WARNING: The following contains spoilers for One Piece, Chapter #1,006 by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul and Vanessa Satone, available in English now from Viz Media.
One Piece's riveting Wano Arc recently showed the Performance Hall of Onigashima, where we witnessed a zombie-like invasion as Samurai and Beast Pirates alike became infected with Queen's Ice Oni virus. Things seemed hopeless until Marco's miraculous phoenix flames managed to stall out the speed of infection. Now, in Chapter #1,006, we watch as one old flame, Hyogoro the Flower, burns brilliantly one last time before the Ice Oni virus freezes him completely.
As the samurai resist the urge to go berserk from the Ice Oni virus, we get a real sense of desperation from their struggle to maintain control. Meanwhile, as Chopper mixes chemicals, half of his body already appears frozen over, adding to the mounting pressure.
The supernova, Scratchman Apoo, and other Beast Pirates argue as they see the cure Chopper is mixing just in reach but cannot take it since two powerhouses are protecting the reindeer doctor. One of these guardians is the former Tobiropoo turned ally, X-Drake, and the other is the old Yakuza boss who trained Luffy in Udon Prison, Hyogoro the Flower.
However, there is a notable change in Hyogoro's appearance. The veteran yakuza boss has more than doubled in size, reflecting how he looked in his younger days. The effect seems to be due to the Ice Oni virus spreading through his body, as he expands his muscles and power before completely losing control.
Hyogoro, realizing his time is running short, asks the remaining yakuza bosses to end his life before he loses control and kills everyone in the performance hall. There is palpable respect shared among these underworld criminals, and you get a real sense that they're hesitant to kill a man they hold in such high regard -- especially since he recently helped free them from Udon. Before they could respond, the Mimawarigumi, a samurai squad that swore loyalty to Kaido, try to overtake the struggling Hyogoro. However, the older man is not entirely outdone, demonstrating the impressive swordsmanship that earned him his moniker and blowing away the traitorous samurai squad.
As this happens, Queen attempts to attack Hyogoro with a bizarre energy beam attack, only for his attack to be canceled out by the former Whitebeard Division One Commander, Marco the Pheonix. King is also fighting against Marco, but the mythical Zoan user seems to have it under control. Still, both Queen and King are All-Stars and have bounties over a billion beli each. Given their notoriety, it's hard to gauge how long Marco can hold King and Queen off and keep them away from Chopper, Hyogoro or X-Drake. Now that Charlotte Perospero has taken notice of Marco's fatigue, it's only a matter of time before he joins the fray as well.
The Ice Oni seems to keep spreading without any end in sight as Hyogoro lays down his sword, ready to die, and Yatappe -- one of the yakuza bosses -- steps up to finish him before the virus overtakes him. Hyogoro may not get the chance to see Kaido's defeat himself, but he grins, stating that he'll die without any regrets.
Even with the odds heavily stacked against Hyogoro, it's hard to tell if he will die, as Oda's commitment to death -- outside of flashbacks -- has a dubious track record. There was Pell's noble sacrifice in Alabasta, but in the end, he had the Falcon Zoan user survive the bomb's explosion. Recently, however, Oda seems to have committed more to killing off his characters, such as Pedro at the end of Whole Cake Island and, more recently, Shogun Orochi at the start of the Onigashima Raid. It's up in the air for now, but if Hyogoro does die, his actions will not be in vain.
