rabian. As Kaido believes BM will betray him, I doubt he'll lift a finger to save her in contrast to the actions of the Rooftop Five this chapter. Imagine if BM to hits the Queen Mama Chanter and knocks the ship off the waterfall a third time