How One Piece foreshadowed Kaido vs Oden long before the Wano Arc, explored

The longest arc in One Piece so far, the Wano Arc focuses on the struggle to free the homonymous land from the evil clutches of Kaido and Orochi. Several years before the present narration, Kozuki Oden and his wife Toki sacrificed themselves to send their sons and retainers into the future to gain allies for the cause of Wano.

This eventually led to the formation of a vast alliance that included the Straw Hat Pirates as well as many other prominent groups and individuals. The alliance attacked Kaido’s lair, the island of Onigashima, ushering in a tremendous battle that resulted in the former’s downfall.

It’s interesting to note that One Piece had already hinted at both Kaido's Devil Fruit powers and abusive tyranny over Wano long before the eponymous arc. In the much earlier Punk Hazard Arc, One Piece author Eiichiro Oda left a few clues that, in hindsight, appear as evident foreshadowing of what fans would see in Wano.

One Piece fans knew about Kaido’s dragon-themed Devil Fruit since Punk Hazard

A subtle piece of foreshadowing

Brook and Kinemon striking the dragon (Image via Toei Animation)

Upon arriving on the island of Punk Hazard, the Straw Hat Pirates came across Kozuki Momonosuke and Kinemon, the former being Oden’s son and the latter being one of his loyal retainers. The two quickly befriended the Straw Hats, laying the foundation for the establishment of the huge alliance that would eventually overthrow Kaido’s rule over Wano.

In One Piece chapter 682, Kinemon teamed up with the Straw Hat crew’s Brook to defeat one of Dr Vegapunk’s artificial creations, a small dragon. As Nami, Usopp, and Nico Robin first attacked the creature, Brook and Kinemon finished it off together.

Brook and Kinemon speaking in One Piece chapter 682 (Image via Shueisha)

Kinemon used his Foxfire Style: Blaze Slice to cut through the dragon’s fire blast. He then struck the creature with Fire-Willow Flash, while Brook hit it with Gavotte Bond En Avant. It should be noted that, before attacking the dragon, Kinemon explicitly called dragons his archenemies:

“I have a score to settle with dragonkind! If he must be dealt with, let it be by my hand!”

Later, Kinemon continued to strike the dragon angrily, raging on its body even after it had been beaten senseless. Brook noted that Kinemon hated dragons as if they had murdered his parents, to which the samurai answered:

“As a matter of fact… you’re practically correct”.

Kinemon hinting at his hate towards "dragons" (Image via Shueisha)

Back then, One Piece fans couldn’t really understand the meaning hidden behind Kinemon’s words, but now it’s easy to read them as Eiichiro Oda’s masterful foreshadowing of two key aspects of the Wano Arc. For starters, Kinemon’s strong grudge against dragons stemmed from the fact that Kaido, the person who subjugated Wano under his ruthless tyranny, had dragon-based powers.

Known as the “World’s Strongest Creature” and, before his defeat at Luffy’s hands, considered one of the Four Emperors, Kaido could turn into a giant, blue-scaled dragon as well as a human-dragon hybrid due to having eaten the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon. This Mythical Zoan Fruit massively increased Kaido’s toughness and strength, while also giving him a dragon’s insane size and various supernatural abilities, including, flight, fire-breathing, and more.

Kinemon’s further words about dragons somehow "killing his parents" are a reference to the dragon-like Kaido murdering Kozuki Oden, the person to whom he had sworn loyalty. Kinemon was sincerely fond of Oden, to the point of thinking of the latter as his family, and never forgave Kaido for brutally killing him.

Oda teased the story that he would tell several arcs later

Oden protecting Kinemon and the others (Image via Toei Animation)

Brave and powerful, Oden attacked Kaido head-on in an attempt to drive him away from Wano. In the ensuing battle, the two fought on equal grounds, and Oden was even able to inflict a serious injury on Kaido, leaving the future Yonko’s tough body disfigured with a permanent scar.

However, Oden ended up losing the battle as Kaido exploited Kurozumi Higurashi’s help to strike the samurai with a devastating blow. Sentenced to be boiled alive, Oden made a deal with Kaido. As a large pot filled with boiling oil was placed at the execution site, Oden asked Kaido to set a time limit, after which any survivor would be free to walk away.

Kaido challenged Oden and the Red Scabbards to survive for one hour. Immediately, Oden grabbed a plank and ordered his retainers to stay on the object as he held it while he would stand in the boiling oil. With an astonishing act of selflessness as well as physical might, Oden endured the boiling oil for over an hour, all while holding Kinemon and the others on his shoulders.

Momonosuke and Kinemon (Image via Toei Animation)

Unfortunately, Kaido never meant to honor his promise. Even though Oden won the challenge, he murdered him with a gunshot to the head. Before being killed, Oden managed to throw his retainers away from the execution site. He entrusted them to survive to open Wano’s borders to the world and died with a smile on his face.

Kinemon and the others fled with copious tears in their eyes. As they met Kozuki Toki, she sent Kinemon and Momonosuke to the future, as she was asked to do by Oden, and died briefly after at the hands of the Beasts Pirates.

Interestingly enough, these weren’t the only Punk Hazard scenes in which One Piece author Eiichiro Oda foreshadowed the story of the Wano Arc. In One Piece chapter 682, Kinemon called Nami a kunoichi, Nico Robin a courtesan, and Brook a corpse, the same roles they were assigned to play when the Straw Hat Pirates tried to infiltrate Wano by blending with the country’s natives.

Kinemon encourages Momonosuke to eat with the Straw Hats (Image via Shueisha)

Also, in One Piece chapter 696, Kinemon and Momonosuke are shown hesitating to eat the food that Sanji prepared for the final feast on Punk Hazard. Although delighted at the thought of eating some warm soup, they felt guilty about it, as the huge pot Sanji was cooking in probably reminded them of the way Oden died.

Kinemon then encouraged Momonosuke to eat, telling him that they should live on, and trust the people who had just helped them. With everyone enjoying the banquet, the roots for the alliance that would avenge Oden and liberate Wano had been planted.