Chapter Summaries

Ares fought Rocks after Rocks sealed the power of Ares's Azure Dragon Fruit and struck him with a devastating punch. Rocks summoned a black dragon, and their battle continued as Ares's toughness and combat skill challenged Rocks's dark powers.

• Rocks pulled Ares close, suppressed his Devil Fruit power, and punched him through a castle wall.
• Ares emerged from the smoke and demanded that Rocks return his companions, but Rocks refused and summoned a colossal black dragon.
• Ares's Red Dragon Fierce Strike was weakened by the dragon's strange power, and the dragon bit his shoulder.
• Ares grabbed the dragon by the neck and resisted its thrashing tail while Rocks rushed in with his dark devouring power.
• Ares swung the dragon at Rocks, then kicked out a Flying Slash; Rocks blocked the attack with an Armament Haki-coated fist.

Ares challenged Rocks and fought him with Hasshoken and Blood-colored Armament, while Rocks revealed his Dark-Dark Fruit powers. Rocks forbade the other pirates from interfering and vowed to show Ares who ruled Hachinosu.

• Ares countered Rocks's attack with Blood-colored Armament—Hasshoken, and the two fighters' forces shook the island.
• Rocks praised Ares's growth, then unleashed the Dark-Dark Fruit's Black Whirlpool and tried to pull him into the black smoke.
• Ares recognized Rocks's power as the Logia Dark-Dark Fruit and evaded its devouring force by using the Six Styles.
• Rocks created giant weapons from swallowed rubble and fired them at Ares, who smashed them apart with Blood-colored Armament—Lightning Barrage.
• Captain John and the other Rocks Pirates gathered to watch, but Rocks ordered them not to interfere and declared he would establish his authority over Hachinosu.

Ares fought Rocks as Rocks unleashed Dark Storm, a series of tornadoes that absorbed and crushed attacks while closing in from every direction. Facing the threat of being trapped and worn down, Ares transformed into an Azure Dragon and launched a barrage of powerful attacks.

• Captain John recalled how Rocks had defeated the other pirates when founding the Rocks Pirates and realized Rocks intended to use Ares to reassert his authority.
• Rocks unleashed Dark Storm, and its black tornadoes pulled in clouds while drawing closer to Ares.
• Ares's Pluto's Sword slash was swallowed by a tornado, so he fired dozens of Flying Slashes that lit up the sky but failed to stop the storm from converging.
• Rocks explained that Dark Storm would trap Ares and exhaust him as the tornadoes closed in from all sides.
• Ares transformed into a blue Divine Dragon and struck a tornado with Dragon-Breath, creating a sea of fire.
• Ares followed with Crimson Sword and Azure Dragon Claw—Wave Cutter, attacking the dark tornadoes with his full strength.

CP0 Chief Cloud watched Ares battle Rocks while holding Katakuri hostage, and Katakuri realized his captain was fighting for him. As Rocks’s Dark Storms grew stronger, Ares studied their rotation and considered adapting the principle to strengthen his own attacks.

• Cloud told Katakuri that Ares was fighting Rocks because CP0 had demanded Katakuri as a hostage, and Katakuri was moved by his captain’s actions.
• Cloud hoped Shakky would bring good news while John watched Ares and Rocks’s destructive battle unfold in the sky.
• Ares recognized that Rocks’s Dark Storms drew power from both Rocks’s strength and their rapid rotation, then remembered Chinjao’s rotating Hasshoken and considered trying the same principle.

Ares studied Rocks’s Dark Storm and used the Azure Dragon Fruit to create a tornado that stopped its gravitational field, then unleashed rotating flames that Rocks absorbed with the Dark-Dark Fruit. Ares realized he needed a way around Rocks’s ability as the battle continued.

• Ares recognized that he had neglected developing his Devil Fruit and studied the formation of Rocks’s Dark Storm.
• Ares spun his coiled dragon body to create a massive tornado that destroyed the Dark Storm’s gravitational field.
• Captain John and Cloud watched in astonishment as Ares blocked Rocks’s attack, and Rocks said the battle was truly beginning.
• Ares fused the tornado’s rotation into his Dragon-Breath flames, but Rocks absorbed them with a black hole.
• Ares wondered whether Rocks could absorb energy without limit and how he could counter the Dark-Dark Fruit.

