Chapter Summaries

Whitebeard repeatedly used his power to destroy the Navy’s artillery bombardment, but Sengoku’s strategy forced him to expend strength and exposed his deteriorating condition. Whitebeard broke through Marineford’s iron defenses and stepped onto the plaza, beginning the true Summit War.

• Whitebeard gathered the pirates around him and shattered the first wave of shells with his vibrations.
• Whitebeard destroyed a second bombardment, then staggered as Sengoku noticed his weakened condition.
• Marco offered to attack the airships, but Whitebeard ordered him to prepare the pirates to charge instead.
• Whitebeard used a third Air Tremor to destroy the defensive iron plates and open a path to the bay harbor.
• Whitebeard stepped onto the plaza before Headquarters, challenged Sengoku, and declared the war had begun.

The Marines prepared to face Whitebeard in close combat after their artillery plan was disrupted, while Ron noticed an unexpected figure approaching beneath the sea. Luffy arrived at Marineford to save Ace, and Whitebeard accepted him as Ace’s little brother and let him join the advance.

• Fujitora and Hancock joined the Marine forces as Sengoku confronted Whitebeard and the assembled Marines surrounded the pirates.
• Whitebeard unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki and declared that numbers could not defeat him.
• Ron learned that something was approaching beneath the sea and recognized Luffy’s ship as it surfaced in the harbor.
• Luffy ran toward Ace, but Whitebeard blocked his path and asked whether he intended to interfere in the war.
• Luffy said he had come as Ace’s little brother, and Whitebeard laughed, withdrew his weapon, and invited him to advance with the pirates.

Ron fought Whitebeard while Luffy ran toward the execution platform under the Whitebeard Pirates’ protection. After Whitebeard’s attack devastated Marineford’s fortress, Ron used Squard to stab him from behind and force the blade deeper.

• Ron arrived to fight Whitebeard and sent the veteran vice admirals to battle elsewhere.
• Luffy charged toward the execution platform, and Whitebeard ordered his crew to cover his path while Marco intercepted Kizaru’s laser.
• Whitebeard and Ron clashed, and Whitebeard’s Air Tremor tore through the plaza and split the Marine headquarters fortress.
• Ron appeared behind Squard, forced him to stab Whitebeard, and drove the blade farther through his chest.

Squard stabbed Whitebeard after Sengoku manipulated him into believing Whitebeard had betrayed the pirates, but Whitebeard protected him from Ron’s attack. Akainu killed Squard before he could charge Ron, leaving Whitebeard gravely wounded and the truth of the scheme exposed.

• Squard stabbed Whitebeard in the back, and Marco tackled him before Whitebeard ordered Marco to stop.
• Whitebeard questioned Squard, who accused him of hiding that Ace was Roger’s son and sacrificing the crew; Sengoku confirmed Ace’s parentage while Ron revealed that Whitebeard had made no deal with the Marines.
• Ron attacked Squard, but Whitebeard shielded him and told him that everyone aboard his ship was family, regardless of their origins.
• Squard charged at Ron in despair, and Akainu killed him with Hell Hound before Whitebeard could intervene.
• Ron teased Akainu about silencing a witness, noting that he knew how Akainu had manipulated Squard.

After Squard’s betrayal and the Marines’ assault, Whitebeard ordered his crew to retreat and chose to cover their escape while fighting five powerful Marines. He struck back with devastating force, leaving Ron nearly cleaved in two and seriously injuring the others as the battle continued.

• Whitebeard rose in fury over Squard’s betrayal, and Sengoku ordered Akainu, Aokiji, Kizaru, Ron, and Fujitora to finish him while Garp stayed behind.
• Ron asked who would attack first, but Akainu launched Meteor Volcano before Whitebeard ordered Marco and the Whitebeard Pirates to retreat.
• Whitebeard exchanged tearful farewells with Ace, who said being his son had been the greatest honor of his life.
• Whitebeard struck Ron out of his lightning form, then fought off the group’s coordinated attacks as they tried to kill him quickly.
• Whitebeard unleashed Great Quake: Collapsing Mountain Slash, cutting through Marineford and cleaving Ron in half before the vibrations blasted the other four Marines away.

