16 years ago, on August 30, 2010, One Piece marked the release of chapter 597 titled “3D2Y”, which set up the first major time jump in the series. This time jump lasted two years, and the Straw Hat Pirates trained incredibly hard to build themselves up for a reunion, and then a journey into the New World, the most dangerous sea in the world. One Piece.
Now, 16 years later in Elbaf, the Straw Hat Pirates face yet another situation that could lead to a time jump in the series. This time the time jump is not set to depend on a training arc, but simply on how time behaves in Elbaf. As teased at several points in the story, the way time is perceived in Elbaf seems to be completely different compared to the outside world, setting the stage for a major time jump when the crew leaves the land of the giants.
One Piece's warped Elbaf timeline officially sets up a mini-time jump for the outside world
One Piece Officially released in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #1 on December 2, 2024, Chapter 1132 first gave us a big hint that time is perceived differently in Elbaf. This hint came directly from the note of the explorer Louis Arnote, who warned those who came to Elbaf that, although it may be a wonderful land, they should not outstay their welcome in this land. At the time, this could have simply been brushed off as a warning of some kind that was not necessarily linked to the time being perceived differently in the country.
“Plants, trees, vines, flowers, insects, fish and birds… everything is breathtakingly vast. Adventurers, do not regret your lost time here. But if there is one message you take away from my account of the gigantic and mysterious land of Elbaf, let it be this word of warning. 'Don't overstay your welcome here, Louis'.”
However, One Piece Chapter 1152, which was officially released on June 23, 2025, confirmed that Elbaf perceives time differently. This happened in the flashback between Shanks and Scopper Gaban, where the latter stated that he felt it had only been three years since Roger passed away. Shanks corrected him, saying that it had been almost 10 years since Roger died. This suggests that Elbaf perceives time up to 3.5 times slower than the outside world. This also makes sense when considering the ages of the giants, who are said to live 3.5 times longer than those in the world of One Piece.
Gaban: It's been a while since we shared a bath. How long has it been, 3 or 4 years?
Shanks: Get real, Gaban-san! It has been 10 years since the captain died.
Gaban: So long? It must have felt like an eternity to you!
— Scopper Gaban cannot perceive the time in Elbaf
Another interesting chapter to note is One Piece 1149, released on May 26, 2025, where Nerona Imu made her official debut in Elbaf through Gunko's body. When Imu came through Gunko's body, he asked the Holy Knights what was taking them so long, as the Holy Land was a sea of flames. Still, they didn't take too long. For the Holy Knights, it had barely been a couple of hours since they started moving in Elbaf. Apparently, to Imu, a lot of time had passed, but to the Holy Knights, it only felt like a couple of hours.
Also, when Nerona Imu decided to descend into Elbaf in One Piece Chapter 1178, which was released on March 30, 2026, in Shueisha's WSJ Issue #18, we could see that the fire Imu spoke of had already gone out, but barely any time had passed in Elbaf itself. It is clear that some form of time dilation is taking place in Elbaf, which means that those inside the country can perceive time much more slowly than those outside. In other words, when Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates leave Elbaf, time could have passed much faster for them outside than inside.
“Elder, the Holy Land will be without Mu for a while!” — Nerona Imu leaves Marijoa, One Piece Chapter #1178
Why One Piece World will have progressed many weeks after Elbaf
As it stands, Elbaf seems to perceive time very differently from the outside world One Piece. To be clear, those in Elbaf and those outside it age exactly the same. A year in Elbaf is technically still a year in the outside world. However, those within Elbaf feel like much less time has passed, which was officially confirmed by Scopper Gaban, as well as Nerona Imu, in the Elbaf arc.
In other words, while the Straw Hats may feel like they spent a month in Elbaf, in reality they will have spent much longer in the country. This means that the outside world will have changed drastically during this time period. A couple of months outside would have changed a lot. For example:
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The war with the world government would have progressed drastically.
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The siege of Marijoa would have continued.
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The battles between the Holy Knights and the Revolutionary Army would have taken place.
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Yonko would have made his moves.
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Some major battles would have taken place.
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Princess Vivi's situation would have changed drastically.
Clearly, Eiichiro Oda is setting up a massive information dump by remembering that a major time jump will have taken place outside the land of giants.
One Piece's Mini Timeskip will bring the final war closer
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind regarding the Elbaf arc is that this new time dilation in the country could potentially bring the final war much closer. The Final War Arc of One Piece has been hyped by Eiichiro Oda for a long time, and he even believes that it is much larger in scale than Marineford. We don't doubt Oda's claims, but the wait for this long arc always felt long.
“One thing that motivates me to continue drawing One Piece is that I want to draw the final saga. The final saga will be so amazing that it will make the Marineford arc look like nothing. The Marineford arc was just a detour for me. I didn't expect it to be so popular.” — Eiichiro Oda, 2012
Now, with a potential time shift, the war between the Revolutionary Army and the Holy Knights could have progressed significantly, and Yonko may have already gotten involved as well. This means that immediately after leaving Elbaf, the Straw Hats could be thrown into the Final War, which would also mean the race for One Piece itself. This is also consistent with Eiichiro Oda's comments from Jump Festa 2026, which took place on December 21, 2025. There, he stated that the next arc will take Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates directly to the island that only the Pirate King has set foot on. We absolutely can't wait to see how things move after the conclusion of the Elbaf arc and a mini-time jump ready to unfold. Hopefully Eiichiro Oda delivers well.
All the new chapters of Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga are available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