Ares studied Rocks's Dark-Dark Fruit and met his attacks with a powerful dragon-tail slash and a punch of his own. He blocked Rocks's Conqueror's Haki-coated fist, surprising Rocks and the watching pirates.

• Ares recalled his battle with Rocks and resolved to learn the Dark-Dark Fruit's weaknesses through continued fighting.
• Ares struck at Rocks with a sword-like slash from his dragon tail, but Rocks shattered the Sword Qi with one punch.
• Rocks challenged Ares to face his Conqueror's Haki-coated punch and charged at him with black-red lightning around his fist.
• Ares transformed into his human-beast form and countered with his Red Dragon Fierce Strike.
• Their fists collided, knocking nearby pirates unconscious and cracking Skull Castle's walls.
• Captain John saw that Ares had blocked Rocks's punch, and Rocks recognized Ares's Punch Wave technique.

Ares copied Rocks's use of Advanced Armament Haki and launched a powerful Conqueror's Haki punch, but Rocks won their clash and sent him crashing to the ground. Rocks pressed the attack, intending to break Ares's spirit and keep his Conqueror's Haki from ever matching his own.

• Rocks recognized Ares's mastery of Punch Wave and decided to use more of his strength to defeat him.
• Ares studied Rocks's Advanced Armament Haki and attacked with Conqueror—Great Ape King Fist.
• Captain John and the Rocks Pirates used Armament Haki emission to shield themselves and Skull Castle from the clash's destructive aftermath.
• Ochoku and Shiki the Golden Lion noticed the battle; Shiki turned his attention back to the prisoners and unleashed Lion's Might—Ground Roll.
• Rocks struck Ares down and declared that he would beat him until he submitted, while Captain John called Rocks an insurmountable mountain.

Ares studied Rocks’s Advanced Armament Haki and used what he learned to improve his attacks, but Rocks dominated the fight with his future sight. Ares then unleashed a Conqueror’s Haki domain that disrupted Rocks’s Observation Haki and let him land a series of heavy punches, leaving Rocks shocked by Ares’s Observation Kill.

• Ares analyzed Rocks’s punches while recovering, then emerged to meet Rocks’s next attack with a stronger Conqueror’s Haki-coated punch.
• Rocks sent Ares flying through several mountains and taunted him, claiming Ares would lose once his Conqueror’s Haki ran out.
• Rocks dodged Ares’s barrage with future sight and declared himself a monster superior to the other Rocks Pirates.
• Ares recognized Rocks’s future sight and spread his Conqueror’s Haki into a domain that blocked Rocks’s perception of the future.
• Ares struck Rocks repeatedly, sending him flying and prompting Rocks to identify the technique as Observation Kill.

Ares used Observation Kill to injure Rocks, then kept up a relentless assault as Rocks fought more cautiously. As Captain John blocked Slada from joining the battle, Ares and Rocks continued fighting with the outcome unresolved.

• Rocks realized he had underestimated Ares after Ares's punches sent him flying and left him injured.
• Ares attacked Rocks with a rapid barrage of punches, kicks, and slashes, while Rocks defended carefully and tried to counter.
• The arriving Rocks Pirates watched in shock, and Captain John noticed blood at the corner of Rocks's mouth.
• Slada rushed to help Ares, but Captain John stopped him and warned that interfering would mean death.
• Slada declared that he followed only Ares and threatened to attack Captain John if he did not move.

Captain John fought Slada while Ares battled Rocks and rapidly improved his Advanced Armament Haki. After Cloud learned that the Roger Pirates had rescued Shakky and killed his agent, he decided to free Katakuri, while Rocks prepared a powerful attack against Ares.

• Captain John blocked Slada’s trident and counterattacked with his Two Sword Style, but Slada stopped his Sword Qi with Armament Haki.
• Rocks knocked Ares away, then realized that Ares’s Advanced Armament Haki was growing stronger as he learned from their fight.
• Cloud learned that the mission to capture the Celestial Dragons had failed because the Roger Pirates rescued Shakky, and an agent was killed during the call.
• Cloud told Katakuri that Ares had fought Rocks for his sake and decided to release him after the battle; Katakuri wept and blamed himself for being too weak to protect his siblings.
• Rocks pulled away from Ares and formed a huge sphere of black smoke with his Dark Star technique, making Ares sense imminent danger.

