This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf arc.
One Piece fans really love the Elbaf arc and everything Oda has done with it. There is absolutely no denying the fact that this is the most exciting story there has been since the end of the absolutely phenomenal war in Wano. right now, Oda explores Loki's flashback of Elbafand it is quite exciting right now as the events of the God Valley Incident are explored. Whenever Oda explores a flashback, fans tend to love the development, largely because those flashbacks are the best part of the story. But at the same time, whenever these flashbacks start, fans naturally start to miss the Straw Hat Pirates. It's been a few months since the Loki flashback of Elbaf began, and right now it's safe to say that the story isn't close to giving fans a return of the Strawhat Pirates.
In fact, the Loki flashback still deals with events from about 38 years ago. After this, there is still a lot of exciting content left to cover, so The Straw Hat Pirates aren't coming back anytime soon, at least not in 2025.
The Straw Hat Pirates are unlikely to return in 2025
The Loki Flashback will continue for now
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Much of the story remains to be revealed
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Big reveals will follow
Straw Hat Pirates is the core of the story of One Piecebut it's abundantly clear to fans that even without them, One Piece has so much more to offer that Oda can keep everyone on the edge of their seats. The latest Loki flashback has proven just that, having done so Rocks D. Xebec the main character and give fans a direct look at his entire life, all the way to the events of God Valley.
Don't say a word, Chopper! I know exactly what's going on. — Luffy in Elbaf after sensing Imu
Now, Loki and Harald are likely to take back the important roles in the storyand fans will definitely see more of them in Elbaf. It must be remembered that the entire flashback is actually about the story of Loki and Harald's death in August's castle 14 years ago.
Right now, however, the story is nowhere near 14 years. Oda is still dealing with the events of 38 years ago, and it seems that God Valley will continue for at least two more chapters. In addition to that, there are also other important things that need to be covered, such as Harald tearing out his horns. The story will also likely focus on the Roger Pirates, as well as Garp and Dragon. Fans also know that Harald goes to Marijoa again and meets Shanks after Roger's death. Many exciting details will need to be covered in this flashback.
Eventually the story will go back to 14 years ago, which is when Loki will kill King Harald, and even after that there is the Loki vs Shanks battle that takes place 6 years ago. These events will span 10+ chapters, no doubt. In other words, it takes at least 3-4 months for Oda to cover themwhich means the Straw Hat Pirates aren't coming back anytime soon.
Only one man could stop him before, and that was Red-haired Shanks! — Scopper Gaban to Luffy Loki
The Straw Hats will return in 2026
Harald's death is far away
The Elbaf arc of One Piece will continue with more focus on Roger, Shanks, Loki and Harald after Death of Rocks D. Xebecwhich will push the Straw Hats to the background for now. For those wondering when Luffy and crew will finally return, the answer is pretty simple. They will not be back in 2025. To see the Straw Hat Pirates, fans must wait until 2026. It's hard to guess exactly when they'll be back, but based on everything that still needs to be covered and answered, the Straw Hats won't be back until January 2026.
One Piece Chapter 1165 is out next week. As usual, One Piece will be released on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece will be released at 12pm JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on November 9th. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1165 is November 9, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Author
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