Ron and Whitebeard fought across a battlefield transformed by Ron’s Awakening, as Ron’s rapid regeneration let him endure Whitebeard’s attacks. Ron launched Whitebeard away and prepared his ultimate technique, Soaring Dragon.

• Ron regenerated from Whitebeard’s devastating slash in less than thirty seconds and challenged him again.
• Akainu and Fujitora recovered nearby as Ron unleashed his second-stage Awakening and turned the battlefield into a lightning domain.
• Whitebeard and Ron exchanged powerful blows, while Ron explained how much he had surpassed his former self.
• Ron let Whitebeard pin his halberd, dodged his attack, and blasted him more than a thousand meters away with Human Cannonball.
• Ron gathered his Haki, strength, and lightning techniques into Awakened Skill: Soaring Dragon and aimed it at Whitebeard.

Ron defeated Whitebeard in battle, but Whitebeard remained standing long enough to deliver his final declaration about the World Government and the coming search for the One Piece. Ron blocked the Three Admirals so Whitebeard could finish speaking, ending with Whitebeard proclaiming that the One Piece was real.

• Ron transformed into a silver-white Divine Dragon, briefly overwhelming Whitebeard before striking him with the Thunder Dragon Halberd and breaking his bisento.
• Ron emerged from the lightning, while Marco and the other pirates believed Whitebeard had died; Ron confirmed that Whitebeard was dead but held upright by his conviction.
• Whitebeard addressed Sengoku, warning that someone would inherit Ace's will and that the discovery of the treasure would turn the world upside down.
• Sengoku ordered the Three Admirals to stop Whitebeard, but Ron intercepted their attacks and told them to let Whitebeard finish.
• Whitebeard declared that the One Piece was real.

After Whitebeard declared that One Piece was real, Ron used the live broadcast to proclaim the Marines’ dominance and vow to destroy the treasure if it was found. Whitebeard died, Sengoku and Garp considered retiring, and Marines and civilians celebrated the dawn of the Marines’ era.

• Whitebeard declared that One Piece was real, shocking people across the world.
• Ron defended Whitebeard’s final words as an opportunity to challenge the old fear of pirates and declare that the Marines would lead the new era.
• Ron vowed to destroy One Piece himself if anyone found it, while Whitebeard died without answering him.
• Sengoku accepted that the Marines now dominated the seas and discussed resigning with Garp.
• Akainu and Aokiji were moved by Ron’s speech but recognized that they would still compete for Fleet Admiral while Ron remained a Vice Admiral.
• A Marine officer began cheering for Ron and the Marines, and Marines and civilians across the world joined in.

After Whitebeard’s death, the Marines drove the pirates into a desperate retreat while Marco tried to carry Luffy to safety. Luffy broke away and reached Ace at the execution platform, where Sengoku stopped Ron from intervening so Garp could face his grandson.

• The Five Elders reconsidered Ron’s warning and agreed that the pirates could not be allowed to find One Piece.
• Sengoku rallied the Marines, who launched an assault that pushed the retreating pirates back.
• Marco tried to take Luffy away, but Luffy bit him, escaped, and ran toward Ace; Marco then intercepted Law.
• Ace grieved over Whitebeard’s sacrifice and understood too late what his father had taught him about being a pirate.
• Luffy reached the execution platform, and Sengoku told Ron not to interfere, leaving Garp to confront his grandson.

Luffy and Ace tried to escape execution, but Ron stopped them and killed Ace. The war ended in a decisive Marine victory, with Luffy left devastated.

• Garp fought Luffy to keep him from reaching Ace, but Ace headbutted Garp and Luffy punched him off the platform.
• Luffy reached Ace and tried to carry him away, but Ron knocked them back and ordered the execution to proceed.
• Ron pierced Ace through the chest with the Thunder Dragon Halberd as Luffy watched helplessly.
• Ace broke free from Luffy and charged Ron, but executioners doused him with water, causing his awakened body to burn and turn to charcoal.
• Ron announced that the execution was complete, and the crowd cheered as the Marines celebrated their victory.

After Ace’s execution, Ron moved to kill Luffy, but Teach intervened and redirected the strike, then declared that he would repay Whitebeard with his life. As Ron prepared to fight Teach, Van Oka opened a passage beneath the plaza for the Whitebeard Pirates to escape.