Ares endured Rocks’s darkness and burst out to strike Rocks, leaving Shiki and Captain John stunned. Rocks was injured, while Ares remained standing despite his battered body.

• Ares steadied himself and unleashed a barrage of punches against Rocks’s darkness, but the black sphere swallowed him.
• Captain John told Slada that Ares had lost, but Slada refused to believe Ares could be defeated.
• Shiki arrived and learned that Ares was trapped inside Rocks’s sphere of darkness.
• Ares burst out of the sphere and punched Rocks, sending him flying and breaking his ribs.
• Shiki asked if Ares was all right, and Ares said he was fine as Slada celebrated his survival.

Ares survived Rocks’s Dark Star and fought him over exchanging a Celestial Dragon for Katakuri, but Shiki intervened before Rocks could attack again. Rocks revoked Ares’s division captaincy and planned to exploit a World Government trap to eliminate him.

• Ares explained that he had fought Rocks because he wanted to exchange a Celestial Dragon for Katakuri, while Shiki warned him about defying the captain.
• Rocks recognized Ares’s rapid growth as a threat and charged at him, but Shiki stepped between them and urged Rocks to stop.
• Shiki persuaded Ares to end the conflict and suggested that everyone search the island for Katakuri.
• Rocks decided to use the World Government’s trap to eliminate Ares and others he considered disloyal.
• Rocks revoked Ares’s position and authority as a Division Captain and ordered him to join the new recruits’ camp to atone.

Rocks checked on the imprisoned Celestial Dragons while Ares reunited with Katakuri and recovered from his fight with Rocks. At the feast, Kaido proposed that Ares form his own crew, but Ares declined for now and ended the chapter planning a new training regimen.

• Rocks visited Charcoal Higurashi and confirmed that Semi-maru's barrier still held Egbert and his family captive.
• Katakuri returned to Ares, apologized for being captured, and said he wanted to become strong enough to protect his younger siblings.
• Ares reassured Katakuri, learned that Cloud of CP0 had released him, and joined the others in preparing a feast.
• Kaido praised Ares's recovery, and Whitebeard explained the Dark-Dark Fruit's powers and warned Ares that Rocks might seek revenge.
• Kaido suggested Ares form his own pirate crew, but Ares said he had no such plans for now.
• Ares returned to his room and began considering a new training plan to address the weaknesses he had discovered fighting Rocks.

After his defeat by Rocks, Ares planned to improve his fighting skills, Devil Fruit powers, and Haki while continuing his relentless body training. When Shimotsuki Kozaburo came to say goodbye, he witnessed Ares striking his own body with Armament Haki and was stunned by his training method.

• Ares resolved to develop combat techniques suited to himself and train his Azure Dragon Fruit powers alongside his body and Haki.
• Ares followed a new training plan, mastered Armament Haki hardening, emission, and flowing, and recognized similarities between flowing Armament and Conqueror's Haki.
• Shimotsuki Kozaburo decided to leave Hachinosu Island because he expected major trouble and planned to say goodbye to Ares.
• Shimotsuki Kozaburo found Ares hammering his own body with Armament-coated fists and was shocked by the intensity of his training.

Kozaburo taught Ares how to use Ryuo, the Wano technique that makes Armament Haki flow through a target and destroy it from within. After experiencing the technique firsthand, Ares quickly learned to channel it into his fist.

• Kozaburo watched Ares train and learned that Ares had only recently started practicing Armament Haki.
• Kozaburo explained that Ryuo let Armament Haki flow outward and penetrate an object to damage it internally.
• Ares asked Kozaburo to demonstrate Ryuo by punching him in the abdomen, and the blow made him spit blood.
• Ares enthusiastically studied Kozaburo's technique, hoping to use Ryuo to train his body's insides.
• Ares gathered his Haki into his fist and formed red flames around it, then asked Kozaburo whether he had learned Ryuo.

Ares learned Ryuo from Kozaburo and tested its power, while Rocks publicly condemned the Celestial Dragons on Hachinosu. Rocks announced that the Rocks Pirates would wage all-out war against the World Government, leaving the pirates to decide whether to join him.

