One Piece is now deep into the climax of the Elbaf arc, with the release of Chapter 1187 expected on July 5, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #32. Here, Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piecefocuses on the Straw Hat Pirates, who battle a powerful World Government force known as the Holy Knights, led by the King of the World, Nerona Imu, who made his official descent in One Piece Chapter 1179 on April 5, 2026.
With One Piece Chapter 1187, which marks the beginning of the main battles, requires each member of the Straw Hats to bring out their maximum power, and that applies more to Straw Hat Luffy than anyone else. Luffy is already one of the Yonko of the sea and as such he can already fight at a very high level, harnessing the power of his Nika fruit as well as his immense Haki. That said, all of this is still not enough to topple the world government. Luffy needs to grow stronger, and for all these reasons, Oda is quietly creating a new Mythical Zoan transformation for him for the last time in 29 years.
One Piece will give Luffy his ultimate mythical Zoan transformation after a 29-year wait
The biggest reason why Oda will give Luffy a new transformation in the Final Saga is that he still needs to get stronger to defeat Nerona Imu from One Piece Chapter 1187 onwards, and later in the line, to defeat other powerful enemies. From the looks of it, Luffy is pretty powerful, and there's no denying that. He went on to defeat Kaido in the Wano Country Arc and became an Emperor of the Sea i One Piece Chapter 1053 on June 20, 2022 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #29. On Egghead, Luffy fought Kizaru and, later, Saint Saturn as well, and he did quite well against both of them.
Now, in Elbaf's climax, he continues his progress, growing stronger with each passing chapter. Luffy is stronger than he was in Egghead, as he will put special focus on his Haki and counter the threat of enemies like Nerona Imu. Despite all that, he is not yet at a level where he can defeat the world's elites. To reach that level, Luffy has to work extremely hard and improve both his Supreme King Haki and his Gear control.
“Listen, Straw Hat! Etch into your mind how to use your Color on the Supreme King. These guys aren't immortal!” — Scopper Gaban asks Luffy to improve his Haki, One Piece Chapter #1152
Despite Luffy saying he can't imagine losing to Imu One Piece Chapter 1186 June 28, 2026 His Gear 5 runs out far too quickly, putting him in danger in battle. While luck has been on his side so far, that won't always be the case. Similarly, Luffy's Haki is not yet good enough to counter the threat posed by the Five Elders and Imu. For context, Imus' Haki is so powerful that combined Haki attacks from five legendary figures in Roger, Garp, Rocks, Big Mom, and Whitebeard couldn't even leave a scratch on him, which was obvious to all of us in One Piece Chapter 1163 October 27, 2025 For Luffy to hurt Imu with his Haki is impossible at this point. It is obvious that he needs a new transformation in the Final Saga of One Piece.
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Luffy can further develop his mythical Zoan Devil Fruit Awakening, as hinted by Nerona Imu and Zaza in chapters 1180 and 1182
The biggest question any fan would have regarding Luffy's evolution is how he can go about achieving it. As it stands, there are quite a few things that Luffy can still improve. Luffy's Haki needs a lot of improvement. Although he has learned to coat his body in Conqueror's Haki, his overall control over it is still very raw. This was stated by Kaido in the Wano Country arc in chapter 1011, and obviously hasn't evolved much since then. In Egghead, Luffy caught a glimpse of Joy Boy's Haki and was baffled as to how such a powerful Haki could even exist. He should aspire to reach a similar level, but has not achieved it yet. Since Supreme King Haki cannot be trained and grows with the user's strength, Luffy's total powers will give him a large Haki boost.
“Although you can control the color of that Supreme King, you cannot train it to become stronger directly. It is the embodiment of the user's spirit. The only way to make it stronger is for the user to become stronger.” — Silver's Rayleigh explains how to strengthen Supreme King Haki, One Piece Chapter #597
Then one must also take a look at Luffy's Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit ability. It goes without saying that Luffy's total Devil Fruit power is immense. Luffy can utilize Gear 5, which he acquired with Awakening of Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, i One Piece Chapter 1044, March 28, 2022, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #17.
He can fight against the strongest of enemies, but Gear 5 can actually evolve further. When Luffy learns the power of Advanced Conqueror's Haki, he can coat his body in even stronger Haki, potentially giving rise to a new transformation with a time limit. Just like Luffy using Gear 4 with maximum power Armament Haki, he was able to do something similar with Gear 5 and create something even more powerful than the regular Nika state.
At the same time, the power of Gear 5 is such that it gives Luffy limitless imagination that he can turn into reality. This is a God Fruit, just like Nerona Imu's Akuma no Mi ability, and Rain God Zaza, which was revealed in One Piece Chapter #1182 on May 10, 2026. Since both Zaza and Imu have a ring of their own element behind their back, Luffy was thus able to gain a sun ring of his own. At this point, it seems that Luffy is unaware of this power, but his energy was even able to activate the Iron Giant in Egghead. If Luffy can make use of this special power ring, he can easily evolve and develop what could be the true state of Gear 5, which is his ultimate Devil Fruit transformation. With this power, Luffy would be able to fight on an even footing with someone as strong as Imu, and this is much needed now in One Piece Chapter 1187 onwards.
Loki: What's with the black flames?
Imu: Omen is my military power. It is a force that resides within all living beings!
— Exchange explaining Imu's Black Flame Ring Power, One Piece Chapter #1181
Luffy's ultimate transformation will help him fight Imu in the Elbaf Climax
From the looks of it, Luffy is no match for Imu at all. Considering that even Rocks couldn't stand up to him, and Loki was easily overwhelmed by him, Luffy has absolutely no chance. However, when Luffy takes his Conqueror's Haki to the next level and develops something similar to the power that Shanks uses, and also takes his Gear 5 to its absolute maximum level with a potential sun ring, then he would truly be a worthy rival for Imu.
“Was that Haki even stronger than Red Hair's? There was no hostility towards it!” — Dorry and Brogy highlight Joy Boy's level, One Piece Chapter #1123
It must be remembered that Luffy has reached the level of Joy Boy. As it stands, he's not even stronger than Shanks, so for him to reach Joy Boy's level, he'd need to get a few more power-ups and make a lot of progress as a fighter. Eventually, Luffy is the one destined to take down Imu, and the battle has now officially begun with the release of One Piece Chapter #1186 on June 28, 2026, in WSJ Issue #31. Oda will have many opportunities to allow Luffy to develop his Gear 5 even further in the arc climax, and it may end up being his source of unlimited power at some point in the story.
All chapters of One Piece by creator Eiichiro Oda are available to read through Manga Plus and Viz Media.
