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Eiichiro Oda continues to surpass expectations with the Final Saga ofOne Piece, with the Elbaf Arc well underway now. Egghead Island, the beginning of the Final Saga ofOne Piece, surpassed all expectations and reached a level that fans did not truly expect. In many ways,the Final Saga ofOne Piecehas only just begun and fans know that Oda will turn up the intensity even more moving forward.
Luffy’s journey across the high seas has been nothing short of staggering so far. Having set out on his adventure at the age of 17, Luffy has now become a Yonko in just 2 years, which is unheard of. But, Luffy’s journey is not complete yet, and it appears that Oda intends to draw many more adventures with the Straw Hat pirate, some even into his old age.
Luffy’s Growth In One Piece So Far
As the protagonist ofOne Piece, fans knew that Luffy would be embarking upon a massive adventure. When Luffy set out on his journey to becoming the Pirate King, he made it quite clear that he wanted a total of 10 pirate crew members, and at the same time, he would go on to conquer his enemies and become the Pirate King by claiming the grand treasure known as theOne Piece. At that moment, Luffy’s dreams might have seemed lofty, but, with time, he certainly went on to prove himself to everyone, and that is precisely why Luffy is a member of the Four Emperors right now. But, Luffy’s journey to becoming an Emperor wasn’t easy. In order to be noticed by the world, Luffy first had to take a plethora of powerful individuals in the East Blue, such as Arlong, Don Krieg, and even Buggy. These actions earned him a bounty of 30 million berries, which certainly raised an eyebrow. But, it wasn’t until Luffy defeated Crocodile, a famed pirate in the Grand Line worth 80 million berries at the time, that he was truly thought of as a massive threat.
I’m Monkey D. Luffy. The man who will surpass you guys and become the King of the Pirates! – Luffy
Later on, Luffy continued his Grand adventures and caused a massive event in Enies Lobby. When rescuing Robin, Luffy razed the place to the ground, and successfully managed to escape the clutches of the Government. He continued his grand quest and took down even Gecko Moria, and then, around the Paramount War, not only did he infiltrate Impel Down and lead to the largest breakout from the prison, but also attacked Marine HQ and survived. Naturally, a pirate with such infamy was bound to succeed greatly.
After the timeskip,Luffy continued to grow in terms of power and influence, and he managed to defeat Doflamingo, followed by beating stronger individuals such as Cracker and Katakuri. All of this culminated in Luffy defeating Kaido, and that is how he claimed the position of an Emperor for himself. All of this was achieved by Luffy in just 2 years. Right now, Luffy is 19, and it is almost unbelievable that he has accomplished all this in such a short amount of time.
Oda’s Plans For Luffy’s Journey
Oda Intends To Draw Luffy’s Whole Life
When one thinks of howOne Pieceis going to continue from here onwards, fans know thatOda will most likely go on to draw Elbafand then, most likely, have Luffy claim theOne Piecewithin an arc or two, followed by the Great War. But, Oda’s statements seem to be somewhat conflicting. It appears that there might actually be a timeskip in One Piece and fans might actually get the chance to see an older version of Luffy. While Oda has not explicitly stated this, he has made a statement in 2016 that heavily implies this. Here is what Oda has to say about drawing an adventure of older Luffy.
Isn’t it crazy that I haven’t finished ONEPIECE after 20 years of drawing it? Anyway, I will finish depicting the great life of a pirate named Luffy fully. – Oda (2016)
While this statement might not seem big on the surface, dissecting it reveals massive information to the fans. Essentially, this statement can only be interpreted in two ways. The first way the statement can be interpreted is that Oda intends to drawLuffy’s entire life as a pirate right up until the very end, which means that Luffy will grow up inOne Piece, and, at some point, retire from piracy, just as some legendary individuals such as Rayleigh have done. After all, once Luffy accomplishes his true dream, which fans are not aware of, he really would have no reason to go around sailing on a pirate ship and would simply want to live his life freely as he wants.
But, in order for Luffy to do this, he would have to grow old because according to Oda himself, he wants to draw the entire life of the pirate named Luffy until the very end. This essentially means that Luffy will age up and fans might even get to see 40-year-old on the 60-year-old version of Luffy in One Piece that Oda has previously designed already.
The other way to interpret the statement is that Luffy’s journey will be cut short and that he will go on to die at some point in One Piece. This way, Oda can depict Luffy’s journey right up until the very end, which, in this case, would be a premature death. That said, the chances of this happening are not that high. Oda has himself stated that he wants to end One Piece with a big party and that he hates killing off characters, because then he can’t have massive banquets. Luffy, the main character of One Piece, cannot die, because if he did, Oda won’t get the chance to draw any banquet at all.
Will One Piece Have Another Timeskip?
One Piece Will Likely Skip Time In The Final Saga
Given that Oda will most definitely not kill off Luffy inOne Piece, the only way to interpret his statement is assuming thathe intends to have another timeskipand give the fans a chance to see an older version of Luffy inOne Piece. This is incredibly exciting, because fans would absolutely love a timeskip and see an older and more mature version of Luffy, where not only has he learned more about being a pirate, but at the same time, has grown dramatically in terms of strength as well.
As to how this timeskip can be brought about, there are two ways. EitherOne Piececan enter a timeskip before the Great War, which would certainly be exciting, because fans would then get the chance to see Luffy at the peak of his powers in his prime during the Final War, or, they will be aOne Piecetime skip after the Great War.
Taking all things into consideration, it would make more sense for that to be a timeskip after the Great War, becauseLuffy’s adventure will most likely continueas a 19-year-old for the time being. The Great War is almost upon the world, and there cannot be a timeskip inOne Pieceright now. This only means that Oda will give fans a bunch of timeskips after the Great War and when Luffy has already become the Pirate King. This would also mirror the pre-timeskipOne Piece, where the timeskip actually happened after the Paramount War. Once the Great War concludes, fans might get an Epilogue Arc ofOne Piece, where they get to see the grown-up versions of all the straw hats.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapps. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1134, is set to be June 29, 2025.