• Ares learned Ryuo from Kozaburo and punched through several trees without touching them.
• Kong received an order from the Five Elders to come to Mary Geoise, and he told Garp to remain at Marine Headquarters.
• Rocks addressed the pirates gathered on Hachinosu, denounced the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, and had the Egbert family brought to the execution platform.
• The pirates pelted the Celestial Dragons with filth, and Rocks ordered his men to revive them with cold water.
• Rocks announced that the Rocks Pirates would launch an all-out war against the World Government and invited the pirates to join him in creating a world ruled by pirates.

Rocks rallied the pirates on Hachinosu and executed the Celestial Dragons, while the World Government prepared to destroy his crew. Ares learned that Shiki would lead an attack on Navy G-1 Base, where the Marines were laying a trap for the Rocks Pirates.

• Rocks declared that pirates were masters of the sea, and the gathered pirates roared in response.
• Rocks ordered the execution of the Celestial Dragons, and the pirates celebrated as the World Government planned its counterattack.
• Kaido told Ares that Shiki would lead a mission to destroy Navy G-1 Base in about a week.
• Kong gathered the Marine commanders at G-1 Base and announced that they would use the prepared defenses to annihilate the Rocks Pirates.
• Kong reviewed wanted posters of the Rocks captains and identified Blood Hand - Ares, with a 2.2 billion Berry bounty, as a major threat.

The Marines prepared for the Rocks Pirates’ expected attack on Marine G1 Base, treating Ares as a major threat. Rocks planned to use the battle as a diversion to raid God Valley, and both fleets sailed toward their targets as the Marines braced for combat.

• Kong warned the Marine officers that Ares was a nearly indestructible powerhouse whose strength rivaled or exceeded Whitebeard and the Golden Lion, while Garp and Zephyr avoided reacting to his claim that the Marines’ strongest force could not defeat him.
• Rocks revealed that Charcoal Higurashi had exposed the World Government’s trap at Marine G1 Base, and he planned to exploit the Marines’ focus on Ares to raid God Valley, seize its treasure and slaves, and eliminate rivals within the Rocks Pirates.
• Over the following week, the Rocks Pirates recruited many pirates, expanded their fleet, and prepared to attack Marine G1 Base while Rocks secretly intended to lead the larger force to God Valley.
• Shiki the Golden Lion departed with part of the fleet to attack Marine G1 Base, while Rocks led the remaining ships out to sea.
• At Marine G1 Base, Prody checked that cannon ammunition was ready and ordered the Marines to maintain discipline, while Tsuru advised Gion to stay calm and Garp reassured her that he would stand at the front.

Kaido volunteered to lead the Rocks Pirates’ assault on Marine G1 Base, while Ares used his Azure Dragon powers to attack the fortress. Sengoku blocked Ares’s Dragon Breath, but the battle intensified as the pirate fleet reached shore.

• Kong ordered the Marines to hold their positions and wait until the Rocks Pirates entered cannon range.
• Kaido volunteered to lead the vanguard, and Shiki the Golden Lion agreed as the fleet advanced under cannon fire.
• Shiki ordered Ares to retaliate, and Ares transformed into an Azure Dragon and unleashed Dragon Breath at G1 Base.
• Sengoku transformed into a golden Buddha and countered the Dragon Breath with his Shockwave, while falling flames killed some Marines.
• Tsuru warned Gion to protect herself, and Kong announced that the enemy ships had reached the shore.

Kaido and Shiki led the pirate assault on the Marine G1 Base as Ares attacked its defenses and Sengoku blocked his strikes. Kaido shattered the gate and called the pirates to charge inside, while Fleet Admiral Kong continued waiting for the Rocks Pirates' main force.

• Shiki learned that Sengoku was at the base and flew toward the battle after Ares.
• Kaido charged through the cannon barrage unharmed, while the artillery killed more than a thousand pirates.
• Ares fired Bad--Wind at the base's cannons, and Sengoku blocked many of his slashes with shockwaves.
• Kaido defeated the Giant Vice Admiral with Thunder Bagua and shattered the city gate with another strike.
• Shiki destroyed cannons with sword slashes as Kaido urged the pirates to charge into the base.