• Garp sat among the ruins after Ace died, and Kashou stayed beside him while Sengoku ordered Ron to end the battle.
• Ron attacked Luffy, but Law stopped Marco from intervening and Teach appeared, using his remaining hand to deflect Ron’s Thunder Halberd so it struck Luffy’s shoulder instead.
• Teach knocked the unconscious Luffy toward Vista and told Marco that he had come to give his life in repayment to Whitebeard.
• Ron applauded Teach’s resolve, then prepared to fight him as Teach charged forward.
• Van Oka emerged from beneath the plaza and opened a passage under the sea, urging the Whitebeard Pirates to jump down.

Blackbeard’s crew escaped through Marineford’s underground rock while Ron was forced to keep fighting Teach near the execution platform. Teach rejected repentance and prepared to break through the limits Ron had imposed on his ambitions.

• Momonga realized Van Oka had hidden underground, and Van Oka used the Stone-Stone Fruit to help pirates escape through Marineford’s rock.
• Jozu ordered pirates aboard ships to flee and the rest to jump underground, while Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru tried to stop them.
• Akainu demanded to know where Ron was, and Aokiji explained that Ron was occupied fighting Teach.
• Teach and Ron clashed at close range, with Teach injuring Ron using his prosthetic hook leg and Ron healing quickly.
• Teach admitted he resented Ron’s schemes but refused to abandon his dreams, then declared that he would break through the door and formed bony barbs from his right hand.

Teach revealed that he had secretly obtained the Dark-Dark Fruit and used it to suppress Ron’s Rumble-Rumble Fruit, then attacked him at close range. Ron remained calm and prepared to face Teach’s revenge as the broadcast continued.

• Teach revealed the Dark-Dark Fruit and used its gravitational force to pull Ron toward him.
• Teach’s bone spike exploded inside Ron’s chest, and he grabbed Ron while using darkness to suppress his Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
• Teach explained that he had clung to his ambition to wield two Devil Fruit powers and resented Whitebeard’s protection.
• Chaton realized Teach had chosen the real Dark-Dark Fruit from the real and poisonous imitation he had planted.
• Sengoku started to intervene, but Ron told him to hold position and continue the broadcast, while Tsuru urged Sengoku to trust Ron.
• Teach declared that he would use his remaining life to take revenge on Ron, then attacked with the Dark-Dark Fruit.

Teach tried to take Ron down with him by trapping them both in the Dark-Dark Fruit’s Dark Hole, while the darkness swallowed Marine Headquarters and forced the Marines to retreat. Ron suddenly weakened Teach and slashed him with the Thunder Dragon Halberd, reversing the fight as they sank into the darkness.

• Teach spread Dark Hole across the plaza and pinned Ron with bone spikes, intending to imprison them both in the darkness.
• The darkness swallowed soldiers, the execution platform, and part of the Marine Headquarters fortress, prompting Sengoku to order a retreat toward the harbor.
• Ain’s attack dissipated in the darkness, while Aokiji asked Sengoku whether the Railgun was ready; Sengoku told him to trust Ron.
• Teach explained that he had chosen to perish with Ron because he could not defeat him otherwise.
• Ron said he could not feel his feet, called Teach an idiot, and abruptly drained his strength.
• Ron swung the Thunder Dragon Halberd and cut Teach’s chest, sending him flying.

Ron defeated Teach after using a Seastone dart to escape the darkness, then revealed that Dorte had been ready to shoot Teach with Seastone bullets. The Sabaody Archipelago watched the Marines’ victory as Teach reeled from Ron’s taunts.

• Teach collapsed after Ron escaped his darkness and struck him, but he insisted he had been close to winning.
• Teach pulled a Seastone spike from his abdomen, and Ron explained that his Seastone Sleeve Dart had fired it while Teach’s limbs were trapped or numb.
• Ron mocked Teach for acting too soon and said that Teach’s lack of intelligence, not strength, had cost him the fight.
• Ron pointed out that Dorte was prepared to shoot Teach with a Seastone-loaded sniper rifle, surprising the assembled Marines and pirates.
• Dorte calmly disassembled his rifle and packed it away, while Chaton reflected on the Assassination Unit’s many methods of killing.

