One Piece chapter 972 hints how the Mane-mane no mi got outside of Wano

We have just witnessed the sad execution of Oden in One Piece chapter 972. Although Oden died smiling, we still can’t discount the fact that he died in an unfair way, regardless of what Kaido did to somehow honor him. Amidst this commotion, however, lies a possible answer to a baffling question.

In chapter 969, we are introduced to two characters. Kurozumi Semimaru who uses wields the Bari-bari no mi and Kurozumi Higurashi who wields the Mane-mane no mi. Their devil fruit powers are very familiar to us. The question is, how did those two devil fruits end up outside of Wano?

I can only think of two possible ways this could happen and that’s what I will be talking about here. But first, let me explain the possible ways to acquire devil fruits.

How people get devil fruits

Don’t be confused. I am not talking about acquiring devil fruit powers. But if you want to know more about it, you can read it here. What I mean is how people get hold of the fruits themselves. Devil fruits are very rare that their existence is even believed to be a legend in some parts of the One Piece world.

If I remember correctly, I can only think of four ways to acquire devil fruits. First is through the world government. For some reason, the world government seems to have a hold of several devil fruits. This allows Dr. Vegapunk to study them. We have also seen Spandam giving away devil fruits to his subordinates.

Secondly, people acquire devil fruits through the underworld market, where almost everything illegal can be found, including the artificial devil fruits, SMILE. Third, pirates can get devil fruits by pillaging from other pirate crews who posses devil fruits.

Lastly, some pirates also seem to have been able to find devil fruits like treasures. Although many eat the devil fruits for its power, some settle in selling those devil fruits to others for a lot of money. We can consider this the fifth way of acquiring devil fruits.

Through a ship from Wano to East Blue

Now, let us see how the mane-mane and bari-bari no mi ended up outside of Wano. The standing theory is that those devil fruits were transported to East Blue. In SBS volume 92, Oda revealed that some decades ago a ship from Wano ended up in East Blue.

Given the timeline when the old had was killed by Kaido in One Piece chapter 972, this theory is still possible. It is also possible that Semimaru was also killed. Another thing that supports this theory is that the current users of those devil fruits are both from East Blue.

Through Dofflamingo

There is a missing link about the first theory though. As we all know, once a devil fruit user dies, the power is reincarnated in a nearby fruit. Since the citizens of Wano has very little knowledge about this power, the only way the reincarnated fruits could make it through the ship is either by accident. Otherwise, someone must know how it works.

My theory is that Dofflamingo is in play. Think about it. Dofflamingo and Moria were both active after Gol D. Roger’s execution. Their actions may have been somehow similar to the worst gen pirates who tried to take down big names.

Since Kaido was too strong, Doffy might have agreed to work for him. Who’s to say they did not encounter each other in battle. If we would recall, Dofflamingo was afraid of Kaido. So the theory is that Doffy is already working for Kaido in One Piece chapter 972. He may have taken the opportunity to get the devil fruits once the old Kurozumis were killed.

As he is still building his empire, it is possible that he sold those devil fruits in the underworld market. It’s just a matter of time before Bon Clay and Barto gets them. Remember that Barto used to have his own mafia family, and Bon Clay used to work for Crocodile. Both professions would have access to the underworld market.

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Image credits: One Piece official Twitter account

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