Ron defeated Teach and declared that the era belonged to the Marines, ending the Whitebeard Pirates’ hopes of challenging his rule. With Whitebeard and Teach dead, the surviving pirates began surrendering as the Marines brought the war to a close.

• Teach told Ron that people’s dreams would endure, but Ron rejected his argument and challenged anyone who dared oppose the Marines.
• Ron impaled Teach with Thunder Halberd and killed him in front of the broadcast audience.
• Ron called on the pirates to surrender, and Stonobeli and the other Marines echoed his offer.
• Some Whitebeard Pirates dropped their weapons and surrendered, while the Marines continued fighting those who resisted.
• Akainu spared a surrendering pirate, and the Whitebeard Pirates’ defeat became complete.

The Marines crushed the remaining resistance at Marineford and celebrated their victory, while Koby broke down after nearly killing a surrendered pirate. Shanks arrived with the Red Force, and Aokiji moved to block him at the harbor as Ron prepared to intervene.

• Van Oka sealed a passage with the Stone-Stone Fruit and escaped as Momonga’s soldiers surrounded the remaining pirates.
• Koby nearly struck a surrendered pirate, then noticed his injured hand and collapsed in tears as Ain held him back.
• Sengoku announced the Marines’ victory, and the surviving soldiers cheered.
• Ron learned that Shanks was approaching Marineford, then vanished from the plaza.
• Sengoku recognized Shanks’s ship, and Aokiji froze the sea and ordered the Red Force to stop.

After the Marines defeated Whitebeard, Shanks asked Sengoku to let him take Whitebeard and Ace’s bodies, and Sengoku agreed. News of the battle spread across the world, raising Ron’s reputation and prompting Oric to consider a plan against him.

• Shanks told Sengoku he had come only to collect Whitebeard and Ace’s bodies, and Sengoku agreed despite Akainu’s protest.
• Sengoku ordered the Marines to let Shanks take the bodies and clean up the battlefield.
• Shanks and Beckman took Whitebeard and Ace home aboard the Red Force.
• News that Whitebeard’s army had been wiped out spread across the seas, and people around the world reacted to his defeat by Ron.
• Oric recognized Ron’s growing influence and asked Sugar whether she could surprise him at G-10, but Sugar rejected the idea as suicidal.

After the Navy’s victory, the government processed thousands of captured pirates and began rebuilding Marine Headquarters, while Sengoku’s decision to resign shook the Navy. Aokiji then told Garp he intended to compete with Akainu for the Fleet Admiral position, despite Ron’s likely support for Akainu.

• Enies Lobby sentenced captured pirates to execution, Impel Down, forced labor, or sale, but Magellan complained that the prison had reached capacity.
• The Navy began repairing Marineford, with headquarters commanders and G-10 soldiers assigned to the work while Ron took on the restoration contract.
• News spread that Sengoku had resigned as Fleet Admiral, prompting Navy soldiers to wonder why he was stepping down after a major victory.
• Garp told Aokiji that the Five Elders had allowed him and Akainu to compete to succeed Sengoku after Sengoku recommended Aokiji instead of Akainu.
• Garp warned Aokiji that Ron’s influence and ties to Akainu could cost him support, and Aokiji admitted he had little chance of winning if Ron backed Akainu.

Aokiji decided to challenge Akainu for Fleet Admiral, with Garp offering to support him, but Ron sidestepped Garp’s provocation by publicly backing Kizaru instead. After Akainu and Aokiji realized they would have to settle their disagreement directly, they agreed to duel on Thunder God Island, with the winner becoming Fleet Admiral.

• Aokiji resolved to speak out against Akainu leading the Marines, and Garp praised his convictions and promised to help him get a fair duel.
• Ron publicly supported Kizaru for Fleet Admiral at a banquet, shocking the Marines and driving Kizaru to hide away in Sabaody.
• Ron explained to Zephyr and Tsuru that he had avoided taking sides, while Tsuru noted that his move had dragged Kizaru into the dispute.
• Aokiji and Akainu realized they could not rely on outside support and decided to settle their competing ideals with a duel.
• After Sengoku failed to mediate, Aokiji and Akainu agreed to fight on Thunder God Island, with the winner becoming Fleet Admiral.